s«^5S^

BOHN'S CLASSICAL LIBRARY.

PLINY'S

NATURAL HISTORY.

y ^ '

VoU,^^.^^ ^ THE 0

^^^

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

PLINY.

TRANSLATED,

WITH COPIOUS NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

BY THE LATE

JOHN BOSTOCK, M.D., F.R.S.

AKD

H. T. RILEY, Esq, B.A.,

LATE SCHOLAR OF CLAEE HALL, CAMBRIDGE

VOL. I.

LONDON;
HENRY G. BOIIN, YORK STREET, COVENT

V MDCCCLY.

PRINTED BY TATLOE AND FEANCIS,
EED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

P E E P A C E.

The only translation of Pliky's -Natural Histoet wliich
has hitherto appeared in the English language is that by
Philemon Holland, published in the latter part of the reign
of Elizabeth. It is no disparagement to Holland's merits,
as a diligent and generally faithful translator, to say that
liis v/ork is unsuited to the requirements of the nineteenth
century.

In the present translation, the principal editions of
Pliny have been carefully consulted, and no pains have
been spared, as a reference to the Notes wiU show, to
present to the reader the labours of recent Commentators,
among whom stands pre-eminent the celebrated Cuvier. It
has been a primary object to bring to the illustration of the
work whatever was aftbrded by the progress of knowledge
and modern discoveries in science and art. "Without ample
illustration, Pliny's valuable work would want much of the
interest which belongs to it, and present difficulties scarcely
siu-mountable by any one who has not made the Author his
especial study.

In the first two Eooks, the text of Hardouin, as given in
Lemaire's edition (Paris, 1827), has been followed ; in the

Tl PREFACE .

remainder tliat of Sillig (Grotha, 1851-3), excepting in some
few instances, where, for reasons given in the Notes, it
has been deemed advisable to depart from it. The first
two Books, and portions of others, are the performance of
the late Dr. Bostock, who contemplated a translation of
the entire work ; but, unfortunately for the interests of
science, he was not permitted to carry his design into
execution.

Upwards of a hundred pages had been printed off before
the present Translator entered on his duties ; and as they
had not the advantage of Dr. Bostock' s superintendence
through the press, some trifling oversights have occurred.
These are, for the most part, corrected in a short Appendix.

■S,jr»JS

THE

LIFE AND WHITINGS OF PLINY.

Cattts Plinius SEcrNDUS was born either at Yerona or
Novum Comum\ now Como, in Cisalpine Gaul, in the year
A.u.c. 776, and a.d. 23. It is supposed that his earlier years
were spent in his native province ; and that he was still a
youth when he removed to Eome, and attended the lectures
of the grammarian Apion. It was in about his sixteenth year
that he there saw LoUia Paulina", as in the following she
was divorced by Cahgula, and it was probably in his twen-
tieth that he witnessed the captiu-e of a large fisli at Ostia,
by Claudius and his attendants^ and in his twenty-second
that he visited Africa^ Egypt, and Greece.

In his twenty-third year Pliny served in Germany under
the legatus Pomponius Secundus, whose friendship he soon
acquired, and was in consequence promoted to the command
of an ala, or troop of cavalry. During his military career
he wrote a treatise (now lost) " On the Use of the Javelm
by Cavalry," and travelled over that country^ as far as
the shores of the German Ocean, besides visiting Belgic
Gaul. In his twenty-ninth year he returned to Home,
and applied himself for a time to forensic pursuits, which
however he appears soon to have abandoned. About this
time he wrote the life of his friend Pomponius, and an
account of the "Wars in Germany," in twenty books,
neither of which are extant. Though employed m writmg a

1 The weight of testimony inclines to the latter. The mere titles of
the works which have been written on the subject would fill a volume.

2 At a wedding feast, as mentioned by him in B. ix. c. 58. She was
then the ^-ife of Caligula. ^ Related in B. ix c. 5.

4 Here at Tusdrita, he saw L. Coisicius, who it was said had been
changed from a woman into a man. See B. via. c. 3. Phlegon Tralhanus
and Ausonius also refer to the story.

6 See B. xvi. c. 2, and B. xxxi. c. 19.

VIU - LIFE AND WETTINGS OE PLINT.

continuation of the "E-omanHistory"of AufidiusBassus,from
the time of Tiberius, he judiciously suspended its publication
during the reign of Nero, who appointed him his procurator
in Nearer Spain, and not improbably honoured him with
equestrian rank. It was during his sojourn in Spain that the
death of his brother-in-law, C. Caecilius, left his nephew C,
Plinius Caecilius Secundus (the author of the Letters) an or-
phan; whom immediately upon his return to Rome, a.d. 70, he
adopted, receiving him and his widowed mother under his roof.

Having been previously known to Vespasian in the
German wars, he was admitted into the number of his
most intimate friends, and obtained an appointment at court,
the nature of which is not known, but E-ezzonico conjec-
tures that it was in connexion with the imperial treasury.
Though Pliny was on intimate terms also with Titus, to
whom he dedicated his Natural History, there is little
ground for the assertion, sometimes made, that he served
under him in the Jewish wars. His account of Palestine
clearly shows that he had never visited that country. It
was at this period that he published his Continuation of the
History of Aufidius Bassus.

From the titles which he gives to Titus in the dedicatory
preface, it is pretty clear that his Natural History was pub-
lished A.D. 77, two years before his death.

In A.D. 73 or 74, he had been appointed by Vespasian
praefect of the Homan fleet at Misenum, on the western coast
of Italy. It was to this elevation that he owed his romantic
death, somewhat similar, it has been remarked, to that of
Empedocles, who perished in the crater of Mount JEtna.
The closing scene of his active life, simultaneously with the
destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii, cannot be better
described than in the language employed by his nephew in
an Epistle to his friend Tacitus the historian^ : — " My uncle
was at Misenum, where he was in personal command of the
fleet. On the ninth^ day before the calends of September, at
about the seventh hour, 1 p.m., my mother, observing the ap-
pearance of a cloud of imusual size and shape, mentioned it to
him. After reclining in the sun he had taken his cold
bath ; he had tlien again lain down and, after a slight repast,
applied himself to his studies. Immediately upon hear-
1 Plinii Ep. B. vi. Ep. 16. » Twenty-foui-th August.

LIFE A^'D WRITINGS OF PLINY. IX

ing this, lie called for Ins shoes, and ascended a spot from
which he could more easily observe this remarkable phae-
nomenon. The cloud was to be seen gradually risiug up-
wards ; though, from the great distance, it was uncertain
from which of the mountains it arose ; it was afterwards,
however, ascertained to be Vesuvius. In appearance and
shape it strongly resembled a tree ; perhaps it v.as more like
a pine than anything else, with a stem of enormous length
reaching upwards to the heavens, and then spreading out in
a number of branches in every direction. I have little doubt
that eitlier it had been carried upwards by a violent gust of
wind, and that the wind dying away, it had lost its com-
pactness, or else, that being overcome by its own weight, it
had decreased in density and become extended over a large
surface : at one moment it was white, at another dingy and
spotted, just as it Avas more or less charged with earth or
with ashes.

" To a man so eager as he was in the pursuit of knowledge,
this appeared to be a most singular phaenomenon, and one that
deserved to be viewed more closely; accordingly he gave
orders for a light Liburnian vessel to be got ready, and lefb
it at my option to accompany him. To this however I made
answer, that I should prefer continuing my studies ; and as
it so happened, he himself had just given me something to
\ATite. Taking his tablets with him, he left the house. The
sailors stationed at Eetina, alarmed at the imminence of the
danger — for the village lay at the foot of the mountain,
and the sole escape was by sea — sent to entreat his assist-
ance in rescuing them from this frightful peril. Upon this
he instantly changed his plans, and what he had already
begun from a desire for knowledge, he determined to carry
out as a matter of duty. He had the gallics put to sea at once,
and went on board himself, witli the intention of rendering as-
sistance, not only to Eetina, but to many other places as well ;
for the whole of this charming coast w^as thickly populated.
Accordingly he made all possible haste towards tlie spot,
from which others were flying, and steered straiglit onwards
into the very midst of the danger: so far indeed was he
from every sensation of fear, that he remarked and had
noted down every movement and every change tliat was to
be observed in the appearance of this ominous eruption.

X LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PLINT.

The ashes were now falling fast upon the vessels, hotter
and more and more thickly the nearer thej approached the
shore ; showers of pumice too, intermingled with black
stones, calcined and broken by the action of the flames :
the sea suddenly retreated from the shore, where the debris
of the mountain rendered landing quite impossible. After
hesitating for a moment whether or not to turn back, upon
the pilot strongly advising him to do so : — " Fortune favours
the boldV said he, " conduct me to Pomponianus." Pom-
ponianus was then at Stabise, a place that lay on the other
side of the bay, for in tliose parts the shores are winding,
and as they gradually trend away, the sea forms a number
of little creeks. At this spot the danger at present was not
imminent, but still it could be seen, and as it appeared to be
approaching nearer and nearer, Pomponianus had ordered
his baggage on board the ships, determined to take to
flight, if the wind, which happened to be blowing the other
way, should chance to lull. The wind, being in this quarter,
was extremely favourable to his passage, and my uncle soon
arriving at Stabiae, embraced his anxious friend, and did his
best to restore his courage ; and tlie better to re-assure him
by evidence of his own sense of their safety, he requested the
servants to conduct him to the bath. After bathing he took
his place at table, and dined, and that too in high spirits, or
at all events, what equally shows his strength of mind, with
every outward appearance of being so. In the mean time
vast sheets of flame and large bodies of fire were to be seen
arising from Mount Vesuvius ; the glare and brilliancy of
which were beheld in bolder relief as the shades of night
came on apace. My uncle however, in order to calm their
fears, persisted in saying that this was only the light given
by some villages whicli had been abandoned by the rustics
in their alarm to the flames : after which he retired to rest,
and soon fell fast asleep : for his respiration, which with him
was heavy and loud, in consequence of his corpulence, was
distinctly heard by the servants who were keeping watch at
the door of the apartment. The courtyard which led to his
apartment had now become filled with cinders and pumice-
stones, to such a degree, that if he had remained any longer
in the room, it would have been quite impossible for him to
^ " Fortes fortuna juvat."

LIPE AND WRITINGS OF PLINT. XI

leave it. On being awoke lie immediately arose, and re-
joined Pomponianus and the others who had in the mean-
while been sitting up. They then consulted together whe-
ther it would be better to remain in the house or take their
chance in the open air ; as the building was now rocking to
and fro from the violent and repeated shocks, while the walls,
as though rooted up from their very foundations, seemed
to be at one moment carried in this direction, at another
in that. Having adopted the latter alternative, they were
now alarmed at the showers of light calcined pumice-stones
that were falling thick about them, a risk however to which
as a choice of evils they had to submit. In taking this step
I must remark that, while with my uncle it was reason tri-
umphing over reason, with the rest it was only one fear
getting the better of the other. Taking the precaution of
placing pillows on their heads, they tied them on with towels,
by way of protection against the falling stones and ashes.
It was now day in other places, though there it was still
night, more dark and more profound than any ordinary night ;
torches however and various lights in some measure served
to dispel the gloom. It was then determined to make for
the shore, and to ascertain whether the sea would now admit
of their embarking ; it was found however to be still too
stormy and too boisterous to allow of their making the at-
tempt. Upon this my uncle lay down on a sail which had
been spread for him, and more than once asked for some
cold water, which he drank ; very soon however, they were
alarmed by the flames and the sulphurous smell which an-
nounced their approach, upon which the others at once took to
flight, while my uncle arose leaning upon two of the servants
for support. Upon making this effort, he instantly fell to
the ground ; the dense vapour having, I imagine, stopped the
respiration and suffocated him ; for his cliest was natiu-ally
weak and contracted, and often troubled with violent palpi-
tations. When day was at last restored, the third after the
closing one of his existence, his body was found vmtouched
and without a wound ; there was no change to be perceived
in the clothes, and its appearance was rather that of a per-
pon asleep than of a corpse. In the meantime my mother
and myself were at Misenum — that however has nothing
to do with the story, as it was only your wish to know the

XU LIFE AKD WRITIIfGS OF PLINT.

details connected with his death. I shall therefore draw to
a conclusion. The only thing that I shall add is the assu-
rance that I have truthfully related all these facts, of which
I was either an eye-witness myself, or heard them at the
time of their occurrence, a period w^hen they were most
likely to he correctly related. You of course will select
such points as you may think the most important. For it
is one thing to write a letter, another to write history ; — one
thing to write for a friend, another to write for the puhlic.
Farewell."

Of the mode of life pursued by Pliny, and of the rest of
his works, an equally interesting account has been pre-
served by his nephew, in an Epistle addressed to Macer^
We cannot more appropriately conclude than by present-
ing this Epistle to the reader : — " I am highly gratified to
find that you read the w^orks of my uncle with such a
degree of attention as to feel a desire to possess them
all, and that with this view you inquire, What are their
names ? I will perform the duties of an index then : and
not content with that, will state in what order they were
written : for even that is a kind of information which is by no
means undesirable to those who are devoted to literary pur-
suits. His first composition was a treatise ' on the use of
the Javelin by Cavalry,' in one Book. This he composed,
with equal diligence and ingenuity, while he was in com-
mand of a troop of horse. His second work was the ' Life
of Q. Pomponius Secundus,' in two Books, a person by whom
he had been particularly beloved. — These books he composed
as a tribute which was justly due to the memory of his de-
ceased friend. His next work was twenty Books on ' the
Wars in Gi-ermany,' in which he has compiled an account of
all the wars in which we have been engaged with the people
of that country This he had begun while serving in
G-ermany, having been recommended to do so in a dream.
Eor in his sleep he thought that the figure of Drusus
Nero"^ stood by him — the same Drusus, who after the
most extensive conquests in that country, there met his

1 B. iii. Ep. 5.

2 Nero Claudius Drusus, the son of Livia, afterwards the wife of Au-
gustus. He was the father of the Emperor Claudius, and died in Grer-
many of the effects of an accident.

LIFE AND WEITIJfGS OF PLINT. xiii

death. Commending Lis memory to Pliny's attentive care,
Drusus conjured him to rescue it from the decaying effect
of oblivion. Next to these came his three books entitled 'The
Student '\ divided, on account of their great size, into six
volumes. In these he has given instructions for the training
of the orator, from the cradle to his entrance on public
life. In the latter years of Nero's reign, he wrote eight
books, * On Difficulties in the Latin Language^ ;' that being
a period at which every kind of study, in any way free-spoken
or even of elevated style, would have been rendered danger-
ous by the tyranny that was exercised. His next work was
his ' Continuation of the History of Aufidius Bassus,' in
thirty-one books ; after which came his ' Natural History,'
in thirty-seven books, a work remarkable for its comprehen-
siveness and erudition, and not less varied than Nature her-
self. You will wonder how a man so occupied with business
could possibly find time to write such a number of volumes,
many of them on subjects of a nature so difficult to be
treated of. You will be even more astonished when you
learn, that for some time he pleaded at the bar as an advo-
cate, that he was only in his fifty-sixth year at the time of
his death, and that the time that intervened was equally
trenched upon and frittered away by the most weighty duties
of business, and the marks of favour shewn him by princes.
His genius, however, was truly quite incredible, his zeal
indefatigable, and his power of application wonderful in the
extreme. At the festival of the Vulcanalia^, he began to
sit up to a late hour by candle-light, not for the purpose of
consulting'* the stars, but with the object of pursuing his
studies ; while, in the winter, he would set to work at the
seventh hour of the night, or the eightli at the very latest,
often indeed at the sixths By nature he had the faculty of
being able to fall asleep in a moment ; indeed, slumber would
sometimes overtake him in his studies, and then leave him
just as suddenly. Before daybreak, he was in the habit of
attending the Emperor Vespasian, — for he, too, was one who
made an excellent use of his nights, — and then betook him-

* " Studiosus." This work has perished.

* " De Dubia Sermone." A few scattered ft'agmcnts of it still survive.
' 23rd of August. ^ For astrological presages.

* At midwiaterj this hour would answer at Kome to oui* midnight.

XIV LIFE AKD WRITINGS OF PLINY.

self to the duties with which he was charged. On his re-
turn home, he devoted all the time which was still remaining
to study. Taking an early repast, after the old fashion,
light, and easy of digestion, in the summer time, if he had
any leisure to spare, he would lie down in the sun-shine,
while some book was read to him, he himself making notes
and extracts in the meanwhile ; for it was his habit never to
read anything without making extracts, it being a maxim of
his, that there is no book so bad but that some good may be
got out of it. After thus enjoying the sunshine, he gene-
rally took a cold bath ; after which he would sit down to a
slight repast, and then take a short nap. On awaking, as
though another day had now commenced, he would study
till the hour for the evening meal, during which some book
was generally read to him, he making comments on it in a
cursory manner. I remember, on one occasion, a friend of
his interrupting the reader, who had given the wrong pro-
nunciation to some words, and making him go over them
again. " You understood him, didn't you ?" said my uncle.
" Yes," said the other. " Why, then, did you make him go
over it again ? Through this interruption of yours, we have
lost more than ten lines." So thrifty a manager was he of
time ! In summer he rose from the evening meal by day-
light ; and, in winter, during the first hour of the night\
just as though there had been some law which made it com-
pulsory on him to do so. This is how he lived in the midst
of his employments, and the bustle of the city. When in
retirement in the country, the time spent in the bath was
the only portion that was not allotted by him to study.
When I say in the bath, I mean while he was in the water ;
for while his body was being scraped with the strigil and
rubbed, he either had some book read to him, or else would
dictate himself. While upon a journey, as though relieved
from every other care, he devoted himself to study, and no-
thing else. By his side was his secretary, with a book and
tablets ; and, in the winter time, the secretary's hands were
protected by gloves, that the severity of the weather might
not deprive his master for a single moment of his services.
It was for this reason also that, when at Eome, he would
never move about except in a litter. I remember that on
' At midwinter, this would be between six and seven in the evening.

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PLINT. XV

one occasion lie found fault with me for walking — " You
might have avoided losing all those hours," said he ; for he
looked upon every moment as lost which was not devoted to
study. It was by means of such unremitting industry as
this that he completed so many works, and left me 160
volumes of notes ^, written extremely small on both sides,
which in fact renders the collection doubly voluminous.
He himself used to relate, that when he was procurator in
Spain, he might have parted with his common-place book to
Largius Licinius for 400,000 sesterces ; and at that time the
collection was not so extensive as afterwards. When you
come to think of how much he must have read, of how much
he has written, would you not really suppose that he had
never been engaged in business, and had never enjoyed the
favour of princes ? And yet, on the other hand, when you
hear what laboiu- he expended upon his studies, does it not
almost seem that he has neither written nor read enough ?
For, in fact, Avhat pursuits are those that would not have
been interrupted by occupations such as his ? While, again,
what is there that such unremitting perseverance as his
could not have effected ? I am in the habit, therefore, of
laughing at it when people call me a studious man, — me
who, in comparison with him, am a downright idler ; and
yet I devote to study as much time as my public engage-
ments on the one hand, and my duties to my friends on the
other, will admit of. Wlio is there, then, out of all those
who have devoted their whole life to literature, that ought
not, when put in comparison with him, to quite blush at a
life that would almost appear to have been devoted to
slothfulness and inactivity ? But my letter has already
exceeded its proper limits, for I had originally intended to
write only upon the subject as to which you made inquiry,
the books of his composition that he left. I trust, however,
that these particulars will prove no less pleasing to you than
the writings themselves ; and that they will not only induce
you to peruse them, but excite you, by a feeling of generous
emulation, to produce some work of a similar nature. —
Parewell."

Of all the works written by Pliny, one only, tlic ' ITistoria
Naturalis ' has survived to our times. This work, however,
* " Electorum Commentarii."

XVI LIFE AND WRITINGS OP PLINT.

is not a 'Natural History' in tlie modern acceptation of
the term, but rather a vast Encyclopaedia of ancient know-
ledge and belief upon almost every known subject — " not
less varied than Nature herself," as his nephew says. It
comprises, within the compass of thirty-seven books, 20,000
matters of importance, collected from about 2000 vohimes
(nearly all of which have now perished), the works, as Pliny
himself states, of 100 writers of authority ; together with
a vast number of additional matters unknovni to those au-
thorities, and many of them the results of his own expe-
rience and observation. Hardouin has drawn up a cata-
logue of the authors quoted by Pliny; they amount in
number to between 400 and 500.

The following is a brief sketch of the plan of this wonderful
monument of human industry. After a dedicatory Epistle to
Titus, followedby a table of contents of the otherBooks, which
together form the Eirst Book, the author proceeds to give
an account of the prevailing notions as to the universe, the
earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the more remarkable
properties of the elements (^pai'tes naturce). He then passes
on to a geographical description of the face of the earth as
known to the ancients. After the Greography comes what may
in strict propriety be termed " Natural History," including
a history of man, replete indeed with marvels, but inter-
esting in the highest degree. Having mentioned at consi-
derable length the land, animals, fishes, birds, and insects,
he passes on to Botany, which in its various aspects oc-
cupies the larger portion of the work. At the same time,
in accordance with his comprehensive plan, this part
includes a vast amount of information on numerous subjects,
the culture of the cereals and the manufacture of oil, wine,
paper {'papyrus), and numerous other articles of daily use.
After treating at considerable length of Medical Botany,
he proceeds to speak of medicaments derived from the human
body, from which he branches off into discussions on the
history of medicine, and magic, which last he looks upon as
an offshoot from the medical art ; and he takes this oppor-
tunity of touching upon many of the then current supersti-
tions and notions on astrology. He concludes this portion
of his work with an account of the medicinal properties of
various waters, and of those of fishes and other aquatic animals.

LIFE AND WEITIKGS OF PLIIS^T. XVU

He then presents us with a treatise on Mineralogy, in
which he has accumulated every possible kind of inib:;;j-
ation relative to the use of gold, silver, bronze, v.v.d
other metals ; a subject which not unnaturally leads him
into repeated digressions relative to money, jewels, plate,
statues, and statuaries. Mineral pigments next occupy his
attention, with many interesting notices of the great painters
of Greece ; from which he passes on to the various kinds of
stone and materials employed in building, and the use of
marble for the purposes of sculpture, including a notice of
that art and of the most eminent sculptors. The last Book
is devoted to an account of gems and precious stones, and
concludes with an eulogium on his native country, as alike
distinguished for its fertility, its picturesque beauties, and
the natural endowments and high destinies of its pepole.

From the writings of Pliny we gather of course a large
amount of information as to his opinions and the constitution
of his mind. His credulity, it must be admitted, is great in
the extreme ; though, singularly enough, he severely taxes the
Greeks with the same failing ^ AYere we not assured from
other sources that lie was eminently successful in life, was in
the enjoyment of opulence, and honoured with the favour and
confidence of princes^, the remarks which he frequently
makes on human life, in the Seventh Book more especially,
would have led us to the conclusion that he was a disap-
pointed man, embittered against his fellow-creatures, and
dissatisfied with the terms on which the tenure of life is
granted to us. He opens that Book with a preface replete
with querulous dissatisfaction and repinings at the lot of
man — the only ' tearful ' animal — he says^. He repines at
the helpless and wretched condition of the infant at the
moment it is ushered into life, and the numerous pains and

^ B. viii. c. 34. His acrimony may however, in this instance, have
outstripped his discretion. Though mdebted to them for by far the larg-
est amount of liis information on almost every subject, he seems to have
had a strong aversion to the Greeks, and repeatedly charges them with
lying, viciousness, boasting, and vanity. See B. ii. c. 1 12 ; B. iii. c. 6 ;
B. V. c. 1 ; B. XV. c. 5 ; B. xix. c. 26 ; B. xxviii. c. 29 ; B. xxxvii. c. 74.

2 Of Vespasian and Titus for certain ; and probably of Nero, who
appointed liim "procurator Caesaris" in Spain.

^ Even on that poiiit he contradicts himself in the next Book. See
B. viii. c. 19, and 64, in reference to the Hon and the horse.

h

XVm LIFE AND WETTIlSrGS OF PLIITT.

vices to which it is doomed to be subject. — Man's liability
to disease is with him a blemish in the economy of nature:
— " life," he says, "this gift of nature, however long it
may be, is but too uncertain and too frail ; to those
even to whom it is most largely granted, it is dealt out with
a sparing and niggardly hand, if we only think of eternity \"
As we cannot have life on our own terms, he does not think
it worthy of our acceptance, and more than once expresses
his opinion that the sooner we are rid of it the better. Sud-
den death he looks upon as a remarkable phsenomenon, but, at
the same time, as the greatest blessing that can be granted to
us^ : and when he mentions cases of resuscitation, it is only
to indulge in the querulous complaint, that, " exposed as he
is by his birth to the caprices of fortune, man can be certain
of nothing; no, not even his own death^." Though any-
thing but* an Epicurean, in the modern acceptation of the
word, he seems to have held some, at least, of the tenets
of Epicurus, in reference to the immortality of the soul.
Whether he supposed that the soul, at the moment of death,
is resolved into its previous atoms or constituent elements,
he does not inform us ; but he states it as his belief, that
after death the soul has no more existence than it had before
birth ; that all notions of immortality are a mere delusion^ ;
and that the very idea of a future existence is ridiculous,
and spoils that greatest^ blessing of nature — death. He
certainly speaks of ghosts or apparitions, seen after death ;
but these he probably looked upon as exceptional cases, if
indeed he believed'' in the stories which he quotes, of which
we have no proofs, or rather, indeed, presumptive proofs to
the contrary ; for some of them he calls " magna^ fabulose-
tas," "most fabulous tales."

In relation to human inventions, it is worthy of remark,

1 See B, vii. e. 51.

2 " Summa vitae felicitas." B. vii, c. 54. ^ g, yji ^ 53^

^ He loses no opportunity of inveighing against luxuiy and sensuality.

^ The question as to a future existence he calls " Manium ambages,"
" quiddities about the Manes." B. vii. c. 56. ^ ggg ig yij c. 53.

' We have already seen that in his earlier years he was warned in a
vision by Drusus to write the liistory of the wars in Germany ; but
there is a vast difference between paying attention to the suggestions of
a dream, and beheving in the immortality of the soid, or the existence of
disembodied spuits. ^ B. vii. c. 53.

LIFE AND WETTINGS OF PLLNT. XIX

that he states that the first^ thing in which mankind agreed,
was the use of the Ionian alphabet ; the second, the practice
of shaving- the beard, and the employment of barbers ; and
the third, the division of time into hours.

We cannot more appropriately conclude this review of
the Life and Works of Pliny, than by quoting the opinions
of two of the most eminent philosophers of modern times,
Buiibn and Cuvier ; though the former, it must be admitted,
has spoken of him in somewhat too high terms of commen-
dation, and in instituting a comparison between Pliny's work
and those of Aristotle, has placed in juxtaposition the names
of two men who, beyond an ardent thirst for knowledge, had
no characteristics in common.

"Pliny," says Buftbn^, "has worked upon a plan which
is much more extensive than that of Aristotle, and not im-
probably too extensive. He has made it his object to em-
brace every subject ; indeed he would appear to have taken
the measure of K'ature, and to have found her too contracted
for his expansive genius. His ' Natural History,' inde-
pendently of that of animals, plants, and minerals, includes
an account of the heavens and the earth, of medicine, com-
merce, navigation, the liberal and mechanical arts, the
origin of usages and customs, in a word, the history of all the
natural sciences and all the arts of human invention. What,
too, is still more astonishing, in each of tliese departments
Pliny shows himself equally great. The grandeur of his
ideas and the dignity of his style confer an additional lustre
on the profoundjiess of his erudition ; not only did he know
all that was known in his time, but he was also gifted with
that comprehensiveness of view which in some measure mul-
tiplies knowledge. He had all that delicacy of perception
upon which depend so materially both elegance and taste,
and he communicates to his readers that freedom of thought
and that boldness of sentiment, whicli constitute the true
germ of philosophy. His work, as varied as Nature herself,
always paints her in her most attractive colours. It is, so to
say, a compilation from all that had been written before liis

1 B. vii. c. 58, 59, 60.

' Mankind must surely have agreed before this in making the instru-
ments employed, in shaving.

" Discours Premier sur THiatoire Natui'elle."

&2

IX LIFE AND WEITINGS OF PLINT.

time : a record of all that was excellent or useful ; but this
record has in it features so grand, this compilation contains
matter grouped in a manner so novel, that it is preferable to
most of the original works that treat upon similar subjects."
The judgment pronounced by Cuvier on Pliny's work,
though somewhat less highly coloured, awards to it a high
rank among the most valuable productions of antiquity.
" The work of Pliny V' says he, " is one of the most precious
monuments that have come down to us from ancient times,
and affords proof of an astonishing amount of erudition in
one who was a warrior and a statesman. To appreciate
with justice this vast and celebrated composition, it is
necessary to regard it in several points of view — with re-
ference to the plan proposed, the facts stated, and the
style employed. The plan proposed by the writer is of
immense extent — it is his object to write not merely a
Natural History in our restricted sense of the term, not
an account merely, more or less detailed, of animals, plants,
and minerals, but a work which embraces astronomy, phy-
sics, geography, agriculture, commerce, medicine, and the
fine arts — and all these in addition to natural history pro-
perly so called ; while at the same time he continually
interweaves with his narrative information upon the arts
which bear relation to man considered metaphysically, and
the history of nations, — so much so indeed, that in many
respects this work was the Encyclopaedia of its age. It was
impossible in running over, however cursorily, such a pro-
digious number of subjects, that the writer should not have
made us acquainted with a multitude of facts, which, while
remarkable in themselves, are the more precious from the
circumstance that at the present day he is the only author
extant who relates them. It is to be regretted however that
the manner in which he has collected and grouped this
mass of matter, has caused it to lose some portion of its
value,, from his mixture of fable with truth, and more espe-
cially from the difficulty, and in some cases, the impossibi-
lity, of discovering exactly of what object^ he is speaking.
But if Pliny possesses little merit as a critic, it is far other-

^ Biographie Universelle. Vol. 35. Art. Pline.

' This, however, is not tlie fault of Pliny, lait the result of imperfect
tradition. To have described every object minutely that he has named,

LIFE A^B WETTINGS OF FLINT. XXI

wise witli liis talent as a writer, and the immense treasury
whicli he opens to us of Latin terms and forms of expres-
sion : these, from the very abundance of the subjects upon
which he treats, render his work one of the richest reposi-
tories of the Roman language. Wherever he finds it possible
to give expression to general ideas or to philosophical views,
his language assumes considerable energy and \'ivacity, and
his thoughts present to us a certain novelty and boldness
which tend in a very great degree to relieve the dryness of
his enumerations, and, with the majority of his readers, ex-
cuse the insufiiciency of his scientific indications. He is
always noble and serious, full of the love of justice and
virtue, detestation of cruelty and baseness, of which he
had such frightful instances before his eyes, and con-
tempt for that unbridled luxury which in his time had
so deeply corrupted the Roman people. For these great
merits Pliny cannot be too highly praised, and despite the
faults which we are obliged to admit in him when viewed as
a naturalist, we are bound to regard him as one of the most
meritorious of the Roman writers, and among those most
worthy to be reckoned in the number of the classics who
wrote after the reign of Augustus,"

and of whicli he has given the peeuhar properties, would have swollen,
his book to a most enormous size, almost indeed beyond conception.

CONTENTS.

OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

BOOK I.

DEDICATION. Page

C. Plinius Secundus to his friend Titus Yespasian 1

BOOK 11.

P„ , „ AN ACCOUNT OF THE WOULD AND THE ELEMENTS.

Chap.

1. Whether the "w-orld be finite, and whether there be more than

one world 13

2. Of the form of the world 16

3. Of its nature; whence the name is derived ib.

4. Of the elements and the planets 18

5. Of God 20

6. Of the natin-e of the stars ; of the motion of the planets ... 25

7. Of the eclipses of the moon and the sun 34

8. Of the magnitude of the stars 35

9. An account of the observations that have been made on the

heavens by different inchviduals 36

10. On the recurrence of the echpses of the sun and the moon ... 38

11. Of the motion of the moon 40

12. Of the motions of the planets and the general laws of their

aspects ib.

13. Why the same stars appear at some times more lofty and at

other thnes more near 42

14. Why the same stars have different motions 47

15. General laws of the planets 48

16. The reason why the stars are of different colours 49

17. Of the motion of the sun and the cause of the irregularity of

the days 50

18. Why thunder is ascribed to Jupiter 51

19. Of the distances of the stars 52

20. Of the harmony of the stars ib.

21. Of the dimensions of the world 53

22. Of the stars which appear suddenly, or of comets 55

23. Their nature, situation, and species 66

^^0^6-Z

IXIV CONTENTS.

Chap. _

24 The doctrine of Hipparchus about the stars 5^9

25. Examples from history of celestial prodigies; Faces' Lam-

pades, and Bolides ^j^

26. Trahes C celestes ; Chasma Cceli *_' \ " gQ

27. Of the colours of the sky and of celestial flame !.. .'. .[. ih.

28. Of celestial coronae gV

29. Of sudden circles [ g2

30. Of unusually long ecHpses of the sun ... ... .*" "] \'^ H,

31. Many suns -i

32. Many moons f»a

33. Dayhght in the night ,.\ __' ""' ^-j^

34. Burnmg shields ' ^-j

35. An ominous appearance in the heavens, that was seeii once only ib.

36. Ot stars winch move about in various directions 64

37. Of the stars which are named Castor and Pollux ... ... ... ih.

38. Of the an-, and on the cause of the showers of stones ..." .'" 65*

39. Of the stated seasons gg

40. Of the rising of the dog-star ..\ \\ gy

41. Of the regular influence of the different seasons ..." "." '"' ih.

42. Of uncertain states of the weather ' [ gg

43. Of thunder and hghtning \ " ' ^j

44. The origin of winds " ] /^q

45. Various observations respecting winds ... . " '' 7l

46. The different kinds of winds ... \\\ \ 73

47. The periods of the winds \\ \ "' yg

48. Nature of the winds " ' ] * ' " hh

49. Ecnephias and Typhon ' "' ' hq

50. Tornadoes ; blasting winds j whirlwinds, and other wonder-

ful kinds of tempests oq

51. Of thunder ; in what countries it does not fall, and for what

reason .,

^o* Su ^^ ^i^^'^ent kinds of Hghtning and their wonderful" effects 81

b6 Ihe Etrurian and the Eoman obsei-vations on these points 82

54. Ot conjuring up thunder ' " gg

55. Greneral laws of Hghtning ... ..." " g^

56. Objects which are never struck ' . gg

57. Showers of niHk, blood, flesh, h-on, wool^ "and baked tiles " " 87

58. Katthng of arms and the sound of trumpets heard in the sky 88

59. Ot stones that have fallen from the clouds. The opinion of

Anaxagoras respecting them :x

60. The rainbow "; ;;; ;;; ; g^

61. The nature of haU, snow, hoar, mist, dew ';" 'the 'form's of" clouds 90

bz. ilie peculiarities of the weather in different places qi

63. Nature of the earth .. ^j

64. Of the form of the earth " ' ] qI

65. Whether there be antipodes ? ... ... ... '[ ^^

66. How the water is connected with the earth, "of the naviga-

tion of the sea and the rivers 07

67. Whether the ocean smTOunds the earth .! ! .,, [[ 93

CONTENTS, Xr?

Chap. Page

68. Wliat part of tlie earth is inhabited 100

69. That the earth is in the middle of the world 102

70. Of the obhquity of the zones ih.

Vl. Of the inequality of chmates ib.

72. In what places echpses are inrisible, and why this is the case 104

73. What regulates the day hght on the earth 105

74. Remarks on dials, as connected with this subject 106

75. When and where there are no shadows 107

76. Where this takes place twice in the year and where the sha-

dows fall in opposite du'ections

77. Where the days are the longest and where the shortest

78. Of the first dial ...

79. Of the mode iu which the days are computed

80. Of the difference of nations as depending on the nature of the

world

81. Of earthquakes

82. Of clefts of the earth

83. Signs of an approaching earthquake . . .

84. Preservatives agamst future earthquakes

85. Prodigies of the earth which have occurred once only

86. Wonderful circumstances attending earthquakes

87. In what places the sea has receded

88. The mode m which islands rise up

89. What islands have been formed, and at what periods

90. Lands which have been separated by the sea

91. Islands which have been luiited to the main land ...

92. Lands which have been totally changed into seas ...

93. Lands which have been swallowed up

94. Cities which have been absorbed by the sea

95. Of vents in the earth

96. Of certain lands which are always shaking, and of floating

islands

Places in which it never rains

The wonders of various countries collected together
Concerning the cause of the flowing and ebbmg of the sea
Where the tides rise and fall in an unusual manner

Wonders of the sea

The power of the moon over the land and the sea

The power of the sun

Why the sea is salt

Where the sea is the deepest

The wonders of fountains and rivers
The wonders of fire and water united

OfMaltha

Of naphtha

Places which are always burning

Wonders of fire alone

The dimensions of the earth

The harraonical proportion of the universe

IXVl CONTENTS.

BOOK III.

AN ACCOTTNT OF COrNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS,
EIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OE POEMEELT
EXISTED.

Introduction ... 15]^

1. The boundaries and gulfs of Europe first set forth in a general

way 153

2. Of Spain generally {^^

3. OfBsetica I54,

4. Of Nearer Spain Ig^

5. Of the province of GaUia Narbonensis I74

6. Of Italy Tcn

7. Of the nmtli region of Italy 184

8. The seventh region of Italy 136

9. The first region of Italy ; the Tiber; Eome 191

10. The third region of Italy ]^^ 207

11. Sixty-four islands, among which are the Baleares 210

12. Corsica 213

13. Sardinia 215

14. SicHy ... ... ... ... ['[ ''[ '" '" 216

15. Magna Grrsecia, beginning at Locri 222

16. The second region of Italy 225

17. The fourth region of Italy ' ' ' 231

18. The fifth region of Italy 235

19. The sixth region of Italy ' 237

20. The eighth region of Italy ; the Padus ..' ...241

21. The eleventh region of Italy ; ItaHa Transpadana !.! 246

22. The tenth region of Italy 248

23. Istria, its people and locahty 251

24. The Alps, and the Alpine nations 254

25. Liburnia and lUyricmn 257

26. Dalmatia 259

27. TheNorici ] [[[ [[[ ."'" ''] ' 262

28. Pannonia 263

29. Moesia [" 264

30. Islands of the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic 265

BOOK lY.

AN ACCOTTNT OF COXTNTEIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS
EIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OE POEMEELY
EXISTED.

1. Eph'US otj-t

£1. Acarnama 273

3. -^tolia 9^75

CONTENTS. XXVll

Chap. Page

4. Locris and Phocis 276

5. The Peloponnesus , 278

6. Achaia 280

7. Messenia 282

8. Laconia 283

9. ArgoHs 284

10. Arcadia 285

11. Attica 288

12. Boeotia 290

13. Doris 293

14. Plitliiotis 293

15. Thessaly Proper 294

16. Magnesia 296

17. Macedonia 297

18. Thi-ace; the iEgean Sea 302

19. The islands which he before the lands already mentioned . . . 310

20. Crete 313

21. Euboea 316

22. The Cyclades 317

23. The Sporades 320

24. The HeUespont.— The lake Mseotis 326

25. Dacia, Sarmatia 329

26. Scythia , 330

27. The islands of the Euxine. The islands of the northern ocean 338

28. Germany 345

29. Nmety-six islands of the Galhc ocean 349

30. Britannia 350

31. GaUiaBelgica 353

32. Galha Lugdmiensis 355

33. Gallia Aquitanica 357

34. Nearer Spain, its coast along the Gallic ocean 360

35. Lusitania 363

36. Tlie islands ua the Atlantic ocean 367

37. The general measm'ement of Europe 369

BOOK V.

JlS account of COtJNTEIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS,
EIVEES, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OE FOEMEELY
EXISTED.

1. The two Mauritanias 374

2. Numidia 387

3. Africa 388

4. TheSyrtes 391

5. Cyrenaica 395

6. Libya Mareotis 401

7. The islands in the vicinity of Africa 402

8. Countries on the other side of Africa 403

9. Egypt and Thebais 406

XXVUl CONTENTS.

10. The River NUe 41^0

11. The cities of Egypt *" ""' ""' 43^5

12. The coasts of Ai-abia, situate on the Egyptian Sea ... . 422

13. Syria " ; 423

14. Idumsea, Palsestina, and Samaria 424

15. Judaea ' 42/7

16. DecapoHs 43]^

17. Phoenice 433

18. Syria Antiochia 43g

19. The remaining parts of Syria * 438

20. The Euphrates [ ^[ ' " ' ' '" 44]^

21. Syria upon the Euphrates * ]] 443

22. Cihcia and the adjoining nations " ,' [[ 44Q

23. Isauria and the Homonades 45O

24. Pisidia "'" 4^^

25. Lycaonia ^-^

26. Pamphyha 4^2

27. Mount Taurus .,, ,[[ [[[ [[] [[ ' ' 453

28. Lyeia ," ''[ "[ ' "' '" 455

29. Caria acq

—. ■4^00

30. Lydia 435

81. Ionia Aaf^

32. ^ohs .?«

33. Troas and the adjoining nations 475

34. The islands which he in front of Asia 479

35. Cyprus ."] '' ' "' .".".480

36. Rhodes -100

„^ „ •*oo

S7. Samos 40K

38. Chios ' 4og

39. Lesbos AQI7

40. The Hellespont and Mysia 488

41. Phiygia ''[ "' ."'! 490

42. Galatia and the adjouiing nations 49I

43. Bithynia 403

44. The islands of the Propontis _ 4gg

NATUEAL HISTORY OP PLINY,

BOOK 1}

DEDICATION.

C, PLIIS^IUS SECUNDUS TO HIS TEIEND TITTJS YESPASIAN".

This treatise on Natural History, a novel work in Homan
literature, which I have just completed, I have taken the
liberty to dedicate to you, most gracious^ Emperor, an appel-
lation peculiarly suitable to you, while, on account of his
age, that of great is more appropriate to your Father ; —

" For still thou ne'er wouldst quite despise
The trifles that I write 3 ; "

if I may be allowed to shelter myself under the example of
Catullus, my fellow-countryman'*, a military term, which you
well understand. For he, as you know, when his napkins
Lad been changed \ expressed himself a little harshly, from

^ Lemaire informs us, in his title-page, that the two first books of the
Natui'al EQstory are edited by M. Alexandi-e, in his edition.

2 " Jucundissinae ;" it is not easy to find an epithet in our language
•wliich will correctly express the meaning of the original, affectionate and
lamihar, at the same time that it is sufiiciently dignified and respectful.

8 Lamb's trans. ; Cann. i. 4. of the origmal.

* " ConteiTaneus ; " we have no word in Enghsh wliich expresses the
idea intended by the original, and which is, at the same time, a military
term. There is indeed some reason to doubt, whether the word now
inserted in the text was the one employed by the author : see the remarks
of M. Alexandre, in Lem. i. 3 ; also an obseiwation in Cigalino's disser-
tation on the native country of Pliny ; Valpy, 8.

^ " Permutatis prioribus ssetabis;" Carm. xii. 14; xxv. 7; see the
notes in Lamb's trans, pp. 135 & 149.

VOL. I. n B

2 PLINT's l^ATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book I.

liis anxiety to show liis friendship for his dear little Veranius
and Fahius^. At the same time this my importunity may
effect, what you complained of my not having done in an-
other too forward epistle of mine ; it will put upon record,
and let all the world know, with what kindness you exercise
the imperial dignity. You, who have had the honour of a
triumph, and of the censorship, have been six times consul,
and have shared in the tribunate ; and, what is still more
honourable, whilst you held them in conjunction with your
Father, you have presided over the Equestrian order, and
been the Prefect of the Prsetorians^ : all this you have done
for the service of the Eepublic, and, at the same time, have
regarded me as a fellow-soldier and a messmate. Nor has
the extent of your prosperity produced any change in you,
except that it has given you the power of doing good to the
utmost of your wishes. And whilst all these circumstances
increase the veneration which other persons feel for you,
with respect to myself, they have made me so bold, as to wish
to become more familiar. You must, therefore, place this
to your owTi account, and blame yourself for any fault of this
kind that I may commit.

But, although I have laid aside my blushes^, I have not
gained my object ; for you still awe me, and keep me at a
distance, by the majesty of your understanding. In no one
does the force of eloquence and of tribunitian oratory blaze
out more powerfully ! With what glowing language do you
thunder forth the praises of your Father ! How dearly do
you love your Brother ! How admirable is your talent for
poetry ! What a fertility of genius do you possess, so as to

^ These names in tlie original are Yaraniolus and Fabullus, wMcli are
supposed to have been changed from Yeranius and Fabiiis, as terms of
familiarity and endearment ; see Poinsinet, i. 2 i, and Lemaire, i. 4.

2 The narrative of Suetonius may serve to illustrate the observation of
Pliny : " Triumphavit (Titus) cima patre, censiu'amque gessit una. Ei-
dem coUega et in tribunicia potestate, et in septem consulatibus fuit.
E-eceptaque ad se prope omnimn officiorum cm'a, cum patris nomine et
epistolas ipse dictaret, et edicta conscriberet, orationesque in Senatu reci-
taret etiam qusestoris vice, prsefecturam quoque prEetorii suscepit, nun-
quam ad id tempus, nisi ab Equite Romano, admiaistratum." (viii. 5.)

^ " Perfricui faciem." Tliis appears to have been a proverbial expres-
sion among the Romans ; Cicero, Tusc. Qua;s. iii. 41, employs " os per-
fricuisti," and Martial, xi. 27. 7, "perfricuit frontem," in the same sense.

Book I.] DEDICATION. 3

enable you to imitate your Brotlier^ ! But who is there that
is bold enough to form an estimate on these points, if he is
to be judged by you, and, more especially, if you are chal-
lenged to do so ? For the case of those Avho merely publish
their works is very diiferent from that of those Avho ex-
pressly dedicate them to you. In the former case I might
say, Emperor ! why do you read these things ? They are
written only for the common people, for farmers or mecha-
nics, or for those who have nothing else to do ; why do you
trouble yoiu-self with them ? Indeed, when I vmdertook
this work, I did not expect that you would sit in judgement
upon me" ; I considered your situation much too elevated
for you to descend to such an office. Besides, we possess the
right of openly rejecting the opinion of men of learning,
M. Tullius himself, whose genius is beyond all competition,
uses this privilege ; and, remarkable as it may appear, em-
ploys an advocate in his own defence: — " I do not write for
very learned people ; I do not wish my works to be read by
Manius Persius, but by Junius Congus^." And if Lucilius,
who first introduced the satirical style"*, applied such a re-
mark to himself, and if Cicero thought proper to borrow it,
and that more especially in his treatise " De E,epublica,"
how much reason have I to do so, who have such a judge to
defend myself against ! And by this dedication I have de-
prived myself of the benefit of challenge" ; for it is a very
different thing whether a person has a judge given him by
lot, or whether he voluntarily selects one ; and we always
make more preparation for an invited guest, than for one
that comes in unexpectedly.

* Suetonius speaks of Domitian's taste for poetry, as a part of his ha-
bitual dissimulation, vui. 2 ; see also the notes of Poinsinet, i. 26, and of
Alexandre, in Lcmaire, i. 351.

2 " Non eras in hoc albo ;" see the note of Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 8.
A passage in Quintihan, xii. 4, may seiTe to illustrate this use of the term
' album' ; "... quorimi alii se ad album ac rubricas transtulcront "

3 It appears that the passage in which Cicero makes this quotation
from Lucihus, is not in the part of his treatise De Republica wliich was
lately discovered by Angelus Mains ; Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 9. Cicero
refers to this remark of Lucihus in two of his otlier works, although with
a variation in the expression and in the individuals specilied ; De Orat.
ii. 6, and De Fin. i. 3.

^ " Qui primus condidit styh nasum."

^ " Scd ha3c ego milii nunc patrocinia adenii nuncupatione."

b2

4 pliny's NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book I.

"When the candidates for office, during the heat of the
canvass, deposited the fine^ in the hands of Cato, that de-
termined opposer of bribery, rejoicing as he did in his being
rejected from what he considered to be foolish honours, they
professed to do this out of respect to his integrity; the
greatest glory which a man could attain. It- was on this
occasion that Cicero uttered the noble ejaculation, " How
happy are you, Marcus Porcius, of whom no one dares to
ask what is dishonourable^!" "When L. Scipio Asiaticus
appealed to the tribunes, among whom was Grracchus, he
expressed full confidence that he should obtain an acquittal,
even from a judge w^ho was his enemy. Hence it follows,
that he who appoints his own judge must absolutely submit
to the decision ; this choice is therefore termed an appeal'^.

I am well aware, that, placed as you are in the highest
station, and gifted with the most splendid eloquence and
the most accomplished mind, even those who come to pay
their respects to you, do it with a kind of veneration : on
this account I ought to be careful that what is dedicated to
you should be worthy of you. But the country people, and,
indeed, some whole nations offer milk to the Grods^, and those
who cannot procure frankincense substitute in its place salted
cakes ; for the Gods are not dissatisfied when they are wor-
shiped by every one to the best of his ability. But my
temerity will appear the greater by the consideration, that
these volumes, which I dedicate to you, are of such inferior
importance. For they do not admit of the display of genius,
nor, indeed, is mine one of the highest order ; they admit of
no excursions, nor orations, nor discussions, nor of any won-
derful adventures, nor any variety of transactions, nor, from
the barrenness of the matter, of anything particularly plea-
sant in the narration, or agreeable to the reader. The na-

^ "Pecvmias deponerent." Ajasson, i. 11, remarks on these words,
*' Qui videri volebant ambitu alieiiissimi, pecuniam apud sanctum aliquem
virum deponebant, qua scilicet multarentur, si imquam hujus criminis
manifesti fierent."

2 This expression is not foimd in any of the works of Cicero which are
now extant, nor, indeed, is it certain that it was anytliing more than a
remark made in conversation. 3 " Provocatio," calling forth.

^ Horace, Epist. ii. 1. 143 ; Ovid, Fast. iv. 746 and v. 121, and Ti-
bullus, i. 1. 26 and ii, 5. 37, refer to the offerings of milk made by the
country people to their rural deities.

Book I.] DEDICATION. 5

ture of tilings, and life as it actually exists, are described in
them ; and often the lowest department of it ; so that, in
very many cases, I am obliged to nse rude and foreign, or
even barbarous terms, and these often require to be intro-
duced by a kind of preface. And, besides tliis, my road is
not a beaten track, nor one which the mind is much disposed
to travel over. There is no one among us who has ever at-
tempted it, nor is there any one individual among the Grreeks
who has treated of all the topics. Most of ns seek for no-
thing but amusement in our studies, while others are fond
of subjects that are of excessive subtilty, and completely in-
volved in obscurity. My object is to treat of all those things
wliich the Greeks include in the Encyclopaedia \ which, how-
ever, are either not generally knowTi or are rendered dubious
from our ingenious conceits. And there are other matters
which many wTiters have given so much in detail that we
quite loathe them. It is, indeed, no easy task to give novelty
to what is old, and authority to what is new ; brightness to
what is become tarnished, and light to what is obsciu-e ; to
render what is slighted acceptable, and what is doubtful
worthy of our confidence ; to give to all a natural manner,
and to each its peculiar nature. It is sufficiently honour-
able and glorious to have been willing even to make the at-
tempt, although it should prove "unsuccessful. And, indeed,
I am of opinion, that the studies of those are more especially
worthy of our regard, who, after having overcome aU diffi-
culties, prefer the useful office of assisting others to the
mere gratification of giving pleasure ; and this is what I have
already done in some of my former works. I confess it sur-
prises me, that T. Livius, so celebrated an author as he is,
in one of the books of his history of the city from its origin,
should begin with this remark, " I have now obtained a suf-
ficient reputation, so that I might put an end to my work,
did not my restless mind require to be supported by employ-
ment^." Certainly he ought to have composed this work,
not for his own glory, but for that of the Eoman name, and

^ "... id est, artiuin et doctrinanim omnium circulus ; " Alexandre
in Lera. i. 14.

2 These words are not found in any of the books of Livy now extant ;
we may conclude that they were introduced into the latter part of his
work.

6 pliny's natueal histoet. [Book I.

of the people wlio were the conquerors of all other nations.
It would liave been more meritorious to have persevered in
his labours from his love of the work, than from the gratifi-
cation which it afforded himself, and to have accomplished
it, not for his own sake, but for that of the Eoman people.

I have included in thirty-six^ books 20,000 topics, all
worthy of attention, (for, as Domitius Piso^ says, we ought
to make not merely books, but valuable collections,) gained
by the perusal of about 2000 volumes, of which a few only
are in the hands of the studious, on account of the obscurity
of the subjects, produced by the careful perusal of 100 select
authors^ ; and to these I have made considerable additions
of things, which were either not known to my predecessors,
or which have been lately discovered. JSTor can I doubt
but that there still remain many things which I have omitted ;
for I am a mere mortal, and one that has many occupations.
I have, therefore, been obliged to compose this work at in-
terrupted intervals, indeed during the night, so that you will
find that I have not been idle even during this period. The
day I devote to you, exactly portioning out my sleep to the
necessity of my health, and contenting myself with this re-
ward, that while we are musing'* on these subjects (accord-
ing to the remark of Yarro), we are adding to the length of
our lives ; for life properly consists in being awake.

In consideration of these circumstances and these difficul-
ties, I dare promise nothing; but you have done me the
most essential service in permitting me to dedicate my work
to you. Nor does this merely give a sanction to it, but it
determines its value ; for things are often conceived to be of
great value, solely because they are consecrated in temples.

1 have given a full account of all your family — your

^ " Quern nunc primum liistoriaj Plinianse librvun vocamus, hie non
numeratuv, quod sit operis index." Hardouin in Lem. i. 16.

2 Nothing is known of Domitius Piso, either as an author or an in-
dividual.

3 The names of these authors will be found, arranged by Hardouin
alphabetically, with a brief accoimt of them and their works, in Lem. i.
157 et seq. ; we have nearly the same Hst in Valpy, p. 4903.

"* "'Musinamur." We learn from Hardoum, Lem. i. 17, that there is
80me doubt as to the word employed by our author, whether it was mu-
sinamur or muginamur ; I should be disposed to adopt the former, as
being, according to the remark of Turnebus, " verbum a Musis deductiun."

Book I.] DEDICATION". 7

Father, yourself, and your Brother, in a history of our own
times, beginning where Aufidius Bassus concludes \ You
will ask, Wliere is it ? It has been long completed and its
accuracy confirmed^ ; but I have determined to commit the
charge of it to my heirs, lest I should have been suspected,
during my lifetime, of having been unduly influenced by
ambition. By this means I confer an obligation on those
who occupy the same ground Avith myself; and also on
posterity, who, I am aware, will contend with me, as I have
done with my predecessors.

Ton may judge of my taste from my having inserted, in
the beginning of my book, the names of the authors that I
have consulted. For I consider it to be courteous and to
indicate an ingenuous modesty, to acknowledge the sources
whence we have derived assistance, and not to act as most
of those have done whom I have examined. Tor I must
inform you, that in comparing various authors with each
other, I have discovered, that some of the most grave and of
the latest writers have transcribed, word for word, from
former works, without making any acknowledgement ; not
avowedly rivalling them, in the manner of Virgil, or with
the candour of Cicero, who, in his treatise " De Eepublica^,"
professes to coincide in opinion with Plato, and in his Essay
on Consolation for his Daughter, says that he follows
Crantor, and, in his Offices^, Panaecius; volumes, which, as you
well know, ought not merely to be always in our hands, but
to be learned by heart. For it is indeed the mark of a per-
verted mind and a bad disposition, to prefer being caught in

1 " A fine Aufidii Bassi ; " as Alexandre remarks, " Finis autem Au-
fidii Bassi intelligendus est non mors ejus, sed tempus ad quod sixas ipse
perduxerat historias. Quodnara illud ignoramus." Lem. i. 18. For an
account of Aufidius Bassus we are referred to the catalogue of Hardouin,
but his name does not appear there. QuintiUan (x. 1) informs us, that
he wTote an account of the Germanic war.

2 " Jam pridem peracta sancitur."

3 This sentiment is not found in that portion of the treatise which has
been lately pubUshed by Angelus Mains, Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 19.

^ The following is probably the passage in the Offices to which Phny
refers : " Pansecius igitur, qiu sine controversia de officiis accuratissimo
disputavit, quemque nos, correctione quadam exhibita, potissimum secuti
Buuius . . . . " (iii. 2.)

8 plint's natural histoet. [Book I.

a tliefb to returning what we have borrowed, especially
when we have acquired capital, by usurious interest \

The Greeks were wonderfully happy in their titles. One
work they called Kripiov, which means that it was as sweet
as a honeycomb ; another Kepas 'AfxaXdeias, or Cornu copise,
so that you might expect to get even a di'aught of pigeon's
milk from it^. Then they have their Flowers, their Muses,
Magazines, Manuals, Gardens, Pictures, and Sketches^, all
of them titles for which a man might be tempted even to
forfeit his bail. But when you enter upon the works, O
ye Gods and Goddesses ! how full of emptiness ! Our duller
countrymen have merely their Antiquities, or their Examples,
or their Arts. I think one of the most humorous of them has
his jN'octurnal Studies'*, a term employed by Bibaculus ; a name
which he richly deserved^. Yarrb, indeed, is not much be-
hind him, when he calls one of his satires A Trick and a Half,
and another Turning the Tables^. Diodorus was the first
among the Greeks who laid aside this trifling manner and
named his history The Library'^. Apion, the grammarian,
indeed — he whom Tiberius Caesar called the Trumpeter of
the World, but would rather seem to be the Bell of the
Town-crier^, — supposed that every one to whom he inscribed
any work would thence acquire immortality. I do not regret
not having given my work a more fanciful title.

That I may not, however, appear to inveigh so completely
against the Greeks, I should wish to be considered under
the same point of view with those inventors of the arts of

* " Cum prsesertim sors fiat ex usura." The commentators and trans-
lators have differed respecting the interpretation of this passage ; I have
given what appears to me the obvious meaning of the words.

2 "Lac gallinaceum ; " "Proverbium de re singulari et admodum
rara," according to Hardouin, who quotes a parallel passage from Petro-
nius ; Lemaire, i. 21.

3 The titles in the original are given in Greek ; I have inserted in the
text the words which most nearly resemble them, and which have
been employed by modern authors. 4 « Lucubratio."

5 The pun in the original cannot be preserved in the translation ; the
Enghsh reader may conceive the name Bibaculus to correspond to our
surname JoUy.

^ " Sesciilysses " and " Flextabula ; " hteraUy, Ulysses and a Half, and
Bend-table. 7 Bi(3\io6t]Kr].

^ " Cymbalum mundi " and " pubhcse famse tympanum."

Book I.] DEDICATION. 9

painting and sculpture, of wliom jou will find an account
in these volumes, whose works, although they are so perfect
that we are neyer satisfied with, admiring them, are inscribed
with a temporary title \ such as " Apelles, or Polycletus, was
doiDg this ; " implyiQg that the work was only commenced
and still imperfect, and that the artist might benefit by the
criticisms that were made on it and alter any part that
required it, if he had not been prevented by death. It is
also a great mark of their modesty, that they inscribed their
works as if they were the last which they had executed, and
as still in hand at the time of their death. I think there are
but three works of art which are inscribed positively with
the words " such a one executed this ; " of these I shall give
an account in the proper place. In these cases it appears,
that the artist felt the most perfect satisfaction ^^'iih. his work,
and hence these pieces have excited the envy of every one.

I, indeed, freely admit, that much may be added to my
works ; not only to this, but to all which I have published.
By this admission I hope to escape from the carping critics",
and I have the more reason to say this, because I hear
that there are certain Stoics and Logicians', and also Epi-
cureans (from the Grrammarians"* I expected as much), who
are big with something against the little work I published
on Grrammar^ ; and that they have been carrying these
abortions for ten years together — a longer pregnancy this
than the elephant's^. But I well know, that even a woman
once -v^Tote against Theophrastus, a man so eminent for his
eloquence that he obtained his name, Avhich signifies the

* " Pendenti titulo ; " as Hardouin explains it, " qui nondum absolutum
opus significaret, verum adhuc pendere, velut imperfectvun." Lemaire,
i, 26. 2 " Homeroinastigse."

3 " Dialectici." By tkis tenn our aiithor probably meant to designate
those critics who were disposed to dwell upon minute verbal distinctions ;
" dialecticarum captionum amantes," according to Hardouin ; Lem. i. 28.

* " Quod argutiarum amantissimi, et quod aemulatio inter illos acer-
bissima." Alexandre in Lemau'e, i. 28.

5 Pliny the younger, in one of his letters (iii. 5), where he enumerates
all his uncle's pubhcations, informs us, that he wTote " a piece of criticism
in eight books, concerning ambiguity of expression." Melmoth's
Phny, i. 136.

^ The ancients had very exaggerated notions respecting the period of
the elephant's pregnancy ; om' author, in a subsequent part of liis work
(viii. 10), says, "Decern Minis gestarevulgusexistimat; Aristotcles biennio."

10 plint's natueal histoet. [Book I.

Divine speaker^ and that from this circumstance originated
the proverb of choosing a tree to hang oneself^.

I cannot refrain from quoting the words of Cato the censor,
which are so pertinent to this point. It appears from them,
that even Cato, who wrote commentaries on military disci-
pline^, and who had learned the military art under Africanus,
or rather under Haiuiibal (for he could not endure Afri-
canus"*, who, when he was his general, had borne away the
triumph from him), that Cato, I say, was open to the attacks
of such as caught at reputation for themselves by detracting
from the merits of others. And what does he say in his
book ? " I know, that when I shall publish what I have writ-
ten, there will be many who will do all they can to depre-
ciate it, and, especially, such as are themselves void of
all merit ; but I let their harangues glide by me." Nor was
the remark of Plancus^ a bad one, when Asinius Pollio^ was
said to be preparing an oration against him, which was to
be published either by himself or his children, after the
death of Plancus, in order that he might not be able to
answer it : " It is only ghosts that fight with the dead."
This gave such a blow to the oration, that in the opinion of

^ His real name was Tyrtamus, but in consequence of the beauty of his
style, he acquired the appellation by which he is generally known from
the words OeZos (ppaai?. Cicero on various occasions refers to him ;
Brutus, 121 ; Orator, 17, et alibi.

" " Suspendio jam qugerere mortem oportere homines vitaeque renunciare,
cum tantum hcentise, vel feminse, vel imperiti homines sumant, ut in
doctisshnos scribant;" Hardoiiin in Lemaire, i. 29. We learn from Cicero,
De Nat. Deor. i. 33, that the name of this female was Leontium ; " . . . .
sed meretricvila etiam Leontium contra Theophrastum scribere ansa
Bit. "

3 A. GreUius (vii. 4) refers to tliis work and gives an extract from it.

^ The hostihty which Cato bore to Scipio Africanus is mentioned by
Livy, xxxviii. 54, and by Com. Nepos, Cato, i,

5 Lucius Munatius Plancus took a conspicuous part in the pohtical
intrigues of the times and was especially noted for his follies and extra-
vagance.

^ Asinius Pollio is a name which stands liigh in Roman hterature ;
according to the remark of Alexandre, " Vfr magnus fuit, prono tamen
ad obtrectandum ingenio, quod arguunt ejus cum Cicerone simultates,"
Lemaire, i. 30, This hostile feehng towards Cicero is supposed to have
proceeded from envy and mortification, because he was unable to attain
the same eminence in the art of oratory with liis illustrious rival. See
Hardouin's Index Auctorum, in Lemaire, i. 168.

Book I.] DEDICATIOIS'. H

the learned generally, nothing was ever thonght more scan-
dalous. Feeling myself, therefore, secure against these vile
slanderers \ a name elegantly composed by Cato, to express
their slanderous and vile disposition (for what other object
have they, but to Avi^angle and breed quarrels ?), I will pro-
ceed with my projected work.

And because the public good requires that you should be
spared as much as possible from all trouble, I have subjoined
to this epistle the contents of each of the following books^,
and have used my best endeavours to prevent your being
obliged to read them all through. And this, which was
done for your benefit, will also serve the same purpose for
others, so that any one may search for what he 'SA'ishes, and
may Ivuow where to find it. This has been already done
among us by Valerius Soranus, in his work which he enti-
tled " On Mysteriesl"

The 1st book is the Preface of the "Work, dedicated to

Titus Vespasian Csesar.
The 2nd is on the World, the Elements, and the Heavenly

Bodies'*.
The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th books are on Geography, in
which is contained an accoimt of the situation of the
different countries, the inhabitants, the seas, towns,
harbours, mountains, rivers, and dimensions, and the
various tribes, some of which still exist and others have
disappeared.
The 7th is on Man, and the Inventions of Man.
The 8th on the various kinds of Laud Animals.
The 9th on Aquatic Animals.
The 10th on the various kinds of Birds.

1 " Yitiligatores."

2 The table of contents, which occiipic3 no less than 121< pages in
Lemaire's edition, I have omitted, in consequence of its length ; the ob-
ject wliich the author proposed to effect by the table of contents will be
gained more completely by an alphabetical index.

3 " 'ETTOTTTidojv." For an account of Valerius Soranus see Hardouin's
Index Auctorum, in Lemaire, i. 217.

■* To the end of eacli book of the Natural History is appended, in the
origuial, a copious hst of references to the sources from wliich the author
derived his information. These are very numci'ous ; in the second book
they amomit to 45, in the third to 35, in the Itli to 53, in the fifth to 60,
in the sixth to 54, and they are in tho same proportion in the remaining
books.

12 PLINT'S li^ATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book I,

The llfh on Insects.

The 12th on Odoriferous Plants.

The 13th on Exotic Trees.

The 14th on Vines.

The 15th on Trnit Trees.

The 16th on Forest Trees.

The 17th on Plants raised in nurseries or gardens.

The 18th on the nature of Pruits and the Cerealia, and
the pursuits of the Husbandman.

The 19th on Plax, Broom \ and Gardening.

The 20th on the Cultivated Plants that are proper for
food and for medicine.

The 21st on Plowers and Plants that are used for making
Garlands.

The 22nd on Garlands, and Medicines made from Plants.

The 23rd on Medicines made from Wine and from culti-
vated Trees.

The 24th on Medicines made from Porest Trees.

The 25th on Medicines made from Wild Plants.

The 26th on New Diseases, and Medicines made, for cer-
tain Diseases, from Plants.

The 27th on some other Plants and Medicines.

The 28th on Medicines procured from Man and from large
An.imals.

The 29th on Medical Authors, and on Medicines from
other Animals.

The 30th on Magic, and Medicines for certain parts of the
Body.

The 31st on Medicines from Aquatic Animals.

The 32nd on the other properties of Aquatic Animals.

The 33rd on Gold and Silver.

The 34th on Copper and Lead, and the workers of Copper.

The 35th on Painting, Colours, and Painters.

The 36th on Marbles and Stones.

The 37th on Gems.

* "Spartiim ;" this plant was used to make bands for the vines and
cables for ships.

Book II.] ACCOUNT OF THE WOELD. 13

EOOK II.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD AND THE ELEMENTS.

[I have adopted the dirision of the chapters fi-om Hardouin, as given
in the editions of Yalpy, Lemaire, Ajasson, and Sillig. ; the Roman figures,
enclosed between brackets, are the numbers of the chapters in Dalechamps,
De Laet, Gronovius, Holland, and Poinshiet. The titles of the chapters
are nearly the same with those in Yalpy, Lemau'e, and Ajasson.]

CHAP. 1. (1.) — WHETHER THE WOELD BE EIIS'ITE, AlfD
WHETHEE THEEE BE MOEE THAIS' ONE WOELD.

The world \ and whatever that be which we otherwise

^ " Mundus," In translating from one language into another, it is
proper, as a general principle, always to render the same word in the
original by the same word in the translation. But to this rule there are
two exceptions ; where the languages do not possess words which pre-
cisely correspond, and where the original author does not always use the
same word in the same sense. Both these circumstances, I apprehend,
apply to the case in question. The term Mimdus is used by Pliny,
sometimes to mean the earth and its immediate appendages, the visible
Bolar system ; and at other tunes the universe ; wlule I think we may
venture to assert, that m some instances it is used in rather a vague
manner, without any distinct reference to either one or other of the above
designations. I have, in almost all cases, translated it by the term world j
as approaching nearest to the sense of the original. The word miindus
is frequently employed by Lucretius, especially in his fifth book, and
seems to be ahnost always used in the more extended sense of universe.
There are, indeed, a few passages where either meaning would be equally
appropriate, and in one line it would appear to be equivalent to firma-
ment or heavens ; " et mmidi spcciem violare serenam," iv. 138. Cicero,
in his treatise I)e Natura Deorimi, generally uses the term mundus in the
sense of universe, as in ii. 22, 37, 58 and 154 ; while in one passage, ii.
132, it would appear to be employed in the more hmited sense of the
earth. It occasionally occurs in the Fasti of Ovid, but it is not easy to
ascertain its precise import ; as in the line *' Post chaos, ut primum data
sunt tria corpora mundo," v. 41, where from the connexion it may be
taken either m the more confined or in the more general sense. ManUius
employs the word very frequently, and his commentators remark, that ho
uses it in two distinct senses, the visible firmament and ihc universe; and
I am induced to tliink that he attaches still more meaning to the term.
It occui's three times in the first eleven hnes of liis poem. In the tliird
line, " deducere mundo aggredior," mundus may be considered as equiva-

14 Pliny's natural history. [Book 11.

call the heavens \ by the vault of which all things are en-
lent to the celestial regions as opposed to the earth. In the ninth line,
" concessumque patri mundo," we may consider it as signifying the
celestial regions generally ; and in the eleventh, " Jamque favet mundus,"
the whole of the earth, or rather its inhabitants. We meet with it again
in the sixty-eighth hne, " lumina niimdi," where it seems more properly
to signify the visible firmament ; again in the 139th, " Et mundi struxere
globum," it seems to refer especially to the earth, synonymous with the
general sense of the Enghsh term world ; while in the 153rd line, " per
inania mundi," it must be supposed to mean the universe. Hyginus,
in his Poeticon Astronomicon, hb. i. p. 55, defines the term as follows :
•' Mimdus appellatur is qui constat in sole et hma et terra et omnibus
stellis ; " and again, p. 57, "Terra mundi media regione coUocata." We may
observe the different designations of the term mundus in Seneca ; among
other passages I may refer to his Nat. Qugest. vii. 27 & iii. 30 ; to his
treatise De Consol. § 18 and De Benef. iv. 23, where I conceive the precise
meanings are, respectively, the universe, the terrestrial globe, the firma-
ment, and the heavenly bodies. The Grreek term Kofffios, which corresponds
to the Latin word mundus, was likewise employed to signify, either the
visible firmament or the universe. In illustration of tliis, it ^ill be suf-
ficient to refer to the treatise of Aristotle Ilepi Kocjuov, cap. 2. p. 601. See
also Stephens's Thesaurus, iti loco. In Apuleius's treatise De Mundo,
which is a free translation of Aristotle's 11 ept Koa/xov, the term may be
considered as synonymous with universe. It is used in the same sense
in various parts of Apuleius's writings : see Metam. ii. 23 ; De Deo
Socratis, 665, 667 ; De Dogmate Platonis, 574, 575, et alibi.

^ Cicero, in his Timseus, uses the same phraseology ; " Omne igitur
ccelum, sive mundus, sive quovis aho vocabulo gaudet, hoc a nobis
nuncupatum est," § 2. Pomponius Mela's work commences vdth a
similar expression ; " Omne igitur hoc, quidquid est, cui mmidi coehque
nomen indideris, tmum id est." They were probably taken from a
passage in Plato's Timaeus, "Universum igitur hoc, Coelum, sive Mimdum,
sive quo aho vocabulo gaudet, cognominemus," accorduig to the trans-
lation of Ficinus ; Platonis Op. ix. p. 302. The word coelum, which is
employed in the original, in its ordinary acceptation, signifies the heavens^
the visible firmament ; as in Ovid, Met. i. 5, " quod tegit omnia, coelum."
It is, in most cases, employed in this sense by Lucretius and by Manihus,
as in i. 2. of the former and in i. 14. of the latter. Occasionally, how-
ever, it is employed by both of these writers in the more general sense
of celestial regions, in opposition to the earth, as by Lucretius, i. 65, and
by Manilius, i. 352. In the hne quoted by Cicero from Pacuvius, it
would seem to mean the place in which the planets are situated ; De
Nat. Deor. ii. 91. The Greek word oiipavbs may be regarded as exactly
cori'esponding to the Latm word caelum, and employed vnth. the same
modifications ; see Aristotle, De Mundo and De Coelo, and Ptolemy,
Mag. Const. Hb. i. passim ; see also Stephens's Thesaurus, in loco. Aratus
generally uses it to designate the visible fib'mament, as in 1. 10, while in
1. 32 it means the heavenly regions. Gresner defines coelvm, " Mundus

Cliap. 1.] ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD. 15

closed, we must conceive to be a Deity \ to be eternal, with-
out bounds, neither created, nor subject, at any time, to
destruction-. To inquire what is beyond it is no concern of
man, nor can the liuman mind form any conjecture respecting
it. It is sacred, eternal, and without bounds, all in all ; in-
deed including ever^'thing in itself ; finite, yet like what is
infinite ; the most certain of all things, yet like what is un-
certain, externally and internally embracing all things in
itself; it is the work of nature, and itself constitutes
nature^.

It is madness to harass the mind, as some have done, with
attempts to measure the world, and to publish these attempts ;
or, like others, to argue from what they have made out,
that there are innumerable other worlds, and that we must
believe there to be so many other natures, or that, if only
one nature produced the whole, there Tvill be so many suns
and so many moons, and that each of them will have immense
trains of other heavenly bodies. As if the same question
would not recur at every step of our inquiry, anxious as we
must be to arrive at some termination ; or, as if this infinity,
which we ascribe to nature, the former of all things, cannot
be more easily comprehended by one single formation,

eicluaa terra," and mtmdns, " Coelnin et quidqiiid coeli ambitu conti-
netui*." In the passage from Plato, referred to above, the words which
are translated by Ficmus caelum and mundics, are in the original ovpavos
and Koo-juos ; Ficinus, however, in various parts of the Timseus, translates
ovpavbs by the word miindus : see t. ix. p. 306, 311, et alibi.

^ The following passage from Cicero may serve to illustrate the doctrine
of Phny : " Novem tibi orbibus, vel potius globis, eonnexa sunt omnia :
quorum unus est coelestis, extimus, qui reUquos omnes complectitur,
summus ipseDeus, arcens etcontinens coelum ; " Som. Scip. § 4. I may
remark, however, that the term here employed by our author is not Deus
but Numen.

2 We have an interesting account of the opinions of Aristotle on tliis
subject, in a note in M. Ajasson's translation, ii. 234 et seq., which, as
well as the greater part of the notes attached to the second book of the
Natural History, were written by himself in conjunction with M. Marcus.

'^ The pliilosophers of antiquity were divided in their opinions respect-
ing the great question, whether tlie active properties of material bodies,
which produce the pha^nomena of nature, are inherent in them, and
necessarily attached to them, or whether they are bestowed upon them
by some superior power or being. The Academics and Peripatetics
generally adopted the latter opinion, the Stoics the former : Pliny adopts
the doctrine of the Stoics ; see Enfield's Hist, of Phil. i. 229, 283, 331.

16 plint's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

especially wlien that is so extensive. It is madness, perfect
madness, to go out of this world and to search for what is
beyond it, as if one who is ignorant of his own dimensions
could ascertain the measure of any thing else, or as if the
human mind could see what the world itself cannot contain.

CHAP. 2. (2.) — or THE POEM OF THE WOELD^

That it has the form of a perfect globe we learn from
the name which has been uniformly given to it, as well as
from numerous natural arguments. Por not only does a
figure of this kind return everywhere into itself^ and sustain
itself, also including itself, requiring no adjustments, not
sensible of either end or beginning in any of its parts, and is
best fitted for that motion, with which, as will appear here-
after, it is continually turning round ; but still more, because
we perceive' it, by the evidence of the sight, to be, in every
part, convex and central, which could not be the case were
it of any other figure.

CHAP. 3. (3.) — or ITS NATIIEE; WHEI^^CETHE ITAMEISDEEIYED.

The rising and the setting of the sun clearly prove,
that this globe is carried round in the space of twenty-four
hours, in an eternal and never-ceasing circuit, and with in-

^ I may remark, that the astronomy of our author is, for the most
part, derived from Aristotle ; the few points ia which they differ will be
stated in the appropriate places.

2 Tliis doctrine was maintained by Plato in his Timseus, p. 310, and
adopted by Aristotle, De Coelo, hb. ii. cap. 14, and by Cicero, De Nat.
Deor- ii. 47. The spherical form of the world, ovpavbs, and its circular
motion are insisted upon by Ptolemy, in the commencement of his astro-
nomical treatise MeyaXr] ^vvra^is. Magna Constructio, frequently re-
ferred to by its Arabic title Almagestum, cap. 2. He is supposed to have
made his observations at Alexandria, between the years 125 and 140 A.D.
His great astronomical work was translated into Arabic in the year 827 ;
the original Greek text was first printed in 1538 by Grrynseus, with a
commentary by Theon. George of Trebisond pubUshed a Latin version
of it in 1541, and a second was pubhshed by Camerarius in 1551, along
with Ptolemy's other works. John Muller, usually called Ecgiomontanus,
and Purback pubUshed an abridgement of the Almagest in 1541. For an
account of Ptolemy I may refer to the article in the Biog. Univ. xxxv.
263 ei seq., by Delambre, also to Hutton's Math. Diet., in loco, and to
the high character of him by Whewell, Hist, of the Inductive Sciences,,
p. 214.

Chap. 3.] ACCOUXT OF THE TVOELD. 17

credible swiftness ^ I am not able to say, whether the sound
caused by the whirling about of so great a mass be excessive,
and, therefore, far beyond what our ears can perceive, nor,
indeed, whether the resounding of so many stars, all carried
along at the same time and revolving in their orbits, may
not produce a kind of delightfid harmony of incredible sweet-
ness^. To us, who are in the interior, the world appears to
glide silently along, both by day and by night.

Various circumstances in natiu*e prove to us, that there
are impressed on the heavens innumerable figures of animals
and of all kinds of objects, and that its surface is not per-
fectly polished like the eggs of birds, as some celebrated
authors assert^. For w^e find that the seeds of all bodies fall
do^Ti from it, principally into the ocean, and, being mixed
together, that a variety of monstrous forms are in this way
frequently produced. And, indeed, this is evident to the eye ;
for, in one part, Ave have the figure of a wain, in another of
a bear, of a bull, and of a letter"* ; while, in the middle of them,
over our heads, there is a white circle^.

(4.) AVith respect to the name, I am influenced by the
unanimous opinions of all nations. For what the Greeks,
from its being ornamented, have termed ivocr/jos, we, from its
perfect and complete elegance, have termed oniindus. The
name caelum, no doubt, refers to its being engraven, as it

* See Ptolemy, uhi supra.

2 This opinion, which was maintained by Pythagoras, is noticed and
derided by Ai'istotle, De Coelo, hb. ii. cap. 9. p. 462-3. A brief account
of Pythagoras's doctrine on this subject is contained in Enfield's Pliilo-
sophy, i. 386.

•* Phny probably here refers to the opinion which Cicero puts into the
mouth of one of the interlocutors in his treatise De Nat. Deor. ii. 47,
" Quid enun pulchrius ea figiu'a, quse sola omnes ahas figuras complesa
continet, quseque nilul asperitatis habere, niliil offensionis potest, nihO.
incisum angvihs, nihil anfractibus, nihil eminens, niliU lacunosum ? "

■* The letter A, in the constellation of the triangle ; it is named Af Xrwrov
by Ai'atus, 1. 235 ; also by Manihus, i. 360. We may remark, that,
except in this one case, the constellations have no visible resemblance to
the objects of which they bear the name.

^ " Locum hmic Phnii de Gralaxia, sive Lactea via, interpretantur omnes
docti." Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 227. It may be remarked, that the
word vertex is here used in the sense of the astronomical term zenith,
not to signify the pole.

VOL. I. 0

18 plikt's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

were, witloi the stars, as Yarro suggests ^ In confirmation of
this idea we may adduce the Zodiac^, in which are twelve
figures of animals ; through them it is that the sun has con-
tinued its course for so many ages.

CHAP. 4. (5.) — or THE ELEMENTS^ AlfD THE PLAISTETS^.

I do not find that any one has doubted that there are
four elements. The highest of these is supposed to be fire,
and hence proceed the eyes of so many glittering stars. The
next is that spirit, which both the Greeks and ourselves call
by the same name, air^. It is by the force of this vital prin-
cijDle, pervading all things and mingling with all, that the
earth, together with the fourth element, water, is balanced in

^ De Ling. Lat. lib. iv. p. 7, 8. See also the remarks on the derivation of
the word in Gresner, Thes., in loco.

2 "Signifer." The EngHsh term is taken from the Greek word
Zw^iaKos, derived from Zwov ; see Aristotle, De Mundo, cap. 2. p. 602.
The word Zodiacus does not occur in PHny, nor is it employed by
Ptolemy ; he names it Xo^os kvkXos, obliquus circidus ; Magn. Const, i.
7, 13, et alibi. It is used by Cicero, but professedly as a Greek term ;
Divm. ii. 89, and Arati Phsenom. 1. 317. It occurs in Hyginus, p. 57
et alibi, and in A. GeUius, 13. 9. Neither signifer taken substantively,
nor zodiacus occur in Lucretius or in Manihus.

3 The accoxmt of the elements, of their nature, difference, and, more
especially, the necessity of their being four, are folly discussed by
Aristotle in various parts of his works, more particularly in his treatise
De Coelo, hb. iii. cap. 3, 4 and 5, lib. iv. cap. 5, and De Gener. et Cor.
hb. ii. cap. 2, 3, 4 and 5. For a judicious summary of the opinions of
Aristotle on this subject, I may refer to Stanley's History of Philosophy;
Aristotle, doctrines of, p. 2. 1. 7, and to Enfield, i. 764 et seq. For
the Epicm'ean doctrine, see Lucretius, i. 764 et seq.

^ Although the word planeta, as taken from the Greek TrXavfjrrjs, is
inserted in the title of this chapter, it does not occur in any part of the
text. It is not found either in Lucretius, Manihus, or Seneca, nor, I
beheve, was it used by any of their contemporaries, except Hyginus, p. 76.
The planets were generally styled stellcs erraticce, errantes, or vagce^
sidera palantia, as in Lucretius, ii. 1030, or simply the five stars, as in
Cicero, De Nat. Deor. ii. 51, and in Seneca, Nat. Qusest. vii. 24. PHny,
by including the sun and moon, makes the number seven. Ai-atus calls
them TrevT dffrepes, 1. 454.

^ " Aer." " Circumfasa undique est (terra) hac animabili spirabilique
natura, cui nomen est aer ; Grsecmn illud quidem, sed perceptum jam
tamen usu a nobis ;" Cicero, De Nat. Deor. ii. 91.

Chap. 4.] ACCOUKT OF THE WOELD. 19

the middle of space. These are mutually hound together, the
lighter being restrained by the heavier, so that they cannot
fly off; while, on the contrary, from the lighter tending up-
wards, the heavier are so suspended, that they cannot fall
doAvn. Thus, by an equal tendency in an opposite direction,
each of them remains in its appropriate place, bound together
by the never-ceasing revolution of the world, which ahyays
turning on itself, the earth falls to the lowest part and is in
the middle of the whole, Avhile it remains suspended in the
centre \ and, as it were, balancing this centre, in which it is
suspended. So that it alone remains immoveable, whilst all
things revolve round it, being connected with every other
part, whilst they all rest upon it.

(6.) Between this body and the heavens there are sus-
pended, in this aerial spirit, seven stars^, separated by determi-
nate spaces, which, on account of their motion, we call wander-

1 " universi cardme." " Eevolutionis, ut aiunt, centre. Idem Pliniiis,
hoc ipso libro, cap. 6i, terrain coeli cardinem esse dicit ; " Alexandi^e, in
Lem. i. 228. On this subject I may refer to Ptolemy, Magn. Const,
hb. i. cap. 3, 4, 6. See also Apuleius, near the commencement of his
treatise De Mundo.

2 " Sidera." The word sidus is used, in most cases, for one of the
heavenly bodies generally, sometimes for what we term a constellation,
a particidar assemblage of them, and sometimes specially for an individual
star. Manihus employs the word in all these senses, as will appear by
the tliree following passages respectively ; the first taken from the open-
ing of his poem,

" Carmine divinas artes, et conscia fati
Sidera . . . . "

The second, " Hsec igitm' texunt gequali sidera tractu

Ignibus in varias coelum laqueantia formas." i. 275, 276.

The third " . . . . pectus, ftdgenti sidere clarius ; " i. 356.

In the Fasti of Ovid, we have examples of the two latter of these
significations : —

"Ex Ariadnseo sidere nosse potes ;" v. 346.

" Et canis (Icarium dicunt) quo sidere note
Tosta sitit tcllus ; " iv. 939, 940.

Lucretius appears always to employ the term in the general sense. J.
Obsequens appHes the word sidus to a meteor ; " sidus ingcns ccelo
demissum," cap. 16. In a subsequent part of this book, chap. 18 et seq.^
our author more particularly restricts the term iddus to the planets.

c 2

20 pliny's natueal histout, [Book II.

ing, althougli, in reality, none are less so^ The sun is carried
along in the midst of these, a body of great size and power,
the ruler, not only of the seasons and of the different climates,
hut also of the stars themselves and of the heavens^'. When
we consider his operations, we must regard him as the life,
or rather the mind of the universe, the chief regulator and
the Grod of nature ; he also lends his light to the other stars ^.
He is most illustrious and excellent, beholding all things
and hearing all things, which, I perceive, is ascribed to him
exclusively by the prince of poets, Homer^.

CHAP. 5. (7.) — OF GOD^

1 consider it, therefore, an indication of human weakness
to inquire into the figure and form of Grod. For whatever
Grod be, if there be any other God^, and wherever he ex-
ists, he is all sense, all sight, all hearing, all life, all mind^,
and all within himself. To believe that there are a number
of Gods, derived from the virtues and vices of man^, as
Chastity, Concord, Understanding, Hope, Honour, Clemency,

^ Cicero remarks concerning them; "quae (stellse) falso vocantur
errantes ; " De Nat. Deor. ii. 51.

2 "... . vices dierum alternat et noctium, qutan sidera praesens
occultat, Ulustrat absens ; " Hard, in Lem. i. 230.

3 " ceteris sideribiis." According to Hardouin, uhi supra, " niTniuTn
stellis errantibus." There is, however, nothing in the expression of our
author which sanctions this limitation.

4 See Ihad, ui. 2V7, and Od. xii. 323.

5 It is remarked by Enfield, Hist, of Phil. ii. 131, that " with respect
to philosophical opinions, Phny did not rigidly adhere to any sect. . . .
He reprobates the Epicurean tenet of an infinity of worlds ; favours the
Pythagorean notion of the harmony of the spheres ; speaks of the universe
as God, after the manner of the Stoics, and sometimes seems to pass over
into the field of the Sceptics. Eor the most part, however, he leans to
the doctrme of Epicm-us."

^ " Siahus est Deus quam sol," Alexandre in Lem. i. 230. Or rather,
if there be any Grod distinct from the world ; for the latter part of the
sentence can scarcely apply to the sun. Poinsinet and Ajasson, however,
adopt the same opinion with M. Alexandre ; they translate the passage,
" s'il en est autre que le soleil," i. 17 and ii. 11.

" " totus animae, totus animi ; " " Anima est qua vivimus, animus quo
sapimus." Hard, in Lem. i. 230, 231. The distinction between these two
words is accurately pointed out by Lucretius, iii. 137 et seq.

8 " fecerunt (Athenienses) Contumehae fanum et Impudentiae." Cicero,
De Leg. ii. 28. See also Bossuet, Discours sur I'Histoire univ. i. 250.

Chap. 5.] ACCOUNT Or THE WOELD. 21

and ridelity ; or, according to the opinion of Democritus,
that there are only tAvo, Pimishment and Ee\Yard\ indicates
still greater folly. Hnman nature, Aveak and frail as it is,
mindl'ul of its OAvn infirmity, has made these divisions, so
that every one might have recourse to that which he supposed
himself to stand more particularly in need of-. Hence we
find difterent names employed by difi'erent nations ; the
inferior deities are arranged in classes, and diseases and
plagues are deified, in consequence of our anxious wish to
propitiate them. It was from this cause that a temple was
dedicated to Fever, at the public expense, on the Palatine
HilP, and to Orbona^, near the Temple of the Lares, and
that an altar was elected to Grood Fortime on the Esquiline.
Hence we may understand how it comes to pass that there
is a greater population of the Celestials than of human beings,
since each individual makes a separate God for himself,
adopting his own Juno and his own Genius ■\ And there
are nations who make Gods of certain animals, and even
certain obscene things*', which are not to be spoken of,
swearing by stinking meats and such like. To suppose
that marriages are contracted between the Gods, and that,
during so long a period, there should have been no issue

1 The account which Cicero gives us of the opinions of Democritus
scarcely agrees with the statement in the text ; see De Nat. Deor. i. 120.

2 " In varios divisit Deos numen \micum, quod Pliuio coelum est aut
mundus; ejusque singulas partes, aut, ut philosophi aiunt, attributa, sepa-
ratim cohiit ; " Alexandi'e m Lemau'e, i. 231.

3 " Febrem autem ad minus nocendum, tempKs celebrant, quorum ad-
huc unum in Palatio . . . . " Val. Max. ii. 6 ; see also JiUan, Yar. Hist,
xii. 11. It is not easy to ascertain the precise meaning of the terms
Faniim, ^des, and Templum^ which are employed in this place by Pliny
and Val. Maximus. Gresner defines Fanum " area tcmpU et sohimi,
templum vero sedificium ; " but tliis distinction, as he informs us, is not
always accurately observed; there appears to be stiU less distmction
between ^des and Templum ; see his Thesaurus in loco, also Bailey's
Facciolati in loco.

4 " Orbona est Orbitalis dea." Hardouin in Lemaii*e, i. 231.

5 " Appositos sibi statim ab ortu custodcs credebant, quos viri Genios,
Junones foemin® vocabaut." Hardouin in Lemaii'c, i. 232. See Tibullus,
4. 6. 1, and Seneca, Epist. 110, siih init.

^ We may suppose that our author here refers to the ]io]mlar mythology
of the Egyptians ; the " foetidi cibi " are mentioned by Juvenal; "Porrum
et csepe ncias violare ct fraiigere morsu," xv. 9 ; and Phny, in a subsequent
part of his work, xix. 32, remarks, " Allium cajpeque inter Deos m jure-
jurando habet ^gyptus."

22 pliny's natural HISTOET. [Book II.

■from them, that some of them should be old and always grey-
headed and others young and like children, some of a dark
complexion, winged, lame, produced from eggs, living and
dying on alternate days, is sufficiently puerile and foolish.
But it is the height of impudence to imagine, that adultery
takes place between them, that they have contests and
quarrels, and that there are Grods of theft and of various
crimes \ To assist man is to be a Grod; this is the path to
eternal glory. This is the path which the Roman nobles
formerly pursued, and this is the path which is now pursued
by the greatest ruler of our age, Vespasian Augustus, he
who has come to the relief of an exhausted empire, as well
as by his sons. This was the ancient mode of remunerating
those who deserved it, to regard them as Grods^. For the
names of all the Gods, as well as of the stars that I have
mentioned above^, have been derived from their services to
mankind. And with respect to Jupiter and Mercury, and
the rest of the celestial nomenclature, who does not admit
that they have reference to certain natural phsenomena'* ?

But it is ridiculous to suppose, that the great head of all
things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs^.

* See Cicero, De ISTat. Deor. i. 42 et alibi, for an illustration of these
remarks of Pliny.

2 Tliis sentiment is elegantly expressed by Cicero, De Nat. Deor. ii. 62,
and by Horace, Od. iii. 3. 9 et seq. It does not appear, however, that
any of the Eomans, except Komulus,were deified, previous to the adulatory
period of the Empire.

3 " Planetarum nempe, qui omnes nomina mutuantur a diis.' ' Alexandre
in Lematre, i. 234.

•* This remark may be illustrated by the following passage from Cicero,
io^ the fh'st book of his treatise De Nat. Deor. Speaking of the doctrine
of Zeno, he says, "neque enim Jovem, neque Junonem, neque Vestam,
neque quemquam, qui ita appeUetur, in deorvan habet numero : sed rebus
manimis, atque mutis, per quandam significationem, heec docet tributa
nomina." " Idemque (Cluysippus) disputat, sethera esse cum, quern
homines Jovem appellant : quique aer per maria manaret, eum esse Nep-
tunmn : terramque earn esse, quae Ceres diceretiu- : simihque ratione
persequitur vocabula reli quorum deorum."

5 The following remarks of Lucretius and of Cicero may serve to illus-
trate the opinion here expressed by our author : —

" Omnis enim per se Divum natura necesse est
Immortah sevo summa cmn pace fruatiu*
Somota ab nostris rebus, sejunctaque longe; " Lucretius, i. 57-59.

" Quod sDtcrnum bcatumque sit, id nee habere ipsum negotii qviid-

Giap. 5.] ACCOrXT OF THE WOELD. 23

Can we believe, or rather can there be any doubt, that it is
not polhited by such a disagreeable and complicated office ?
It is not easy to determine which opinion would be most
for the advantage of mankind, since we observe some who
have no respect for the Gods, and others who carry it to a
scandalous excess. They are slaves to foreign ceremonies ;
they carry on their fingers the Gods and the monsters whom
they worship^; they condemn and they lay great stress on
certain kinds of food ; they impose on themselves dreadful
ordinances, not even sleeping quietly. They do not marry
or adopt children, or indeed do anything else, without the
sanction of their sacred rites. There are others, on the con-
trary, who will cheat in the very Capitol, and will forswear
themselves even by Jupiter Tonans^, and while these thrive
in their crimes, the others torment themselves with their
superstitions to no purpose.

Among these discordant opinions mankind have discovered
for themselves a kind of intermediate deity, by which our
scepticism concerning God is still increased. For all over
the world, in all places, and at all times. Fortune is the only
god whom every one invokes ; she alone is spoken of, she
alone is accused and is supposed to be guilty ; she alone is
in our thoughts, is praised and blamed, and is loaded with
reproaches ; wavering as she is, conceived by the generality
of mankind to be blind, wandering, inconstant, uncertain,
variable, and often favouring the unworthy. To her are re-
ferred all our losses and all our gains, and in casting up the
accounts of mortals she alone balances the two pages of our
sheet^. AVe are so much in the power of chance, that change
itself is considered as a God, and the existence of God be-
comes doubtful.

But there are others who reject this principle and assign
events to the influence of tlie stars'*, and to the laws of our

quam, nee exhibere alteri ; itaque neque ira neque gratia teneri, quod, quae
talia essent, imbeciUa essent omnia." Cicero, Dc Nat. Deor. i. 45.

^ The author here alludes to the figures of the Egyptian deities that
were engraven on rings.

2 His specific office was to execute vengeance on the impious.

3 " sola utramque paginam facit." The words iifraqne pagina gene-
rally refer to the two sides of the same sheet, but, in this passage, they
probably mean the contiguous portions of the same surface.

* " astroque suo eventu assignat j " the word asirum appears to be

24 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

nativity; they suppose that God, once for all, issues his
decrees and never afterwards interferes. This opinion be-
gins to gain ground, and both the learned and the unlearned
vulgar are falling into it. Hence we have the admonitions
of thunder, the w^arnings of oracles, the predictions of sooth-
sayers, and things too trifling to be mentioned, as sneezing
and stumbling with the feet reckoned among omens \ The
late Emperor Augustus'-^ relates, that he put the left shoe on
the wrong foot, the day when he was near being assaulted
by his soldiers^. And such things as these so embarrass
improvident mortals, that among all of them this alone is
certain, that there is nothing certain, and that there is no-
thing more proud or more wretched than man. For other
animals have no care but to provide for their subsistence,
for which the spontaneous kindness of nature is all-suffi-
cient ; and this one circumstance renders their lot more
especially preferable, that they never think about glory, or
money, or ambition, and, above all, that they never reflect
on death.

The belief, however, that on these points the Grods super-
intend human affairs is useful to us, as well as that the
punishment of crimes, although sometimes tardy, from the
Deity being occupied with such a mass of business, is never
entirely remitted, and that the human race was not made
the next in rank to himself, in order that they might be de-
graded like brutes. And indeed this constitutes the great
comfort in this imperfect state of man, that even the Deity

synonymous with sidus, generally signifying a siagle star, and, occasion-
ally, a constellation ; as in Marulius, i. 541, 2.

" quantis bis sena ferantur

Finibus astra "

It is also used by synecdoche for the heavens, as is the case with the
EngHsh word stars. See Gresner's Thesaiu'us,

^ " Quae si suscipiamus, pedis offensio nobis . . . et sternutamenta erunt
observanda." Cicero, De Nat. Deor. ii. 84.

2 " Divus Augustus." The epithet divus may be regarded as merely a
term of court etiquette, because all the Emperors after death were deified
ex officio.

2 We learn the exact natiire of this ominous accident from Suetonius ;
" .... si mane sibi calceus perperam, et sinister pro dextro induceretur ; "
Augustus, Cap. 92. From tliis passage it woxild appear, that the Koman
sandals were made, as we term it, right and left.

Chap. 6.] ACCOUNT OF THE WOELD. 25

cannot do everything. For be cannot procure death for
himself, even if he wished it, which, so numerous are the
evils of life, has been granted to man as our chief good. Nor
can he make mortals immortal, or recall to life those who
are dead ; nor can he effect, that he who has once lived shall
not have lived, or that he who has enjoyed honours shall not
have enjoyed them ; nor has he any influence over past
events but to cause them to be forgotten. And, if we -illus-
trate the nature of our coimexion with God by a less serious
argument, he cannot make twice ten not to be twenty, and
many other things of this kind. By these considerations the
power of Nature is clearly proved, and is sho-\Mi to be what
we call Grod. It is not foreign to the subject to have di-
gressed into these matters, familiar as they are to every one,
from the continual discussions that take place respecting
God\

CHAP. 6. (8.) — OF THE XATUKE OF THE STARS ; OF THE
MOTIOIf OF THE PLAKETS.

Let us return from this digression to the other parts
of nature. The stars which are described as fixed in the
heavens-, are not, as the vulgar suppose, attached each of
them to different individuals^, the brighter to the rich, those
that are less so to the poor, and the dim to the aged, shining
according to the lot of the individual, and separately assigned
to mortals ; for they have neither come into existence, nor

^ It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the opinions here stated re-
specting the Deity are taken partly from the tenets of the Epicureans,
combined with the Stoical doctrine of Fate. The examples which are ad-
duced to prove the power of fate over the Deity are, for the most part,
rather verbal than essential.

2 " afFixa mundo." The peculiar use of the word mundus in this pas-
sage is worthy of remark, in connexion with note ^, ch. 1. page 13.

3 We have many references in Phny to the influence of the stars upon
the earth and its inhabitants, constituting what was formerly regarded as
so important a science, judicial astrology. Ptolemy has drawn up a
regular code of it in his " Centum dicta," or " Centiloquimns." We
have a higlily interesting account of the supposed science, its origin, pro-
gress, and general principles, in Whewell's History of the Inductive Sci-
ences, p. 293 et seq. I may also refer to the same work for a sketch of
the history of astronomy among the Greeks and the other nations of
antiquity.

26 PLIJfY's IN'ATUEAL HISTORY. [Book II.

I

do they, perish in connexion with particular persons, nor
does a falling star indicate that any one is dead. We are
not so closely connected with the heavens as that the shining
of the stars is affected by our death \ "When they are sup-
posed to shoot or fair^, they throw out, by the force of their
fire, as if from an excess of nutriment, the superabundance
of the humour Avhich they have absorbed, as we observe to
take place from the oil in our lamps, when they are bm-ning^.
The nature of the celestial bodies is eternal, being inter-
woven, as it were, with the world, and, by this union, ren-
dering it solid ; but they exert their most powerful influence
on the earth. This, not-sAdthstanding its subtilty, may be
knoA^Ti by the clearness and the magnitude of the efiect, as
we shall point out in the proper place'*. The account of the
circles of the heavens will be better imderstood when we
come to speak of the earth, since they have all a reference to
it ; except w^hat has been discovered respecting the Zodiac,
which I shall now detail.

Anaximander the Milesian, in the 58th olympiad^, is said
to have been the first w^ho understood its obliquity, and thus
opened the road to a correct knowledge of the subject^.

1 There are certain metapliorical expressions, which, have originated
from this opinion, adopted by the moderns; " his star is set;" " the
star of his fortune," &c.

2 Ovid, when he compares Phaeton to a faUuig star, remarks, con-
cerning tliis meteor, —

" Etsi non cecidit, potuit ceeidisse videri." Metam. ii. 322.

3 Manihus supposes that comets are produced and rendered luminous
by an operation very similar to the one described in the text ; i. 815 et seq.
Seneca, in the commencement of his Nat. Qusest., and in other parts of
the same treatise, refers to tliis subject. His remarks may be worth
perusing by those who are curious to learn the hypotheses of the ancients
on subjects of natural science. We may remark, that Seneca's opinions
are, on many points, more correct than our author's.

^ The author probably refers to that part of his work in wliich he
treats on agricultm-e, particTilarly to the l7th and 18th books.

5 The sera of the Olympiads commenced in the year 776 before Christ ;
each olympiad consists of 4 years ; the 58tli olympiad will therefore
include the hiterval 548 to 544 B.C. The 21st vol. of the " Universal
History " consists entirely of a " clironological table," and we have a
useful table of the same kind in Brewster's Encycl., article "Chronology."

^ " rerura fores apcruisse .... tradittu*." An account of the astro-
nomy of Anaximander is contained in Brewster's Encycl., article " Astro-
nomy," p. 587, and in the article " Anaximander" in the supplement to

Cliap. 6.] ACCOUNT OF THE WOELD. 27

Afterwards Cleostratus made the signs in it, first marking
tliose of Aries and Sagittarius ; Atlas bad formed the sphere
long before this time^ But now, leaving the further con-
sideration of this subject, we must treat of the bodies that
are situated between the earth and the heavens".

It is certain that the star called Saturn is the highest, and
therefore appears the smallest, that he passes through the
largest circuit, and that he is at least thirty years in com-
pleting it^. The course of all the planets, and among others
of the Sun, and the Moon, is in the contrary direction to
that of the heavens"*, that is towards the left, while the hea-

the same work by Scott of Aberdeen. I may remark, that these two
accoruits do not quite agree in their estimate of liis merits ; the latter
author considers his opinions moi'e coiTect. We have also an accoimt of
Anaxunander in Stanley, pt. 2. p. 1 et seq., and in Enfield, i. 154 et seq.

^ In the translation of Ajasson, ii. 261-7, we have some valuable ob-
servations by Marcus, respecting the origm and progress of astronomy
among the Greeks, and the share wliich the mdividuals mentioned in the
text respectively had in its advancement ; also some interestmg remarks
on the history of Atlas. Diodorus Siculus says, that " he was the fu*st
that discovered the knowledge of the sphere ; whence arose the common
opinion, that he cari'ied the world upon lus shoulders." Booth's trans,
p. 115.

- " nvmc relicto mundi ipsius corpore, rchqua mter ca?lum teiTasque
tract entm'." I have already had occasion to remark upon the various
modes in which the author uses the word mundus ; by caelum, in this
passage, he means the body or region beyond the planets, wliich is con-
ceived to contain the fixed stars. Splicer a, m the preceding sentence,
may be supposed to mean the celestial globe.

3 " ac trigesimo anno ad brevissima sedis suae principia rogi'cdi;" I
confess myself luiable to offer any hteral explanation of this passage ; nor
do the remarks of the commentators appear to me satisfactory ; see Har-
douin and Alexandi'e in Lemaire, ii. 241, 2. It is translated by Ajasson
" en trcnte ans il reviens a I'espace minime d'oii il est parti." The pe-
riod of the sidereal revolutions of the planets, as stated by IVIrs. Somer-
ville, in her "Mechanism of the Heavens," and by Sir J. Ilerschel, in
his " Treatise on Astronomy," are respectively as follows : —

Mercury . . .

Venus

Earth

Mars

days.

days.

87-9705

87-9692580

224-7

. . . 224-7007869

365-2564

. . . 365-2563612

686-99

. . . 686-9796158

332-65 . . .

. . . 4332-5848212

)759-4

. . . 10759-2198174

358.

Hersehel, p. 416.

Saturn 10759-4

Somerville, p. 358.
^ "'mundo;' hoc est, ca?lo inerrantium stcUarum." llardouin, in
Lemaire, ii. 242.

28 plint's natueal histoet. [Book II.

veils are rapidly carried about to the rights And althougli,
by tbe stars constantly revolving with immense velocity,
they are raised up, and hurried on to the part where they
set, yet they are all forced, by a motion of their own, in an
opposite direction^ ; and this is so ordered, lest the air, being
always moved in the same direction, by the constant whirling
of the lieavens, should accumulate into one mass, whereas
now it is divided and separated and beaten into small pieces,
by the opposite motion of the different stars. Saturn is a
star of a cold and rigid nature, while the orbit of Jupiter is
much lower, and is carried round in twelve years^ The next
star. Mars, which some persons call Hercules ^ is of a fiery
and burning nature, and from its nearness to the sun is carried
round in little less than two years ^ In consequence of
the excessive heat of this star and the rigidity of Saturn,
Jupiter, which is interposed between the two, is tempered
by both of them, and is thus rendered salutary. The path
of the Sun consists of 360 degrees; but, in order that the
shadow may return to the same point of the diaP, we are
obliged to add, in each year, five days and the fourth part of
a day. On this account an intercalary day is given to every
fifth year^, that the period of the seasons may agree with
that of the Sun.

1 Our author supposes, that the spectator has his face directed towards
the south, as is the case with the modern observers. We are, however in-
formed by Hardouin, that tliis was not the uniform practice among the
ancients ; see the remarks of Alexandre in Lemaire, ii. 243,, and of Mar-
cus in Ajasson, ii. 269.

2 The constant revolution refers to the apparent daUy motion ; the
opposite direction to their annual course through the zodiac. Ptolemy
gives an account of this double motion in his Magna Constructio, i. 7.

3 For the exact period, according to Somerville and Herschel, see
note 3, p, 27.

^ Aristotle informs us, that Mars was also called Hercules or Pyrosis ;
De Mundo, cap. ii. p. 602. See also Apuleius, De Mundo, § 710. Hy-
gmus is said by Hardouin to give the name of Hercules to the planet
Mars, but this appears to be an inaccuracy ; he describes the planet imder
its ordinary appellation ; hb. ii. p. 62 ; and ii. 78, 9.

5 Cicero, speaking of the period of Mars, says, " Quatuor et vigiati
mensibus, sex, ut opinor, diebus minus ;" DeNat. Deor. For the exact
period, see note 3, p. 27.

^ " Sed ut observatio umbrarum ejus redeat ad notas." Aocordmg to
the interpretation of Hardouin, " Ad easdem lineas in solari horologio."
Lemaire, ii. 243.

7 This is an example of the mode of computation wliich we meet with

Chap. 6.] ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD. 29

Below the Sun^ revolves the great star called Yenus, wan-
dering with an alternate motion^, and, even in its surnames,
rivalling the Sun and the Moon. For when it precedes the
day and rises in the morning, it receives the name of Lucifer,
as if it were another sun, hastening on the day. On the
contrary, when it shines in the west, it is named Vesper, as
prolonging the light, and performing the office of the moon.
Pythagoras, the Samian, was the hrst who discovered its
nature^, about the 62nd olympiad, in the 222nd year of the
City'*. It excels all the other stars in size, and its brilliancy
is so considerable, that it is the only star which produces a
shadow by its rays. There has, consequently, been great
interest made for its name ; some have called it the star of

among the ancients, where, in speaking of the period of a revolution, both
the time preceding and that following the interval are included.

^ The division of the planets into superior and inferior was not known
to Aristotle, De Mxmdo, cap. ii. p. 602, to Plato, Timseus, p. 318, 319, or
the older Greek astronomers. It was first made by the Egyptians, and
was transferred from them to the Romans. It is one of the points in
which our author differs from Aristotle. See the remarks of Marcus in
Ajasson, ii. 242 et seq^. Marcus notices the various points which prove
the deficiency of Pliny's knowledge of astronomy ; he partictdarizes the
fovir following : — his ignorance of the true situation of the constellations ;
his erroneous opinion respecting the cause of the seasons ; his account of
the phases of the moon, and of the position of the cardinal points. He
appears not to have been aware, that certain astronomical phaenomena
imdergo a regular progression, but supposed that they remained, at the
time when he wrote, in the same state as in the age of Hipparchus or
the original observers. Columella, when treating on these subjects, de-
scribes the phaenomena according to the ancient calculation, but he informs
us, that he adopts it, because it was the one in popular use, and better
known by the farmers (De Re Rust. ix. 14), while Pliny appears not to
have been aware of the inaccuracy.

2 " Modo solem antegrediens, mode subsequens." Hardouia in Le-
maire, ii. 243.

3 It was not known to the earHer writers that Lucifer and Vesper were
the same star, differently situated with respect to the Sim. Playfair re-
marks, that Yenus is the only planet mentioned in the sacred writings,
and in the most ancient poets, such as Hesiod and Homer ; Outlines,
ii. 156.

* There has been much discussion among the commentators respecting
the correctness of the figures in the text ; according to the sera of the
olympiads, the date referred to will be between the years 750 and 754 B.C. ;
the foundation of Rome is commonly referred to the year 753 B.C. See
the remarks of Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 278, 9.

30 PLIKT's TfATUEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

Juno\ others of Isis, and others of the Mother of the Gods.
By its influence everything in the earth is generated. For,
as it rises in either direction, it sprinkles everything with
its genial dew, and not only matures the productions of the
earth, but stimulates all living things^. It completes the
circuit of the zodiac in 348 days, never receding from the
sun more than 46 degrees, according to Timseus^.

Similarly circumstanced, but by no means equal in size
and in power, next to it, is the star Mercury, by some called
Apollo^ ; it is carried in a lower orbit, and moves in a course
which is quicker by nine days, shining sometimes before the
rising of the sun, and at other times after its setting, but
never going farther from it than 23 degrees^, as we learn
from Timseus and Sosigenes^. The natiu-e of these two stars
is peculiar, and is not the same with those mentioned above,
for those are seen to recede from the sun through one-third
or one-fourth part of the heavens, and are often seen opposite
to it. They have also other larger circuits, in which they

^ Aristotle informs us, tliat it was called either Phosphorus, Juno, or
Venus ; De Mundo, cap. 2. t. i. p. 602. See also Hyginus, Poet. Astr.
lib. iii. p. 76, 7 ; and Apuleius, De Mundo, § 710.

2 It will be scarcely necessary to refer the reader to the weU-known
commencement of Lucretius' s poem for the illustration of this passage ;
it is remarkable that Pliny does not refer to this writer.

3 The periodical revolution of Venus is 224*7 days, see note ^, p. 27. Its
greatest elongation is 47° 1' ; SomerviUe, § 641. p. 391.

^ Accorduig to Ai'istotle, tliis planet had the three appellations of
Stilbon, Mercury, and Apollo ; De Mundo, cap. 2. p. 602 ; see also Apu-
leius, De Mimdo, § 710. Cicero inverts the order of the planets ; he
places Mercury next to Mars, and says of Venus, that it is " infima
quinque eri'antium, terrseque proxima;" De Nat. Deor. ii. 53. Aristotle
places the stars in the same order, ubi supra, and he is followed in this
by Apuleius, ubi supra ; this appears to have been the case with the
Stoics generally ; see Enfield's Phil. i. 339.

^ For the periodical revolution of Mercury see note ^, p. 27. Its greatest
elongation, according to Playfau*, p. 160, is 28°. Mrs. SomerviUe,
p. 386, states it to be 28° 8'. Ptolemy supposed it to be 26*5 degrees ; ;
Almagest, ix. 7. We learn from Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 246, that there
is considerable variation in the MSS. with respect to the greatest elonga-
tion of Mercury.

^ Sosigenes was an Egyptian mathematician and astronomer, who is
said to have assisted Csesar in the formation of his Kalendar, as our
author informs us in a subsequent part of his work, xviii. 25 ; see abo
Aikin, G-en. Biog., in loco ; Enfield's Plnl. ii. 96 ; WheweU, p. 210 ; and
Hardouin's " Index Auctorimi," in Lemaire, i. 213.

Chap. 6.] ACCOUKT OF THE WOELD. 31

make their complete revolutions, as will be described in tlie
account of the great year^

(9.) But the Moon-, which is the last of the stars, and the
one the most connected with the earth, the remedy pro\dded
by nature for darkness, excels all the others in its admirable
qualities. By the variety of appearances which it assumes, it
puzzles the observers, mortified that they should be the most
ignorant concerning that star which is the nearest to them.
•She is always either waxing or waning ; sometimes her disc
is curved into horns, sometimes it is divided into two equal
portions, and at other times it is swelled out into a full orb ;
sometimes she appears spotted^ and suddenly becomes very
bright ; she appears very large with her full orb and sud-
denly becomes invisible ; now continuing during all the night,
now rising late, and now aiding the light of the sun during
a part of the day ; becoming eclipsed and yet being visible
while she is eclipsed ; concealing herself at the end of the
month and yet not supposed to be eclipsed^. Sometimes
she is low down, sometimes she is high up, and that not ac-
cording to one uniform course, being at one time raised up

^ Concerning the " magnus annus " Cicero remarks, " efficitur cmn
solis et lunse et quinque eiTantium ad eandem inter se comparationem,
confectis omnibus spatiis, est facta conversio." De Nat. Deor. ii. 51.
See the remarks of Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 281-3.

2 For the various appellations which the moon has received in the
ancient and modern languages, and their relation to each other, the reader
is referred to the learned remarks of Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 283-5.

^ Marcus conceives that the epithet maculosa does not refer to what
are called the spots on the moon, but to the circumstance of the edge of
the disc being not illuminated when it is near the full ; Ajasson, ii. 286.
But, from the way in which the word is employed at the end of the
chapter, and from the explanation which is given of the cause of the
" maculae," I tliink it ought to be referred to the spotted appearance of
the face of the moon.

* " Quum laborare non creditiu-." It was a vulgar notion among the
ancients, that when the moon is ecUpsed, she is sviSering from the influ-
ence of magicians and enchanters, who are endeavouring to draw her
down to the earth, in order to aid them in their superstitious ceremonies.
It was conceived that she might be reheved from her sufferings by loud
noises of various kinds whicli shovdd drown the songs of the magicians.
Allusion is frequently made to this custom by the ancient poets, as Virgil,
^n. i. 742, Manihus, i. 227, and Juvenal, vi. 444 ; and the language has
been transferred to the modems, as in Beattie's Minstrel, ii. 47, " To
ease of fancied pangs the labouring moon."

82 flint's ISTATrRAL HISTOET. [Book II.

to the heavens, at other times almost contiguous to the
mountains ; now elevated in the north, now depressed in the
south ; all which circumstances having been noticed by En-
dymion, a report was spread about, that he was in love with
the moon^ We are not indeed sufficiently grateful to those,
who, with so much labour and care, have enlightened us with
this light^ ; while, so diseased is the human mind, that we
take pleasure in writing the annals of blood and slaughter,
in order that the crimes of men may be made known to those
who are ignorant of the constitution of the world itself.

Being nearest fco the axis^, and therefore having the small-
est orbit, the Moon passes in twenty-seven days and the one-
third part of a day^, through the same space for which Saturn,
the highest of the planets, as was stated above, requires thirty
years. After remaining for two days in conjunction with the
sun, on the thirtieth day she again very slowly emerges to pur-
sue her accustomed course^. I know not whether she ought
not to be considered as our instructress in everything that can
be known respecting the heavens ; as that the year is divided
into the twelve divisions of the months, since she follows the
sun for the same number of times, until he returns to the
commencement of his course ; and that her brightness, as
well as that of the other stars, is regulated by that of the
sun, if indeed they all of them shine by light borrowed from
him, such as we see floating about, when it is reflected from
the surface of water. On this account it is that she dissolves
so much moisture, by a gentle and less perfect force, and
adds to the quantity of that which the rays of the sun con-

^ We have some interesting remarks by Marcus respecting Endymion,
and also on the share which Solon and Thales had in correcting the lunar
observations ; Ajasson, ii. 288-290.

2 " Lucem nobis aperuere in hac luce." 3 « Cardo."

■* Astronomers describe two different revolutions or periods of the
moon ; the synodical and the sidereal. The synodical marks the time
in which the moon passes from one conjunction with the sun to the next
conjimction, or other similar position with respect to the sun. The side-
real period is the time in which the moon returns to the same position
with respect to the stars, or m which it makes a complete revolution roimd
the earth. These numbers are, for the synodical period, 29^^ 12'' 44™ 2*87*,
and for the sidereal, 27"^ 7'' 43'" ll-S" ; Herschel, pp. 213, 224.

^ Our author, as Marcus remarks, " a compte par nombres ronds ; "
Ajasson, ii. 291 ; the correct number may be found in the preceding note.

Chap. 6.] ACCOIJIfT or THE WOELD. 33

sume\ On this account she appears with an unequal light,
because being full only when she is in opposition, on all the
remaining days she shows only so much of herself to the
earth as she receives light from the sun^. She is not seen
in conjunction, because, at that time, she sends back the
whole stream of light to the source whence she has derived
it. That the stars generally are nourished by the terrestrial
moisture is evident, because, when the moon is only half vi-
sible she is sometimes seen spotted, her power of absorbing
moisture not ha\dng been powerful enough ; for the spots
are nothing else than the dregs of the earth drawTi up along
with the moisture^. (10.) But her eclipses and those of the
sun, the most wonderful of all the phsenomena of nature, and
which are like prodigies, serve to indicate the magnitude of
these bodies and the shadow"* which they cast.

1 It was a general opinion among the ancients, and one which was en-
tertained until lately by many of the modems, that the moon possessed
the power of evaporating the water of the ocean. This opinion appears
to have been derived, at least in part, from the effect which the moon
produces on the tides.

2 "quantum ex sole ipsa concipiat ;" from this passage, taken singly,
it might be concluded, that the author supposed the quantity of light
received by the moon to differ at different times ; but the succeeding
sentence seems to prove that this is not the case ; see the remarks of Alex-
andre in Lemaire, ii. 249. Marcus, however, takes a different view of the
subject ; Ajasson, ii. 291, 292. He had previously pointed out Pliny's
opinion respectmg the phases of the moon, as one of the chcumstances
which indicate his ignorance of astronomy, ut supra, ii. 245, 246.

^ This doctrine is maintained by Seneca, Qua?st. Nat. hb. ii. § 5. p. 701,
702. From the allusion which is made to it by Anacreon, in liis 19th
ode, we may presimae that it was the current opinion among the ancients.

^ I may remark, that Poinsinet, in tliis passage, substitutes " umbra "
for " iunbrseque," contrary to the authority of all the MSS., merely be-
cause it accords better with his ideas of correct reasoning. Although it
may be of httle consequence in this particular sentence, yet, as such liber-
ties are not unfrequently taken, I think it necessary to state my opinion,
that this mode of proceeding is never to be admitted, and that it ha«
proved a source of serious injury to classical hterature. In this account
of the astronomical phsenomena, as well as in all the other scientific dis-
sertations that occur in our author, my aun has been to transfer into oiur
language the exact sense of the original, without addition or correction.
Our object in reading PUny is not to acquire a knowledge of natural phi-'
losophy, which might be better learned from the commonest elementary
work of the present day, but to ascertain what were the opinions of the
learned on such subjects when Pliny wrote. I make tlua remark, becauna
YOL. I. S>

34 plikt's nattteal history. [Book n.

CHAP. 7. — OF THE ECLIPSES OE THE MOOTT AND THE SUIT.

For it is evident that tlie sun is hid by the intervention^
of the moon, and the moon by the opposition^ of the earth,
and that these changes are mutual, the moon, by her inter-
position\ taking the rays of the sun from the earth, and the
earth from the moon. As she advances darkness is suddenly
produced, and again the sun is obscured by her shade ; for
night is nothing more than the shade of the earth. The
figure of this shade is like that of a pyramid or an inverted
top^ ; and the moon enters it only near its point, and it does
not exceed the height of the moon, for there is no other star
which is obscured in the same manner, while a figure of this
kind always terminates in a point. The flight of birds, when
very lofby, shows that shadows do not extend beyond a certain
distance ; their limit appears to be the termination of the
air and the commencement of the aether. Above the moon
everything is pure and full of an eternal light. The stars
are visible to us in the night, in the same way that other
luminous bodies are seen in the dark. It is from these causes
that the moon is eclipsed during the night^. The two kinds
of eclipses are not, however, at the stated monthly periods,
on account of the obliquity of the zodiac, and the irregularly
wandering course of the moon, as stated above ; besides that
the motions of these stars do not always occur exactly at the
same points'*.

I have seldom if ever perused a translation of any classical author, where,
on scientific topics, the translator has not endeavoured, more or less, to
correct the mistakes of the original, and to adapt his translation to the
state of modem science.

^ The terms here employed are respectively interventus, objectio, and
interpositus ; it may be doubted whether the author intended to employ
them in the precise sense which is indicated by their etymology.

2 " metsB et turbini inverso." The metcB were small pyramids placed
at the two extremities of the spina, or central division of the circus : see
Montfaucon, v. iii. p. 176 ; Adam, p. 341.

3 The echpses of the moon are only visible when the spectator is so
situated as to be able to observe the shadow of the earth, or is on that
side of the earth which is turned from the sun.

^ " non semper in scrupuHs partimn congruente siderum motu." On.
the term scrupulus Hardouin remarks, " Scrupuh, nodi sunt, in quibus
circuU, quos in suo cursu Sol et Luna efficiunt, se mutuo secant."
Lemaire, ii. 251. Ptolemy, Magn. Const, vi. 6-11, gives a full and ge-
nerally correct account of the principal phaenomena of echpses.

Chap. 8.] ACCOITIfT OF THE WOELD. 35

CHAP. 8. (11.) — or THE MAGNITUDE OE THE STAES.

This kind of reasoning carries the human mind to the
heavens, and by contemplating the world as it were from
thence, it discloses to us the magnitude of the three greatest
bodies in nature \ For the sun could not be entirely con-
cealed from the earth, by the intervention of the moon, if the
earth were greater than the moon^. And the vast size of
the third body, the sun, is manifest from that of the other
two, so that it is not necessary to scrutinize its size, by argu-
ing from its visible appearance, or from any conjectures of
the mind ; it must be immense, because the shadows of rows
of trees, extending for any number of miles, are disposed in
right lines^, as if the sun were in the middle of space. Also,
because, at the equinox, he is vertical to all the inhabitants
of the southern districts at the same time"* ; also, because
the shadows of all the people who live on this side of the
tropic fall, at noon, towards the north, and, at sunrise, point
to the west. But this could not be the case imless the sun
were much greater than the earth ; nor, unless it much ex-
ceeded Mount Ida in breadth, could he be seen when he
rises, passing considerably beyond it to the right and to the
left, especially, considering that it is separated by so great
an intervaP.

^ Marcus conceives that our author must here mean, not the actual,
but the apparent size of these bodies ; Ajasson, ii. 295 ; but I do not per-
ceive that the text authorizes this interpretation.

2 I have given the simple translation of the original as it now stands
in the MSS. ; whether these may have been corrupted, or the author
reasoned incorrectly, I do not venture to decide. The commentators
have, according to their usual custom, proposed various emendations and
explanations, for which I may refer to the note of Hardouin in Lemaire,
ii. 252, with the judicious remarks of Alexandre, and to those of Marcus
in Ajasson, ii. 295-298, who appear to mo to take a correct view of the
subject.

3 Alexandre remarks, "Hinc tamon potius distantia quam magnitude
SoUs colligi potest." Lemaire, ii. 252. And the same remark applies
to the two next positions of our author.

■* Alexandre remarks on the argument of our author, perhaps a httle
too severely, " Absurde dictum ; nam aliis oritur, ahis occidit, dum aliis
est a vertice ; quod vel pueri sentiunt." Lemaire, ii. 253. But we may
suppose, that Phny, in tliis passage, only meant to say, that as the sun
became vertical to each successive part of the equinoctial district, no
shadows were formed in it.

* The commentators have thought it ne<jessary to discuss the question,

3)2

36 plikt's natueal history. [Book It

The eclipse of the moon affords an undoubted argument
of the sun's magnitude, as it also does of the small size of
the earths For there are shadows of three figures, and it is
evident, that if the body which produces the shadow be equal
to the light, then it will be thrown off in the form of a pillar,
and have no termination. If the body be greater than the
light, the shadow ^dll be in the form of an inverted cone^
the bottom being the narrowest part, and being, at the sam*
time, of an infinite length. If the body be less than the
light, then we shall have the figure of a pyramid^, termina-
ting in a point. Now of this last kind is the shadow which
produces the eclipse of the moon, and this is so manifest that
there can be no doubt remaining, that the earth is exceeded
in magnitude by the sun, a circumstance which is indeed in-
dicated by the silent declaration of nature herself. Tor why
does he recede from us at the winter half of the year"* ? That
by the darkness of the nights the earth may be refreshed,
which otherwise would be burned up, as indeed it is in cer-
tain parts ; so great is his size.

CHAP. 9. (12.) — AN ACCOTJKT OF THE OBSEEVATIONS THAT
HAVE BEEIS" MADE OK THE HEAVENS BY DIFEEEENT IN-
DIYinrALS.

The first among the Romans, who explained to the people
at large the cause of the two kinds of eclipses, was Sul-
picius Gallus, w^ho was consul along with Marcellus ; and

whether, in this passage, Pliny refers to the Ida of Crete or of Asia Minor.
But the discussion is unnecessary, as the statement of the author is equally
inappHcable to both of them. Mela appears to refer to tliis opinion in
the following passage, where he is describing the Ida of Asia Minor ;

" ipse mens orientem solem ahter quam in aliis terris solet aspici,

ostentat." hb. i. cap. 18.

* " Ut dictimi est superiore capite, quo Plinius falso cont^idit Terram
esse Luna niinorem." Alexandi-e in Lemaire, ii. 253. The words of the
text, however, apply equally to the comparative size of the earth and the
sun, as of the earth and the moon.

2 ." turbo rectus ;" UteraUy an upright top. ^ « meta."

* This has been pointed out as one of our author's erroneous opinions
on astronomy. The earth is really about ■j;^^ nearer the sun in our winters
than in our summers. The greater degree of heat produced by his rays
in the latter case depends upon their falling on the surface of the earth
less obliquely. This is the principal cavise of the different temperatures
of the equatorial and polar refirions.

Cliap. 9.] ACCOITNT or THE WORLD. 87

•vrhen lie was only a military tribune lie relieved tlie army
from great anxiety the day before king Perseus was con-
quered by Paidus^ ; for lie Avas brought by the general into
a public assembly, in order to predict the eclipse, of which
he afterwards gave an account in a separate treatise. Among
the Greeks, Thales the Milesian first investigated the sub-
ject, in the foui'th year of the forty-eighth ol}Tnpiad, pre-
dicting the eclipse of the sun which took place in the reign
of Alyattes, in the 170th year of the City^ After them Hip-
parchus calculated the course of both these stars for the term
of 600 years^, including the months, days, and hours, the
situation of the different places and the aspects adapted to
each of them ; all this has been confirmed by experience,
and could only be acquired by partaking, as it were, in the
councils of nature. These were indeed great men, superior
to ordinary mortals, who having discovered the laws of these
divine bodies, relieved the miserable mind of man from the
fear which he had of eclipses, as foretelling some dreadful

* Tliis eclipse is calculated to have occurred on the 28th of Jime, 168
B.C. ; Brewster's Encyc. " Chronology," p. 415, 424. We have an account
of this transaction in Livy, xliv. 37, and in Plutarch, Life of Paulus
^milius, Langhome's trans, ii. 279 ; he however does not mention the
name of Gallus. See also Yal. Maximus, viii. 11. 1, and Quintihan, i.
10. Yal. Maximus does not say that Gallus predicted the ecUpse, but
explained the cause of it when it had occm'red ; and the same statement
is made by Cicero, De Eepub. i. 15. For an account of Sulpicius, see
Hardouin's Index auctorum, Lemaire, i. 214.

2 An accovmt of tliis event is given by Herodotus, CHo, § 74. There
has been the same kind of discussion among the commentators, respect-
ing the dates in the text, as was noticed above, note ^, p. 29 : see the
remarks of Brotier and of Marcus in Lemaire and Ajasson, in loco. As-
tronomers have calculated that the echpse took place May 28th, 585 B.C. ;
Brewster, ut supra, pp. 414, 419.

■* Hipparchus is generally regarded as the first astronomer who pro-
secuted the science in a regular and systematic manner. See "Wliewell,
C. 3. p. 169 et seq., 177-179. He is supposed to have made his observa-
tions between the years 160 and 125 B.C. He made a catalogue of the
fixed stars, which is preserved in Ptolemy's Magn. Const. The only
work of his now extant is his commentary on Aratus ; it is contained in
Petau's Uranologie. We find, among the ancients, many traces of their
acquaintance with the period of 600 years, or what is termed the great
year, when the solar and lunar phsenomena recur precisely at the same
points. Cassini, Mem. Acad., and Bailly, Hist. Anc. Astron., have shown
that there is an actual fovmdation for this opinion. See the remarks of
Marcus ia Ajasson, ii. 302, 303.

38 pliitt's natueal histoet. [Book II.

events or the destruction of tlie stars. This alarm is freely
acknowledged in the sublime strains of Stesichorus and Pin-
dar, as being produced by an eclipse of the sun\ And with
respect to the eclipse of the moon, mortals impute it to
witchcraft, and therefore endeavour to aid her by producing
discordant sounds. In consequence of this kind of terror it
was that Nicias, the general of the Athenians, being ignorant
of the cause, was afraid to lead out the fleet, and brought
great distress on his troops^. Hail to your genius, ye in-
terpreters of heaven! ye who comprehend the nature of
things, and who have discovered a mode of reasoning by
which ye have conquered both gods and men^ ! Eor who is
there, in observing these things and seeing the labours'*
which the stars are compelled to undergo (since we have
chosen to apply this term to them), that would not cheer-
fully submit to his fate, as one born to die ? I shall now,
in a brief and summary manner, touch on those points in
which we are agreed, giving the reasons where it is necessary
to do so ; for this is not a work of profound argument, nor
is it less wonderful to be able to suggest a probable cause for
everything, than to give a complete account of a few of
them only.

CHAP. 10. (13.) — OS THE EECTJEEENCE OF THE ECLIPSES CJl*
THE SUIf AlfD THE MOOIf.

It is ascertained that the eclipses complete their whole
revolution in the space of 223 months^, that the eclipse
of the sun takes place only at the conclusion or the com-
mencement of a lunation, which is termed conjimction^,

* Seneca, the tragedian, refers to this superstitious opinion in some
beautiful verses, which are given to the chorus at the termination of the
fourth act of the Thyestes.

2 We have an account of tlais event in Thucydides, Smith's trans, ii.
244, and in Phitarch, Langhorne's trans, iii. 406, It is calculated to
have happened Aug. 27th, 413 B.C. ; Brewster, ut supra, p. 415, 421.

3 The elegant lines of Ovid, in his Fasti, i. 297 et seq., express the
same sentiment : " Fehces animos, quibus hoc cognoscex*e primis," &c.

■* I have ah-eady remarked upon the use of this term as apphed to the
echpses of the moon in note ^, p. 31.

^ According to the remarks of Marcus, it appears probable that this
sol-lunar period, as it has been termed, was discovered by the Chaldeans j
Ajasson, ii. 306, 307. ^ " coitus."

Cliap. 10.] ACCOtJlfT OF THE -WOELD. 39

wMe an eclipse of the moon takes place only when she is
at the full, and is always a little farther advanced than the
preceding eclipsed Now there are eclipses of both these
stars in every year, which take place below the^ earth, at
stated days and hours ; and when they are above it^ they are
not always ^dsible, sometimes on account of the clouds, but
more frequently, from the globe of the earth being opposed
to the vault of the heavens^ It was discovered two hundred
years ago, by the sagacity of Hipparchus, that the moon is
sometimes eclipsed after an interval of five months, and the
sun after an interval of seven^ ; also, that he becomes invi-
sible, wliile above the horizon, t^dce in every thirty days,
but that this is seen in different places at different times.
But the most wonderful circumstance is, that while it is ad-
mitted that the moon is darkened by the shadow of the earth,
this occurs at one time on its western, and at another time
on its eastern side. And farther, that although, after the
rising of the sun, that darkening shadow ought to be below
the earth, yet it has once happened, that the moon has been
eclipsed in the west, while both the luminaries have been above
the horizon^ And as to their both being invisible in the
space of fifteen days, this very thing happened while the
Vespasians were emperors, the father being consul for the
third time, and the son for the second^

1 " Hoc enim periodo (223 mensium) plerumque redeunt eclipses, non
multiun differentes, denis tamen gradibus zodiaci antecedentes ;" Kepler,
as quoted by Alexandi-e, in Lemaire, ii. 238.

2 The terms " sub terra" and " supeme" are interpreted, by most ot the
commentators, below and above the horizon respectively ; see Marcus m
Aiasson, ii. 307. „ _

3 " globo ten-ffi obstante convexitatibus mundi." The term convexus,
as apphed to the heavens, or visible firmament, simply signifies arched j
not opposed to cotwave, hke the Enghsh word convex.

4 This pomt is discussed by Ptolemy, Magn. Const, vi. 6 ; " De distantia
eehpticorum mensium." See also the remarks of Hardoum m Lemau-e,
ii. 260, 261 ; and of Poinsmet, i. 67. i a *•

6 These arc styled horizontal eclipses ; they depend on the rch-active
power of the atmosphere, causing the sun to be visible above the horizon,
althouf^h it is actuaUy below it. Protier states, that echpses of tlus de-
scription occurred on the 17th July, 1590, on the 30tb November, 16-18,
and on the 16th January, 1660 ; Lemaire, ii. 260. ^ ,

6 This is supposed to have been in the year 72 of oiu- rora, when it is
said that the sun was echpsed, in Italy, on the 8th, and the moon on the
22nd of February j see Hardouin and Alexandre, in Lemaire, ii. 261,

40 pliny's natural histoet. [Book IL

CHAP. 11. (14.) — OF THE MOTION" OP THE MOON.

It is certain tliat tlie moon, having lier horns always turned
from the sun, when she is waxing, looks towards the east ;
when she is waning, towards the west. Also, that, from the
second day after the change, she adds 47|- minutes^ each day,
until she is full, and again decreases at the same rate, and
that she always becomes invisible when she is within 14 de-
grees of the sun. This is an argument of the greater size of
the planets than of the moon, since these emerge when they
are at the distance of 7 degrees only^. But their altitude
causes them to appear much smaller, as we observe that,
during the day, the brightness of the sun prevents those
bodies from being seen which are fixed in the firmament,
although they shine then as well as in the night : that this
is the case is proved by eclipses, and by descending into very
deep wells.

CHAP. 12. (15.) — OP THE MOTIONS OP THE PLANETS AND
THE GENEEAL LAWS OP TEEIE ASPECTS^.

The three planets, which, as we have said, are situated
above the sun^, are visible when they come into conjunction
with him. They rise visibly^ in the morning, when they are
not more than 11 degrees from the sun^ ; they are afterwards
directed by the contact of his rays-^, and when they attain
the trine aspect, at the distance of 120 degrees, they take
their morning stationary positions^, which are termed pri-

^ In a subsequent part of the work, xviii. 75, the author gives a dif-
ferent rate of increase, viz. 51^ minutes ; neither of these nmnbers is
correct ; the mean rate of increase being, according to Alexandre, about
54' or 55' ; Lemaire, ii. 261, 262. See also Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 311-14.

2 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the effect, as here stated, has
no connexion with the supposed cause.

3 " luminum canonica." * Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
5 They are then said, in astronomical language, to rise heHacally.

^ In the last chapter this distance was stated to be 7 degrees ; see the
remarks of Alexandre, iia Lemaire, ii. 263.

7 "radiorum ejus contactu reguntur." The doctrine of the ancient
astronomers was, that the motions of the planets are always governed by
the rays of the sun, according to its position, attracting or repeUing them.

^ A planet appears to be stationary, i. e. to be referred to the same
point of the zodiac, when it is so situated with respect to the earth, that

Chap. 12.] ACCOUNT OF THE "SVOELD. 41

niary ; afterwards, when they are in opposition to the sim, they
rise at the distance of 180 degrees from him. And again ad-
vancing on the other side to the 120th degree, they attain their
evening stations, which are termed secondary, until the sun
ha^dng arrived within 12 degrees of them, what is called their
evening setting becomes no longer visible ^ Mars, as being
nearer to the sun, feels the influence of his rays in the quadra-
ture,at the distance of 90 degrees, whence that motion receives
its name, being termed, from the two risings, respectively the
first and the second nonagenarian^. This planet passes from
one station to another in six months, or is two months in each
sign ; the two other planets do not spend more than four
months in passing from station to station.

The two inferior planets are, in like manner, concealed in
their evening conjimction, and, when they have left the sun,
they rise in the morning the same number of degrees distant
from him. After having arrived at their point of greatest
elongation^, they then follow the sim, and having overtaken

a straight hne passmg through the two bodies forms a tangent to the
smaller orbit. The apparent motion of the planets, sometimes dii'ect and at
other times retrograde, with their stationary positions, is occasioned by the
eartli and the planets moving in concentric orbits, -with diiferent velo-
cities. One hmidi-ed and twenty degi'ees is the mean distance at wliich
the three superior planets become stationary. We have an elaborate
dissertation by Marcvis, on the unequal velocities of the planets, and on
their stations and retrogi-adations, as weU according to the system of
Ai'istotle as to that of Coperaicus ; Ajasson, ii. 316 et seq. He remarks,
and, I conceive, ^ith justice, ". . . . ce n'est pas dans les traites d'astronomie
de nos savans que Ton doit puiser les details destmes a eclaircir le texte

des chapitres xii, xiii, xiv et xv du second livre de PUne Je ne dis

rien des commentaires de Poinsmet, d'Hardouin et d'autres savans peu
verses en matiere d'astronomie, qui ont fait dire a PUne les plus gi'andes
absurdites."

1 " Occasus planetae vespertinus dicitur, quo die desmit post occasum
Bohs supra horizontem ocuhs se pra?bere manifestmn ;" Alexandre in
Lemaire, ii. 265. It is then said to set hehacally.

2 The interpretation of this passage has given rise to much discussion
among the commentators and translators ; I may refer the reader to the
remarks of Poinsinet, i. 70, 71 ; of Alexandre in Lemaire, ii. 266 ; and
of Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 328. I conceive the meaning of the author to be,
that while the otherplanets become stationary, when at 120 degi'ees fi'om the
sun, Mars becomes so at 90 degrees, being detained by the rays, wliich act
upon him more powerfully, m consequence of his being nearer to their
source.

* I may refer to the remarks of Marcus on the respective distances

i2 pliny's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

him at their morning setting, they become invisible and pass
beyond him. They then rise in the evening, at the distances
which were mentioned above. After this they return back
to the sun and are concealed in their evening setting. The
star Venus becomes stationary when at its two points of
greatest elongation, that of the morning and of the eveniug,
according to their respective risings. The stationary points
of Mercury are so very brief, that they cannot be correctly
observed.

CHAP. 13. — WHY THE SAME STAES APPEAE AT SOME TIMES
MOEE LOPTY AND AT OTHEE TIMES MOEE NEAE.

The above is an account of the aspects and the occultations
of the planets, a subject which is rendered very complicated
by their motions, and is involved in much that is wonderful ;
especially, when we observe that they change their size and
coloiu*, and that the same stars at one time approach the
north, and then go to the south, and are now seen near the
earth, and then suddenly approach the heavens. If on this
subject I deliver opinions different from my predecessors, I
acknowledge that I am indebted for them to those indivi-
duals who first pointed out to us the proper mode of inquiry;
let no one then ever despair of benefiting future ages.

But these things depend upon many different causes. The
first cause is the nature of the circles described by the stars,
which the Grreeks term a-psides^, for we are obliged to use
Grreek terms, Now each of the planets has its own circle,
and this a different one from that of the world^ ; because the
earth is placed in the centre of the heavens, with respect to
the two extremities, which are called the poles, and also in

fi'om the Sim at wliich Yentis and Mercury become stationary, and when
they attain theu' greatest elongations ; Ajasson, ii. 328, 329. According
to Ptolemy, Magn. Constr. hb. viii. cap. 7, the evening setting of Yenus
is at 5° 40' fi-om the sun, and that of Mercmy at 11° 30'.

^ " ' Ai//js, hgneus rotse ch'culus, ab utttu) necto;" Hederic in loco. The
term is employed in a somewhat different sense by the modem astrono-
mers, to signify the point in the orbit of a planet, when it is either at the
greatest or the least distance from the earth, or the body about which it
revolves ; the former being tei'med the apogee, aphehon, or the higher
apsis ; the latter the perigee, perhelion, or lower apsis ; Jennings on the
Globes, pp. 64, 65.

i "mundo."

Chap. 13.] ACCOUNT OP THE WOELD. 43

that of the zodiac, which is situated obliquely between them.
And all these things are made evident by the infallible results
which we obtain by the use of the compasses \ Hence the
apsides of the planets have each of them different centres, and
consequently they have different orbits and motions, since it
necessarily follows, that the interior apsides are the shortest.

(16.) The apsides which are the highest from the centre
of the earth are, for Saturn, when he is in Scorpio, for Jupiter
in Yirgo, for Mars in Leo, for the Sun in Gemini, for Venus
in Sagittarius, and for Mercury in Capricorn, each of them
in the middle of these signs ; while in the opposite signs,
they are the lowest and nearest to the centre of the earth".
Hence it is that they appear to move more slowly when
they are carried along the highest circuit ; not that their
actual motions are accelerated or retarded, these being fixed
and determinate for each of them ; but because it necessarily
follows, that lines drawn from the highest apsis must approach
nearer to each other at the centre, like the spokes of a wheel ;
and that the same motion seems to be at one time greater,
and at another time less, according to the distance from the
centre.

Another cause of the altitudes of the planets is, that their
highest apsides, with relation to their own centres, are in
different signs from those mentioned above^ Saturn is in
the 20th degree of Libra, Jupiter in the 15th of Cancer,
Mars in the 28th of Capricorn, the Sun in the 19th of Aries,
Yenus in the 27th of Pisces, Mercury in the 15th of Yirgo,
and the Moon in the 3rd of Taurus.

The third cause of the altitude depends on the form of the
heavens, not on that of the orbits ; the stars appearing to
the eye to mount up and to descend through the depth of
the air^ AYith this cause is connected that which depends

^ "ratione circini semper indubitata."

2 In consequence of the precession of the equinoxes these points are
continually advancing from W. to E., and are now about 30 degrees from
the situation they were in when the observations were first made by
the modem astronomers.

3 Our author here probably refers to the motions of the planets through
their epicycles or secondary cii'cles, the centres of which were supposed
to be in the peripheries of the primary circles. See Alexandi-e m Lo-
mahe, ii. 270. rw • j

"• It is to tliis visible appearance of convexity in the heavens that Ovia

44 plint's natueal histoet, [Book II,

on the latitude of the planets and the obliquity of the zodiac.
It is through this belt that the stars which I have spoken of
are carried, nor is there any part of the world habitable, ex-
cept what lies under it^ ; the remainder, which is at the poles,
being in a wild desert state. The planet Venus alone exceeds
it by 2 degrees, which we may suppose to be the cause why
some animals are produced even in these desert regions of
the earth. The moon also wanders the whole breadth of the
zodiac, but never exceeds it. Next to these the planet Mer-
cury moves through the greatest space ; yet out of the 12 de-
grees (for there are so many degrees of latitude in the zodiac^),
it does not pass through more than 8, nor does it go equally
tlfrough these, 2 of them being in the middle of the zodiac,
4 in the upper part, and 2 in the lower part^. Next to these
the Sun is carried through the middle of the zodiac, winding
unequally through the two parts of his tortuous circuit^.
The star Mars occupies the four middle degrees ; Jupiter
the middle degree and the two above it ; Saturn, like the

refers iii the stoiy of Phaeton, where he is describing the daily path of
the sun ; Metam, ii. 63-67.

1 " quam quod illi subjacet ;" under this designation the author obvi-
ously meant to include the temperate zones, although it technically ap-
plies only to the part between the tropics. It is scarcely necessary to
remark, that modern discoveries have shown that this opinion respecting
the Arctic zone is not strictly correct.

2 The breadth of the zodiac, which was limited by the ancients to 12
degrees, has been extended by the modern astronomers to 18, and wotdd
require to be much farther extended to include the newly discovered
planet. Herschel's Astronomy, § 254.

3 There is considerable difficulty in ascertaining the meaning of the
terms employed by our author in describing the coiu'se of the planet
Mercury tln-ough the zodiac; "medio ejus," "supra," and "infra."
Hardouin's comment is as follows: "Duas zodiaci partes sen gradus
pererrat, quum ipse per medium incedit signiferum : supra, quum deflectit
ad Aquilonem, per quatuor ahas ejusdem partes vagatur : infra, quum
descendit ad Austrimi, discedit duabus." Lemaire, ii. 271, 272. But
Marcus has shown that the opinion of Hardoxiin is inadmissible and in-
consistent with the facts ; Ajasson, ii. 338-341. He proposes one, which
be conceives to be more correct, but we may probably be led to the con-
clusion, that the imperfect knowledge and incorrect opinions of our au-
thor on these subjects must render it impossible to afford an adequate
explanation.

* " flexuoso dracommi meatu ;" Poinsinet remarks, " Les Grecs

appeUaient dragons les bracelets, les hausse-cols, les chainettes, et gene-
rulement tout ce qui avait une figure armillaire ;" i. 79, 80.

Chap. 13.] ACCOrNT OF THE WOELD. 45

sun, occupies two^ The above is an account of the lati-
tudes as they descend to the south or ascend to the norths
Hence it is plain that the generality of persons are mistaken
m supposing the third cause of the apparent altitude to
depend on the stars rising from the earth and climbing up
the heavens. But to refute this opinion it is necessary to
consider the subject with very great minuteness, and to
embrace all the causes.

It is generally admitted, that the stars^ at the time of
their evening setting, are nearest to the earth, both \\dth
respect to latitude and altitude^ that they are at the com-
mencement of both at their morning risings, and that they
become stationary at the middle points of their latitudes,
jvhat are called the ecliptics ^ It is, moreover, acknow-
ledged, that their motion is increased when they are in the
ncinity of the earth, and diminished when they are removed
to a greater altitude^ ; a point which is most clearly proved
by the different altitudes of the moon. There is no doubt
that it is also increased at the morning risings^ and that the
three superior planets are retarded, as they advance from
the first station to the second. And since this is the case, it

1 As this remark appears to contradict what was said in the last sen-
tence respecting the sun, we may suspect some error in the text j see
Poinsinet, Alexandre, and Marcus, in loco.

2 The following comparative statement is given by Alexandre of the
geocentric latitudes of the planets, as assigned by Pliny, and as laid down
by the modems. Lemaire, ii. 273 : —

Plinzf. Moderns.
Venus .... 8° . . . 9° 22'
Moon .... 6 ... 6 0

Mercury ... 5 ... 6 54

PJiny. Moderns.
Mars .... 2° 0' . . 1° 51'
Jupiter ... 1 30 .. 1 30
Saturn ... 1 (or 2°) 2 30

3 It appears from the remark at the end of this chapter, that this ex-
planation appHes to the superior planets alone.

■* It is not easy, as Marcus observes, Ajasson, ii. 344, 345, to compre-
hend the exact meaning of this passage, or to reconcile it with the other
parts of our author's theory.

5 " EcUptica," called by the modems the nodes ; i. e. the two points
where the orbits of the planets cut the ecliptic. See the remarks of Mar-
cus on tliis term ; Ajasson, ii. 345, 346,

^ We may presume that our author here refers to the apparent motion
of the planets, not to tlieir actual acceleration or retardation.

T The editors have differed in the reading of this passage : I have fol-
lowed that of Lemaire.

46 pliny's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

is evident, that tlie latitudes are increased from tlie time of
their morning risings, since the motions afterwards appear
to receive less addition ; hut they gain their altitude in the
first station, since the rate of their motion then hegins to
diminish \ and the stars to recede.

And the reason of this must he particularly set forth.
When the planets are struck hy the rays of the sun, in the
situation which I have described, i. e. in their quadrature,
they are prevented from holding on their straight forward
course, and are raised on high hy the force of the fire^ This
cannot he immediately perceived hy the eye, and therefore
they seem to he stationary, and hence the term station is
derived. Afterwards the violence of the rays increases, and
the vapour being beaten back forces them to recede.

This exists in a greater degree in their evening risings, the
sun being then turned entirely from them, when they are
drawn into the highest apsides ; and they are then the least
visible, since they are at their greatest altitude ^ and are
carried along with the least motion, as much less indeed as
this takes place in the highest signs of the apsides. At the
time of the evening rising the latitude decreases and becomes
less as the motion is diminished, and it does not increase
again until they arrive at the second station, when the alti-
tude is also diminished ; the sun's rays then coming from
the other side, the same force now therefore propels them
towards the earth which before raised them into the heavens,
from their former triangular aspect^ So different is the
effect whether the rays strike the planets from below or
come to them from above. And all these circumstances
produce much more effect when they occur in the evening
setting. This is tlie doctrine of the superior planets ; that

1 " incipit detraM numerus." According to the explanation of Alex-
andre, " numerus nempe partium quas certo temporis intervallo emeti-
xmtiir'." Lemaire, ii. 275. Marcus remarks in this place, "Dans tout
ce chapitre et dans le suivant, Pline a place dans une correlation de cau-
site, tout ce qu'il croit arriver en meme temps ; mais il n'a pas prouve
par-Ik que les phenomenes celestes qm sont contemporains sont engendres
les uns par les autres." Ajasson, ii. 349.

2 The hypothesis of Phny appears to be, that the planets are affected
by the rays of the sun, and that according to the angle at which they
receive the impulse, they are either accelerated or retarded in their
course. ^ " ex priore triquetro."

Chap. 14.] ACCOUNT OF THE WOELD. 47

of the others is more difficult, and has never been laid down
by any one before nie\

CHAP. 14. (17.) — WHY THE SAME STAES HATE DITFEEEXT

MOTIONS.

I must first state the cause, why the star Yenus never
recedes from the sun more than 46 degrees, nor Mercury more
than 23^, while they frequently return to the sun within this
distance^. As they are situated below the sun, they have
both of them their apsides turned in the contrary direction ;
their orbits are as much below the earth as those of the
stars above mentioned are above it, and therefore they cannot
recede any farther, since the curve of their apsides has no
greater longitude^ The extreme parts of their apsides
therefore assign the limits to each of them in the same
manner, and compensate, as it were, for the small extent of
their longitudes, by the great divergence of their latitudes^.
It may be asked, wliy do they not always proceed as far as
the 46th and the 23rd degrees respectively ? They in reality
do so, but the theory fails us here. Por it would appear
that the apsides are themselves moved, as they never pass
over the sun^. When therefore they have arrived at the

^ Alexandre supposes, as I conceive justly, that our author, in this
passage, only refers to the writings of his own countrymen ; Lemaire, ii.
276.

2 According to Ptolemy, these numbers are respectively 47° 51' and
24° 3' ; the modem astronomers have ascertained them to be 48° and 29°.
The least elongations of the planets are, according to Ptolemy, 44° 7' and
18° 50', and according to the observations of the modems, 45° and 16° j
Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 354.

3 I have not translated the clause, " quum sint divers® stellae," as,
according to Hardouin, it is not found " in probatissimis codd.," and
appears to have Httle connexion with the other parts of the sentence ;
it is omitted by Yalpy and Lemau'c, but is retained by PoLasinet and
Ajasson.

4 When these inferior planets have arrived at a certain apparent
distance from the sun, they are come to tho extent of their orbits, as seen
from the earth.

5 " Quum ad iUam Sobs distantiam pervencrunt, ultra procedere non
possunt, deficicnte circuh longitudine, id est, amphtuduie." Alexandre in
Lemaire, ii. 277.

* The transits of the inferior planets had not been obserred by the
ancients.

48 pltnt's itattjeal history. [Book II.

extremities of their orbits on either side, tlie stars are then
supposed to have proceeded to their greatest distance ; when
they have been a certain number of degrees within their
orbits, they are then supposed to return more rapidly, since
the extreme point in each is the same. And on this account
it is that the direction of their motion appears to be changed.
For the superior planets are carried along the most quickly
in their eveniug setting, while these move the most slowly ;
the former are at their greatest distance from the earth
when they move the most slowly, the latter when they move
the most quickly. The former are accelerated when nearest
to the earth, the latter when at the extremity of the circle ;
in the former the rapidity of the motion begins to
diminish at their morning risings, in the latter it begins to
increase ; the former are retrograde from their morning to
their evening station, while Venus is retrograde from the
evening to the morning station. She begins to increase her
latitude from her morning rising, her altitude follows the
sun from her morning station, her motion being the quickest
and her altitude the greatest in her morning setting. Her
latitude decreases and her altitude diminishes from her
evening rising, she becomes retrograde, and at the same
time decreases in her altitude from her evening station.

Again, the star Mercury, in the same way, mounts up in
both directions^ from his morning rising, and having followed
the sun through a space of 15 degrees, he becomes almost sta-
tionary for four days. Presently he diminishes his altitude,
and recedes from his evening setting to his morning rising.
Mercury and the Moon are the only planets which descend
for the same number of days that they ascend. Venus
ascends for fifteen days and somewhat more; Saturn and
Jupiter descend in twice that number of days, and Mars in
four times. So great is the variety of nature ! The reason
of it is, however, evident ; for those planets which are forced
up by the vapour of the sun likewise descend with difficulty.

CHAP. 15. — GENERAL LAWS^ OE THE PLAITETS.

There are many other secrets of nature in these points, a3

^ " utroque modo ; " " latitudine et altitudine j " Hardouin in L«-
mairc, ii. 279. ^ " CathoUca."

Chap. 16.] ACCOUNT OP THE WOELD. 49

■^ell as the laws to which they are subject, which might be
mentioned. For example, the planet Mars, whose course is
the most difficult to observe \ n^ver becomes stationary when
Jupiter is in the trine aspect, very rarely when he is 60 degrees
from the sun, which number is one-sixth of the circuit of the
heavens" ; nor does he ever rise in the same sign vsdth Jupiter,
except in Cancer and Leo. The star Mercury seldom has
his evening risings in Pisces, but very frequently in Yirgo,
and his morning risings in Libra ; he has also his morning
rising in Aquarius, very rarely in Leo. He never becomes
retrograde either in Taurus or in Gemini, nor imtil the 25th
degree of Cancer. The Moon makes her double conjunction
with the sun in no other sign except Gemini, while Sagit-
tarius is the only sign in which she has sometimes no con-
junction at all. The old and the new moon are visible on
the same day or night in no other sign except Aries, and
indeed it has happened very seldom to any one to have wit-
nessed it. From this circumstance it was that the tale of
Lynceus's quick-sightedness originated^ , Saturn and Mars
are invisible at most for 170 days ; Jupiter for 36, or, at the
least, for 10 days less than this ; Venus for 69, or, at the least,
for 52 ; Mercury for 13, or, at the most, for IS"*.

CHAP. 16. (18.) — THE EEASON WHY THE STAES AEE OE DIF-
EEEENT COLOTJES.

The difference of their colour depends on the difference in
their altitudes ; for they acquire a resemblance to those planets
into the vapour of which they are carried, the orbit of each
tinging those that approach it in each direction. A colder
planet renders one that approaches it paler, one more hot

*".... quae (stella Martis) ut ma\ime excentrica volvitur, motiis
etiarn maxime dissonos habere diu visa est .... ;" Alexandre in Lemaire,
ii. 180.

2 " . . . . qui numerus sexangtdas mundi efficit formas."
Lynceus was one of the Argonauts and was celebrated for the acute-
ness of his vision ; Val, Flaccus, i. 462 et seq.

■* The relative situation of these astronomical phsenomena has changed
since the time of Pliny, in consequence of the precession of the equinoxes.
For an illustration and explanation of the various statements in this
chapter I may refer to the remarks of Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 368-370.
YOL. I. E

50 plint's i^atueal histoet. [Book II.

renders it redder, a windj planet gives it a lowering aspect,
while the sun, at the union of their apsides, or the extremity
of their orbits, completely obscures them. Each of the
planets has its peculiar colour^; Saturn is white, Jupiter
brilliant. Mars fiery, Lucifer is glowing, Yesper refulgent,
Mercury sparkling, the Moon mild ; the Sun, when he rises,
is blazing, afterwards he becomes radiating. The appearance
of the stars, which are fixed in the firmament, is also affected
by these causes. At one time we see a dense cluster of stars
around the moon, when she is only half-enlightened, and
when they are viewed in a serene evening ; while, at another
time, when the moon is full, there are so few to be seen, that
we wonder whither they are fled; and this is also the case when
the rays of the sim, or of any of the above-mentioned bodies^,
have dazzled our sight. And, indeed, the moon herself is,
without doubt, differently affected at different times by the
rays of the sun ; when she is entering them, the convexity
of the heavens^ rendering them more feeble than when they
fall upon her more directly'*. Hence, when she is at a right
angle to the sun, she is half-enlightened ; when in the trine
aspect, she presents an imperfect orb^, while, in opposition,
she is full. Again, when she is waning, she goes through
the same gradations, and in the same order, as the three stars
that are superior to the sun^.

CHAP. 17. (19.) — OP THE MOTION OP THE SUK AT^D THE CAUSE
OP THE IBEEGULAEITY OP THE DATS.

The Sun himself is in four different states ; twice the night

^ Ptolemy's account of the colours of the planets is nearly similar to
that of our author ; " Candidus color Joviahs est, rutilus Martius, flavus
Yeneris, varius Mercurii ; " De Jur. Astrol. ii. 9.

2 This effect cannot be produced by any of the planets, except perhaps,
to a certain extent, by Yenus. 3 « mundi."

■♦ It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the method which Pliny
employs to explain the different phases of the moon betrays his ignorance,
not only of the cause of these particular phsenomena, but of the general
principles which affect f;he appearance of the heavenly bodies.

^ " seminani ambitur orbe." According to the interpretation of Har-
douin, " Orbe non perfecto et absoluto ; " " major dimidia, minor plena ; "
Lemaire, ii. 284.

^ As Alexandre justly remarks, our author refers here to the aspects
only of the planets, not to their phases j ii. 284.

Chap. 18.] ACCOTJNT OF THE WOELD. 51

is equal to the day, in the Spring and in the Autumn,
when he is opposed to the centre of the earth \ in the 8th
degree of Aries and Libra^. The length of the day and the
niglit is then twice changed, when the day increases in length,
from the winter solstice in the 8th degree of Capricorn, and
afterwards, when tlie night increases in length from the
summer solstice in the 8th degree of Cancer^. The cause of
this inequality is the obliquity of the zodiac, since there is,
at every moment of time, an equal portion of the firmament
above and below the horizon. But the signs which mount
directly upwards, when they rise, retain the light for a longer
space, while those that are more oblique pass along more
quickly.

CHAP. 18. (20.) — WHY THTJJiTDEE IS ASCEIBED TO JXJPITEE.

It is not generally known, what has been discovered by
men who are the most eminent for their learning, in con-
sequence of their assiduous observations of the heavens, that
the fires which fall upon the earth, and receive the name of
thunder-bolts, proceed from the three superior stars'*, but
principally from the one which is situated in the middle. It
may perhaps depend on the superabundance of moisture from
the superior orbit communicating with the heat from the
inferior, which are expelled in this manner^ ; and hence it
is commonly said, the thunder-bolts are darted by Jupiter.
And as, in burning wood, the burnt part is cast off" with a
crackling noise, so does the star throw ofi" this celestial fire,
bearing the omens of future events, even the part which is

^ " centrum ten'se ; " the equator, the part equally distant from the
two poles or extremities.

^ It may be remarked, that the equinoxes did not actually take place
at this period in the pomts mentioned by Phny, but in the 28th deojrees
of Pisces and Yirgo respectively ; he appears to have conformed to the
popular opinion, as we may learn from Columella, Hb. ix. cap. 14. The
degrees mentioned above were those fixed by the Greek astronomers who
formed the celestial sphere, and wliicli Avas about 138 years before the
Christian ara. See the remarks of Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 246 & 373, 374.

3 The same remark apphes to this as to the former observation.

* " siderum."

° The hypothesis of the author is, that the excess of moisture in the
orbit of Saturn, and the excess of heat in that of Mars, unite in the orbit
of Jupiter and are discharged in the form of thunder.

e2

52 plint's natueal histoet. [Book II.

thrown off not losing its divine operation. And this takes
place more particularly when the air is in an unsettled state,
either because the moisture which is then collected excites
the greatest quantity of fire, or because the air is disturbed,
as if by the parturition of the pregnant star.

CHAP. 19. (21.) — OP THE niSTAITCES OF THE STAES.

Many persons have attempted to discover the distance of
thie stars from the earth, and they have published as the
result, that the sun is nineteen times as far from the moon,
as the moon herself is from the earth\ Pythagoras, who
was a man of a very sagacious mind, computed the distance
from the earth to the moon to be 126,000 furlongs, that
from her to the sun is double this distance, and that it is
three times this distance to the twelve signs ^ ; and this was
also the opinion of our countryman, Gallus Sulpicius^.

CHAP. 20. (22.) — OP THE HAEMOirr OP THE STAES.

Pythagoras, employing the terms that are used in music,
sometimes names the distance between the Earth and the
Moon a tone ; from her to Mercury he supposes to be half
this space, and about the same from liim to Venus. Erom
her to the Sun is a tone and a half; from the Sun to Mars is
a tone, the same as from the Earth to the Moon ; from him
there is half a tone to Jupiter, from Jupiter to Saturn also

1 Alexandre remarks, tliat Pliny mentions tliis, not as his own opinion,
but that of many persons ; for, in chap. 21, he attempts to prove mathe-
matically, that the moon is situated at an equal distance between the sim.
and the earth ; Lemaire, ii. 286.

2 Marcus remarks upon the inconsistency between the account here
given of Pythagoras' s opinion, and what is generally supposed to have
been his theory of the planetary system, according to which the sun, and
not the earth, is placed ia the centre ; Enfield's Philosophy, i. 288, 289.
Yet we find that Plato, and many others among the ancients, give us the
same accotmt of Pythagoras's doctrine of the respective distances of the
heavenly bodies; Ajasson, ii. 374. Plato in his Timseus, 9. p. 312-315,
details the comphcated arrangement which he supposes to constitute the
proportionate distances of the planetary bodies.

3 Sulpicius has abeady been mentioned, in the ninth chapter of this
book, as being the first among the Eomans who gave a popular explana-
tion of the cause of ecUpses.

Chap. 21.] ACCOUNT OF THE WOELD. 63

half a tone, and thence a tone and a half to the zodiac.
Hence there are seven tones, which he terms the diapason
harmony \ meaning the whole compass of the notes. In
this, Saturn is said to move in the Doric time, Jupiter in the
Phrygian-, and so forth of the rest ; but this is a refinement
rather amusing than useful.

CHAP. 21. (23.) — or THE DIMENSIONS OE THE WORLD.

The stadium is equal to 125 of our Eoman paces, or 625 feet^.
Posidonius'* supposes that there is a space of not less than
40 stadia around the earth, whence mists °, winds and clouds^
proceed ; beyond this he supposes that the air is pure and
liquid, consisting of uninterrupted light ; from the clouded
region to the moon there \b a space of 2,000,000 of stadia,

^ " Aid Tratrujv, omnibus tonis contextam harmoniaoai." Hardouin in
Lemarre, ii. 287.

2 These appellatioris appear to have originated from different nations
having assumed different notes as the foundation or commencement of
their musical scale. The Abbe Barthelemi informs us, that " the Dorians
executed the same air a tone lower than the Phrygians, and the latter a
tone still higher than the Lydians ; hence the denomination of the Dorian,
Phrygian, and Lydian modes." It appears to have been a general prac-
tice to employ the lowest modes for the slowest airs j Anacharsis's Travels,
iii. 73, 74.

3 Hence the passus will be equal to 5 Roman feet. If we estimate
the Roman foot at 11*6496 EngUsh inches, we shall have the miliare of
8 stadia equal to 1618 EngHsh yards, or 142 yards less than an EngHsh
statute mole. See Adam's Roman Antiquities, p. 503 ; also the articles
Mihare and Pes in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities ;
and for the varieties of the stadium, as employed at different periods and
in different countries, see the article Stadium. The stadium which He-
rodotus employed in measurements of Babylon has been supposed to
consist of 490 Enghsh feet, while that of Xenophon and Strabo has been
estimated at 505 ; see Ed. Rev. xlviii. 190. The Abbe Barthelemi sup-
poses the stadium to be equal to 604 EngHsh feet ; Anach. Travels, vii. 284.

^ There appears to have been two individuals of this name, who have
been confounded with each other ; the one referred to by Pliny was an
astronomer of Alexandria, who flomished about 260 years B.C. ; the other
was a native of Apamea, a stoic philosopher, who hvcd about two cen-
turies later ; see Aikin's Biog. in loco ; also Hardouin's Index Auctorum,
Lemaire, i. 209.

* The terms in the original are respectively nubila and mibes. The
lexicographers and grammarians do not appear to have accurately dia-
oriminated between these two words.

54 plint's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

and tlience to the sun of 500,000,000 ^ It is in consequence
of this space that the sun, notwithstanding his immense
magnitude, does not burn the earth. Many persons have
imagined that the clouds rise to the height of 900 stadia.
These points are not completely made out, and are dif&cult
to explain ; but we have given the best account of them that
has been published, and if we may be allowed, in any degree,
to pursue these investigations, there is one infallible geome-
trical principle, which we cannot reject. Not that we can
ascertain the exact dimensions (for to profess to do this
would be almost the act of a madman), but that the mind
may have some estimate to direct its conjectures. Now it is
evident that the orbit through which the sun passes consists
of nearly 366 degrees, and that the diameter is always the third
part and a little less than the seventh of the circumference^.
Then taking the half of this (for the earth is placed in the
centre) it will follow, that nearly one-sixth part of the im-
mense space, which the mind conceives as constituting the
orbit of the sun round the earth, will compose his altitude.
That of the moon will be one-twelfth part, since her course
is so much shorter than that of the sun ; she is therefore
carried along midway between the sun and the earth^. It
is astonishing to what an extent the weakness of the mind
will proceed, urged on by a little success, as in the above-
mentioned instance, to give full scope to its impudence !
Thus, having ventured to guess at the space between the sun
and the earth, we do the same with respect to the heavens,
because he is situated midway between them ; so that we may
come to know the measure of the whole world in inches.
Por if the diameter consist of seven parts, there will be
twenty-two of the same parts in the circumference ; as if we
could measure the heavens by a plumb-line !

The Egyptian calculation, which was made out by Petosi-

* The words in the text are "vicies centum millia" and "quinquies
miUia."

2 Archimedes estimated that the diameter of a circle is to its circum-
ference as 1 to 3"1416 ; Hutton's Diet, in loco. Ptolemy states it to be
precisely as 1 to 3 ; Magn. Const, i. 12.

* The author's reasoning is foimded upon the supposition of the length
of the sun's path round the earth being twelve times greater than that
of the moon's ; the orbit therefore would be twelve times greater and the
radius in the same proportion.

Chap. 22.] ACCOUNT OP THE WOELD. 55

ris and Necepsos, supposes tliat each degree of the lunar
orbit (which, as I have said, is the least) consists of little
more than 33 stadia ; in the very large orbit of Saturn the
number is double ; in that of the sun, which, as we have
said, is in the middle \ we have the half of the sum of these
numbers. And this is indeed a very modest calculation^,
since if we add to the orbit of Saturn the distance from him
to the zodiac, we shall have an infinite number of degrees^

CHAP. 22. (24.) — OF THE STAES WHICH APPEAE SUDDENLY,
OE OF COMETS^

A few things still remain to be said concerning the world ;
for stars are suddenly formed in the heavens themselves ; of
these there are various kinds.

(25.) The Greeks name these stars comets^ ; we name them
CrinitsD, as if shaggy with bloody locks, and surrounded with
bristles like hair. Those stars, which have a mane hanging
do\\ni from their lower part, like a long beard, are named
Pogoniae^ Those that are named AcontisB^ vibrate like a dart
with a very quick motion. It w^as one of this kind which the
Emperor Titus described in his very excellent poem, as
ha\TQg been seen in his fifth consulship ; and this was the
last of these bodies which has been observed. AVhen they
are short and pointed they are named Xiphiae^ ; these are the

1 " Kon inter Lunam et Satui-nmn, sed inter Lunam et coelum aflixa-
nim stellai'um, medium esse Solem modo dixerat. Quam parum sui
meminit ! " Alexandre in Lem. i. 291.

2 " Qui computandi modus plurimimi habet verecundise et modestice,
quum ibi sistit, nee ulterius progreditm-." Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 292.

3 " .... ad Satumi cii-culum addito Signileri ipsius intervallo, . . . . "
^ We may remark, that our author, for the most part, adopts the

opinions of Ai-istotle respecting comets and meteors of all kinds, while he
pays but httle attention to those of his contemporary Seneca, wliich how-
ever, on some points, would appear to be more corx'cct. See the remarks
of Marcus in Ajasson, ii. 244. Under the title of comets he includes, not
only those bodies which are permanent and move in regular orbits, but
such as are transient, and are produced from various causes, the natui'e of
which is not weU understood. See Aristotle, Meteor, hb. i. cap. 6, 7,
and Seneca, Nat. Quajst. Ub. 7, and Manihus, i. 807 et seq.

^ a Ko/x?;, coma.

6 a TTioyiovios, barbatus. Most of these terms are employed by Ari-
stotle and by Seneca. ^ ab aKovrioVy jacidum.

* a ^i^os, ensis.

56 plint's k'atueal histoet. [Eook IL

pale kind ; they sTiine like a sword and are without any rays ;
while we name those Discei\ which, being of an amber colour,
in conformity with their name, emit a few rays from their
margin only. A kind named Pitheus^ exhibits the figure of
a cask, appearing convex and emitting a smoky light. The
kmd named Cerastias^ has the appearance of a horn ; it is
like the one which was visible when the Greeks fought at
Salamis. Lampadias"* is like a burning torch ; Hippias^ is
like a horse's mane ; it has a very rapid motion, like a circle
revolving on itself. There is also a white comet, with silver
hair, so brilliant that it can scarcely be looked at, exhibiting,
as it were, the aspect of the Deity in a human form. There
are some also that are shaggy, having the appearance of a
fleece, surrounded by a kind of crown. There was one,
where the appearance of a mane was changed into that of a
spear ; it happened in the 109th olympiad, in the 398th year
of the City^. The shortest time during which any one of
them has been observed to be visible is 7 days, the longest
180 days.

CHAP. 23. — THEIE NATUEE, SITIJATIOK, AND SPECIES.

Some of them move about in the manner of planets^, others
remain stationary. They are almost all of them seen towards
the north', not indeed in any particular portion of it, but

1 a di(TKOS, orbis.

2 a TTiOos, dolium. Seneca describes this species as "magnitudo vasti
rotundique ignis dolio similis ; " Nat. Qusest. lib. i. § 14. p. 964.

3 a Kepas, cornu. ^ a \afjnrds, fax.

5 ab 'iTTTTOs, equus. Seneca mentions the fax, the jaculum, and the
lampas among the prodigies that preceded the civil wars ; Phars. i.
528 et seq.

6 Alexandre remarks, that these dates do not correspond, and adds,
"Desperandmn est de PUniana chronologia; nee satis interdum scio,
utrimi hbrarios, an scriptorem ipsum incusem, . . . . " Lemaire, i. 295.
According to the most approved modem chronology, the middle of the
109th olympiad corresponds to the 211th year of the City. _

7 " errantium modo ; " this may mean, that they move in orbits like
those of the planets and exhibit the same phsenomena, or simply that
they change their situation with respect to the fixed stars.

8 Seneca remarks on this point, " Placet igitur nostris (Stoicis) cometas
.... dcoso aeri creari. Ideo circa Septemtrionem frequentissime
apparent, qiiia illic plurimi est aeris frigor." Qusest. Nat. i. 7. Aristotle^

Chap. 23.] ACCOUNT OF THE WOELD. 67

generally in that white part of it which has ohtained the
name of the INIilky Way. Aristotle informs us that several
of them are to be seen at the same time\ but this, as far as
I know, has not been observed by any one else ; also that
they prognosticate high winds and great heat^. They are
also visible in the winter months, and about the south pole,
but they have no rays proceeding from them. There was a
dreadful one observed by the Ethiopians and the Egyptians,
to which Typhon, a king of that period, gave his own name ;
it had a fiery appearance, and was twisted like a spiral ; its
aspect was hideous, nor was it like a star, but rather like a
knot of fire^. Sometimes there are hairs attached to the
.planets and the other stars. Comets are never seen in the
western part of the heavens. It is generally regarded as a
terrific star, and one not easily expiated ; as was the case with
the civil commotions in the consulship of Octavius, and also
in the war of Pompey and Caesar^. And in our own age,
about the time when Claudius Caesar was poisoned and
left the Empire to Domitius Nero, and afterwards, while the
latter was Emperor^, there was one which was almost con-
stantly seen and was very frightful. It is thought important
to notice towards what part it darts its beams, or from what
star it receives its influence, what it resembles, and in what
places it shines. If it resembles a flute, it portends some-

on the contrary, remarks that comets are less frequently produced in the
northern part of the heavens ; Meteor, hb. i. cap. 6. p. 535.

1 Ubi supra. ^ See Aristotle, ut supra, p. 537.

3 " Videtur is non cometes fuisse, sed meteorus qmdam ignis ; " Alex-
andre in Lemaire, i. 296.

■* Virgil, Geor. i. 488 et seq., Mamhus, i. 904 ef seq., and Lucan, i.
526 et seq., all speak of the comets and meteors that were observed
previous to the civil wars between Pompey and Csesar. In reference to
the existence of a comet about the time of Juhus Caesar, Playfair remarks,
that Halley supposed the great comet of 1680 to have been the same that
appeared in the year 44 a.C, and again in Justinian's time, 521 P.c, and
also in 1106 ; Elem. Nat. Phil. ii. 197, 198. See Ptolemy's Cent. Diet,
no. 100, for the opinion, that comets presented an omen especially un-
favourable to kings. To tliis opinion the following passage in the
Paradise Lost obviously refers ; " And with fear of change pei-plexea
monarchs."

5 Seneca refers to the four comets that were seen, after the death of
Csesar, in the tune of Augustus, of Claudius, and of Nero ; Quscst. Nat. i. 7.
Suetonius mentions the comet which appeared previous to the death of
Claudius, cap. 46, and Tacitus that before the death of Nero, Ann. xiv. 22.

58 plint's NATIJEAL HISTOET. [Book IT.

thing unfavourable respecting music ; if it appears in the
parts of the signs referred to the secret members, something
respecting lewdness of manners ; something respecting wit
and learning, if they form a triangular or quadrangular
figure with the position of some of the fixed stars ; and that
some one will be poisoned, if they appear in the head of either
the northern or the southern serpent.

Rome is the only place in the whole world where there is
a temple dedicated to a comet ; it was thought by the late
Emperor Augustus to be auspicious to him, from its appear-
ing during the games which he was celebrating in honour of
Venus Grenetrix, not long after the death of his father Caesar,
in the College which was founded by him\ He expressed
.his joy in these terms : " Diu-ing the very time of these games
of miQe, a hairy star was seen diu-ing seven days, in the part
of the heavens which is under the Great Bear. It rose about
the eleventh hour of the day^, was very bright, and was con-
spicuous in all parts of the earth. The common people sup-
posed the star to indicate, that the soul of Csesar was admitted
among the immortal Gods ; under which designation it was
that the star was placed on the bust which was lately conse-
crated in the forum^." This is what he proclaimed in public,
but, in secret, he rejoiced at this auspicious omen, interpreting
it as produced for himself; and, to confess the truth, it really
proved a salutary omen for the world at large'*.

Some persons suppose that these stars are permanent, and
that they move through their proper orbits, but that they are
only visible when they recede from the sun. Others suppose
that they are produced by an accidental vapour together
with the force of fire, and that, from this circumstance, they
are liable to be dissipated^.

^ " A Julio Csesare. Is enim paulo ante obitton collegium his ludis
faciendis instituerat, confecto Veneris templo ; " Hardouin in Lemaire, i.
299. Jul. Obsequens refers to a " stella crinita," which appeared during
the celebration of these games, cap. 128.

2 " Hoc est, hora fere integra ante soHs oecasum ; " Hardouin in Le-
maire, i. 299.

2 All these circumstances are detailed by Suetonius, in Juho, § 88. p. 178.

4 "terris."

* Seneca remarks, " . . . . quidam nullos esse cometas existimant, sed
species illorum per repercussionem vicinorum siderum, .... Quidam aiimt
esse quidem, sed habere cursus suos et post certa lustra in conspectum

Chap. 25.] ACCOUNT OF THE WOELD. 59

CHAP. 24. (26.) — THE DOCTErPTE OF HIPPAECHTJS^ ABOUT

THE STAES.

TMs same Hipparclius, who can never be sufficiently
commended, as one who more especially proved the relation
of the stars to man, and that our souls are a portion of
heaven, discovered a new star that was produced in his own
age, and, by observing its motions on the day in which it
shone, he was led to doubt whether it does not often happen,
that those stars have motion which we suppose to be lixed.
And the same individual attempted, what might seem pre-
sumptuous even in a deity, viz. to number the stars for
posterity and to express their relations by appropriate names ;
having pre\dously devised instruments", by which he might
mark the places and the magnitudes of each individual star.
In this way it might be easily discovered, not only whether
they were destroyed or produced, but whether they changed
their relative positions, and likewise, whether they were in-
creased or diminished; the heavens being thus left as an
inheritance to any one, who might be found competent to
complete his plan.

CHAP. 25. — EXAMPLES FEOM HISTOET OF CELESTIAL PEO-
DIGIES ; FACES J LAMPADES^ AND BOLIDES^.

The faces shine brilliantly, but tliey are never seen except-
ing when they are faUing-* one of these darted across the

mortalium exire." He concludes by observing, " Yeniet tempus, quo ista
qua nunc latent, in lucem dies extrahat, et longioris diei diligentia j
^^at. Qua^st. lib. 7. § 19. p. 807.

1 For some account of Hipparchus, see note ^ p. 37.

2 Nothing is known respecting the nature of these mstruments, nor
have we any means of fomung even a conjecture upon the subject.

3 The terms "faces," "lampades," " bohdes," and "trabes," hterally
torches, lamps, darts, and beams, which are employed to express dift'erent
kinds of meteors, have no corresponding words in Eughsh wluch would
correctly designate them.

4 From this account it would appear, that the "fax" was what wo
term a falhng star. " Meteora ista, super cervices nostras transeuntia,
diversaque a stelhs labentibus, modo aerohthis ascribenda sunt, modo va-
poribus incensis aut electrica vi prognata vidontur, ct quamvis I'requen-
tissime recurrant, exphcatione adhvic incerta uidigent." Alexandre in
Lemaire, i. 302.

60 plint's nattjeal histoet. [Book IL

heavens, in tlie sight of all the people, at noon-daj, when
Germanicus Caesar was exhibiting a show of gladiators \
There are two kinds of them ; those which are called Imwpades
and those which are called holides, one of which latter was
seen during the troubles at Mutina^. They differ from each
other in this respect, that the faces produce a long train of
light, the fore-part only being on fire ; while the holides, being
entirely in a state of combustion, leave a still longer track
behind them.

CHAP. 26. TRABES CELESTES ; CHASMA CCELI.

The trabes also, which are named ^ofcoi', shine in the same
manner ; one of these was seen at the time when the Lace-
daemonians, by being conquered at sea, lost their influence
in Grreece. An opening sometimes takes place in the firma-
ment, which is named chasma^.

CHAP. 27. (27.) — OF THE COLOTFES OF THE SKY AND OF
CELESTIAL FLAME.

There is a flame of a bloody appearance (and nothing is

^ Seneca refers to tliis meteor ; " Yidimus non semel flammani ingenti
pHse specie, quse tamen in ipso cursu suo dissipata est ... . nee Grermanici
mors sine tali demonstratione fuit ; " Nat. Qusest. lib. i. cap. 1. p. 683.

2 This meteor is mentioned by Dion Cassius, lib. xlv. p. 278, but is
desci'ibed by him as a lampas.

3 We may presume that the trabes are, for the most part, to be referred
to the aurora boreahs. The chasma and the appearances described in
the twenty- seventh chapter are probably varieties of this meteor. On
these phsenomena we have the following remarks by Seneca : " Lucem in
aere, seu quamdam albedinem, angustam quidem, sed oblongam, de
noctu quandoque visam, sereno coelo, si parallelo situ sit, Trabem vocant ;
si perpendiculari, Columnam ; si, cum cuspide Bolida, sive Jaculum." Nat.
Qusest. vii. 4, and again, vii. 5, " Trabes autem non transcurrunt nee prse-
tervolant, ut faces, sed commorantiu*, et in eadem parte coeli collucent."

^ Seneca describes this meteor, uhi supra, i. 14. " Sunt chasmata, cum
aliquando coeU spatium discedit, et flammam dehiscens velut in abdito
ostentat. Colores quoque horum omnium plurimi sunt. Quidam ruboris
acerritni, quidam evanidse et levis flammge, quidam candidse lucis, quidam
micantes, quidam sequabihter et sine eruptionibus aut radiis fulvi." Ari-
stotle's accoimt of chasmata is contained in his Meteor. Hb. i. cap. 5.
p. 534.

Cliap. 28.] ACCOUNT OF THE WOELD. 01

more dreaded by mortals) wliicli falls down upon tte eartli^,
such as was seen in tlie third year of the 103rd olympiad,
when King Philip was disturbing Grreece. But my opinion
is, that these, like everything else, occur at stated, natural
periods, and are not produced, as some persons imagine, from a
variety of causes, such as their fine genius may suggest. They
have indeed been the precursors of great evils, but I conceive
that the e^'ils occiu-red, not because the prodigies took place,
but that these took place because the evils were appointed
to occur at that period^. Their cause is obscure in con-
sequence of their rarity, and therefore we are not as well
acquainted ^\T.th them as we are with the rising of the stars,
which I have mentioned, and with eclipses and many other
things.

CHAP. 28. (28.) — OF CELESTIAL COEON^.

Stars are occasionally seen along with the sun, for whole
days together, and generally round its orb, like wTeaths made
of the ears of corn, or circles of various colours^ ; such as
occurred when Augustus, while a very young man, was
entering the city, after the death of his father, in order to
take upon himself the great name which he assumed"*. (29.)
The same covoikb occur about the moon and also about the
principal stars, which are stationary in the heavens.

1 The meteor here referred to is probably a peculiar form of the
aurora borealis, which occasionally assumes a red colour. See the re-
marks of Fouche, in Ajasson, i. 382.

2 The doctrine of the author appears to be, that the prodigies are not
the cause, but only the indication of the events wliich succeed them.
This doctrine is referred to by Seneca ; " Yidebimus an certus omnium
rerum ordo ducatur, et aha aliis ita complexa sint, ut quod antecedit,
aut causa sit sequentium aut signura." Nat. Qusest. i. 1.

3 It would appear that, in this passage, two pha?nomena are confounded
together ; certain brilhant stars, as, for example, Venus, which have been
occasionally seen in the day-time, and the formation of different kinds of
halos, depending on certain states of the atmosphere, which affect its
transparency.

^ This occurrence is mentioned by Seneca, Nat. Quoest. i. 2 ; he enters
into a detailed explanation of the cause ; also by V. Paterculus, ii. 59,
and by Jul. Obsequens, cap. 128. We can scarcely doubt of tlie reahty
of the occurrence, as these authors would not have ventured to relate
what, if not true, might have been bo easily contradicted.

62 PLIlfT's IfATrEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

CHAP. 29. — OF SUDDEN CIECLES.

A bow appeared round the sun in the consulship of L.
Opimius and L. Fabius^ and a circle in that of C. Porcius
and M. Acilius. (30.) There was a little circle of a red
colour in the consulship of L. Julius and P. Eutilius.

CHAP. 30: — OF TJNUSTTALLT LONG ECLIPSES OF THE SrW.

Eclipses of the sun also take place which are portentous
and unusually long, such as occurred when Caesar the Dictator
was slain, and in the war against Antony, the sun remained
dim for almost a whole year^.

CHAP. 31. (31.) — MANY SUNS.

And again, many suns have been seen at the same time^; not
above or below the real sun, but in an oblique direction, never
near nor opposite to the earth, nor in the night, but either
in the east or in the west. They are said to have been seen
once at noon in the Bosphorus, and to have continued from
morning until sunset. Our ancestors have frequently seen
three suns at the same time'*, as was the case in the consul-
ship of Sp. Postumius and L. Mucins, of L. Marcius and
M. Portius, that of M. Antony and Dolabella, and that of
M. Lepidus and L. Plancus. And we have ourselves seen
one during the reign of the late Emperor Claudius, when he

* The term here employed is " arcus," which is a portion only of a circle
or " orbis." But if we suppose that the sun was near the horizon, a
portion only of the halo would be visible, or the condition of the atmo-
sphere adapted for forming the halo might exist in one part onlv, so that
a portion of the halo only would be obscured.

2 The dimness or paleness of the sun, which is stated by various writers
to have occurred at the time of Caesar's death, it is vmnecessary to remark,
was a phsenomenon totally different from an echpse, and depending on a
totally different cause.

3 Aristotle, Meteor. Hb. iii. cap. 2. p. 575, cap. 6. p. 582, 583, and
Seneca, Qusest. Nat. Hb. i. § 11, describe these appearances under the
title which has been retained by the moderns of TrapijXia. Aristotle re-
marks on their cause as depending on the refraction (dvuKXacns) of the
sun's rays. He extends the remark to the production of halos (a\(us)
and the rainbow, ubi supra.

* This occurrence is referred to by Livy, xli. 21.

Chap. 35.J ACCOIIK'T OF THE "WOELD. 63

was consul along mth Corn. Orfitus. "We have no account
transmitted to us of more than three having been seen at
the same time.

CHAP. 32. (32.) — MANT MOOITS.

Three moons have also been seen, as was the case in the
c5onsulsliip of Cn. Domitius and C. Eannius ; thej have
generally been named nocturnal suns^

CHAP. 33. (33.) — DAYLIGHT IN THE IflGHT.

A bright light has been seen proceeding from the heavens
in the night time, as was the case in the consulship of C.
Csecilius and Cn. Papirius, and at many other times, so that
there has been a kind of daylight in the night".

CHAP. 34. (34.) — BITEIfllfG SHIELDS^

A burning shield darted across at sunset, from west to east,
throwing out sparks, in the. consulship of L. Valerius and
C. Marius''.

CHAP. 35. (35.) — AIS- OMINOUS APPEAEANCE IN THE HEAVENS,
THAT WAS SEEN ONCE ONLY.

We have an account of a spark falling from a star, and in-
creasing as it approached the earth, until it became of the
size of the moon, shining as through a cloud^ ; it afterwards
returned into the heavens and was converted into a lampas ;
this occurred in the consulship of Cn. Octavius and C. Scri-

^ This meteor has been named TrapaaeXtjvrj ; they are supposed to
depend upon the same cause with the Parheha. A phsenomenon of this
description is mentioned by Jul. Obsequens, cap. 92, and by Plutarch, in
MarceUus, ii. 360. In Shakspeare's King John the death of Prince
Arthur is said to have been foUowed by the ominous appearance of five
moons.

2 This phenomenon must be referred to the aurora borealis. See
Livy, xxviii. 11. and xxix. 14. ^ " clypei."

■* Probably an aerohte. Jul. Obsequens describes a meteor as " orbis
dypei simihs," which was seen to pass from west to east, cap. 105.

' " ceu nubilo die."

64 plint's 2tatt:bal HISTOET. [Book II,

bonius. It was seen by Silanus, the proconsul, and his
attendants \

CHAP. 36. (36.) — OF STAES "WHICH MOYE ABOUT IN VAEIOIJS

DIEECTIOFS.

Stars are seen to move about in various directions, but
never without some cause, nor without violent winds pro-
ceeding from the same quarter^.

CHAP. 37. (37.) — OF THE STAES WHICH AEE NAMED CASTOE

AND POLLUX^.

These stars occur both at sea and at land. I have seen,
during the night-watches of the soldiers, a luminous appear-
ance, like a star, attached to the javelins on the ramparts.
They also settle on the yard-arms and other parts of ships
while sailing, producing a Idnd of vocal sound, like that of birds
flitting about. When they occur singly they are mischievous,
so as even to sink the vessels, and if they strike on the lower
part of the keel, setting them on fire"*. When there are two
of them they are considered auspicious, and are thought to
predict a prosperous voyage, as it is said that they drive
away that dreadful and terrific meteor named Helena. On
this account their eificacy is ascribed to Castor and Pollux,
and they are invoked as gods. They also occasionally shine
round the heads of men in the evening^, which is considered

1 It would be difficTilt to reconcile tliis plisenonienon ■with any acknow-
ledged atmospherical phsenomenon.

2 Perhaps the phgenomena here alluded to ought to be referred to some
electric action ; but they are stated too generally to admit of our forming
more than a conjecture on the subject. Virgil refers to the occurrence of
storms of wind after the appearance of a falling star ; Greor. i. 265-6.

3 These phsenomena are admitted to be electrical ; they are referred to
by Seneca, Nat. Queest. i. 1. Tliis appearance is noticed as of frequent
occurrence in the Mediterranean, where it is named the fire of St. Ehno ;
see Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 311, and Fouche in Ajasson, ii. 382.

^ Perhaps this opinion may be maintained on the principle, that, when
there is a single luminous appearance only, it depends upon the discharge
of a quantity of electrical fluid in a condensed state ; its effects are, in
this case, those that would follow from a stroke of Hghtning.

This is said by Livy to have occurred to Servius Tulhus while he was
a cliQd J hb. 1. cap. 39 ; and by Yirgil to Ascanius, ^n. ii. 632-5.

Chap. 38.] CAUSES OF NATUEAL PHJENOMEIfA. 65

as predicting something very important. Eut there is great
uncertainty respecting the cause of all these things, and they
are concealed in the majesty of nature.

CHAP. 38. (38.)— OP THE AIB ATTD 01^ THE CAUSE OP THE
SHOWEES OF STONES.

So far I have spoken of the world itself and of the stars.
I must now give an account of the other remarkable phseno-
mena of the heavens. Tor our ancestors have given the
name of heavens, or, sometimes, another name, air, to_ all the
seemingly void space, which diftuses around us this vital
spirit. It is situated beneath the moon, indeed much lower,
as is admitted by every one who has made observations on
it and is composed of a great quantity of air from the upper
regions, mixed with a great quantity of terrestrial vapour, the
two forming a compound. Hence proceed clouds, thunder
and lightning of all kinds ; hence also hail, frost, showers,
storms and whirlwinds ; hence proceed many of the evils
incident to mortals, and the mutual contests of the various
parts of nature. The force of the stars keeps down all terres-
trial things which tend towards the heavens, and the same
force attracts to itself those things which do not go there
spontaneously.- The showers fall, mists rise up, rivers are
dried up, hail-storms rush down, the rays of the sun parch
the earth, and impel it from all quarters towards the centre.
The same rays, still unbroken, dart back again, and carry
with them whatever they can take up. Vapour falls from
on hic-h and returns again to the same place. Winds arise
which contain nothing, but which return loaded Tvath spoils.
The breathing of so many animals draws down the spu^t from
the hicrher regions ; but this tends to go in a contrary direc
tion, and the earth pours out its spirit mto the void space
of the heavens. Thus nature moving to and fro, as if im-
pelled by some machine \ discord is kindled by the rapid
motion of the world. Nor is the contest allowed to cease,
for she is continually whirled round and lays open the causes
of all things, forming an immense globe about the earth,
while she again, from time to time., covers this other firma-

J " Ut circumagendo balistee vel fund® impetus augetur." Alexandre
in Lemaire, i. 313.

TOL. I. ^

66 pliny's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

ment with clouds^ This is the region of the winds. Here
their nature principally originates, as well as the causes of
almost all other things^; since most persons ascribe the
darting of thunder and lightning to their violence. And to
the _ same cause are assigned the showers of stones, these
having been previously taken up by the wind, as well as
many other bodies in the same way. On this account we
must enter more at large on this subject.

CHAP. 39. (39.) — OF THE STATED SEASONS.

It is obvious that there are causes of the seasons and of
other things which have been stated, while there are some
things which are casual, or of which the reason has not yet
been discovered. Eor who can doubt that summer and
winter, and the annual revolution of the seasons are caused
by the motion of the stars ^ ? As therefore the nature of the
sun is understood to influence the temperature of the year,
so each of the other stars has its specific power, which pro-
duces its appropriate effects. Some abound in a fluid re-
taining its liquid state, others, in the same fluid concreted
into hoar frost, compressed into snow, or irozen into hail ;
some are prolific in winds, some in heat, some in vapours,
some in dew, some in cold. But these bodies must not be
supposed to be actually of the size which they appear, since
the consideration of their immense height clearly proves,
that none of them are less than the moon. Each of them
exercises its influence over us by its own motions ; this is
particularly obser^cable with respect to Saturn, wliich pro-
duces a great quantity of rain in its transits. Nor is this
power confined to the stars which change their situations,
but is found to exist in many of the fiLxed stars, whenever

* "sed assidue rapta (natura) convolvitur, et circa terram immense rerum
causas globe estendit, subinde per nubes eoelum aliud obtexens." On the
words " immense globo," idexandre has the following comment : " Im-
mensis coeli fomicibus appicta sidera,dumcirciimvolvitm% terris ostendit;"
and on the words "eoelum ahud," "obductse sciHcet nubes falsum quasi
eoelum vere preetexunt." Lemaire, i. 313.

2 The author probably means to speak of all the atmospheric phaeno-
mena that have been mentioned above.

^ Marcus has made some remarks on this subject which may be read
■with advantage j Ajasson, ii. 245-6.

Chap. 41.] IlSTLrElS'CE OF THE SEASONS. 67

they are impelled by the force of any of the planets, or ex-
cited by the impulse of their rays ; as we find to be the case
with respect to the Sucul8e\ which the Greeks, in reference
to their rainy nature, have termed the Hyades^ There are
also certain events which occur spontaneously, and at stated
periods, as the rising of the E:ids^ ^ The star Arcturus
scarcely ever rises without storms of hail occurring.

CHAP. 40. (40.)— OF THE EISIIfG OF THE DOG-STAE.

Wlio is there that does not know that the vapour of the
sun is kindled by the rising of the Dog-star ? The most
powerful effects are felt on the earth from this star. When
it rises, the seas are troubled, the wines in our cellars fer-
ment, and stagnant waters are set in motion. There is a
wild beast, named by the Egyptians Oryx, which, when the
star rises, is said to stand opposite to it, to look steadfastly
at it, and then to sneeze, as if it were worshiping it^ There
is no doubt that dogs, during the whole of this period, are
peculiarly disposed to become rabid\

CHAP. 41. (41.) — OF THE EEGTJLAB INFLUENCE OF THE DIF-
FEEENT SEASONS.

There is moreover a peculiar influence in the different
degrees of certain signs, as in the autumnal equinox, and
also' in the winter solstice, when we find that a particular
star is connected with the state of the weather^ It is not
so much the recurrence of showers and storms, as of various
circumstances, which act both upon animals and vegetables.
Some are planet-struck^ and others, at stated times, are af-
fected in the bowels, the sinews, the head, or the intellect.

1 The diminutive of Su3. ^ ^ Ab vw, pluo.

» The Haedi were in the constellation Auriga.

* We have the same account of the Orj^ in ^Han, hb. vu. cap. 8.

5 Our author again refers to this opuiion, viii. 63, and it was generally
adopted by the ancients ; but it appears to be entii-ely unfounded.

6 " cum tempestatibus confici sidus inteUigimus."

^ « afflantur." On this teinn Hardouin remarks, " Siderantur. Side-
ratio morbi genus est, partem aliquam corporis, ipsuinque saepe totuin
corpus percuticntis subito : quod quum repentino cveniat impetu, e coelo
vi quadam sideris evenire putatur." Lemaire, i. 317.

p2

68 PLiirr's nattteal histoet. [Book II.

The olive, the white poplar, and the wiUow turn their leaves
round at the summer solstice. The herb pulegium, when
dried and hanging up in a house, blossoms on the very day
of the winter solstice, and bladders burst in consequence of
their being distended Avith air\ One might wonder at this,
did we not observe every day, that the plant named helio-
trope always looks towards the setting sun, and is, at all
hours, turned towards him, even when he is obscured by
clouds". It is certain that the bodies of oysters and of
whelks^, and of shell-fish generally, are increased in size and
again diminished by the influence of the moon. Certain
accurate observers have found out, that the entrails of the
field-mouse^ correspond in number to the moon's age, and
that the very small animal, the ant, feels the power of this
luminary, always resting from her labours at the change of
the moon. And so much the more disgraceful is our igno-
rance, as every one acknowledges that the diseases in the
eyes of certain beasts of burden increase and diminish ac-
cording to the age of the moon. But the immensity of the
heavens, divided as they are into seventy-two^ constellations,
may serve as an excuse. These are the resemblances of cer-
tain things, animate and inanimate, into which the learned
have divided the heavens. In these they have announced
1600 stars, as being remarkable either for their eflfects or
their appearance ; for example, in the tail of the Bull there
are seven stars, which are named YergilisB^ ; in his forehead

* Cicero alludes to these opinions in his treatise De Divin. ii. 33 j see
also Axil. GeUins, ix. 7.

2 The heliotropium of the modems has not the property here assigned
to it, and it may be doubted whether it exists in any plant, except in a
very slight and imperfect degree : the subject will be considered more
folly in a subsequent part of the work, xxii. 29, where the author gives a
more particular account of the hehotrope.

\ 3 " conchy horum ; " this term appears to have been specifically appHed
to the animal from which the Tyrian dye was procured.

■* " soricum fibras;" Alexandre remarks on these words, " fibras je-

coris inteUige, id est, lobos infimos ;" Lemaire, i. 318 j but I do

not see any ground for this interpretation.

5 It does not appear from what source our author derived this number ;
it is considerably greater than that stated by Ptolemy and the older astro-
nomers. See the remarks of Hardotiin and of Brotier ; Lemaire. i. 319.

* The Yergihae or Pleiades are not in the tail of the Bull, according to
the celestial atlas of the modems.

Chap. 43.] OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. 69

are the Suculre ; there is also Bootes, which follows the seven
northern stars ^

CHAP. 42. (42.) — OF UNCERTAIN STATES OF THE WEATHEB.

But I would not deny, that there may exist showers and
winds, independent of these causes, since it is certain that
an exhalation proceeds from the earth, which is sometimes
moist, and at other times, in consequence of the vapours,
like dense smoke ; and also, that clouds are formed, either
from the fluid rising up on high, or from the air being com-
pressed into a fluid'-^. Their density and their substance is
very clearly proved from their intercepting the sun's rays,
which are visible by divers, even in the deepest waters^.

CHAP. 43. (43.) — OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING.

It cannot therefore be denied, that fire proceeding from
the stars which are above the clouds, may fall on them, as
we frequently observe on serene evenings, and that the air is
agitated by the impulse, as darts when they are hurled whiz
through the air. And when it arrives at the cloud, a dis-
cordant kind of vapour is produced, as when hot iron is
plunged into water, and a wreath of smoke is evolved. Hence
arise squalls. And if wind or vapour be struggling in the
cloud, thunder is discharged ; if it bursts out with a flame,
there is a thunderbolt ; if it be long in forcing out its way,
it is simply a flash of lightning'*. By the latter the cloud is
simply rent, by the former it is shattered. Thunder is pro-

1 " Septemtriones."

2 The doctrine of Aristotle on the nature and formation of mists and
clouds is contained in his treatises De Meteor, hb. i. cap. 9. p. 540, and
De Mundo, cap. 4. p. 605. He employs the terms dryitJs, r-e^os, and
ve^eXjj, which are translated vapor, nuhes and nebula, respectively. The
distinction, however, between the two latter does not appear vexy clearly
marked either in the Greek or the Latin, the two Greek words be^g in-
discriminately applied to either of the Latin terms.

3 It is doubthil how far this statement is correct ; see the remarks of
Hardouin, Lem. i. 320.

^ The words in the original are respectively fiilmen and fulgetrum ;
Seneca makes a similar distinction heivfccn fulmen and fiilgu ratio : " Ful-
guratio est late ignis exphcitus ; fulmen est coactus ignis ot impetu
jactus." Nat. Quaest. Ub. ii. cap. 16. p. 706.

70 plii^t's katural histobt. [Book II.

duced by tlie stroke given to the condensed air, and hence
it is that the fire darts from the chinks of the clouds. It is
possible also that the vapour, which has risen from the earth,
being repelled by the stars, may produce thunder, when it is
pent up in a cloud ; nature restraining the sound whilst the
vapour is struggling to escape, but when it does escape, the
sound bursting forth, as is the case with bladders that are
distended with air. It is possible also that the spirit, what-
ever it be, may be kindled by friction, when it is so violently
projected. It is possible that, by the dashing of the two
clouds, the lightning may flash out, as is the case when two
stones are struck against each other. But all these things
appear to be casual. Hence there are thunderbolts which
produce no effect, and proceed from no immediate actual
cause ; by these mountains and seas are struck, and no in-
jury is done. Those which prognosticate future events pro-
ceed fi^m on high and from stated causes, and they come
from their peculiar stars \

CHAP. 44. — THE ORIGIN OF WINDS.

In like manner I would not deny that winds, or rather
sudden gusts, are produced by the arid and dry vapours of
the earth ; that air may also be exhaled from water, which
can neither be condensed into a mist, nor compressed into a
cloud ; that it may be also driven forward by the impulse of
the sun, since by the term ' wind' we mean nothing more than
a current of air, by whatever means it may be produced^.
!Por we observe winds to proceed from rivers and bays, and
from the sea, even when it is tranquil ; while others, which
are named Altani, rise up from the earth ; when they come
back from the sea they are named Tropcdi, but if they go
straight on, Apogcei^.

^ " Prsesertim ex tribus superioribus planetis, uti dictum est, cap. 18."
nardouin, in Lemaire, i. 322.

2 Our author's opinion respecting tlie origin of winds nearly agrees
with that of Aristotle ; " nihil ut ahud ventus (dvefios) sit, nisi aer multus
fluctuans et compressus, qui etiam spiritus {Trvevfxa) appellatur;" De
Meteor. This treatise contains a full account of the phsenomena of
winds. Seneca also remarks, " Yentus est aer fluens ; " Nat. Qusest. lib. 3
&5.

• Ai'istotle informs us, that the winds termed apogaei (airoyaioi) pro*

Chap. 45.] TvrcTDS. 71

(44.) The Avindings and the nmnerous peaks of mountains,
their ridges, bent into angles or broken into defiles, with the
hollow valleys, by their irregular forms, cleaving the air which
rebounds from them (which is also the cause why voices are,
in many cases, repeated several times in succession), give rise
to winds. * '

(45.) There are certain caves, such as that on the coast ot
Dalmatia, with a vast perpendicular chasm, into which, if a
light weight only be let down, and although the day be calm,
a squall issues from it like a whirlwind. The name of the
place is Senta. And also, in the province of Cyrenaica, there
is a certain rock, said to be sacred to the south wind, which
it is profane for a human hand to touch, as the south wind
immediately rolls forwards clouds of sand\ There are also,
in many houses, artificial cavities, forme din the walls ^whicli
produce currents of air; none of these are without their
appropriate cause,

CHAP. 45. — VAEIOTJS OBSEEYATIONS BESPECTIT^G
WINDS.

But there is a great difference between a gale and a wind^
The former are uniform and appear to rush forth^ ; they are
felt, not in certain spots only, but over whole countries, not
forming breezes or squalls, but \^olent storms\ Wliether
they be produced by the constant revolution of the world
and the opposite motion of the stars, or whether they both
of them depend on the generative spirit of the nature of

ceed from a marshy and moist soH ; De Mundo, cap. 4. p. 605. For the
origin and meaning of the terms here appUed to the wmds, see the re-
marks of Hardouin and Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 323.

1 This is mentioned by Pomp. Mela.

2 " In domibus etiam multis manu facta inclusa opacxtate concepta-

cula " Some of the MSS. have madefacia for maim facta, and

this reading has been adopted by Lemaire ; but nearly all the editors, as
Palechamps, Laet, Grovonius, Poincinet and Ajasson, retam the former
word. „

3 The terms in the original are " flatus" and " ventus.
■* " illos (flatus) statos atque perspirantes."

6 « qui non aura, non proctUa, scd mares appeUatione quoque ipsa venti
stmt." This passage cannot be translated into English, from our lan-
guage not possessing the technical distinction of genders, as depending
on the termination of the substantives.

72 plint's natural HISTOET. [Book II.

things, "wandering, as it were, up and down in lier womb, or
whether the air be scourged by the irregular strokes of the
wandering stars \ or the various j-irojections of their rays, or
whether they, each of them, proceed from their own stars,
among which are those that are nearest to us, or whether
they descend from those that are fixed in the heavens, it is
manifest that they are all governed by a law of nature, which
is not altogether unknown, although it be not completely
ascertained.

(46.) More than twenty old Grreek writers have published
their observations upon this subject. And this is the more re-
markable, seeing that there is so much discord in the world,
and that it is divided into difterent kingdoms, that is into
separate members, that there should have been so many who
have paid attention to these subjects, which are so difficult
to investigate. Especially when we consider the wars and
the treachery which everywhere prevail ; while pirates, the
enemies of the human race, have possession of all the modes
of communication, so that, at this time, a person may acquire
more correct information about a country from the writings
of those who have never been there, than from the inha-
bitants themselves. "Whereas, at this day, in the blessed
peace which we enjoy, under a prince who so greatly en-
courages the advancement of the arts, no new inquiries are
set on foot, nor do we even make ourselves thoroughly masters
of the discoveries of the ancients. Not that there were
greater rewards held out, from the advantages being distri-
buted to a greater number of persons, but that there were
more individuals who diligently scrutinized these matters,
with no other prospect but that of benefiting posterity. It
is that the manners of men are degenerated, not that the
advantages are diminished. All the seas, as many as there
are, being laid open, and a hospitable reception being given
us at every shore, an immense number of people undertake
voyages ; but it is for the sake of gain, not of science. Nor
does their understanding, which is blinded and bent only on
avarice, perceive that this very thing might be more safely
done by means of science. Seeing, therefore, that there are
80 many thousands of persons on the seas, I will treat of the

* ** Sep tern nimirum errantibus." Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 306.

Cliap. 46.] DIFFEEENT KINDS OF WINDS. ^3

winds with more minuteness tlian perhaps might otherwise
appear suitable to my undertaking.

CHAP. 46. (47.) — THE DIFFEEENT KINDS OF WINDS\

The ancients reckoned only four winds (nor indeed does
Homer mention more") corresponding to the four parts of
the world ; a very poor reason, as we now consider it. The
next generation added eight others, but this was too refined
and minute a di^dsion ; the moderns have taken a middle
course, and, out of this great number, have added four to the
original set. There are, therefore, two in each of the four
quarters of the heavens. From the equinoctial rising of the
sun^ proceeds Subsolanus'*, and, from his brumal rising, Yul-
turnus^ ; the former is named by the G-reeks Apeliotes^, the
latter Eurus. From the south we have Auster, and from the
brumal setting of the sun, Africus ; these were named Notes

^ In his account and nomenclatui'e of the winds, Pliny has, for the
most part, followed Aristotle, Meteor. Hb. ii. cap. 4. pp. 558-560, and
cap. 6. pp. 563-565. The description of the diiierent winds by Seneca
is not Yerj different, but where it does not coincide with Aristotle's, our
author has generally prefen-ed the former ; see Nat. Qusest. Hb. 5. We
have an account of the different winds, as prevaihng at particular sea-
sons, m Ptolemy, De Judiciis Astrol. 1. 9. For the nomenclature and
directions of the wdnds, we may refer to the remarks of Hardouin, Le-
mahe, i. 328 et seq. 2 Odyss. v. 295, 296.

3 In giving names to the different wuids, the author designates the
points of the compass whence they proceed, by the place where the sun
rises or sets, at the different periods of the year. The followmg are the
terms which he employs : — " Oriens sequinoctiahs," the place where the
sun rises at the eqviinox, i. e. the East. " Oriens brumahs," where he
rises on the shortest day, the S.E. " Occasus brumahs," where he sets
on the shortest day, the S.W. " Occasus a?quinoctiahs," where he sets
at the equinox, the W. " Occasus solstitiahs," where he sets on the
longest day, the N.W. "Exortus solstitiahs," where he rises on the
longest day, the N.E. " Inter septemtrionem et occasum solstitialem,"
between N. and N.W., N.N.W. " Inter aqiulonem et exortum aequi-
noctialem," between N. and N.E., N.N.E. " Inter ortura brumalem et
meridiem," between S. and S.E., S.S.E. " Inter meridiem et hybcrnum
occidentem," between S. and.S.W., S.S.W.

^ " Quod sub sole nasci videtyr."

^ This name was probably derived from the town Yultumum in Cam-
pania.

^ Seneca informs us, that what the Latins name Subsolanus, is named
by the Greeks 'A^qXiwr^js ; Quast. Nat. hb. 5. § 16. p. 76 i.

74' plznt's itattjeal history. [Book n.

and Libs. Erom the equinoctial setting proceeds PavoniusS
and from tlie solstitial setting, Corns" ; these were named
Zephyrus and Argestes. From the seven stars comes Sep-
temtrio, between which and the solstitial rising we have
Aquilo, named Aparctias and Boreas^. By a more minnte
subdivision we interpose four others, Thrascias, between
Septemtrio and the solstitial setting ; Csecias, between Aquilo
and the equinoctial rising ; and Phoenices, bet^veen the brumal
rising and the south. And also, at an equal distance from
the south and the winter setting, between Libs and Notes,
and compounded of the two, is Libonotos. Nor is this all.
Per some persons have added a wind, which they have named
Meses, between Boreas and Caecias, and one between Eurus
and Notes, named Euronotus"*.

There are also certain winds peculiar to certain coimtries,
which do not extend beyond certain districts, as Sciron in
Attica, deviating a little from Ai'gestes, and not known in
the other parts of Grreece. In other places it is a little
higher on the card and is named Olympias ; but all these

^ " quia favet rebus nascentibus."

2 "... . semper spirantes fi-igora Cauri." Virgil, GTeor. iii. 356.

^ The eiglit wiads here mentioned will bear the following relation to
our nomenclatiu-e : Septemtrio, N. ; Aqmlo, N.E. ; Subsolanus, E. ; Vul-
turnus, S.E. ; Auster, S. ; Africus, N.W. ; Eavonius, W. ; and Corns,
N.W.

* The fom* winds here mentioned, added to eight others, making, in
the whole, twelve, will give us the follovring card : —

N. Septemtrio. S. Notos or Auster.

N.N.E. Boreas or Aqiiilo. S.S.W. Libonotos.

E.N.E. CiKcias. W.S.W. Libs or Africus.

E. Apehotes or Subsolanus. W. Zephyrus or Eavonius.

E.S.E. Eiu-us or Yulturnus. W.N.W. Argestes or Corns.

S.S.E. Em-onotus or Phoenices. N.N.W. Thrascias.

We are informed by Alexandre, Lemaire, i. 330, that there is an an-
cient dial plate in the Vatican, consisting of twelve sides, in w^hich the
names of the twelve winds are given both in Greek and in Latin. They
differ somewhat from those given above, both absolutely and relatively ;
they are as follows : —

'ATTopfcrias, Septemtrio. Noros, Auster.

Bojoeas, Aquilo. Aij3oVoros, Austroafricus.

KaiKiaSy Vulturnus. Aiip, Afi'icus.

' A(pr]\noTr]s, Solanus. Ze(pvpos, Zephyrus.

Eupos, Eurus. 'idiTv^y Corus.

Ewpdvoros, Euronotus. QpaaKiaSf Circius.

Cliap. 47.] PEEIODS or THE WINDS. 75

have gone by tlie name of Argestes. In some places Csecias
is named Hellespontia, and the same is done in other cases.
In the province of Narhonne the most noted wind is Circius ;
it is not inferior to any ot the winds in violence, frequently-
driving the waves before it, to Ostia\ straight across the Li-
gurian sea. Yet this same wind is unknown in other parts,
not even reaching Yienne, a city in the same province ; for
meeting with a high ridge of hills, just before it arrives at
that district, it is checked, although it be the most violent of
all the winds. Tab ins also asserts, that the south winds
never penetrate into Egj-pt. Hence this law of nature is
obvious, that winds have their stated seasons and limits.

CHAP. 47. — THE PEEIODS OF THE WINDS^.

The spring opens the seas for the navigators. In the be-
ginning of this season the west winds soften, as it were, the
winter sky, the sun having now gained the 25th degree of
Aquarius ; this is on the sixth day before the Ides of February^.
This agrees, for the most part, witli all the remarks that I
shall subsequently make, oiily anticipating the period by one
day in the intercalary year, and again, prcser\ang the same
order in the succeeding lustrum'*. After the eighth day be-
fore the Calends of March", Favonius is called by some Che-
lidonias^, from the swallows making their appearance. The
wind, which blows for the space of nine days, from the seventy-
first day after the Avinter solstice'^, is sometimes called Orni-
thias, from the arrival of the birds^. In the contrary direc-
tion to Favonius is the wind which we name Subsolanus, and

1 This wind must have been N.N.W. ; it is mentioned by Strabo, iv.
182 ; A. Gellius, ii. 22 ; Seneca, Nat. Quocst. v. 17 ; and again by our au-
thor, xvii. 2.

2 We may learn the opinions of the Romans on the subject of this
chapter from Columella, xi. 2,

3 con'csponcUng to the 8th day of the month.

"* . . . lustro sequenti . . . ; " tribus annis scquentibus." Alexandre, in
Lemaire, i. 33 1.

5 con'csponding to the 22nd of Februaiy. ^ a xf^"^t''v, hirundo.

7 This will be either on IVIarch 2nd or on February 26tli, according as
we reckon from December the 21st, the real solstitial day, or thel7th, Avhen,
according to the Roman calendar, the sun is said to enter Capricorn.

8 " quasi Avicularem discris." Hardouin, in Lcmau'c, i. 331.

76 pliky's natural HISTOET. [Book II.

tins is connected with the rising of the Yergiliae, in the 25th
degree of Taurus, six days before the Ides of May\ which is
the time when south winds prevail: these are opposite to
Septemtrio. The dog-star rises in the hottest time of the
summer, when the sun is entering the first degree of Leo^ ;
this is fifteen days before the Calends of August. The north
winds, which are called Prodromi^, precede its rising by about
eight days. But in two days after its rising, the same north
winds, which are named Etesise"*, blow more constantly during
this period ; the vapour from the sun, being increased twofold
by the heat of this star, is supposed to render these winds
more mild ; nor are there any which are more regular. After
these the south winds become more frequent, until the appear-
ance of Arcturus^, which rises eleven days before the autumnal
equinox. At this time Corns sets in ; Corns is an autumnal
■wind, and is in the opposite direction to Yulturnus. After
this, and generally for forty-four days after the equinox, at
the setting ot the Yergilise, the winter commences, which
usually happens on the third of the Ides of November^. This
is the period of the winter north wind, which is very unlike
the summer north wind, and which is in the opposite direc-
tion to Africus. For seven days before the winter solstice,
and for the same length of time after it, the sea becomes
calm, in order that the king-fishers may rear their young ;
from this circumstance they have obtained the name of the
halcyon days^ ; the rest of the season is winterly^. Tet the

1 Corresponding to the lOth of May.

2 According to the Roman calendar, this corresponds to the 20th July,
but, according to the text, to the l7th. Columella says, that the sun en-
ters Leo on the 13th of the Calends of August ; xi. 2.

3 " quasi prsecursores ;" Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 335. Cicero refers
to these winds in one of his letters to Atticus j xiv. 6.

* eTTjaiat, ab eros, annus.

5 This will be on the 13th of September, as, according to our author,
xviii. 24, the equinox is on the 24th.

^ This corresponds to the 11th of November ; forty-four days before
this will be the 29th of September.

7 Or Halcyonides. This topic is considered more at length in a sub-
sequent part of the work ; x. 47.

** The author, as it appears, portions out the whole of the year into
fourteen periods, during most of which certain winds are said to blow,
or, at least, to be decidedly prevalent. Although the winds of Italy are

Chap. 48.] KATTJEE OF THE TVIXDS. 77

severity of the storms does not entirely close up the sea.
In former times, pirates were compelled,by the fear of death,
to rush into death, and to brave the winter ocean ; now we
are driven to it by avarice \

CHAP. 48. — ^ITATURE OF THE WINDS^.

Those are the coldest winds which are said to blow from
the seven stars, and Corns, which is contiguous to them ;
these also restrain the others and dispel the clouds. The
moist ^vinds are Africus, and, still more, the Auster of Italy.
It is said that, in Pontus, Csecias attracts the clouds. The
dry winds are Corns and Vulturnus, especially when they
are about to cease blowing. The ^\dnds that bring snow are
Aquilo and Septemtrio ; Septemtrio brings hail, and so does
Corns ; Auster is sultry, Vulturnus and Zephyrus are warm.
These winds are more dry than Subsolanus, and generally
those which blow from the north and west are more dry than
those which blow from the south and east. Aquilo is the
most healthy of them all ; Auster is unhealthy, and more so
when dry ; it is colder, perhaps because it is moist. Animals
are supposed to have less appetite for food when this wind is
blowing. The Etesiae generally cease during the night, and
spring up at the third hour of the day^. In Spain and in
Asia these winds have an easterly direction, in Pontus a
northerly, and in other places a southerly dii'ection. They
blow also after the winter solstice, when they are called Or-
nithise^, but they are more gentle and continue only for a
few days. There are two winds which change their nature
with their situation; in Africa Auster is attended with a
clear sky, while Aquilo collects the clouds\ Almost all

less irregular than those of England, Pliny has considerably exaggerated
the real fact.

^ On this subject the reader may peruse the remarks of Seneca, Nat.
Qusest. V. 18, written in his style of flowery declamation.

2 The greatest part of the remarks on the nature of the winds, in tliis
chapter, woidd appear to be taken from Aristotle's Treatise De Meteor.,
and it may be stated generaUy, that our author has formed liis opinions
more upon those of the Greek writers than upon actual observation.

3. 9 A.M. ^ In the last chapter Omitliias is said to be a west wind.

* This obviously depends upon the geographical situation of the north-
em parts of Africa, to which the observation more particularly apphes,
with respect to the central part of tlie Continent and the Mediterranean.
See the remarks of Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 340.

78 PLIFY's ITATUEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

winds blow in their turn, so that when one ceases its oppo-
site springs up. AVTien winds which are contiguous succeed
each other, they go from left to right, in the direction of the
sun. The fourth day of the moon generally determines their
direction for the whole of the monthly period^ We are able
to sail in opposite directions by means of the same wind, if
we have the sails properly set ; hence it frequently happens
that, in the night, vessels going in different directions rim
against each other. Auster produces higher winds than
Aquilo, because the former blows, as it were, from the bot-
tom of the sea, while the latter blows on the surface ; it is
therefore after south winds that the most mischievous earth-
quakes have occurred. Auster is more violent during the
night, Aquilo during the day ; winds from the east continue
longer than from the west. The north winds generally cease
blowing on the odd days, and we observe the prevalence of
the odd numbers in many other parts of nature ; the male
winds are therefore regulated by the odd numbers^. The
sun sometimes increases and sometimes restrains winds ;
when rising and setting it increases them ; while, when on
the meridian, it restrains them during the summer. They
are, therefore, generally lulled during the middle of the day
and of the night, because they are abated either by excessive
cold or heat ; winds are also lulled by showers. "We gene-
rally expect them to come from that quarter where the clouds
open and allow the clear sky to be seen. Eudoxus^ sup-
poses that the same succession of changes occurs in them
after a period of four years, if we observe their minute re-
volutions ; and this applies not only to winds, but to what-
ever concerns the state of the weather. He begins his lus-
trum at the rising of the dog-star, in the intercalary year.
So far concerning winds in general.

1 The influence of the fourth day of the moon is referred to by Yirgil,
Geor. i. 432 et seq. " Sin ortu quarto," &c.

2 This refers to the genders of the names of the winds, analogous to
the remark in note ^j p. 71.

^ Eudoxus was a native of Cnidus, distinguished for his knowledge in
astrology and science generally ; he was a pupil of Plato, and is referred
to by many of the ancients ; see Hardouin's Index Auctorum, in Lemaire,
i. 187, and Enfield's Hist, of Phil. i. 412, with the very copious list of
references.

Chap. 40.] WTKDS. 79

CHAP. 49. (48.) — EC^"EPHIAS AND TTPHOK.

And now respecting the sudden gusts \ wHcli arising from
tlie exhalations of the earth, as has been said above, and
falling down again, being in the mean time covered by a
thin him of clouds, exist in a variety of forms. By their
wandering about, and rushing down like torrents, in the
opinion of some persons, they produce thunder and light-
ning'. But if they be urged on with greater force and
violence, so as to cause the rupture of a dry cloud, they pro-
duce a squall^, which is named by the Greeks Ecnephias^.
But, if these are compressed, and rolled up more closely to-
gether, and then break without any discharge of fire, i. e.
without thunder, they produce a squall, which is named Ty-
phon^, or an Ecnephias in a state of agitation. It carries
along a portion of the cloud which it has broken oif, rolling
it and turning it round, aggravating its own destruction by
the weight of it, and whirling it from place to place. This
is very much di'eaded by sailors, as it not only breaks their
sail-yards, but the vessels themselves, bending them about
in various ways. This may be iu. a slight degree counter-
acted by sprinkling it with vinegar, when it comes near us,
this substance being of a very cold nature ^ This wind,
when it rebounds after the stroke, absorbs and carries up
whatever it may have seized on.

* " flatus repentini."

^ Cicero refers to an opinion very similar to this as maintained by the
Stoics ; De Div. ii. 44. ^ 3 " procella." _

* " eK v6(povs, ex nube, erumpente spiritu." Hardoiun,in Lemaire,i.343.
Perhaps it most nearly corresponds to the term " hmricane."

5 a Tv(p(x}, incendo, ardeo. We have no distinct term in our language
which corresponds to the accovmt of the typhon ; it may be considered
as a combination of a whirlwind and a hurricane.

* Plutarch, Sympos. Quaest. iii. 5, refers to the extraordiaary power of
vinegar in extinguishing fire, but he ascribes this effect, not to its cold-
ness, but to the extreme tenuity of its parts. On this Alexandre remarks,
" Mehus factum negassent Plinius ct Plutarchus, quam causam inanem
rei absurdissimaj excogitarent," Lcmau-e, i. 344.

80 PLrtTT's NATURAL HISTOET. [Book II.

CHAP. 50. — TOENADOES ; BLASTING WINDS ; WHIELWINDS^
AND OTHEE WONDEEFUL KINDS OF TEMPESTS.

But if it burst from the cavity of a cloud which is more
depressed, but less capacious than what produces a squaU,
and is accompanied by noise, it is called a whirlwind, and
throws down everything which is near it. The same, when
it is more burning and rages with greater heat, is called a
blasting wind^, scorching and, at the same time, throwing
down everything with which it comes in contact. (49.) Ty-
phon never comes from the north, nor have we Ecnephias
when it snows, or when there is snow on the ground. K it
breaks the clouds, and, at the same time, catches fire or
burns, but not until it has left the cloud, it forms a thunder-
bolt. It differs from Prester as flame does from fire ; the
former is difiiised in a gust, the latter is condensed with a
violent impulse^. The whirlwind, when it rebounds, diflers
from the tornado in the same manner as a loud noise does
from a dash.

The squall differs from both of them in its extent, the
clouds being more properly rent asimder than broken into
pieces. A black cloud is formed, resembling a great animal,
an appearance much dreaded by sailors. It is also called a
pillar, when the moisture is so condensed and rigid as to be
able to support itself. It is a cloud of the same kind, which,
when drawn into a tube, sucks up the water^.

CHAP. 51. (50.) — OE THUNDEE^ ; IN WHAT COTJNTEIES IT
DOES NOT FALL, AND FOE WHAT EEASON.

Thunder is rare both in winter and in summer^, but from

^ The terms here employed are respectively " tm-bines," " presteres,"
and " vortices."

2 7rpr](TTr]p^ a TrpriOio, incendo. Seneca calls it "igneus turbo;" Nat,
Qusest. V. 13. p. 762. See also Lucretius, vi. 423. 3 Plutarch.

* A water-spout. We have a description of this phaenomenon in Lu-
cretius, vi. 425 et seq. ^ " fulmen."

^ This has been pointed out by Alexandre, Lemaire, i. 346, as one of
the statements made by our author, which, in consequence of his following
the Greek writers, apphes rather to their climate than to that of Italy.
The reader may form a judgement of the correctness of this remai'k by
comparing the account given by Aristotle and by Seneca ; the former in
Meteor, iii. 1. p. 573, 574, the latter in Nat. Qusest. ii. 32 et seq.

Chap. 52.] LIGHTNING AND ITS ErFECTS. 8L

different causes ; the air, wbicL is condensed in the winter,
is made still more dense by a thicker covering of clouds,
while the exhalations from the earth, being all of them rigid
and ft'ozen, extinguish whatever fiery vapour it may receive.
It is this cause which exempts Scythia and the cold districts
round it from thunder. On the other hand, the excessive
heat exempts Eg^-pt ; the warm and diy vajDours of the earth
being very seldom condensed, and that only into light clouds.
But, in the spring and autumn, thimder is more frequent,
the causes which produce summer and ^dnter being, in each
season, less efhcient. From this cause thimder is more fre-
quent in Italy, the air being more easily set in motion, in
consequence of a milder winter and a showery summer, so
that it may be said to be always spring or autumn. Also m
those parts of Italy which recede from the north and lie to-
wards the south, as in the district round oiu* city, and in
Campania, it lightens equally both in winter and in summer,
which is not the case in other situations.

CHAP. 52. (51.) OF THE DIFFEEENT KINDS OF LIGHTNING^

AND THEIK WONDEEFUL EFFECTS.

AYehaveaccountsof many different kinds of thunder-storms.
Those which are dry do not biu-n objects, but dissipate them ;
while those Avhich are moist do not biu'n, but blacken them.
There is a third kind, which is called bright lightning', of a
very wonderful nature, by which casks are emptied, Avithout
the vessels themselves being injured, or there being any other
trace left of their operation^. Gold, copper, and silver are
melted, while the bags which contain them are not in the
least burned, nor even the wax seal much defaced. Marcia,
a lady of high rank at Bome, was struck while pregnant ;
the fa?tus was destroyed, while she herself survived \n ithout

1 " fiilgxir." The accoimt of the different kinds of thimder seems to
be principally taken from Aristotle ; Meteor, iii. 1. Some of the phse-
nomena mentioned below, wliich would natm-tdly appear to the ancients
the most remarkable, are easily explained by a referenco to their electrical
origin. ^ " quod clarum voeant."

3 This account seems to be taken from Ai'istotle, Meteor, iii. 1. p. 574 ;
see also Seneca, Nat. Qusest. ii. 31. p. 711- We have an account of the
pecuhar effects of thunder in Lucretius, vi. 227 et seq.

VOL. I. G

82 plint's natural HISTOET. [Book IT.

suffering any injury \ Among tlie prognostics wliicli took
place at the time of Catiline's conspiracy, M. Herennius, a
magistrate of the borough of Pompeii, was struck by light-
ning when the sky was without clouds^.

CHAP. 53. (52.) THE ETETJEIAlSr' AKD THE EOMAK

OBSEEYATION'S ON THESE POINTS.

The Tuscan books inform us, that there are nine Grods
who discharge thunder-storms, that there are eleven differ-
ent kinds of them, and that three of them are darted out by
Jupiter. Of these the Romans retained only two, ascribing
the diurnal kind to Jupiter, and the nocturnal to Summa-
nus"* ; this latter kind being more rare, in consequence of
the heavens being colder, as was mentioned above. The
Etrurians also suppose, that those which are named Infernal
burst out of the ground ; they are produced in the winter
and are particularly fierce and direful, as all things are which
proceed from the earth, and are not generated by or proceed-
ing from the stars, but from a cause which is near at hand,
and of a more disorderly nature. As a proof of this it is
said, that all those Avhich proceed from the higher regions
strike obliquely, while those which are termed terrestrial
strike in a direct line. And because these fall from matter
which is nearer to us, they are supposed to proceed from the
earth, since they leave no traces of a rebound ; this being
the effect of a stroke coming not from below, but from an
opposite quarter. Those who have searched into the subject

^ This effect may be easily explained by the agitation into wliich the
female might have been thrown. The title of " princeps Eomanarum,"
which is apphed to Marcia, has given rise to some discussion among the
commentators, for which see the remarks of Hardouin and Alexandre, in
Lemaire, i. 348.

2 Sometimes a partial thunder-cloud is formed, while the atmosphere
generally is perfectly clear, or, as Hardouin suggests, the effect might
have been produced by a volcanic eruption. See Lemaire, i. 348.

3 Seneca gives us an accoxmt of the opinions of the Tuscans ; Nat.
Qusest. ii. 32 ; and Cicero refers to the " hbri fulgurales" of the Etrurians ;
De Divm. i. 72.

* According to Hardouin, "Summanus est Deus summus Manium,
idem Orcus et Pluto dictus," Lemaire, i. 349 ; he is again referred to
by our author, xxix. 14 ; Ovid also mentions him, Fast. vi. 731, with the
remark, " quisquis is est."

Cliap. 51.] INTOCATION" OF THUXDER. 83

more minutely suppose, that these come froin the plauet
Saturn, as those tliat are of a barning nature do from Mars.
In this way it was that Yolsiniiun, the most opulent town of
the Tuscans, was entirely consumed by lightning\ The
first of these strokes that a man receives, after he has come
hito possession of any property, is termed Familiar-, and is
supposed to prognosticate the events of the whole of his life.
But it is not generally supposed that they predict events of
a private nature for a longer space than ten years, unless
they happen at tlie time of a first marriage or a birth-day ;
nor that public predictions extend beyond thirty years ^, un-
less with respect to the founding of colonies ^.

CHAP. 5i. (53.) — or CONJTJEIIS'G UP THUJTDER.

It is related in our Annals, that by certain sacred rites
and imprecations, thunder-storms may be compelled or in-
voked^ There is an old report in Etruria, that thunder was
invoked when the city of Volsinium had its territory laid
waste by a monster named Yolta^. Thunder was also in-

^ The city of Bolsena is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient
Yolsuiiura. From the nature of the chstrict in which it is situate, it is
perhaps more probable, that tlie event alluded to in the text was produced
by a volcanic eruption, attended by hghtning, than by a simple thvmder-
storm.

2 " Yocant et familiaria quae prima fiimt famiham suam cuique

indepto." This remark is explained bv the followhig passage from Seneca ;
ISTat. Quaest. ii. 47. " Hsec sunt fuhnina, qua; pruno accepto patrimonio,
in novo hominis aut m'bis statu fiunt." Tliis opinion, as well as most of
those of om* author, respecting the auguries to be formed from thmider,
is combated by Seneca ; iihi supra, § 48.

2 Tliis opinion is also referred to by Seneca in the following passage ;
"privata autem fidmina ncgant ultra decunum annum, pubhca ultra
trigesimum posse defem ;" ubi supra.

* " m deductione oppidorum ;" according to Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 350,
" quum in oppida colonia; deducuntur."

* The following conjectm'e is not without a degree of probability ; " Ex
hoc multisque ahis auctorum locis, pleriqueconjiciunt Etruscis auguribus
baud ignotam fuisse vim electricam, licet corum arcana nunquam divul-
gata sint." Alexandi'c in Lemaire, i. 350.

^ Alexandre remarks m tliis place, " An morbus aliquis fuit, qui pri-
nium in agros dcbacchatus, jam ui'bi minabatur, forsitan ab neris siccitate
natiis, quern advenicntcs cum procclla imbres cUscussenmt ? " Lemaire,
i. 350.

84 Flint's nattjeal histort. [Book ti.

voked by King Porsenna. And L. Piso\ a ycyj respectable
author, states in the first book of his Annals, that this had
been frequently done before his time by Numa, and that
Tullus Hostilius, imitating him, but not having properly
performed the ceremonies, was struck A'^dth the lightning^.
We have also groves, and altars, and sacred places, and, among
the titles of Jupiter, as Stator, Tonans, and Teretrius, we
have a Jupiter Elicius^. The opinions entertained on this
point are very various, and depend much on the dispositions
of different individuals. To believe that we can command
nature is the mark of a bold mind, nor is it less the mark of
a feeble one to reject her kindness^. Our knowledge has
been so far useful to us in the interpretation of thimder,
that it enables us to predict what is to happen on a certain
day, and ,we learn either that our fortune is to be entirely
changed, or it discloses events which are concealed from us ;
as is proved by an infinite number of examples, public and
private. Wherefore let these things remain, according to
the order of nature, to some persons certain, to others doubt-
ful, by some approved, by others condemned. I must not,
however, omit the other circumstances connected with them
which deserve to be related.

CHAP. 55. (54.) — GEIfERAL LAWS OF LIGHTNIlirGI-.

It is certain that the lightning is seen before the thunder
is heard, although they both take place at the same time.
Nor is this wonderful, since light has a greater velocity than
sound. Nature so regulates it, that the stroke and the sound
coincide^ ; the sound is, however, produced by the discharge
of the thunder, not by its stroke. But the air is impelled

1 For a notice of Piso, see Lemaire, i. 208.

^ We have an account of the death of Tullus Hostilius in Livy, i. 31.

'* "ab ehciendo, seu quod precationibus coelo evcoaretur, id nomen
traxit." This is confirmed by the following lines Irom Ovid, Fast. iii.
327, 328 :—

" EHciunt coelo te, Jupiter : mide minores

Nunc quoque te celebrant, Ehciumqvie vocant."

"* " beneficiis abrogare vires."

* " ictum autem et sonitum congruere, ita modulante natura." This
remark is not only incorrect, but appears to be at yariance both with
what precedes and what follows.

Chap. 55.] LAWS OF LIGHTNIIfa. 85

quicker than the lightning^ on which account it is that every-
thing is shaken and blcwTi up before it is struck, and that a
person is never injui'ed Avheu he has seen the lightning and
heard the thunder; Thunder on the left hand is supposed
to be luckv, because the east is on the left side of the hea-
vens". We do not regard so much the mode in which it comes
to us, as that in which it leaves us, whether the fire rebounds
after the stroke, or whether the current of air returns when
the operation is concluded and the fire is consumed. In rela-
tion to this object the Etrurians have divided the heavens into
sixteen parts^. The first great division is fi'om north to east ;
the second to the south ; the third to the west, and the fourth
occupies what remains from west to north. Each of these has
been subdivided into four parts, of which the eight on the east
have been called the left, and those on the west the right divi-
sions. Those which extend from tlie west to the north have
been considered the most unpropitious. It becomes therefore
very important to ascertain from what quarter the thunder
proceeds, and in what dii'ection it falls. It is considered a
very favourable omen when it returns into the eastern divi-
sions. But it prognosticates the greatest felicity when the
thunder proceeds from the first-mentioned part of the heavens
and falls back into it ; it was an omen of tliis kind which, as we
have heard, w as given to Sylla, the Dictator. The remaining
quarters of the heavens are less propitious, and also less to
be dreaded. There are some kinds of thunder which it is
not thought right to speak of, or even to listen to, unless
when they have been disclosed to the master of a family or
to a parent. But the futility of this observation was de-
tected when the temple of Juno was struck at Eome, during

* The following I'emark of Seneca may be referred to, both as illustra-
ting our author and as showing how much more correct the opinions of
Seneca were than his ovm., on many points of natiu-al philosophy ;

" necesse est, ut mipetus fulrainis et pra;mittat spirit us, et agat ante

Be, et a tergo trahat ventum ....;" Nat. Qusest. hb. ii. § 20. p. 706.

2 "quoniam lava parte munch ortus est." On this passage Hardouin
remarks ; " a Deoruin scde, quum in meridiem spectes, ad suiistram sunt
partes mundi exoi'icntcs ;" Lemaire, i. 353. Poiusinet enters into a long
detail respcctmg opinions of the ancients on tliis pomt and the circum-
stances wliicli induced them to form their opuiions ; i. 3 i et scq.

•* See Cicero de Divui. il 42.

86 PLINT's FATrRAL HISTOET. [Book II.

the consulsliip of Scaurus, he who was afterwards the Prinoe
of the Senate ^

It lightens without thunder more frequently in the night
than in the day^. Man is the only animal that is not always
killed by it, all other animals being killed instantly, nature
having granted to him this mark of distinction, while so many
other animals excel him in strength. All animals fall down
on the opposite side to that which has been struck ; man,
unless he be thrown down on the parts that are struck, does
not expire. Those who are struck directly from above sink
down immediately. When a man is struck while he is awake,
he is found with his eyes closed ; when asleep, with them
open. It is not considered proper that a man killed in this
way should be burnt on the funeral pile ; our religion enjoins
us to bury the body in the earth ^. No animal is consumed
by lightning unless after having been previously killed.
The parts of the animal that have been wounded by light-
ning are colder than the rest of the body.

CHAP. 56. (55.) OBJECTS. WHICH AEE NEVER STRTJCK.

Among the productions of the earth, thunder never strikes
the laurel^, nor does it descend more than five feet into the
earth. Those, therefore, who are timid consider the deepest
caves as the most safe ; or tents made of the skins of the
animal called the sea-calf, since this is the only marine ani-
mal which is never struck^ ; as is the case, among birds, with
the eagle ; on this account it is represented as the bearer of

^ " Jiinonis qiiippe templum fulmine violatum ostendit non a Jove,
non a Deis mitti fulmina." Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 354. The consulate
of Scaurus was in the year of Rome 638. Lucan, i. 155, and Horace,
Od. i. 2. refer to the destruction of temples at Eome by Ughtning.

2 Obviously because faint flashes are more visible in the night.

3 We have an explanation of this pecuhar opinion in TertulHan, as
referred to by Hardouin, Lemaire. i. 355 ; " Qui de coelo tangittir, salvus
est, ut nullo igne decinerescat."

^ Although it has been thought necessary by M. Fee, in the notes to
Ajasson's trans., ii. 384, 385, to enter into a formal examination of this
opinion of the author's, I conceive that few of our readers will agree with
hun in tliis respect.

* Suetonius informs us, that Augustus always wore a seal's skin for
this purpose ; Octavius, § 90.

Chap. 57.] snowEES OF milk, etc. 87

tkis weapon\ In Italy, between Terracina and the temple
of Ferouia, the people have left off building towers in time
of war, every one of them having been destroyed by thunder-
bolts.

CHAP. 57. (56.) — SHOWEES or MILK, BLOOD, FLESH, lEON,
WOOL, AND BAKED TILES^.

Besides these, we learn from certain monuments, that from
the lower part of the atmosphere^ it rained milk and blood,
in the consulship of M'Acilius and C. Porcius, and frequently
at other times'*. This was the case with respect to flesh, in
the consulship of P. Yolumnius and Servius Sulpicius, and it
is said, that what was not devoured by the birds did not be-
come putrid. It also rained iron among the Lucanians, the
year before Crassus was slain by the Parthians, as well as all
the Lucanian soldiers, of whom there was a great number in
this army. The substance which fell had very much the ap-
pearance of sponge^ ; the augurs warned the people against

^ The eagle was represented by the ancients with a thunderbolt in its
claws.

2 There is strong evidence for the fact, that, at different times, various
substances have fallen from the atmosphere, sometimes apparently of mi-
neral, and, at other times, of anunal or vegetable origin. Some of these
are now referred to those pecuhar bodies termed aerohtes, the nature and
source of which are still doubtful, although their existence is no longer
so. These bodies have, in other instances, been evidently discharged from
distant volcanoes, but there are many cases where the substance could not
be supposed to have proceeded from a volcano, and where, in the present
state of our knowledge, it appears impossible to offer an explanation of
their natm-e, or the source whence they are derived. We may, however,
conclude, that notwithstanding the actual occurrence of a few cases of
tliis description, a great proportion of those enumerated by the ancients
were either entirely T\ithout fomidation or much exaggerated. We meet
with several variations of what we may presmne to have been aerohtes in
Livy ; for example, xxiv. 10, xxx. 38, xli. 9, xliii. 13, and xhv. 18, among
many others. As naturally may be expected, we have many narratives of
this kind in Jul. Obsequens.

3 The same region from wliich lightning was supposed to proceed.

* We have several relations of tliis kind in Livy, xxiv. 10, xxxix. 46 and
56, xl. 19, and xliii. 13. The red snow which exists in certain alpine re-
gions, and is found to depend upon the presence of the Uredo nivahs, waa
formerly attributed to sliowers of blood.

* This occurrence may probably be referred to an aerohte, while the

88 pliny's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

wounds that might come from above. In the consulship of
L. Paulus and C. Marcellus it rained wool, round the castle
of Carissanum, near which place, a year after, T. Annius Milo
was killed. It is recorded, among the transactions of that
year, that when he was pleading his own cause, there was a
shower of baked tiles.

CHAP. 58. (57.) — EATTLI]S^G OP ARMS ATfD THE SOTJND OF
TEUMPETS HEAED IN THE SKY.

"We have heard, that during the war with the Cimbri, the
rattling of arms and the sound of trumpets were heard through
the sky, and that the same thing has frequently happened
before and since \ Also, that in the third consulship of
Marius, armies were seen in the heavens by the Amerini and
the Tudertes, encountering each other, as if from the east and
west, and that those from the east were repelled^. It is not
at all wonderful for the heavens themselves to be in flames',
and it has been more frequently observed when the clouds
have taken up a great deal of lire.

CHAP. 59. (58.) OF STOliTES THAT HAYE FALLEIST PEOM THE

CLOUDS^. THE OPIKLOlSr OE AlfAXAGOEAS EESPECTINa
THEM.

The Grreeks boast that Anaxagoras*, the Clazomenian, in
the second year of the 78th Olpnpiad, from his knowledge
of what relates to the heavens, had predicted, that at a certain

wool mentioned below, i. e. a light flocculent substance, was perhaps
volcanic.

^ Armorum sonitum toto G-ermania coelo

Audiit. — Yirgil, Geor. i. 474, 475.

" .... in Jovis Vicilini templo, quod in Compsano agro est, arma con-
crepuisse." Livy, xxiv. 44.

2 See Plutarch, by Langhome ; Marius, iii. 133.

3 See Livy, iii. 5 & 10, xxxi. 12, xxxii, 9, et alibi.

"* I have ah'eady had occasion to remark, concerning this class of phae-
nomena, that there is no doubt of their actual occurrence, although their
origin is still xmexplained.

* The life of Anaxagoras has been written by Diogenes Laertius. We
have an ample account of him by Enfield ia the General Biography, in
loco ; he was bom B.C. 500 and died B.C. 428.

Chap. 60.] THE EAINBOW. 89

time, a stone would Ml from the sun^ And tlie tiling ac-
cordingly happened, in the daytime, in a part of Thrace, at
the river ^gos. The stone is now to be seen, a waggon-
load in size and of a burnt appearance ; there was also a
comet shining in the night at that time'. But to believe
that tliis had been predicted would be to admit that the di-
vining powers of Anaxagoras were still more wonderful, and
that our knowledge of the nature of things, and indeed every
thing else, would be thrown into confusion, were we to sup-
pose either that the sun is itself composed of stone, or that
there was even a stone in it ; yet there can be no doubt that
stones have frequently fallen from the atmosphere. There
is a stone, a small one indeed, at this time, in the Grymna-
sium of Abydos, which on this account is held in veneration,
and which the same Anaxagoras predicted would fall in the
middle of the earth. There is another at Cassandria, formerly
called Potidsea^, which from this circumstance was built in
that place. I have myself seen one in the country of the
Yocontii'*, which had been brought from the fields only a
short time before.

CHAP. 60. (59.) THE RAINBOW.

"What we name Eainbows frequently occur, and are not
considered either wonderful or ominous ; for they do not
predict, with certainty, either rain or fair weather. It is
obvious, that the rays of the sun, being projected upon a
hollow cloud, the light is thrown back to the sun and is re-

^ There is some variation in the exact date assigned by diflferent authors
to this event ; in the Chronological table in Brewster's Encyc. vi. 420, it
is said to have occurred 467 B.C.

2 Aristotle gives us a similar accoimt of this stone ; that it feU in the
daytime, and that a comet was then visible at night ; Meteor, i. 7. It is
scarcely necessary to remark, that the authority for this fact must be re-
ferred entirely to Ai'istotle, without receiving any adchtional weight from
our author. The occurrence of the comet at the same time with the
aerohte must have been entirely incidental.

3 " Dcductis eo sacri lapidis causa colonis, extructoque oppido, cui
nomen a colore adusto lapidis, est inditum, Potidrea. Est onim ttotl
Dorice Trpds, ad, apud ; caiofiai^ uror." Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 361.
It was situated in the peninsula of Pallcne, in Macedonia.

* The Vocontii were a people of GaUia Narbonensis, occupying a por-
tion of the modem Dauphine.

^0 Pliny's nattjeal histoet. [Book II.

£racted\ and that tlie variety of colours is produced by a
mixture of clouds, air, and fire^. The rainbow is certainly
never produced except in the part oppositeto the sun, nor even
in any other form except that of a semicircle. Nor are they
ever formed at night, although Aristotle asserts that they are
semetimes seen at that time ; he acknowledges, however, that
it can only be on the 14th day of the moon^. They are seen
in the winter the most frequently, when the days are short-
ening, after the autumnal equinox^. They are not seen when
the days increase again, after the vernal equinox, nor on the
longest days, about the summer solstice, but frequently at
the winter solstice, when the days are the shortest. "When
the sun is low they are high, and when the sun is high they
are low ; they are smaller when in the east or west, but are
spread out wider ; in the south they are small, but of a
greater span. In the summer they are not seen at noon,
but after the autumnal equinox at any hour : there are never
more than two seen at once.

CHAP. 61. THE KATUEE OE HAIL, SNOW, HOAE, MIST,

DEW ; THE EOEMS OE CLOUDS.

1 do not find that there is any doubt entertained respect-
ing the following j)oints. (60.) Hail is produced by frozen rain,
and snow by the same fluid less firmly concreted, and hoar

^ " Manifestum est, radium Solis irmnissum cavse nubi, repulsa acie in
Solem, refringi."

2 Aiistotle treats of the Raiabow much in detail, principally in hia
Meteor, iii. 2, 3, 4, and 5, where he gives an account of the pha?nomena,
which is, for the most part, correct, and attempts to form a theory for
them ; see especially cap. 4. p. 577 et seq. In the treatise De Mundo he
also refers to the same subject, and briefly sums up his doctrine with the
foUowing remark : " arcus est species segmenti Solaris vel lunaris, edita in
nube humida, et cava, et perpetua ; quam velut in speculo intuemur, ima-
gine relata in speciem circularis ambitus." cap. 4. p. 607. Seneca also
treats very fidly on the phsenomena and theory of the Rainbow, in his
Nat. Qusest. i. 3-8.

^ Vide supra, also Meteor, iii. 2, and Seneca, Nat. Qusest. i. 3.

^ Aristotle, Meteor, ui. 5. p. 581, observes, that the rainbow is less
frequently seen in the summer, because the sun is more elevated, and that,
consequently, a less portion of the arch is visible. See also Seneca, Nat.
Qua'st. i. 8. p. 692.

Cliap. 63.] KATUEE OF THE EARTH. 91

by frozen dew*. During the winter snow falls, but not bail ;
bail itself falls more frequently during the day than tbe night,
and is more quickly melted than snow. There are no mists
either in the summer or diu-ing the greatest co] d of wmter.
There is neither dew nor hoar formed during great beat or
winds, nor unless the night he serene. Fluids are dnmmsbed
in bulk by being frozen, and, when the ice is melted, Ave do
not obtain the same quantity of fluid as at firsts

(61.) The clouds are varied in their colour and figure accord-
ing as the fire which they contain is in excess or is absorbed
by them.

CHAP. 62. (62.)— THE PECULIARITIES OE THE WEATHEE IIT

DIEFEEENT PLACES.

«

There are, moreover, certain peculiarities in certain places.
In Africa dew falls during the night in summer. In Italy,
at Locri, and at the Lake Velinum, there is never a day
in which a rainbow is not seen^ At Ehodes and at Syracuse
the sky is never so covered with clouds, but that the sun is
visible at one time or another ; these things, however, will
be better detailed in then- proper place. So far respectmg
the air.

CHAP. 63. (63.)— NATXJEE OE THE EARTH.

Next comes the earth, on which alone of aU parts of na-
ture we have bestowed the name that implies maternal vene-
ration. It is appropriated to man as the heavens are to God.
She receives us at our birth, nourishes us when born, and
ever afterwards supports us ; lastly, embracing us m her
bosom when we are rejected by the rest of nature, slie then
covers us with especial tenderness ; rendered sacred to us,
inasmuch as she renders us sacred, bearing our monuments

1 Aristotle treats at some length of dew, snow, and hail, m his Meteor, i.
cap. 10, 11 & 12 respectively. ,^

2 WTien water is frozen, its bulk is increased m consequence ot its as-
suming a crystalUne structure. Any diminution which may bo found to
have taken place in the bulk of the fluid, wlien thawed, must be ascribed
to evaporation or to some accidental circumstance.

3 " Yelini lacus prtecipiti cursu in gurgitcm subjectum defertur,

et iUo aquarura lapsu, dispersis in aera guttis humidis, ..... iridis multi-
pheis phaenomenon efficit " Alexandre, in Lcmaire, i. 365.

92 plint's natfeal histoet. [Book II.

and titles, continuing our names, and extending our memory
m opposition to the shortness of life. In our anger we imi
precate her on those who are now no more\ as il^ we were
Ignorant that .she is the only being who can never be angry
with man. The water passes into showers, is concreted into
hail swells into rivers, is precipitated in torrents ; the air is
condensed into clouds, rages in squaUs ; but the earth, kind
mild, and indulgent as she is, and always ministering to the
wants of mortals, how many things do we compel her to
produce spontaneously ! "What odours and flowers, nutritive
juices, forms and colours ! With what good faith does she
render back all that has been entrusted to her ' It is the
vital spirit which must bear the blame of producing noxious
animals ; lor the earth is constrained to receive the seeds of
them, and to support them when they are produced. The
lault lies m the evil nature which generates them The
earth will no longer harbour a serpent after it has attacked
any one% and thus she even demands punishment in the
name o± those who are indifferent about it themselves^ She
pours forth a profusion of medicinal plants, and is always
producing something for the use of man. "We may even
suppose, that it is out of compassion to us that she has or-
dained certain substances to be poisonous, in order that when
we are weary of life, hunger, a mode of death the most forei^
to the kind disposition of the earth^ might not consume us
by a slow decay, that precipices might not lacerate our
mangled bodies, that the imseemly punishment of the halter
may not torture us, by stopping the breath of one who seeks

hi Z^ ^'""^^ ^"^ ^^^"^f}^ ^ ^^^*'^^' ^- ^^- 9' of the imprecation which
iias been common m all ages : vvn^uu

Mollia nee rigidus cespes tegat ossa, nee iUi
Terra gravis fueris ;
and in Seneca's Hippolytus, suhjinem :

istam terra defossam premat,

Gravisque tellus imi^io capiti incubet.

2 The author refers to this opinion, xxix. 23, when describing the effects
or venomous anmials. ° ci^ci^to

lH'i^'lsCT.""""™ abstinentium," as explained by Alexandre, in

Chap. 63.] » NATUEE OF THE EAETH. 93

his own destruction, or that we may not seek our death in
the ocean, and become food for our graves, or that our bodies
may not be gashed by steel. On this account it is that na-
ture has produced a substance which is very easily taken, and
by which life is extinguished, the body remaining undefiled
aiid retaining all its blood, and only causing a degree of
thirst. And when it is destroyed by this means, neither
bird nor beast will touch the body, but he who has perished
by his own hands is reserved for the earth.

* But it must be acknowledged, that ever^i;hing which the
earth has produced, as a remedy for our evils, we have con-
verted into the poison of oiu- lives. Eor do we not use iron,
which we caimot do without, for this purpose ? But although
this cause of mischief has been produced, we ought not to
complain ; we ought not to be ungrateful to this one part of
nature \ How many luxuries and how many insults does
she not bear for us ! She is cast into the sea, and, in order
that we may introduce seas into her bosom, she is washed
away by the waves. She is continuallytortiu^edfor her iron,lier
timber, stone, foe, corn, and is even much more subservient
to our luxm'ies than to om' mere support. What indeed she
endures on her siu-face might be tolerated, but we penetrate
also into her bowels, digging out the veins of gold and silver,
and the ores of copper and lead ; we also search for gems and
certain small pebbles, driving oiu* trenches to a great depth.
We tear out her entrails in order to extract the gems ^vith
which we may load our fingers. How many hands are worn
do\\Ti tliat one little joint may be ornamented ! If the in-
fernal regions really existed, certainly these burrows of ava-
rice and luxury would have penetrated into them. And truly
we wonder that this same earth should have produced any-
thing noxious ! But, I suppose, the savage beasts protect
her and keep otF our sacrilegious liands"-. I'or do we not dig
among serpents and handle poisonous plants along with those
veins of gold ? But the Goddess shows herself more pro-
pitious to us, inasmuch as all this wealth ends in crimes,

^ " Terra, inquit, sola est, e quatuor natura? partibus sive dementis, ad-
versus quam ingrati simus." Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 308.

2 " Est ironiffi formula. Quid, ait, feras et serpent es et venena terrfB
exprobraraus, qu?c nc ad tuendam quidcm illam satis valent ? " Alexandre,
in Lemaii-e, i. 3GU.

94 plint's natueal history. [Book II.

slaugliter, and war, and that, while we drench her with our
blood, we cover her with unburied bones ; and being covered
with these and her anger being thus appeased, she conceals
the crimes of mortals \ I consider the ignorance of her
natui-e as one of the evil effects of an ungrateful mind.

CHAP. 64. (64.) — or the poem or the eaeth.

Every one agrees that it has the most perfect figure^^.
"We- always speak of the ball of the earth, and we admit it
to be a globe bounded by the poles. It has not indeed the
form of an absolute sphere, from the number of lofty moun-
tains and flat plains ; but if the termination of the lines be
bounded by a curved this would compose a perfect sphere.
And this we learn fr'om arguments drawn from the nature of
things, although not from the same considerations which we
made use of with respect to the heavens. Por in these the
hollow convexity everywhere bends on itself, and leans upon
the earth as its centre. "Whereas the earth rises up solid
and dense, like something that swells up and is protruded
outwards. The heavens bend towards the centre, while the
earth goes from the centre, the continual rolling of the
heavens about it forcing its immense globe into the form of
a sphere^.

CHAP. 65. (65.) — WHETHEE THEEE BE Al^TIPODES ?

On this point there is a great contest between the learned

1

" ossa vel insepulta cmn tempore teUus occultat, deprimentia pouxlere
Buo mollitam pluviis humum." Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 370.

2 " fio-iira prima." I may refer to the second chapter of this book,
where the author remarked upon the form of the earth as perfect in all
its parts, and especially adapted for its supposed position in the centre of

the universe. .

3 " si capita linearum comprehendantur ambitu ; the meanmg

of this passage would appear to be : if the extremities of the Imes di-awn
from the centre of the earth to the different parts of the surface were con-
nected together, the result of the whole would be a sphere. I must, how-
erer, remark, that Hardouin interprets it in a somewhat different manner ;
"Si 'per extremitates linearum ductarum a centro ad summos quosque
vertices montium circulus exigatur." Lemaire, i. 370.

4 " immensvim ejus globum in formam orbis assidua circa earn

mundi volubihtate cogente." As Hardouin remarks, the word mundus
is here used in the sense of ccelum. Lemaire, i. 371.

Chap. 65.] A^-TIPODES.

95

and the vulgar. We inaintain, that there are men dispersed
over everv part of the earth, that they stand with their feet
turned towards each other, that the vault of the heavens ap»
pears alike to all of them, and that they, all of them, appear to
tread equally on the middle of the earth. If any one should
ask, why those situated opposite to us do not fall, we directly
ask in return, whether those on the opposite side do not
wonder tha*. we do not fall. But I may make a remark, that
will appear plausible even to the most unlearned, that if the
earth were of the figure of an unequal globe, like the seed of a
pine\ still it may be inhabited in every part.

But of how little moment is this, when we have another
miracle rising up to our notice ! The earth itself is pendent
and does not fall Avith us ; it is doubtful whether this be from
the force of the spirit which is contained in the universe % or
whether it would fall, did not nature resist, by allo^ving of
no place where it might fall. Tor as the seat of fire is no-
where but in fire, nor of water except in water, nor of air
except in air, so there is no situation for the earth except in
itself, everything else repelling it. It is indeed wonderful
that it should form a globe, when there is so much flat sur-
face of the sea and of the plains. And this was the opinion
of Dic£earchus, a peculiarly learned man, who measured the
heights of mountains, under the direction of the kings, and
estimated Pelion, which was the highest, at 1250 paces per-
pendicular, and considered this as not affecting the round
figure of the globe. But this appears to me to be doubtful,
as I well know that the summits of some of the Alps rise
up by a long space of not less than 50,000 paces^ But what

» As our author admits of the existence of antipodes, and expressly
states that the earth is a perfect sphere, we may conclude that the re-
semblance to the cone of the pine is to be taken in a very general sense.
IIow far the ancients entertained correct opinions respecting the globular
figure of the earth, or rather, at what period tliis opinion became geneniUy
admitted, it is perhaps not easy to ascertain. The lines in the Georgics,
i, 242, 213, which may be supjiosed to express the popular opinion in the
time of Virgil, certainly do not convey the idea of a sphere capable of
being inhabited m all its parts :

Hie vertex nobis semper subUmis ; at illuni
Sub pedibus Styx atra vidct, Dinnesquc profundi.

' " spiritus vis mimdo nclusi."

3 « Alpium vertices, longo tractu, ncc breviorc quinquagluta

96 pliny's katueal histohy. [Book IT,

the Tulgar most strenuously contend against is, to be com-
pelled to believe that tiie water is forced into a rounded
figure^ ; yet there is nothing more obvious to the sight among
the phaenomena of natm^e. For we see every wiiere, that
drops, when they hang down, assume the form of small globes,
and when they are covered with dust, or have +he down of
leaves spread over them, tliey are observed to be completely
round ; and when a cup is filled, the liquid swells up in the
middle. But on account of the subtile nature of the fluid
and its inherent softness, the fact is more easily ascertained
by oiu- reason than by our sight. And it is even more
w onderful, that if a very little fluid only be added to a cup
when it is full, the superfluous quantity runs over, whereas
the contrary happens if we add a solid body, even as much
as would weigh 20 denarii. The reason of this is, that what
is dropt in raises up the fluid at the top, while what is poured
on it slides ofi" From the projecting surface. It is from
the same cause^ that the land is not visible from the body
of a ship when it may be seen from the mast ; and that
when a vessel is receding, if any bright object be fixed to the
mast, it seems gradually to descend and finally to become
invisible. And the ocean, which we admit to be without
limits, if it had any other figiu'e, could it cohere and exist
without falling, there being no external margin to contain
it ? And the same wonder still recurs, how is it that the
extreme parts of the sea, although it be in the form of a
globe, do not fall down ? In opposition to which doctrine,
the G-reeks, to their great joy and glory, were the first to
teach us, by their subtile geometry, that this could not hap-
pen, even if the seas were flat, and of the figure which they
appear to be. For since water always runs from a higher to

millibus passuum assurgere." To avoid the apparent improbability of the
author conceiving of the Alps as 50 miles high, the commentators have,
accorduig to their usual custom, exercised their ingentiity in altering the
text. See Poinsinet, i. 206, 207, and Lemaire, i. 373. But the expres-
sion does not imply that he conceived them as 50 miles in perpendicular
height, but that there is a continuous ascent of 50 miles to get to the
eummit. This explanation of the passage is adopted by Alexandre; Lemaire,
ut supra. For what is known of Dicsearchus I may refer to Hardouin,
Index Auctonma, in Lemah^e, i. 181.

• " coactam in verticem aquarum quoque figui'am."

• " aquarum nempe convcxitas." Alexandre, ia Lemaire, i. 374,

-t

Cliap. 66.1 WATEE. 97

a lower level, and this is admitted to be essential to it, no
one ever doubted that the water would accumulate on any
shore, as much as its slope would allow it. It is also certain,
that the lower an}i;hing is, so much the nearer is it to the
centre, and that all the lines which are dra-v\Ti from this point
to the water which is tlie nearest to it, are shorter than those
which reach from the beginnmg of the sea to its extreme
parts ^ Hence it follows, that all the water, from every part,
tends towards the centre, and, because it has this tendency,
does not fall.

CHAP. 66. HOW THE WATEE IS CONJfECTED WITH THE EAETH.

OF THE NAYIGATION OF THE SEA AND THE EIVEES.

"We must believe, that the great artist, Nature, has so
arranged it, that as the arid and dry earth cannot subsist by
itself and without moisture, nor, on the other hand, can the
water subsist unless it be supported by the earth, they are
connected by a mutual union. The earth opens her harbours,
while the water pervades the whole earth, within, without,
and above ; its veins running in all directions, like connect-
ing links, and bursting out on even the highest ridges ;
where, forced up by the air, and pressed out by the weight
of the earth, it shoots forth as from a pipe, and is so far from
being in danger of falling, that it bounds up to the highest
and most lofty places. Hence the reason is obvious, why
the seas are not increased by the daily accession of so many
rivers^.

(66.) The earth has, therefore, the whole of its globe girt,
on every side, by the sea flowing round it. And this is not &,

^ " Quam quse ad extremum marc a priinis aqviis." T profess myself
altogether unable to follow the author's mode of reasoning in this para-
graph, or to tlirow any light upon it. He would appear to be arguing
in favour of the actual flatness of the surface of the ocean, whereas his
previous remarks prove its convexity.

2 Alexandre remarks on this passage, " Nempe quod remolissimos etiam
fontes alat oceanus. Sed omittit Plinius va]jorafionis ijitoi'mcdia ope
hoc fieri." Lemaire, i. 376. Aristotle ha.s wTitten at considerable length
on the origin of springs, in his Meteor, i. 13. p. 513 et seq. He argues
against the opinion of those who suppose that the water of springs is
entirely derived from evaporation. Seneca's account of the origin of
springs is found in his Nat. Qusest. iii. 1.

VOL. I. H

98 pliny's natueal histoet. [Book ir.

point to be investigated by arguments, but what lias been
ascertained by experience.

CHAP. 67. (67.) — WHETHEE THE OCEAN SUEEOIINDS THE

EAETH.

The whole of the western ocean is now navigated, from Gades
and the Pillars of Hercules, round Spain and Gaul. The
greater part of the northern ocean has also been navigated,
imder the auspices of the Emperor Augustus, his fleet having
been carried roimd Germany to the promontory of the Cimbri^;
from which spot they descried an immense sea, or became ac-
quainted with it by report, which extends to the country of
the Scythians, and the districts that are chilled by excessive
moisture^. On this account it is not at all probable, that
the ocean should be deficient in a region where moisture so
much abounds. In like manner, towards the east, from the
Indian sea, all that part which lies in the same latitude^, and
which bends round towards the Caspian*, has been explored
by the Macedonian arms, in the reigns of Seleucus and An-
tiochus, who wished it to be named after themselves, the Se-
leucian or Antiochian Sea. About the Caspian, too, many parts
of the shores of the ocean have been explored, so that nearly
the whole of the north has been sailed over in one direction
or another. Nor can our argument be much affected by the
point that has been so much discussed, respecting the Palus
Mreotis, whether it be a bay of the same ocean^, as is, I under-
stand, the opinion of some persons, or whether it be the
overflowing of a narrow channel connected with a different
ocean^ On the other side of Gades, proceeding from
the same western point, a great part of the southern ocean,

1 The voyage which is here alluded to was probably that performed
by Drusus ; it is mentioned by Dio, Ub. iv., Suetonius, Claud. § 1, Yel.
Paterculus, ii, 106, and by Tacitus, Grerm. § 34.

2 What is here spoken of we may presume to have been that part of
the German Ocean which Hes to the N.W. of Denmark ; the term Scy-
thian was apphed by the ancients in so very general a way, as not to
aiford any indication of the exact district so designated.

•^ " Sub eodem sidere ;" " which Hes under the same star."
■* The ancients conceived the Caspian to be a gulf, connected with
the northern ocean. Our author gives an account of it, vi. 15.
5 That is, of the Caspian Sea.
^ The remarks which our author makes upon the Palus Mseotis, in the

Chap. 67.] NAYIGATION OF THE OCEAN-. 99

along Mauritania, has now been navigated. Indeed the
greater part of this region, as well as of the east, as far as the
Arabian Grulf, was siu-veyed in consequence of Alexander's
victories. When Caius Caesar, the son of Augustus \ had the
conduct of affairs in that coimtry, it is said tliat they found the
remains of Spanisli vessels which had been wrecked there.
While the power of Carthage was at its height, Hanno pub-
lished an account of a voyage which he made from Gades to
the extremity of Arabia-; Himilcowas also sent, about the
same time, to explore the remote parts of Europe. Besides,
we learn from Corn. jSTepos, that oneEudoxus, a contemporary
of his^ when he was flying from king Lathyrus, set out from
the Arabian Gulf, and was carried as far as Gades-*. And long
before him, Caelius Autipater^ informs us, that he had seen
a person who had sailed from Spain to Ethiopia for the pur-
poses of trade. The same Cornelius Xepos, when speaking of
the northern circumnavigation, tells us that Q.MetellusCeler,
the colleague of L. Afranius in the consulship, but then a
proconsul in GauP, had a present made to him by the king
of the Suevi, of certain Indians, who sailing from India for
the piu-pose of commerce, had been driven by tempests into
Germany ^ Thus it appears, that the seas which flow corn-
different parts of his work, ii. 112 and vi. 7, appear so inconsistent with
each other, that we must suppose he indiscriminately borrowed tliem from
various writers, without comparing their accoimts, or endeavouring to
reconcile them to each otlier. Such inaccm-acies may be thouglit ahnost
to justify the censure of Alexandre, who styles our author, " indiligens
plane veri et falsi compilator, et ubi dissentiunt auctores, nunquam aut
raro sibi constans." Lemaire, i. 378.

^ ThesonofAgrippa, whom Augustus adopted. Hardouin, in Lemaire,
i. 378.

2 See Beloe's Herodotus, ii. 393, 394, for an account of the voyage
round Afi-ica that wtvs performed by the Phoenicians, who were sent to
explore those parts by Neclio king of Egypt.

3 It is generally supposed that C. Nepos hved in the century previous
to the Clu-istian a?ra. Ptolemy Lathyrus commenced liis reign u.c. 627
or B.C. 117, and reigned for 36 years. The references made to C. Nepos
are not found in any of his works now extant.

■* We have previously referred to Eudoxus, note 3, p. 78.

^ We have a brief account of Antipater in Hardouin's Lidex Auctorum;
Lemaire, i. 162.

^ We are infonned by Alexandre that this was in the year of the City 691,
the same year in which Cicero was consul ; see note in Lemaire, i. 379.

' It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the accoimt here given must

h2

100 pliny's natueal histoet. [Book II.

pletely round tlie globe, and divide it, as it were, into two
parts \ exclude us from one part of it, as there is no way open
to it on either side. And as the contemplation of these
things is adapted to detect the vanity of mortals, it seems
incumbent on me tc display, and lay open to our eyes, the
whole of it, whatever it be, in which there is nothing which
can satisfy the desires of certain individuals.

CHAP. 68. (68.) WHAT PAET OP THE EAETH IS INHABITED.

In the first place, then, it appears, that this should be esti-
mated at half the globe^, as if no portion of this half was
encroached upon by the ocean. But surrounding as it does
the whole of the land, pouring out and receiving all the other
waters, furnishing whatever goes to the clouds, and feeding the
stars themselves, so numerous and of such great size as they
are, what a great space must we not suppose it to occupy !
This vast mass must fill up and occupy an infinite extent.
To this we must add that portion of the remainder which the
heavens^ take from us. For the globe is divided into five
parts^, termed zones, and all that portion is subject to severe
cold and perpetual frost which is under the two extremities,
about each of the poles, the nearer of which is called the
north, and the opposite the south, pole. In all these regions
there is perpetual darkness, and, in consequence of the aspect
of the milder stars being turned from them, the light is ma-
lignant, and only like the whiteness which is produced by
hoar frost. The middle of the earth, over which is the orbit
of the sun, is parched and burned by the flame, and is con-
sumed by being so near the heat. There are only two of the
zones which are temperate, those which lie between the torrid
and the frigid zones, and these are separated from each other,
in consequence of the scorching heat of the heavenly bodies.

be incorrect ; the reader who may be disposed to learn the opinions of
the commentators on this point, may consult the notes in Poiasinet and
Lemaire in loco.

1 Dividuo globo ; " Eoas partes a vespertinis dividente oceano." Alex-
andre in Lemaire, i. 380.

2 " Jam primum in dimidio computari videtui'."

3 " Coelum ;" the rigour of the climate.

^ The division of the globe into five zones is referred to by Yirgil, Greor.
i. 233-239, and by Ovid, Met. i. 45, 46.

Chap. 68.] EXTENT OF THE OCEAI?'. 10 1

It appears, tlierefore, that the heavens take from us three
parts of the earth ; how much the ocean steals is uncertain.
And with respect to the part which is left us, I do not
know whether that is not even in greater danger. This same
ocean, insinuating itself, as I have described it, into a num-
ber of bays, approaches with its roaring^ so near to the in-
land seas, that the Ai'abian Gulf is no more than 115 miles
from the Egyptian Sea"-, and the Caspian only 375 miles from
the Euxine. It also insinuates itself into the numerous seas
by which it separates Africa, Europe, and Asia ; hence how
much space must it occupy ? We must also take into ac-
count the extent of all the rivers and the marshes, and we
must add the lakes and the pools. There are also the moun-
tains, raised up to the heavens, wdth their precipitous fronts ;
we must also subtract the forests and the craggy valleys, the
wildernesses, and the places, which, from various causes, are
desert. The vast quantity which remains of the earth^, or
rather, as many persons have considered it, this speck of a
world"* (for the earth is no more in regard to the universe),
tbis is the object, the seat of our glory — here we bear our
honours, here we exercise our power, here we covet wealth,
here we mortals create our disturbances, here we continually
carry on our wars, aye, civil wars, even, and unpeople the
earth by mutual slaughter. And not to dwell on public feuds,
entered into by nations against each other, here it is that we
drive away our neighbours, and enclose the land thus seized
upon within our own fence ^ ; and yet the man who has most
extended his boundary, and has expelled tlie inhabitants for
ever so great a distance, after all, what mighty portion of the
earth is he master of? And even when his avarice has been
the most completely satisfied, what part of it can he take
with him into the grave ?

^ "".... iiitema maria allatrat, . . ."

2 This is considerably more than the distance in the present day.
The Istlimus of Suez appears, according to the statement of the most
accurate geographers, to be about 70 miles in breadth.

3 Ha; tot portiones terrse, as Alexandre correctly remarks, " ironice
dictum. Quam paucffi enira supersunt !" Lemaire, i. 383.

■* " Mimdi punctus." This expression, we may presume, was taken
from Seneca ; " Hoc est illud punctum, quod inter tot gentes ferro et
igni dividitur." Nat. Qua;st. i. prajf. p. 681.

Nostro solo adfodimus ; " addinm?, adjungimus, anncctimus, ut una
fossione aretxxr." Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 383.

102 plint's natural histoet. [Book II,

CHAP. 69. (69.) THAT THE EABTH IS IN THE MIDDLE OF

THE WORLD.

It is evident from undoubted arguments, that the earth is
in the middle of the universe \ but it is the most clearly
proved by the equality of the days and the nights at the equi-
nox^. It is demonstrated by the quadrant^, which affords
the most decisive confirmation of the fact, that unless the
earth was in the middle, the days and nights could not be
equal ; for, at the time of the equinox, the rising and setting
of the sun are seen on the same line, and the rising of the
sun, at the summer solstice, is on the same line with its.
setting at the winter solstice ; but this could not happen if
the earth was not situated in the centre

CHAP. 70. (70.) or THE OBLIQUITY OE THE ZONES^

The three circles^, which are connected with the above-
mentioned zones, distinguish the inequalities of the seasons ;
these are, the solstitial circle, which proceeds from the part
of the Zodiac the highest to us and approaching the nearest
to the district of the north ; on the other side, the brumal,
which is towards the south pole ; and the equinoctial, which
traverses the middle of the Zodiac.

CHAP. 71. or THE INEQUALITY OF CLIMATES.

The cause of the other things which are worthy of our
admiration depends on the figure of the earth itself, which,
together with all its waters, is proved, by the same argu-
ments, to be a globe. This certainly is the cause why the
stars of the northern portion of the heavens never set to us,
and why, on the other hand, those in the south never rise,
and again, why the latter can never be seen by the former,
the globe of the earth rising up and concealing them. The

^ " Mundi totius." ' " iEquinoctii paribus horis."

3 Dioptra. " Grraece SioTrrpa, instrumentum est geometricum, un

quart de cercle, quo apparentes rerum inter se distantise anguli apertura

dijudicantur." Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 384.

* This title does not correspond with the contents of the chapter.

* " Tropici duo, cum sequinoctiali circulo ;" Hardouin, in Lemaire, i.
884.

Chap. VI.] EISING OF CONSTELLATIONS. 103

Northern TVaiu is never seen in Troglodytice^ nor in EgA^)t,
whicli borders on it^ ; nor can we, in Italy, see the star Ca-
nopns^, or Berenice's Hair^ ; nor what, under the Emperor
Augustus, was named Caesar's Throne, although they are,
there^, very brilliant stars. Tlie curved form of the earth is
so obvious, rising up like a ridge, that Canopus appears to a
spectator at Alexandi'ia to rise above the horizon almost the
quarter of a sign ; the same star at Hhodes appears, as it
were, to graze along the earth, while in Pontus it is not seen
at all ; where the Northern Wain appears considerably
elevated. This same constellation cannot be seen at Rhodes,
and still less at Alexandi^ia. In Ai-abia, in the month of
November, it is concealed during the tirst watch of the
night, but may be seen during the second^; in Meroe it is
seen, for a short time, in the evening, at the solstice, and it
is visible at day-break, for a few days before the rising of
Arcturus^. These facts have been principally ascertained
by the expeditions of na\igators ; the sea appearing more
elevated or depressed in certain parts ^ ; the stars suddenly
coming into view, and, as it were, emerging from the water,
after having been concealed by the bulging out of the globe ^.
But the heavens do not, as some suppose, rise higher at one

* The Troglodytice of the ancients may be considered as nearly corre-
sponding to the modem Abyssinia and Nubia.

2 This remai-k is incorrect, as far as respects nearly the whole of Egypt ;
see the remarks of Marcus, in Ajasson, ii. 245.

3 This is a star of the fii'st magnitude in the southern constellation of
Argo ; we have a similar statement in Manihus, i. 216, 217.

^ The commentators suppose that the star or constellation here referred
to cannot be the same with what bears this name on the modem celestial
atlas ; vide Hardouin in loco, also Marc, in Ajasson, ut supra. The
constellation of Berenice's hair forms the subject of Catullus's 67th poem.

^ In Troglodytice and in Egypt.

^ The first watch of the night was from 6 p.m. to 9 ; the second from.
9 to midnight.

7 According to Columella, xi. 2. 369, this was 9 Calend. Mart., cor-
responding to the 21st of February.

" " In aha adverso, in aha prono mari." I have adopted the opinion
of Alexandre, who explains the terms "adverso" and "prono," "ascen-
denti ad polum," and "ad austrum devoxo ;" a similar sense is given to
the passage by Poinsinet and Ajasson, in their translations.

^ " Anfractu pilse." See Manilius, i. 206 et seq. for a similar mode of
expression.

104 pliny's natural history. [Book II.

pole, otherwise^ its stars would be seen from all parts of the
world ; they indeed are supposed to be higher by those who
are nearest to them, but the stars are sunk below the horizon
to those who are more remote. As this pole appears to be
elevated to those who are beneath it ; so, when we have
passed along the convexity of the earth, those stars rise up,
which appear elevated to the inhabitants of those other di-
stricts ; all this, however, could not happen unless the earth
had the shape of a globe.

CnAP. 72. — Ilf WHAT PLACES ECLIPSES ABE INVISIBLE, AND
WHY THIS IS THE CASE.

Hence it is that the inhabitants of the east do not see
those eclipses of the sun or of the moon which occur in the
evening, nor the inhabitants of the west those in the morn-
ing, while such as take place at noon are more frequently
visible^. We are told, that at the time of the famous vic-
tory of Alexander the Grreat, at Arbela'"', the moon was
eclipsed at the second hour of the night, while, in Sicily, the
moon was rising at the same hour. The eclipse of the sun
which occurred the day before the calends of May, in the
consulship of Vipstanus and I^onteius"*, not many years ago,
was seen in Campania between the seventh and eighth hour
of the day ; the general Corbulo informs us, that it was seen

1 " Aut ;" as Poinsinet remarks, " aut est ici pour alioqui ;" and he
quotes another passage from our author, xix. 3, where the word is employed
in a similar manner.

2 We may presume that the author meant to convey the idea, that
the echpses which are visible in any one country are not so in those
which are situated under a diiFerent meridian. The terms "vesperti-
nos," "matutinos," and " meridianos," refer not to the time of the day,
but to the situation of the echpse, whether recurring in the western,
eastern, or southern parts of the heavens.

3 Brewster, in the art. " Chronology," p. 415, mentions this echpse as
having taken place Sept. 21st, tt.C. 331, eleven days before the battle of
Arbela ; wliile, in the same art. p. 423, the battle is said to have taken
place on Oct. 2nd, eleven days after a total echpse of the moon.

■* It took place on the 30th of April, in the year of tlie City 811,
A.D. 59 ; see Brewster, uhi supra. It is simply mentioned by Tacitus,
Ann. xiv. 12, as having occurred among other prodigies which took place
at this period.

Chap. 73.] DURATION OF DAY. 105

in Armenia, between the eleventh and twelfth hour^ ; thus the
curve of the globe both reveals and conceals different objects
from the inhabitants of its different parts. If the earth had
been flat, everything would have been seen at the same time,
from every part of it, and the nights would not have been
unequal; while the equal intervals of twelve hours, which are
now observed only in the middle of the earth, would in that
case have been the same everywhere.

CHAP. 73. (71.) WHAT EEGULATES THE DAYLIGHT OS THE

EARTH.

Hence it is that there is not any one night and day the same,
in all parts of the earth, at the same time ; the intervention of
the globe producing night, and its turning round producing
day'. This is known by various observations. In Africa and
in Spain it is made evident by the Towers of HannibaP, and in
Asia by the beacons, which, in consequence of their dread of
pirates, the people erected for their protection ; for it has been
frequently observed, that the signals, which were lighted a,t
the sixth hour of the day, were seen at the third hour of the
night by those who were the most remote"*. Philonides, a

1 "We have an account of Corbiilo's expedition to Armenia in Dion Cas-
sius, ]x. 19-24, but there is no mention of the echpse or of any peculiar
celestial phsenomenon.

2 The teiTHs employed in the original are " oppositu" and " ambitu."
Alexandre's explanation of the first is, "quum globi teiTaquei crassitude
interposita sohs arcet radios ;" and of the second, " quvun nostra hujus
globi pars a sole ambitm\" Lemaire, i. 389.

3 One of these towers is mentioned by Livy, xxxiii. 48 ; it is said to
have been situated between AchoUa and Thapsus, on the sea-coast.

* Hardouin, according to his usual custom, employs aU liis learning
and ingenuity to give a plausible explanation of tliis passage. Alexandre,
as it must be confessed, with but too much reason, remarks, " Frustra
desudavit Harduinus ut sanum aliquem scnsmn ex iUis Plinii delira-
mentis excuteret." He correctly refers the interval of time, which was
said to occur between these signals, not to any astronomical cause, but to
the necessary delay which took place in the transmission of them. He
concludes, " Sed ad cursum sohs hoc referre, dementia; est. Nam ut tanta
horarum differentia iutersit, si moram onmem in speculandis ao trans-
mittendLs signis sustuleris, necessc erit observatores illos ultimos 135
gradibus, id est, sesquidimidio hcmisplia?rio, a primis dislare turribus.
Recte igitur incredibilem Plinii creduhtatem ludibrio vertit Uayhus in
Dictionario suo." Lemaire, i. 389.

106 plint's natural histoet. [Book II,

courier of the above-mentioned Alexander, went from Sicjon
to Elis, a distance of 1200 stadia, in nine hours, while he
seldom returned until the third hour of the night, although
the road was do^\Ti-hilP. The reason is, that, in going, he
followed the course of the sun, while on his return, in the
opposite direction, he met the sun and left it behind him.
For the same reason it is, that those who sail to the west,
even on the shortest day, compensate for the difficulty of
sailing in the night and go farther", because they sail in the
same direction with the sun.

CHAP. 74. (72.) — REMARKS OK DIALS, AS CONNECTED WITH

THIS SUBJECT.

The same dial-plates^ cannot be used in all places, the
shadow of the sun being sensibly different at distances of
300, or at most of 500 stadia"*. Hence the shadow of the dial-
pin, which is termed the gnomon, at noon and at the summer
solstice, in Egypt, is a little more than half the length of the
gnomon itself. At the city of Home it is only -g less than
the gnomon, at Ancona not more than -^j less, while in
the part of Italy which is called Venetia, at the same hour,
the shadow is equal to the length of the gnomon^.

^ The distance, as here stated, is about 150 miles, which he is said to
have performed m nine hours, but that the same distance, in retm-ning,
required fifteen hours. We have here, as on the former occasion, a note
of Hardouin's to elucidate the statement of the author. On this Alex-
andre observes, " Optime ; sed in tam parva locorum distantia, Ehdis et
Sicyonis horologia vix qumque unius horse sexagesimis diiFerre poterant ;
quare eunti ac redeunti ne discrimen quidem quadrantis liora; intererat.
Ineptos igitur auctores sequitur hoc quoque loco Plinius." Lemaire, i.
390, 391.

2 " Vincunt spatia noctumae navigationis." Tliis expression would ap-
pear to imply, that the author conceived some physical difficulty m sail-
ing during the night, and so it seems to be understood by Alexandre ;
vide not. in loco.

^ " Vasa horoscopica." " Yasa horoscopica appeUat horologia in piano
descripta, horizonti ad Hbellam respondentia. Vasa dicmitur, quod area
in qua hneae ducebantur, labri interdum instar et conchse erat, cujus in
margine describebantvir bora?. Horoscopa, ab cop a et c/co Trtw, hoc est,
ab uispiciendis horis." Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 391.

■* These distances are respectively about 38 and 62 mUes.

* We are not to expect any great accuracy in these estimates, and we
accordingly find, that our author, when referring to the subject in hia

Chap. 75.] SHADOWS. 107

CHA.P. 75. (73.) — WHEK AND WHEEE THERE ARE NO
SHADOWS.

It is likewise said, that in tlie town of Syeue, which is
5000 stadia south of Alexandria^ there is no shadow at noon,
on the day of the solstice ; and that a well, which was sunk
for the purpose of the experiment, is illuminated by the sun
in every part. Hence it appears that the sun, in this place,
is vertical, and Onesicritus informs us that this is the case,
about the same time, in India, at the river Hypasis'. It is
well known, that at Berenice, a city of the Troglodytae, and
4820 stadia beyond that city, in the same country, at the
town of Ptolemais, which was built on the Eed Sea, when
the elephant was first hunted, this same thing takes place
for fortj^-five days before the solstice and for an equal length
of time after it, and that during these ninety days the shadows
are turned towards the south^. Again, at Meroe, an island
in the Nile and the metropolis of the ^Ethiopians, which is
5000 stadia** from Syene, there are no shadows at two periods
of the year, ^dz. when the sun is in the 18th degree of Taurus
and in the lltli of Leo^ The Oretes, a people of India, have
a mountain named Maleus^ near which the shadows in sum-

6th book, ch. 39, makes the shadow at Ancona -^-^ greater than the gnomon,
while, in Venctia, which is moi*e northerly, he says, as in the present
chapter, that the shadow and the gnomon are equal in length. See the
remarks of M. Alexandre in Lemau'c, uf supra.

* This would be about 625 miles. Strabo, ii. 114, and Lucan, ii. 587,
give the same distance, which is probably neai'ly correct. 8yene is,
however, a Httle to the north of the tropic.

2 This remark is not correct, as no part of tins river is between the
tropics. For an account of Onesicritus see Lemaire, i. 203, 204.

^ " In meridiem mnbras jaci." M. Ajasson translates this passage, " les
ombres tombent pendant quatre-vingl-dix jours sur Ic point central du
meridien." ii. 165. But I conceive that Holland's version is more cor-
rect, "for 90 days' space aU the shadows are cast into the south." i. 36.

The remarks of M. Alexandre are to tlie same efiect ; " ut bis solem

in zenitho haberet (Ptolemais), Maii mensis et Augusti initio ; interea
vero, solem e septemtrione haberet." Lemaire, i. 393.

* About 625 miles.

* These days correspond to the 8th of May and the 4th of August
respectively.

' There is considerable uncertainty respecting the identity of this moun-
tain J our author refers to it in a subsequent part of his work, where it is

108 tlint's natural uistojit. [Book II.

mer fall towards the soutli and in winter towards the north.
The seven stars of the Great Bear are visible there for fifteen
nights only. In India also, in the celebrated sea-port Pa-
tale \ the sun rises to the right hand and the shadows fall
towards the south. "While Alexander was staying there it
was_ observed, that the seven northern stars were seen only
during the early part of the nightl Onesicritus, one of his
generals, inforins us in his work, that in those places in India
where there are no shadows, the seven stars are not visible^ ;
these places, he says, are called " AsciaV and the people there
do not reckon the time by hours ^

CHAP. 76. (74.) ^WHEEE THIS TAKES PLACE TWICE TIS^ THE

TEAR AJfD WHERE THE SHADOWS FALL Ilf OPPOSITE
DIRECTIONS.

Eratosthenes informs us, that in the whole of Troglodytice,
for twice forty-five days in the year, the shadows fall in the
contrary direction^.

•

CHAP. 77. (75.) — WHERE THE DATS ARE THE LONGEST AND
WHERE THE SHORTEST.

Hence it foUows, that in consequence of the daylight
increasing in various degrees, in Meroe the longest day

said to be in the country of the Monedes and Suari ; vi. 22. See the note
of Alexandre in Lemaire, i, 394.

1 Our author, in a subsequent part of his work, vi. 23, describes the
island of Patale as situated near the mouth of the Indus ; he again refers
to it, xii. 25. His account of the position of the sun does not, however,
apply to tliis place.

2 If we may suppose this to have been actually the case, we might
calculate the time of the year when Alexander visited this place and the
length of liis stay.

3 We may presume, that our author means to say no more than that,
in those places, they are occasionally invisible ; hteraUy the observation
would not apply to any part of India. 4 ^f^^ia, shadowless.

5 If this really were the case, it could have no relation to the astrono-
mical position of the country.

6 " In contrarium," contrary to what takes place at other tunes, i. e.
towards the south. This observation is not apphcable to the wliole of
this country, as its northern and southern parts differ from each other by
seven or eight degrees of latitude. For an account of Eratosthenes see
Lemaire, i. 186.

Chap. 78.] THE riRST DIAL. 109

consists of twelve aequinoctial hours and eight parts of an
hour\ at Alexandria of fourteen hours, in Italy of fifteen, in
Britain of seventeen ; where the degree of light, ^Yhieh exists
in the night, very clearly proves, what the reason of the thing
also obliges us to believe, that, during the solstitial period,
as the sun approaches to the pole of the world, and his orbit
is contracted, the parts of the earth that lie below him have
a day of six months long, and a night of equal length when
he is removed to the south pole. Pytheas, of Marseilles^,
informs us, that this is the case in the island of Thule^, which
is six days' sail from the north of Britain. Some persons
also affirm that this is the case in Mona, which is about 200
miles from Camelodunum'*, a to\vn of Britain.

CHAP. 78. (76.) — or the eibst dial.

Anaximenes the Milesian, the disciple of Anaximander,
of whom I have spoken above^, discovered the theory of
shadows and what is called the art of dialling, and he was
the first who exhibited at Lacedsemon the dial which they
call sciothericon^.

^ " Hora duodecim in partes, ut as in totidem uncias dividebatiu*.
Octonas igitur partes horse antiquse, sive bessem, ut Martianus vocat,
nobis probe repraesentant horarum nostratium 40 sexagesimse, quas mi-
uutas vocamus." Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 396.

2 For a notice of Pytheas see Lemaire, i. 210. He was a geogi'apher
and historian who lived in the tune of Ptolemy Philadclphus ; but his
veracity does not appear to have been highly estimated by his contem-
poraries.

3 The Thiile of Pliny has been generally supposed to be the Shetland
Isles. What is here asserted respecting the length of the day, as well as
its distance from Britain, would indeed apply much more correctly to
Iceland than to Shetland ; but we have no evidence that Iceland was
known to the ancients. Our author refers to the length of the day in
Thule in two subsequent parts of his work, iv. 30 and vi. 36.

^ Supposed to be Colchester in Essex ; while the Mona of Phny appears
to have been Anglesea. It is not easy to conceive why the author
measured the distance of Mona from Camelodunum.

° Chap. 6 of this book.

^ a (TKia, umbra, and Gripdut, sector. It has been a subject for discussion
by the commentators, how far this instrument of Anaximenes is entitled
to the appellation of a dial, whether it was iiitcnded to mark tlie hours,
or to serve for some other astronomical puqDOse. See llardoiiin in
Lemaire, i. 398, 399. It has been correctly remarked by IJrolier, that
we have an account of a much more ancient dial in the 2nd book of Kings,
XI. 9, 11.

110 plikt's natural history. [Book IL

CHAP. 79 (77.) — OP THE MODE 1^ WHICH THE DATS ARE

COMPUTED.

The days have been computed by different people in dif-
ferent ways. The Babylonians reckoned from one sunrise
to the next ; the Athenians from one sunset to the next ; the
TJmbrians from noon to noon ; the multitude, universally,
from light to darkness ; the Eoman priests and those who
presided over the civil day, also the Egyptians and Hippar-
chus, from midnight to midnight^ It appears that the in-
ter^^al from one sunrise to the next is less near the solstices
than near the equinoxes, because the position of the zodiac
is more oblique about its middle part, and more straight
near the solstice^.

CHAP. 80. (78.) — OP THE DIPPEREIS'CE OP NATIONS AS DE-
PENDING ON THE NATURE OP THE WORLD.

To these circumstances we must add those that are con-
nected with certain celestial causes. There can be no doubt,
that the Ethiopians are scorched by their vicinity to the
sun's heat, and they are bom, like persons who have been
burned, with the beard and hair frizzled^ ; while, in the
opposite and frozen parts of the earth, there are nations with
white skins and long light hair. The latter are savage
from the inclemency of the climate, while the former are
dull from its variableness"*. We learn, from the form of the

^ A. Grellius, iii. 3, informs us, that the question concerning the com-
mencement of the day was one of the topics discussed by Yarro, La his
book "Rerum Humanarum : " this work is lost. We learn fi'om the
notes of Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 399, that there are certain counti'ies in
which aU these various modes of computation are still practised ; the
last-mentioned is the one commonly employed in Europe.

2 It has been supposed, that in. this passage the author intended to
say no more than that the nights are shorter at the summer solstice than
at the other parts of the year ; see Alexandre in Lemau-e, i. 399, 400.
But to this, I conceive, it may be objected, that the words " inter ortus
Bolis " can scarcely apply to the period while the sun is below the horizon,
and that the solstices generally would seem to be opposed to the equinoxes
generally. Also the words "obhquior " and " rectior " would appear to
have some farther reference than merely to the length of time during
which the sun is above or below the horizon.

3 " Vibrato ; " the same term is appUed by Tumus to the hair of ^neas ;
^n. xii. 100.

* " MobHitate hebetes ; " it is not easy to see the connexion between
these two cu'cumstances.

Chap. 81.] EAETHQITAKES. Ill

legs, that in the one, the fluids, like yapoiir, are forced into
the upper parts of the body, while in the other, being a
gross humour, it is drawn downwards into the lower parts \
In the cold regions savage beasts are produced, and in the
others, various forms of animals, and many kinds of birds^.
In both situations the body grows tall, in the one case by
the force of fire, and in the other by the nutritive moisture.

In the middle of the earth there is a salutary mixture of
the two, a tract fruitful in all things, the habits of the body
holding a mean between the two, with a proper tempering
of colours ; the manners of the people are gentle, the intellect
clear^, the genius fertile and capable of comprehending every
part of nature. They have formed empires, which has never
been done by the remote nations ; yet these latter have never
been subjected by the former, being severed from them and
remaining solitary, hom the effect produced on them by
their savage nature.

CHAP. 81. (79.) OF EARTHQUAKES.

According to the doctrine of the Babylonians, earthquakes
and clefts of the earth, and occurrences of this kind, are
supposed to be produced by the influence of tlie stars,
especially of the three to which they ascribe thunder'* ; and
to be caused by the stars moving with the sun, or being in
conjunction with it, and, more particularly, when they are
in the quartile aspect^. If we are to credit the report, a

^ There is a passage in Galen, De Temperamentis, iii. 6, which may
appear to sanction the opinion of onr author ; " Siccos esse, quibus maera
eiint crura ; humidos, quibus crassa."

2 The latter part of the remark is correct, but the number of ferocious
animals is also greater in the warmer regions ; there is, in fact, a greater
variety in all the productions of nature in the warmer districts of the
globe, except in those particular spots where animal or vegetable life is
counteracted by some local circumstances, as in many parts of Asia and
Africa by the want of water.

3 " Sensus hquidus ; " Alexandre explains this expression, "judicium
eanum, mens inteUigendo apta." Lemaire, i. 401.

* Saturn, Jupuer and Mars : see tlie 8th chapter of this book.

5 " Yel quando meant cum Sole in conjunctione cum eo, vol quando
cum eo conveniunt in aspectu, maxime vcro in quadrato, qui fit, quiun
distant a Sole quarta mundi sive codU parte." Hardouin in Lemaire, i.
401.

112 pliny's natukal history. [Book II.

most admirable and immortal spirit, as it were of a divine
nature, should be ascribed to Anaximander the Milesian,
who, they say, warned the Lacedaemonians to beware of their
city and their houses\ For he predicted that an earthquake
was at hand, when both the whole of their city was destroyed
and a large portion of Mount Taygetus, which projected in
the form of a ship, was broken off, and added farther ruin to
the previous destruction. Another prediction is ascribed to
Pherecydes, the master of Pythagoras, and this was divine ;
by a draught of water from a well, he foresaw and predicted
that there would be an earthquake in that place ^. And if
these things be true, how nearly do these individuals ap-
proach to the Deity, even during their lifetime ! But I
leave every one to judge of these matters as he pleases. I
certainly conceive the winds to be the cause of earthquakes ;
for the earth never trembles except when the sea is quite
calm, and when the heavens are so tranquil that the birds
cannot maintain their flight, all the air which should support
them being withdrawn^ ; nor does it ever happen until after
great winds, the gust l3eing pent up, as it were, in the
fissures and concealed hollows, Por the trembling of the
earth resembles thunder in the clouds ; nor does the yaAvning
of the earth differ from the bursting of the lightning ; the
enclosed air struggling and striving to escape"*.

CHAP. 82. (80.) — or clefts or the eaeth.

The earth is shaken in various ways, and wonderful effects
are produced^ ; in one place the walls of cities being thrown

^ " Ut urbem et tecta custodirent." Tliis anecdote is referred to by
Cicero, who employs the words " ut urbem et tecta hnquerent." De Divia.
i. 112. 2 This anecdote is also referred to by Cicero, de Div. ii.

3 It has been observed that earthquakes, as well as other great con-
vulsions of nature, are preceded by calms ; it has also been observed
that birds and animals generally exliibit certain presentiments of the
event, by something peculiar in their motions or proceeduigs ; this cir-
cumstance is mentioned by Aristotle, Meteor, ii. 8, and by Seneca, Nat.
Quffist. vi. 12.

* It is scarcely necessary to remark, that this supposed resemblance
or analogy is entirely without foundation. The phsenomena of earth-
quakes are described by Aristotle, De Mundo, cap. 4, and Meteor, ii.
7 and 8 ; also by Seneca in various parts of the 6th book of his Qusest. Nat.

* On this subject we shall find much curious matter in Aristotle'a
Treatise de Mundo, cap. 4.

Cliap. 82.] CLEFTS or THE EAETH. 113

do^vll, and in others swallowed up by a deep cleft' ; some-
times great masses of earth are heaped up, and rivers forced
out, sometimes even flame and hot springs'-, and at others
the course of rivers is turned. A terrible noise precedes
and accompanies the shock^ ; sometimes a murmuring, like
the lowing of cattle, or like human voices, or the clashing of
arms. This depends on the substance which receives the
sound, and the shape of the caverns or crevices through
which it issues ; it being more shrill from a narrow opening,
more hoarse from one that is curved, producing a loud rever-
beration from hard bodies, a sound like a boiling fluid^ from
moist substances, fluctuating in stagnant water, and roaring
when forced against solid bodies. There is, therefore, often
the sound without any motion. Nor is it a simple motion,
but one that is tremulous and vibratory. The cleft some-
times remains, displaying what it has swallowed up ; some-
times concealing it, the mouth being closed and the soil
being brought over it, so that no vestige is left ; the city
being, as it were, devoured, andthetract of country engulfed.
Maritime districts are more especially subject to shocks.
Nor are mountainous tracts exempt from them ; I have found,
by my inquiries, that the Alps and the Apennines are fre-
quently shaken. The shocks happen more frequently in the
autumn and in the spring, as is the case also wdth thunder.
There are seldom shocks in Gaul and in Egypt ; in the latter
it depends on the prevalence of summer, in the former, of
winter. They also happen more frequently in the night than
in the day. The greatest shocks are in the morning and tlie
evening ; but they often take place at day-break, and some-
times at noon. They also take place during eclipses of the
sun and of the moon, because at that time storms are lulled.
They are most frequent when great heat succeeds to showers,
or showers succeed to great heat^.

^ Poinsinet enters into a long detail of some of the most remarkable
earthquakes that have occurred, from the age of Pliny to the period when
he wi'ote, about fifty years ago ; i. 2 M). 2. " See Aristotle, Meteor, ii. 8.

3 See Aristotle, Meteor, ii. 8, and Seneca, Nat Qua?st. vi. 13.

* " Fervente ; " " Fremitum aquse ferventis imitante." Alexandre in
Lemau'e, i. 40k

5 The reader will scarcely require to be informed, that many of tlio
remarks in the latter part of this chapter are inconrct. Our author has
principally followed Aristotle, whose treatise on meteorology, although
aboundhig in cui-ious details, is pcrhapsone of the least correct of liis works.

VOL. I. I

114 PLINT's NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book II.

CHAP. 83. (81.) — SIGNS of an APPROACHiisra eaiithqhake.

There is no doubt tliat earthquakes are felt by persons on
shipboard, as they are struck by a sudden motion of the
waves, without these being raised by any gust of wind.
And things that are in the ressels shake as they do in houses,
and give notice by their creaking ; also the birds, when they
settle upon the vessels, are not without tlieir alarms. There
is also a sign in the heavens ; for, when a shock is near at
hand, either in the daytime or a little after sunset, a cloud
is stretched out in the clear sky, like a long thin line^ The
water in wells is also more turbid than usual, and it emits a
disagreeable odour^.

CHAP. 84. (82.) PRESERVATIYES AGAINST EUTURE

EARTHQUAKES.

These same places^, however, aiTord protection, and this is
also the case where there is a number of caverns, for they
give vent to the confined vapour, a circumstance which has
been remarked in certain towns, which have been less shaken
where they have been excavated by many sewers. And, in
the same town, those parts that are excavated'* are safer than
the other parts, as is understood to be the case at Naples in
Italy, the part of it which is solid being more liable to injury.
Arched buildings are also the most safe, also the angles of
walls, tlie shocks counteracting each other ; walls made of
brick also suffer less from the shocks*. There is also a great

^ This observation is taken from Aristotle, Meteor, ii. 8.

^ Pha^nomena of tliis liiiid have been frequently noticed, and are not
difficult of explanation.

2 "In iisdem;" " lidem, inquit, putei inclusum. terra spii'itum libero
moatu einittentes, terrse motus avertunt." Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 406.

* " Quae pendent." M. Ajasson translates this passage, " qui sonfc
comme suspendues." Hardouin's explanation is, " Structis forniee ca-
meris imposita sedificia intelligit ; quod genus cameraruui spiraraenta
plerumque habet non pauca, quibus exeat ad Hbertatem aer." Lemaire,
i. 407.

^ Many of these cu'cumstances are referred to by Seneca, Nat. Qnsest.
vi. 30. On the superior security of brick buildings, M. Alexandi-e
remarks, " Muri e lateribus facti difficihus quam csetex'i deliiscunt, undo
fit ut in urbibus muniendis id constructionum genus plerumque pro?-
feratur. Ex antiquso Italise palatiis tempUsve nihil fere prseter immensas
lato-um moles hodie superest."

Chap. 85.] PRODIGIES OF THE EARTH. 115

difference in the nature of the motions \ Tvhere various mo-
tions are experienced. It is the safest when it vibrates and
causes a creaking in tlie building, and where it swells and
rises upwards, and settles with an alternate motion. It is
also harmless Avhen the buildings coming together butt
against each other in opposite directions, for the motions
counteract each other. A movement like the rolling of waves
is dangerous, or when the motion is impelled in one direction.
The tremors cease when the vapour bursts out'-^ ; but if
they do not soon cease, they continue for forty days ; gene-
rally, indeed, for a longer time : some have lasted even for
one or two years.

CHAP. 85. (S3.) PRODIGIES OE THE EARTH WHICH HAVE

OCCURRED ONCE ONLY.

A great prodigy of the earth, whicli never happened more
than once, I have found mentioned in thebooks of the Etruscan
ceremonies, as having taken place in the district of Mutina,
during the consulship of Lucius Martins and Sextus Julius^.
Two mountains rushed together, falhng upon each other
Avith a very loud crash, and then receding ; while in the day-
time flame and smoke issued from them ; a great crowd of
Eomau knights, and families of people, and travellers on the
^milian way, being spectators of it. All the farm-houses
were throwTi down by the shock, and a great number of
animals that were in them were killed ; it was in the year
before the Social war ; and I am in doubt whether this event
or the civil commotions Avere more fatal to the territory of
Italy. The prodigy which happened in our own age was no
less wonderful ; in the last year of the emperor IS^ero"*, as I
have related in my history of his times^, when certain lielda
and olive grounds in the district of ]Marrucinum, belonging
to Vectius Marcellus, a Eoman knight, the steward of Nero,

^ These remarks upon the different kinds of shocks are probably taken
from Aristotle, Meteor, ii. 8.

" Tlii? observation is also in Aristotle, ii. 8.

3 In the year of the city 0(53 ; a.c. DO.

* In the year of the city 821 ; a.d. 68.

^ The continuation of Aufidius Bassus' liistory ; our author refers
to it in the first book.

i2

116 plint's natural HISTOET. [Book II.

changed places with each other \ although the public high-
way was interposed.

CHAP. 86. (84.) — WONDEEPUL CIECUMSTANCES ATTENDING
EAETHQUAKES.

Inundations of the sea take place at the same time with
earthquakes^ ; tlie water being impregnated with the same
spirit^, and received into the bosom of the earth which
subsides. The greatest earthquake which has occurred in
our memory was in the reign of Tiberius"*, by which twelve
cities of Asia were laid prostrate in one night. They occurred '
the most frequently during the Punic war, when we had
accounts brought to Eome of fifty-seven earthquakes in the
space of a single year. It was during this year^ that the
Cartliaginians and the Eomans, who were fighting at the
lake Thrasimenus, were neither of them- sensible of a very
great shock during the battle^. Nor is it an evil merely
consisting in the danger which is produced by the motion ;
it is an equal or a greater evil when it is considered as a
prodigy*^. The city of E-ome never experienced a shock,
which was not the forerunner of some great calamity.

CHAP. 87. (85.) IN WHAT PLACES THE SEA HAS EECEDED.

The same cause produces an increase of the land ; the
vapour, when it cannot burst out forcibly lifting up the

^ We have no authentic accounts of tliis mutvial change of place be-
tween two portions of land, nor can we conceive of any cause capable of
effecting it. Our author mentions this circumstance again in book xvii.
eh. 38.

2 See Aristotle, Meteor, ii. 8.

3 " Eodem videUcet spiritu infusi (maris) ac terr£e residentis sinu
rccepti."

■* v.c. 770 ; A.D. 17. We have an account of this event in Strabo,
lii. 57 ; in Tacitus, Ann. ii. 47 ; and in the Universal History, xiv. 129,
130. We are informed by Hardouin, that coins are still in existence
which were struck to commemorate the hberahty of the emperor on the
occasion, inscribed " civitatibus Asise restitutis." Lemau'e, i. 410.

^ u.c. 537 ; A.C. 217.

^ This circumstance is mentioned by Livy, xxii. 5, and by Florus, ii. 6-

7 " PrsDsagiis, inquit, quam ipsa clade, sseviores smit terrse motu^.'*
Alexaudre in Lemaire, i. 410.

Cliap. 88.] ELEYATIO^f OF LANDS. 117

siirface\ For the land is not merely produced by what is
brought do\\m the rivers, as the islands called Echinades are
formed by the river Achelous, and the greater part of Egypt
by the Nile, where, according to Homer, it was a day and a
night's journey from the main land to the island of Pharos^ ;
but, in some eases, by the receding of the sea, as, according
to the same author, was the case with the Circsean isles'^
The same thing also happened in the harbour of Ambracia,
for a space of 10,000 paces, and was also said to have taken
place for 5000 at the Piraeus of Athens'*, and likewise at
Ephesus, Avhere formerly the sea washed the walls of the
temple of Diana. Indeed, if we may believe Herodotus^, the
sea came beyond Memphis, as far as the mountains of JEthi-
opia, and also from the jijlains of Arabia. The sea also siu'-
rounded Ilium and the whole of Teuthrania, and covered the
plain through which the Mseander flows ^

CHAP. 88. (86.) THE MODE I>r WHICH ISLANDS EISE UP.

Land is sometimes formed in a different manner, risinsr
suddenly out of the sea, as if nature was compensating the
earth for its losses', restoring in one place what she had
swallowed up in another.

1 This phgenomenon is distinctly referred to by Seneca, Nat. Queest.
vi. 21. It presents us AAatli one of those cases, where the scientific de-
ductions of the modems have been anticipated by the speculations of the
ancients.

- Odyss. iv. 354—357 ; see also Arist. Meteor, i. 14 ; Lucan, x. 509-511 ;
Seneca, Nat. Qunest. vi. 26 ; Herodotus, ii. 4, 5 ; and Strabo, i. 59.

3 These form, at tliis day, the Monte Circello, wliich, it is remarked,
rises up hke an island, out of the Pontine marshes. It seems, however,
difficult to conceive how any action of the .sea could have formed these
marshes.

•• See Strabo, i. 58. ^ ii. 5. et alibi.

^ The plain in which this river flows, forming the \\-indinf^s from which
it derives its name, appears to have been originally an hilet of the sea,
which was gradually filled up with alluvial matter.

7 "Paria secum faciente natiu-a." This appears to have been a collo-
quial or idiomatic expression among the Romans. See lltu'douin in
Lemaire, i. 412.

^^S plint's natfeal histoey. [Book IT.

cnAP. 89. (87.) — what islands have beeis" eoemed, and

AT WHAT PERIODS.

Delos and Ehodes\ islands wliicli have now been long
famous, are recorded to lia^ e risen up in this way. More
lately there have been some smaller islands formed ; Anapha,
which is beyond Melos ; ]S"ea, between Lemnos and the
Hellespont ; Halone, between Lebedos and Teos ; Thera- and
Therasia, among the Cyclades, in the fourth year of tlie
135th Olympiad^ And among the same islands, 130 years
afterwards, Hiera, also called Automate^ made its appear-
ance; also Thia, at the distance of two stadia from the
former, 110 years afterwards, in our own times, when M.
Junius Silanus and L. Balbus were consuls, on the 8th of
the ides of July^.

(88.) Opposite to us, and near to Italy, among the ^Eolian
isles, an jsland emerged from the sea ; and likewise one near
Crete, 2500 paces in extent, and with warm springs in it ;
another made its appearance in the third year of the 163rd
Olympiad"^, in the Tuscan gulf, burning with a violent
explosion. There is a tradition too that a great number of
fishes were floating about the spot, and that those who em-
ployed them for food immediately expired. It is said that
the Pithecusan isles rose up, in the same way, in the bay
of Campania, and that, shortly afterwards, the mountain
Epopos, from which flame had suddenly burst forth, was
reduced to the level of the neighbouring plain. In the same
island, it is said, that a town v.as sunk in the sea ; that in

1 It may be remarked, that the accounts of modern travellers and
geologists tend to confirm the opinion of the volcanic origm of many of
the islands of the Archipelago.

2 Brotier remarks, that, accorchng to the account of Herodotus, this
island existed previous to the date here assigned to it ; Lemaire, i. 412,
413 : it is probable, however, that the same name was apphed' to two
islands, one at least of which was of volcanic origin.

^ F.c. 517, A.c. 237; and r.c. 647, a.c. 107 ; ''respectively.
Hiera, Automata; ab iepd, sacer, et abronciTi], spoiite nascens.
Respecting the origin of these islands there would appear to be some
contusjon m the dates, which it is difficult to reconcile with each other;
It is, I conceive, impossible to decide whether tliis depends upon an error
ot our author lumself, or of his transcribers.

5 July 25th, Tj.c. 771 ; A.C. 19.

^ r.c. 628; A.c. 125.

Chap. 92.] CHANGES ON THE EAETH's SUEEACE. 119

consequence of another shock, a lake burst out, and that, by
a third, Prochytas was formed into an island, the neigh-
bouring moimtains being rolled away from it.

CHAP 90. — LANDS WHICH HATE BEEN SEPARATED BY
THE SEA.

In the ordinary coiu-se of things islands are also formed
by this means, the sea has torn Sicily from Italy \ Cyprus
from S^Tia, Euboea from Boeotia"-, Atalante and Macris^
from Euboea, Besbycus from Bith^-nia, and Leucosia from
the promontory of the Sii^ens.

CHAP. 91. (89.)— ISLANDS WHICH HATE BEEN UNITED TO
THE MAIN LAND.

Again, islands are taken from the sea and added to the
main land ; Antissa'' to Lesbos, Zephyrium to Halicarnassus,
^thusa to Myndus, Dromiscus and Perne to Miletus, Nar-
thecusa to the promontory of Partlienium. Hybanda,
which was formerly an island of Ionia, is now 200 stadia
distant from the sea. Syries is now become a part of
Ephesus, and, m the same neighbourhood, Derasidas and So-
phonia form part of ISIagnesia ; while Epidaurus and Oricum
are no longer islands^.

CHAP. 92. (90.)— LANDS W^HICH HAVE BEEN TOTALLY
CHANGED INTO SEAS.

The sea has totally carried off certain lands, and first of

1 See Ovid, Metam. xv. 290, 291 ; also Seneca, Nat. Qurest. •^i-.Sa

2 This event is mentioned by Tliucychdes, lib. 3, Smith's Trans, i. 293 ;
and by Diodorus, xii. 7, Bootii's Trans, p. 287, as tlie consequence ot an
earthquake ; but the separation was from Locris, not from Euboea. See
the remarks of Hardouin in Lcmaire, i. 415.

3 It is somewhat uncertain to what island om- author apphed this
name ; see the'remarks of AL^xandre in Lcmahe.

< See Ovid, Metam. xv. 287.

s It is not improbable, from the situation and geological structure of
the places here enumerated, that many of the changes mentioned above
may have actually occurred- but there are few of them of which we have
any direct evidence.

120 PLINT's KATTJIIAL HISTOET. [Book II.

all, if we are to believe Plato \ for an immense space where
the Atlantic ocean is now extended. More lately we see
what lias been produced by our inland sea ; Acarnania has
been overwhelmed by the Ambracian gulf, Achaia by the
Corinthian, Europe and Asia by the Propontis and Pontus.
And besides these, the sea has rent asunder Leucas, Antir-
rhium, the Hellespont, and the two Bosphori^

CHAP. 93. (91.) LANDS WHICH HAVE BEE:N"

SWALLOWED UP.

And not to speak of bays and gulfs, the earth feeds on
itself; it has devoured the very high mountain of Cybotus,
with the town of Curites ; also Sipylus in Magnesia^, and
formerly, in the same place, a very celebrated city, which
was called Tantalis ; also the land belonging to the cities
Gralanis and Gamales in Phoenicia, together with the cities
themselves ; also Phegium, the most lofty ridge in Ethiopia"*.
Nor are the shores of the sea more to be depended upon.

CHAP. 94. (92.) CITIES WHICH HAVE BEEN ABSOEBED BY

THE SEA.

The sea near the Palus Mseotis has carried away Pyrrha
and Antissa, also Elice and Bura'^ in the gulf of Corinth,
traces of which places are visible in the ocean. From the

1 This celebrated narrative o^ Plato is contauied in liis Trtnseus, Op. ix.
p. 296, 297 ; it may be presumed that it was not altogether a fiction on
the part of the author, but it is, at tliis time, impossible to determiae
what part of it was derived from ancient traditions and what fi'om the
fertile stores of his own imagination. It is referred to by various ancient
writers, among others by Strabo. See also the remarks of Brotier in
Lemaire, i. 416, 417.

2 Many of these changes on the surface of the globe, and others men-
tioned by our author in this part of liis work, are alluded to by Ovid, in
liis beautiful abstract of the Pythagorean doctrme, Metam. xv. passim.

3 See Ai-istotle, Meteor, ii. 8, and Strabo, i. For some accoimt of the
l)laces mentioned in this chapter the reader may consult the notes of
Hardouin in loco.

'* Poinsinet, as I conceive correctly, makes the following clause the
commencement of the next chapter.

' See Ovid, ]\Ietam. xv. 293-295 ; also the remarks of Hardouin iu
Lemaire, i. 418.

Cliap. 95.] Y£5fTS IN THE EABTH. 121

island Cea it "has seized on 30,000 paces, which were sud-
denly torn off, with many persons on them. In Sicily also
the halt' of the city of Tyndaris, and all the part of Italy
which is wanting^ ; in like manner it carried off Eleusina in
Boeotia'.

CHAP. 95. (93.) — or tents^ in the eaeth.

But let us say no more of earthquakes and of whatever
may be regarded as the sepulchres of cities**; let us rather
speak of the wonders of the earth than of the crimes of
nature. But, by Hercules ! the history of the heavens them-
selves would not be more difficult to relate : — the abundance
of metals, so various, so rich, so prolific, rising up^ during so
many ages ; when, throughout all the world, so much is,
every day, destroyed by fire, by waste, by shipwreck, by
wars, and by frauds ; and while so much is consumed by
luxury and by such a number of people : — the figures on
gems, so multiplied in their forms ; the variously-coloured
spots on certain stones, and the whiteness of others, excluding
everything except light : — the virtues of medicinal springs,
and the perpetual fires bursting out in so many places, for
so many ages : — the exhalation of deadly vapours, either
emitted from caverns^, or from certain unhealthy districts ;
some of them fatal to birds alone, as at Soracte, a district
near the city-^ ; others to all animals, except to man^, while

1 " Spatiiim intelligit, fretumve, quo Sicilia nunc ab Italia dispescitur."
Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 419.

- See Strabo, ix.

3 "Spiracula." ^ "Busta urbium."

° " Suboriens," as M. Alexandre explains it, "renascensj" Lemaire,
i. 420.

' 6 " Scrobibus ;" " aut quum terra fossis excavatur, ut in Pomptina
palude, aut per naturales liiatus." Alexancb-e in Loniaire, i. 420.

7 This circumstance is mentioned by Seneca, IS'at. Qua:-st. vi. 28, as oc-
cun'ing " pluribus Italiae locis ; " it may be ascribed to the exhalations from
volcanos being raised up into the atmosphere. It does not appear tliat
there is, at present, any cavern in Mount Soracte which emits mephitic
vapours. But the circumstance of Soracte being regarded sacred to
Apollo, as we leani fi-om our author, vii. 2, and from Virgil, yEn. xi. 785,
may lead us to conjecture that something of the kind may fonnerly have
existed there.

s The author may probably refer to the well-known Grotto del Cane,

122 plint's natural ihstoet. [Book IT.

others are so to man also, as in the country of Sinuessa and
Puteoli. They are generally called vents, and, by some
persons, Cliaron's sewers, from their exhaling a deadly
vapour. Also at Amsanctum, in the country of the Hirpini,
at the temple of Mepliitis\ there is a place which kills all
those who enter it. And the same takes place at Hierapolis in
Asia"^, where no one can enter with safety, except the priest
of the great Mother of the Gods. In other places there are
prophetic caves, w^here those who are intoxicated with the
vapour which rises from them predict future events^, as at
the most noble of all oracles, Delphi. In which cases, what
mortal is there who can assign any other cause, than the
divine power of nature, which is everyw^here diffused, and
thus bursts forth in various places ?

CHAP. 96. (94.)— OF CERTAIN LANDS WHICH ARE ALWAYS
SHAKING, AND OF FLOATING ISLANDS.

There are certain lands which shake wlien any one passes
over them'* ; as in the territory of the Gabii, not far from the
city of Home, there are about 200 acres which shake when
cavalry passes over it : the same thing takes place at Eeate.

(95.) There are certain islands which are alw^ays floating ^,
as in the territory of the CsBcubum^, and of the above-men-
tioned Eeate, of Mutina, and of Statonia. In the lake of
Vadimonis and the waters of Cutiliae there is a dark wood,
which is never seen in the same place for a day and a night
together. In Lydia, the islands named Calaminse are not

whei'e, in consequence of a stratum of carbonic acid gas, which, occupies
the lower part of the cave only, dogs and other animals, whose mouths
are near the ground, are instantly sviifocated.

^ Celebrated in the weU-known lines of Virgil, ^n. vii. 563 et seq., as
the " S8evi spLi'acula Ditis."

2 Apulcius gives us an account of this place from his o^ti observation ;
De Mundo, § 729. See also Strabo, xii.

3 See Aristotle, De Mundo, cap. iv.

^ " Ad ingressum ambulantium, et equonim ciu'sus, terrse quoque tre-
mere sentiimtiu* in Brabantino agro, qu^e Belgii pars, et circa S.
Audoniari fanum." Hardouin in Lemau*e, i. 421, 422.

^ See Seneca, Nat. Qusest. iii. 25.

^ Martial speaks of the marshy nature of the Csecuban district, xiii. 115.
Most of the places mentioned in tliis chapter are illustrated by the
remarks of Hardouin ; Lemau-e, i. 422, 423.

Cliap. 98.] EEMAEKABLE OBJECTS. 123

only driven about by tbe -wand, but may be even pushed at
pleasure from place to place, by poles : many citizens saved
themselves by this means in the Mithridatic war. There are
some small islands in the Kymphaeus, called the Dancers \
because, when choruses are sung, they are moved by the
motions of those who beat time. In the great Italian lake of
Tarquinii, tliere are two islands ^\ii\l groves on them, which
are di'iven about by the wind, so as at one time to exhibit
the figure of a triangle and at another of a circle ; but they
never form a square^'.

CHAP. 97. (96.) PLACES liN" WHICH IT KEYER IlAI]SrS.

There is at Paphos a celebrated temple of Venus, in a
certain coiu't of which it never rains ; also at Xea, a town
of Troas, in the spot which surrounds the statue of IMinerva :
in this place also the remains of animals that are sacrificed
ne^er putrefy^.

CHAP. 98. THE WO^'DERS OE TARIOUS COIJ^"TRIES

COLLECTED TOGETHER.

IS^ear Harpasa, a to^^^l of Asia, there stands a terrific rock,
which may be moved by a single finger ; but if it be pushed
by the force of the ^^-hole body, it resists"*. In the Tauric
peninsula, in the state of the Parasini, there is a kind of

^ "Saltuares." In some of the MSS. the term here employed is
Saharcs, or Saltares ; but in all the editions which I am in the habit of
consulting, it is Saltuares.

^ There is, no doubt, some truth in these accoiuits of floating islands,
although, as we may presume, much exaggerated. There are fi-equently
small portions of land detaclied from the edges of lakes, by floods or
rapid currents, held together and rendered buoyant by a mass of roots
and vegetable matter. In the lake of Kes-vnck, in the county of CXun-
berland, there are two small floating islands, of a few yards in circum-
fej-ence, wliich are moved about by the wind oi' by currants ; they appear
to consist, principally, of a mass of vegetable fibres.

3 It has been observed, that there are certain places where bodies
remain for a long time without imdergoing decomposition ; it depends
principally upon a diy and cool condition of the air, such as is occa-
sionally found hi vaults and natural caverns. See the reuiarks of
Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 424.

■* We may conceive of a large mass of rock being so balanced upon the
fine point of another rock, as to be moved by the slightest touch ; but,
that if it be pushed with any force, it may be thrown upon a plane sui'-
Ikce, and will then remain immovable.

124 flint's nattjeal histoet. [Book IT.

earth wMcli cures all wounds ^ About Assos, in Troas, a
stone is found, by which all bodies are consumed ; it is called
Sarcophagus^. There are two mountains near the river
Indus ; the nature of one is to attract iron, of the other to
repel it : hence, if there be nails in the shoes, the feet cannot
be drawn oif the one, or set down on the other^. It has
been noticed, that at Locris and Crotona, there has never
been a pestilence, nor have they ever suffered from an earth-
quake ; in Ljcia there are always forty calm days before an
earthquake. In the territory of Argyripa the corn which is
sown never springs up. At the altars of Mucins, in the
country of the Yeii, and about Tusculum, and in the Cim-
merian Forest, there are places in which things that are
pushed into the ground cannot be pulled out again. The
hay which is growTi in Crustuminium is noxious on tlie spot,
but elsewhere it is wholesome ^

CHAP. 99. (97.) CONCEENIlfG THE CAUSE OE THE rLOWIF&

AISTD EBBINa OF THE SEA.

Much has been said about the nature of waters ; but the
most wonderful circumstance is the alternate flowing and
ebbing of the tides, which exists, indeed, under various forms,
but is caused by the sun and the moon. The tide flows
twice and ebbs twice between each two risings of the moon,

1 Perhaps the author may refer to some land of earth, possessed of
absorbent or astrmgent properties, Hke the Terra Sigillata or Armenian
Eole of the old Pharmacopoeias.

^ A (TcipE, caro, and (pdyoj, edo. We may conceive this stone to have
contained a portion of an acrid ingredient, pei'haps of an alkahne natm-e,
wliich, in some degree, might produce the effect here described. It does
not appear that the material of which the stone coffins are composed, to
which tliis name has been apphed, the workmanslnp of wliich is so much
an object of admiration, are any of them possessed of this propei'ty.

3 Alexandre rejnarks on this statement, " Montes istae videntur ori-
ginem dechsse fabulae quae in Arabicis Noctibus legitvir . . . . ;" Lemaire,
i. 425. Fouche, indeed, observes, that there are mountams composed
principally of natural loadstone, which might sensibly attract a shoe
containmg iron nails. Ajasson, ii. 386. But I conceive that we have no
evidence of the existence of the magnetic iron pyrites having ever been
found in sufficient quantity to produce any sensible effect of the kind
here described.

"* We may remark generally, that of the " mu-acida" related in this
chapter, the greatest part are entirely without foundation, and the I'e-
mainder much exaggerated.

Cliap. 99.] CAUSE OF THE TIDES. 125

always in the space of twenty-four hours. First, the moon
rising with the stars ^ swells out the tide, and after some time,
having gained the summit of the heavens, she declines from
the meridian and sets, and the tide subsides. Again, after she
has set, and moves in the heavens under the earth, as she
approaches the meridian on the opposite side, the tide flows
in ; after which it recedes until she again rises to us. But
the tide of the next day is never at the same time with that of
the preceding ; as if the planet was in attendance^, greedily
drinkiug up the sea, and continually rising in a different place
from what she did the day before. The intervals are, however,
equal, being always of six hours ; not indeed in respect of any
particular day or niglit or place^, but equinoctial hoiu's, and
therefore they are unequal as estimated by the length of com.-
mon hours, since a greater number of them"^ fall on some cer-
tain days or nights, and they are never equal everywhere
except at the equinox. This is a great, most clear, and even
divine proof of the dullness of those, who deny that the stars
go below the earth and rise up again, and that nature pre-
sents the same face in the same states of their rising and
setting^ ; for the course of the stars is equally obvious in the
one case as in the other, producing the same effect as when
it is manifest to the sight.

There is a difference in the tides, depending on the moon,
of a complicated nature, and, first, as to the period of seven
days. For the tides are of moderate height from the new
moon to the ffrst quarter ; from this time they increase, and
are the highest at the full: they then decrease. On the
seventh day they are equal to what they were at the first

^ " Mundo ;" the heavens or visible firmament, to which the stara and
planets appear to be connected, so as to be moved along with it.

2 " Ancillante ; " " Credas ancillari sidus, et iudiilgere mari, vit non ab
eadem parte, qua pridie, pastum ex oceano haui'iat." Ilardouin in
Lemaire, i. 427.

3 Not depending on the time of the rising and setting of the sun or
the latitude of the place, but determmate portions of the diurnal pei'iod.

^ By a conjectural variation of a letter, viz. by substituting "eos" for
" eas," Dalechairip has, as he conceives, i*endercd tliis passage more clear;
the alteration is adopted by Lemau'e.

* "In iisdem ortus occasusque operibus;" "Eodem modo utrinquo
oricntibus occidentibusque sideribus," as interpreted by Alexandre iu
Lemaire, i. 428.

126 plint's natural history. [Book IT.

quarter, and iliej again increase from the time tliat she is at
first quarter on the other side. At her conjunction with
the sun they are equally high as at the full. IVhen the
moon is in the northern hemisphere, and recedes further
from the earth, the tides are lower than when, going towards
the south, she exercises her influence at a less distance \
After an interval of eight years, and the hundredth revolu-
tion of the moon, the periods and the heights of the tides
return into the same order as at first, this planet always
acting upon them; and all these effects are like^^ase in-
creased by the annual changes of the sun^, the tides rising
up higher at the equinoxes, and more so at the autumnal
than at the vernal ; while they are lower^ about the winter \
solstice, and still more so at the summer solstice ; not
indeed precisely at the points of time which I have men-
tioned, but a few days after'' ; for example, not exactly at
the full nor at the new moon, but after them ; and not
immediately when the moon becomes visible or invisible, or
has advanced to the middle of her course, but generally
about two hours later than the equinoctial hours^ ; the eliect
of what is going on in the heavens being felt after a short
interval ; as we observe with respect to lightning, thunder,
and thunderbolts.

But the tides of the ocean cover greater spaces and produce
greater inundations than the tides of the other seas ; whether
it be that the whole of the universe taken together is more
full of life than its individual parts, or that tlie large open
space feels more sensibly the power of the planet, as it moves
freely about, than when restrained within narrow bounds.

^ It is scarcely necessary to remark, that both the alleged fact and tlie
supposed cause are incorrect. And tliis is the case with what our author
says in the next sentence, respecthag the period of eight years, and the
hundi'ed revolutions of the moon.

2 " Solis annuis causis." The circumstances connected wdth the revo-
lution of the sun, acting as causes of the period and height of the tides,
in addition to the effect of the moon.

3 " Inanes ;" " Deprcssiores ac minus tumentes." Hardouin in Le-
maire, i. 429.

"* According to the remark of Alexandre, " Uno die et dimidio altero,
3G circiter horis, m GaUia." Lemaire, i. 429.

5 Alexandi-e remarks on this passage, " Variat pro locis hoc intervallum
a nullo fere tcmporis momcnto ad undecim horas et amphus :" Lemaire.
L 429.

Chap. 100.] AlfOMALOUS TIDES. 127

On Avhich account neither lakes nor rivers are moved in the
same manner. Pytheas^ of Massilia informs us, that in
Britain the tide rises 80 cubits'. Inland seas are enclosed
as in a harbour, but, in some parts of them, there is a more
free space which obeys the influence^. Among many other
examples, the force of the tide will carry us in three days
from Italy to Utica, when the sea is tranquil and there is no
impulse from the sails^. But these motions are more felt
about the shores than in the deep parts of the seas, as in the
body the extremities of the veins feel the pulse, which is the
vital spirit^ more than the other parts ^. And in most estu-
aries, on account of the unequal rising of the stars in each
tract, the tides diifer from each other, but this respects the
period, not the nature of them ; as is the case in the Syrtes.

CHAP. 100. WHEEE THE TIDES EISE AIS^D EALL IX AJ!^

tTNTJSUAL MANNER.

There are. However, some tides which are of a peculiar
nature, as in the Tauromenian Euripus'^, where the ebb and
flow is more frequent than in other places, and in Euboea,
where it takes place seven times during the day and the
night. The tides intermit three times during each month,
being the 7th, 8th and 9th day of the moon'. At Gades,
which is very near the temple of Hercules, there is a spring

^ Our author has already referred to Pytheas, in the 77th chapter of
this book.

2 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the space here mentioned,
wliich is nearly 120 feet, is far greater than the actual fact.

^ "Ditioni paret;" "Lunee sohsque efficientise, quae ciet sestum."
Ilardouin in Lemaire, i. 430.

'^ The effect here described covdd not have depended upon the tides,
but upon some current, either affecting the whole of the Mediterranean,
or certain parts of it. See the remarks of Ilardouin in Lemaire.

5 Pliny natuj'aUy adopted the erroneous opinions respecting the state
of the blood-vessels, and the cause of the pulse, which were universally
maintained by the ancients.

^ The name of Em'ipus is generally applied to the strait between
Boeotia and Euboea, but our author here extends it to that between Italy
and Sicily. A peculiarity in the tide of this strait is referred to by
Cicero, De Nat. JJeor. iii. 24.

7 " JEstus idem triduo in mense consistit." " Consistentia, sivemedio-
critas aquarum non solum septima die sentitur, sed et octava, ac noua
durat," as Hardouin explains this passage, Lemaire, i. 431.

128 PLINY 'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

enclosed like a well, wliicli sometimes rises and falls with the
ocean, and, at other times, in both respects contrary to it.
In the same place there is another well, which always agrees
with the ocean. On the shores of the Bajtis^ there is a town
where the wells become lower when the tide rises, and fill
again when it ebbs ; while at other tim^es they remain sta-
tionary. The same thing occurs in one Avell in the town of
Hispalis", while there is nothing peculiar in the other wells.
The Euxine always fiows into the Propontis, the water
never flowiag back into the Euxine^.

CHAP. 101. (98.) WONDEES OP THE SEA.

All seas are purified at the full moon'* ; some also at stated-
periods. At Messina and My las a refuse matter, like dung^,
is cast up on the shore, whence originated the story of the
oxen of the Sun having had their stable at that place. To
what has been said above (not to omit anything with which
I am acquainted) Aristotle adds, that no animal dies except
when the tide is ebbing. The observation has been often
made on the ocean of Gaul ; but it has only been found true
with respect to man*'.

CHAP. 102. (99.) THE POWEE OP THE MOOlf OYEE THE

LA]S"I) AND THE SEA.

Hence we may certainly conjecture, that the moon is not

^ Now called the Guadalquivir. 2 'j'^^g modera Seville.

3 This circumstance is noticed by most of the ancients, as by Aristotle,
Meteor, ii. 1 ; by Seneca, Nat. Qusest. iv. 2 ; and by Strabo. It has,
however, no relation to the tide, but depends upon the quantity of water
transmitted into the Euxine by the numerous large rivers that empty
themselves into it.

^ It has been suggested, with some plausibility, that the greater height
of the tides at this period will cause a greater quantity of matter to be
cast on shore. This circumstance is referred to by Seneca, Nat. Qusest.
iii. 26 ; and by Strabo.

*• Alexandre observes on this supposed fact, " Algarum molles qusedam
species intelhgcndse sunt, qvise convoluta3 et marcidse in Httus ejiciuntur."
Lemaire, i. 432.

^ It may cause some surprise to find that such an opinion has been
entertained even in modern times ; but more correct observation has
shown it to be without foundation. Lemaire.

Chap. 104.] SALTKESS OF THE SEA. 129

■tmjustly regarded as the star of oiir lifeV This it is that
replenishes the earth^ ; when she approaches it, she fills all
bodies, while, when she recedes, she empties them. From
this cause it is that shell-fish grow ^dth her increase^, and
that those animals which are without blood more particularly
experience her influence ; also, that the blood of man is
increased or diminished in proportion to the quantity of her
light ; also that the leaves and vegetables generally, as I shall
describe in the proper place"*, feel her influence, her power
penetrating all things.

CHAP. 103. (100.) THE POWER OF THE STJiSr.

Fluids are dried up by the heat of the sun ; we have
therefore regarded it as a masculine star, burning up and
absorbing everything^.

CHAP. 104. WHY THE SEA IS SALT.

Hence it is that the widely-diffused sea is impregnated
with the flavoui' of salt, in consequence of what is sweet and
mild being evaporated from it, which the force of fire easily
accomplishes ; while all the more acrid and thick matter is
left behind ; on which account the water of the sea is less
salt, at some depth than at the surface. And this is a more
true cause of the acrid flavour, than that the sea is the con-
tinued perspiration of the land^, or that the greater part of
the dry vapour is mixed with it, or that the nature of the
earth is such that it impregnates the waters, and, as it were,

^ "Spiritus sidus ;" "Quod ritalem humorem ac spii'itus in corpo-
ribus rebusque ommbvis varie temperet." Hardouiii in Lemaire, i. 433.

2 " Terras satnret ; " as Alexandre interprets it, " sueco impleat ; "
Lemaire.

2 This circumstance is alluded to by Cicero, De Divin. ii. 33, and by
Horace, Sat. ii. 4, 30. It is difficult to conceive how an opinion so
totally unfounded, and so easy to refute, should have obtauied general
credence. * Lib. xviii. chap. 75.

^ Aristotle, Meteor, ii. 1, remarks, that as the sun is continually eva-
porating the water of the sea, it must eventually be entirely di'ied up.
But we have reason to bcheve, that aU tl\e water wliich is evaporated by
the solar heat, or any other natural process, is again deposited m the form
of rain or dew.

6 '«Ten*a? sudor;" according to Aristotle, Meteor, ii. 4: tliis opinion*
was adopted by some of the ancients.

YOL. I. K

130 plint's nattjeal histoet. [Eook II.

medicates tliem^ Among the prodigies wliich have occurred,
there is one which happened when Dionysius, the tyrant of
Sicily, was expelled from his kingdom ; that, for the space
of one day, the water in the harbour became sweet.

(101.) The moon, on the contrary, is said to be a feminine
and delicate planet, and also nocturnal ; also that it resolves
humours and draws them out, but does not carry them off.
It is manifest that the carcases of wild beasts are rendered
putrid by its beams, that, during sleep, it draws up the
accumulated torpor into the head, that it melts ice, and
relaxes all things by its moistening spirit-. Thus the
changes of nature compensate each other, and are always
adequate to their destined purpose ; some of them congealing
the elements of the stars and others dissolving them. The
moon is said to be fed by fresh, and the sun by salt water.

CHAP. 105. (102.) — WHEKE THE SEA IS THE DEEPEST.

Fabianus^ informs us that the greatest depth of the sea is
15 stadia-*. We learn from others, that in the Euxine,
opposite to the nation of the Coraxi, at what is called the
Depths of the Euxine^ about 300 stadia^ from the main land,
the sea is immensely deep, no bottom having been found.

^ The commentators discuss at considerable length the relative merits
of the three hypotheses here proposed, to accoimt for the saltness of the
ocean ; all of which are equally unfounded. See Hardouin in Lemaire,
i. 434, 435. Aristotle's opinion on this subject is contained in his Meteor.

2 It is not easy to ascertain the origin of the very general opinion re-
specting the pecuhar physical action of the moon. The alleged facts are,
for the most part, without foundation, and I am not aware of any cir-
cumstance which could, originally, have made them a part of the popular
creed of so many nations, ancient as well as modem. Perhaps some of
the effects which have been ascribed to the specific action of the moon,
may be explained by the lower temperature and greater dampness of the
air, during the absence of the sun.

3 There appears to be some doubt respecting the history of the person
liere referred to : according to the account of Hardouin, Fabianus was a
naturahst, who enjoyed a high repution ; he Hved in the time of Tiberius :
see Lemaire, i. 188.

^ This would be a depth of 3125 yards, not very far short of two
miles ; see Adam's Eom. Antiq. p. 503.

^ " B«0ea Ponti ;" Aristotle refers to this as one of those parts where
tlie sea is unfathomable ; Meteor, i. 13.

* A distance of nearly nine and a half miles.

Chap. 106.] TVONDEES OF FOTJKTAIIs'S AND RIYEES. 131

CHAP. 106. (103.) THE WONDERS OF FOUNTAINS AND

EIYERS.

It is very remarkable that fresh water should burst out
close to the sea, as from pipes. But there is no end to the
wonders that are connected with the nature of waters. Fresh
water floats on sea water, no doubt from its being lighter ;
and therefore sea water, which is of a heavier nature \ sup-
ports better what floats upon it. And, in some places,
difterent kinds of fresh water float upon each other ; as that
of the river which falls into the Fucinus ; that of the Addua
into the Larius ; of the Ticinus into the Yerbanus ; of the
Mincius into the Benacus ; of the Ollius into the Sevinus ;
and of the Rhone into the Leman lake^ (this last being
beyond the Alps, the others in Italy) : all which rivers passing
through the lakes for many miles, generally carry oflf no more
water than they bring with them. The same thing is said to
occur in the Orontes, a river of Syria, and in many others

Some rivers, from a real hatred of the sea, pass under it,
as does Arethusa, a foimtain of S\Tacuse, in which the sub-
stances are found that are thrown into the Alpheus ; which,
after flowing by Olympia, is discharged into the sea, on the
shore of the Peloponnesus^. The Lycus in Asia^, the Era-

^ The specific gravity of sea water varies from 1-0269 to 10285. The
saline contents of the water of the Enghsh Channel are stated to be 27 grs,
in 1000. Turner's Chem. p. 1289, 1290.

2 The modern names of the rivers and lakes here mentioned are the
Liris, communicating with the Lago di Celano ; the Adda, with the Lago
di Como ; the Ticino, with the Lago Maggiore ; the Mincio, with the
Lago di Guarda ; the Ogho, with the Lago di Sero ; and the Rhone with
the Lake of Geneva. There may be some foundation for the alloged fact,
because the specific gravity and the temperature of the lake may difier a
httle from that of the river which passes tlirough it.

•'' According to Brotier, " fons ille olim nobihssimus, nunc ignobile
est lavacrum, cujus aqua marino saporc inficitur." He conceives that
there is no actual foundation for this so frequently re]ieated story ; and
conjectures that it originated from the similitude of the names, the
fountain in Sicily and the river in the Peloponnesus being both named
Alpheus. He goes on to mention some examples of springs of fresh
water rising up on the sea-coast ; Lemaire, i. 438. The allusion to the
fountain of Arethusa, by Virgil, in the commencement of the 10th eclogue,
is weU known to all classical scholars. Tlie lines of Yirgil have been
elegantly imitated by Voltaire, in tlie Hcnriade, ix. 269, 270.

* This is mentioned by Ovid, Met. xv. 273, 274.

K 2

^32 plint's natural history.

[Book II.

smus m Argolis, and the Tigris' in Mesopotamia, sink into to-
eartli and hurst out again. Substances which are thrown
into tlie fountain of ^sculapius at Athens^ are cast up at
the fountain of Phalerum. The river which sinks into the
ground in the plain of Atinum^ comes up again at the
distance of twenty miles, and the Timavus does the same
m Aquileia^

In the lake Asplialtites, in Judsea, which produces bitumen,
no substance will sink, nor in the lake Arethusa^ in the
Greater Armenia : in this lake, although it contains nitre
hsh are found. In the country of the Salentini, near the
town of Mandui'ia, there is a lake« full to the brim, the
waters of which are never diminished by what is taken out
of it, nor increased by what is added. Wood, which is
thrown into the river of the Cicones^ or into the lake Yelinus
m Picenum, becomes coated with a stony crust, while in the
Sarins, a river of Colchis, the whole substance becomes as
hard as stone. In the same manner, in the Silarus^ beyond

1 This is again referred to by oui^ author, vi. 31 j also by Strabo, and
bj Seneca, Nat. Qusest. iii. 26.

^ Pansanias.

3 The river here refen-ed to is the Tanager, the modern Eio Negro. See
the remarks of Hardouin and Alexandi-e m Lemaire, i. 439.

^ From a note in Pomsinet, i. 302, we learn that there has been some
dgubt respectmg the locahty of this river. It is mentioned by Virgil
Mn. 1 244, and it forms the subject of Heyne's 7th Excursus, ii. 124 el
seq. ^ u'gil also speaks of the Tunavus, Ec. viii. 6 ; and Heyne, in a note
gives the toUowmg description of it : " Timavus in ora Adriee, non longe
ab Aqmleia fluvius ex terra novem fontibus seu capitibus progressus
brevi cursu, m unum alveimi coUectus, lato altoque flumine in mare
exit." i. 127, 128.

5 This remark is not to be taken in its fuU extent ; the water of these
lakes contams a large quantity of sahne and other substances dissolved
in It, and, consequently, has its specific gravity so much increased, that
various substances float on it whicli sink m pure water.

6 According to Hardouin, tliis is now caUed the Lake of Andoria, near
the town of Casahiuovo ; Lemaire, i. 439. Poinsmet caUs it Anduria
1. 303. '

7 The petrifying quality of tliis river is referred to by Ovid, Met. xv.
313, 314 ; Seneca quotes these Imes when treating on tliis subject Nat
Quajst. iii. 20. j > •

8 Ai'istotle, Strabo, and Silius Itahcus, viii. 582, 583, refer to this pro-
perty of the SHarus ; but, accordmg to Brotier, it does not appear to be
known to tlie present inliabitants of the district thi-ough which it flows.
Lomaire, i. 410.

Cliap. 106.] W0>"3)ERS OF FOUNTAINS A.ND EITEES. 133

Suirentum, not only twigs wliieli are immersed in it, but
likewise leaves are petrified; the Avater at the same time
being proper for drinking. In the stream ^^hich runs from
the marsh of Eeate^ there is a rock, which continues to
increase in size, and in the Red Sea olive-trees and green
shrubs are produced".

There are many springs which are remarkable for their
warmth. This is the case even among the ridges of the
Alps^, and in the sea itself, between Italy and ^^naria, as in
the bay of Baiae, and in the Liris and many other rivers'*.
There are many places in which fresh water may be procured
from the sea, as at the Chelidonian Isles, and at xlrados, and
in the ocean at Grades. Green plants are produced in the
■warm springs of Padua, frogs in those of Pisa, and fish in
those of Yetulonia in Etruria, which is not far from the sea.
In Casinas there is a cold river called Scatebra, which in sum-
mer is more full of water^. In this, as in the river Stymphalis,
in Arcadia, small water-mice are produced. The fountain
of Jupiter in Dodona, although it is as cold as ice, and
extinguishes torches that are plunged into it, yet, if they be
brought near it, it kindles them again^. This spring always
becomes dry at noon, from which circumstance it is called

In a subsequent part of the work, xxxi. 8, our author remarks,
" Keatinis tantum pahxchbus ungulas jvuuentorum indurari." We may
presume that the water contained some sahne, earthy or metallic substance,
either in solution, or in a state of minute division, which would produce
these effects. It does not appear that anything of this kuid has been
obsei'ved by the modems in this water.

2 The coral beds with wliich the Red Sea abounds may have, given
rise to this opmion : see the remarks of Alexandi-e in loco. Hardouiu
informs us, that this clause respecting the Red Sea is not found in any
oftheMSS. Lemaire, i. 441. A similar observation occm-s in a subse-
quent part of the work, xiii. 48.

3 There are thermal springs in the Alpine valleys, but not any in tlie
elevated parts of the Alps themselves.

4 The volcanic nature of a large portion of the south of Italy and the
neighbouring islands may be regarded as the cause of the warm sprmgs
which arc found there.

* This river may be supposed to have been principally siipplied by
melted snow ; it would appear to be colder, bccaiisc its temperalm'e would
be less elevated than the other streams in tlie neighbourliood.

^ The statement, if correct, may be referred to (lie discharge of a quan-
tity of intlammable gas from the surface of the water. TLo fact is meu-
tioned by Lucretius, vi. 879, 880, and by Mela.

134 Pliny's natural histoet. [Book II,

Avajravofxevoy^ : it then increases and becomes full at mid-
niglit, after which it again visibly decreases. In Illyricum
there is a cold spring, over which if garments are spread
they take fire. The pool of Jupiter Amnion, which is cold
during the day, is warm during the night". In the country
of the Troglodytae^ what they call the I'oimtain of the Sun
about noon is fresh and very cold ; it then gradually (rrows
warm, and, at midnight, becomes hot and saline \ ^

In the middle of the day, dimng summer, the source of
the Po, as if reposing itself, is always diy^ In tlie island
of Tenedos there is a spring, which, after the summer sol-
stice, is full of water, from the third hour of the nio-ht to
the sixth". The fountain Inopus, in the island of Delos
decreases and mcreases in the same manner as the Nile'
and also at the same periods^. There is a small island in
the sea, o^^posite to the river Timavus, containing warm

1 "Quasi alternis requiescens, ac meridians : diem diffindens, utYarro
loqmtur, msititia quiete." Hardouin in Lemau-e, i. 443. He says that
there IS a smiilar kind of foimtam in Provence, eaUed Collis Martiensis

- ihere has been considerable dijference of ophiion among the com^
ment^ators both as to the reading of the text and its interpretation, for
wnch I shaU refer to the notes of Poinsmet, i. 307, of Hardouin and
Alexandre, Lemau-e, i. 413, and of Eichelet, Ajasson ii 402

^ We have^an account of the Troglodytae in a subsequent part of the
work V. 5. The name is generaUy apphed by the ancients to a tribe of
people inhabiting a portion of .Etliiopia, and is derived from the ch-cum-
stance of their dwelhngs bemg composed of caverns ; a rpcoyX/} and Svvu^,
Aiexancbe remarks, that the name Avas occasionaUy apphed to other tribes
whose habitations were of the same kind ; Lemah-e, i. 443. They are re'
ferred to by Q. Curtius as a tribe of the .Etliiopians, situated to the south
ot Egypt and extending to the Red Sea, iv. 7.

- Q^^^^'^i^^ gi^es nearly the same account of this fountain

^ The Po derives its water fi-om the torrents of the Ah^s, and is there-
fore much affected by the melting of the snow or the great faUs of rain
. which occm- at different seasons of the year ; but the daHy dhninution of
the water, as stated by our author, is without foimdation.

^^"^f °^ ibi mtermittentem frustra qu^sivit el. Le ChevaHer, Yoyage
de la Troade, 1. 1. p. 219." Lemah-e, i. 444. *^^

7 St,abo in aUusion to this circumstance, remarks, that some persons

wffh /llf^/''*''w °?'^''^'i ^^ supposing that this spring is connected
with the Nile. We learn from Tournefort, that there is a weU of this
mme m Delos, which he found to contain considerably more water in
J anuary and February than in October, and which is supposed to be con-
nected with the me or the Jordan : this, of coui-se, he regards as an idle

Cliap. 106.] WO>"DEES OF FOUNTAINS AND EITEES. 135

springs, which increase and decrease at the same time with
the tides of the sea\ In the territory of Pitinum, on the
other side of the Apennines, the river Novamis, Avhich
during the solstice is quite a torrent, is dry in the winter-.

In Faliscum, all the water which the oxen di'ink turns
them white; in Boeotia, the river Melas turns the sheep
black ; the Cephissus, which flows out of a lake of the same
name, turns them white^ ; again, the Peneus turns them
black, and the Xanthus, near Ilium, makes them red, whence
the river derives its name'*. In Pontus, the river Astaces
waters certain plains, where the mares give black milk, which
the people use in diet. In E-eate there is a spring called
ISTeminia, which rises up sometimes in one place and sometimes
in another, and in this way indicates a change in the produce
of the earth^. There is a spring in the Harbour of Brundisiuui
tliat yields water which never becomes putrid at sea. The
water of the Lyncestis, which is said to be acidulous, intoxi-
cates like wine^ ; this is the case also in Paphlagonia' and in
the territory of Calenum^. In the island of Andi^os, at the
temple of Father Bacchus, we are assured by Mucianus,
who was thrice consul, that there is a spring, which, on the
nones of January, always has the flavour of wine ; it is called

' Hardouin informs us, that these warm springs are called " i bagni di
Monte Falcone," or " di S. Antonio." They are situate so very near the
sea, that we may suppose some communication to exist, which may pro-
duce the alleged effect. Lemaire.

' 2 According to Hardouin this is the modem Torre di Pitino ; he con-
ceives that the river here mentioned niust be the Vomanus. The effect
here described is, to a certain extent, always the case with rivers wliich
proceed from mountains that are covered with snow. Lemaire, i. 445.

3 Seneca, Nat. Quaest. iii. 25, makes the same remark : the fact would
Beem to be, that in certain districts the cattle are found to be for the most
part white, and in other places black ; but we have no reason to suppose
that their colour has any connexion with the water wliich they emjiloy.

4 This is asserted by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. iii. 12. We have a similar
statement made by ^han respecting the Scamander ; viii. 21.

° " Annonse mutationem significans."

^ The peculiar natvu-e of the water of the Lyncestis is rcfeiTcd to by
many of the ancients : we may suppose that it was strongly impregnated
with carbonic acid gas. See Ovid, Met. xv. 329-331 ; also Arittotle,
Meteor, ii. 3, and Seneca, Nat. Quast. iii. 20.

7 Vitruvius and Athena^us.

8 Calenum was a towTi in Campania ; this peculiar property of its
■srater is refei-red to by Yal. Maxim us, i. 8, 18.

13^ Pliny's natueal history.

[Book II.

Atos Qeodncria\ Near Nonacris, in Arcadia, tlie Styx^, which'
is not unlike it either in odour or in colour, instantly de-
stroys those who drink it. Also in Librosus, a hill in the
country of the Tauri, there are three springs which inevi-
tably produce death, but without pain. In the territory
of the Carrinenses in Spaing two springs burst out close
together, the one of which absorbs everything, the other
throws them out. In the same country there is another
spring, which gives to all the fish the appearance of o-old,
although, when out of the water, they do not differ in^any
respect from other fish. In the territory of Como, near the
Larian lake, there is a copious spring, which always swells
up and subsides again every hour\ In the island of Cydo-
nea^ before Lesbos, there is a warm fountain, which flows
only during the spring season. The lake Sinnaus*', in Asia,
is nnpreguated with wormwood, which grows about it. At
Colophon, in the cave of the Clarian Apollo, there is a pool
by the drinking of which a power is acquired of uttering
wonderful oracles ; but the lives of those who drink of it are
shortened^ In our own times, during the last years of
Nero's life, we have seen rivers flowing backwards, as I have
stated in my history of his times ^.

And indeed who can be mistaken as to the fact, that all
sprmgs are colder in summer than in winter^, as well as

1 LiteraUy, Jovis cultus ; as interpreted by Hardoum, "tanquam si
dixeris, divmum Jovis muuus himc foutem esse." Lemaire, i. 447

2 Seneca affii^ms its poisonous nature ; Nat. Qua5st. iii. 25.' Q Curtius
refers to a spring in Macedonia of the same name, " quo pestifarum vii-us
emanat." x. 10.

3 There appears to be some uncertainty respecting the locality of this
district ; see the remarks of Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 447.

^ "Hunc fontem describit exhnie Phnius jun. hb. iv. epist. ult. Est
ad orientalem Larii laeus plagam, Lago di Como, x mill. pass, a Como."
Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 448.

» Our author, in a subsequent passage, v. 39, speaks of Cydonea, " cum
fonte cahdo."

6 According to Hardouin, i. 448, there is a considerable variation in
the MSS. with respect to this name : he informs us that " 'Svvads urbs
est Magnse Phrygise Ptolemseo, v. 2."

7 Tacitus gives an account of this oracle as having been visited by
Germanicus ; Ann. ii. 54.

8 Our author refers to this history in the First book of the present work.
'' " Comparatos scihcet cimi aeris extemi temperie." Alexandre in

Lemaii'e, i. 448.

Chap. 106.] WONDEES OF FOUNTAINS AND EIYEES. 137

these other wonderful operations of nature ; that copper and
lead sink when in a mass, but float when spread out^ ; and
of things that are equally heavy, some will sink to the bot-
tom, while others will remain on the surface" ; that heavy
bodies are more easily moved in water^ ; that a stone from
Scyros, although very large, will float, while the same, when
broken into small pieces, sinks'* ; that the body of an animal,
newly deprived of life, sinks, but that, when it is swelled
out, it floats^ ; that empty vessels are drawn out of the water
Tvith no more ease than those that are fulP ; that rain-water
is more useful for salt-pits than other kinds of water'' ;
that salt cannot be made, unless it is mixed with fresh water^ ;
that salt water freezes with more difficulty^, and is more readily
heated ^*^ ; that the sea is warmer in winter ^^ and more salt in

1 Thin leaves or fihns of metal have little affinity for water, and have,
generally, bubbles of air attached to them ; so that, when placed upon
the water, the fluid is prevented from adhering to them, and thus they
remain on the surface.

2 Depending not upon their absolute, but their specific gravity.

3 Being partly supported by the water.

"* The stone may have floated in consequence of its bemg fiill of pores :
these are more quickly filled with water when it is broken into small
pieces. It was probably of the nature of pumice or some other volcanic
product.

5 This is well knoTVTi to depend u])on the commencement of the de-
composition of some part of the viscera, by wliich there is an evolution
of gaseous matter.

^ Tliis is an erroneous statement ; it is not easy to ascertain what was
the som*ce of the error.

' Rain, as it falls from the clouds, is nearly pure ; and rivers, or recep-
tacles of any kind, that are supphed by it, are considerably more free from
saline impregnations than the generality of springs.

8 This statement is altogether incorrect.

9 When salt water fi-eezes, it is disengaged from the saline matter wliich
it previously held in solution ; a greater degree of cold is therefore re-
quired to overcome the attraction of the water for the salt, and to fonn
the ice, than when pvu'C water is congealed.

10 " Celerius accendi." We can scarcely suppose that by this term our
author intended to express the actual burning or mflammg of the water,
wliich is its literal and ordinary meaning. This, however, woidd appear
to be the o]:)inion of Hardoiun and Alexandre ; Lemafre, i. 419. Holland
translates it, "made hot and set a-seething," i. 46 ; Poinsuiet, " s'echaufto
le plus vite," i. 313 ; and Ajasson, " plus prompte h s'ecliauffer," ii. 217.

11 The temperature of the ocean, in Consequence of its great mass and
the easy diil'usion and mixtiu'e of its various parts, may be conceived to

138 Flint's nattjeal histoet. [Book II

the autumn^; that everything is soothed by oil, and that
this is the reason why divers send out small quantities of it
from their mouths, because it smoothes any part which is
rough^ and transmits the light to them ; that snow never
falls in the deep part of the sea^ ; that although water gene-
rally has a tendency downwards, fountains rise up"*, and that
this is the case even at the foot of ^tna^ burning as it does,
so as to force out the sand like a ball of flame to the distance
of 150 miles ?

CHAP. 107. THE WONDEES OE EIEE AND WATEE UNITED.

And now I must give an account of some of the wonders
of fire, which is the fourth element of natui-e j but first those
produced by means of water.

CHAP. 108. (104.)— OE MALTHA.

In Samosata, a city of Commagene^ there is a pool which
discharges an inflammable mud, called JMaltha^. It adheres

be longer in becoming raised or depressed than any particular portion
of the land, where contemporary observations may be made.

1 The evaporation that is going on dm-mg the heats of summer, and
the heavy rams which m many countries faU during the autunm, may
produce the effects here described, m confined seas or inlets..

2 The statement is true to a certain extent, as is proved by the well-
known experiments of Franklin and others ; but the degree of the effect
is considerably exaggerated. See the observations of Hardouin, Brotier
and Alexandre ; Lemaire, i. 450, 451. '

3 In the Mediterranean the warm vapours risuig from the water and
Its shores may melt the snow as it descends ; but this is not the case in
the parts of the main ocean which approach either to the Ai^ctic or the
Antarctic regions.

■» The theory of springs is well understood, as depending upon the
water tending to rise to its original level, so as to produce an equihbriimi
of pressure.

5 When we consider the great extent of the base of ^tna, and that
the crater is in the form of an inverted cone, we shall perceive that there
is ample space for the existence of springs m the lower part of the moun-
tam, without their coming in contact with the heated lava.

8 Samosata is situated on the Euphrates, m the north of Syria.

7 The Petroleum or Bitvmien of the modem chemists ; it is a tarry
substance, more or less fluid, which has probably been produced by car-
bonaceous matter, as affected by heat or decomposition, below the sur-

Chap. 110.] YOLCANOS. 139

to every solid body which it touches, and moreover, when
touched, it follows you, it* you attempt to escape from it.
By means of it the people defended their walls against
Lucullus, and the soldiers were burned in their armour ^ It
is even set on lire in water. We learn by experience that
it can be extinguished only by earth.

cn^p. 109. (105.) — or KAPHTnA.

jN^aphtha is a substance of a similar nature" (it is so called
about Babylon, and in the territory of the Astaceni, in
Parthia^), flowing like liquid bitumen. It has a great affi-
nity to fire, which instantly darts on it wherever it is seen"*.
It is said, that in this way it was that Medea burned Ja-
son's mistress ; her croAvn ha\dng taken fire, when she ap-
proached the altar for the purpose of sacrificing^.

CHAP. 110. (106.) — PLACES -WIIICH AEE ALWAYS BUENING.

Among the wonders of moimtains there is -Stna, which
always burns in the night*', and for so long a period has
always had materials for combustion, being in the winter
buried in snow, and having the ashes which it has ejected
covered ^\'ith frost. Xor is it in this mountain alone that
nature rages, threatening to consume the earth" ; in Pha-

face of the earth. Our author has exaggerated its properties and action
upon other bodies.

^ Respecting the transaction here mentioned, I shall refer to the note
of Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 452.

■2 The substance here mentioned may be considered as not differing
essentially from the Maltha of the last chapter, except in being of a more
fluid consistence.

3 The Astaceni are supposed to have inhabited a district near the
sources of the Indus, probably corresponding to the modern Cabul.

■* We may conceive of a quantity of inflammable vapour on the surface
of tlie naphtlia, which might, iu some degree, produce the eiiect here
described.

^ Horace, in one of his Epodes, where he refers to the magical arts of
Medea, says, that it was a cloak, " paUa," wliich was sent to Creiisa ;
V. 65. So far as there is any foundation for the story, wo may suppose
that some part of her dress had been impregnated witli an inflammable
substance, which took fire when she approached the blazing altar.

^ When the volcanos ai'e less active the flame is visible in the night
only.

' The observations of modem travellers and geologists have proved,

140 PLII^t's l^ATUEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

sells, the mountain Chimsera burns, and indeed with a con-
tinual flame, day and night^ Gtesias of Cnidos informs us,
that this lire is kindled by water, while it is extinguished
by earth and by hay"^. In the same country of Lycia, the
mountains of Hephasstius, when touched with a flaming
torch'', burn so violently, that even the stones in the river
and the sand burn, while actually in the water : this fire is
also increased by rain. If a person makes furrows in the
ground with a stick which has been kindled at this fire, it
is said that a stream of flame will follow it. The summit of
Cophantus, in Bactria'', burns during the night ; and this is
the case in Media and at Wittacene^, on the borders of Per-
sia ; likewdse in Susa, at the White Tower, from fifteen aper-
tures*^, the greatest of which also burns in the da}i:ime.
The plain of Babylon throws up flame from a place like a fish-
pond', an acre in extent. Near Hesperium, a mountain of
the Ethiopians', the fields shine in the night-time like stars ;
the same thing takes place in the territory of the Megalopo-

that the number of extinct volcanos is considerably greater tlian those
now in action.

^ Cliimsera was a volcano in Lycia, not far fi'om the Xanthus ; the
cii'cumstance of its summit emitting flame, while its sides were the resort
of various savage animals, probably gave rise to the fabulous story of the
Centaur of this name, a ferocious monster who was continually vomitmg
forth flame.

^ The word in the text is " foenum " ; Hardoum suggests that the
meaning of the author may have been Htter, or the refuse of stables.
Lemaire, i. 454.

2 The emission of a gas, which may be kindled by the apphcation of
flame, is a phsenomenon of no very rare occurrence ; but the effects are,
110 doubt, much exaggerated. See the remarks of Alexandre m Lemaire,
i. 454.

^ The country of the Bactrians was a district to the S.E, of the Caspian
Sea, and to the north of the sources of the Indus, nearly corresponding
to the modern Bucharia.

^ There would appear to be some uncertainty as to the locahty of this
place : om' author derived his statement from the writer of the treatise
de Mirab. Auscult.

6 " Caminis."

7 Probably the crater of a former volcano.

^ Tliis mountain, as well as the Qewv ox^ifia, mentioned below, has
been supposed to be situated on the west of Africa, near Sierra Leone, or
Cape Verd; but, as I conceive, Avithjut sufficient authority. See Alex-
andre in Lemaire, i. 455.

Chap. 111.] IGNEOUS PH^NOMEIs^A. 141

litani. This fire, however, is internaP, mild, and not burn-
ing the foliage of a dense wood which is over it^ There is
also the crater of Nymphaeum^, which is always burning, in
the neighbourhood of a cold fountain, and which, according
to Theopompus, presages direful calamities to the inhabitants
of Apollonian It is increased by rain'\ and it throws out
bitumen, which, becoming mixed with the fountain, renders
it unfit to be tasted ; it is, at other times, the weakest of all
the bitumens. But what are these compared to other
wonders ? Hiera, one of the JEoHan isles, in the middle of
the sea, near Italy, together with the sea itself, during the
Social war, burned for several days^ until expiation was
made, by a deputation from the senate. There is a hiU in
-Ethiopia called Qewi' oxf?^a', which burns with the greatest
violence, throwing out flame that consumes everything, Hke
the sun^. In so many places, and with so many fires, does
nature burn the earth !

CHAP, 111. (107.) WOl^DEES OF FIEE ALONE.

Eut since this one element is of so prolific a nature as to
produce itself, and to increase from the smallest spark, what
must we suppose will be the eflect of all those funeral piles

^ " Intemus." " In interiore nemore abditus." Hardouin in Lemaire,
i. 455.

2 If tliis account be not altogetlier fabulous, the appearance here de-
scribed may be, perhaps, referred to the combustion of an inflammable
gas which does not acquire a very high temperature.

^ We have an account of this place in Strabo, vh. 310. Our author has
already referred to it in the 96th chapter of this book, as a pool or lake,
containing floating islands ; and he agam speaks of it in the next chapter.

* We have an account of this volcano m jEhan, Yar. Hist. xiii. 16.
It would appear, however, that it had ceased to emit flame previous to
the calamitous events of which it was supposed to be the harbmger.

», Tliis circumstance is mentioned by Dion Cassius, xh. 174. We may
conceive that a sudden influx of water might force up an imusually large
quantity of the bitumen.

•^ We have a full account of this circumstance in Strabo, vi. 277.

' " Currum deorum Latme hcet interpretari." Hardouin in Lemaire,
i. 456.

* " torrentesqnc solis ardoribus flammas egerit ;" perhaps the author
may mean, that the fires of tlie volcano assist those of the sun in parch-
ing the surface of the ground.

142 Flint's nattjeal htstoet. [Book II.

of the earth ^ ? "Wliat must be the nature of that thing,
which, in all parts of the world, supplies this most greedy
voracity without destroying itself? To these fires must be
added those innumerable stars and the great sun itself. There
are also the fires made by men^, those which are innate in
certain kinds of stones, those produced by the friction of
wood^ and those in the clouds, which give rise to lightning.
It really exceeds all other wonders, that one single day
should pass in which everything is not consumed, especially
when we reflect, that concave mirrors placed opposite to the
sun's rays produce flame more readily than any other kind of
fire ; and that numerous small but natural fires abound every-
where. In Nymphssum there issues from a rock a fire which
is kindled by rain ; it also issues from the waters of the Scan-
tia". This indeed is a feeble flame, since it passes ofi", re-
maining only a short time on any body to which it is applied :
an ash tree, which overshadows this fiery spring, remains
always green". In the territory of Mutina fire issues from
the ground on the days that are consecrated to Vulcan^,
It is stated by some authors, that if a burning body falls
on the fields below Aricia'', the ground is set on fire ; and
that the stones in the territory of the Sabines and of the
Sidicini^, if they be oiled, burn with flame. In Egnatia^, a

1 " Tot regis terrse ?" in reference to the remark in a former chapter,
"natura terras cremat."

2 " Humani ignes," according to Hardouin, " Hi nostri ignes, quos vit£B
usus requirit, ut Tullius ait de Nat. Deor. ii. 67 ;" Lemaire, i. 457.

3 This is the mode which many savage tribes employ for exciting flame.
■* It is not known whether the Scantia was a river or a lake, or where

it was situated ; see Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 457.

^ This may have been owing to the emission of an inflammable gas
which burns at a comparatively low temperature, as was observed on a
former occasion.

6 These are said by Columella, xi. 3, to occm* in August ; the state-
ment as to the fire occurrmg on these pai-ticular days we may presume
is erroneous.

7 Aricia was a town in Campania, near the modern Lake of Nemi :
this place, as well as the other places mentioned by our author, were
probably of volcanic origin.

s Sidicinura was a town in Campania, also called Teanura ; probably
the modern Teano.

* Egnatia was a town in Calabria, on the coast of the Adriatic : the
circumstance mentioned by our author is ridiculed by Horace, in his well-

Chap. 112.] DIMENSIONS Or THE EARTH. 143

town of Saleutinum, there is a sacred stone, upon which, when
wood is placed, flame immediately bursts forth. lu the altar
of Juno Lacinia\ which is in the open air, the ashes remain
unmoved, although the winds may be blowing from all
quarters.

It appears also that there are sudden fires both in waters
and even in the human body ; that the whole of Lake Thra-
symenus was on fire' ; that when ServiusTullius, while a child,
was sleepiug, flame darted out from his head^' ; and Valerius
Antias informs us, that the same flame appeared about L.
Marcius, when he was pronouncing the funeral oration over
the Scipios, who were killed in apain ; and exhorting the
soldiers to avenge their death. I shall presently mention
more facts of this nature, and in a more distinct manner ; in
this place these wonders are mixed up with other subjects.
But my mind, having carried me beyond the mere interpre-
tation of nature, is anxious to lead,* as it were by the hand,
the thoughts of my readers over the whole globe.

CHAP. 112. (108.) — THE DIMENSIONS OF THE EARTH.

Our part of the earth, of which I propose to give an ac-
count, floating as it were in the ocean which surrounds it
(as I have mentioned above"), stretches out to the greatest
extent from east to west, viz. from India to the Pillars con-
secrated to Hercules at Gades, being a distance of 8568
iniles% according to the statement of Artemidorus^ or ac-

known lines, Sat. i. 5, 97 ; but it is not improbable that there may be
some foundation for it.

^ This cii-cumstance is referred to by Val. Maximus, i. 8, 18. The altar
was probably in the neighboiirhood of the Lacinian Promontoi7, at the
S.W. extremity of the Bay of Tarcntum, the modern Capo delle Colonne.

' This may be referred to the inilammable vapours mentioned above,
imlcss we regard the whole narrative as fabulous.

3 See Livy, i. 39, and Val. Maximus, i. 6. 2. Although it would be
rash to pronounce this occurrence and the following anecdotes respect-
ing Marcius to be absolutely impossibk^ we must regard them as liiglily
improbable, and resting upon very insufficient evidence.

■* In the 06th chapter of this book.

* In the estimate of distances I have given the numbers as they occur
in tlie text of Lemaire, although, in many cases, tliere is considerable
doubt as to their accuracy. See the observations of llardouin and Alex-
andre in Lemaire, i. 460.

^ Artemidorus was an Ephesian, who wrote on geography ; see Uar-
douin's Index Auct., Lemaire, i. 167.

144 PLINY'S IS^ATUEAL HISTOET. [Book II.

cording to tliat of Isiclorus\ 9(S18 miles. Artemidorus adds
to this 491 miles, from (lades, going round by the Sacred
Promontory, to the promontory of Artabrum^, which is the
most projecting part of Spain.

This measurement may be taken in two directions. From
the Granges, at its mouth, where it discharges itself into the
Eastern ocean, passing through India and Parthyene, to
Myriandrus^, a city of Syria, in the bay of Issus, is a di-
stance of 5215 miles ^. Thence, going directly by sea, by the
island of Cyprus, Patara in Lycia, Rhodes, and Astypalaea,
islands in the Carpathian sea, by Tsenarum in Laconia,
Lilybaeum in Sicily and Calaris in Sardinia, is 2103 miles.
Thence to Grades is 1250 miles, making the whole distance
from the Eastern ocean 8568 miles ^.

The other way, which is more certain, is chiefly by land.
Erom the Granges to the Euphrates is 5169 miles ; thence to
Mazaca, a town in Cappadocia, is 319 miles ; thence, through
Phrygia and Caria, to Ephesus is 415 miles ; from Ephesus,
across the ^Egean sea to Delos, is 200 miles ; to the Isthmus
is 212|- miles ; thence, first by land and afterwards by the
sea of Lechseum and the gulf of Corinth, to Patrse in Pelopon-
nesus, 90 miles ; to the promontory of Leucate 87^ miles ;
as much more to Corcyra ; to the Acroceraunian mountains
132^, to Brundisium 87^^, and to Rome 360 miles. To the
Alps, at the village of Scingomagum^, is 519 miles ; through
Gaul to Illiberis at the Pyrenees, 927 ; to the ocean and the

^ Isiclorus was a natiye of Nicsea ; he appears to have been a writer
on various topics in natural liistory, but not mucli estimated ; see Har-
douin's Index Auct., in Lemaire, i. 194.

2 The modern Cape St. Vincent and Cape Finisterre.

3 This was a city on the Sinus Issicus, the present Grulf of Aiasso,
situated, according to Brotier, between the sites of the modern towns of
Scanderoon and Rosos. See Lemaire, i. 461.

^ Respecting this and the otlier distances mentioned in this chapter, I
may refer the reader to the remarks of Hardouui in Lemaire, i. 461.

^ It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the calculations of our author
do not indicate the real distance between the extreme points of the habi-
table parts of the globe, as known to the ancients, but the niunber of miles
which must be passed over by a traveller, in going fi'om place to place ;
in the first instance, a considerable part of the way by sea, and, in the
second, almost entirely by land.

^ It appears to be difficult to ascertain the identity of the place here
mentioned ; I may refer to the remarks of Hardouui and Brotier in Le-
maire, i. 464.

Chap. 112.] DIMENSIONS OF THE EARTK. 145

coast of Spain, 331 miles; across the passage of Gades 71
miles ; which distances, according to the estimate of Arte-
midorus, make altogether 89-45 miles.

The breadth of the earth, from south to north, is commonlj
supposed to be about one-half only of its length, viz. 4490
miles ; hence it is evident how much the heat has stolen from
it on one side and the cold on the other : for I do not sup-
pose that the land is actually wanting, or that the earth has
not the form of a globe ; but that, on each side, the unin-
habitable parts have not been discovered. This measure
then extends from the coast of the Ethiopian ocean, tlie
most distant part which is habitable, to Meroe, 1000 miles ^ ;
thence to Alexandi^a 1250 ; to Ehodes 562 ; to Cnidos 87^ ;
to Cos 25 ; to Samos 100 ; to Chios 94 ; to Mitylene 65 ; to
Tenedos 44 ; to the promontory of Sigseum 12| ; to the en-
trance of the Euxine 312^ ; to the promontory of Carambis
350 ; to the entrance of the Pains Maeotis 312^ ; and to the
mouth of the Tanais 275 miles, which distance, if we went
by sea, might be shortened 89 miles. Beyond the Tanais
the most diligent authors have not been able to obtain any
accurate measurement. Artemidorus supposes that every-
thing beyond is undiscovered, since he cordesses that, about
the Tanais, the tribes of the Sarmatse dwell, who extend
towards the north pole. Isidorus adds 1250 miles, as the
distance to Thule^; but this is mere conjecture. For my
part, I believe that the boundaries of Sarmatia really extend
to as great a distance as that mentioned above : for if it
were not very extensive, how coidd it contain the innume-
rable tribes that are always changing their residence ? And
indeed I consider the iminhabitable portion of the world to
be still greater ; for it is well known that there are innu-

^ The same remarks may be made upon this and the following num-
bers as upon those in the former paragraph ; for further infonnation I
shall refer my readers to the notes of Ilardoum, Brotier, and Alexandre,
in Lemaire, i. 465-468.

2 There is great uncertainty respecting the locality of the Thule of
the ancients ; there was, in fact, nothing known respecting the locahty
or identity of any of the places approaching to the Arctic circle ; the
name appears to have been vaguely apphed to some country lying to the
north of the habitable parts of Europe. In note ^, p. 109, 1 have already
liad occasion to ofier some remarks on the locahty of Thule. Our author
speaks of Thule in two subsequent parts of his work, iv. 30 and vL 3i).

YOL. I. L

146 PLTNT's 2fATUEAL HISTOET. [Book 11.

merable islands lying off the coast of Grermany\ whicli liave
been only lately discovered.

The above is all that I consider worth relating about the
length and the breadth of the earth". But Eratosthenes^,
a man who was peculiarly well skilled in all the more subtle
parts of learning, and in this above everything else, and a
person whom I perceive to be approved by every one, has
stated the whole of this circuit to be 252,000 stadia, which,
according to the E-oman estimate, makes 31,500 miles. The
attempt is presumptuous, but it is supported by such subtle
argiunents that we cannot refuse oiu' assent. Hipparchus'*,
whom we must admire, both for the ability with which he
controverts Eratosthenes, as well as for his diligence in every-
thing else, has added to the above number not much less
than 25,000 stadia.

(109.) Dionysodorus is certainly less worthy of confi-
dence^ ; but I cannot omit this most remarkable instance of
Grecian vanity. He was a native of Melos, and was cele-
brated for his knowledge of geometry ; he died of old age in
his native country. His female relations, who inherited his
property, attended his funeral, and when they had for several
successive days performed the usual rites, they are said to
have found in his tomb an epistle written in his own name
to those left above ; it stated that he had descended fi»om
his tomb to the lowest part of the earth, and that it was a
distance of 42,000 stadia. There were not wanting certain
geometricians, who interpreted this epistle as if it had been
sent from the middle of the globe, the point which is at the
greatest distance from the surface, and which must necessarily
be the centre of the sphere. Hence the estunate has been
made that it is 252,000 stadia in circumference.

^ It is probable, that these supposed "immense islands," if they were
not entirely imaginary, were the countries of Sweden and Norway, the
southern extremities ^lone of which had been yisited by the ancients.

2 Strabo, ii. ; Vitruvius, i. 6 ; Macrobius, in Somn. Scip. ii. 20.

3 Our author has previously referred to Eratosthenes, in the 76th
chapter of this book.

^ Our author has referred to Hipparchus, in the 9th chapter of this
book.

5 "Ahter, inquit, et cautius multo Dionysodorus est audiendus, qm
miraculo solo nititur, quam Hipparchus et Eratostheues, qui geometricia
nituntur principiis." Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 469. Nothing further is
known of Dionysodorus ; see Hardouin's Index Auct. in I,eiuaire, i. 123.

Chap. 113.] EOMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. 147

CHAP. 113. — THE haiimo:jtical propoetion of the

UNIVERSE.

. That harmonical proportion, whicli compels nature to be
always consistent with itself, obliges us to add to the above
measure, 12,000 stadia ; and this makes the earth one
ninety-sixth part of the wliole universe.

Summary. — The facts, statements, and observations con-
tained in this Book amount in number to 417.

EoMAN authors QUOTED. — M. Varro\ Sulpicius Gallus^,
Titus Cajsar^ the Emperor, Q.Tubero^ TuUius Tiro^ L.Piso^
T. Livius'', Cornelius Nepos^, Sebosus^, CseUus Antipater^",

^ Marcus Terentius Yarro. lie was born B.C. 116, espoused the cause
of Pompey agamst Cfesar, and served as his Heutenant in Spain. He
afterwards became reconciled to Csesar, and ched in the year B.C. 26. He
is said to have wTitten 500 volumes, but nearly all liis works are lost
(destroyed, it is said, by order of Pope Gregory YII.). His only re-
mains are a Treatise on Agricidtiu-e, a Treatise on the Latin Tongue,
and the fragments of a work called Analogia.

2 C. Sulpicius Gallus was Consul in the year 166 B.C. He wrote a
Eoman History, and a work on the Echpscs of the Svm and Moon.

3 Titus Vespasianus, the Emperor, to whom Pliny dedicates his work.
His poem is mentioned in c. 22 of this Book. See pages 1, 2, and 55 of
tlie present volume.

■* It is most probable that Quintus -(Ehus Psetus Tubero is here meant.
He was son-m-law, and, accorchng to Cicero, nephew of ^mihus Paulus,
and Consul in the year B.C. 167. There are two other persons found
mentioned of the name of Q. ^Ehus Tubero.

* The freedman and amanuensis of Cicero. He was a man of great
learning, and was supposed to have invented short-hand. He also WTote
a Life of Cicero.

^ Lucius Calpumius Piso Frugi. He was Consiil in the year B.C. 133,
and was a stout opponent of the Gracclii. He wrote Annals of the History
of Rome from the earliest periods.

7 Livy, the well-known Roman historian.

8 Hewas the intimate friend of Cicero,and wrote Clu'onicles or Annals, in
three books, a Life of Cicero, and some other historical works. A work stiU
exists, called " Lives of Eminent Commanders," wliich is ascribed some-
times to lum and sometimes to one ^Emihus Probus, a writer of the reign
of Theodosius. The latter probably abridged the original work of Nepoa.

9 Statins Sebosus. He is mentioned by Cicero as the friend of Catidus.
He wrote a work called the " Periplus," and another on the Wonders of
India.

1" A Eoman historian and lawyer, who flourished about B.C. 124. He
wrote a Book of Annals, m wliich was contained a valuable account of
the Second Pmiic war. This work was epitomized by Brutus and held
in high estimation by the Emperor Adrian.

148 pliitt's natueal history. [Book II.

Eabianus\ Antias^, Mucianus^ Csecina'', who wrote on the
Etruscan discipline, Tarquitius^, who did the same, Julius
Aquila'^, who also did the same, and Sergius^

EoEEiGN AUTHOES QTJOTED.— Plato^ HipjDarclius', Ti-
mffius^", Sosigenes'^ Petosiris^^, JSecepsos'^, the Pjthago-

1 Fabianus Papirius, a Roman rhetorician and natm-alist, whose works
are highly commended by Phny and Seneca. He wi-ote a Histoiy of Ani-
mals, and a book on Natm'al Causes.

2 Qiiintus Valerius Antias. He flourished about B.C. 80, and wrote
the Annals of Rome, down to the time of Sylla.

3 Marcus Licuiius Crassus Mucianus. He was instrumental in raising
the Emperor Vespasian to the throne, and was Consul in the years
A.D. 52, 70, and 74 He pubhshed three Books of Epistles, and a History
m eleven Books, which appears to have treated eliiefly of Eastern aflah's.

4 Aulus Csecina. He was sent into exile by Csesar, joined the Pom-
peians in Africa, and was taken prisoner by Cgesar, but liis hfe was spared.
Cicero wi'ote several letters to him, and commends his abilities. His
work appears to have been on Divination as practised by the Etrm-ians.

5 He appears to have been a chviner or soothsayer of Etruria, and to
have vpritten a work on Etruscan prodigies.

6 He also wi'ote a work on Etruscan divination, but it does not appear
that anytliing fui'ther is knovra of liim.

7 Sergius Paulus. He is also mentioned in the Index to the 18th Book.
Nothing fm-ther seems to be known of liim.

8 The greatest, with the exception of Aristotle, of the Greek Philoso-
phers, and the disciple of Socrates.

9 A native of Nicea in Bithynia, who floui-ished B.C. 160. He is called
the " Father" of Astronomy. He wrote a Commentary on the Pheno-
mena of Aratus and Eudoxus, which is still extant. His works, including
those on the Lunar Month and the Fixed Stars, have not come down to
us. His Catalogue of the Stars is preserved in the Ahnagest of Ptolemy.

10 Tunseus of Locri in Italy, a Pythagorean plulosopher, said to have
been the mstructor of Plato. He wrote a work on Mathematics. A work
" On the Soul of the World and of Nature," which is stiU extant, has
been ascribed to liim, but on doubtful grounds.

11 An astronomer and peripatetic philosopher of Alexandria. He was
employed by JuHus Csesar to superintend liis revision of the Calendar,
It is supposed that he wrote a work on the Celestial Revolutions, and a
Commentary on the works of Ai-istotle.

12 A priest, mathematician, and astrologer of Egypt. A Letter on
the Astrological Sciences, written by him to King Necepsos, is said to be
extant m the Royal Library at Vienna, as also a work called the " Orga-
num Astrologicum," dedicated to the same king. Juvenal seems to use
his name as a common term for an astrologer.

ij* He is mentioned by JuhusFirmicus as "a most just emperor of Egypt,
and a very good astronomer." A work by him is quoted by Galen in Ma
t€nth Book on Simples, but it was most probably of spm-ious origia.

Chap. 113.] FOEEIG>' AUTHOES QUOTED. 149

rean^ Pliilosophers, Posidoniiis-, Anaximander^, Epigenes^
tlie philosopher who ^vi^ote on Gnomonics, Euclid^ Coera-
uus^ the philosopher, Eiidoxus'', Democritus^, Critodemus^
Thrasylliis'", Serapion^^ Dicaearchus^', Archimedes ^^, Onesi-

^ "Pythagoricis" here may cither mean the works of the followers of
Pythagoras of Samos, or the books which were written by that philoso-
pher. Pliny, in Books 19, 20, and 24, speaks of several \vTituags of Py-
thagoras, and Diogenes Laertius mentions others ; but it is more gene-
rally supposed that he wrote nothing, and that everything that passed by
his name in ancient times was spurious.

2 A Stoic philosopher of Apamea in Syria. He was the mstructor of
Cicero, and the friend of Pompey. He wrote works on history, divina-
tion, the tides, and the nature of the gods. Some fragments only have
survived.

3 Of Miletus, was born B.C. 610, and was the successor of Thales, the
fomider of the Ionian school of philosophy. He is said to have first
taught the obhquity of the echptic and the use of the gnomon.

^ A philosopher of Rhodes or Byzantium. Seneca says that he boasted
of havuig studied astronomy among the Chaldeans. He is mentioned by
Yarro and Colmnella as having written on rural matters, and is praised
by Censorinus.

* Of Alexandria, thr> great geometrician, and instructor of Ptolemy I.
He was the founder o. the mathematical school of Alesandi'ia.

^ He was a Greek by bfrth, and hved in the time of Nero. He is
extolled by Tacitus, B. 14, for his superlative wisdom, beyond which
notlung is known of him.

7 Of Cnidus, an astronomer and legislator who flourished B.C. 366. He
was a fr'iend and disciple of Plato, and said to have been the first who
taught in Greece the motions of the planets. His works on astronomy
and geometry are lost, but his Phsenomena have been preserved by Aratus,
who turned his prose into verse.

8 Bora at Abdera in Thrace, about B.C. 460. He was one of the founders
of the atomic theoi*y, and looked upon peace of mind as thesummnm honum
of mortals. He wi-ote works on the natm-e and organization of the world,
on physics, on contagious maladies, on the chameleon, andon other subjects.

^ A Grecian astronomer. A work of his, called " Apotelesmatica," is
said to be presei-ved in the Imperial Library at Vienna.

1° An astrologer of Rhodes, patronized by Augustus and Tiberius. He
wrote a work on Stones, and a History of Egypt. Tacitus, in his 'Annals,
B. vi., speaks highly of his skill in astrology.

^^ A geogi'apher of Antioch, and an opponent of the views of Erato-
sthenes. Cicero declares that he liimseli" was unable to miderstand a
thousandth part of liis work.

^2 A Peripatetic philoso})her and geographer, of Messuia in Sicily. He
studied vmder Aristotle and wrote several works, the principal of which
was an account of the history, geogi-aphy, and moral and rehgious con-
dition of Greece. A few fragments only arc extant.

^3 Of Syracuse, the most famous mathematician of antiquity, born B.C.

150 pliny's KATTJEAL HISTOEY. [Book II.

critus^ Eratosthenes-, Pytheas'^ Herodotus'*, Aristotle'"*,
Ctesias", Artemidorus" of Epliesus, Isidorus* of Charax, and
Theopompus^.

287. A few only of liis works have come down to us, published at Ox-
ford in 1792, by ToreUi.

1 Born either at Astypalsea or iEgina. He was chief pUot of the
fleet of Alexander duruig the descent of the Indus and the voyage to the
Persian Gulf. He wrote a work called the " Alexandi-opsedia," or Edu-
cation of Alexander. In his description of what he saw in India, many
fables and falsehoods are said to have been uiterwoven, so much so that
the work (wliich is now lost) is said to have resembled a fable more than
a history.

2 Of Cyrene, bom B.C. 276. He was invited from Athens by Ptolemy
Euergetes, to become keeper of the library at Alexandria. He was a man
of most extensive erudition, as an astronomer, geographer, philosopher,
historian and grammarian. .Ah of his writings have perished, with the
exception of a few fragments on geograpliical subjects.

3 Of Massiha, now Marseilles, a celebrated navigator who floiu-ished
about the tune of Alexander the Grreat. In his voyages he visited Britain
and Thule, of which he probably gave some account in liis work " on the
Ocean." He has been wrongfully accused of falsehood by Strabo. An-
other work .written by him was his " Periplus," or ' Cfrcumnavigation'
from Gades to the Tanais, probably, in this mstance, the Elbe.

■*• Of Hahcamassus, the father of G-recian history ; born B.C. 484.
Besides his great work which has come down to us, he is supposed to
have written a history of Ai'abia.

^ Probably the most learned of the Greek philosophers. His works
were exceedingly numerous, and those which have smTived to us treat of
natural history, metaphysics, physical science, etliics, logic, and general
literature.

^ A native of Ciiidus in Caria, and private physician to Artaxerxes
Mnemon, having been made prisoner by him at the battle of Cimaxa. He
wrote a History of Persia in 23 books, wliich, with the exception of a small
abridgement by Photius and a few fragments, is now lost. He also wrote
a book on India. He was much censured, probably without sufficient
reason, for the creduhty displayed in his works.

7 Of Epliesus, a geographer, who lived about B.C. 100. He wi'ote a Peri-
plus, and a work on Geography ; a few fragments only of abridgements
of these have survived.

^ Of Charax in Partliia, of wliich country he wrote an account which
still exists. He flom-ished in the reign of Augustus.

^ Of Chios, a celebrated historian, and disciple of the orator Isocrates.
His principal works were a History of Greece, and a Life of Phihp of
Macedon, father of Alexander the Great.

151

BOOK III.

AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS,
HAVENS MOUNTAINS, RIYERS, DISTANCES, AND PEO-
PLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.

IlfTKODTJCTIOK.

Thus far have I treated of the position and the ^venders of
the earth, of the waters, the stars, and the proportion ot
the imiverse and its dimensions. I shaU now proceed to
describe its individual parts ; although indeed we may with
reason iook upon the task as of an infinite nature, and one
not to be rashly commenced upon without mcurrmg censure.
And yet on the other hand, there is nothing which ought less
to require an apology, if it is only considered how lar from
surprisinff it is that a mere mortal cannot be acquainted
with eve?}^hing. I shall therefore not follow any smgle
author, but shall employ, in relation to each suhject, such
writers as I shall look upon as most worthy of credit. ^ or
indeed it is the characteristic of nearly aU ot them, that
they display the greatest care and accuracy m the descrip-
tion of the countries in which they respectively floui'ished;
so that by doing this, I shall neither have to blame nor con-
tradict any one. -n i v -^ i^

The names of the different places wiU here be simply
given, and as briefly as possible; the account of their cele-
brity and the events which have given rise thereto, bemg
deferreu' ^o a more appropriate occasion ; for it must be
remembered that I am here speaking of the earth as a whole,
and I wish to be understood as using the names without any
reference whatever to their celebrity, and as though the
places themselves were in their infancy, and had not as yet
acquired any fame through great events. Ihe^name is men-
tioned, it is true, but only as iormmg a part ol the world
and the system of the universe. .

The whole globe is divided into three parts, Europe, Asia,
ind Africa Our description commences where the sun sets
and at theStraits of Gades\where the Atlantic ocean,burstmg
1 Now the Straits of Gibraltar.

152 pliny's natfual eistoux. ["Book III.

in, is poured forth into the inland seas. As it makes its
entrance from that side, Africa is on the right hand and
Europe on the left ; Asia lies between them^ ; the boundaries
being the rivers Tanais^ and Mle. The Straits of the ocean,
of which I have just spoken, extend fifteen miles in length and
five^ in breadth, measured from the village of Mellaria^ in
Spain to the Album Promontorium^ or White Promontory in
Airica, as we learn from Turranius Grracilis, who was born in
that vicinity. Titus Livius and Cornelius Nepos however
have stated the breadth, where it is least, to be seven miles,
and where greatest, ten ; from so small a mouth as this does
so immense an expanse of water open upon us ! Nor is our
astonishment diminished by the fact of its being of great
depth ; for, instead of that, there are numerous breakers and
shoals, white with foam, to strike the mariner with alarm.
From this circumstance it is, that many have called this spot
the threshold of The Inland Sea.

At the narrowest part of the Straits, there are mountains
placed to form barriers to the entrance on either side,
Abyla*' in Africa, and Calpe'' in Europe, the boundaries
formerly of the labours of Hercules*^. Hence it is that the
inhabitants have called them the Columns of that god ; they

^ This is said more especially in reference to the western parts of Asia,
the only portion which was perfectly known to the ancients. His mean-
ing is, that Asia as a portion of the globe does not he so far north as
Europe, nor so far south as Afi'ica.

2 Now the Don. It was usually looked upon as the boundary between
Evu'ope and Asia. Phny's meaning seems to be, that the Tanais divides
Asia from Europe, and the Nile, Asia from Africa, the more especially
as the part to the west of the Nile was sometimes considered as belonging
to Asia. It has been however suggested that he intends to assign these
rivers as the extreme eastern boundaries of the internal or Mediterranean
sea.

3 At no spot are the Straits less than ten miles in width ; although
D'Anville makes the width to be httle less than five miles. This passage
of our author is probably m a corrvxpt state.

^ This probably stood near the site of the town of Tarifa of the pre-
sent day.

° Probably the point called ' Pmita del Sainar ' at the present day.

6 Now called Xrmiera, Jebel-el-Mina, or Monte del Hacho.

7 The Eock of Gibraltar.

^ The fuble was that they originally formed one mountain, which was
torn asunder by Hercides, or as Phny says, " dug through."

Chap. 1.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, &C. 153

also believe that they Avere dug througli by him ; upon whicli
the sea, which was before excluded, gained adjuissiou, and
so changed the face of nature.

CHAP. 1. (1.) THE BOUISTDAEIES AND GULFS OF EUEOPE

FIRST SET FORTH IN A GENERAL WAY.

1 shall first then speak of Europe, the foster-mother of that
people which has conquered all other nations, and itself by
far the most beauteous portion of the earth. Indeed, many
persons have, not without reason \ considered it, not as a
third part only of the earth, but as equal to all the rest,
looking upon the whole of oui- globe as divided into two
parts only, by a line cba^^-n from the river Tanais to the
Straits of Grades. The ocean, after pouring the waters of the
Atlantic through the inlet which I have here described, and,
in its eager progress, overwhelming all the lands which have
had to dread its approach, skirts with its winding course the
shores of those parts which oiFer a more efiectual resistance,
hollowing out the coast of Eiurope especially into numerous
bays, among wliich there are four Grulfs that are more parti-
cularly remarkable. The first of these begins at Calpe, which
I have previously mentioned, the most distant mountain of
Spain ; and bends, describing an immense ciu-ve, as far as
Locri and the Promontory of Bruttium-.

CHAP. 2. OF SPAIN GENERALLY.

The first land situate upon this Grulf is that which is called
the Farther Spain or Bjetica^ ; next to which, beginning at
the frontier to^n of TJrgi'*, is the Nearer, or TarraconCnsian^

' This was the opinion of Herodotus, but it had been so strenuously
combated by Polybius and other m-iters before the time of Phny, that it
is difficidt to imagine how he should countenance it.

2 He probably alludes to Leucojietra, now caUed Capo dell' Anni.
Locri Epizephyrh was a tomi of Bruttiiun, situate north of the promon-
tory of Zephyrium, now called Capo cU Bruzztmo.

3 So called from the Baetis, now the Guadakiuivir or Great River,

* The situation of this tovni is not known, but it is supposed to hare
been about five leagues from the itresent city of Mujacar, or Moxacar.
It was situate on tlie Sinus Urgitanus.

» So caUed from the city of Tarraco, on the site of the pi*esent Tar-
ragona.

154j plint's KATXJEAL HISTOET, [Book III.

Spain, extending as far as tlie cliain of the Pyrenees. ^ The
Farther Spain is divided lengthwise into two provinces,
Lusitania^ and Baetica, the former stretching along the
northern side of the latter, and being divided from it by the
river Ana'^

The source of this river is in the district of Laminium , m
the Nearer Spain. It first spreads out into a number of
small lakes, and then again contracts itself into a narrow
channel, or entirely disappears under ground^ and after
frequently disappearing and again coming to light, finally dis-
charges itself into the Atlantic Ocean. Tarraconensian Spain
lies on one side, contiguous to the Pyrenees, running down-
wards along the sides of that chain, and, stretching across from
the Iberian Sea to the Gallic ocean^ is separated from Bsetica
and Lusitania by Mount Solorius^ the chains of the Oretani^
and the Carpetani^, and that of the Astures^

CHAP. 3. — OP B^TICA.

Bfetica, so called from the river which divides it in the
middle, excels all the other provinces in the richness of its
cultivation and the peculiar fertility and beauty of its vege-
tation.

It consists of four jurisdictions, those of Gades", of Cor-
duba'\ of Astigi'-, and of Hispalis'l The total number of
its towns is 175 ; of these nine are colonies ^^ and eight muni-

1 Corresponding nearly in extent with the present kingdom of Portugal.

2 Now aaudiana, a corruption of the Arabic Wadi Ana, " the riyer Ana."

3 According to Hardouin this place is the modem town of Montiel,
but Pmet and D'Anville make it the same as Alhambra.

■* According to modern writers it conceals itself in this manner for a
distance of fifteen miles.

5 From the Balearic Channel to the Grulf of G-ascony or Bay of Biscay.

6 Probably the Sierra Nevada is meant by this name ; Hardoum con-
siders it the same as the Sierra de los Yertientes.

7 Probably the Sierra Morena. ^ The Monte de Toledo.

9 The Sierra de las Asturias.

10 The present Cadiz. It was originally a Phoenician colony.

" Now Cordova. ^2 j^ow Ecija. ^^ Now Seville.

14 The Roman colonies or colonies " civium Romanorum" are those
here meant. The colonists in such case enjoyed all the rights of Romao
citizens, the town in wMch they lived being founded under the supervi-
sion of the Roman magistracy.

Chap. 3.] ACCOTJNT OF COTJISTTEIES, &C. 155

cipal towns ^ ; twentj-nine have been long since presented with
tlie old Latin rights' ; six are free towns^, three federate^,
and 120 tributary.

In this district, the things that more especially deserve no-
tice, or are more easUy explained in the Latin tongue, are the
following, beginning at the river Ana, along the line of the sea-
shore ; the town of Onoba, surnamed ^stuaria^ ; the rivers
Luxia and Urium^, flowing through this territory between
the Ana and the Ba3tis ; the Marian' Mountains ; the river
Bsetis ; the coast of Corum^, \\dth its winding bay ; opposite

^ " Mmiicipia." These were towns in conquered countries which were
not founded by the Romans, but whose inhabitants retaiued their original
institutions, at the same time receiving certain of the rights of Roman
citizens ; most frequently, immunity to a greater or less degi'ee from
payment of tribute.

2 " Latiiim ;" also called " Jus Latii " and " Latinitas." This was the
name given to those cfrcumscribed or limited rights as Roman citizens
wliich were at fii'st bestowed upon the conquered states of Italy, before
the time of the Social War. Indeed the Latinus held a kind of inter-
mediate state between the Civis Romanus with aU his rights, and the
peregrinus or foreigner with all liis disabilities. These Latin rights were
afterwards extended to the people of other countries, but retained their
original name.

3 The free towns were those, the inhabitants of which were at hberty
to enjoy their ancient institutions and modes of internal government,
though at the same time they enjoyed none of the privileges of Roman
citizens.

■* " Foederati civitates ; " the inhabitants of wliich were called ' foederati'
or ' socii.' They were in alliance with the Romans, but in some cases
paid them tribute in the same manner as the ' stipendiaria ' next men-
tioned. In some instances they also enjoyed the Latin rights.

^ From the numerous creeks or a;stuaries with which the coast is here
indented. Commentators are at a loss for the site of the town of
Onoba (or Ossonoba accorduig to some readings). D'AnviUe considers
it to be the same with the present town of Moguer ; other commentators
have suggested Gibraleon, and the vicinity of Palos.

^ The Odiel and the Tinto ; the Urium being supposed to be the same
with the Tinto of the present day.

7 Some readings have " Hai'eiii montes," and others " Arense montes,"
the " mountains of sand." There is no doubt that the sandy heights or
downis on this coast are here meant, which are called at the present day
" Dunes " by the French, and by the natives " Arenas gordas."

s Probably the hue of sea-shore between Roia and the city of Cadiz,
skirting the Bay of Cadiz. Hardoum however thinks that the coast
between the Guadalquivir and the Guadalote is meant, now occupied in
part by the town of San Lucar de Barameda.

156 pliny's natural HISTOET. [Book III.

to wliicli is Gades, of wliicli we shall have occasion to spealv
among the islands^ Next comes the Promontory of Juno-,
and the port of Ba^sippo^ ; the towns of Boelo'' and Mellaria".
at which latter begin the Straits of the Atlantic ; Carteia*^^,
called by the Grreeks Tartessos^ ; and the mountain of Calpe.
Along the coast of the inland sea^ is the town of Barbesula"
with its river ; also Salduba^" ; the town of SueP^ ; and then
Malaca^^, with its river, one of the federate towns. Next to this
comes Msenoba^^, with its river ; then Sexifirmum^^, surnamed

^ In the Fourth Book, c. 36. ^ The present Cape Trafalgar.

* Hardouin says that the present Vejer is the place meant, while others
have suggested Puerto de Santa Maria, or Cantillana. Others again
identify it with Bejer de la Frontera, though that place probably Ues too
far inland. • The Roman ruins near IPorto Barbato were probably its site.

* Hardouin and other commentators suggest that the site of the pre-
sent Tarifa is here meant ; it is more probable however that D'Anville is
right in suggesting the now deserted town of Bolonia.

^ Probably the present Tarifa.

^ The exact site of Carteia is imkiiown ; but it is generally supposed
to have stood upon the bay which opens out of the straits on the west of
the Rock of Gribraltar, now called the Bay of Algesiras or G-ibraltar ; and
upon the hill at the head of the bay of El Rocadillo, about half-way
between Algesiras and Gribraltar.

7 We learn also from Strabo, that Tartessus was the same place as
Carteia; it is not improbable that the former was pretty nearly the
Phoenician name of the place, and the latter a Roman corruption of it,
and that in it originated the 'Tarshish' of Scripture, an appellation
apparently given to the whole of the southern part of the Spanish penin-
sula. Probably the Greeks preserved the appellation of the place more
in conformity with the original Phoenician name.

^ By the "inland sea" Phny means the Mediterranean, in contra-
distinction to the Atlantic Ocean without the Straits of Cadiz.

'^ The ruuis of tlais place, probably, are still to be seen on the east bank
of the river Guadiaro, here alluded to.

^^ With its river flowing by it. This place is probably the present
MarbeUa, situate on the Rio Verde.

" Probably the present Castillo de Torremohnos, or else Castillo de
Fuengii'ola.

^2 The present city of Malaga. Hardouin thinks that the river Gua-
dalquivirejo is here meant, but as that is some miles distant fi'om the city,
it is more probable that the Guadahnedina, which is much nearer to it,
is the stream alluded to.

13 Not improbably Velez Malaga, upon a river of the same name.
Hardouin thinks that the place is the modern Torrox on the Fiu Frio, j
and D'Anville the present city of Almvmecar, on the Rio Verde. i

" Most probably the present Almunecar, but it is imcertain. D'An- |

Chap. 3.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, &C. 157

Julium ; Selambina^ ; Abdera- ; and Murci^, which is at the
boundary of BcTtica. M. Agrippa supposed that all this
coast was peopled by colonists of Punic origin. Beyond the
Anas, and facing the Atlantic, is the country of the Bastuli'*
and the Turditani. M. Varro informs us, that the Iberians,
the Persians, the Phoenicians, the Celts, and the Carthagi-
nians spread themselves over the whole of Spain ; that the
name " Lusitania" is derived from the games (lusus) of
Father Bacchus, or the fury (lyssa^) of his frantic attendants,
and that Pan® was the governor of the whole of it. But the
traditions respecting Hercules^ and Pyrene, as well as Satimi,
I conceive to be fabulous in the highest degree.

The Bsetis does not rise, as some writers have asserted,
near the to\\Ti of Mentisa^, in the province of Tarraco, but
in the Tugiensian Eorest^ ; and near it rises the river Tader^",
which waters the territory of Carthage". At Ilorcum^- it

ville says the present Torre de Banas ; others have suggested the town
of Motril.

^ Now Salobrena.

2 Either the present Adra or Abdera : it is uncertain which.

3 Probably the present Mujacar. D'Anville suggests Ahneria.

^ Also called Bastitani, a mixed race, partly Iberian and partly Phoe-
nician.

5 The Greek Ay (To-a, "frantic rage" or "madness." The etymologies
here suggested are puerUe in the extreme.

6 Plutarch, quoting from the Twelfth Book of the Tberica of Sosthenes,
tells us that, " After Bacchus had conquered Iberia [the present Spain],
he left Pan to act as his deputy, and he changed its name and called the
country Pania^ after himself, which afterwards became corrupted into
Spania."

^ He aUudes to the expedition of Hercules into Spain, of which Dio-
dorus Siculus makes mention ; also his com'tship of the nymph Pyrene,
the daughter of Bebryx, who was buried by him on the Pyrenajan
mountains, which thence derived their name.

'^ It is unknowTi where this town was situate ; Hardouin and D'An-
viUe think it was on the site of the present village of San Thome, once
an episcopal see, now removed to Jaen. The people of Mentisa, men-
tioned in c. 4, were probably inhabitants of a ditferont place. D Anville
in his map has two Mcntisas, one ' Oretana,' the other ' Bastitana.

9 According to D'Anville, the place now called Toia.

W Now the Segura.

^^ 'Nova' or 'New' Carthage, so called fi*om liaving b(x>n originally
foimded by a colony of Carthaginians B.C. 242. It was situate a Httlo to
the west of the Satumi Promontorium, or Promontory of Palos. It
was taken by Scipio Africanus the elder B.C. 210.

^ The present Lorca.

158 Flint's katueal history. [Book III. j

turns away from the Funeral Pile^ of Scipio ; then taking a
sweep to the left, it falls into the Atlantic Ocean, giving its
name to this province: at its source it is but small, though
during its course it receives many other streams, which it de-
prives as well of their waters as their renown. It first enters
Bastica in Ossigita-nia'^, and glides gently, with a smooth
current, past many towns situate on either side of its banks.
Between this river and the sea-shore the most celebrated
places inland are Segida^, also surnamed Augurina ; Julia^,
called Fidentia; Urgao^ or Alba, Ebora^ or Cerealis, Ili-
berri'' or Liberini, Ilipula^ or Laus, Artigi^ or Julienses,
Vesci^*^ or Faventia, Singili", Attegua^'^, Arialdunum, Agla
Minor", Baebro^^, Castra Yinaria^^, Cisimbrium^*', Hippo

^ This place is even now called by the inliabitants Sepulcro de Scipion.
Cneius Cornelius Scipio Calvus, aftei' tlie defeat of his brother P. Cor-
nehus Scipio, in the year B.C. 211, by the forces of Asdrubal and Mago,
fled to a tower at this spot, which was set fire to by the troops of Asdrubal,
and he perished in the flames.

2 So called from the town of Ossigi afterwards mentioned.

3 It is unknown where this place stood ; Medina Sidonia has been
suggested.

■* Probably the present Fuentes del Eey, between Andujar and Jaen,
according to Pinet.

^ D'Anville suggests that this is the present Arjona ; but more pro-
bably it was the village of Arjonilla, two leagues south of Andujar.
Gruterhas an inscription found here, "mukic . albense ue&anon."

^ There were five cities of this name in Spam. Hardouin tliinks that
this is the modem Alcala la Real, between Granada and Cordova.

^ Most pi'obably the modern Sierra de Elvu*a, though some writers
have suggested the city of Granada.

8 Probably near the modern Montilla. Hardouin takes it to be the
present Granada.

^ Poinsinet thinks that this is the present Ecija, but other writers take
it to be Alhama, between Granada and Malaga.

^0 Perhaps the present Archidona. Some writers have suggested the
modem Faventia and Velez.

" Probably near the present Puente de Don Gonzalo, on the banks of
the Rio Genii.

^2 Probably near Agiular on the river Cabra ; or else the present Teba,
between Osima and Antequera. ^^ Agla the Less.

^* Probably the present Cabra. The sites of the two preceding towns
are not known.

15 « rpjjQ Encampment in the Yineyards." Probably this was the same i
as the Castra Postumiana mentioned by Hirtius in his Book on the Spa-
nish War as being four miles from Attegua. It appears to be the pre-
sent Castro, or Castro el Rio, situate on the banks of the river Guadajoz.

1^ In some readings " Episibrium." Probably the present Espeja.

Cliap. 3.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, &C. 159

Nova or New Hippo^ Ilurco-, Osca^, Escua"*, Sucubo^ IS'udi-
tanurn, Old Tuati*^ ; all which towns are in that part of Basti-
tania which extends towards the sea, but in the jurisdiction' of
Corduba. In the neighbourhood of the river itself is Ossigi^,
also surnamed Laconicum, Iliturgi^ or Forum Julium, Ipas-
turgi^" or Triumphale, Setia, and, fourteen niiles inland,
Obulco", which is also called Pontificense.

Next to these comes Epora^', a federate town, Sacih'^
Martialium, and Onoba^^. On the right bank is Corduba,
a Eoman colony, surnamed Patricia ^^ ; here the Baetis first
becomes navigable. There are also the towns of Carbula

^ Its present site is unknown.

2 According toD'Anville, the present Puente de Pinos, six leagues north
of Grranada. Others take it to be Illora, south of Alcala la Real.

3 The present Huesca, according to Hardouin ; more probably, how-
ever, Huector, on the banks of the river Grenil.

■* Perhaps Escusar, five leagues from Granada. But according to some
it is the same as Truelo or Eruelo.

5 Called Ucubis by Hh'tius. Morales suggests that it is Sierra la
Eonda, but Piaet says Stoponda.

^ The sites of this and the preceding place are unknown.

'^ In relation to the ' conventus juridicus,' we may here observe that
under the Roman sway, in order to facihtatc the administration of jus-
tice, a proviuce was divided into a number of districts or ch'cuits, each of
which was so called, as also ' forum ' or ' jm'isdictio.' At certain times of
the year fixed by the proconsid or chief magistrate, the people assembled
in the chief town of the district (whence the name ' conventus '), upon
which judges were selected to try the causes of htigant parties.

3 Probably near the town at the present day called Espelui. Strabo,
in Book iii., teUs us that Laconian institutions and customs were prevalent
in some parts of Spain.

^ This place was ravaged by fire and levelled with the ground by the
troops of Scipio, ia consequence of the vigorous defence they had made,
and the losses they had caused to the Roman army. It probably stood
about foiu* miles from the present city of Baeza.

^0 The sites of tliis place and the next are unknown.

^^ Most probably the present town of Porcuna. Ubeda or Ubedos
haa also been suggested.

^'^ The present town of Montoro. ^^ Now Alcoorruceu, near Perabad.

^^ Ansart suggests that the reading is not Sacih of the IMartiales,
but Ouoba of the Martiales, to distinguish it from Onoba ^Estuaria,
previously mentioned. It is not improbable tlmt the place was so called
from the Martian or Martial legion having originally colonized it. The
site of Onoba is miknown.

^^ Cordova was so called from the great number of patricians, who were
among the original colonists, when it was founded by Marcellus. To the

160 plint's NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book III.

and Detunda\ and the river Singulis^, which falls into the
Bsetis on the same side.

The towns in the jurisdiction of Hispalis are the following :
Celti, Arua^, Canama'*, Evia, Ilipa^, surnamed Ilia, and Ita-
lica*^. On the left of the river is the colony of Hispahs'' named
E-omnliensis, and, on the opposite side^, the town of Osset^,
surnamed Julia Constantia, Yergentum, or Juli Grenius^'^,
Orippo, Caura^\ Siarum, and the river Menoba^^, which
enters the Bsetis on its right bank. Between the sestuaries
of the Bsetis lie the towns of Nebrissa^^, surnamed Yeneria,
and of Colobona^^. The colonies are, Asta^^, which is also
called Regia, and, more inland, that of Aside ^^, surnamed
Csesariana.

The river Singulis, discharging itself into the Bsetis at the
place already mentioned, washes the colony of Astigi^^, sur-

present day it is noted for the pride of its nobles. The Great Captain
Gronzalo de Cordova used to say, that " other towns might be better to
live in, but there was none better to be born in." It was the birth-place
of Lucan and the two Senecas.

^ The site of these two places is unknown at the present day.

2 Now called by the similar name of Genii or Xenil.

3 Perhaps the present Alcolea.

* Perhaps the Cantillana of the present day : there is, however, the
greatest imcertainty as to the sites of these places.

^ According to Hardouin, the modern city of Penaflor : D'AnviHe
places it about two leagues thence, and near the city of Lora.

^ Now Sevilla la Vieja, or Old Seville ; called by the lower classes
Santi-pone.

7 Now Seville. This colony was founded by Jidius Csesar, and also
bore the name of Juha Romula. * Or north side of the river.

^ Probably on the site of the present Aleala del Rio.

^^ ' The [good] genius of Juhus,' probably meaning Csesar. Nothing
seems to be known of its site.

1^ Caura may be the present Coi'ia, a town three leagues from Seville,

^2 Probably the Eio Guadalete.

^2 Either the present Sebrija, or in the vicuiity of the city of San
Lucar. ^^ Probably the present Bonania.

^^ Probably between Trebujena and the city of Xeres. It was the
usual place of meeting for the people of the territory of Gades ; and its
unportance may be judged from its appellation ' Regia ' or ' royal,' and its
numerous coins. Its ruins are still to be seen on a hill there.

^^ It is not improbable that this was the pi^esent city of Xeres. Some
geographers however take it to be that of Medina Sidonia, and look
upon Xeres as the site of the ancient Asta.

'7 Now Ecija. It stood on the plain of the Bsetis, some distance south
of the river, on its tributary the Singuhs or Xenil.

Cliap. 3.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 161

named Augusta Firma, at which phice it becomes navigable.
The other colonies in this jurisdiction which are exempt from
tribute are Tucci, surnamed Augusta Gemella\ Itucci called
Virtus Julia-, Attubi or Claritas Juha^jUrso"* or GenuaUrba-
norum ; and among them in former times Munda^, which was
taken with the son of Pompey. The free towns are Old As-
tigi^ and Ostippo^ ; the tributary towns are Callet, Callecula,
Castra Gemina, the Lesser Ilipula, Merucra, Sacrana, Obul-
cula^, and Oningis. As you move away from the sea-coast,
near where the river Menoba is navigable, you find, at no
great distance, the Alontigiceli and the Alostigi^.

The country which extends from the Bsetis to the river
Anas, beyond the districts already described, is called Bfe-
turia, and is divided into two parts and the same number of
nations ; the Celtici^", who border upon Lusitania, in the ju-

1 The site of this place is unknown. It probably obtained its name
from being a colony of one of the legions, the 7th, 10th, 13th or 14th ;
which were caUed ' gemmae ' or ' gemellse,' from being composed of the
men of two legions originally.

2 " The Yalom* of Juhus." Sanson places it not far from Miragcnil.

3 '• The Fame of Juhus." Perhaps the present OUvera, or else Teba,
six leagues to the south of Estepa.

^ The present city of Ossuna. " Genua ITrbanorum " would seem to
mean " the knees of the citizens." Though all the MSS. agree in this read-
ing, it probably is an en-or for " gemina Urbanorum," and it may liave been
a colony of one of the legions called ' geminse ' or ' gemelke,' as previously
mentioned. The other part of its appellation may possibly have originated
in the fact of its first inhabitants being all natives of the city of Rome.

° The use of the word /m/^, 'was,' impUes that the place had been
destroyed. Cneius Pompeius, the eldest son of Pompey the Great, was
defeated at Munda, in the year B.C. 45, and the town destroyed. Pom-
pey escaped from the battle, but was taken a short time after and
put to death. The site of the ancient town is very generally supposed
to be the modern village of Monda, S.W. of Malaga, and about thi-ee
leagues from the sea. It is more probable however that it was in the
vicinity of Cordova, and tliere are ruins of ancient walls and towers be-
tween Martos, Alcandete, Espejo and Baena, wliich are supposed to denote
its site.

^'Now Alameda ; eight leagues from the other Astiji or Ecija.

7 Now Estepa, six leagues from Ecija.

8 Perhaps Mancloua, between the towns of Ecija and Carmona ; the
sites of all the other places here mentioned appear to be quite unknown.

^ Sanson supposes the Alostigi to have inliabitcd the territory near
Ahnagia, between Malaga and Antiqueira.

1" The Celtici are supposed to have inhabited the country between tlie
VOL. I. M

i62 plint's kattjeal histoet. [Book III.

risdiction of Hispalis, and the Turdiili, v,ho dwell on the
verge' of Lusitania and Tarraconensis, and are under the
protection of the laws of Corduba. It is evident that the
Celtici have sprung from the Celtiberi, and have come from
Lusitania, from their religious rites, their language, and the
names of their towns, which in Bsetica are distinguished by
the folloA<-ing epithets^, which have been given to them.
Seria has received the surname of Eama Julia^ Ner-
tobrii^a that of Concordia Julia^ Segida that of Eestituta
Julia^, and Contributa^ that of Julia. What is now Cui-iga
was formerly Ucultuniacum, Constantia Julia^ was Laconi-
murgis, the present Fortunales were the Tereses^ and the
Emanici were the Callenses^ Besides these, there are in
Celtica the to^^Tis of Acinippo'", Arunda'\ Aruci^', Turo-
briga, Lastigi, Salpesa, Ssepone, and Serippo.

The other Bseturia, which we have mentioned, is inhabited
by the Turduli, and, in the jurisdiction of Corduba, has some
towns which are by no* means inconsiderable; Arsa'^,

Guadiana and Guadalquivir, the eastern parts of Alentejo and the west
of Estremadura, as far as the city of Badajoz.

1 Probably part of Estremadura, and the vicinity of Badajoz in an
easterly direction.

2 The exact meaning of this passage is somevrhat obscm'e, but he pro-
bably means to say that the Celtici have an identity of sacred rites, lan-
guage, and names of towns with the Celtiberians ; though it had become
the usage in Baetica more generally to distinguish the towns by theh^
Roman names.

3 " The Fame of Julius." Its site is not known.

4 " The Concord of Juhus." Probably the same as the modem Yalera
la Vega, near Frejenal.

5 Probably meaning "Restored by Julius." Notliing is known of its site.

6 According to an authority quoted by Hardouia, this may possibly be
Medina de las Torres.

7 Probably Constantina in Andalusia, to the north of Penaflor.

8 The tribe or nation of the Tereses are supposed to have dwelt in the
vicinity of the modern San Nicolo del Puerto.

3 Calentum was their town ; probably the present Cazalla near Alaniz.
This place will be found mentioned by Pluiy in B. xxxv. c. 14.

10 The ruins two leagues north of Ronda la Vieja are supposed to be
those of tliis place. There are the remains of an aqueduct and theatre,
and numerous coins are found here.

" Probably the present Ronda la Vieja.

1- Identified by inscriptions with the present Aroche. The sites of
several of the following places are unknown.

13 The Azuaga of modern times ; but, according to Hardouin, Argallen.

Chap. 3.] ACCOUNT or COTJNTEIES, ETC. 163

Mellaria^ Mirobriga^, and Sisapo', in tlie district of
Osintias.

To the jurisdiction of Gades belongs Eegina, witb Eoman
citizens ; and L?epia, IJlia'*, Carisa' surnamed Aurelia, Urgia^
or Castrum Julium, likewise called C?esaris Salutarieusis,
all of which enjoy the Latian rights. The tributary towns
are Besaro, Belippo'', Barbesula, Lacippo, Baesippo, Callet,
Cappacum, Oleastro, Ituci, Brana, Lacibi, Saguntia^, and
AudorissD.

M. Agrippa has also stated tlie whole length of this pro-
vince to be 475 miles ^, and its breadth 257 ; but this was at
a time when its boundaries extended to Carthage^", a circum-
stance which has often caused great errors in calculations ;
which are generally the result either of changes eftected in the
limits of pro\'inces, or of the fact that in the reckoning of dis-
tances the length of the miles has been arbitrarily increased or
diminished. In some parts too the sea has been long making
encroachments upon the land, and in others again the shores
have advanced ; while the course of rivers in this place has
become more serpentine, in that more direct. And then,
besides, some writers begin their measurements at one place,

^ According to Hardoviin this was on the site of the modem Fuente
de la Ovejuna, fovirteen leagues from Cordova.

2 This has been identified by inscriptions with the modern Yilla de
Capilla.

3 According to Hardouin, the modem Almaden de la Plata.
'* Probably the same as the modem Monte Major.

^ The ruins of this place are probably those seen at Carixa, near
Bornos, in the vicinity of Seville.

^ Accovchng to Hardouin, the same as the modem Las Cabezas, not
far from Lebrija.

7 The sites of these two towns are unknown. Baesippo, Barbesula and
Callet have been already mentioned.

^ The ruins of Saguntia are to be seen between Arcos and Xeres della
Frontera, on the river Guadalete ; they bear their ancient name under
the form of Cigonza. Mela, B. iii. c. 1, says that Oleastro was a grove
near the Bay of Cadiz. Brana was probably the same place that is men-
tioned by Ptolemy under the name of Urbona.

^ We may here mention for the more correct information of the reader
that the Roman mile consisted of 1000 paces, each pace being five Enghsh
feet. Hence its length was 1618 English yards (taking the Roman
foot at 11"G1'96 English inches), or 143 yards less than the Enghsh
statute mile.

^^ Nova Cartliago, or New Carthage.

h2

164 plint's natural HISTOET. [Book III.

and some at another, and so proceed in different directions ;
and hence the result is, that no two accounts agree.

(2.) At the present day the length of Bsetica, from the
town of Castulo\ on its frontier, to Grades is 250 miles, and
from Murci, which lies on the sea-coast, twenty-five miles
more. The breadth, measured from the coast of Carteia, is
234 miles. Who is there that can entertain the belief that
Agrippa, a man of such extraordinary diligence, and one who
bestowed so much care on his subject, when he proposed to
place before the eyes of the world a survey of that world, could
be guilty of such a mistake as this, and that too when seconded
by the late emperor the divine Augustus ? Por it was that
emperor who completed the Portico^ which had been begun
by his sister, and in which the survey was to be kept, in con-
formity with the plan and descriptions of M. Agrippa.

CHAP. 4. (3.) — OP NEARER SPAIN.

Tlie ancient form of the Nearer Spain, like that of many
other provinces, is somewhat changed, since the time when
Pompey the Grreat, upon the trophies which he erected in
the Pyrenees, testified that 877 towns, from the Alps to the
borders of the Parther Spain, had been reduced to subjection
by him. The whole province is now divided into seven juris-
dictions, those of Carthage^, of Tarraco, of Caesar Augusta'*, of

* Now Cazlona, on the confines of New Castile and the kingdom of
Granada. It was a place of great importance, and the chief town of the
Oretani. Himiloe, the rich wife of Hannibal, was a native of this place.

2 This was the ' porticus Octavise,' which, havmg been commenced by
his sister Octavia, the wife of MarceUus and Antony, was completed by
Augustus. It lay between the Circus Flaminius and the Theatre of Mar-
ceUus, occupying the site of the former portico, which had been built by
Q. Csecihus Metehus, and enclosing the two temples of Juno and of Ju-
piter Stator. It contained a pubhc hbrary, in which the Senate often
met, and it was in this probably that the map or plan, mentioned by
PUny, was deposited. It also contained a great nrmiber of statues,
paintings, and other works of art, which, with the hbrary, were destroyed
by fire in the reign of Titus.

' Nova Carthago or New Carthage, now Carthagena.

* Now Zaragoza or Saragossa, on the right bank of the river Ebro. Its
original name was Salduba, but it was changed in honour of Augustus,
who colonized it after the Cantabrian war, B.C. 25.

Chap. 4.] ACCOUNT OF COIINTEIES, ETC. 165

Clunia\ of Asturica-, of Lucus^, and of the Bracari^. To these
are to be added the islands, which will be described on
another occasion, as also 293 states which are dependent on
others ; besides which the province contains 179 towns. Of
these, twelve are colonies, thirteen, towns with the rights of
Boman citizens, eighteen Avith the old Latian rights, one
confederate, and 135 tributary.

The first people that we come to on the coast are the
Bastuli ; after whom, proceeding according to the order which
I shall follow, as we go inland, there are the Mentesani, the
Oretani, and the Carpetani on the Tagus, and next to
tbem the Yaccsei, the Vectones, and the Celtiberian Arevaci.
The towns nearest to the coast are Urci, and Barea^ included
in Baetica, the district of Mavitania, next to it Deitania, and
then Contestania, and the colony of Carthago Nova ; from
the Promontory of which, known as the Promontorium Sa-
turni^, to the city of Caesarea^ in Mauritania, the passage is
a distance of 187 miles. The remaining objects worthy of
mention on the coast are the river Tader^, and the free colony
of Ilici^, whence the Ilicitanian Grulf ° derives its name ; to
this colony the Icositani are subordinate.

We next have Lucentum^\ holding Latian rights; Dianium^',
a tributary town; the river Sucre ^^, and in former times a
town of the same name, forming the frontier of Contestania.

1 This was the most remote place of any consideration in Celtiberia, on
the west. Its ruins are still to be seen on the summit of a hill surrounded
with rocks, forming a natm'al wall between Corunna del Conde and Pen-
nalda de Castro.

2 This was Asturica Augusta, the chief city of the nation of the Astures,
and situate on one of the tributaries of the Astura, now Esta. On its
site is situate the present Astorga : its ruins are very extensive.

3 Now Lugo.

* Or Bracara Augusta, now Braga. Among the ruins of the ancient
city there are the remains of an aqueduct and ampliitheatre.

5 Probably the present town of Vera near Muxacra.

6 The " Promontory of Saturn," now Oabo de Palos,

7 D' Anvillc takes tliis place to be the port of Vacur ; if so, the distance
from Cape Palos is exactly 170 miles. * Now Sogura.

* The modem town of Elche was probably built from the ruins of
this place. ^° Now called the Gulf of Ahcant.

" With the Arabian El prefixed, this has formed the name of the
famous port of Ahcant.

^ Now Denia, a thriving town. ^3 Now called the Xucar.

166 PLiinr's katueal histoet. [Book IIL

Next is the district of Edetania, with the delightful expanse
of a lake^ before it, and extending backward to Celtiberia.
Yalentia^, a colony, is situate three miles from the sea, after
which comes the river Turium^, and Saguntum^ at the same
distance, a town of Eoman citizens famous for its fidelity,
the river Uduba'^ and the district of the Ilergaones^ The
Iberus^, a river enriched by its commerce, takes its rise in
the country of the Cantabri, not far from the town of Julio-
briga^, and flows a distance of 450 miles ; 260 of which, from
the to^Ti of Varia^ namely, it is available for the purposes of
navigation. Prom this river the name of Iberia has been
given by the Greeks to the whole of Spain.

Next comes the district of Cossetania, the river Subi^°,
and the colony of Tarraco, whicli was built by the Scipios as
Carthage" was by the Carthaginians. Then the district of the
Ilergetes, the town of Subur^'-, and the river Eubricatum^^,
beyond which begin the Laletani and the Indigetes^"^. Be-
hind these, in the order in w^hich they will be mentioned,

^ Now called Albufera. 2 "jhe present city of Yalencia.

^ Or Turia, now the Guadalaviar.

^ Or Saguntus, famed for the fidelity of its inhabitants to the Roman
cause : after a siege of nine months, rather than submit to the Carthaginians
under Hannibal, they set fire to their town and perished ui the flames, B.C.
219. It was rebuilt eight years afterwards and made a Roman colony. The
ruins of the ancient town, which was said to have been originally founded
by Greeks from Zacynthus, are still to be seen, and the ancient walls (^muri
veteres) give name to the present Murviedi'o, wliich is bmlt on its site.

^ Now the Murviedro, which flows past the city of that name and the
town of Segorbe.

^ Dertosa, the present Tortosa, is supposed to have been inhabited by
them. 7 Now the Ebro.

* Hardouin places tliis on the site of the modern Fuente de Ivero.
The Ebro takes its rise in the Val de Yieso.

8 According to D' Anville, the present Logrono. At present the Ebro
only becomes navigable at Tudela, 216 miles from the sea. Other writers,
however, take Varia to be the present Yaltierra, near Tudela.

^^ Or the Subur, now the Francoli. It flows into the sea at the port
of Tarraco, now Tarragona.

^^ The more ancient commentators tliink that Carthago Yetus, or the
colony of Old Carthage (now Carta la Yieja), is here alluded to, but more
probably it is Carthago Nova that is meant.

^ On the Subi, previously mentioned ; now called YiUa Nova.

^3 Now the Llobregat.

H Their territory was situate around the present Gulf of Ampurias,

Chap. 4.] ACCOUNT or COUNTEIES, ETC. 167

going back from tlie foot of the Pyrenees, are tlie Ausetaui\
theLacetani^, and along the Pyrenees, the Cerretani^, next to
whom are the Yascones^. On the coast is the colony of
Barcino'\ surnamedFaventia; Baetulo^ and Iluro', towns with
Pomau citizens; the river Larnum^, Blanda?^, the river Alba'";
Emporiie^', a city consisting of two parts, one peopled by the
original inhabitants, the other by the Grreek descendants
of the Pliocaeans ; and the river Ticher'^. From this to the
Venus PjTen^a'^, on the other side of the Promontory, is a
distance of forty miles.

I shall now proceed to give an account of the more re-
markable things in these several jurisdictions, in addition to
those which have been already mentioned. Forty-three
different peoples are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of
Tarraco : of these the most famous are — holding the rights
of Roman citizens, the Dertusani^'* and the Bisgargfitani ;
enjoying Latian rights, the Ausetani, and the Cerretani, both
Julian and Augustan, the Edetani'^, the Grerundenses'^, the

1 Their chief cities were Gerunda, the present Gerona, and Ansa or
Ticus Ausse, now Tic d'Osona. ^ i^ ^]^q country beyond Gerona.

3 Living in the upper valley of the river Sicoris or Segre, wliich still
retains, from them, the name of Cerdague.

* The people of the modem Navarre and Guipuzcoa.

* In the later writers Barcelo, now Barcelona. It was said to have
been originally founded by Hercules, and afterwards rebuilt by Hamilcar
Barcas, who gave it the name of liis family. Its name as a Roman colony
was Colonia Faventia Juha Augusta Pia Barcino. The modern city
stands somewhat to the east of the ancient one.

^ The modem Badalona, two leagues from Barcelona.

7 On the sea- shore, — the present Pineda. ^ Now the Tordera.

9 The modem city of Blanos stands on its site.

^^ Probably the pi'csent Ter or Tet.

^^ The modem Ampurias. We learn from Strabo that a wall divided
the to\Mi of the Greeks from that of the old inhabitants. It was the
usual landing-place for travellers from Gaul. It was originally colonized
by the Phocaans from Massiha or Marseilles.

^2 Hardouin says that the Ticher or Tichis is the same with the modern
Ter, but in such case Phny would have mentioned it before coming to Em-
porise. Its present name however does not appear to be accurately known,

^3 A promontoi*j' extending from the Pyrcna>an chain, on which a
temple of Venus was situate. It is now called Cabo de Cruz. The
distance mentioned by Pliny is probably too great.

^* The people of the present Tortosa.

'^ Probably not the same people as the Edetani, in whose district Sa-
guntum and Valencia were situate. ^^ The people of Gerunda or Gerona.

168 Pliny's natueal history. [Book III.

G-essorienses^ and tlie Teari^, also called Julienses. Among
the tributaries are the Aquicaldenses^, the Onenses, and the
Baeculonenses*.

Caesar Augusta, a free colony, watered by the river Iberus,
on the site of the town formerly called Salduba, is situate in
the district of Edetania, and is the resort of fifty-five nations.
Of these there are, with the rights of Eoman citizens, the
Bellitani*, the Celsenses®, a former colony, the Calagurritani'',
surnamed the Nassici, the Ilerdenses^, of the nation of the
Surdaones, near whom is the river Sicoris, the Oscenses^ in
the district of Vescitania, and the Turiasonenses^*'. Of those
enjoying the rights of the ancient Latins, there are the
Cascantenses",theErgavicenses^^, the Grraccuritani^^,theLeo-

^ They are nowhere else mentioned. Ukert supposes that their city
stood in the district between the Sicoris and Nucaria.

2 Their city was Tiara Juha.

3 The people of Aquae CaUdse or the ' Hot Springs,' called at the pre-
sent day Caldes, four leagues from the city of Barcelona.

'* Ptolemy places Bsecula between Ausa and G-erunda.

* The people of the present Belchite.

^ The people of the present Xelsa, on the Ebro.

7 The inhabitants of Calagurris, now Calahorra, a city of the Vascones,
on the banks of the Ebro. They remained faitliful to Sertorius to the last,
and after slaughtering their wives and cluldren and eating their flesh, their
city was taken and destroyed ; which event put an end to the Sertorian
war. It was called " Nassica," in contradistinction to Calagurris Fibularia,
which is afterwards mentioned by Pliny. The latter is mentioned by
Caesar as forming one community with Osca (now Huesca), and was pro-
bably the present Loarre, though some writers take the first-named Cala-
gurris to be that place, and the latter one to be the present Calahorra.

^ The people of Ilerda, the present Lerida, on the Sicoris or Segre. It
is memorable for its siege by Caesar, when the Pompeian forces under
Afranius and Petreius had retired thither. It was a most flourisliing city,
though in the times of the later Roman emperors it had fallen into decay.

^ The people of the present Huesca.

^° The inhabitants of Turiazo, the present Tarazona, five leagues south
of Tudela.

^^ The people of Cascantum, the present town of Cascante in Navarre.

^2 The people of Ergavica. Its ruins, at the confluence of the Guadiela
and Tagus, are stUl to be seen, and are called Santaver. By some writers
this place is considered to be the same as the modern Fraga, on the river
Cinca, five leagues from Lerida.

'^ The people of G-raccuris. Its former name of Ilurcis was changed
in honour of Sempronius Gracchus, who placed new settlers there after
the conquest of Celtiberia. It is supposed to be the same as the modem,
Agreda, four leagues from Tarazona.

Chap. 4.] ACCOUNT OF COr^TRIES, ETC. 169

iiicenses\ and the Osicerdenses ; of federate states, there
are the Tarragenses" ; and of tributaries, the Arcobri-
genses^, the Andologenses^, the Araeelitani^, the Bursao-
nenses^, the Calagiirritani^, who are also surnamed the
Fibularenses, the Complutenses^, the Carenses^, the Cin-
censes^", the Cortonenses, the Damamtani'\ the Lar-
nenses^^, the Lursenses^^, the Lumberitani^^, the Lacetani,
the Lubienses, the Pompelonenses^^, and the Segienses.

1 The people of Leonica, probably the modem Alcaniz, on the river
Guadalope, in Arragon.

- The people of Tarraga, tne present Tarrega, nine leagues east of
Lerida, in Catalonia.

3 The people of Arcobriga, now Los Ai'cos, in Navarre, five leagues
south of EsteUa.

■* Perhaps the same as the Andosini, a people mentioned by Polybius,
B. iii. e. 35, as situate between the Iberus and the Pyrenees. There is a
small town of Navarre called AndroiUa.

5 The people probably of the site now occupied by Huarte Araquil,
six leagues to the west of Pampeluna.

* Probably the same as the Bursaones of Livy, the Bursavolenses of
Hirtius, and the Bursadenses of Ptolemy. Their exact locahty is unknown.

7 Mention has been made of Calagun'is Fibularensis or Fibuhcensis
under Calagiirris Nassica : see p. 168.

^ The people of Complutum, the modem Alcala de Hen ares, on the
river Henares, six leagues to the east of Madiid. It is not quite certain
whether it stood on the exact site of Alcala, or on the liill of Zulema, on
the other side of the Henares.

^•The towm of Cares, adjoining the more modem one of Puente la
Beyna, probably marks their site.

'" Probably so called from the river Cinga^ the modem Cinca : or they
may have given their name thereto.

^^ The people probably of the present Mediana on the Ebro, six
leagues below Zaragoza.

^ Their town was Larnum, situate on a river of the same name. It
was probably the present Torderas, situate on the river of that name.

^3 Of tliis people nothing appears to be known. In the old editions the
next people mentioned are the " Ispalenses," but since the time of Har-
douin, they have been generally omitted, as wrongly introduced, and as ut-
terly unknown. Spanish coins have however been more recently discovered
with the name 'Sblaie' or 'Splaie,' inscribed in Celt-iberian characters,
and immismatists are of opinion that they indicate the name of the town
of this pcojile, which in Latin would be Ispala. This at all events is the
opinion of M. de Saiilcy.

'"* The people of the present town of Lumbier in Navarre, called by its
inhabitants Irumberri.

'^ The people of the present city of Pampelima.

170 pliitt's natural histoey. [Book III.

Sixty-five different nations resort to Carthage \ besides
the inhabitants of the islands. Of the Accitanian' colony,
there are the G-emellenses, and the town of Libisosona^, sur-
named Foroaugustana, to both of which have been granted
Italian'' rights. Of the colony of Salaria^, there are the people
of the following towns, enjoying the rights of ancient La-
tium: the Castulonenses, also called the Cassari Venales, the
Saetabitani*^ or Augustani, and the Valerienses''. The best
known among the tributaries are the Alabanenses^, the Bas-
titani^, theConsaburrenses^",the Dianenses", theEgelestani^^,

* Carthago Nova, or New Carthage.

2 The colony of Acci was called Colonia Julia Gemella Accitana. The
town of Acci or Accis was on the site of the present Guadix el Yiejo,
between Granada and Baza, It was colonized by the third and sixth
legions under Juhus or Augustus, from wliich it obtained the name
of ' GemeUa,' the origin of which name is previously mentioned, p. 161.

^ The ruuis of this place are supposed to be those seen at Lebazuza or
Lezuza, not far from the city of Cuen9a.

^ The "jus Itahcum" or "Itahse," "ItaUan rights" or "privileges,"
differed from the " jvis Latinum." It was granted to provincial towns
which were especially favoured by the magistracy of Rome, and consisted
of exemption from taxes, a municipal constitution, after the manner of
the Itahan tovms, and many other rights and exemptions.

^ According to Hardouin, the people of the town formerly called Sa-
liotis, now Cazorla. They are called " Caesari venales," from the cfrcum-
stance of their territory having been purchased by Caesar. — Castulo or
Cazlona has been previously mentioned.

^ The people of Saetabis, now Xativa in Yalencia. Tliis town was fa-
mous for its manufacture of fine table-napkins, to wliich reference is made
by Phny at the beginning of his Introduction addressed to Titus, ia liis
quotation from the lament of Catullus on the loss of his table-napkins
which his friends had filched from him. See p. 1 of the present volume.

7 According to some vsriters, the present Cuen^a was the ancient Va-
leria ; but perhaps it was situate at the present village of Valera la Yieja,
or Old Yaleria, eight leagues south of Cuenga.

* The people of Alaba, not far from the present town of Ergavica.

^ They were so called from their town of Basti, now Baza, on the river
Guadalentin in Granada.

^^ Their town was probably the present Consuegra, twelve leagues from
the city of Toledo.

" So called from the promontory Dianium or Artemisium, named from
a temple of Diana there situate, and having in its vicinity a town of the
same name. The jDresent town of Denia stUl retains nearly the original
name. Its lake, now called Albufera de Yalencia, has been previously
mentioned, p. 166.

^ The modern Yniesta marks the site of their town.

Chap. 4.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 171

the Ilorcitani\ the Lamiuitani, the Meiitesani-, both those
called Oritani and those called Bastiili, aud the Oretani
who are surnamed Gcrmani^, the people oi* Segohriga'* the
capital of Celtiberia, those of Toletum^ the capital of Car-
petania, situate on the river Tagus, aud after them the Yia-
tienses and the Yirgilienses^.

To the jurisdiction of Clunia^ the A^arduli contribute four-
teen nations, of whom we need only particularize the Alba-
nenses^, the Turmodigi^, consisting of four tribes, among
which are the Segisamonenses^" and the Segisamaiulienses.
To the same jurisdiction belong the Carietes^^ and the Ven-
nenses with five states, among which are the Yelienses.
Thither too resort the Pelendones of the Celtiberians, in
four different nations, among whom the Numantini'- were
especially famous. Also, among the eighteen states of the
Yacccei, there are the Intercatienses^^, the Pallantini^^, the
Lacobrigenses, and the Caucenses^^ But among the seven

^ The people pi'obably of EHocroca, now Lorca, on the high road from
Carthago Nova to Castulo.

2 There were two places of the name of Mentesa, one in the district of
the Oritani, and the other in that of the Bastitani or Bastuli.

3 Ptolemy, B. ii., mentions a city of this nation, called ' Oretum Grer-
manorum.' It has been supposed that it was the present Calatrava, five
leagues from Ciudad Real.

* Supposed to be in the vicinity of the present Calatajud.

^ The present Toledo.

^ Their town is supposed to have stood on the site of the present Murcia.

7 Now Coruna del Conde.

^ The people of the present Alava on the Ebro. — A small town there
stiU bears the name of Alvana.

^ This nation is not mentioned elsewhere. Possibly they are the Mur-
bogi, mentioned by Ptolemy.

*" Their town Segisamon was either the present Yeyzama in Guipuz-
coa, or, more probably, Sasamon, eight leagues north- west of Burgos.

^' The people of Carissa, on the site of the present Carixa near Seville.

^2 Strabo assigns the Numantini to the Arovaca;, and not the Pelen-
dones. The ruins of the city of Nuraantia were still to be seen at Puente
Garray near the city of Soriu, in IIardouin"s time, the 17th century.

^3 D'Anville places their city, Intercatia, at the place called Villa nueva
de Azviague, forty miles from the present Aetorga ; others again make it to
have been sixty miles fron\ that place.

'^ Their town was on the site of the modern city of Palencia, on tlic
river Carion.

'^ The people of Cauca, the present Coca, situate between Segovia and
Valladohd, on the river Eresma.

172 pliky's nattjeal histoet. [Book III.

peoples belonging to the Cantabri, Juliobriga^ is tbe only
place worthy of mention ; and of the ten states of the An-
trigones, Tritium and Yirovesca=^. The river Areva^ gives
its name to the Arevaci ; of whom there are six towiis, Se-
gontia" and Uxama^ names which are frequently given to
other places, as also Segovia^ and Nova Augusta, Termes^,
and Clunia itself, the frontier of Celtiberia. The remaining
portion turns off towards the ocean, being occupied by the
Yarduli, already mentioned, and the Cantabri.

Next upon these touch the twenty-two nations of the
Astures, who are divided into the Augustani^ and the Trans-
montani, with the magnificent city of Asturica. Among
these we have the Cigurri^ the Psesici, the Lancienses^", and
the Zoelae". The total number of the free population amounts
to 240,000 persons.

The jurisdiction of Lucus^^ embraces, besides the Celtici
and the Lebuni, sixteen different nations, but little known

1 This was the chief city of the Cantabri. It has been ah-eady men-
tioned, but we may add that it stood near the som^ces of the Ebro, on
the eminence of EetortUlo, south of Reynosa. Five stones still mark
the boundaries wliich divided the territory from that of the Fourth Legio.

2 Supposed to be the present Briviesca; the site of Tritiimi does not
appear to be known, but it has been suggested that it was near Najara,
in the vicinity of Logrono.

3 It does not appear to be certain whether the Areva was the present
Ucero, or the Arlanzon, which flows near Yalladohd.

4 The modern Siguenza.

5 Now El Burgo d'Osma, in the province of Soria.

6 This must not be mistaken for the modem Segovia, between Madrid
and ValladoUd : it was a small town in the vicinity of Numantia.

' Probably the present Lerma, on the river Arlanza.

8 The people of Asturica Augusta, now Astorga, in the province of
Leon, The ruins of this fine city are said still to give a perfect idea of a
fortified Roman town.

9 Their chief city stood on the site of the present Cigarrosa, or San
Estevan de Yal de Orres. Its ruins are still to be seen, and a Roman
bridge, the people preserving a tradition that an old town once stood
there called Guigurra.

10 The people of Lance or Lancia, probably the present Lollanco or
MansiUa; though Oviedo has been suggested. This however may be
the Ovetum mentioned by Pliny in B. xxxiv. c. 17. ^

" Mentioned by Pliny in B. xix. c. 2, as famous for then- flax. Their
locahty near the coast does not appear to be exactly known. The Psesici
previously mentioned were situate on the peninsula of Cabo de Penas.

^ Now the city of Lugo in GaUicia.

Chap. 4.] ACCOUNT or COUNTEIES, ETC. 173

and with barbarous names. The number however of the free
population amounts to nearly 166,000.

In a similar manner the twenty -four states of the juris-
diction of the Bracari contain a population of 175,000, among
whom, besides the Bracari^ themselves, we may mention,
without wearying the reader, the Bibali, the Coelerni, the
Gallseci, the HeqWsi, the Limici, and the Querquerni.

The length of the Nearer Spain, from the Pyrenees to the
frontier of Castulo, is 607- miles, and a little more if we fol-
low the line of the coast ; while its breadth, from Tarraco to
the shore of Olarson^ is 307^ miles. From the foot of the
PjTenees, where it is wedged in by the near approach of the
two seas, it gradually expands until it touches the Farther
Spain, and thereby acquires a width more than double ^

Nearly the whole of Spain abounds in mines ^ of lead, iron,

1 The people of Bracara Augusta, now Braga. Among the riiias of
the ancient city are the remains of an aqueduct and an amphitheatre.
This people probably derived their name from then- fasliion of wearing
braccse, " breeches" or " trowsers," like their neighbours of GaUia Brac-
cata. The exact locahties of the various other tribes here mentioned do
not appear to be exactly known.

2 Our author is mistaken here, even making allowance for the short-
ness of the Roman mile (1618 yards), as the length is only 470 miles.
Coastwise it is 620.

3 Now Oyarzim. It is also mentioned in B. iv. c. 34.

* He is also in error here ; for, taken in a straight hue, tliis distance
is but 210 miles. * The distance is about 560 miles.

^ It may be worth while here to take some notice of the mineral pro-
ductions of Spain in modem times, from which we shall be able to form
a more accurate judgement as to the correctness of the statement here
made by Phny. Grains of gold are still to be found in the rivers Tagus
and Douro ; but there is not found sufficient of the precious metal to pay
for the search. Silver is found m the mines of the Guadal canal. Copper
and lead are to be foimd in abundance. There is a mine of plumbago
four leagues from Ronda ; and tin is found in GaUicia. In every pro-
vince there are iron mines, those in Biscay being tlie most remarkable.
Lodestone is foimd in Seville, cobalt on the Pyrenees, quicksilver and
cmnabar at Almaden, arsenic m Asturias, and coal in Asturias and Arra-
gon. There are salt-mines at Mingrilla and Cardona ; almn is found in Ar-
ragon, antimony at Alcaraz. On the Sierra Morena, and in Gallicia, there
is saltpetre in numerous locahties ; amber in Asturias and Valencia, and
sulphur in Murcia, Arragon, and Seville. Pipe-clay of a pecuhar quahty is
found in the vicmity of Andujar. Gypsum and marble are found in great
abundance, and stone for building purjwses, of the best quality. Aine-
thysts, white cornehans, rubies, agates, garnets, and rock crystals, with
other precious stones, are also found in abundance and of the finest quality.

174 plint's natueal HISTOET. [Book III.

copper, silver, and gold ; in the Nearer Spain there is also
found lapis specularis^ ; in Baetica there is cinnabar. There
are also quarries of marble. The Emperor Vespasianus
Augustus, while still harassed by the storms that agitated
the E-oman state, conferred the Latian rights on the whole
of Spain. The Pyrenean mountains divide Spain from Graul,
their extremities projecting into the two seas on either side.

CHAP. 5. (4.) — or THE PEOVINCE OF OALLTA NAEBONENSISc

That part of the Grallias which is washed by the inland sea^
is called the province of [Grallia] Narbonensis^, having
formerly borne the name of Braccata"*. It is divided from
Italy by the river Varus ^, and by the range of the Alps, the
great safeguards of the Roman Empire. Erom the remainder
of Graul, on the north, it is separated by the mountains Ge-
henna "^ and Jura*^. In the cultivation of the soil, the man-
ners and civilization of the inhabitants, and the extent of its
wealth, it is surpassed by none of the provinces, and, in short,
might be more truthfully described as a part of Italy than
as a province. On the coast we have the district of the
Sordones^, and more inland that of the Consuarani^. The

^ Transparent stone. Further mention is made of it by Pliny in
B. XXXV. c. 45. 2 Or Mediterranean.

3 From the cliief city Narbo Martins, and later Narbona, now Nar-
bonne, situate on the river Atax, now Aude. It was made a Roman
colony by the Consul Q. Martins B.C. 118, and from him received its sur-
name. It was the residence of the Roman governor of the province and
a place of great commercial importance. There are scarcely any remains
of the ancient city, but some vestiges of the canal, by which it was con-
nected with the sea at twelve miles' distance.

^ From the linen breeches which the inhabitants wore, a fashion which
was not adopted by the Romans till the time of the Emperors. Severus
wore them, but the use of them was restricted by Honorius.

5 StiU called the ' Var.' It divides France from Nice, a province of
Sardinia.

^ Now the Cevennes. They He as much to the west as the north of
GaUia Narbonensis.

7 The range of the Jura, north of the Lake of Geneva.

8 Inhabiting the former Comte de Roussillon, or Departement des Py-
renees Orientales. They were said to have been originally a Bebrycian
or Thracian colony.

* Probably the inhabitants of the present Conserans, on the west of
the Departement de 1' Arriege.

Chap. 5.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 175

rivers are tlie Tecum and the Yernodubrum^ Tlie to\\-iis
are lUiberis-, the scanty remains of what was formerly a great
city, and Rnscino^, a town with Latian rights. A\^e then
come to the river Atax^ which flows from the Pyrenees, and
passes through the Eubrensian Lake*, the town of Narbo
Martins, a colony of the tenth legion, twelve miles distant
from the sea, and the rivers Arauris^ and Liria-^. The towns
are otherwise but few in number, in consequence of the
numerous lakes' which skirt the sea-shore. We have Aga-
tha^ formerly belonging to the Massilians, and the district of
the Volcae Tectosages^*^ ; and there is the spot where Ehoda",
a Ehodian colony, formerly stood, from which the river takes
its name of Ehodanus'- ; a stream by far the most fertilizing
of any in either of the Gallias. Descending from the Alps
and rushing through lake Lemanus^^, it carries along with it
the sluirHsh Arar^"*, as well as the torrents of the Isara and

in

the Druentia^^ no less rapid than itself. Its two smaller
mouths are called Libica^*^, one being the Spanish, and the

1 Probably the Tech, and the Yerdouble, which falls into the Glj.

2 Probably the present Ehie, on the Tech.

3 The present Castel Eoussillon, •* The Aude of the present day.
^ The bodies of water now called Etangs de Bages et de Sigean.

^ Now the Herault.

7 Now called the Lez, near the city of MontpeUier.

** Now called Etangs de Leucate, de Sigean, de Gruissan, de Tendrcs,
de Thau, de Magnelonne, de Perols, de Mauguio, du Repausset ; Marais
d'Escamandre, de Lemiitane et de la Souteyrane, and numerous others.

^ Now the town of Agde. Strabo also informs us that this place was
foimded by the MassHians.

^^ This people seems to have inhabited the eastern parts of the depart-
ments of r Arriege and the Haute Garonne, that of Aude, the south of
that of Tarn, and of that of Herault, except the arrondissement of Mont-
peUier.

11 Dalechamp takes this to be Eoz les Martigues ; but the locaUty is
doubtfvd. Most probably tliis is the same place that is mentioned by
Strabo as Rhoe, in conjunction with the town of Agathe or Agde, and
the Rodanusia of Stephen of Byzantium, who places it in the district of
Massiha or Marseilles.

12 Now the Rhone. i3 Now the Lake of Geneva.

!■* The modem Saone. i* Now the rivers Isere and Durance.

1^ Most probably fi'om Libici, a towni in the south of Gaul, of wliich
there are coins in existence, but notliing else seems to be known. At
the present day there are four mouths of the Rhone, the mo?t westerly
of which is called the " Dead" Rhone ; the next tlie " Lesser" Rlionc ;
the tMrd the " Old " Rhone ; and the fourth suuply the Rhone. D'Au-

176 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book III,

other tlie Metapinian moutli ; the third and largest is called
the Massiliotic^ There are some authors who state that there
was formerly a town called Heraclea^ at the mouth of the
E-hodanus or Ehone.

Beyond this are the Canals^ leading out of the Ehone, a
famous work of Caius Marius, and still distinguished by his
name ; the Lake of Mastramela', the town of Maritima' of the
Avatici, and, above this, the Stony Plains^ memorable for the

viUe considers the "Lesser" Rhone to hare been the "Spanish" mouth
of the ancients. In consequence of the overflowings of this river there is
great confusion upon tliis subject.

1 This mouth of the Rhone was much used by the Massihans for the
purposes of commerce with the interior of G-aul, and the carriage of the
supphes of tua which they obtained thence.

2 The manner in wliich Phny here expresses himself shows that he
doubts the fact of such a place having even existed ; it is mentioned by
none of the preceding geographers, and of those who followed him Stephen
of Byzantium is the only one who notices it. An inscription was found
however in the reign of Charles V. of France, in which it was stated that
Ataulphus, king of the Visigoths, selected Heraclea as his place of resi-
dence. On the faith of tliis inscription, Spon and Ducange have placed
Heraclea at the modem Saint- Grilles, and other writers at Saint-Remy,
where the inscription was found. Unfortunately, however, Messrs. Devic
and Vaissette, in then- "History of Languedoc," have proved that this
inscription is of spurious origin.

3 The "Fossae Marianse" are also mentioned by Ptolemy and Solinus ;
though they differ in the situation which they have respectively assigned
them. They were formed by Marius when advancing to dispute the
passage of the Rhone with the Cunbri, who had quitted Spain for the
purpose of passing the Pyi-enees and invading Italy, ui the year B.C. 102.
There is considerable difficulty in determining their position, but they
are supposed to have commenced at the place now called the Camp of
Marius, and to have terminated at the eastern mouth of the Rhone near
the present Aries.

* Phny is the first who mentions the name of tliis lake, though pre-
vious writers had indicated its existence. Strabo informs us that above
the mouth of the Rhone there is a large lake that commimicates with the
sea, and abounds m fish and oysters. Brotier and D'AnviUe identify it
with the present lake of Martigues or of Berre.

5 D'AnviUe takes this place to be the present town of Martigues ; Bro-
tier tlimks that it was situate on the spot now called Le Cap d'CEil,near
the town of Samt-Chamas ; and Bouche, the historian of the Province,
places it at Marignane, on the east side of the lake aheady mentioned. ^^

6 "Campi Lapidei," called by the natives at the present day "LaCrau;
probably from the same Celtic root as our word "Crags ;" though Bochart
derives it from the Hebrew, ^schylus and Hyginus speak of this com-

Chap. 5.] ACCOTJNT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 177

battles of Hercules ; the district of the Aiiatilii\ and more
inland, that of the Desuviates'-^ and tlie Cavari. Again, close
upon the sea, there is that of the Tricorii^, and inland, there
are the Tricolli"*, the Vocontii^ and the Segovellauni, and,
after them, the Allobroges".

On the coast is Massilia, a colony of Phocaean^ Greeks,
and a federate^ city ; we then have the Promontory of Zao^,
the port of Cithari'sta'", and the district of the Camatullici^' ;
then the Suelteri^-, and above them the Yerrucini^^. Again,

bat of Hercules, and Mela relates that being engaged in a mortal struggle
with Albion and G-eryon, the sons of Keptune, he invoked the aid of
Jupiter, on wliich a shower of stones fell from the heavens and destroyed
his antagonists. Those on tliis plain are said to be the reniams of the
stony shower. It is supposed by the scientific that many of these stones
are aerohtes, and that trachtion has ingeniously adapted this stor^^ to
tlieh real origin. The vicinity of Tunbridge Wells presents a somewhat
similar appearance.

1 The people probably of the site of the present isle of Camargue.

2 They probably inhabited the district south of the Durance, between
it and the Rhone.

3 They mhabited the country m which the present Avignon, Orange,
Cavaillon, and perhaps Carpentras are situate.

■* They are thought by Hardouin to have dwelt in the vicinity of the
present tov^-n of Talard in the department of the Ilautes Alpes.

s They inliabited the eastern part of the departments of the Drome and
the Yaucluse.

^ Their territory comprehended the southern part of the department
of the Am, the department of the Isere, the canton of Geneva, and part
of Savoy.

7 It was said to have been colonized from Phocfca, a town of Ionia in
Asia Minor. Lucan in his Third Book more than once falls into the
error of supposing that it was colonized from Phocis in Greece.

8 We learn from Justin, B. xliii., that this privilege, as well as others,
and a seat at the public shows, were granted to the MassHians b\ the
Roman Ser ato, in return for their sympathy and assistance alter the city
had been taken and plundered by the Gauls.

9 According to D' Anville the present Cap de I'Aigrc, though Manncrt
takes it to be the Cap de la Croisette.

10 D' Anville takes this to be the same as the present Port de la Ciotat.
" Probably occupying the south-east of the department of the Var.

It is supposed by Ilardoiiin that the village of Ramatuelle, near the coast,
Gouth of the Giilf of Grimaud, represents the ancient name ; and D' An-
ville and other writers are of the same oi)inion.

12 Probalily the country around the modem Brignole and Draguignau
was inliabited by them.

^ They inhahited Verignon and Barjols in the southern part of the
department of the Var.

yOL. I. N

178 plint's KATUEAL HISTOKT. [Book III.

on the coast, ^e find Atlienopolis\ belonging to the Massi-
lians. Forum Julii^ Octavanorfim, a colony, which is also
called Paeensis and Classica, the river Argenteus^ which
flows through it, the district of the Oxubii"* and that of the Li-
gauni^ ; above whom are the Suetri", the Quariates^ and the
Adunicates^. On the coast we have Antipolis^, a town with
Latian rights, the district of the Deciates, and the river Varus,
which proceeds from Mount Cema, one of the Alps.

The colonies in the interior are Arelate Sextanorum^",
Beterrae Septimanorum^\ and Arausio^^ Secundanorum ; Ya-
lentia^^ in the territory of the Cavari, and Vienna^^ in that of
the Allobroges. The towns that enjoy Latian rights are Aquaa
Sextise^^ in the territory of the Saluvii, Avenio^*^ in that of the

^ D'Anville takes this to be the place called Agai, between Frejus and
La jSTapoule : but in so doing he disregards the order in wliich they are
given by Pliny.

2 " The Forum of Julius." Now Frejus. As its name implies, it was a
colony of the Eighth Legion. It was probably called ' Paeensis,' on some
occasion when peace had happily been made with the original mhabitants,
and ' Classica' from the fleet being stationed there by Augustus.

3 Still known as the Argens, from the silvery appearance of the water.
It has choked up the harbour with sand, in which probably the ships
of Augustus rode at anchor.

'^ They inhabited the coast, in the vicinity of the modern Cannes.

5 They are supposed to have inhabited the country of Grrasse, in the
south-east of the department of the Var.

^ According to Ptolemy they had for then- capital the town of Salinse ;
whicli some take to be the modern Saluces, others CasteUane, and others
agaui Seillans, according to Holstein and D'Anville.

7 D'Anville tliinks that they hved in the valley of Queyras, in the de-
partment of the Hautcs Alpes, having a town of the same name.

^ The Adunicates are supposed by Hardomn to have inhabited the
department of the Basses Alpes, between the towns of Seuez and Digne.

" The modern Antibes. Mount Cema is the present Monte- Cemehone.

10 "Arelate of the Sixth Legion," a mihtary colony; now the city of
Aries. It is first mentioned by Coesar, who had some ships built there
for the siege of Massiha or Marseilles. It was made a mihtary colony in
the time of Augustus,

11 " Beterree of the Seventh Legion." The modern town of Beziers.

12 " Arausio of the Second Legion," now Orange, a town in the depart-
ment of Vaucluse.

1*^ Now Valence, in the department of the Drome.
!■* Now Yienne, in the department of the Isere.
^* Aix, in the department of the Bouches du Rhone.
*® Avignon, in the Vaucluse.

Chap. 5.] ACCOUIS'T OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 179

Cavari, Apta Julia^ in tliat of the Yolgientes, Alebece- in that
of the Reii Apollinares, Alba^ in that of the Helvi, and An-
gnsta'* in that of the Tricastini, Anatilia, Aeria^, the Bor-
manni", the Comaci, Cabellio^, Carcasnm^ in tl\e territory of
the Yolcae Tectosages, Cessero^, Carpentoracte ^" in the terri-
tory of the Memini, the Cenicenses^', the Canibolectri^'^, sur-
iiamed tlie Atlantici, Forum'^ Yoconi, Grhuunn Livi*"*, the
Lutevani^^, also called the I'oroneronienses^'', Nemausum^^'in

^ Apt, in the department of Yaucluse.

- Kicz, in the department of the Basses Alpes.

^ The modern Alps, near Yiviers, is probably biult on the site of this
town. The text sho^^'S that it was ditierent from Augusta, probably the
Alba Augusta mentioned by Ptolemy, thougli D'AnvLUe supposes them
to have been the same place.

■* Some \vi'itei*s take this place to be the present Saint-Paul-Trois-Gia-
teaux, in the department of the Drome.

' Probably so called fi'om its lofty position, and supposed by D'Auville
to have been situate on the modern Mont Ventoux, or " Windy Moun-
tain." Other ^Titers place it at La Croix Haute, near the city of Avignon.

^ There is a village in the department of the Yar, six leagues from
Toulon, called Bormes, not improbably from these people.

^ The modern Cavaillon, in the department of the Yaucluse.

^ 'Sow Carcassone, in the department of the Aude,

^ Probably Saint Tibery, on the river Heraidt.

^^ Now Carpentras. Ptolemy also makes mention of the Memini.

^* Probably situate on the river Ccenus of Ptolemy, between the eastern
mouth of the Ehone and Massilia. Probably the name m Phny should
be " Coenienses."

'- Walckenaer places this people in the vicinity of Cambo, iii the arron-
dissement of Bayonne, in the depai'tment of the Basses Pyrenees.

^^ In names similar to this, as Festus remarks, " Forum" has the mean-
ing of " Market ;" nmch as that word is used as a compound in our
names, such as IMarket Drayton, &c. Bouche thinks that by this place
is meant the modern Le Canct : but D'Anville takes it to be Gonl'aron,
a corruption, he thinks, of Yoconfaron from the Latin name.

^* The site of Glanum was about a mile to tlie south of the village
of Saint Remi, between Cavaillon and Aries. On the spot there are the
remains of a Roman mausoleum and a triumphal arch.

^•' The people of Luteva, now Loileve, in the department of the Herault.

^'^ " The people of Forum Neronis," which place lias been supposed by
some to have been the same with Carpentoracte : D'Anville supposes For-
calquier to liave been Forum JSeronis, while Walckenaer takes Momas to
liave been that place. From the text it would appear to liave been
identical with Luteva.

^7 The modern xSismes, which in its ruins contains abundant marks of
its ancient splendour. The family of the .:\jitouiues came from tins place.

K 2

180 plint's natural iiistoey. [Book III.

the territory of tlie Arecomici, PiscenaD^ the Euteni"^, tlie
Sanagenses^, the Tolosani'* in the territory of the Tectosages
on the confines of Aquitania, the Tasconi°, the Tarusconi-
enses*', the Unibranici'', Vasio** and Lueus Angusti^, the two
capitals of the federate state of the Vocontii. There are also
nineteen towns of less note, as well as twenty-four belonging
to the people of Nemausum. To this list ^'^ the Emperor Galba
added tw^o tribes dwelling among the Alps, the Avantici^^
and the Bodiontici, to whom belongs the town of Dinia'^.
According to Agrippa the length of the province of Glallia
Narbonensis is 370 miles, and its breadth 248^^.

CHAP. 6. (5.) — or ITALY.

'Next comes Italy, and we begin with the Ligui'es'^, after

The remains of its aqueduct stL'^ sui-vive, containing three rows of arches,
one above the other, and 180 feet ui heigiit.

1 The people of the present Pezenas, in the department of the Herault.

2 Their cliief towia is supposed to have been Albiga, now Albi, in the
department of Tarn.

3 The inhabitants of the present Senez in the Basses Alpes. De la
Saussaye says that their coins read ' Samnagenses,' and not ' Sanagenses,'
and that they inhabited Senas, a town in the vicinity of Aix.

^ Their cliief town was Tolosa, now Toulouse, in the department of the
Haute- Garonne.

^ They probably lived in the vicinity of the present Montauban, in the
department of the Tarn et Graronne.

^ Probably the inhabitants of the site of the modern town of Taraecon.
There is, however, considerable doubt as to these two names.

7 Poinsuaet tliinks that they occupied Vabres, a place situate in the
south of the department of Aveyron.

^ Now Vaison, in the department of Yaucluse.

9 " The Grove of Augustus." This town appears to have been over-
flowed by the river Drvuna, which formed a lake on its site. Its remains
Trere stiU to be seen in the lake in modern thnes, and from it the to\ n
on the margin of the lake takes its name of Le Luc.

^0 Under the name " formula" Pliny perhaps ailvides to the official list
of the Roman governmeiit, which he had consvilted for the purposes of
accuracy.

^^ Bouche places the site of this people at the vUlage of Avangon, be-
tween Chorges and Gap, in the department of the Hautes Alpes.

^2 The present town of Digne, in the department of the Basses Alpes.

^3 It is not known from what points these measurements of om* author
arj taken.

^* The modern names of these localities will form the subject of con-

Chap. 6.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 181

whom we have Etniria, Umbria, Latiiim, Avhere the mouths of
tlie Tiber are situate, aud Eome, the Capital of the world,
sixteen miles distant from the sea. We then oouie to the
coasts of the Volsci and of Campania, and the districts of
Picenum, of Lucania, and of Bruttium, where Italy extends
the farthest in a southerly direction, and projects into the
[two] seas with the chain of the Alps', which tliere forms
pretty nearly the shape of a crescent. Leading Bruttium
we come to the coast of [Magna] Graecia, tiien the Salentini,
the Pediculi, the Apuli, the Peligni, the Frentani, the Mar-
rucini, the Vestini, the Sabini, the Picentes, the Galli, the
Umbri, the Tusci, the Veneti, the Carni, the lapydes, the
Histri, and the Liburni.

1 am by no means unaware that I might be justly accused
of ingratitude and indolence, were I to describe thus briefly
and in so cursory a manner the land which is at once the
foster-child- and the parent of all lands; chosen by the pro-
vidence of the Gods to render even heaven itself more glori-
ous'', to unite the scattered empires of the earth, to bestow a
polish upon men's manners, to unite the discordant and un-
couth dialects of so many different nations by the powerful
ties of one common language, to confer the enjoyments of
discourse and of civilization upon mankind, to become, in
short, the mother-country of all nations of the Earth.

But how shall I commence this undertaking ? So vast is
the ninnber of celebrated places (what man living could
eiumierate them all?), and so great the renown attached
to each individual nation and subject, that 1 feel myself quite

sidcration when we proceed, in c. 7, to a more minute description of
Italy.

^ This passage is somewhat confused, and may possibly be in a corrupt
state. He here speaks of the Apennine Alps. By the "lunata juga"
he means the two pi-omontorics or capes, which extend east and west
re<]iectively.

2 This seems to be the meaning of " alumna," and not " nurse" or
"foster-mother," as Ajaisson's translation lias it. Pliny probably m\-
plies by this antithesis that Rome has been " twice blessed," in receiving
the bounties of all nations of the world, tjnd in lieing able to bestow a
connnensurate retiu'n. Compared whh tliis itiea, "at once the nui'se and
niotlier of the world" would be tame indeed!

3 By adding its dt-ified emperors to tlie number of its divinities. After
what Pliny has said in his Second Book, tliis looks very much hke pure
adulation.

182 pliny's natural history. [Book III.

at a loss. The city of Eome alone, which forms a portion
of it, a face well worthy of shoulders so beauteous, how
large a work would it require for an appropriate description !
And then too the coast of Campania, taken singly by itself!
so blest with natural beauties and opulence, that it is evident
that when nature formed it she took a delight in accumulating
all her blessings in a single spot — how am I to do justice to
it ? And then the climate, with its eternal freshness and so
replete with health and vitality, the sereneness of the weather
so enchanting, the fields so fertile, the hill sides so sunny,
the thickets so free from every danger, the groves so cool and
shady, the forests with a vegetation so varying and so luxu-
riant, the breezes descending from so many a mountain, the
fruitfulness of its grain, its vines, and its olives so transcend-
ent ; its flocks with fleeces so noble, its bulls with necks so
sinewy, its lakes recurring in never-ending succession, its
numerous rivers and springs which refresh it with their waters
on every side, its seas so many in number, its havens and the
bosom of its lands opening everywhere to the commerce of
all the world, and as it were eagerly stretching fortli into
the very midst of the waves, for the purpose of aiding as it
were the endeavours of mortals !

Por the present I forbear to speak of its genius, its man-
ners, its men, and the nations whom it has conquered by
eloquence and force of arms. The very Greeks themselves,
a race fond in the extreme of expatiating on their own praises,
have amply given judgment in its favour, when they named
but a small part of it ' Magna GrseciaV' But we must be
content to do on this occasion as we have done in our de-
scription of the heavens ; we must only touch upon some of
these points, and take notice of but a few of its stars. I
only beg my readers to bear in mind that I am thus hasten-

^ Or "Great Greece." Tlais is a poor and frivolous argument used by
Pliny in support of his laudations of Italy, seeing that in all probabi-
lity it was not the people of Greece who gave this name to certain cities
founded by Greek colonists on the Tarentine Gulf, in the south of Italy ;
but either the ItaUan tribes, who in their simphcity admired their splen-
dour and magnificence, or else tlie colonists themselves, who, in using
the name, showed that they clung with fondness to the remembrance of
their mother-country ; wliile at the same time the epithet betrayed some
vanity and ostentation in wisliing thus to show their superiority to the
people of their mother-country.

Chap. 6.] ACCOrNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 183

ing on for the purpose of giving a general description of
everything tliat is known to exist tlironghout the wliole earth.
I may premise by observing that this hind very much re-
sembles in shape an oak leaf, being much longer tlian it is
broad ; towards the top it incHnes to the left', wldle it termi-
nates in the form of an Amazonian buckler"*', in w hich the spot
at the central projection is the place called Cocinthos, while it
sends forth two horns at the end of its crescent-shaped bays,
Leucopetra on the right and Lacinium on the left. It ex-
tends in length 1020 miles, if we measure from the foot of
the Alps at Prsetoria Augusta, through the city of Home and
Capua to the town of Khegium, which is situate on the
shoulder of the Peninsula, just at the bend of the neck as it
were. The distance would be much greater if measured to
Lacinium, but in that case the line, being draw^n obliquely,
would incline too much to one side. Its breadth is variable ;
being 410 miles between the two seas, the Lower and ihe
Upper^, and the rivers Varus andArsia"* : at about the middle,
and in the vicinity of the city of Rome, from the spot where
the river Aternus^ flows into the Adriatic sea, *:i tlie mouth
of the Tiber, the distance is 136 miles, and a little less from
Castrum-novum on the Adriatic sea to Alsium" on the Tus-
can ; but in no place does it exceed 200 miles in breadth.

^ The comparison of its shape to an oak leaf Bsenis rather fanciful ;
more common-place observers have comj)ared it to a boot : by the top
(cacumen) he seems to mean the soutliern part of Calabria about iJrun-
disium and Tarentum ; which, to a person facing the south, would in-
cUne to the coast of Epirus on the left hand.

- The ' Parma' or shiold here alluded to, would be one shaped like a
crescent, Avith the exception tliat the inner or concave side wouUl be
formed of two crescents, the extremities of whicli join at the central jiro-
jection. He says that Cocmthos (now Capo di Stilo) would in such
case form the central projection, while Lacinium (now Capo deUe Colonnc)
■would form the horn at the extreme right, and Leucopetra (now Capo
deU' Armi) the horn on the extreme left.

3 The Tuscan or Etrurian sea, and the Adriatic.

■* The Varus, as already mcntionod, was in Gallia Narbonensis, while the
Arsia, now the Arsa, is a small river of Istria, which became the boundary
between Italy and lllyricum, when Istria was annexed by order of Au-
gustus to the former country. It flows into the Flanaticus Sinus, now
Golfo di Quamero, on the eastern coast of Istria, beyond the town of
Castel Nuovo, formerly Nesactium. * Now the Pescara.

^ Now Palo, a city on the coast of Etruria, eighteen miles from Portua
Augusti, at the mouth of the Tiber.

184 plikt's natueal history. [Book III.

The circuit of the whole, from the Yarus to the Arsia, is 3059
miles ^

As to its distance from the countries that surround it —
Istria and Liburnia are, in some places', 100 miles from it,
and E})irus and lUyricum 50 ; Africa is less than 200, as we
are informed by M. Varro ; Sardinia^ is 120, Sicily IJ, Corsica
less than 80, and Issa"* 50. It extends into the two seas
towards the southern parts of the heavens, or, to speak with
more minute exactness, between the sixth^ hour and the first
hour of the winter solstice.

"We will now describe its extent and its different cities ;
in doing which, it is necessary to premise, that we shall fol-
low the arrangement of the late Emperor Augustus, and
adopt the division which he made of the whole of Italy into
eleven districts ; taking them, however, according to their
order on the sea-line, as in so hurried a detail it would not be
possible otherwise to describe each city in juxtaposition with
the others in its vicinity. And for the same reason, in de-
scribing the interior, I shall follow the alphabetical order
which has been adopted by that Emperor, pointing out the
colonies of which he has made mention in his enumeration.
Nor is it a very easy task to trace their situation and origin ;
for, not to speak of others, the Ingaunian Ligurians have had
lands granted to them as many as thirty different times.

CHAP. 7. or THE NINTH^ EEGIOTf OF ITALY.

To begin then with the river Yarns ; we have the town of
Nicsea'', founded by the Massilians, the river Paulo ^, the Alps

1 This distance is overstated : the circuit is in reality about 2500 miles.

2 For instance, from Pola to Ravenna, and from ladera to Ancona.

3 Sardinia is in no part nearer to Italy than 140 miles.

"* Issa, now Lissa, is an island of the Adinatic, off the coast of Libur-
nia ; it is not less than eighty miles distant from the nearest part of the
coast of Italy.

° That is to say, the south, which was so called by the Homans : the
meaning being that Italy extends in a south-easterly direction.

^ Italy was divided by Augustus into eleven districts ; the ninth of
which nearly corresponded to the former repubhc of Genoa

7 The modern Nizza of the Italians, or Nice of the French.

8 Now the Paghone,

Chap. 7.] ACCorxT or couktries, etc. 185

and the Alpine tribes, distinguished by various names\ but
more especially the Capillati% Cemenelio^ a town of the state
of the Yediantii, the port of Hercules Mona^cus'*, and the
Ligurian coast. The more celebrated of the Ligurian tribes
beyond tlie Alps are the Salluvii, the Deciates, and the
Oxubii^ ; on this side of the Alps, the Yeneni^ and the Ya-
gienni, Avho are derived from the Caturiges^, the Statielli^^
the Bimbelli^ the Magelli, tlie Euburiates, the Casmonates^",
the Yeleiates", and the peoples whose towTis we shall describe
as lying near the adjoining coast. The river Eutuba^", the
town of Albiuni lutemelium^^, the river Merula'"*, the town
of Albium Ingaunum^^, the port of Yadum Sabatiorum^'', the
river Porcifera^', the town of Grenua, the river Feritor^^, the
Portus Delphini^^ Tigullia'-^", Tegesta'^ of the Tigullii, and
the river Macra'-^, which is the boundary of Liguria.

^ Livy mentions four of these tribes, the Cclelates, the Cerdiciates,
the Apuani, and the Friniatcs.

2 Or " Long-liaii-ed." Lucan, B. i. 1. 442, 3, refers to this characteristic
of the Alpine Ligurians :

Et nunc tonse Lignr, quondam per colla decora
Crinibus effusis toti pra?late Comataj.

3 It is probably the r\iins of this place that are to be seen at the pre-
sent day at Cimiez in the vicinity of jS'ice. ^ The modem Monaco.

^ These tribes have been ah-eady mentioned in c. 5, as belonging to the
province of Gallia j^arbonensis.

s It is supposed that they dwelt near the present Yinadio in Piedmont.

7 It is supposed that they inhabited the vicinity of the present town of
Chorges, between Embrun and Gap.

8 They probably dwelt near the modem town of ^Vtontserrat.

9 They probably dwelt near the modern Biela, eight leagues Irom Yer-
ceil in Piedmont.

10 Some writers place them near the modern city of Casale.

" Their locahty is supposed by some writers to be near the present
Cortemigha, five leagues fi-om the town of Alba.

12 IS^ow the Koya, flowing between very high banks. — Lucan, B. ii.
1. 422, speaks of the Rutuba as " Cavus," "flowing in deep cavities."

13 Probably the present A^intimiglia. ^* The modern Arozia.
15 The present town of Albenga. — Livy, B. xxix. c. 5, calls the inha-
bitants AJbingauni. '^ Now called Vai or Ye, and Savona.

17 The modem Bisagna, which waters Genua, the modeni Genoa.

18 Now the Lavagna, which also washes Genoa.

19 "Tlie Port of the Dolphin ;" now Porto Fino.

20 Probably the ruins called those of Tregesa or Trigoso are those of
Ti"-ullia. 21 Now Sestri di Levante. ^ The modern Magra.

186 plint's natural histoet. [Book III.

Extending behind all the before-mentioned places are the
Apennines, the most considerable of all the mountains of
Italy, the chain of which extends unbroken from the
Alps^ to the Sicilian sea. On the other side of the Apen-
nines, towards the Padus^, the richest river of Italy, the
whole country is adorned with noble towns ; Libarna^, the
colony of Dertona"*, Iria^ Barderate^, Industria'', PoUentia^,
Carrea surnamed Potential, Foro Pulvi or Yalentinum^",
Augusta" of the A^agienni, Alba Pompeia^^, Asta^^, and
Aquae Statiellorum^"*. This is the ninth region, according to
the arrangement of Augustus. The coast of Liguria extends
211 miles ^^, between the rivers Varus and Macra.

CHAP. 8. THE SEVENTH EEGION OF ITALY.

!N^ext to this comes the seventh region, in which is Etruria,

* Of which they were considered as a chain, and called the Apennine
Alps. ^ Now the Po.

3 According to D'AnviUe, now Castel Arqua.

* Now Tortona. It was a city of importance, and there are con-
siderable ruins still in existence.

5 The modern Voghera, upon the river Staffora.

6 Probably the present Yerrua.

7 Called by the Ligiirians Bodincomagus, by the Romans Industria.
Its remains are to be found at Monteu di Po, a few miles below Cherasso,
on the right bank of the river.

^ The modern PoUenza, a small town on the river Tenaro near Alba.

9 Its site has been placed at Chieri near Turin, and at Carru on the
Tanaro, a few miles south of Bene, which is perhaps the most probable.

^0 The modern Valenza.

^1 Placed by D'AnviUe at Yico near Mondovi, and by other writers at
Carmagnole and Saluzzo : but Durandi has shown that the ruins still to
be seen near Bene in Piedmont are those of Augusta Vagiennorum. Bene
is supposed to be a corruption of Bagienna, the name of the town ia the
middle ages. The name of the Vagienni also probably sm*vives in that
of Viozenna, an obscure place in that vicinity.

^2 Still called Alba ; a town near the northern foot of the Apennines.
It probably had its appellation from Cn. Pompeius Strabo, the father of
Pompey the Great, who conferred many privileges on the Cisalpine Gauls.
It was the birth-place of the Emperor Helvius Pertinax.

^3 The modem Aste.

** The modem Acqui, so called from its mineral springs. It is again
mentioned by Phny in B. XXXI. Numerous remains of the ancient
town have been discovered.

*5 Ansart observes that this measurement is nearly correct.

Chap. 8.] ACCOUNT OF COTTNTEIES, ETC. 187

a district wliich begins at the river Macra, and has often
changed its name. At an early period the Unibri were ex-
pelled from it by the Pelasgi ; and these again by the Lydians,
who from a king of theirs^ were named Tyrrheni, but after-
wards, from the rites observed in their sacrifices, were called,
in the Greek language', Tusci. The first to\\Ti in Etruria is
Luna^, with a noble harbour, then the colony of Luca"*,
at some distance from the sea, and nearer to it again the
colony of Pisae', between the rivers Auser^ and Arnus^, which
owes its origin to Pelops and the Pisans^, or else to the Teu-
tani, a people of Greece, Xext is Yada^ Yolaterrana, then
the river Cecinna^", and Populonium" formerly belonging
to the Etrurians, the only town they had on this coast.
JS^ext to these is the river Prile^', then the Umbro^^, which is
navigable, and where the district of Umbria begins, the port
of Telamon^^, Cosa'^ of the Volcientes, founded by the Roman

^ For an account of tliis see Herodotus, B. i. c. 94, Tacitus, Ann. B. iv.
c. 55, and Velleius Patercvilus, B. i. c. 1. These writers all agree as to the
fact of the migration of a colony of Lydians under the conduct of Tyr-
rhenus to the part of Italy afterwards called Etruria. This subject how-
ever, as well as the migrations of the Pelasgi, is involved in the greatest
obscurity.

2 From the Greek verb Oveiv " to sacrifice," he imphes : — from their
custom of frequently sacrificing, says Servius, on the Xth Book of
the ^neid. Dionysius of Hahcamassus says that they were from their
frequent sacrifices called OvoffKooi. These are probably fanciful deriva-
tions ; but there is no doubt that the people of Etruria were for several
centuries the instructors of the Romans m the arts of sacrifice, augury,
and divination.

3 The ruins of Luna, which was destroyed by the Normans in the
middle ages, are still visible on the banks of the Magra. The modern
name of the port is Gollb deUa Spezzia.

■* The modem city of Lucca has its site and name. — Livy, B. xli. c. 13,
informs us that this colony was founded m tlic year of the city 576, during
the Consulship of Claudius Pulcher and Sempronius Grracchus.

5 The modem city of Pisa. See Virgil, B. x. 1. 179, as to the origin
of this place. ® The modem Serchio, ^ Now the Amo.

^ The people of Pisa or Pisse, a city of EUs in the Peloponnesus.

^ Now Vadi, a small village on the sca-sliore.

^° Still caUed the Cecina. It entered the Tyrrhenian sea, near the
port of Yada Volatcrrana just mentioned.

11 The present Piorabino is supposed to have arisen from the ruins of
this place. i* Now the Bruno. i^ The modem Ombroue.

1^ Now known as Telamone Vecchio.

1* There are ruins near lake Orbitello, which bear the name of Cosa :

1S8 PLITq-y'S TTATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book III.

people, Grravise?e\ Castrum novum^, Pyrgi^, the river Csere-
tanus^, and Cjere^ itself, four miles inland, called Agylla by
the Pelasgi who founded it, Alsium^, Fregenae'^, and the river
Tiber, 284^ miles from the Macra.

In the interior we have the colonies of Falisci^, founded by
the Argives, according to the account of Cato^°, and sur-
uamed Falisci Etruscorum, Lucus Feroniae", E-usellana, the
Senienses^^, and Sutrina^^. The remaining peoples are the

Ansedonia was said to have risen from its ruins, and in its turn fallen to
decay.

1 Two localities have been mentioned as the site of Grraviscse, at both
of which there are ancient remains : one on the right bank of the Marta,
about a nule from its mouth, and the other on the sea-coast at a spot
called Santo Clementino or Le Sahne, a mile south of the mouth of the
Marta. Probably the latter are the remains of Graviscse, although Den-
nis (Etruria, i. pp. 387-395) mchnes to be in favour of the former.

2 The modern Torre Chiaruccia, five miles south of Civita Vecchia.

3 The modern Torre di Santa Severa. ^ Now the Vaccina.

* The remains of this once powerful city are marked by the village of
Cervetri or Old Caere. According to Strabo it received "its name from
the Greek word x<^~^P^ "had!" with wliich the inhabitants saluted the
Tp'rhenian or Lychan invaders. It was to this place that the Romans
sent their most precious sacred relics when then- city was taken by the
G-auls. Its most interesting remains are the sepulchres, of which an ac-
coimt is given in Dennis's Etruria.

^ Its remains are to be seen in the vicinity of the modem village of Palo.

7 Its site is supposed to have been at the spot now called the Ton*e di
Maccarese, midway between Palo and Porto, and at the mouth of the
river Arone. Its situation was marshy and imhealthy.

s This exceeds the real distance, which is about 230 miles.

9 The site of the Etruscan Falerii or Fahsci is probably occupied by the
present Civita Castellana ; while that of the Roman city of the same
name, at a chstance of four mdes, is marked by a single house and the ruins
of a church, called Santa Maria di Palleri. The ancient city was cap-
tured by the Romans imder Camillus,

1" In his book of " Origines," wliich is now lost,

1^ "The Grove of Feronia." The town was so called from the grove
of that Sabine goddess there situate. In the early times of Rome there'
was a great resort to tliis spot not only for religious pm'poses, but for
those of trade as well. Its traces are stiU to be seen at the village of Saint
Orestes, near the south-east extremity of the hiU there, which is still called
Felonica. Tliis is in southern Etruria, but Ptolemy mentions another
place of the same name in the north-west extremity of Etrui'ia, between
the Arnus and the Macra.

^2 Tlie people of the spot now called Siena, in Tuscany.

^3 Now Sutri, on the river Pozollo.

Chap. 8.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 189

Arretiui^ Yeteres, tlie Arretini Fidentes, the Arretini
Julienses, tlie Amitinenses, the Aqiienses, surnained Tau-
rini', the Bleraui^, the Cortoueuses", the Capenates', the
Clusini Novi, the Clusini Veteres^, the Florentini^, situate on
the stream of the Arnus, Faesulse^, Ferentinum^, Fescennia^'^,

^ The people of Arretium, one of the most powerful cities of Etruria.
The thi'ee tribes or peoples here mentioned probably did not occupy di-
stinct towns, but constituted separate communities or mimicipal bodies,
"being distinct colonies or bodies of settlers. The Julienses were the
colonists settled there by Augustus. The Fidentes had probably settled
at an earher period. The modern Arezzo has risen on the remains of the
Roman city, wliile the remains of the Etruscan city are pointed out on
an elevated spot called Poggio di San Cornelho, two or three miles south-
east of Ai'ezzo. Many valuable rehca of antiquity have been discovered
here. The family of Maecenas sprang from this place.

- The people of Aquae Tauri, a watering-place of Etruria, situate about
three miles north of the present Civita Veccliia, and now called Bagni di
Ferrata. The baths are described by Rutihus m his Itinerary, who calls
them Tauri Thennse (the Bvdl's Baths), and ascribes then* name to the
fact of then* havuig been accidentally discovered by a bull.

3 The people of Blera, on the site of the modern village of Bieda, about
twelve miles south of Viterbo. Numerous remains of Etruscan antiquity
have been found here. — See Dennis's Etruria, vol. i. pp. 260-272.

"* The people of Cortona, a powerful city of Etrm-ia, whicli is stiU
known by the same name. It was probably in the nmuber of the cities
of Etrm-ia that were ravaged by Sylla, and then rccolonized by him.
Numerous remains of Etruscan antiquity have been discovered tliere.

^ The people of Capena, an ancient and important city of Etrmna,
which, after long opposing the inroads of the Romans, was reduced to
submission shortly after the fall of Veu, B.C. 393. It existed and held
municipal rank til the time of the Emperor Am-ehan, after which aU
traces of its name or existence were lost, till 1750, when Galctti fixed its
site with great accuracy at Civitucola or San Martino, about 2-i miles
from Rome. It was situate on the banks of a small river now called the
Grammiccia, and in its territory was the celebrated ' Lucus Feroniae' pre-
viously mentioned.

^ The new and old colonists of the city of Clusiiun, who probably en-
joyed distinct municipal riglits. The modern Chiusi stands on its site.

'' The modem Fiorenze or Florence occupies the site of then* city.

8 The village of Fiesole stands on its site. Extensive remams of the
ancient city are still to be found.

3 The site of Ferentinum is now uninhabited, but is still known by the
name of Ferento. Tlie rivers of the ancient city are very considerable ;
it was finally destroyed by tlie peo])le of Viterbo in the 12th ceiitury.

^^ An ancient town of Ktruria near Falisci. Cluver thinks that it was
Bituatc at Gallese, a village nine niUes north of Civita Castellana ; but
Dennis considers its site to have been between Borghetto ou the Tiber

190 plits^t's KATIJEAL HISTOET. [Book III.

Hortanum^ Herbaniim^, Nepeta^, Novem Pagi*, the Clau-
dian praefecture of Forocloclium"^, Pistoriuin^, Perusia^, the
Suanenses, the Saturnini, formerly called the Aiirinini, the
Subertani''^, the Statones^, the Tarqiiiiiienses^'^, the Tuscaiii-
enses", the Yetulonienses^-, the Veientaiii^^, the Yesentini^^,
t]ie A^olaterrani^^, the Voleentini^'^, surnamed Etrusci, and
the Volsinienses^''. In the same district the territories of

and Corchiano, where there are considerable remains of an Etruscan city.
The spot is named San Silvestro, from a ruined church there.

^ Or Horta ; the spot now called Orte, where numerous Etruscan re-
mains ar-e found ; it probably derived its name from the Etruscan god-
dess Ilorta. Hortanum, the name given to it by Pliny, is perhaps an
adjective form of the name, "oppidum" being understood.
• 2 Possibly the same as ' Urbs Vetus,' on the side of which the present
Orvieto stands. ^ Now Nepi, near the river Pozzolo.

* According to Hardouui the site of the Novem Pagi, or nine Boroughs,
is occupied by the modern II Mignone, near Civita Yeccliia.

^ Its site is generally supposed to have been at Oriuolo, about five miles
north of Bracciano ; but Dennis informs us that there are no ancient
remains at that place. Being a praefecture it may have consisted of only
a number of httle villages, vuiited in one jm-isdiction.

^ The modern Pistoia stands on its site. '^ ISTow Perugia.

s Supposed by Hardoum to have hihabited the site of the modern
Sovrctto.

9 Probably situate in the modern dvichy of Castro.

10 The people of Tarquinii near Roine. the head of the Etruscan con-
federation. It was here that Deraaratus the Corinthian, the father of
Tarquinius Priscus, settled. It was deserted by its inhabitants in the
eighth or ninth century, who founded the town of Corneto on a hill
opposite to it. The ruins are known as Tm*cliina, a corrviption of the
ancient name.

1^ The site of their town is probably marked by the modern ToscaneUa.

^ The ruins of their town still retain somewhat of tlieu' ancient name
in that of " VetuhaJ'

1^ The people of the powerful city of Veil, subdued by Camillus. Its
ruins have been discovered in the vicinity of the viUage of Isola Farnese.

i"* Their town stood on the site of the present Bisontia.

1^ The people of Volaterrse, the present Volterra, one of the twelve cities
of the Etruscan Confederation. It was for a time the residence of the
kings of Lombardy. I'he modem tovra covers only a smaU portion of
the area of the ancient city, of which tlu're are some interesting remains.

^^' The people of Volci or Yulci, of which the ruins bear the same name.
Its sepul(;hres have produced vast treasures of ancient art.

^^ The people of Yolsinii or Vulsinil, now called Bolsena. This was
one of the most ancient and powerful of the twelve cities of the Etruscan
confederation. On tlieir subjugation by the Romans the Etruscan city
was destroyed, and its inhabitants were compelled to settle on a less de-

Chap. 9.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 191

Crustumerium' and Caletra^ retain the names of the ancient
towns.

CHAP. 9. — THE FIEST EEGIOX OF ITALY* ; THE TIBER ; EOME.

The Tiber or Tiberis, formerly called Thybri.s, and pre-
viously Albula'', flows down from nearly the central part of
the chain of the Apenuinen, in the territory of the Arretini.
It is at first small, and only navigable by means of sluices,
in which the water is dammed up and then discharged, in the
game manner as the Timia'^ and the Glanis, which flow into
it ; for which purpose it is found necessary to collect the water
for nine days, unless there should happen to be a fall of rain.
And even then, the Tiber, by reason of its rugged and uneven
cliannel, is really more suitable for navigation by rafts than
by vessels, for any great distance. It winds along for a
course of 150 miles, passing not far from Tifernum^', Perusia,
and Ocriculum^, and dividing Etruria from the Umbri'' and
tlie Sabiid'-*, and then, at a distance of less than sixteen

finsible site. The new city was the birth-place of Sejanus, the worthless
lavoiunte of Tiberius. Of the ancient city there are scarcely any remains.

' Called also Crusturneria, Cru.stumiuni, and Crustuniinium. It was
a niy of Latium on the borders of the Sabine country, and was subdued
by J{oniulu«, though it afterwards appears as independent in the tirce of
Tarquinius Priscus. The territory was noted for its fertility. The exact
site of the city is unknown ; a place called Marcigliana Vecchia, about
nine miles from Rome, seems the most probable.

^ The site of Caletra is quite unknown. It was situate at some point
iji the present valley of the Albegna.

•* The First Region extended from the Tiber to the Gulf of Salemum,
bring bounded in the interior by the Apennines. It consisted of ancient
Latium and Campania, comprising the modem Campagna di Roma, and
the provinces of the kingdom of Naples.

^ Livy, B. i. c. 3, and OvifL, Fasti, B. iii. 1. 389, inform us tliat the
name of Albula was clianged into TiberLs in consequence of king Tiberinua
biiiig accidentally drowned in it.

£• Still known by that name. The Glanis is called la Chiana.

'"' According to U'Anville, now known as Citta di Castello.

7 A municipal town of Umbria, situate near the confluence of the
rivers !Nar and Tiber, and on the Flaminian Way. There are the ruins
of an aqueduct, an amphitheatre, and some temples, now the modem
Ot ricoli.

^ The territory of Umbria extended from the left bank of the Tiber,
near its rise, to the Adriatic.

^ The Sabines occupied the left bank of the Tiber from the Umbri

192 PLrS'T's XAiriiAL HISTOET. [Book III.

miles from tlie city, separating the territory of Veil from
that of Crustiiminiun, and afterwards that of the Fidenates
and of Latium from Yaticanimi.

Below its union with the Grianis from Arretinum the Tiber
is swollen bv two and forty streams, particularly the Xar^
and the Anio, which last is also naMigable and shuts in
Latium at the back ; it is also increased by the numerous
aqueducts and springs which are conveyed to the City. Here
it becomes navigable by vessels of any burden which may come
up from the Italian sea ; a most tranquil dispenser of the
produce of all parts of the earth, and peopled and embellished
along its banks with more villas than nearly all the other
rivers of the world taken together. And yet there is no
river more circumscribed than it, so close are its banks shut
in on either side ; but still, no resistance does it offer, although
its waters frequently rise with great suddenness, and no part
is more liable to be swollen than that which runs throu£:h
the City itself. In such case, however, the Tiber is rather
to be looked upon- as pregnant with prophetic warnings to
us, and in its increase to be considered more as a promoter
of religion than a source of devastation.

Latium^ has preserved its original limits, from the Tiber
to Circeii^ a distance of fifty uiiles : so slender at the be-
ginning were the roots from which this our Empire sprang.
Its inhabitants have been often chans;^ed. and different
nations have peopled it at different times, the Aborigines,

to the Anio. Tlie Cmstiuniiii and the Fidenates prohahly occupied the
southern part of the district about the river Alba.

^ The Nera and the Xevcrone. The exact situation of the district of
Yaticanum has not been ascertained with exactness.

2 As not so much causing mischief by its iaundations, as giving
"warning thereby of the wrath of the gods and of impending dangers ;
which might be arrested bv sacrifices and expiatorv rites. — See Horace,
Odes, B. i. 2. 29.

3 The frontier of ancient Latimn was at Circeii, but that of modem
Latium extended to Siauessa.

^ A town of Lativmi, situate at the foot of the Mons Circeins, now
Monte Circello. It was used as a place of retirement, and Tiberius and
Domitian had villas there. The Triumvir Lepidus was banished thither
by Octavius after liis deposition. It was also famous for its oysters,
which were of the finest quahty. Considerable remains of it are still
to be seen on the hill called Monte di CitadeEa, about two miles from
the sea.

Chap. 9.] ACCOU>"T or COr:STEI£S, ETC. 193

the Pelasgi, the Arcades, the Seciili, the Aunuici, the Riituli,
and, beyond Circeii. the Yolsci, the Osci, and the Ausones
whence the name of Latium came to be extended as far as
the river Liris^

We will begin -w-ith Ostia-, a colony founded by a king of
Eome, the town of Laurentum^, the grove of Jupiter Indi-
ges^, the river Numicius^, and Ardea*, founded by Danae, the
mother of Perseus. Xert come the former site of Aphro-
disium'. the colony of Antium^, the river and island called
Astura^. the river Xymphteus^", the Clostra Eomana^^ and
Circeii ^\ formerly an island, and, if we are to believe Homer,
surrounded by the open sea, though now by an extensive plain.
The circumstances which v/e are enabled to publish on this
subject for the information of the world are very remarkable.
Theophrastus, the first foreigner who treated of the alFairs of
Eome with any degree of accuracy (for Theopompus. before
whose time no Greek writer had made mention of us, only

1 Now the Grarigliano, the same river which he previously calls the
Glanis. It was the boundary between Latium and Campania.

" Founded by Ancus Martius, as we learn from Livy. It was aban-
doned under the Emperor Claudius, who built the Portus Komanus or
Portus Augusti in its vicinity ; and it only continued famous for its salt-
works, which had been estabhshed there by Ancus Martins. Its ruins,
still called Ostia, are nearly three mile* from the coast, in consequence of
the receding of the sea.

3 Now San Lorenzo. It was between Ostia and Antium.

* By some, .£neas was supposed to have been worshiped by that
name. ' Now tne river Numico.

^ The ruins of this once great city may still be seen near the present
village of the same name. Its situation was pecuUarly unhealthy. An-
other tradition, besides the one mentioned by Pliny, was, that it was
founded by a son of Ulysses and Circe. It was twenty -four miles distant
from Rome.

" A temple of Tenus, of which the niins are stiU to be seen.

* Its few ruins are stiU known as Anzio Rovinato. It was famous for
its temple of Fortune, addressed by Horace, Odes, i. 35. Near the sit* is
the modem village of Porto d'Anzo.

^ This island was occupied by villas of the Roman nobility, and was
the resort of Cicero, Augustus and Tiberius. There b still a fortified
town called the Torre di Astura. ^ The modem Ninfa.

" "The Roman Bulwarks." They were thrown up to protect the
frontier of the ancient kingdom of Rome from the inroads of the Tolscians'

^' To our previous note we may add that this spot was supposed to
have been once inhabited by the enchantress Circe, the datighter of the
Sun, and from her to have taken its name.

TOI.- I. O

194 pliny's natueal histoky. [Book III.

stated tlie fact that tlie city had been taken by the Gauls,
and Clitarchus, the next after him, only spoke of the embassy
that was sent by the Eomans to Alexander) — Theophrastus,
I say, following something more than mere rumoiu-, has
given the circuit of the island of Cii'ceii as being eighty stadia,
in the volume which he wrote during the archonship of Ni-
codorus at Athens \ being the 440th year of our city. AYhat-
ever land therefore has been annexed to that island beyond the
circumference of about ten miles, has been added to Italy
since the year previously mentioned.

Another wonderful circumstance too. — 'Near Circeii are
the Pomptine Marshes^, formerly the site, according to
Mucianus, who was thrice consul, of four-and-twenty cities.
Next to this comes the river Ufens^ upon which is the
town of Terracina^ called, in the language of the A^olsci,
Anxur; the spot too where Amyclie^ stood, a town de-
stroyed by serpents. Next is the site of the Grrotto^ Lake
Fundanus^, the port of Caieta^ and then the town of For-
miie^, formerly called Hormiae, the ancient seat of the Lae-
strygones^°, it is supposed. Beyond this, formerly stood the

1 This has been also translated " dedicated to Nicodoms, the Archon
of Athens," but nothing appears to be kno\\Ti of such a fact as the
dedication to Nicodorus of any of his works,

2 Now called the " Palude Pontme." They are again mentioned in
B. xxvi. c. 9. ^ Now caUed II Portatore.

4 It was situate fifty-eight miles from Eome ; the modern town of
Terracina stands on its site. The remains of the ancient citadel arc
visible on the slope of Montecchio.

5 The exact site of this place is unknown. Servius, in liis Commen-
tary on B. X. of the ^neid, 1. 564, tells the same story of the serpents. ^^

s This was near Amyclse. A villa was situate there called " Speluncse,"
from the cavities in the rock, in one of which the Emperor Tiberius nearly
lost his life by the faUing m of the roof. The modern village of Sperloiiga,
eight miles west of Gaeta, marks its site. 7 Now Lago di Fondi.

8 Now Graeta, said to have received its name from being the burial-
place of Caieta, the nurse of ^neas. The shore was studded with nume-
rous villas of the Roman nobihty. It is now a city of great opulence : m
its vicinity extensive ruins are to be seen.

« On the spot now called Mola di Gaeta. Many of the wealthy Romans,!
and among them Cicero, had villas here : and at this place he was put to >
death. It was destroyed by the Saracens in the year 856. The remams
of antiquity to be seen on this spot are very extensive.

10 Homer places these Cannibals on the coast of Sicily, but the Romans
in general transplanted them to the vicinity of Circeii, and suppose For-

Chap. 9.] ACCOUNT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 195

town of Pyrae ; and we tlien come to the colony of Min-
turn£e\ which still exists, and is diWdcd" by the river Liris,
also called the Glanis. The to^vn of Siuuessa^ is the last in
the portion which has been added to Latium ; it is said by
some that it used to be called Sinope.

At this spot begins tliat blessed country Campania^, and
in this vale first take their nse those hills clad with vines, the
juice of whose grape is extolled by Fame all over the world ;
the happy spot where, as the ancients used to say, father
Liber and Ceres are ever striving for the mastery. Hence
the fields of Setia^ and of Caecubum^ extend afar, and, next
to them those of Faleruum' and of Calinum^. As soon as we
have passed these, the hills of Massica^, of Gamnis^", and of
SuiTcntum rise to our view. Next, the level plains of Labo-
rium" are spread out far and wide, where every care is be-
stowed on cultivating crops of spelt, from which the most de-
licate fermenty is made. These shores are watered by warm
springs^-, while the seas are distinguished beyond all others
for the superlative excellence of their shell and other fish.

raise to have been built by Lamus, one of their kings. It is more pro-
bable however that it was founded by the Laconians, from whom it may
have received its name of Hormiae (from the Grreek bp/xos), as being a good
roadstead for shipping.

^ Its site is occupied by the present Trajetta. In its marshes, formed
by the overflow of the Lms, Caius Mai'ius was taken prisoner, concealed
in the sedge.

' The town of ]\Iintuma3 stood on both banks of the river.

3 Its ruins are probably those to be seen in tlie vicinity of Rocca di
Mondragone. It was a place of considerable commercial importance.
On its site Livy says there formerly stood the Greek city of Sinope.

•* *' Fehx ilia Campania." ^ Now Sezza.

^ A marshy district of Latium, extending about eight miles along the
coast from Terracina to Speluncoe, famous in the time of Horace for the
first-rate quahties of its wmes.

7 A district famous for its wines, extending from the Massican HiUs
to the north bank of the VoltmMius.

8 According to Hardouin, the town of Calenum was on the site of the
present Calvi near Capua.

9 Now called Monte Marsico, and as famous for its wine (caUcd Mus-
ratolla) as it was in tlie Roman times.

i^' Now Monte Barbaro. The wines of most of these places will be
found fully described by Pliny in 13. xiv.

11 More fully mentioned, B. xviii. c. 29, where the 'ahcai' or fermenty
made from tlic sjjelt gro^^^l liere is again referred to.

12 Of Baia;, Puteoli, and Stabia, for uistance.

O 2

196 PLINT'S NATUEAL HISTOIIT. [Book III.

In no country too has the oil of the olive a more exquisite
flavour. This territory, a battle-ground as it were for the
gratification of every luxurious pleasure of man, has been
held successively by the Osci, the Greeks, the Umbri, the
Tusci, and the Campani.

On the coast we first meet with the river Savo^ the town
of Yolturnum with a river^ of the same name, the town of
Liternum^ Cumai^ a Chalcidian colony, Misenum^ the port
of Bai£e^ Bauli^ the Lucrine Lake', and Lake Avernus, near
Avhich there stood formerly a town^ of the Cimmerians. We
then come to Puteoli^^, formerly called the colony of Dicae-

1 The modern Saove.

2 Now called the Yoltumo, with a smaU place on its banks called
Castel Volturno.

3 The present village of Torre di Patria is supposed to occupy its site.

4 Strabo describes Cum£e as a joint colony of the Chalcidians of Euboea
and the Cymseans of ^ohs. Its sea-shore was covered with yiUas of the
Eoman aristocracy, and here Sylla spent the last years of liis Hfe. Its
site is now utterly desolate and its existing remains inconsiderable.

5 Now Capo or Piinta di Miseno ; a town built on a promontory of
Campania, by ^neas, it was said, in honour of liis trumpeter, Misenus,
who was di'owned there. It was ma'\e by Augustus the prmcipal station
of the Roman fleet. Here was the viUa of Marius, which afterwards be-
longed to Lucullus and the Emperor Tiberius, who died here.

6 Famous for its Avarm springs, and the luxurious resort of the Roman
patricians. Marius, Lucullus, Pompey, and Ctesar had villas here. In
later tunes it became the seat of every kind of pleasm^e and dissipation.
It is now rendered unwholesome by the Malaria, and the modern CasteUo
di Baia, with numerous ruins, alone marks its site.

7 The modem village of Baolo stands near its site. It was here that
Hortensius had his fish-ponds, mentioned by Phny in B. ix. c. 55. It
rivalled its neighbour Bai» in mmistermg to the luxury of the wealthy
Romans, and was occupied by numerous villas so late as the reign of

Theodosius. t -l .

« Probably the inner part of the Gulf of Cumse or Puteoh, but sepa-
rated from the remainder by an embankment eight stadia in length. It
was famous for its oyster-beds. Behind it was the Lake Avenius, occu-
pying the crater of an extmct volcano, and supposed by the Greeks to be
the entrance to the Infernal Regions. Agrippa opened a communication
with the Lucrine Lake to render Lake Avernus accessible to ships, ihe
Lucrine Lake was filled up by a volcanic eruption m 1538, and a moun-
tain rose in its place. The Lake Avernus is stiU called the Lago di

Avcrno. „ .

a Or " the town Cimmerium." Nothing is known ot it.

10 Now Pozzuolo. The Romans called it Puteoh, from the strong
emeU of its mineral springs. There are still many ruins of the ancient

Chap. 9.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 197

archia, then the Phlegrfean^ Plains, and the Marsh of
Acherusia' in the vicinity of Cumae.

Again, on the coast we have Neapolis^, also a colony of
the Chalcidians, and called Parthenope from the tomb there
of one of the Sirens, Herculanenm"*, Pompeii^, from v^hich
Mount Vesuvius may be seen at no great distance, and
which is watered by the river Sarnus^,- the territory of
Nuceria, and, at the distance of nine miles from the sea, the
to\^Ti of thatname^, and then Surrentum^, with the Promon-
tory of Minerva^, formerly the abode of the Sirens. The
distance thence by sea to Circeii is seventy-eight miles. This

town, which was destroyed hy Alaric, Genseric, and Totila, and as many
times rebuilt.

1 Now called Salpatara. This was the name given to the volcanic
plaui extending from Cmiise to Capua, and supposed to have been once
covered with fii'e ; Avhence the name, from 0\eyai, " to brnm."

2 Now the Lago di Fusaro. It seems to have had its name from its
ricinity to Avernus, the supposed entrance to the infernal regions. Its
banks were, in the later tunes of the Roman repubhc, adorned with the
villas of the wealthy.

3 Neapohs, or the " New City," was founded by the Chalcidians of
Cumse on the site of Parthenope, the supposed burial-place of the Siren
of that name. It was so called as being only a ' new quarter' of the
neighboxu-ing city of Cumae. The modem city of Naples stands nearly
on its site.

■* Said to have been founded by Hercules. It was on the occasion of
its destruction by an eruption of Vesuvius, a.d. 79, that our author un-
fortmiately met his death, a martyr to his thii'st for knowledge. Its
closer proximity to Vesuvius caused it to be bm'ied under a more sohd
body of materials ejected from the moimtain than was the case with
Pompeii ; which seems to have been sufibcatcd with ashes, while Hercu-
laneum was covered with volcanic tufa most probably hardened by the
agency of water. A few scattered inhabitants are supposed to have after-
wards settled upon the site where it was buried, which for many centu-
ries was utterly forgotten, till brought to hght in 1738. Part of the site
over the buried town is occupied by the villages of Resma and Portici,
The works of art foimd here far exceed in value and interest those dis-
covered at Pompeii.

5 This seems to have been a town of Oscan origin. The first traces of
it were found in 1689, but excavations were not commenced till 1721.
It perished in the same eruption of Vesuvius as Herculaneura.

^ Now the Samo. Its course was changed by the great eruption of
Vesuvius previously mentioned.

7 The modem Nocera stands on its site. Pompeii was used as its
harbour.

" Now Sorrento. ^ Now also called Capo deUa Minerva.

198 plint's natural HISTOKT. [Book III.

region, beginnmg at the Tiber, is looked upon as the first of
Italy according to the division of Augustus.

Inland there are the following colonies: — Capua\ so
called from its champaign country, Aquinum^, Suessa^ Ve-
nafrum^, Sora"\ Tcanum surnamed Sidicinum^ Nola^;
and the towns of Abelia^ Aricia^ Alba Longa^", the Acer-

^ It probably had its name from Campania, of which it was the ca-
pital, and wliich was so called from its extensive campi or plains. The
site of this luxm-ious and magnificent city is now occupied by the village
of Santa Maria di Capoua, the modern city of Capua being on the site
of ancient Casilmum, Of ancient Capua there are but few remains. It
was made a Roman colony by Jtdius Csesar.

2 OrigLaally a city of the Yolscians : Cicero had a villa there, and
Juvenal and the emperor Pescennius Niger were natives of it. The pre-
sent Aquino stands on its site, and there are considerable remains of it
to be seen.

3 Or Suessa Am'unca, to distmguish it from the Yolscian city of
Suessa Pometia. The poet Lucihus was a native of it. The modem
Sessa stands in its vicinity.

* The modern Venafri stands near its site. It was famous for the
excellence of its ohves.

5 On the banks of the Sm-is, and the most northerly tovra of the
Yolsci. The modern Sora is in its vicuiity, and the remains of its waUs
are still to be seen.

^ The modern Teano occupies its site. It was famous for the medicinal
springs in its vicinity. There was another Teammi, m Apulia.

7 The town on its site still preserves the name. Bells were made
here, whence in the later writers they are called " Noise." There is also
an ecclesiastical tradition that church bells were first \ised by Saint Pau-
Hnus, bishop of tliis place, whence they were called ' Campanae.' The
emperor Augustus died here.

s The remains of the ancient town, of which the ruins are very exten-
sive, are called Avella Yecchia. It was famous for its fruit, especially
its filberts, to which it gives name in the French " Avehnes." It was
fhst a Greek colony, and then a town of the Oscans.

9 A city of Latium, sixteen miles from Rome, and said to have been of
SicOian origin. The modem town of La Riccia occupies the site of its
citadel. It was celebrated for the temple and grove of Diana, whose
high priest was always a fugitive slave who had killed his predecessor,
and was called " Rex nemorensis," or " kmg of the grove." See Ovid,
Fasti, B. vi. 1. 59 ; Art of Love, B. i. 1. 260 ; and Lucan, B. vi. 1. 74.

10 The ancient city was destroyed by Tullus Hostilius, king of Rome.
The Roman colony here was probably but smaU. The Roman patrician
famihes, the Juhi, Servilii, Tullii, and Quintii, are said to have migrated
from Alba Longa, which, according to tradition, had given to Rome her
first kmg.

Chap. 9.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 199

raiii\ tlie Allifani-, the Atinates^, the Aletrinates'*, the
Anagnini*, the Atelhini^ the Affihmi^, the Arpinates**,
the Aiixiinates^, the Abellani^", the Alfaterni (both those
who take their names from the Latin, the Hernican
and the Labicanian territory), Bovillae^\ Calatia^-, Casi-

^ The people of Acerra, still called by the same name ; it was plun-
dered and burnt by Hannibal, B.C. 216, but was rebuilt by order of the
Koman senate.

^ The people of Alhfse, a former city of Samniuin, on the borders of
Campania. The modern city of .-Uife, a decayed place, stands on its site.
There are considerable remains.

3 The people of Atina, an ancient city of the Yolscians. The modem
city of Atina, noted for the bleakness of its situation, stands on its site.
There are extensive rmns of the ancient city.

^ The people of Aletriuni or Alatrium, an ancient city of the Hernici.
The modern Alatri stands on its site ; there are but few ancient remains.

^ The people of Anagnia in Latium, still called Anagni. There are
scarcely any remams of the ancient place, wliich was of considerable
importance.

^ The people of Atella, an ancient city of Campania. Some remams
of its ruins are to be seen two miles east of the town of Aversa, near the
villages of San Arpino and San Elpidio.

' The people of Affilse, an ancient Heniican to^vn. It is still called
Affile, and has many ancient remains.

** The people of Arpinum, once a famous city of the Volscians. The
present Ai'pmo occupies its site ; there are few Koman remains, but its
ancient walls, of Cyclopean construction, stiU exist. It was the birth-
place of Marius and Cicero. The viUa of the latter was on the banks of
the adjoining river Fibrenus. It was, and is still, famous for its woollen
manufactm-es.

^ The people of Auximum, a city of Picenum. Its site is occupied by
the modem Osimo ; there are numerous remains of antiquity to be seen.

^^ Or perhaps "AbelUni," people of Abelhacum ; which, if meant,,
ought not to be included in tliis division, being a city of the Ilirpmi.
This city was finally destroyed in the wars of tlie Greeks and Lombards,
and the modern Avelhno rose on its site. There are considerable ruins in
the vicinity. According to Ilardouin, this place also claimed the honour
of giving name to filberts, whicli grew abundantly in its vicinity. If sxich
is the case, it seems probable tliat both it and Abella took their names
from that fruit as called by the early uihabitants. See [Note in p. l'J8.

^^ An ancient city of Latium. Its ruins are to be seen in tlie vicinity
of the Via Appia. See a curious story connected with it in Ovid's Fasti,
B. iii. 1. 6G7 et seq.

^' There were two cities of this name on (lie confines of Samniuin and
Campania, one in the valley of tlie Voltiu-nuni, the modern Caiazzo, the
other in Campania, between Capua and Beneventum, wliose ruins are
probably those to be seen at Le Galazzi, between Cascrta and Maddaloiii.

200 pliny's natural history. [Book III.

num\ Calenum^, Capitulum^ of tlie Hernici, tbe Cerea-
tini'*, surnamed Mariani, the Corani^, descended from the
Trojan Dardanus, the Cubulterini, the Castrimoenienses^,
the Cingulani'', the Fabienses^ on the Albau Mount,
the Foropopulienses^ of the Falernian district, the Pru-
sinates^", the Ferentinates^^ the Freginates^"^, the old
Erabaterni^^, the new Frabaterni, the Ficolenses^"*, the Fre-

^ Once a considerable city of Latium. The modem city of San Grer-
mano has risen on its ruins, while the name of Monte Casino has been
retained by the monastery foimded near it by St. Bernard a.d. 529.

* The present Calvi probably occupies its site.

^ It is not named in history. Its site was probably between Palestrina
and II PigUo.

■* The people of Cereatae, a town of Latium, It is supposed that the
ancient monastery of Casamari occupied its site,

^ The people of Cora, an ancient city of Latium. The present Cori
stands on its site, and there are considerable remains of the ancient walls
and other buildings.

^ The people of Castrimoenium, a colony of Sylla. It has been suggested
that these were the same people whom Phny speaks of at a svibsequent
place in this chapter as the Munieiises, an extinct people of Latium. If
so, the name was perhaps changed on the estabhshmeut here by SyUa
of his colony. It probably stood near the modern city of Marino.

7 The people of Cingulmn, a city of Picenum, the site of wliich is
occupied by the modern Cingoli.

^ It is conjectm-ed that Pabia was on the same site as the present
village of Rocca di Papa.

^ The inhabitants of Forum PopUii in Campania; its site is miknown.

^^ The people of Frusino, originally a Yolscian city. The modem
Frosinone occupies its site.

^1 The people of Ferentinum, a city of the Hernici : the present city
of Ferentino stands on its site. The ruins are very extensive.

^2 Probably the people of FregeUae, an ancient city of the Volscians.
Its site is now unknovra, but it was probably on the banks of the Liris,
opposite to the modem Ceprano.

^^ The people of Fabrateria or Frabateria, a Yolscian city. A Roman
colony was placed there B.C. 124, by C, Gracchus, and probably the old
inhabitants for that reason styled themselves " Veteres." The ruins at
San Giovanni in Cerico, about three miles from Falvaterra, are supposed
to be those of tliis place, or at least of the new town or colony. In such
case Falvaterra may occupy the site of the original city,

'^ The people of Ficulnea or Ficuha, a city of ancient Latium, on the
"Via Nomentana. It is supposed to have decayed soon after the reign of
M. AureUus. Its site was probably on the modem domain of Cesarini,
though some separate the ancient Latm city from the Roman town, and
fix the locahty of the former on the hiU called Monte Gentile, or that
of the Torre Lupara.

Chap; 9.J ACCOUNT or couisteies, etc. 201

gellani\ Forum Appi", the Foreutani^, the Gabini^, the
Interamnates Succasiui^, also surnamed Liriuates, the
Ilionenses Lavinii'^, the Norbani^, the Nomentaui'*, the Prae-
nestini'' (whose city Avas formerly called Stephaue), the Pri-
vernates^", the Setini^^, the Sigiiini'', the Suessulani'^, the

^ These are omitted in most editions, but if a correct reading, the
word must signify the " people of Frogellso," and the Freginates must be
the people of Fregense in Etrm-ia ; although they do not appear properly
to belong to this locaUty.

2 "The Market of Appius." It was distant forty-three miles from
Kome, and we learn from Horace, that it was the usual resting-place
for travellers at the end of one day's jomTiey from Rome. It is also
mentioned in the accomit of the joimiey of St. Paul (Acts xxriii. 15) as
one of the usual resting-places on the Appian way. There are now no
inhabitants on the spot, but considerable ruins still exist, as well as the
forty-tliird milestone, wliich is stUl to be seen.

2 Probably the inhabitants of Ferentium or Ferentiaum, now Ferento,
five miles from Yiterbo, a city of Etruria, of which very considerable
remains exist.

* The people of Grabii, formerly one of the most famous cities of
Latium. On its site the ruins of a mediteval fortress now stand, kno^vn
as Castighone. Some remains of the walls still exist.

• The people of Interamna Lirmas, a Roman colony on the banks
of the Liris ; and as there were several cities of the same name, it was
generally distinguished by the epithet " Lfrinas." Phny no doubt calls it
" Succasina," from its vicuiity to Casinmn. Its site, though uninhabited,
is stUI called Terame, and there are numerous remains of antiquity.

^ Probably the people of Lavinium were thus called from their sup-
posed Trojan descent. The town was said to have been founded by JEncas
in honour of his wife Lavmia, the daughter of Latinus. In the times of
the Antonines it was united with Laurentum; thefr ruins are to be
seen at Casale di Copocotta.

' The people of Norba, a town of Latium. It is now eaUed Norma,
and there are still some remains of the ancient walls.

** Nomentum, now called La Mentana, was a Latin town, fourteen
miles from Rome.

^ The people of Prseneste, one of the most ancient towns of Latium.
It was originally a Pelasgic city, but claimed a Greek origin, and was said
to have been built by Telegonus, the son of Ulysses. During suumier it
was mvich frequented by the Romans for its delightfid coolness. The
remains of its ancient walls are still to be seen at Palestrina.

'** The people of Privernum, now Pipemo, an ancient city of Latium.

1^ The people of Setia, now Sesse or Sezza, an ancient town of Latium,
to the east of the Pomptine marshes. It was famous for its wine.

^ The people of Signia, now Segni, a town of Latium founded by Tar-
quinius Priscus. There are still some remains of its walls.

^^ The people of Suessula, now Castel di Sessola.

202 PLINY's K^ATURAL niSTOEY. [Book III.

Telesiui^ the Trebulani, surnained Balinienses^, the Tre-
bani^, the Tusculani'*, the Verulani^, the Veliterni'^, the
Ulubrenses^, the Urbinates^, and, last and greater than
all, Eome herself, whose other name^ the hallowed mysteries
of the sa'ored rites forbid us to mention without being guilty
of the greatest impiety. After it had been long kept buried
in secresy with the strictest fidelity and in respectful and
salutary silence, Valerius Soranus dared to divulge it, but
soon did he pay the penalty^" of his rashness.

It will not perhaps be altogether foreign to the purpose,
if I here make mention of one peculiar institution ol our
forefathers which bears especial reference to the inculcation
of silence on religious matters. The goddess Angerona",
to whom sacrifice is ofifered on the twelfth day before the
calends of January [21st December], is represented in her
statue as having her mouth bound with a sealed fillet.

E-omulus left the city of E-ome, if we are to believe those

^ The people of Telesia, a town of Samnium seven leagues from Capua,
now called Telese.

2 Trebula was distinguished probably by this surname from a town
of that name in Samnium. Tlieve seem to have been two places of the
name in the Sabine territory, but it is not known which is here meant. The
ruins of one of them are supposed to be those not far from Maddaloni.

3 The people of Treba, now Trevi, a town of Latium.

•* The people of Tuscvilum, an ancient town of Latium, the ruins of
which are to be seen on a hill about two miles distant from the modern
Frascati. Cicero's favoiu-ite residence was his Tusculan viUa, and Cato
the censor was a native of this place.

^ The people of Verulse, a town of the Hemici, in Latium, now YeroH.

^ The people of Yehtrse, an ancient town of the Yolsci, now Yelletri.
It was the birth-place of the emperor Augustus.

" The people of Ulubrse, a small town of Latium, near the Pomptine
Marshes ; its site is unknown.

^ The people of Urbinum ; there were two places of that name in
Umbria, now called Urbeno and Urbania.

^ The name probably by which the city was called in the mystical
language of the priesthood. It has been said that this mysterious name
of Kome was Yalentia ; if so, it appears to be only a translation of her
name Grsecized — "Pwju?;, " strength." This subject will be found agaui
mentioned in B. xxviii. c. 4.

^^ Sohnus says that he was put to death as a punishment for his rash-
ness. M. Sichcl has suggested that this mysterious name was no other
than Angerona.

^^ It is not known whether this mystical divinity was the goddess of
anguish and fear, or of silence, or whether she was the guardian deity of

Chap. 9.] ACCOUNT OF COUKTEIES, ETC. 203

who state the very greatest number, having three ^ gates and
no more. AYhen the Yespasians were emperors' and censors,
in the year from its building 826, the circumference of the
walls which sui-rounded it was thirteen miles and two-fifths.
Surrounding as it does the Seven Hills, the city is divided
into foui'teen districts, with 265 cross-roads^ under the
guardianship of the Lares. If a straight line is drawn
from the mile-column^ placed at the entrance of the
Forum, to each of the gates, which are at present thirty-
seven in number (taking care to coimt only once the
twelve double gates, and to omit the seven old ones, which
no longer exist), the result will be [taking them altogether],
a straight line of twenty miles and 765 paces". But if we
draw a straight line from the same mile-column to the very
last of the houses, including therein the Praetorian encamp-
ment, and follow throughout the line of all the streets, the
result will then be something more than seventy miles. Add
to these calculations the height of the houses, and then a
person may form a fair idea of this city, and will certainly
be obliged to admit that there is not a place throughout the
whole world that for size can be compared to it. On the

Rome. Jiilius Moclestus says that she reHeved men and cattle when
visited by the disease called " angina," or " quinsy," whence her name.

^ The Carmental, the Roman, and the Pandanian or Satumian gates,
according to Varro.

2 Titus was saluted Imperator after the siege of Jerusalem, and was
associated with his father Vespasian in the government. They also acted
together as Censors.

' The Lares Compitales presided over the divisions of the city, wliich
were marked by the compita or points where two or more streets crossed
each other, and where ' aecUculse ' or smaU. chapels were erected in then'
honour. Statues of these httle diviuities were erected at the comer of
every street. It was probably this custom wliich first suggested the idea
of setting up images of the Virgin and Saints at the corners of the streets,
wliich are stiU. to be seen in many Roman CathoHc countries at the pre-
sent day.

^ Tliis was a gilded column erected by Augustus in tlie Forum, and
called " niilharium aureum ; " on it were inscribed the distances of the
principal points to which the " vise " or high-roads conducted.

^ Supposing the chcuit of the city to have been as he. says, 13§ miles, he
must either make a great miscalculation here, or the text must be very cor-
rupt. The average diameter of the city would be in such case about 4^ miles,
the average length of each radius drawn from the mile-column 2\ miles,
and the total amount 83^ miles, whereas he makes it but 20^ miles,

204 plint's katueal histoet. [Book II T

eastern side it is bounded by tlie agger of Tarquinius Su-
perbus, a work of surpassing grandeur; for he raised it
so high as to be on a level with the walls on the side
on which the city lay most exposed to attack from the neigh-
bouring plains. On all tlie other sides it has been fortified
either with lofty walls or steep and precipitous hills \ but so
it is, that its buildings, increasing and extending beyond all
bounds, have now united many other cities to it^.

Besides those previously mentioned, there were formerly
in the first region the following famous to^^Tis of Latium :
Satricum^, Pometia"', Scaptia, Politorium\ Tellene, Tifata.
Caenina^, Ficana^, Crustumerium, Ameriola^, Medullum^,
Corniculmn^", Saturnia^\ on the site of the present city ot

or little better than an average of half-a-mile for each radius. We may also
remark that the camp of the Prsetoriau cohorts here mentioned was
estabhshed by the emperor Tiberius, bj the advice of Sejanus. Ajasson's
translation makes the measm'ement to be made to twelve gates only, but
the text as it stands Avill not admit of such a construction.

^ The Aventine, Crelian, and Quirmal liills.

2 Such as Ocriculum, Tibur, Aricia, &c.

' Near Antium. Casale di Conca stands on its site.

■* Suaessa Pometia. It was destroyed by the consul Servilius, and its
site was said, with that of twenty-two other towns, to have been covered
by the Pomptine Marsh, to wliich it gave its name.

^ A town of Latium destroyed by Ancus Martius.

^ An ancient city of Latium, conquered by Romulus ; on which occa-
sion he slew its kmg Acron and gained the spolia opinia. Nibbv sug-
gests that it stood on the Magvighano, two miles south-east of Monte
GrentUe. Holstein says that it stood where the present Sant' Angelo or
MonticeUi stands.

"^ Also destroyed by Ancus Martius. A farm called DragoneUo,
eleven miles from Rome, is supposed to have stood upon its site. Tel-
lene was also destroyed by the same king. Tifata was a town of Cam-
pania.

^ A city of Latium, wliich was conquered by Tarquinius Priscus. It
has been suggested that its ruins are visible about a mile to the north of
Monte Sant' Angelo.

^ A Sabine town, the people of wliich were mcorporated by Tarquinius
Priscus with the Roman citizens. It is supposed to have stood on the
present Monte Sant' Angelo.

^^ An ancient city of Latium, subdued by Tarquinius Priscus, on which i
occasion Ocrisia, the mother of Servius Tulhus, feU into the hands of the
Romans as a captive. It was probably situate on one of the isolated
hills that rise from the plain of the Campagna.

" Both Yii'gil and Ovid allude to tliis tracUtion.

Chap. 9.] ACCOUNT OF COU^'TRTES, ETC. 205

Eome, Antipolis\ now Janiciilum, forming part of Eome,
Antemna?-, Camerium^ Collatia^ Amitmum^ Norbe,
Sulmo^ and, with these, those Alban nations^ who used to
take part in the sacrifices' upon the Alban Mount, the Al-
bani, the ^sulani^, the Accienses, the Abolani, the Bube-

1 Said to have been so called from being "opposite" to the ancient
city of Satm-nia. The Janiculus or Janiculum was a fortress on the
opposite bank of the Tiber, and a suburb of Rome, connected with it by
the Subhcian bridge.

2 A very ancient city situate tiiree miles from Rome, and said to have
been so called from its position on the Tiber, ante amnem. In the
time of Strabo it had become a mere yiUage. It stood at the confluence
of the Anio and the Tiber.

3 An ancient city of Latimn reduced by Tarquuiius Priscus. It has
been suggested that the to\\-n of Palombara. near the foot of Monte
Geimaro, stands on its site.

■* An ancient city of Latium. It probably gi-adually fell into decay.
Lucius Tarquinius, the husband of Lucretia, is represented as dwelling here
dm-ing the siege of Ardea. Its site is thought by some to have been at
CasteUaccio or Castel deU' Osa, and by others at Lunghezza, which is
perhaps the most probable conjecture.

5 An ancient city of the Sabuies. Its ruins are visible at San Yittorino,
a village near Aquila.

6 An ancient town of the Yolsci, five leagues from VeUetri. Sermo-
nata now stands on its site. It must not be confounded with the to-^-n
of the Pehgni, the birth-place of Ovid.

7 " Popuh Albenses." It does not appear to be exactly known what
is the force of tliis expression, but he probably means either colonics from
.-Uba, or else nations who joiaed in the confederacy of which Alba was the
principal. IS'iebuhr looks upon them as mere demi or boroughs of the
ten-itory of Alba.

8 " Accipere camem." Literally, " to take the flesh." It appears that
certain nations, of which Alba was"^ the chief, were in early tiines accus-
tomed to meet on the Alban Mount for the purposes of sacrifice. The
subject is full of obscurity, but it has been suggested that tliis minor con-
federacy co-existed with a larger one including all the Latin cities, and
there can be httle doubt that the common sacrifice was typical of a bond
of union among the states that partook therem. It does not nec^^ssarily
appear from the context that more than the thirty-one states after mew-
tioned took part therein, tliough the text may be so construed as to imply
that the Latin nations previously mentioned also shared in the sacrifice ;
if so, it would seem to imply that Alba was the cliief city of the v;hole
Latin confederacy. See tliis subject ably discussed in Dr. Smith's Dic-
tionary of Ancient Geography, under the article Laiini.

9 The people of yEsula?. Of tliis Latin city nothing is kno\\ni. The
territory is mentioned by Horace, and GeU places its site on the Monte
Affiliano.

206 pliny's natueal history. [Book IIT.

tani\ the Bolani^, the Cusuetani, the Coriolani^, the Fide-
nates^, the Eoretii, the Hortenses^, the Latinienses, the
LongLilani'^, the Manatcs, the Macrales, the M,utiicu-
menses, the Mimienses, the JSTuminienses, the Olliculani, the
Octulani, the Pedani'', the Polluscini, the Querquetulani, the
Sicani, the Sisolenses, the Tolerienses, the Tiitienses, the Vi-
mitellarii, the Velieuses, the Yenetulani, and the A^itellenses.
Thus we see, fifty-three peoples of ancient Latium have
passed away without leaving any traces of their existence.

In the Campanian territory there w^as also the town of
Stabise^, until the consulship of Cneius Pompeius and L.
Cato, when, on the day before the calends of May [30th of
April], it was destroyed in the Social War by L. Sulla the
legatus, and all that noAv stands on its site is a single farm-
house. Here also Taurania has ceased to exist, and the
remains of Casilinum^ are fast going to ruin. Besides these,

* The people of Bubentum. Nothing is known of this Latin city or
of the preceding ones.

2 Bola was an ancient city of Latium, taken successively by Coriolanus
and M. Postumius. Its site is supposed to have been five miles from
the modern Palestrina, at the modern village of Lugnano.

2 The people of Corioli. It was probably a Latian town, but feU
into the possession of the Yolsci, from whom it was taken by Cn. Marcius,
who thence obtained the name of " Coriolanus." Monte Griove, nineteen
miles from Rome, has been suggested as its site.

■* Pliiiy is supposed to be in error in representing Fidense, the early
antagonist of Rome, as being extinct in his time, and he will be found in
the sequel reckoning it in the Fom'th Region. This ancient Latian town
never lost its municipal rank, though it had no doubt in liis time become a
mere country town. The present Castel Giubilco is supposed to be
situate on its site.

5 The people of Horta, a to^^i of Etruria, now Horte. Many Etruscan
remains have been discovered there.

^ The people of Longula, a Yolscian town. Buon Riposo now occu-
pies its site.

7 The people of Pedum ; nothing is known of it. The rest of these
nations are cither almost or entirely unkno^wTi.

8 This was an ancient town between Pompeii and Sm-rentum. After
its overthrow, as mentioned by Pliny, it was in some measure rebuilt,
possibly after this passage was penned. It was finally destroyed by the
great eruption of Vesuvius in the year a.d. 79, and it was ' here that
our author breathed his last.

^ A town tlu'ce miles west of Capua. It was of much importance as a
mihtaiy position, and played a considerable part in the second Punic war.
The period of its final destruction is unknown ; but modern Capua is
buili on its sit-i

Cliap. 10.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 207

tre leiirn from Antias that king L. Tarquiniiis took Apiola)\
a town of the Latins, and witli its spoils laid the first foun-
dations of the Capitol. From Siirrentum'^ to the river
Silarus^, the former territory of Pieentia^ extends for a
distance of thirty miles. This belonged to the Etruscans,
and was remarkable for the temple of the Argive Juno,
founded by Jason^ In it was Picentia, a town^ of the ter-
ritory of ^alernum^.

CHAP. 10. THE THIRD REGION OF ITALY.

At the Silarus begins the third region of Italy, consisting
of the territory of Lucania and Bruttium ; here too there
have been no few changes of the population. These districts

^ This city took the lead in the war of the Latin cities against Tar-
qiunius Priscus. Gell and Nibby think that it was situate about eleven
miles from Rome, a mile to the south of the Appian way, where there
are some remains that indicate the site of an ancient city, near the stream
called the Fosso delle Fratocche. Livy tells us that with the spoils
thence derived, Tarquinius celebrated the Ludi Magni for the fu*st time.

- Opposite Caprese, and situate on the Promontory of Minerva. Sor-
rento now stands on its site.

^ The modem Silaro ; it was the boundary between Lucania and
Campania, and rises in the Apennines.

■* A to^\ni in the south of Campania, at the head of the Gulf of
Pcestum. In consequence of the aid wliich they gave to Hannibal, the
inhabitants were foi'ced to abandon their to\\"n and hve in the adjoining
vdlages. The name of Piccntmi was given, as here stated, to the inha-
bitants of all the territory between the Promontory of Minerva and the
river Silarus. They were a portion of the Sabine Picentes, who were
h'ansplanted thither after the conquest of Piccnum, B.C. 268. The mo-
dem Vicenza stands on its site.

^ The Argonaut. Probably this was only a vague tradition.

^ By using the genitive ' Salemi,' he would seem to imply that the
Eoman colony of Salemum then gave name to the district of wliich Pi-
centia was the cliief town. Ajasson however has translated it merely
" Salemum and Picentia." ' Intus ' can hardly mean " inland," as
Picentia was near the coast, and so was Salemum.

7 This was an ancient towm of Campania, at the innermost comer of
the Gulf of Pirstuni, situate near the coast, on a heiglit at tlie foot of
whicli lay its harbour. It attained great pros])erity, as Salerno, in the
middle ages, and was noted for its School of Healtli estabhshed there;
which issued periodically rules for the preservation of health in Latin
Leonine verse.

208 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book III.

have been possessed by tlie Pelasgi, the CEnotrii, the Itali,
the Morgetes, the Siculi, and more especially by people who
emigrated from Grreece\ and, last of all, by the Leucani, a
people sprung from the Samnites, who took possession under
the command of Lucius. We find here the town of Psestum^,
which received from the Grreeks the name of Posidonia, the
Gulf of P£estum^ the town of Elea, now known as Velia ^
and the Promontory of Palinurum^, a point at which the land
falls inwards and forms a bay^ the distance across which to
the pillar^ of Rhegium is 100 miles. Next after Palinurum
comes the river Melpes^ then the to^mi of Buxentum^,
called in [Magna] G-raecia Pyxus, and the river Laus ; there
was formerly a town^° also of the same name.

At this spot begins the coast of Bruttium, and we come
to the town of Blanda^\ the river Batum^^ Parthenius, a
port of the Phocians, the bay of Yibo^^ the place ^^ where

1 " Grrsecise maxime popiili." This may also be rendered " a people
who mostly emigrated from Grreece," in reference to the Siculi or Sici-
lians, but the other is probably the correct translation.

- A town of Lucania, colonized by the Sybarites about B.C. 524. In
the time of Augustus it seems to have been prmcipally famous for the
exquisite beauty of its roses. Its ruins are extremely magnificent.

3 Now the Golfo di Salerno.

< A Grreek town fomided by the Phocseans. It was the birth-place of
the philosophers Parmenides andZeno, who founded a school of philosophy
known as the Eleatic. CasteU' a Mare della Brucca stands on its site. _

s Now Capo di Pahnuro ; said to have received its name from Pati-
nurus, the pilot of JEneas, who fell into the sea there and was murdered
by the natives. See Vu^gil, ^neid, B. vi. 1. 381 et seq.

6 Now the Golfo di Pohcastro.

7 This tower or column was erected iu the vicuiity of Ehegium on the
Straits of Sicily. It was 100 stadia, or about eight miles, from the town,
and at it passengers usually embarked for Sicily. The spot is now called
Torre di Carallo. ^ Now the Paraone.

9 A Greek colony. The present Pohcastro occupies very nearly its
site. It seems to have received its name from the cultivation of box
trees in its vicinity.

10 Or more properly Laos, originally a Greek colony. In the vicinity
is the modern town of Laino, and the river is called the Lao.

" Ptolemy mentions it as an inland town, and Livy speaks of it as a
Lucanian city. It probably stood near the modern Maratea, twelve miles
south-east of Pohcastro. ^' The modern Bato.

13 The bay of Bivona, formerly Yibo, the Itahan name for the Greek
oity of Hippo or Hippona. On its site stands the modern Bivona.

^'^ " Locus Clampetise." Clampetia or Lampetia stood in the vicinity

Chap. 10.] ACCOITNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 209

Clampetia formerly stood, the town of Temsa\ called Temese
by the Greeks, aud Terina founded by the people of Crotona^,
with tlie extensive Gulf of Terina ; jnore inland, the town of
Consentia^. Situate upon a peninsula'* is the river Ache-
ron', from which the people of Acherontia derive the name
of theii' town ; then Hippo, now called Vibo A'^alentia,
the Port of Hercules ''j the river Metaurus'^, the town of
Tauroentum^, the Port of Orestes, and Medma^. Next, the
town of Scyllseum^", the river Crataeis^^ the mother of Scylla
it is said ; then the Pillar of Ehegium, the Straits of Sicily,
and the two promontories wliich face each other, Csenys^^ on
the Italian, and Pelorus^^ on the Sicilian side, the distance be-
tween them being twelve stadia. At a distance thence of
twelve miles and a half, we come to Ehegium^'*, after which
begins Sila^*, a forest of the Apennines, and then the pro-
of the modem Amantia. From other authors we find that it was still
existing at this time. If such is the f^ict, the meaning will be " the place
where the former municipal town of Clampetia stood," it being supposed
to have lost in its latter years its mmiicipal privileges.

^ One of the ancient Ausonian towns, and afterwards colonized by the
-^toHans. Like its namesake in Cyi^rus it was famous for its copper.
Its site is now occupied by Torre di Lupi.

2 A Greek city, almost totally destroyed by Hannibal ; Santa Eufemia
occupies its site.

3 One of the cities of the Bruttii ; now Cosenza.

* The part which now constitutes the Farther Calabria.

^ Supposed to be the same as the Aix-onte, wliich falls into the
Crathis near Consentia. Notliing is known of the town here alluded to,
but it must not be confounded with Acherontia, the modem Acerenza, in
Apuha, which was a ditierent place.

^ Supposed to have been the same as the modern port of Tropca.

7 The modern Marro.

^ Its ruins are supposed to be those seen near Palmi.

^ Probably the modem Meha stands on its site.

'" A town on the promontory of the same name, now called Scilla or
Sciglio, where the monster Scylla was fabled to have dwelt.

^^ Homer says (Odyssey, lii. 124), that it had its name from the nymph
Cratseis, the mother of Scylla. It is probably the small stream now called
Fiume (U Solano or dei Pesci.

'- The modern Capo di Cavallo, according to the older commentators ;
but more recent geographers think that the Punta del Pezzo was the point
so called. '^ Now called Capo di Faro, from the lighthouse tliere erected.

'"* Originally a Greek colony ; a Roman colony was settleil there by
Augustus. The modem city of Reggio occupies its site.

^* It extended south of Consentia to the Sicilian Straits, a distance of
VOL. I. P

210 PLINY's IfATTTRAL HISTOET. [Book III.

montory of Leucopetra\ at a distance of fifteen miles ; after
which come the Locri^, who take their surname from the
promontory of Zephyrium^, being distant from the river
Silarus 303 miles.

At this spot ends the first '* great Gulf of Europe ; the
seas in which bear the following names: — That from
which it takes its rise is called the Atlantic, by some the
Great Atlantic, the entrance of which is, by the Greeks,
called Porthmos, by us the Straits of Gades. After its
entrance, as far as it washes the coasts of Spain, it is called
the Hispanian Sea, though some give it the name of the
Iberian or Balearic* Sea. Where it faces the province of
Gallia Narbonensis it has the name of the Gallic, and after
that, of the Ligurian, Sea. From Liguria to the island of
Sicily, it is called the Tuscan Sea, the same which is called
by some of the Greeks the Notian^, by others the Tyrrhe-
nian, while many of our people call it the Lower Sea.
Beyond Sicily, as far as the country of the Salentini, it is
styled by Polybius the Ausonian Sea. Eratosthenes how-
over gives to the whole expanse that lies between the inlet
of the ocean and the island of Sardinia, the name of the
Sardoan Sea ; thence to Sicily, the Tyrrhenian ; thence to
Crete, the Sicilian ; and beyond that island, the Cretan Sea.

CHAP. 11. — SIXTT-FOUE ISLAT^^DS, AMONG WHICH ARE THE

B ALE ARES-

The first islands that we meet with in all these seas are

700 stadia. It produced the pitch for which Bruttium was so celebrated.
Its site stni has the name of Sila.

^ Or Wliite Rock, now Capo dell' Armi. It forms the extremity of
the Apennine Chain,

2 The site of the city of Locri is supposed to have been that of the
present Motta di Burzano.

3 He says that they were called Epizephyrii, from the promontory of
Zephyriimi, now the Capo di Burzano ; but according to others, they
had this name only because their colony lay to the west of their native
Greece. Strabo says that it was founded by the Locri Ozolse, and not
the Opuntii, as most authors have stated.

"* Tliis expression is explained by a reference to the end of the First
Chapter of the present Book.

•' Called by some the Canal de Baleares.
* Or Southern Sea.

Chap. 11.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 211

the two to which the Greeks have given the name of Pityiissae',
from the pine-tree^, which they produce. These islands now
bear the name of Ebusus, and form a federate state. They
are separated by a narrow strait^ of the sea, and are forty-six*
miles in extent. They are distant from Dianium^ 700 stadia,
Dianium being by land the same distance'' from New Car-
thage. At the same distance'' from the Pitj^ssae, lie, in the
open sea, the two Baleares, and, over against the river Sucro^,
Colubraria^. The Baleares^", so formidable in war vrith
their slingers^\ have received from the Greeks the name of
Gymnasiae.

The larger island is 100^- miles in length, and 475 in cir-
cumference. It has the following towns ; Palma^^ and Pol-
lentia^^, enjoying the rights of Eoman citizens, Cinium^^ and
Tucis, with Latin rights : Bocchorum, a federate to^vn, is
no longer in existence. At thirty miles' distance is the

^ The modern Iviza and Fonnentera.

2 The Grreek for wliich is irirvs.

'^ Less than two leagues in width.

•* The real distance is 34 miles from the northern point of Iviza, called
Punta de Sen-a, to the southern point of Formentera, namely — across Iviza
22 miles, across the sea 5, and across Formentera 7.

' Now Denia. ^ This is not correct : the distance is but 45 miles.

^ This is incorrect : taken at the very greatest, the distance is only
522 stadia, eight to the mile.

^ The Xucar in Spain.

^ We more generally find it stated that the isle of Formentera, one of
the Pityussae, was called Colubraria. He probably refers to the islands
of the group about twenty leagues from the coast of Spain, now knov^^^
by the name of Columbrete ; but they are not near the Xucar, from
wliich, as well as from the Pityussae, they are distant about seventy miles.
The latter islands are now generally considered as part of the group of
the Baleares.

^^ Now Majorca and Minorca, with the ancient Pityussae.

" They served as mercenaries, first under the Carthaginians and after-
wards under the Romans. The ancient writers generally derive the name
of the people from thefr skill as archers — (iaXeapel?, from /3aXXw, "to
throw " ; but Strabo assigns to the name a Phtpnician origin, as being
equivalent to the Greek yvyivi]Tai, " light-armed soldiers." It is probably
from their hght equipment that the Greeks gave to the islands the nanie
of Tvixvriaiai. Livy says that they used to go naked during the summer.

'^ Seventy miles is the real length of Majorca, and the cfrcumference
is barely 250 miles.

'^ StiU called Palnia. This and Pollentia were Roman colonies settled
by MeteUus. " Now Pollenza. ^' Now Sineu on the Borga.

p2

212 PLIT^l's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book III.

smaller island, 40 miles in lengtli, and 150^ in circumference;
it contains the states of Jamnon^, Sanisera, and Magon^.

In the open sea, at twelve miles' distance from the larger
island, is Capraria"^ with its treacherous coast, so notorious for
its numerous shipwrecks ; and, opposite to the city of Palma,
are the islands known as the Maenarise^, Tiquadra*^, and Little
Hannibalis".

The earth of Ebusus has the effect of driving awaj serpents,
while that of Colubraria produces them ; hence the latter spot
is dangerous to all persons who have not brought with them
some of the earth of Ebusus. The G-reeks have given it
the name of Ophiusa^. Ebusus too produces no^ rabbits to
destroy the harvests of the Baleares. There are also about
twenty other small islands in this sea, which is full of shoals.
Off the coast of Graul, at the mouth of the Hhodanus, there
is Metina^*^, and near it the island whicli is known as Blascon",
with the three StoBchades, so called by their neighbours the
Massilians^^, on account of the regular order in which they
are placed; their respective names are Prote^^, Mese^^, also

^ The circumference is about 110 miles, the length 32.
2 Now Ciudadela.

^ Now Port Malion. The site of Sanisera, which was probably more
inland, is unknown.

4 Now Cabrera. The distance is not twelve, but nine mUes.

5 Now called the Malgrates. 6 Now Dragonera.
7 Now El Torre.

^ As already mentioned he seems to confound Formentera, which was
called Ophiusa, with the present group of Columbrete, wliich islands were
probably called Colubraria.

5 The former editions mostly omit " nee " ; and so make it that Ebusug
does produce the rabbits. Certamly, it does seem more likely that he would
mention that fact than the absence of it, which even to Phny could not
appear very remarkable.

1" D'Anville thinks that this is Metapina, but D'Astnic thinks that
the flat islands, called Les Tignes, are meant.

11 Now called Brescon, near Agde, according to D'Anville.

12 Who were of Greek origin, and so called them, because they stood
in a row, (xrot^^os.

13 Now called Porqueroles. Prote signifies the first, Mese the middle
one, and Hypcea the one below the others.

1'* Now Port Croz. D'Anville considers that Phny is mistaken in
identifying this island with Pomponiana or Pompeiana, wliieh he con-
siders to be the same with the peninsula now called Calle de Giens, which
lies opposite to Porqueroles.

Chap. 12.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 213

called Pomponiana, and Hypaea^ After these come Stu-
rium-, Phoeuice, Phila, Lero, and, opposite to Antipolis^,
Lerina"*, where there is a remembrance of a town called
Vergoanum having once existed.

CHAP. 12. (6.) — CORSICA.

In the Ligurian Sea, but close to the Tuscan, is Corsica,
by the Grreeks called Cyrnos, extending, from north to
south 150 miles, and for the most part 50 miles in breadth,
its circumference being 325. It is 62 miles distant from
the Vada YolateiTana^ It contains thirty-two states, and
two colonies, that of Mariana*', founded by C. Marius, and
that of Aleria, foimded by the Dictator Sylla. On this
side of it is Oglasa', and, at a distance of less than sixty
miles from Corsica, Planaria^, so called from its appear-
ance, being nearly level with the sea, and consequently
treacherous to mariners.

We next have Urgo^, a larger island, and Capraria, wliich
the Grreeks have called J^gilion^'^ ; then Igilium^^ and Dia-
nium^^, which they have also called Artemisia, both of them
ojDposite the coast of Cosa; also Barpana^^, Maenarta, Co-

^ Now called the lie du Levant oi* du Titan. The group is called the
Islands of Hieres or Calypso.

^ These are probably the httle islands now known as Eatoneau, Po-
niegue, and If. It has however been sxiggested that these names belong to
llie islands of Hieres already mentioned in tlie text, and that Stui'iiun is
the present PorqueroUes, Phoeniee Port-Croz, and Phila, Levant or Titan.

3 Now Antibes, or Antiboul in the Provencal idiom.

* Now Saint Honorat de Lerins. The island of Lero is the present
Sainte Marguerite de Lerins, and is nearer to Antibes than Lerina. The
Lermian monastery was much resorted to in the early ages of Cliristianity.

^ In ancient Etrm-ia, now Torre di Vada. The distance is, in reahty,
about ninety miles.

^ Mariana was situate in the northern part of the island, and the ruins
of Aleria are stUl to be seen on the banks of the river Tavignano, near
the coast. 7 Probably near the present Monte CVisto.

^ He probably means the group of islands called Formicole, which are
situate only thirty-three miles from Corsica, and not near sixty.

^ Now La Gorgona, «

'^ Both of these names meaning " Goat island." It is now called
Capraia. " The modern Giglio.

^- Now Gianuto, opposite Monte Argentaro on tlic nuiin-land.

^3 These are probably the small islands now called Formicte or For-
inicole di Grossetto, Troja, Palmajola, and Cervoli.

214 pliky's natural histoet. [Book III.

lumbaria, and Venaria. "We then come to Ilva^ with its iron
mines, an island 100 miles in circumference, 10 miles distant
from Populonimn, and called -^thalia by the Grreeks : from
it the island of Planasia" is distant 28 miles. After these,
beyond the mouths of the Tiber, and oft' the coast of Antium,
we come to Astura^, then Palmaria and Sinonia, and, oppo-
site to Pormiae, Pontise. In the Grulf of Puteoli are Panda-
teria'', and Prochyta, so called, not from the nurse of
-lEneas, but because it has been poured forth^ or detached
from JEnaria^, an island which received its name from hav-
ing been the anchorage of the fleet of JEneas, though called
by Homer Inarime^ ; it is also called Pithecusa, not, as
many have fancied, on account of the multitudes of apes
fornid there, but from its extensive manufactories of pottery.
Between Pausilipum^ and Neapolis lies the island of Me-
garis^, and then, at a distance of eight miles from Surrentum,
Capreae^", famous for the castle of the emperor Tiberius: it
is eleven miles in circumference.

^ The modern Elba. 2 Now Pianosa.

3 Astura still retains its ancient name, Palmaria is the present Pal-
marola, Sinonia is now Senone, and Pontise is the modem Isola di Ponza.

^ Now Yentotiene.

* Deriving its name from the Gi-reek word Trpoxwros, meaning " poured
forth."

^ The present island of Ischia, off the coasts of Campania. The name
of Pithecusse appears to have been given by the Grreeks to the two islands
of iEnaria and Prochyta collectively.

"^ Ovid, like many other writers, mentions Inarime as though a different
island from Pithecusse. See Met, B. xiv. 1. 89. As is here mentioned by
PKny, many persons derived the name " Pithecusse " from ttiQtjkos " an
ape," and, according to Strabo, " Aremus " was the Etriu-ian name for an
ape. Ovid, in the Metamorphoses, loc. cit., confirms this tradition by
relating the change of the natives into apes. The solution of its name
given by Phny appears however extremely probable, that it gained its
name from its manufacture of TnOrjKa, or earthen vessels. Yirgil is sup-
posed to have corned the name of " Inarime."

^ Now Posilippo. It is said to have derived its name from the G-reek
TravffiXvTTov, as tending to drive away care by the beauty of its situation.
Yirgil was biiried in its vicinity.

^ The modem Castel del' Ovo. •

^° Now Capri, Here Tiberius established liis den of lustfiihiess and
iniquity. He erected twelve villas in the island, the remains of several
of which are still to be seen.

Chap. 13.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTKIES, ETC. 215

CHAP. 13. SARDINIA.

Leucothea comes next, and after it, but out of sight, as it
lies upon the verge of the African Sea, Sardinia. It is situate
somewhat less^ than eight miles from the nearest point of
Corsica, and the Straits between them are even still more
reduced by the small islands there situate, called the Cuni-
culariae^ as also those of Phintonis^ and Fossse, from
which last the Straits themselves have obtained the name of
Taphros^.

(7.) Sardinia extends, upon the east side, a distance of
188 miles, on the west 175, on the south 77, and on the
north 125, being 565 miles in circumference. Its pro-
montory of Caralis^ is distant from Africa 200, and from
Grades 1400 miles. Off the promontory of Gordis^ it has
two islands called the Isles of Hercules^, off that of Sulcis,
the island of Enosis*^, and off that of Caralis, Ficaria^ Some
"^Titers place Beleris not far from it, as also CaUodis, and the
island known as Heras Lutra^".

The most celebrated peoples of this island are the Bienses",
the Balari, and the Corsi ; and among its eighteen towns,
there are those of the Sulcitani'^, the A^alentini^^ the Neapoli-

I The distance between is hardly five miles.

' These rocks appear at the present day to be nameless. The old name
seems to mean, the " Eabbit Warrens."

=» Pliintonis, according to Hardouin, is the modem Isola di Figo, ac-
cording to Mannert, Caprcra. Cluver makes Fossae to be the present Isola
Rossa, while Mannert considers it to be the same with Santa Maddalena.

^ Ta^pds being the Grreek for the Latin word "fossa," the ordinary
meaning of which is an " excavation."

5 Probably the Cape of Carbonara, from which however Africa is distant
only 121 miles, and the gulf of Grades or Cadiz 980.

^ Now Capo Falcone.

7 Now Asiaara or Zavara, and Isola Plana.

8 Now called Santo Antiocho, off La Punta dell' Llga.
5 According to Cluver, the modem Coltelalzo.

^0 The " Baths of Juno." The identity of these islands does not
appear to have been ascertained.

II Said by Pausanias to have been descended from persons who escaped
on the fall of Troy under the command of lolaiis.

12 Of the town of Sulcis. Its ruins are probably those seen at the
village of Sulci, near the port Palm a di Solo.

13 Their town was probably on the site of the present Iglcsias.

216 pliny's natural history. [Book III.

tam\ the Bosenses^, the Caralitani^, who enjoy the rights of
Eoman citizens, and the Norenses^ There is also one colony
which is called Ad Turrim Libysonis^ Timseus has called
this island Sandaliotis, on account of the similarity of its shape
to the sole of a shoe, while Myrtilus has given it the name of
Ichnusa*^, from its resemblance to the print of a footstep.
Opposite to the Gulf of Psestum is Leucasia^, so called from
a Siren wl o is buried there ; opposite to Yelia are Pontia
and Isacia, both known by one name, that of QEnotrides, a
proof that Italy was formerly possessed by the CEnotrians.
Opposite to Vibo are the little islands called Ithacesise^
from the watch-tower of Ulysses situate there.

CHAP. 14. (8.) SICILY.

But more celebrated than all is Sicily, called Sicania by
Thucydides, and by many writers Trinacria or Trinacia, from
its triangular appearance. According to Agrippa it is 618^
miles in circumference. In former times it was a conti-
nuation of the territory of Bruttium, but, in consequence of
the overflowing of the sea, became severed from it ; thus form-
ing a strait of 15 miles in length, and a mile and a half in
width in the vicinity of the Pillar of Ehegium. It v/as from
this circumstance of the land being severed asunder that
the G-reeks gave the name of Ehegimn^^ to the town situate
on the Italian shore.

In these Straits is the rock of Scylla, as also Charybdis", a
whirlpool of the sea, both of them noted for their perils. Of
this triangle, the promontory, which, as we have already ^^

1 Their town was probably either the present Napoli or Acqua di Corsari.

2 Their town is probably indicated by the ruins on the river Gavino.

3 Their town was Carahs, the present Caghari.

4 Their town was probably Nora, the present Torre Forcadizo.

^ "At Liby so' s Tower." ^ From the Greek I'xvos, " a footstep."

7 Now La Licosa, a small rocky island.

« Now Torricella, Praca, and Brace, with other rocks.

'J Posidonius, quoted by Strabo, says 550.

^^ Meaning that it comes from the G-reek verb prjyvvfii, " to break."
ThiJ is probably only a fanciful origin of the name.

11 The present Garofalo. At the present day small boats approach it
witliout danger.

" In Chap. X. Pelorus is the modern Capo di Faro.

Chap. 14.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 217

mentioned, is called Pelorus, faces Scylla and juts out towards
Italy, while Pacliynum* extends in the direction of Greece,
Peloponnesus being at a distance from it of 440 miles, and
Lilybaeum-, towards Africa, being distant 180 miles from the
promontory of Mercury^ and from that of Caralis in Sar-
dinia 190. * These promontories and sides are situate at the
folloA^-ing distances from each other : by land it is 186 miles
from Pelorus to Pachynum, from Pachynum to Lilybaeum
200, and from Lilybaeum to Pelorus 170 ''.

In this island there are five colonies and sixty-three cities
or states. Leaving Pelorus and lacing the Ionian Sea, we
have the town of IMessana^, whose inliabitants are also called
IMamertini and enjoy the rights of Eoman citizens ; the
promontory of Drepanum^, the colony of Tauromenium^,
formerly called Xaxos, the river Asines^, and Mount ..^tna,
wondrous for the flames which it emits by night. Its crater
is twenty stadia in circumference, and from it red-hot
cinders are thrown as far as Tauromenium and Catina, the
noise being heard even at Maroneum^ and the Gemellian
Hills. "We then come to the three rocks of the Cyclopes^",
the Port of Ulysses", the colony of Catina^% and the rivers
Symsethus^^ and Terias ; while more inland lie the Lsestry-
gonian Plains.

To these rivers succeed the towns of Leontinum^"* and
Megaris, the river Pantagies^^ the colony of Syracuse'*^, with
the fountain of Arethusa^'^, (the people in the S}Tacusan ter-

1 Now Capo di Passaro. 2 TJ^e present Capo di Boco Marsala.

3 Now Cape Bon. The real distance is but seventy-eight miles.
■* The following are more probably the correct distances : 150, 210,
and 230 miles. ° Now Messina.

6 The modem Capo di Santo Alessio.

7 Now called Taormini ; the remains of the ancient town are very
considerable. ^ Probably the present Alcautai'a.

9 Tlie present Madonia and Monte di Mele.

^0 Now called I Fariglioni.

^^ In modem times called " Lognina Stallone," according to Hardouin.

^^ The modem city of Catania stands on its site.

'3 The Fiume di Santo Leonardo, accorcUng to Hardouin, but Mannert
says the river Lentmi. Ansart suggests the Guarna Lunga.

'•♦ Now Lentini. The ruins of Megaris are still to be seen, according
to Mannert. ^^ Now the Porcaro.

^^ The modem city of Siracosa.

'7 See B. xxxi. c. 30, for particulars of this fountain.

218 pliny'8 natueal history. [Book III,:

ritory drink too of the fountains of Temenitis\ Archidemia,
Magaea, Cyane, and Milichie,) the port of Naustathmus"^, the
river Elorus, and the promontory of Pachynum. This
side^ of Sicily begins with the river Hirminius'*, then fol-
low the town of Camarina^, the river Grelas^, and the town
of Agragas'', which our people have named Agrigentum. We
next come to the colony of Thermae^, the rivers Achates^,
Mazara, and Hypsa; the town of Selinus^", and then the
Promontory of Liiybseum, which is succeeded by Drepana*\
Mount Eryx^', the towns of Panhormus^^, Solus ^^ andHimera^'^
with a river of the same name, Cephaloedis^^, AJuntium^^,

^ According to Mirabella, these springs are in modem times called
Fonte di Canali, Cefalino, Fontana della Maddalena, Fonte Ciane, and
Lampismotta.

'^ The modern Fonte Bianche. The Elorus, according to Hardouin,
is the modern Acellaro, according to Mannert, the Abisso.

3 The southern side. "* Now the Maulo, or Fiume di Eagusa.

* Still called Camariaa. Scarcely any vestiges of the ancient city now
remain.

^ According to Hardouin the Fiume Salso ; but according to D'An-
viUe and Mannert, the Fiume Ghiozzo.

7 Now Girgenti. Gigantic remains of the ancient city are still to be
seen. ^ See note ^^ in. this page.

^ The Achates is the modern Behce, the Mazara retains its name, and
the Hypsa is now the Marsala.

^'^ So called by the Greeks from its abundant growth of parsley, called by
them (TeXivov. Its remains are still to be seen at the spot called Selenti.

11 Now Trapani. Some vestiges of its ancient mole are to be seen.

12 The present Monte San Juhano.

1^ The great city of Palermo stands on its site. It was founded by
the Phoenicians. i"* The modern Solunto.

1^ Himera was destroyed by the Carthaginians, B.C. 408, upon which
its inliabitants founded Thermae, so called from its hot springs. This
was probably the colony of Thermse mentioned above by Pluiy, though
wrongly placed by him on the southern coast between Seluius and Agri-
gentum. The modem town of Termini stands on the site of Thermse ; re-
mains of its baths and aqueduct are still to be seen. Hhnera stood on a river
of the same name, most probably the present Fiume Grande, and Fazello
is of opinion that the town was situate on the site now occupied by the
Torre di Bonfornello. Himera was the birthplace of the poet Stesichorus.

1^ Or Csephaloedium. Some remains of it are to be seen at the spot I
called Cefalu.

17 Probably on the site now occupied by the town of San Marco.
Fazello and Cluver however place Aluntivun near San I'iiadelfo, where
seme ruins were formerly visible, and regard San Marco as the site of
Agathyma or Agathyrnum.

Chap. 14.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 219

Agathyrniim, the colony of ^yndaris\ the town of Mylse',
and then Pelorus, the spot at which we began.

In the interior there are the following towns enjoying
Latin pri^-ileges, those of the Centuripini^ the Netini-*, and
the Segestani^ ; tributary towns are those of the Assorini",
the ^tnenses", the AgjTini'^, the Acestaei, the Acrenses^ the
Bidini^", the Cetarini^\ the Cacyrini^-, the Drepanitani,
the Ergetini^^ the Echetlienses^^ the Erycini*^ the En-
tpHini^^, the Enini'S the Enguini^^ the Gelani'^ the Gala-

1 Probably situate near the church of Santa Maria at Tindari, now the
Capo di Mongioio. ^ '^ow called Melazzo.

3 Their city was Centuripa, on a hill S.W. of ^tna. The modern
Centorbi occupies its site, and some of its rums may still be seen.

•» Netum probably stood on the spot now known as Noto Anticho.

5 The ruins of Segesta are supposed to be those near the river San
Bartolomeo, twelve miles south of Alcamo. ^ Asaro occupies its site.

7 A people dwelling at the foot of Mount uEtna, according to D'An-
ville, at a place now called Nicolosi.

8 The people of Agyriimi ; the site of which is now called San Fihppo
d'Argiro. Diodorus Siculus was a native of this place.

9 Acrffi occupied a bleak hill in the vicinity of the modem Pallazolo,
where its ruins are still to be seen.

^0 Then- to^^^l was Bidis near Syracuse. The modern Bibino or San
Giovanni di Bidmi is supposed to stand on its site.

'1 The people of Cetaria, between Panormus and Drepanum. Its site
is unknown.

12 The people of Cacyrum, supposed to have stood on the site of the
modern Cassaro. The Drepanitani were so called fi-om hving on the
promontory of Drepanimi.

13 The ruins near La Cittadella are probably those of Ergetivim.

1^ The people of Echetla. According to Faziello and Cluver its ruins
were those to be seen at the place called Occhiala or Occhula, two miles
from the town of Grran Michele.

15 The inhabitants of the city of Eryx, on the moimtain of that name,
now San Giuhano. The ancient city stood probably half-way down the
mountain.

16 The town of Entella survived till the thirteenth century, when it
was destroyed by the Emperor Frederic II. The ruins were formerly to
be seen near Poggio la Reale.

17 Perhaps the people of Eima, once a famous city. AccorcUng to the
story as related by Ovid and Clauchan, it was from this spot that Pro-
Bcrpine was carried off by Pluto. It stood on the same site as the town of
Castro Giovanni. This note may however bo more apphcable to tho
Hennenses, mentioned below.

18 The ruins of Enguinum are probably those in the vicinity of tho
modem town of Gangi.

19 The people of Gela, one of the most important cities of Sicily. Its

220 PLINT's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book III. i

*

tini\ the Halesini", the Hcnnenses, the Hyblenses^, the
Herbitenses^, the Herbessenses^, the Herbulenses, the Hali-
cyenses®, the Hadranitani^, the Imacarenses, the Ipanenses,
the letenses^, the Mytistratini^, the Magellini, the Miir-
gentini^", the Mutycenses^\ the Menanini^^, the ISTaxii^^, the
Noaei'"*, the Petrini^*, the Paropmi^®, the Phthiuthieuses^'^, the
Semellitani, the Scherini, the Selinuntii^^, the Symaethii, the

site was probably the modern Terranova, near the river Fiume di
Terranova.

^ The people probably of Gralata or Gralaria ; on the site of which the
modern village of Galata is supposed to stand.

2 The people probably of Halesa ; its ruins are supposed to be those
near the village of Tysa, near the river Pettineo.

3 The people of Hybla. There were three cities of this name in Sicily,
the Grreater, the Less, and Hybla Megara. The name was probably
derived from the local divinity mentioned by Pausanias as being so
called.

^ The people of Herbita ; the site of which was probably at Nicosia,
or else at Sperlinga, two miles south of it.

^ There were two places in Sicily known as Herbessus or Erbessus —
one near Agrigentum, the other about sixteen miles from Syracuse, on
the site, it is supposed, of the present Pantalica.

^ The ijeople of HaUcyse, in the west of Sicily. The modern town of
Salemi is supposed to occupy its site.

" The people of Adi'anum or Hadranum, a town famous for its temple
of the Sicihan deity Adranus. Its site is occupied by the modern town
of Aderno. The. ruins are very considerable.

^ The people of letae ; the site of which town is said by FazeUo to be
the modern lato. The sites of the places previously mentioned cannot
be identified.

" The site of their tovra is situate at the modern Mistretta, where some
ruins are stiU to be seen.

^0 The site of tlaeii- town was probably the present village of Mandi-i
jBianchi on the river Dittaino.

^1 Probably the people of Motuca, mentioned by Ptolemy, now Modica.

1^ Their town probably stood on the site of the present Mineo.

^3 It has been suggested that these are the same as the people of Tau-
romenium, said to have been a Naxian colony.

^'^ They are supposed to have dwelt on the site of the present Noara.

^5 The ruins of the town of Petra are supposed to have been those to
be seen near Castro Novo, according to Mannert.

^^ Fazello is of opinion that the present CoUsano occupies the site of
the ancient Paropus.

^7 The city of Phthinthias was peopled by the inhabitants of G-ela, by
command of Phthinthias the despot of Agrigentum. Its ruins are pro-
bably those seen in the vicinity of the modern Alicata.

*8 The people of Selinus previously mentioned in p. 218.

Chap. 14] ACCOUNT OF COUKTRIES, ETC. 223

Talarienses, the Tissiiienses\ the Triocalini", the Tyraei-
neuses, and the Zanchvi^, a Messenian colony on the Straits
of Sicily. Towards Africa, its islands are Gaulos"*, jNIelita,
87 miles from Camerina, and 113 from Lilybseum, Cosyra^,
Hieronnesos^ Csene', G-alata^, Lopadusa, ^thusa, ^-ritten
by some iEgusa,Bucinna^, Osteodes'", distant from Soluntum
75 miles, and, opposite to Paropus, Ustica.

On this side of Sicily, facing the river Metaurns, at a di-
stance of nearly 25^^ miles from Italy, are the seven ^""^ islands
called the -3ilolian, as also the Liparsean islands ; by the
Grreeks they are called the Hephcestiades, and by our writers
the Vulcanian^^ Isles ; they are called " jEolian " because in
the Trojan times tEoIus was king there.

(9.) Lipara^^, with a town whose inhabitants enjoy the
rights of Roman citizens, is so called from Liparus, a former
king who succeeded'^ ^olus, it having been previously called
Melogonis or Meligunis. It is 25 miles ^^ distant from Italy,
and in circumference a little less. Between this island and
Sicily we find another, the name of which was formerly
Therasia, but now called Hiera, because it is sacred to
Vulcan^^: it contains a hill which at night vomits forth

^ Randazzo, at the foot of ^-Etna, is supposed to occupy the site of the
ancient Tissa. ^ The people of Triocala, now TroccoH, near CalataBellota.

3 Zancle was the ancient Greek name of Messina, which was so called
from its similarity in shape to a sickle. The Messenian colony of the
Zancliri probably dwelt in its yicinity.

■» Gaiilos is the present Gozo, and Mehta the important island of
!Malta. The distance here mentioned is in reality only sixty-one miles
from Camerina. -^ Now Pantellaria. ^ i-i^e j^odem island of Maretirao.

7 Probably the present island of Limosa.

s Galata still has the name of Calata, Lopadusa is the present Lara-
pedosa, and iEthusa, accordmg to Mannert, is called Favignana.

^ Now Levanzo.

^^ According to Mannert, this is the island Ahcur, to the west of the
-^ohan or Liparian islands. Ustica still retahis its ancient name.

^^ The least distance between these localities is forty-five miles.

*2 There are now eleven, some of which are supposed to hare risen
from the sea since tlie time of Pliny.

^3 From Vulcan the god of fire, the Greek Hephtestus.

i"* Now called the Great Lipara.

^■^ According to Solinus, c. vi., ^olus succeeded him. Its name Me-
logonis was by some ascribed to its great produce of honey.

^6 The shortest distance between these locahtiea is forty-six miles.

^7 Now called Volcano.

222 flint's natural HISTOBT. [Book III.

flames. The third island is Strongyle\ lying one mile^ to
the east of Lipara, over which JEolus reigned as well ; it
differs only from Lipara in the superior brilliancy of its
flames. Erom the smoke of this volcano it is said that some
of the inhabitants are able to predict three days beforehand
what winds are about to blow ; hence arose the notion that
the winds are governed by iEolus. The fourth of these
islands is Didyme^, smaller than Lipara, the fifth Ericusa,
the sixth Phcenicusa, left to be a pasture-ground for the
cattle of the neighbouring islands, and the last and smallest
Euonymos. Thus much as to the first great Grulf of
Europe.

CHAP. 15. (10.) — MAGNA GE^CIA, BEGINNING AT LOCEI.

At Locri begins the fore-part of Italy, called Magna
Graecia, whose coast falls back in three bays'* formed by the
Ausonian sea, so called from the Ausones, who were the
first inhabitants of the country. According to Varro it is
86 miles in extent ; but most writers have made it only 75.
Along this coast there are rivers innumerable, but we shall
mention those only that are worthy of remark. After
leaving Locri we come to the Sagra^, and the ruins of the
town of Caulon, Mystiae^, Consilinum Castrum'^, Cocin-
thum^, in the opinion of some, the longest headland of Italy,
and then the Grulf of Scylacium^, and Scylacium^" itself,

* Now Strongoli and Stromboli. It is the only one of these mountains
that is continually burning. Notwithstanding the dangers of their loca-
lity, this island is inhabited by about fifty famihes.

2 Strabo makes the same mistake ; the distance is twenty miles.

^ According to Hardouin and D'Anville this is the modem Sahne, but
Mannert says Panaria. The geographers differ in assigning their ancient
names to the other three, except that Euonymos, from its name, the " left-
hand " island, is clearly the modern Lisca Bianca.

^ These are the Grulf of Locri, the Gulf of ScyUacium, and the Grulf of
Tarentum.

5 Now called the Sagriano, though some make it to be the modem
Alaro. The site of the town of Caulon does not appear to be known :
it is by some placed at Castel Yetere on the Alaro.

<> Said by Hardouin to be the modern Monasteraci or Monte Araci.

7 Supposed to have been situate on a lull near the modern Padula.

8 The modern Pmita di Stilo, or " Pomt of the Column."

^ The modem Gulf of SquiUace. ^" Now Squillace.

Chap. 15.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 223

which was called by the Athenians, when they founded it,
Scylletiura. This part of Italy is nearly a peninsula, in con-
sequence of the Gulf of Terinseum^ running up into it on the
other side ; in it there is a harbour called Castra Hannibalis^ :
in no part is Italy narrower than here, it being but twenty
miles across. For this reason the Elder Dionysius enter-
tained the idea of severing^ this portion from the main-land
of Italy at this spot, and adding it to Sicily. The navi-
gable rivers in this district are the Carcines"*, the Crotalus,
the Semirus, the Arocas, and the Targines. In the interior
is the toAMi of Petilia^, and there are besides, Mount Cli-
banus^, the promontory of Lacinium, in front of which lies
the island of Dioscoron', ten miles from the main-laud, and
another called the Isle of Calypso, which Homer is supposed
to refer to under the name of Ogygia ; as also the islands of
Tiris, Eranusa, and Meloessa. According to Agrippa, the
promontory of Lacinium^ is seventy miles from Caulon.

(11.) At the promontory of Lacinium begins the second
Gulf of Europe, the bend of which forms an arc of great
depth, and terminates at Acroceraunium, a promontory of
Epirua, from which it is distant^ seventy-five miles. We
first come to the town of Croton'", and then the river

^ Now the Gulf of Saint Eufeniia.

2 " Hannibal's Camp." This was the seaport of Scyllacium, and ita
site was probably near the mouth of the river Corace.

3 According to Strabo, B. vi., he intended to erect a high wall across,
and so divide it fix>m the rest of Italy ; but if we may judge, from the
use by Phny of the word " intercisam," it woidd seem that u was his
design to cut a canal across tliis neck of land.

•* According to Hardouin, the Carcincs is the present river Corace, the
Crotalus the iUh, the Semirus the Simari, the Arocas the Croccliio, and
the Targines the Tacina.

^ The present Strongolo, according to DMnville and Mannert.

^ The present Monte Monacello and Monte Fuscaldo are supposed
to foma part of the range caUcd Chbanus.

' Meaning tliat it was sacred to Ca,stor and Pollux. Such are the
changes effected by lapse of time that these two islands are now only
bleak rocks. The present locahty of the other islands does not appear
to be known. ^ Now Capo di Colonnc.

^ The real distance from Acroceraunium, now Capo Linguetta, is 153
miles, according to Ansart.

^" Or Crotona, one of the most famoiis Greek cities in the south of
Italy. No ruins of the ancient city, said by Livy to have been twelve
miles in circumference, are now remaining. The modern Cotrone occu-
pies a part of its site. Pythagoras taught at this place.

224 flint's l^ATUEAL HISTOET. [Book III,

Nesetlius^ and the town of Thurii^, situate between the two
rivers Crathis and Sybaris, upon the latter of which there was
once a city^ of the same name. In a similar manner Hera-
clia'*, sometimes called Siris, lies between the river of that
name and the Aciris. We next come to the rivers Aca-
landrus and Casuentum^, and the town of Metapontum",
with which the third region of Italy terminates. In the
interior of Bruttium, the Aprustani'' are the only people ;
but in Lucania we find the Atinates, the Bantini, the Ebu-
rini^, the Grrumentini, the Potentini, the Sontini^, the Sirini,
the Tergilani, the Ursentini, and the Volcentani/", whom
the Numestrani join. Besides these, we learn from Cato^^
that Thebes in Lucania has disappeared, and Theopompus
informs us that there was formerly a city of the Lucani called
Pandosia^"^, at which Alexander, the king of Epirus, died.

^ The modem Neto.

2 Now called Turi, between the rivers Crati and Sibari or Eoscile.

3 A Gi-reek town, famous for the inordinate love of luxury displayed by
its inhabitants, whence a voluptuary obtained the name of a " Sybarite.''
It was destroyed by the people of Crotona, who turned the waters of the
Crathis upon the town. Its site is now occupied by a pestilential swamp.

^ A famous Greek city founded on the territory of the former Ionian
colony of Siris. The foundations of it may still be seen, it is supposed,
near a spot called Policoro, tlu-ee miles from the sea. The rivers are
now called the Sinno and the Agri.

5 The modem Salandra or SalandreUa, and the Basiento.

^ So caUed from its lymg between the two seas. It was once a cele-
brated Greek city, but was in ruins in the time of Pausanias. The
place called Torre di Mare now occupies its site.

7 The site of Aprustum is supposed to be marked by the village of
Argusto, near ChiaravaUe, about five miles from the Gulf of Squillace.
Atina was situate in the valley of the Tanager, now theValle di Diano. The
ruins of Atina, which are very extensive, are to be seen near the village
of Atena. Livy and Acron speak of Bantia as in Apuha, and not in Lu-
cania. An ancient abbey, Santa Maria di Yanze, still marks its site.

^ The ruins of Eburi are supposed to be those between the modem
EboH and the right bank of the Silarus. The remains of Grumentmn,
a place of some importance, are still to be seen on the river Agri, half a
mile from the modem Saponara. Potenza occupies the site of ancient
Potent ia.

3 The Sontini were probably situate on the river Sontia, now the Sanza,
near PoHcastro. The Sirini probably had their name from the river Siris,

^0 Yolcentum was situate near the Silarus, probably on the spot now
caUed Bulcino or Bucino. The site of Numistro appears to be imknown.

" In his work " De Originibus."

Livy, B. viii., and Justin mention how that Alexander I. (in the

Chap. 16.] ACCOrKT or COUNTEIES, ETC. 225

CHAP. 16. THE SECOND EEGION OF ITALY.

Adjoining to this district is the second region of Italy, which,
embraces the Hirpini, Calabria, Apulia, and the Salentini, ex-
tending a distance of 250 miles along the Grulf of Tarentum,
which receives its name from a town of the Laconians so
called, situate at the bottom of the Gulf j to which was annexed
the maritime colony which had previously settled there.
Tarentum ' is distant from the promontory of Lacinium 136
miles, and throws out the territory of Calabria opposite to it
in the form of a peninsula. The Greeks called this territory
Messapia, from their leader^ ; before which it was called Peu-
cetia, from Peucetius^, the brother of (Enotrius, and was
comprised in the territory of Salentinum. Between the
two promontories'* there is a distance of 100 miles. The
breadth across the peninsula from Tarentum^ to Brundusium
by land is 35 miles, considerably less if measured from the
port of Sasina^. The towTis inland from Tarentum are Varia'
surnamed Apulia, Messapia, and Aletium ^ ; on the coast,
Senum, and Callipolis^, now known as Anxa, 75 miles from

year B.C. 326) was obliged to engage under unfavourable cii'ciimstances
near Pandosia , on the Acheron, and fell as he was crossing the river ;
thus accomphsliing a prophecy of Dodona which had warned him to
beware of Pandosia and the Acheron. He was uncle to Alexander the
Great, being the brother of Olympias. The site of Pandosia is supposed
to have been the modem Castro Franco.

1 This word is understood in the text, and Ansart would have it to
mean that the " Gulf of Tarentum is distant," &c., but, as he says, such
an assertion would be very indefinite, it not being stated what part of
the G\ilf is meant. He therefore suggests that the most distant point
from Lacinium is meant ; which however, according to him, would make
but 117 miles straight across, and 160 by land. The city of Tarentum
would be the most distant point.

2 Messapus, a Boeotian, mentioned by Strabo, B. ix.

3 A son of Lycaon.

* Of Lacinium and Acra lapygia. About seventy miles seems to be
the real distance ; certainly not, as Pliny aays, 100.

* The modem Taranto to Brindisi.

" Probably situate at the further extremity of the bay on which Ta-
rentum stood.

7 According to D'Anville and Mannert, the modern Oria. Messapia
is the modem Mcsagna.

8 The modern Santa Maria dell' Ahzza, according to D'Anville.

3 The modern Galhpoh, in the Terr^ di Otranto. The real distance
from Tarentum is between fifty and sixty miles.

VOL. I. Q

226 plint's nattjeal histoet. [Book III.

Tarentum. Thence, at a distance of 32 miles, is the Pro-
niontorj of Acra Iapygia\ at which point Italy projects
the greatest distance into the sea. At a distance of 19 niiles
from this point is the to^vn of Basta^, and then Hydruntum^,
the spot at which the Ionian is separated from the Adriatic
sea, and from which the distance across to Grreece is the
shortest. The town of the Apolloniates^ lies opposite to it,
and the breadth of the arm of the sea which runs between is
not more than fifty miles. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, was the
first who entertained the notion of uniting these two points
and making a passage on foot, by throwing a bridge across,
and after him M. Varro^, when commanding the fleet of
Pompey in the war against the Pirates. Other cares however
prevented either of them from accomplishing this design.
Passing Hydruntum, we come to the deserted site of
Soletum'', then Fratuertium, the Portus Tarentinus, the
haven of Miltopa, Lupia^, Balesium^, Cselia^, and then Brun-
dusium^", fifty miles from Hydruntum. This last place is

1 The " lapygian Point," the present Capo di Santa Maria di Leuca.

2 Its site is occupied by the little village of Yaste near Poggiordo, ten
nules S.W. of Otranto. In the sixteenth century considerable remains
of Basta were still to be seen.

3 The modern Otranto stands on its site. In the fourth century it
became the usual place of passage from Italy to Greece, ApoUonia, and
Dyrrhachium. Few vestiges of the ancient city are now to be seen!

4 Anciently ApoUonia, in Illyria, now called Pallina or Pollona.

5 This was M. Terentius Varro, called " the most learned of the Eo-
mans." His design, here mentioned, seems however to have eviuced
neither learning nor discretion.

6 Now called Soleto. The ruins of the ancient city, described by
G-alateo as existing at Muro, are not improbably those of Fratuertium,
or, perhaps more rightly, Fratuentum.

7 The modern Lecce is supposed to occupy its site.

8 Called Va,letium by Mela. Its ruins are still to be seen near San
Pietro Yernotico, on the road from Brindisi to Lecce. The site is stOl
called Baleso or Yalesio.

9 Ansart takes this to be the modem village of CavaUo, on the pro-
montory of that name ; but it is more probably the modem Ceghe, situate
on a hill about twelve miles from the Adriatic, and twenty-seven miles west
of Briadisi. Extensive ruins still exist there. There was another town
of the same name ui the south of Apuha.

10 Now Brmdisi. Yfrgil died here. The modem city, which is an
impoverished place, presents butfew vestiges of antiquity.' The distance
to Dyn-hachium is in reaUty only about 100 miles.

Chap. 16.] ACCOTJNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 227

one of the most famous ports of Italy, and, althougli more
distant, affords by far the safest passage across to Greece,
the place of disembarkation being Dyrrachium, a city of
Ill}Tia ; the distance across is 225 miles.

^ Adjoining Brundusium is the territory of the Pediculi^ ;
nine youths and as many maidens, natives of Illyria, became
the parents of sixteen nations. The towns of the Pediculi
are Kudiae-', Egnatia^ and Barium'' ; their riyers are the lapyx
(so called from the son of Dfedalus, who was king there, and
who gave it the name of lapygia), the Pactius^ and the
Aufidus, which rises in the Hirpinian mountains and flows
past Canusium^.

At this point begins Apulia, surnamed the Daimian, from the
Daunii, who take their name from a former chief, the father-in-
law of Diomedes. In this territory are the towns of Salapia",
famous for Hannibal's amour with a courtezan, Sipontum^,

1 They occupied probably a portion of the modern Terra di Bari.

2 Said by Hardouin to be the modern Carouigna or Carovigni ; but
Mannert asserts it to be the same as the modem Euvo.

^ Or Gnatia, called by Strabo and Ptolemy a city of Apulia. It was
probably the last to^n of the Peucetians towards the frontiers of Calabria.
Horace, in the account of his journey to Brundusunn (I. Sat. i. 97-100),
makes it his last halting-place, and ridicules a pretended miracle shown
by the mhabitants, who asserted that incense placed on a certain altar
was consumed without fire being appUed. The same story is referred to
by Pliny, B. ii. c. Ill, where he incon-ectly makes Egnatia a to^vn of the
Salentini. Its ruins are visible on the sea-coast, about six miles S.E. of
Monopah, and an old town still bears the name of Torre d' Agnazzo.

"^ Now Bari, a considerable city. In the tune of Horace it was only a
fishing town. It probably had a considerable intercoiu-se with Greece,
if we may judge from the remains of art found here.

5 It is difficult to identify these rivers, from the number of smaU tor-
rents between Brindisi and the Ofanto or Aufidus. Accordmg to
Mannert, the Pactius is the present Canale di Terzo.

^ An important city of Apuha, said to have been founded by Diomedes.
Horace alludes to its deficiency of water. The modem Canosa is built
on probably the site of the citadel of tlie ancient city, the ruins of which
are very extensive.

7 The ruins of this place are still to be seen at some little distance
fro7n the coast, near the village of Salpi. The ston- about Hannibal was
very probably of Roman invention, for Justin .and Front iniis speak in
praise of his continence and temperance. Appian however gives some
farther particulars of this alleged amour.

»* The present Manfredonia has arisen from the decay of this ton-n, in
consequence of the unhealthiness of the locality. Ancient Uria is sup-

q2

228 plint's katueal history. [Book III.

TJria, tlie river Cerbalns\ forming the boundary of the Daiinii,
the port of Agasus^, and the Promontory of Mount Gar-
ganus^, distant from the Promontory of Salentinum or lapygia
234 miles. Making the circuit of Grarganus, we come to the
port of Garna^, the Lake Pantanus*, the river Prento, the
mouth of which forms a harbour, Teanum of the Apuli^, and
Larinum, Cliternia'', and the river Tifernus, at which the
district of the Prentani^ begins. Thus there were three
different nations of the Apulians, [the Daunii,] the Teani, so
called from their leader, and who sprang from the Greeks, and
the Lucani, who were subdued by Calchas ^, and whose country
is now possessed by the Atinates. Besides those already men-
tioned, there are, of the Daunii, the colonies of Luceria^*' and
Yenusia^^ the towns of Canusium^^ and Arpi, formerly called
Argos Hippium^^ and founded by Diomedes, afterwards called
Argyrippa. Here too Diomedes destroyed the nations of the
Monadi and the Dardi, and the two cities of Apina and

posed to have occupied the site of Manfredonia, and the village of Santa
Maria di Siponto stands where Siponti stood,

^ Probably the Cervaro. Hardouin says the Candelaro.

^ The present Porto Grreco occupies its site.

3 Still known as G-argano.

* Probably the present Varano.

5 Now Lago di Lesina. The Prento is now called the Fortore.

6 To distinguish it from Teanum of the Sidicini, previously mentioned.

7 Between the Tifernus and the Frento. Its remains are said to be
still visible at Licchiano, five miles from San Martino. The Tifernus is
now called the Biferno.

* A people of Central Italy, occupying the tract on the east coast of
the peninsula, from the Apennines to the Adriatic, and from the fi-on-
tiers of ApuHa to those of the Marrucini.

^ Strabo (B. vi.) refers to this tradition, where he mentions the oracle
of Calchas, the soothsayer, in Daunia in Southern Italy. Here answers
were given in dreams, for those who consulted the oracle had to sacrifice
a black ram, and slept a night in the temple, lying on the skin of the
victim.

10 The modern Lucera in the Capitanata.

11 The birth-place of Horace ; now Yenosa in the BasUicata.

12 The modern Canosa stands on the site of the citadel of ancient Ca-
nusium, an Apulian city of great importance. • The remains of the ancient
city are very considerable.

1' So called, it was said, in remembrance of Argos, the native city of
Diomedes. It was an Apuhan city of considerable importance. Some
shght traces of it are stdl to be seen at a spot which retains the name of
Arpa, five miles from the city of Foggia.

::niap. 16.] Accouis-T or countries, etc. 229

Irica^ whose names have passed into a by-word and a
proverb.

Besides the above, there is in the interior of the second
region one colony of the Hirpini, Beneventum^, so called by
an exchange of a more anspicious name for its old one of
Maleventum ; also the ^culani^, the Aquilonii^ the Abelli-
nates surnamed Protropi, the Compsani, the Caudini, the
Ligures, both those called the Corneliani and Bebiani, the
Yescellani, the ^clani, the Aletrini, the Abellinates^ sur-
named Marsi, the Atrani, the ^cani^ the Alfellani^ the

^ The names of these two defunct cities were used by the Romans to
signify anything Mvolous and unsubstantial ; just as we speak of " cas-
tles in the air," which the French call " chateaux en Espagne."

2 Livy and Ptolemy assign tbis place to Samniuni Proper, as distin-
guished from the Hirpini. It was a very ancient city of the Saninites,
but in the year B.C. 268, a Roman colony was settled there, on which
occasion, prompted by superstitious feelings, the Romans changed its
name Maleventum, which in their language would mean " badly come,"
to Beneventum or " wcU come." The modem city of Benevento still
retains nmnerous traces of its ancient grandem', among others a tri-
umphal arch, erected a.d. 114 in honour of the emperor Trajan.

3 The remauia of Jiculanum are to be seen at Le Grotte, one mile
from MirabelLa. The rums are very extensive.

^ There were probably two places called Aquilonia in Italy ; the remains
of the present one are those probably to be seen at La Cedogna. That
mentioned by Livy, B. x. c. 38-43, was probably a different place.

5 These are supposed by some to be the people of Abellinima mentioned
in the jBrst region of Italy. Nothing however is known of these or of
the AbeUinates Marsi, mentioned below.

6 ^cse is supposed to liave been situate about nineteen miles from
Herdonia, and to have been on the site of the modem city of Troja, an
episcopal see. The Compsani were the people of Compsa, the modem
Conza ; and the Caudini were the inhabitants of Caudium, near which
were the Fauces Caudinae or "Caudine Forks," where the Roman army was
captured by the Samnites. The site of this city was probably between
the modem Arpaja and Monte Sarchio ; and the defeat is thought to
have taken place in the narrow valley between Santa Agata and Moirano,
on the road from tlie former place to Benevento, and traversed by the
Uttle river Iselero. The enumeration here beginning ^dth the yEclani is
thought by Hardomn to be of nations belonging to Apulia, and not to
the Hirpini. The iEclani, here mentioned, were probably tlie people
of the place now called AscoU di Satriano, not far from the river Cara-
peUa. Of the Aletrini and Atrani nothing appears to be knowTi.

"i Probably the people of Affila?, stiU called Affile, and seven miles
from Subiaco. Inscriptions and fragments of columns are stiU found
there.

230 plint's natijeal histoet. [Book III.

Atinates^ the Arpani, tlie Borcani, the Collatiui, the Cori-
nenses, the Cannenses^, rendered famous by the defeat of the
Eomans, theDirini, theForentani^ the Grenusini^ the Herdo-
uienses, the Hyrini^ the Larinates surnamed Erentani^, the
Merinates^ of Gargauus, the Mateolani, the Netini^, the Eu-
bustini^ the Silviiii^^ the Strapellini^^ the TurmeAtini, the
Yibmates|-, the Yenusini, and the Ulurtini. In the interior
of Calabria there are the ^getini, the Apamestini^^, the
Argentini, the Butuntinenses^^ theDeciani, the arumbestini,

1 The people of Atinum, a town of Lucania, situate in the upper valley
of the Tariager, now the VaUe cli Diano. Its site is ascertamed by the
ruins near tJie village of Atena, five mHes north of La Sala. Collatia
was situate on the Anio, now called the Teverone.

^ The rums of the to^Ti of Canuse are stiU visible at a place caUed
Canne, about eight mHes from Canosa. The Eomans were defeated by
Hannibal, on the banks of the Aufidus in its vicinity, but there is con-
siderable question as to the exact locahty. The ruins of the town are
still considerable.

3 Forentum was the site of the present Forenza in the Basihcate It
IS caUed by Horace and Diodorus SiciUus, Ferentum. The ancient town
probably stood on a plain below the modern one. Some remains of it
are still to be seen.

4 On the site of Genusium stands the modern Ginosa. The ruins of
the ancient city of Herdonea are still to be seen in the vicinity of the
modern Ordona, on the high road from Naples to Otranto. This place
witnessed the defeat by Hannibal of the Romans twice in two years

5 The mention of the Hyiini, or people of Hyi^um or Hyria, is pro-
bably an error, as he has ah-eady mentioned Uria, the same place, among
the Daunian Apuhans, and as on the sea-shore. See p. 228. It is not
improbably a corrupted form of some other name.

^ From the Frento, on the banks of wliich they dwelt.

7 Viesta, on the promontory of Gargano, is said to occupy the site of
the ancient Merinum.

8 According to Mannert, the modern town of Noja stands on the site
01 ancient Netium.

•• They inliabited Ruvo, in the territory of Bari, according to Hardouin
" Then- town was Silvium ; probably on the site of the modeni
bavignano.

" Accordhig to D'AnvOle their town was StrabeUum, now caUed
Eapolla.

1- Their town is supposed to have been on the site of the modem
Bovmo, in the Capitanata.

/^ The people of Apamestse ; probably on the site of the modem San
V ito, two miles west of Pohgiiano.

^^ The pf'ople of Butuntum, now Bitonto, an inland city of ApuHa
twelve mile, ifoin Barium, and five from the sea. No particulars of it are
imowii. All pai-ticulars too of most of tlie following tribes have perished

Chap. 17.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 231

the Norbanenses, tlie Palionenses, the Sturnini^ and the
Tutini : there are also the following Salentine nations ; the
Aletini-, the Basterbini^, the Neretini, the Uxentini, and
the Veretini"*.

CHAP. 17. (12.) — THE EOIJETH EEGI02f OP ITALY.

"We now come to the fourth region, which includes the
most v^aliant probably of all the nations of Italy. Upon the
coast, in the territory of the Frentani^, after the river Tifernus,
we find the river Trinium^, with a good harbour at its mouth,
the towns of Histonium'^, Buca^, and Ortona, and the river
Aternus®. In the interior are the Anxani surnamed Frentani,
the Higher and Lower Carentini^*^, and the Lanuenses ; in the
territory of the Marrucini, the Teatini^^ ; in that of thePeligni,
the Corfinienses^-, the Superaequani^^, and the Sulmonenses^'* ;

^ D'Anville places their city, Stunii, at the present Ostuni, not far
from the Adriatic, and foiu'teen leagues from Otranto.

2 The people of Aletiiim already mentioned.

3 Their town possibly stood on the site of the present village of Veste,
to the west of Castro. The Neretini were probably the people of the
present Nardo.

^ Probably the people of the town which stood on the site of the pre-
sent San Verato.

^ They occupied what is now called the Abnizzo Inferiors.

^ Now the Trigno.

7 On the site of the present Vasto d'Ammone, five miles south of the
Punta della Penna. Tliere are numerous remains of the ancient city.

' According to Strabo Buca bordered on the temtory of Teanum,
which would place its site at Termoh, a seaport tliree miles from the
mouth of the Bifemo or Tifernus. Other wi-iters, however, following
Phny, have placed it on the Punta della Penna, where considerable re-
mains were visible in the 17th century. Ortona still retains its ancient
name. ^ Now the Pescara.

^^ The sites of their towns are unknown ; but D'Anville supposes the
Higher or Upper Carentum to have occupied the site of the modem Civita
Burella, and the Lower one the Civita del Conte.

^1 Teate is supposed to be the present Chicti.

^2 The people of Corfinium, the chief city of the Pehgni. It is sup-
posed to have remained in existence up to the tenth century. Its ruins
ai'e seen near Pcntima, about the church of San Pehno.

^3 The site of Supera;quum is occupied by the present Caatel Vecchio
Subequo.

^* The people of Sulmo, a to\NTi ninety miles from Rome. It was the
birth-place of Ovid, and was famoiis for the coldness of its waters, a

282 PLIlfT's NATIJBAL HISTOET, [Book III.

in that of the Marsi, the Anxantmi\ the Atinates^ the
Fucentes^ the Lucenses^ and the Marrnvinr' ; m that of
the A-lbenses, the town of Alba on Lake Encinus ; m^that
of the ^quiculani, the Cliternini^ and the Carseolani' ; m
that of the Yestini, the Angulani^ the Pinnenses, and the
Peltuinates, adjoining to whom are the Aufinates^ Cismon-
tani; in that of the Samnites, who have been called
Sabelli^", and whom the Greeks have called Sannitse, the
colony of old Bovianum", and that of the Undecumani,
circumstance mentioned by Ovid in his Tristia, B. iv. cli. x. 1. 4. It i3
now called Sulmona.

1 The people of Anxanum or Anxa, on the Sangro, now known as the
city of Lanciano ; in the part of wliich, known as Lanciano Vecchio,
remains of the ancient town are to be seen.

2 The people probably of Atina in Samnium, winch still retams the

same name. _ , _, . ,, ,

3 They probably took their name from the Lake Eucmus, the modem
Lago Fucino, or Lago di Celano.

* They dwelt in a town on the verge of Lake Fucmus, known as Lucus.

5 The ruins of Marruvium may still be seen at Muria, on the eastern

side of Lake Fucinus. ■,■,-,• ■ .-

6 It has been suggested, from the discoveiy of a sepulchral inscription
there, that Capradosso, about nine miles from Kieti in the upper vaUey of
the Salto, is the site of ancient Chternia. The smaU viUage of Alba retains
the name and site of the former city of Alba Fucensis, of which there
are considerable remains. x. -i. c

7 The modern town of Carsoli is situate three miles from the site ot
ancient Carseoh, the remains of which are still visible at Civita near the
Ostoria del Cavaliere. Ovid tells us that its climate was cold and bleak,
and that it wovdd not grow ohves, though fruitful in corn. He also gives
some other curious particulars of the place.— Fasti, B. iv. 1. 683 et seq.

8 The modern Civita Sant Angelo retains nearly its ancient name as
that of its patron samt. It is situate on a hill, four miles from the
Adriatic, and south of the river Matrmus, which separated the Vestmi
from the territories of Adria and Picenum.

9 The vihage of Ofena, twelve miles north of Popoh, is supposed to
retain the site of ancient Aufina. Numerous antiquities have been found

lo'Cato in his ' Origines' stated that they were so called from the fact
of their being descended from the Sabines.

" The site of the town of Bovianum is occupied by the modern city ot
Bojano ; the remauis of the walls are visible. Mommsen however con-
siders Bojano to be the site of only Bovianum Undecumanorum, or " of
the Eleventh Legion," and considers that the site of the ancient Sam-
nite city of Bovianum Yetus is the place caUed Piettrabondante, near
Agnone, twenty miles to the north, where there appear to be the remains
of an ancient city.

Chap. 17.] ACCOUNT or COUJStTKlES, ETC. 233

the Aufidenates\ the Esernini", the Fagifulani, the Pico-
lenses^, the Saepinates'*, and the Tereventinates ; in that of
the Sabini, the Amiternini*, the Curenses^, Forum Deci^,
Porum Novum, the Fidenates, the Interamnates^, the Nur-
sini^, the Nomeutani^^, the Eeatini^\ the Trebulani, both
those called Mutusci^- and those called SufFenates^^, the Ti-
burtes, and the Tarinates.

In these districts, the Comini^'*, the Tadiates, the Caedici,

^ The people of Aufidena, a citv of northern Samnium, in the upper
valley of the Sagrus or Sagro. Its remams, which show it to have been
a place of very great strength, are to be seen near the modern village of
Aifidena, on a hill on the left bank of the modern Sangro.

2 The people of Esernia, now Tsemia.

3 The people of Fieulia or Ficolea, a city of ancient Latium on the
Yia Nomentana. It is supposed that it was situate within the confines
of the domain of Cesarini, and upon either the iiill now called Monte
Gentile, or that marked by the Torre Lupara.

* Ssepinum is supposed to be the same with the modern Supmo or
Sipicciano.

^ The ruins of the ancient Sabine city of Amitemum are still visible
at San Vittorino, a village about five miles north of Aquila. Considerable
remains of antiquity are still to be seen there.

^ The people of Cm-es, an ancient city of the Sabines, to the left of the
Yia Salaria, about tlu-ee miles from the left bank of the Tiber, and twenty-
four from Rome. It was the birth-place of Nuraa Pompilius. Its site
is occupied by the present villages of Correse and Arci, and considerable
remains of the ancient city are still to be seen.

' Nothing is known of this place ; but it has been suggested that it
stood in the neighbourhood of Forum Novum (or 'New Market'), next
mentioned, the present Vescovio.

8 This Interamna must not be confounded -with. Interamna Lirinas,
mentioned in C. 9, nor Interamna Nartis, mentioned in C. 19. It was a
city of Picenimi in the territory of the Prajtutii. The city of Teramo
stands on its site ; and extensive remains of the ancient city are stUl in
existence.

^ From their town, Norsia in the duchy of Spoleto is said to derive its
name. ^^ The people of Noinentum, now La Mentana.

^^ The people of Reate, now Rieti, below Mursia.

^2 The people of Trebula? Mutusca?, said to have stood on tlie site of
the present Monte Leone dclla Sabina, below Rieti. This pla<:'e is men-
tioned in the seventh ^neid of Yirgd, as the " Olive-bearing Mutusc*."

^3 Their town was Trebula SuU'ena, on the site of the present Montorio
di Romagna. The Tiburtos were the people of Tibur, the modern TivoU ;
and the Tarinates were the inhabitants of Tarinum, now Tarano.

^"^ The peo])le of Cominium, the site of which is \nicertain. It is sup-
posed that there were three places of this name. One Cominium is men-
tioned in the Samnite wars as being about twenty miles from Aqmlonia,

234l PLIHl's jyATUHAIi HISTOBT. [Book III.

and tlie Alfaterni, tribes of the ^quiculi, have disappeared.
Prom Gellianus we learu that Archippe\ a town of the
Marsi, built by Marsyas, a chieftain of the Lydians, has
been swallowed up by Lake Fucinus. and Valerianus informs
us that the town of the Yiticini in Picenum was destroyed
by the Romans. The Sabini (called, according to some
writers, from their attention to religious'' observances and
the worship of the gods, Sevini) dwell on the dew-clad hills
in the vicinity of the Lakes of the Yelinus^. The Nar, with
its sulphureous waters, exhausts these lakes, and, descending
from Mount Fiscellus"*, unites with them near the groves of
Vacuna^ and Heate, and then directs its course towards the
Tiber, into which it discharges itself. Again, in another
direction, the Anio^, taking its rise in the mountain of the
Trebani, carries into the Tiber the waters of three lakes re-
markable for their picturesque beauty, and to which Subla-

while Cominium Ceritvim, probably another place, is spoken of by Livy
in his account of the second Punic War. The latter, it is suggested, was
about sixteen miles north-west of Beneventum, and on the site of the
modern Cerreto. The Comioi here mentioned by Phny, it is thought,
dwelt in neither of the above places. The sites of the towns of many of
the peoples here mentioned ai'e also equally unknown.

' Sohnus, B.ii., also states, that this place was founded by Marsyas,
king of the Lydians. Hardouin mentions that iu his time the remains of
this town were said to be seen on the verge of the lake near Transaco.

2 From the Grreek rrefSecTOaL "to worship."

3 The river Yehnus, now Velino, rising in the Apennines, in the vici-
nity of Keate, overflowed its banks and formed several small lakes, the
largest of wliich was called Lake Vehnus, now Pie di Lugo or Lago, while
a smaller one was called Lacus Reatinus, now Lago di Santa Susanna.
In order to carry off these waters, a channel was cut through the rocks
by Curius Dentatus, the conqueror of the Sabmes, by means of which
the waters of the Vehnus were carried through a narrow gorge to a spot
where they fall from a height of several hmidred feet mto the river
Nar. Tliio fall is now known as the Fall of Terni or the Cascade Delia
Marmore.

■* Still caUed Monte Fiscello, near the town of Civita Reale. Virgil
calls the Nar (now the Nera), " Sulphurea Nar albus aqua," " The
white Nar with its sulphureous waters." — ^Eneid, vu. 517.

' A Sabine divinity said to have been identical with Victory. The
Romans however made her the goddess of leism'e and repose, and repre-
sented her as being worsiiiped by the husbandmen at harvest home,
when they were " vacui," oi at leisure. She is mentioned by Ovid in the
Fasti, B. vi. 1. 307. The grove here alluded to was one of her sanctuaries.

^ The modern Teverone, which I'isea near Tervi or Trevi.

Chap. 18.] ACCOUNT Or CGUNTEIES, ETC. 285

queum^ is indebted for its name. In the territory of Eeate
is the Lake of Cutilia?^, in which there is a floating island,
and which, according to M. Yarro, is the navel or central
point of Italy. Below the Sabine territory lies that of La-
tinm, on one side Picennm, and behind it Umbria, while
the range of the Apennines flanks it on either side.

CHAP. 18. (13.) THE riFTH EEGION OE ITALY.

The fifth region is that of Picenum, once remarkable for
the denseness of its population ; 360,000 Picentines took the
oaths of fidelity to the Eoman people. They are descended
from the Sabines, who had made a vow to celebrate a holy
spring^. Their territory commenced at the river Aternus"*,
w^here the present district and colony of Adria^ is, at a distance
of six miles from tlie sea. Here we find the river A'omanus,
the territories of Pra?tutia and Palma*', Castrum Novum",

^ A town of the ^Equi, now known as Subiaco. In its vicinity was
the celebrated villa of Claudius and Nero, caDed the Yilla Sublacencis.

2 This was a to\m of the Sabines between Reate and Interoerea, in the
vicinity of a smaU lake of the same name. It was a mere pool, accord-
ing to Dionysius, being but 400 feet in diameter. It is supposed that the
floatmg island was formed from the incrustations of cai'bonate of hme on
the banks, which, becoming detached, probably collected in the middle.
The lake still exists, but the floatmg island has disappeared. There are
some fme ruuis of Roman baths in the vicinity of the lake.

3 It was a custom with the early Itahan nations, especially the Sabines,
in times of danger and distress, to vow to the deity the sacrifice of aU the
produce of the ensuing spring, that is, of the period from the first day of
March till the last day of April. It is probable that m early times hu-
man sacrifices were the consequence ; but at a later period the following
custom was adopted instead. The childi'en were allowed to grow up, and
in the spring of their twentieth or twenty-fii*st year were with covered
faces dx'iven across the frontier of their native country, to go whitherso-
ever chance or the guidance of the deity might lead them. The Mamer-
tmi in Sicily were said to have had tins origm.

* Now the Aterno, wliich falls into the sea at Atri or Ortona.

^ A famous city of Etruscan origin, which stiU retains its name of
Adi'ia or Atri. It had very cont.iderable intercourse with Greece, and
there are extensive remains of antiquity in its vicinity, towai'ds Ruveguuno.
The river is stiU called the Yomano.

^ These places are again mentioned in B. xiv. c. 8.

7 Or "New Castle." It probably occupied the site of the now de-
serted town of Santo Flaviano, near the banks of the river Tordiuo, the
Batinus of Pliny, and below the modem town of Giulia Nova.

236 PLINT's ITATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book III.

the river Batinus ; Tnientum\ with its river of tlie same name,
which place is the only remnant of the Liburni^ in Italy ; the
river Albula^ ; Tervium, at which the Praetutian district ends,
and that of Picenum begins ; the town of Cupra^, Castellum
Pirmanorum^, and above it the colony of Asculum^, the most
illustrious in Picenum ; in the interior there is the town
of Novana''. Upon the coast we have Cluana^, Potentia,
Wumana, founded by the Siculi, and Ancona^, a colony
founded by the same people on the Promontory of Cumerus,
forming an elbow of the coast, where it begins to bend in-
wards, and distant from Garganus 183 miles. In the interior

^ The river still has the name of Tronto ; Porto di Martin Scuro
occupies the site of the town.

2 Who had crossed over as colonists fi-om the opposite coast of Illy-
ricum.

•^ According to Mannert the river Tesino is the same as the Albula,
and Tervium is the modem town of Grrotte a Mare ; but D'Ajiville makes
the latter to be the town of Cupra next mentioned.

^ This was called Cupra Maritima, to distinguish it from the town of
the Cuprenses Montani, afterwards mentioned. It is said by Strabo to
have had its name from the Tyrrhenian name of Juno. From the dis-
covery of an inscription belonging to her temple here, there is httle doubt
that D'AnvLUe is right in his suggestion that the site of Cupra is at
Grotte a Mare, eight miles from the mouth of the Truentus or
Tronto.

^ "The Fortress of the Firmani," five miles from Firmum, an important
city of Picenum. The Fortress was situate at the mouth of the Leta, and
was the port of the city. It is stUl called Porto di Fermo.

" Often called "Asculum Picenum" to distinguish it from Asculum in
Apuha. It was a place of considerable strength, and played a great part
in the Social War. It is imknowTi at what period it became a Roman
colony. The modem city of Ascoh stands on its site.

7 Now called Monte Novano, accorduig to D'Anville and Brotier.

8 Its site is supposed to have been that of the small town called
Santo Elpidio a Mare, four miles from the sea, and the same distance
north of Fermo. The remains of Potentia are supposed to be those in
the vicinity of the modem Porto di Recanati. Numana is supposed to
be the modem Umana, near the Cuscione, where, in the seventeenth
century, extensive ruins were to be seen.

^ It still retains its ancient name, which was derived from the Greek
dyKU)v " the elbow," it being situate on a promontory which forms a
ciuve, and almost encloses the port. The promontory is still called Monte
Comero. A triumphal arch, erected in honour of Trajan, who con-
structed a new mole for the port, is still in fine preservation, and there
»re remains of an amphitheatre.

Chap. 19.] ACCOUNT OF COXJNTEIES, ETC. 237

are the Auximates\ the Beregrani", the Cingulani, the Cu-
prenses surnamed Montani^, the Falarienses^, the Pausulani,
the Plauinenses, the Ricinenses, the Septempedani^, the
Toilentinates, the Treienses, and the Pollentini of Urhs
Salvia^

CHAP. 19. (14.) — THE SIXTH EEGION OE ITALY.

Adjoining to this is the sixth region, which includes Um-
hria and the Gallic territory in the vicinity of Ariminum.
At Ancona begins the coast of that part of Graul kno\\Ti as
Gallia Togata^. The Siculi and the Liburni possessed the
greater part of this district, and more particularly the terri-
tories of Palma, of Prsetutia, and of Adria. These were
expelled by the Umbri, these again by the Etrurians, and
these in their tiuTi by the Gauls. The Umbri are thought
to have been the most ancient race in Italy, it being sup-
posed that they were called " Ombrii" by the Greeks, from the
fact of their having survived the rains^ which had inundated

* The modem city of Osimo stands on the site of Axiximum, about
twelve miles south-west of Ancona. Numerous inscriptions, statues, and
other remains have been found there.

2 Cluver conjectures that Beregra stood at Civitella di Tronto, ten
miles north of Teramo ; but nothing further relative to it is known. Cin-
gulum was situate on a lofty moxmtain ; the modern town of Cingoli
occupies its site.

3 " The mountaineers." They inhabited Cupra Montana, which is sup-
posed to have stood on the same site as the modern Ripa Transone.

* The people of Falaria or Faleria. There are considerable remains of
this town about a niile from the village of Falerona, among wliich a
theatre and amphitheatre are most conspicuous. The remains of Pausula
are supposed to be those seen on the Monte deU' Olmo. The town of
the Ricinenses is supposed to have been on the banks of the Potenza,
two miles from Macerata, where some remains were to be seen in the
seventeenth century.

* Septcmpeda is supposed to have occupied the site of the modern San
Severino, on the river Potenza. ToUentinum or ToUentura was probably
on the site of the modem Tolentino. The town of the Treienses is sup-
posed to have occupied a site near the modem San Severino, in the vici-
nity of Monteccliio.

^ A colony of the people of Pollentia was estabhshcd at Urbs Salvia,
occupying the site of the modem Urbisaglia on the bank of the Chiento.

7 Cisalpine Gaul was so called because the mhabitants adopted the use
of the Roman toga.

8 This fanciful derivation would make their name to come from the
Greek 6fi(ipos " a Bhower."

238 PLIIfT's I^^ATUEAL HISTOET. [Book III.

the earth. We read that 300 of their towns were conquered
by the Tusci ; at the present day we find on their coast the
river ^sis\ Senogallia^, the river Metaurus, the colonies of
ranmn Fortunse^ and Pisaurum'*, with a river of the same
name ; and, in the interior, those of Hispellum^ and Tuder.
Besides the above, there are the Amerini^, the Attidiates",
the Asisinates®, the Arnates^, the -<Esinates^^, the Camertes^^
the ' Casuentillani, the Carsulani^^, the Dolates surnamed

^ Now the Esino.

2 So called from tlie G-alli Senones. The modern city of Skiigaglia
occupies its site. The river Metaurus is still called the Metauro.

3 " The Temple of Fortune." At this spot the Flaminian Way joined
the road from Ancona and Picenum to Ariminum. The modern city of
Fano occupies the site, but there are few remains of antiquity.

^ The modern Pesaro occupies the site of the town ; the river is called
the Foglia.

* This was a flourishing town of Umbria. Augustus showed it espe-
cial favour and bestowed on it the Grrove and Temple of Chtumnus,
though at twelve miles' distance from the town. The modem town of
SpeUo occupies its site, and very extensive remains of antiquity are still
to be seen. It probably received two Roman colonies, as inscriptions
mention the "Colonia Juha HispeUi" and the "Colonia Urbana Flavia."
It is considered probable that Hispellum, rather than Mevania, was the
birth-place of the poet Propertius. Tuder is svipposed to bave occupied
the site of the modem Todi, on the Tiber.

^ The people of Ameria, an important and flourisliing city of Umbria.
There are still remains of the ancient walls ; the modern town of Ameha
occupies its site.

7 The site of Attidium is marted by the modern village of Attigio,
two miles south of the city of Fabriano, to wliich the inhabitants of Atti-
dium are supposed to have migrated in the middle ages.

^ The people of Asisium. The modern city of Assisi (the birth-place
of St. Francis) occupies its site. There are considerable remains of the
ancient town.

3 The people of Ama, the site of which is now occupied by the town
of CiviteUa d'Arno, five miles east of Perugia. Some inscriptions and
other objects of antiquity have been fotmd here.

^^ The people of ^sis, situate on the river of the same name. It is
stiU called lesi. Pliny, in B. xi. c. 97, mentions it as famous for the
excellence of its cheeses.

" The people of Camerinum, a city of Umbria. The present Camerino
occupies its site. Its people were among the most considerable of Um-
bria. The site of the Casuentillani does not appear to be known.

^2 The people of Carsulee, an Umbrian town of some importance. Its
ruins are still visible about half way between San Germino and Acqua
Sparta, ten miles north of Narni. Holsten states that the site was
Btill called Carsoli in his time, and thsre existed remains of an amphi-

Chap. 19.] ACCOUNT OF COrXTEIES, ETC. 239

Salentini, the Fii]giniates\ tlie Foroflamimenses", tlie Foroju-
lienses surnamed Concupienses, the Forobrentani, the Foro-
sempronieuses^, the Iguvini^, the Interamnates suruamed
Nartes, the Mevanates^, the Mevanionenses, the Matilicates'',
the Narnienses', whose town used formerly to he called
Xequinum ; the Nucerini^, both those surnamed Favonienses
and those called Camellani ; the Ocricidani^, the Ostrani"^,
the Pitulani, both those surnamed Pisuertes and the others
called Mergentini ; the Plestini^\ the Sentinates^", the Sarsi-

theatre and a triumphal arch in honour of Trajan. Notliing seems to
be known of the ]3olates.

1 The people of Fulginium. From Cicero ^xe learn that it was a mu-
nicipal town. The modem city of Fohgno has risen on its site. An
inscription discovered here has preserved the name of Fulgiaia, probably
a local divinity.

' The people of Forum Flaminii, situated on the Flamioian Way, where
it fii'st entered the Apennmes, tln-ee miles h'om Fulginium. It was here
that the Emperors GaUus and Tolusianus were defeated and slam by
^mihanus, a.d. 256. The ruins at the spot called Giovanni pro
Fiamma mark its site. The site of Forum Julii appears to be imknoTsii,
as also that of Forinn Brentani.

•' The people of Forum Sempronii, the only to^^^l in the valley of tlie
Metam'us. The modern city of Fossombrone, two miles distant, has
thence taken its name. Considerable vestiges of the ancient town are
still to be seen. The battle in which Hasdrtibal was defeated by the Eoman
consuls Livius and Nero, B.C. 207, was probably fought in its vicinity.

"* The people of Iguviiun, an ancient and important town of Umbria.
Its site is occupied by the modem city of Gubbio. Interamna on the
Kar has been previously mentioned.

* The people of the town of Mevania, now called Bevagna, in the duchy
of Spoleto. The Mevanionenses were the people of Mevanio, or Meva-
niola), in the vicinity of Mevania, and thought by Cluver to be the modern
Galeata.

^ Their town was Matihca, which still retains that name. It is situate
in the IVfarehes of Ancona.

7 Their to\vn stdl retains the name of Xami.

^ Their town was surnamed Favonia and Camollaria, to distinguish
it from several others of the same name. The present Nocera stands on
its site.

^ The people of Ocriculum, now Otricoli, previously mentioned.

^^ According to Hardouin, the ruins of Ostra are those near Monte
Xuovo, now Sinigaglia, but D'AnviUe thinks that the modem Corinaldo
marks its site.

'1 Nothing is known of the Plestini, nor yet of the Pitulani, who seem
to have been a ditFerent people to those mentioned in the First Region.

^2 The towTi of Sentis, according to D'AnviUe and Manncrt, was in the
vicinity of the modem town of Sasso Ferrato.

240 PLIKy's IfATTJRAL HISTOET. [Book III.

nates\ tlie Spoletini^, the Suasini^, tlie Sestinates'*, the
Suillates^, the Tadinates^ the Trebiates^, the Tiificani^, the
Tifernates^ surnamed Tiberini, and the others called Metau-
renses, the Yesinicates, the Urbinates, both those surnamed
Metaiirenses^" and the others called Hortenses, the Vetto-
nenses", the Vindinates, and the Viventani. In this district
there exist no longer the Eeliginates who possessed Clu-
siolum above Interamna, and the Sarranates, with their
towns of Acerrse^'^, surnamed Yafrise, and Turocelum, also
called Yettiolum ; as also the Solinates, the Curiates, the
Fallienates, and the Apiennates. The Arienates also have
disappeared with the town of Crinovolum, as well as the
Usidicani, the Plangenses, the Paesinates, and the Cselestini.

^ The people of Sarsina, an important town of Umbria, famous as
being the bii-th-place of the comic poet Plautus. It is now called Sas-
sina, on the Savio.

2 The people of Spoletvim, now Spoleto. It was a city of Umbria on
the Via Flammia, colonized by the Romans B.C. 242. In the later days
of the Emph-e it was taken by Totilas, and its walls destroyed. They
were however restored by Narses.

' The people of Suasa ; the remains of which, according to D' AnviUe
and Mannert, are those seen to the east of the town of San Lorenzo at a
place called Castel Leone. '

* The monastery of Sestino is supposed to stand on the site of Sesti-
num, then- town, at the source of the river Pesaro.

5 The site of then- town is denoted by the modern Sigello ui the
Marches of Ancona.

^ Their town is supposed to have been also situate witliin the present
Marches of Ancona, where they jom the Duchy of Spoleto.

7 Their town was Trebia. The modem Trevi stands on its site.

8 The people of Tuficum, wliich Holsten thinks was situate between
MateKca and Fabrianmn, on the river called the Cesena.

9 The site of Tifernum Tibermum is occupied by the present Citta di
CasteUo, and that of Tifernum Metaurense, or " on the Metaurus," by Sant
.Angelo m Vado in the Duchy of Urbino. The first-named place was iu
the vicmity of the estates of the Younger Phny.

^" D'AnviUe and Mannert are of opinion that Urbania on the Metau-
rus, two leagues south-east of Urbino, marks the site of their town. The
Hortenses probably dwelt on the site of the present Urbino.

"The site of then- town was probably the present Bettona. The site
of the towns of the peoples next mentioned is unknown.

^2 Nothing is known of its position. There were cities in Campama
and Cisalpme Gaul also caUed Acerrse. The first has been mentioned
mider the Fu-st Region. Of the other places and peoples mentioned in
this Chapter no particulars seem to have come down to us.

Chap. 20.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 241

Cato writes that Ameria above-mentioned was founded 964
years before the war with Perseus.

CHAP. 20. (15.) THE EIGHTH EEGION OE ITALY ; THE PADUS.

The eighth region is bounded by Ariminum, the Padus,
and the Apennines. Upon the coast we have the river
Crustumiuin\ and the colony of Ariminum^, with the rivers
Ariminus and Aprusa. Next comes the river Eubico^, once
the boundary of Italy, and after it the Sapis'^, the Yitis, and
the Anemo, and then, Eavenna, a town of the Sabines^, with
the river Bedesis, 105 miles from Ancona ; and, not far from
the sea, Butrium^, a town of the Umbri. In the interior there
are the colonies of Bononia^, formerly called Felsina, when

^ Now the Conca. It is called " rapax Crustumium" by Lucan, B. ii.
1. 406.

2 One of the most important cities of Umbria. It played a conspi-
cuous part in most of the uitemal wars of the Romans. The modern
city of Rimini -which stands on its site, still retains two striking monu-
ments of its grandeur ; the Roman bridge of marble, whicli crosses the
river Ariminus, erected by Augustus and Tiberius, and a triumphal arch
of marble, erected in honour of Augustus. The river Aiiminus is now
called the Marocchia, and the Aprusa is the Ausa. ,

3 A papal decree, issued in 1756, declared the river Lusa to have been
the ancient Rubicon, but the more general opinion is that the Pisatello,
a Uttle to the north of it, has better claims to that honour. On the north
bank of the Rubicon a pUlar was placed by a decree of the Senate, with
an inscription giving notice that whoever should pass in arms into the
Roman territory would be deemed an enemy to the state. It is espe-
cially celebrated in history by Caesar's passage across it at the head of his
army, by which act he declared war against the repubhc. See Lucan,
B. i. 1. 200-230.

* The Sapis is the modem Savio, or Rio di Cesena ; the Vitis is the
Bevano, and the Anemo is the Roncone.

* Strabo and Zosimus however state that it was first founded by the
Thessahans. Ravenna first came into notice on being made one of the
two chief stations of the Roman fleet. The harbour whicli was made for
it was called "Classes," and between it and Ravenna sprang up the town
of Cffisarea. Though not deemed unhealthy, it lay in a swampy district.
Theodoric made it the capital of the knigdom of the Goths. The modem
city stands on the site of the ancient town. The river Bedesis is now
called the Montone.

^ No remains of it are extant ; but it is supposed that it stood near
the entrance of the Lagunes of Comacchio.

7 The modem Bologna stands on its site, and there are but few remains
of antiquity to be seen.

VOL. I. B

242 i»LINT'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book III.

it was the cliief place of Etriiria\Brixillum^,Mutina^, Parma'*,
and Placentia'\ Tliere are also the towns of Caesena^, Cla-
terna, Forum Clodi'^, Forum Livi, Forum Popili, Forum
Truentinorum^, Forum Cornell, Forum Licini, the Faven-
tini^, the Fidentini^", the Otesini, the Padinates^^ the Eegi-

* He probably means only the Etruscan cities north of the Apennines.

2 The modern town of Brescello occupies its site. Here the Emperor
Otho put an end to liis life on learning the defeat of bis troops by Vitel-
lius. It appears to have been a strong fortress in the time of the Lom-
bard kings.

3 The modem Modena stands on its site. It was famous in the history
of the civil wars after Caesar's death. Decimus Brutus was besieged here
by M. Antonius, in the years B.C. 44 and 43, and under its walls the
consuls Hirtius and Pansa were slain. Its vicinity, hke that of Parma,
was famous for the excellence of its wool.

"* This was a Roman colony, which was enlarged by Augustus, and
from liim received the name of Colonia Juha Augusta. It was called,
after the faU of the Western Empire, Chrysopohs or the " G-olden City."
The modern city of Parma occupies its site.

^ A Roman colony. The present city of Piacenza stands on its site.

^ It still retains the name of Cesena, and is a considerable place. After
the fall of the Western Empire it was used as a fortress of great strength.
We shall find Pliny again mentioning it in B. xiv. c. 6, as famous for the
goodness of its wines, a reputation which it still maintahas. The name
of Claterna, once a mimicipal town of importance, is still retained in part
by a small stream wliich crosses the road nine miles from Bologna, and
is called the Quaderna. An old church and a few houses, called Santa
Maria di Quadema, probably mark the site of the vicinity of the town,
wliich was situate on the high road.

7 This Eorum Clodii is said by D'Anville to be the modern Fornocchia.
Eormn Livii is supposed to have occupied the site of the present city of
Eorh. Forum Popili or Forli Piccolo occupies the site of Forum or
Foro Popili.

** Tliis place is supposed to have stood on the spot where the episcopal
town of Bertinoro now stands. In inscriptions it is called Forodruenti-
norum. Formn Comelii, said to have been so called from the Dictator
SyUa, occupied the site of the modern town of Imola, The poet Martial
is said to have resided for some time in this town.

^ The people of Faventia, now Faenza. PHny, B. xix. c. i., speaks of
the whiteness of its hnen, for the manufacture of which it was cele-
brated. At this place Carbo and Norbanus were defeated with great loss
by McteUus, the partisan of Sylla, in B.C. 82.

10. The people of Fidentia. The present Borga di San Donnino stands
on its site, which is between Parma and Placentia, fifteen miles from the
former city.

" Cluver thinks that their town was on the site of the modem Castel
Bondino.

Chap. 20.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 243

enses\ wlio take tlieir name from Lepidus, tlie Solonates^,
the Saltus Gralliani^, surnamed Aquinates, the Tannetani'',
the Yeliates^, \Yho were anciently surnamed Eegiates, and
the Urbanates^ In this district the Boii' have disappeared,
of whom there were 112 tribes according to Cato ; as also
the Senones, who captured Home.

(16.) The Padus** descends from the bosom of Mount
Yesulus, one of the most elevated points of the chain of the
Alps, in the territories of the Ligurian Vagienni^, and rises
at its source in a manner that w^ell merits an inspection by
the curious ; after which it hides itself in a subterranean
channel luitil it rises again in the country of the Eorovibi-
enses. It is inferior in fame to none whatever among tlie
rivers, being known to the Greeks as the Eridanus and famous
as the scene of the punishment of Phaeton^". At the rising of
the Dog-star it is swollen by the melted snows ; but, though
it proves more furious in its course to the adjoining fields

1 So named after ^miliiis Lepidus. The people of Eegium Lepidum,
the site of whose to\^Ta is occupied by the modern Rcggio.

2 Solonatium is supposed to have had the site of the modem Citta di
Sole or Torre di Sole.

3 Nothing certain is known of this people or their town, but it is
thought by Eezzonico that by tliis name were meant those who occu-
pied the wood-clad heights of the Apennines, above Modena and Parma.
Cicero mentions a Saltus GaUicanus as bemg a mountain of Campania,
but that is clearly not the spot meant here.

^ Their town is thought to have stood on the same site as the modern
Tenedo.

^ Their town was perhaps on the same site as the modem Yillac, on
the river Nura.

^ The modem city of Ombria probably stands on the site of Xlrbana,
their town, of which considerable remains are still to be seen.

7 These and the Senones were nations of Cisalpine Gaul. Tlic Boii
emigrated originally fi'om Transalpine Gaul, by the Penine Alps, or the
Pass of Great St. Bernard. They were completely subdued by Scipio
Nasica in B.C. -191, when he destroyed half of their population, and
deprived them of nearly half of their lands. Tlicy were ultimately driven
from their settlements, and established themselves in the modern Bohe-
mia, which from them takes its name. The Senones, who had taken the
city of Rome in B.C. 390, were conquered and the greater part of them
destroyed by the Consul DolabeUa in B.C. 283.

8 The Po, which rises in Monte Viso in Savoy.

^ Already mentioned in C. 7 of the present Book.
^^ Ovid in liis account of the adventure of Phaeton (Met. B. ii.) states
that he fell into the river Padus.

b2

244 PLINT'S IfATUEAL HISTOET. [Book III,

than to tlie vessels that are upon it, still it takes care to carry-
away no portion of its banks, and when it recedes, renders
them additionally fertile. Its length from its source is 300
miles, to which we must add eighty -eight for its sinuosities ;
and it receives from the Apennines and Alps not only several
navigable rivers, but immense lakes as well, which discharge
themselves into its waters, thus conveying altogether as many
as thirty streams into the Adriatic Sea.

Of these the best known are the following — flowing from
the range of the Apennines, the Jactus, the Tanarus^ the
Trebia which passes Placentia, the Tarus, the Incia, the
Gabellus, the Scultenna, and the Bhenus : from the chain of
the Alps, the Stura^, the Orgus, the two Durise, the Sessites,
the Ticinus, the Lambrus, the Addua, the OUius, and the
Mincius. There is no river known to receive a larger increase
tlian this in so short a space ; so much so indeed that it is
impelled onwards by this vast body of water, and, invading
the land^, forms deep channels in its course : hence it is
that, although a portion of its stream is drawn off by rivers
and canals between Eavenna and Altinum, for a space of
120 miles, still, at the spot where it discharges the vast body
of its waters, it is said to form seven seas.

By the Augustan Canal the Padus is carried to E-avenna,
at which place it is called the Padusa^, having formerly borne
the name of Messanicus. The nearest mouth to this spot

^ The Tanarus is still called the Tanaro. The Trebia, now the Trebbia,
is memorable for the defeat on its banks of the Romans by Hannibal,
B.C. 218. The Incia is the modem Enza or Lenza, the Tarus the Taro,
the Gabellus the Secchia, the Scultenna the Panaro, and the Rhenus the
Reno.

2 The Stura still has the same name ; the Orgus is the modem Oreo.
The streams called Duriae are known as the Dora Baltea and the Dora
Riparia ; the Sessites is the Sesia, the Ticinus the Tessino, the Lambrus
the Lambro, the Addua the Adda, the Olhus the OgHo, and the Mincius
the Menzo.

3 This se^ms to be the meaning of " gravis terrse," unless it signifies
" pressing heavily upon the land," and so cutting out channels for its
course. He has previously stated that, though rapid, it is not in the
habit of carrying away its banks. See a very able article on the question
whether the name Eridanus belonged originally to tliis river or to some
other in the north of Evirope, in Dr. Smith's Dictionary of Ancient Geo-
graphy under the word " Eridanus."

* That is to say, the canal made by Augustus was so called.

Chap. 20.] ACCOUNT OP COUNTRIES, ETC. 245

forms tlie extensive port known as that of Yatrenus, \Yliere
Claudius Caesar', on his triumph over the Britons, entered
the Adriatic in a vessel that deserved rather the name of a
vast palace than a ship. This mouth, which was formerly
called by some the Eridanian, has been by others styled the
Spinetic mouth, from the city of Spina, a very powerful place
which formerly stood in the vicinity, if we may form a con-
clusion from the amount of its treasure deposited at Delphi ;
it was founded by Diomedes. At this spot the river Yatre-
nus-, which flows from the territory of Forum Cornell, swells
the waters of the Padus.

The next mouth to this is that of Caprasia^, then that
of Sagis, and then Yolane, formerly called Olane ; all of
which are situate upon the Flavian CanaP, which the Tus-
cans formerly made from Sagis, thus drawing the impe-
tuous stream of the river across into the marshes of the
Atriani, which they call the Seven Seas ; and upon which is
the noble port of Atria ^, a city of the Tuscans, from which
place the sea was formerly called the Atriatic, though now
the Adriatic.

We next come to the overflowing mouths of Carbo-
naria, and the Fosses of Philistina®, by some called Tarta-

* It was on this occasion that, after a stay of only a few days in Britain,
he quitted the island, i-eturned to Rome, and celebrated a splendid tri-
umph. This outlet of the Po has now the name of Po di Primero.

2 Now the Santerno, noted for the sluggishness of its waters.

2 The Ostium Caprasiae is now called the Porto Interito di Bell' Ochio,
the Ostium Sagis the Porto di Magnavacca ; Volane, or Yolana, is the
south maua branch of the river. The Ostia Carbonaria, mentioned below,
was the north main branch, subdivided into several small branches ; and
the Fossa) or Fossiones Pliihstinaj connected the river, by means of tho
Tartarus, with the Athesis.

■* The reading is doubtful here, and even this, which is perhaps the best,
appears to be corrupt ; for it is difficult to conceive how all the mouths
previously mentioned could have been upon one canal, and besides it
would seem that Olane was one of the natural mouths of tlie river.

' More generally Adria, from which, as Pliny says, the Adriatic takes
its name. Either a Greek, or, what is more probable, as Pliny states, an
Etruscan colony, it became the principal em])orium of trade with the
Adriatic, in consequence of which it was surrounded with canals and
other works to facilitate its communications with other rivers. It ia
still called Adria, and in its vicinity to the south, considerable remains
of the ancient city are still to be seen,

* So called from the Philistsei, said to have been the ancient inhabit-

246 PLIlfT's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book III.

rus\ all of which originate in the overflow of the waters in
the Philistinian Canal, swollen by the streams of the Atesis,
descending from the Tridentine Alps, and of the Togisonns^,
flowing from the territory of the Patavini. A portion of them
also forms the adjoining port of Brnndnlum^, in the same
manner as Edron^ is formed by the two rivers Meduacus and
the Clodian Canal. With the waters of these streams the
Padiis unites, and with them discharges itself into the sea,
forming, according to most writers, between the Alps and
the sea-shore a triangular figure, 2000 stadia in circum-
ference, not unlike the Delta formed by the JN^ile in Egypt.
I feel somewhat ashamed to have to borrow from the Greeks
any statement in reference to Italy ; Metrodorus of Scepsos,
however, informs us that this river has obtained its name of
Padus from the fact, that about its source there are great
numbers of pine-trees, which in the Gallic language are
called "padi." In the tongue of the Ligurians this river is
called " Bodincus," which signifies "the bottomless." This
derivation is in some measure supported by the fact that
near this river there is the town of Industrial, of which the
ancient name was Bodincomagum, and where the river be-
gins to be of greater depth than in other parts.

CHAP. 21. (17.) — THE ELEVENTH EEGIO:ff OF ITALY ; ITALIA

TEAlSrSPADAlSTA.

• Erom the river Padus the eleventh region receives its
name of Transpadana ; to which, situate as it is wholly in
the interior, the river, by its bounteous channel, conveys
the gifts of all the seas. The towns are Vibi Eorum^ and

ants of the spot. They are now called the Bocca della Grnoca, the
Bocca della Scovetta, the Busa delle Tole, the Sbocco dell'Asmino, &c.
The Ostia Cai-bonaria and the Fossae Philistmge wei'e to the north of the
ones previously mentioned.

^ He seems to confoimd the Fosses of Philistina with the Tartarus
(nowTarfcaro). That river however connected the Fosses of Phihstina
with the Athesis, now the Adige.

^ Now the Bacchiglione. ^ q^i^^ modern Brondolo.

* Now Chioggia, formed by the rivers Brenta and BrenteUa. Hardouin
thinks the Clodian Canal to be the same as the modern Fossa Paltana.

^ NowMonteu di Po, below Chevasso, mentioned in the 7th Chapter.

* This place is supposed to have been situate in the vicinity of the

Chap. 21.] ACCOUNT OF COUIfTRIES, ETC. 247

Segiisio ; and, at the foot of the Alps, the colony of Augusra
Taurinoriim\ at -which place the Padus becomes navigable,
and which was founded by the ancient race of the Ligm-ians,
and of Augusta Pr^etoria''^ of the Salassi, near the two passes
of the Alps, the Grecian^ and the Penine (by the latter it is
said that the Carthaginians passed into Italy, by the Grecian,
Hercules) — the tov>ii of Eporedia"*, the foundation of which
by the Eoman people was enjoined by the Sibylline books ;
the Gauls call tamers of horses by the name of "Epore-
diae" — Yercell?s°, the town of the Libici, derived its origin
from the Salluvii, and iS^ovaria^, founded by the Yertacoma-
cori, is at the present day a district of the Vocontii, and not,
as Cato supposes, of the Ligurians ; of whom two nations,
called the Laevi and the Marici, founded Ticinum', not far
from the Padus, as the Boii, descended from the Transalpine
nations, have foimded Laus Pompeia^ and the lusubres Me-
diolanum^.

modem Saluzzo, on the north bank of the Po. Segusio occupied the
site of the modern Susa.

^ Augusta of the Tam-ini. The present city of Turin stands on its
site. It was made a Roman colony by Augustus. With the exception
of some inscriptions, Tmun retains no yestiges of antiquity.

2 The present city of Aosta occupies its site. Tliis was also a Roman
colony fovmded by Augustus, after he had subdued the Salassi. It was,
as Pliny says in C. 5, the extreme point of Italy to the north. The remains
of the ancient city are of extreme magnificence.

^ The Grecian pass of the Alps was that now known as the Little St.
Beniard ; while the Penine pass was the present Great St. Bernard.
Livy in liis History, B. xxi. c. 38, points out the error of taking these
mountains to have derived their name from the Poeni or Carthaginians.
There is no doubt that they took their name from the Celtic word signi-
fying a momitain, which now forms the "Pen" of the Welsh and the
" Ben" of the Scotch.

* Now called Ivrea or Lamporcggio, at the entrance of the vaUey of
the Salassi, the present Yal d' Aosta. There are some remains of the
ancient town to be seen.

* The present town of VerceUi stands on its site.
^ Now called Novara, in the Duchy of Milan.

7 It became a Roman municipal town, but owes its greatness to the
Lombard kings who made it their capital, and altered the name to Papia,
now Pavia.

8 " Pompcy's Praises." The present Lodi Yecchio marks its site.

^ It was the capital of the Insubres, a GaUic nation, and was taken by
the Romans in B.C. 222, on which it became a municipium and Roman
colony. On the division of the empire by Diocletian, it became the

248 Flint's natural history. [Book III.

From Cato we also learn that Comum, Bergoinuin\ and
Liciniforum^, and some other peoples in the vicinity, origin-
ated with the Orobii, but he admits that he is ignorant as
to the origin of that nation. Cornelius Alexander however
informs us that they came from Grreece, interpreting their
name as meaning " those who live upon the mountains^."
In this district, Parra has disappeared, a town of the Orobii,
from whom, according to Cato, the people of Bergomum are
descended ; its site even yet shows that it was situate in a
position more elevated than fruitful'*. The Caturiges have
also perished, an exiled race of the Insubres, as also Spina
previously mentioned; Melpum too, a place distinguished
for its opulence, which, as we are informed by Cornelius
Nepos, was destroyed by the Insubres, the Boii, and the
Senones, on the very day on which Camillus took Yeii.

CHAP. 22. (18.) THE TENTH REGION OP ITALY.

We now come to the tenth region of Italy, situate on the
Adriatic Sea. In this district are Yenetia'^, the river Silis^,
rising in the Tarvisanian'^ mountains, the town of Alti-

residence of his colleague Maximianus, and continued to be the abode of
the Emperors of the West till it was plundered by Attila, who transferred
the seat of government to Ravenna. It afterwards became the capital of
the kingdom of the Ostro-Groths, and was again sacked by the Goths in
A.D. 539, and its inhabitants put to the sword. The present city, known
to us as Milan, contains no remains of antiquity.

1 The modern Como and Bergamo stand on their sites.

2 From its name, signifying the " market of Licinius," it would appear
to be of Roman origin. Its site is supposed to have been at a place
called Incino, near the town of Erba, between Como and Lecco, where
inscriptions and other antiquities have been found.

■* Deriving it from the Grreek opos, "a mountain," and j6/os, "life."

* " Etiamnum prodente se altius quam fortunatius situm." Hardouin.
seems to think that " se" refers to Cato, and that he informs us to that
effect ; but to all appearance, it relates rather to the town, which even
yet, by its ruins, showed that it was perched too high among the moun-
tains to be a fertile spot.

^ The district of the Veneti. These people, taking refuge in the ad-
joining islands in the fifth century to escape the Huns under Attila,
fomided the modem city of Venice.

*' Now called the Sile, which flows past Trevigio or Treviso.

7 The mountainous district in the vicinity of Tarvisium, the modem
Treviso,

Chap, 22.] ACCOUTfT OP COIIIfTEIES, ETC. 249

nuin\ the river Liquentia rising in the mountains of Opiter-
gium^, and a port with the same name, the cokmy of Con-
cordia^; the rivers and harbours of Komatinum"*, the greater
and less Tiliaventum^, the Anaxum®, into which the Varamus
flows, the Alsa^, and the Natiso with the Turrus, which flow
past the colony of Aquileia^ at a distance of fifteen miles
from the sea. This is the country of the Carni^, and ad-
joining to it is that of the lapydes, the river Timavus^*^, the

1 Situate in a marsh or lagime on the river Sile. It became a Roman
colony after Pliny's time, xnider the Emperor Trajan. Its villas are de-
scribed by Martial as rivalling those of Baise. The Emperor Verus died
here a.d. 169. The modem village of Altino is a very impoverished
place. The Liquentia is now caUed the Livenza.

2 Now called Oderzo, on the river Montegano, which flows mto the
Liquenza. The conduct of the people of this place, in the wars between
Pompey and Csesar, is mentioned by Lucan, in his Pharsalia, B. iv. 1. 462.

3 From inscriptions we find that this place was called Colonia Julia
Concordia, from wliich it seems probable that it was one of the colonies
founded by Augustus to celebrate the restoration of peace. It rapidly
rose into importance, and is often mentioned during the later ages of the
Roman Empire, as one of the most important cities in this part of Italy.
It is now a poor village, with the same name, and no remains of antiquity
beyond a few inscriptions.

^ The Romatinum is the modem Lemene. Pliny seems to iniply,
(though fi'om the uncertainty of the punctuation it is not clear,) that on
the Romatinum there was a port of that name. If so, it would probablv
occupy the site of the present Santa Margherita, at the mouth of the
Lemene.

* The greater Tihaventum is the modem Tagliamento ; and Ilardouin
suggests that the smaller river of that name is the Lugugnana.

^ This river is supposed to be the same with the modern SteUa, and
the Varamus the Revonchi, which joins the SteUa.

7 Now called the Ansa. The Natiso is the modern Natisone, and
the Turrus the Torre ; the former flowed past Aquileia on the west, the
latter on the cast, in former times, but their course is probably now
changed, and they fall into the Isonzo, four miles from the city.

** The capital of Venetia, and one of the most important cities of
Northern Italy. In the year a.d. 452 it was besieged by Attila, king
of the Hvms, taken by storm, and plundered and burnt to the gromid.
On its site, which is very unhealthy, is tlie modern village of Aquileia,
with about 1400 inhabitants. No ruins of any buildings are visible, but
the site abounds ^vith coins, shafts of columns, inscriptions, and other
remains of antiquity.

^ Ptolemy states that Concorcha and Aquileia were situate in the di-
strict of the Cami.

10 Stm called the Timavo.

250 PLTIfT's IS'ATTJEAL HISTORY. [Book III.

fortress of Pucinum^ famous for its wines, the Gulf of Ter-
geste", and the colony of that name, thirty-three miles from
Aquileia. Six miles beyond this place lies the river Formio^,
189 miles distant from Eavenna, the ancient boundary^ of
enlarged Italy, and now the frontier of Istria. That this
region takes its name from the river Ister which flows from
the Danube, also called the Ister, into the Adriatic opposite
the mouth of the Padus, and that the sea which lies between
them is rendered fresh by their waters running from opposite
directions, has been erroneously asserted by many, and among
them by Nepos even, who dwelt upon the banks of the Padus.
Por it is the fact that no river which runs from the Danube
discharges itself into the Adriatic. They have been misled,
I think, by the circumstance that the ship Argo came down
some river into the Adriatic sea, not far from Tergeste ;
but what river that was is now unknown. The most careful
■writers say that the ship was carried across the Alps on
men's shoulders, having passed along the Ister, then along
the SavLis, and so from Nauportus% which place, lying be-
tween ^mona*^ and the Alps, from that circumstance derives
its name.

1 Castel Duino stands on its site. It wiU be found again mentioned
in B. xi^. C. 8, for the excellence of its wines.

2 Now the Gulf of Trieste. Tergeste was previously an insignificant
place, but made a Boman colony by Yespasian. The modern city of
Trieste occupies its site.

3 Most probably the modem Bisano. Cluver and D'AnvUle are of
that opmion, but Walckenaer tliinks that it was a small stream near
Muja Vecchia ; wliich seems however to be too near Trieste.

"* In the time of Augustus, and before Istria was added as a province
to Italy.

5 He alludes to an old tradition that the Argonauts sailed mto the
Ister or Danube, and then into the Save, till they oame to the spot where
the modern town of Upper Laybach stands, and that here they built
Nauportus, after which they carried their ship across the mountains on
men's shoulders into the Adriatic. He intends to suggest therefore that
the place had its name from the G-reek vavs "a sliip" and TropOnos "a
passage."

^ The modern town of Laybach stands on its site. It is situate on
the Save, and on the road from Aquileia to Celeia. The Boman remains
prove that the ancient city exceeded the modern one in magnitude. Ac-
tjording to tradition it was founded by the Argonauts. It subsequently
became a Boman colony, with the title of Julia Augusta. It is again
mentioned in C. 28.

Chap. 23.] ACCOUNT OP COUNTRIES, ETC. 251

CHAP. 23. (19.) ISTEIA, ITS PEOPLE AND LOCALITY.

Istria projects in the form of a peninsula. Some writers
have stated its length to be forty miles, and its circumference
125 ; and the same as to Liburnia whicli adjoins it, and the
Flanatic Gulf^, while others -make it 225^'; others again
make the circumference of Liburnia 180 miles. Some per-
sons too extend lapydia, at the back of Istria, as far as the
Flanatic Gidf, a distance of 130 miles, thus making Liburnia
but 150 miles. Tuditanus^, who subdued the Istri, had this
inscription on his statue which was erected there : " From
Aquileia to the river Titus is a distance of 1000 stadia."

The towns of Istria with the rights of Eoman citizens are
^gida"*, Parentium, and the colony of Pola^, now Pietas Juha,
formerly founded by the Colchians, and distant from Ter-
geste 100 miles : after which we come to the town of jN'esac-
tium", and the river Arsia, now' the boundary of Italy.
The distance across from Ancona to Pola is 120 miles. In

^ Now the Golfo di Quarnaro. Liburnia was separated from Istria
on the north- west by the river Aj'sia, and from Dahnatia on the south
by the river Titus or Kerka, corresponding to the western part of mo-
dern Croatia, and the northern pai't of modern Dahnatia. lapydia was
situate to the north of Dahnatia and east of Libm'uia, or the present
mditary frontier of Croatia, between the rivers Kulpa and Korana to the
north and east, and the Yelebich momitains to the south. Istria con-
sisted of the peninsula which still bears the same appellation.

^ This passage, " while others make it 225," is omitted in many of
the MSS. and most of the editions. If it is retained, it is not impro-
bable that liis meanhig is, " and the circumference of Liburnia which joins
it, with the Flanatic Gulf, some make 225, while others make the com-
pass of Libm-nia to be 180 miles." It depends on the pimctuation and
the force of " item," and the question whether the passage is not in a
corrupt state ; and it is not at all clear what his meaning really is.

3 He aUudes to C. Sempronius Tuditanus, Consul B.C. 129. He gained
his victory over the lapydes chiefly tlu'ough the skill of his legatus, D.
Junius Brutus. He was a distinguished orator and liistoriaai. He waa
the maternal grandfather of the orator Hortensius.

* Tliis place is only mentioned by Pliny, but from an inscription found,
it appears that the emperor Justin II. confei'red on it the title of Justi-
nopoUs. It is thought that it occupied the site of the present town of
Capo d' Istria. — Parentivun stood on the site of the present Pareuzo.

^ It still retains its name.

*" Supposed to have occupied the site of the modern Custel Xuovo, past
which the Arsia, now the Arsa, flows.

7 Since Istria had been added to it by Augustus,

252 plint's natural history. [Book III.

the interior of the tenth region are the colonies of Cremona,
Brixia in the territory of the Cenomanni\ Ateste' belonging
to the Veneti, and the towns of Acelum^, Patavium^, Opi-
tergium, Belnnum^, and Vicetia ; with Mantua^, the only
city of the Tuscans now left beyond the Padus. Cato in-
forms us that the Veneti are descendants of the Trojans'',
and that the Cenomanni^ dwelt among the Volcse in the vici-
nity of Massilia. There are also the towns of the Pertini^,
the Tridentini^", and the Beruenses, belonging to the Ithseti,
Yerona^\ belonging to the Hliaeti and the Euganei, and Ju-

* Livy seems to imply that Cremona was originally included in the
territory of the Insubres. A Roman colony being established th^re it
became a powerful city. It was destroyed by Antonius the general of
Vespasian, and again by the Lombard king Agilulfas in a.d. 605. No
remains of antiquity, except a few inscriptions, are to be seen in the
modern city.

2 The modern city of Este stands on the site of Ateste. Beyond in-
scriptions there are no remains of tliis Roman colony.

•^ Asolo stands on its site.

■* It was said to have been founded by the Trojan Antenor. Under the
Romans it was the most unportant city in the north of Italy, and by its
commerce and manufactures attained great opiilence. It was plundered
by Attila, and, by AgLLulfus, king of the Lombards, was razed to the
ground. It was celebrated as being the bu-th-place of Livy. Modern
Padua stands on its site, but has no remains of antiquity.

^ Now called Belluno. Vicetia has been succeeded by the modern
Vicenza.

^ Mantua was not a place of importance, but was famous as being the
birth-place of Virgil ; at least, the poet, who was bom at the vdlage of
Andes, in its vicinity, regarded it as such. It was said to have had its
name from Manto, the daughter of Tiresias. Virgil, in the ^neid, B. x.,
aUudes to its supposed Tuscan origin.

^ Led by Antenor, as Livy says, B. i.

^ The Cenomanni, a tribe of the Cisalpine Gauls, seem to have occu-
pied the country north of the Padus, between the Insubres on the west
and tlie Veneti on the east. From Polybius and Livy we learn that they
had crossed the Alps within historical memory, and had expelled the
Etruscans and occupied their territory. They were signalized for their
amicable feehngs towards the Roman state.

^ Their town was Fertria or Fcltria, the modern Feltre.

^° The modern city of Trento or Trent occupies the site of Tridentum,
their tovm. It is situate on the Athesis or Adige. It became famous in
the middle ages, and the great ecclesiastical councd met here in 1545.

^* It was a Roman colony under the name of Colonia Augusta,
having originally been the capital of the Euganei, and then of the Ceno-

Chap. 23.] ACCOUNT OF COTINTEIES, ETC. 253

lienses^ to tlie Cami. "We tlieii have the following peoples,
whom there is no necessity to particularize with any degree
of exactness, the Alutrenses, the Asseriates, the Plamoni-
enses'"^ with those surnamed Vanienses, and the others
called Culici, the Forojulienses^ surnamed Transpadani, the
Foretani, the Nedinates', the Quarqueni*, the Taurisani^,
the Togienses, and the Varvari. In this district there have
disappeared — upon the coast — Irameue, Pellaon, and Palsa-
tium, Atina and Caelina belonging to the Veneti, Segeste
and Ocra to the Carni, and Noreia to the Taurisci. L. Piso
also informs us that although the senate disapproved of his
so doing, M. Claudius Marcellus^ razed to the ground a
tower situate at the twelfth mile-stone from Aquileia.

In this region also and the eleventh there are some cele-
brated lakes ^, and several rivers that either take their rise in.
them or else are fed by their waters, in those cases in which
they again emerge from them. These are the Addua^, fed by
the Lake Larius, the Ticinus by Lake Yerbannus, the IViincius
by Lake Benacus, the Ollius by Lake Sebinnus, and the Lam-
brus by Lake Eupilis — all of them flowing into the Padus.

manni. It was the bu'th-place of Catullus, and according to some accounts,
of our author, PKny . Modem Verona exliibits many remains of antiquity.
^ D'Anville says that the ruins of this town are to be seen at the
modem Zugho.

2 Hardonm thinks that their town, Flamonia, stood on the site of the
modem Flagogna.

3 Their town, Forum Julii, a Roman colony, stood on the site of the
modem Friuli. Paulus Diaconus ascribes its foundation to Juhus Caesar.

^ Supposed by Miller to have inhabited the town now called Nadin
or Susied.

5 Their town was probably on the site of the modem Quero, on the
river Piave, below Feltre.

6 Probably the same as the Tarvisani, whose town was Tarvisiunl,
now Treviso.

7 The conqueror of Syracuse. The fact here related probably took
place in the Gallic war.

8 This must be tlae meaning ; and we must not, as Holland does, em-
ploy the niimbcr as signifying that of the lakes and rivers ; for the Ticinus
is in the eleventh region.

9 Now the Adda, running through Lago di Como, the Tosino through
Lago Maggiore, the Mincio through Lago di Garda, the Sco througli
Lago di Seo, and the Lanibro now communicating with tlie two small
lakes called Lago di Pusiano and Lago d'Alderio, which in Pliny's time
probably formed one large lake.

254 Plint's nattjeal histoet. [Book III.

Cselius states that the length of the Alps from the Upper
Sea to the Lower is 1000 miles, a distance which Tima-
genes shortens by twenty-two. Cornelius Nepos assigns to
them a breadth of 100 miles, and T. Livius of 3000 stadia ;
but then in different places. For in some localities they
exceed 100 miles ; where they divide Glermany, for instance,
from Italy ; while in other parts they do not reach seventy,
being thus narrowed by the providential dispensation of
nature as it were. The breadth of Italy, taken from the
river Var at the foot of these mountains, and passing along
by the Yada^ Sabatia, the Taurini,'Comum, Brixia, A^erona,
Vicetia, Opitergium, Aquileia, Tergeste, Pola, and Arsia, is
745 miles.

CHAP. 24. (20.) — THE ALPS, AND THE ALPINE NATIONS.

Many nations dwell among the Alps ; but the more
remarkable, between Pola and the district of Tergeste, are
the Secusses, the Subocrhii, the Catali, the Menocaleni, and
near the Carni the people formerly called the Taurisci, but
now the Norici. Adjoining to these are the Ehseti and the
Yindelici, who are all divided into a multitude of states. It
is supposed that the E-hseti are the descendants of the Tus-
cans, who were expelled by the Grauls and migrated hither
under the command of their chief, whose name was Hhsetus.
Turning then to the side of the Alps which fronts Italy, we
have the Euganean^ nations enjoying Latin rights, and of
whom Cato enumerates thirty-four towns. Among these are
the Triumpilini, a people who were sold^ with their terri-
tory ; and then the Camuni, and several similar tribes, each
of them in the jurisdiction of its neiglibouring municipal
town. The same author also considers the Lepontii'* and

1 Now Vado in Liguria, the harbour of Sabbata or Savo. Using the
modern names, the Ime thus drawn runs past Vado, Turin, Como, Bres-
cia, Yerona, Vicenza, Oderzo, Aquileia, Trieste, Pola, and the Arsa.

2 It is from this people that the group of volcanic hills between Padua
and Yerona derive then' present name of CoUi Euganei or the " Euganean
Hills." From the Triumpilini and the Camimi, the present Yal Camo-
nica and Yal Trompia derive then* names.

3 Probably meaning, that for a sum of money they originally acknow-
ledged their subjection to the Roman power.

■* 'l^'lic Lepontii probably dwelt in the modern Yal Leventina and the
Yal d'Osula, near Lago Maggiore ; the Salassi in the Yal d'Aosta.

Chap. 24] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 255

the Salassi to be of Tauriscan origin, but most other
writers, giving a Grreek^ interpretation to their name, con-
sider the Lepontii to have been those of the followers of
Hercules who were left behind in consequence of their limbs
being frozen by the snow of the Alps. They are also of
opinion that the inhabitants of the Grecian Alps are de-
scended from a portion of the Greeks of his army, and that
the Euganeans, being sprung from an origin so illustrious,
thence took their name^. The head of these are the Stceni^.
The Vennonenses^ and the Sarunetes'', peoples of the
Ehseti, dwell about tlie sources of the river Ehenus, while
the tribe of the Lepontii, known as the Uberi, dwell in the
vicinity of the sources of the Ehodanus, in the same district
of the Alps. There are also other native tribes here,
who have received Latin rights, such as the Octodurenses^,
and their neighbours the Centrones^, the Cottian^ states,
the Ligurian Yagienui, descended from the Caturiges'', as
also those called Montani"' ; besides numerous nations of the
Capillati^\ on the confines of the Ligurian Sea.

^ Making it to come from the Greek verb XetVoj, " to leave beliiiid."

2 As though being evyeveioi or evyevets, " of honourable descent," or
*' parentage."

^ Strabo mentions the Stoni or Stoeni among the minor Alpine tribes.
IMannert thinks that they dwelt near the sources of the river Chiese,
about the site of the modera village of Storo.

^ It has been suggested that from them the modem Valtelline takes
its name.

^ Hardouin suggests that the Suanetcs, who are again mentioned,
are the people here meant.

^ They are supposed to have dwelt in the present canton of Martignac
in the Valais, and tlie Vaudois.

7 They dwelt in the Tarantaise, in the duchy of Savoy. The village
called Centron still retains their name.

^ The states subject to Cottius, an Alpine chief, who having gained the
favour of Augustus, was left by him m possession of tliis portion of tho
Alps, A\-ith the title of Praefect. These states, in the vicinity of the mo-
dern Momit Cenis, seem to have extended from Ebrodunum or Embrun
in Gaul, to Segusio, the modem Susa, in Italy, inelucUiig tlic Pass of
Mont Gcnevre. The territory of Cottius was uniti-d by Nero to the
Boman empire, as a separate province called the " Alj)es Cottia?."

^ Tlicy dwelt m the vicinity of Ebrodunum orEnibrunalroady mentioned.

^^ The " mountaineers." Some editions read here " Appuaiii," so called,
from the town of Appua, now Pontromoli.

*^ The Vagiemii, and the Capillati Ligm'os, or " Long-haired Ligu-*
rians," have been previously mentioned in Chap. 7.

256 pliin^t's natueal history. [Book III.

It may not be inappropriate in this place to subjoin the
inscription now to be seen upon the trophy^ erected on the
Alps, which is to the following effect : — " To the Emperor
CiESAR — The son^ of C^sar now deified, Augustus,

PONTIFEX MaXIMUS, AND EMPEROR FOURTEEN YEARS, IN
THE SEVENTEENTH^ YEAR OF HIS HOLDING THE TRIBUNI-
TIAL AUTHORITY, THE SeNATE AND THE ROMAN PEOPLE, IN
REMEMBRANCE THAT UNDER HIS COMMAND AND AUSPICES

ALL THE Alpine nations which extended from the

UPPER SEA TO the LOWER WERE REDUCED TO SUBJECTION
BY THE EOMAN PEOPLE ThE AlPINE NATIONS SO SUB-
DUED WERE: THE TrIUMPILINI, THE CaMUNI, THE Ve-
NOSTES^, THE VeNNONENSES, THE ISARCI, THE BrEUNI,
THE GeNAUNES^, the PoCUNATES, FOUR NATIONS OF THE
ViNDELICI, THE CONSUANETES, THE EUCINATES, THE
LlCATES^, THE CATENATES, THE AmBISONTES, THE Eu-
GUSCI, THE SUANETES^, THE CaLUCONES, THE BrIX-
ENTES, THE LePONTII, THE UbERI, THE NaNTUATES, THE

Seduni, the Yaragri, THE Salassi, the Acitayones,

^ The trophy or triumphal arch which bore tliis inscription is that
which was still to be seen at Torbia near Nicsea in Illyria, in the time of
Gruter, who has given that portion of the inscription wliich remained
unobhterated, down to " gentes Alpinse," " the Alpine nations." Har-
douin speaks of another triumphal arch in honoxir of Augustus at Segusio
or Susa in Piedmont, which appears to have commenced in a somewhat
similar manner, but only the first twelve words were remaining in 1671.

2 Adopted son of his great uncle Juhus Caesar.

2 Most of the MSS. omit the figures XVII here, but it is evidently
an accident ; if indeed they were omitted in the original.

■* They are supposed to have occupied the Val Venosco, at the sources
of the Adige. The Isarci dwelt in the Val de Sarra or Sarcha, near Val
Camonica ; and the Bremii in the Val Brounia or Bregna, at the som*ce
of thcTessino.

^ D'Anville thinks that they inhabited the Val d'Agno, near Trento,
between Lake Como and the Adige. He also detects the name of the
Focimates m the vUlage of Vogogna.

^ They inhabited the banks of the river Lech, their town being, ac-
cording to Strabo, Damasia, afterwards Augusta Vindehcorum, now
Augsburg.

7 Probably the Sarunetes, already mentioned. The Brixentes inha-
bited the modern Brixen in the Tyrol. The Lepontii have been pre-
Tiously mentioned. The Seduni occupied the present Sion, the capital
of the Valais. The Salassi have been already mentioned. According to
Bouchc, the MeduUi occupied the modern Maurienne in Savoy. The
Varagri dwelt in Le Chablais.

Cliap. 25.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 257

THE MeDULLI, the UcENI\ THE CaTURIGES, THE BeI-
GTANI, THE SOGIONTII, THE BrODIONTII, THE NeMALONI,
THE EdENATES^, the EsUBIANI, THE YeAMINI, THE GaL-
LIT^, THE TrIULATTI, THE EcHINI, THE YeRGUNXI, THE

Eguituri^, the Nementuri, the Oeatelli, the Nerusi,

THE A'eLAUNI, and THE SUETRI."

The t^Yelve states of the Cottiani^ were not included in
the list, as they had shown no hostility, nor yet those whic-h
had been placed by the Pompeian law under the jurisdiction
of the miuiicipal towns.

Such then is Italy, sacred to the gods, such are the na-
tions, such the cities of her peoples ; to which we may add,
that this is that same Italy, which, when L. ^milius Paulus^
and C. Attilius Hegulus were Consuls, on hearing of the rising
in Gaul, unaided, and without any foreign assistance whatever,
without the help even of that portion which lies beyond the
Padus, armed 80,000 horse and 700,000 foot. In abun-
dance of metals of every kind, Italy yields to no land whatever;
but all search for them has been prohibited by an ancient
decree of the Senate, who gave orders thereby that Italy
shall be exempted® from such treatment.

CHAP. 25. (21.) — LIBURNIA AND ILLTRICUM.

The nation of the Liburni adjoins the river Arsia'', and

^ The TJceni, according to Hardoiiin, occupied Le Bourg d'Oysans in
the modern Gx'aisivaudan ; the Caturiges, the modem Chorgcs according
to Ansart ; the Brigiani, probably Brian^on, and the Kemaloni, as Har-
doiiin thinks, the place called Miolans.

2 They probably dwelt in the Ville de Seyne, in Embrun ; the Esubiimi
near the river Hubaye, inthe Yallee de Barcelone in Savoy ; the Veamini
in Senez, the Triulatti at the village of Alloz, the Ecchni near the river
Tinea, and the Vcrgunni in the vicinity of the district of Yergons.

2 TheEguituri probably dwelt near the modera town of Guillaumes, the
Oratelli at the place now callc^d Le Puget de Theniers, and the Yelauni
near the modem BueU. ■* Or subjects of Cottius, previously mentioned.

^ A mistake for L. ^mihus Papus. He and C. Regulus were Consuls
in B.C. 225. They successfully ojiposed the Cisalpine Grauls, who invaded
Italy ; but Regulus was slain in the engagement.

^ It is difTicult to say what is the exact force of " parci" here ; whether
in fact it means that Italy shall be wholly exempted from such treatment,
as an indignity offered to her sod, or whether her niineials were to be
strictly kept in reserve as a last resource. Ajabson, in his Translation^
seems to take the former view, Littre the latter.

7 From the river now called the Arsa to that called the Kerka.
VOL. I. S

258 pliky's natueal histoet. [Book III.

extends as far as the river Titus . The Mentores, the Hy m ani \
the Enchelei3e, the Buni, and the people whom Callimachus
calls the Peucetiag, formerly formed part of it ; but now the
whole in general are comprised under the one name of
Illy ricum . But few of the names of these nations are worthy
of mention, or indeed very easy of pronunciation. To the
jurisdiction of Scardona^ resort the lapydes and fourteen
cities of the Liburni, of which it may not prove tedious if I
mention the Lacinienses, the Stlupini, the Burnistae, and
the Olbonenses. Belonging to the same jurisdiction there
are, in the enjoyment of Italian rights, the Alutse^, the
Flanates^, from whom the Gulf takes its name, the Lopsi,
and the Varvarini ; the Assesiates, who are exempt from
tribute ; and upon the islands, the Fertinates and the Cu-
rictse'.

Besides these, there are on the coast, after leaving Nesac-
tium, Alvona^, Flanona, Tarsatica, Senia, Lopsica, Ortopula,
Vegium, Argyruntum, Corinium'', ^nona, the city of
Pasinum, and the river Tedanius, at which lapydia ter-
minates. The islands of this Grulf, with their towns, besides
those above mentioned, are Absyrtium^, Arba^, Crexa, Grissa,

^ Hai'douin thinks that " Ismeni " is the proper reading here ; but all
the MSS. seem to be against him.

2 Mentioned in the next Chapter. ^ Their town was Alnus or Aloiis.

** Their town was Flanona, which gave name to the Sinus Flanaticus
or Golfo di Quamero. The cliief town of the Lopsi was Lopsica, and
of the Varvarini, Varvaria.

^ The island of Fertina is supposed to have been the modem Berwitch
or Parvich. Curicta is now called Karek or Veglia. The Illyrian snails
mentioned by our author, B. ix. c. 56, are very numerous here. Caius
Antonius, the brother of Marcus, actmg under Julius Csesar, was be-
sieged here by Libo. See the interesting account in Lucan's Pharsalia,
B. iv. 1. 402-464.

^ The places on their sites are now called Albona, Fianona, Tersact or
Tersat near Fiume, Segna, Lopsico, Ortopia, and Veza.

7 Now Carin. ^nona is now called Nona, and the Tedanius is the
modern Zermagna.

^ The whole of tliis group of islands were sometimes called the Absyr-
tides, from Absyrtus, the brother of Medea, who according to tradition
was slain there. See the last Chapter, p. 266.. Ovid, however, in liis
" Tristia," states that this took place at Tomi, on the Pontus Euxmus or
Black Sea, the place of his banishment.

^ Said by D'Anville to be now caRed Ai'be, and Crexa to be the mo-
dem Cherso. Gissa is thought to have been the modern Pago,

Chap. 26.] ACCOr?^T OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 259

and Portimata. Agaiii, on the mainland tliere is the colony
of Iadera\ distant from Pola IGO miles ; then, at a
distance of thirty miles, the island of Colentnm^, and of
eighteen, the mouth of the river Titus.

CHAP. 26. (22.) — DALMATIA.

Scardona, situate upon the river^, at a distance of twelve
miles from the sea, forms the boundary of Liburnia and the
oeginning of Dalmatia. Kext to this place comes the ancient
t:*ountry of the Autariatarcs and the fortress of Tariona, the
Promontory of Diomedes'*, or, as others call it, the peninsula
of Hyllis, 100 miles^ in circuit. Then comes Trngurium, a
place with the rights of Eoman citizens, and celebrated for
its marble, Sicum, a place to which Claudius, the emperor
lately deified, sent a colony of his veterans, and Salona^, a
colony, situate 112 miles from ladera. To this place resort
for legal purposes, having the laws dispensed according to
their di\'isions into decuries or tithings, the Dalmatje, form-
ing 342 decuries, the Deurici 22, the Ditiones 239, the
Mazaei 269, and the Sardiates 52. In this region are Bur-
num', Andetrium^, and Tribulium, fortresses ennobled by
the battles of the Eoman people. To the same jurisdiction
also belong the Issaei'^, the Colentini, the Separi, and the

1 It was the capital of Liburnia. The city of Zara or Zara Vecchia
stands on its site. There are but Httle remains of the ancient city.

2 Supposed to be the present Mortero.

3 The Titus or Kerka. Scardona still retains its name.
^ Now called the Cabo di San Nicolo.

^ This measxirement would make it appear that the present Sabioncello
is meant, but that it ought to come below, after Narona. lie probably
means the quasi peninsula upon wliich the towii of Tragurium, now Trau
Vecchio, was situate ; but its circumference is liardly fifty miles. So, if
Sicum is the same as the modem Sebenico, it ought to have been men-
tioned previously to Tragurium.

^ Spalatro, the retreat of Diocletian, was in the vicinity of Salona. Its
ancient name was Spolatum, and at tlie village of Dioclea near it, that
emperor was bom. On the ruins of the once important city of Salona,
rose the modem Spalato or SjDakitro.

7 Its site is unkno\m, though D'Anville tliinks that it was probably
that of the modem Tain.

^ Chssa is supposed to occupy its site. TribuHum is probably tho
modem Ughane.

^ The people of the island of Issa, now Lissn, off the coast of Li*

s2

260 PLIKY's KATUllAL HISTOET. ["Book III,"

Epetini, nations inhabiting the islands. After these come
the fortresses of Peguntium.' and of Eataneum, with tljo
colony of Narona^, the seat of the third jurisdiction, distari t
from Salona eighty-two miles, and situate upon a river of tlia
same name, at a distance of twenty miles from the sea. JVl.
Yarro states that eighty-nine states used to resort thither, but
now nearly tlie only ones that are known are the Cerauni"
with 24 de'curies, the Daorizi with 17, the Dsesitiates with 103,
the Doeleatse with 33, the Deretini with 14, the Deremistae
with 30, the Dindari with 33, the Grlinditiones with 44, the
Melcomani with 24, the Naresii with 102, the Scirtarii with
72, the Siculotae with 24, and the Vardasi, once the scourges
of Italy, with no more than 20 decuries. In addition to
these, this district was possessed by the Ozucei, the Partheni,
the Hemasini, the Arthitae, and the Armistse. The colony
of Epidaurum"* is distant from the river Naron 100 miles.
After Epidaurum come the following towns, with the rights
of E-oman citizens : — Ehizinium^, Acruvium^, Butua, 01-
cinium, formerly called Colchinium, having been founded by
the Colchians ; the river Drilo'', and, upon it, Scodra^, a
town with the rights of Eoman citizens, situate at a distance
of eighteen miles from the sea ; besides in former times many
Grreek towns and once powerful states, of which all remem-

burnia. It was originally peopled by a Parian or a Syracusan colony. Ir.
was famous for its wine, and the beaked ships " Lembi Issaici," rendered
the Romans good service in the war with Phihp of Macedon.

^ The modern Almissa stands on its site ; and on that of Eataneum,
Mucarisca. 2 j^q^s^ called Narenta ; the river having the same nam6

3 The localities of all these peoples are unknown.

* Or Epidaurus. It is not noticed in history till the civil war between
Pompey and Csesar, when, having declared in favour of the latter, it was
besieged by M. Octavius. The site of it is known as Ragusa Vecchia, 03»
Old Ragusa, but in the Illyric language it is called Zaptal. Upon its
destruction, its inhabitants moved to Rausium, the present Eagiisa.
There are no remauis extant of the old town.

* It still retains the name of Risine, upon the Grolfo di Cattaro, the
ancient Sinus Rliizonicus.

^ In the former editions called " Ascrivium." The modern Cattaro is
supposed to occupy its site. Butiia is the modem Budua, and Olcinium,
Dulcigno. It is probable that the derivation of the name of tliis last
place, as suggested by Phny, is only fanciful.

7 Now called Prin and Driuo.

8 Now called Scutari or Scodar, the capital of the province called by
tho Turks Sangiac de Scodar.

Chap. 26.1 ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 201

brauce is fast fading away. For in this region there were
formerly the Labeatae, theEnclerini\ the Sas»i, the Grabaei-,
properly called Illyrii, the Taulantii^, and the Pyrsei. The
Promontory of jN^ympha^um on the sea-coast still retains its
name"* ; and there is Lissum, a town enjoying the rights of
Roman citizens, at a distance from Epidaurum of 100 miles.
(23.) At Lissum begins the province of Macedonia'^, the
nations of the Parthini^, and behind them the DassaretsD''.
The mountains of Candavia^ are seventy-eight miles from
Dyrrhachium. On the coast lies Denda, a town with the
riglits of Eoman citizens, the colony of Epidamuum^ which,
on account of its inauspicious name, was by the Romans
called D}Trhachium, the river Aous'°, by some called JEas,
and Apollonia", formerly a colony of the Corinthians, at a
distance of four miles from the sea, in the vicinity of which

1 According to Hardouin, the modem Endero stands on the site of
their capital.

2 Grabia, mentioned hj Pouqueville, in his " Voyage de la Gr^ce," seems
to retain the name of this tribe.

3 Pouqueville is of opinion that they occupied the district now known
as Musache.

* Dalechamp tliiiiks that the two words "Retinet nomen" do not belong
to the text, but have crept in from bemg the gloss of some more recent
commentator. They certainly appear to be out of place. This promontory
is now called Cabo Rodoni. * The modern Albania.

^ Pouquerille is of opinion that they inhabited the district about the
present village of Presa, seven leagues N.E. of Durazzo.

7 From Ptolemy we learn that Lychnidus was their to^\^l ; the site of
which, according to Pouquevdle, is still pointed out at a spot about four
leagues south of Ochrida, on the eastern bank of the Lake of Oclirida.

^ ]S"ow called El Bassan ; though Pouqueville says Tomoros or Do
Caulonias. Conmiencing in EpLrus, they sepai'ated Illyricum from Mace-
donia. See Lucan's Pliarsalia, 15. vi. 1. 331.

3 The Romans are said to have changed its Greek name Epidamnum,
from an idea that it was inauspicious, as implying " dannmni" or " ruin."
It has been asserted that they gave it the name of Durrhachiuni or Dyrrlia-
cliium, frcm " duinim," rugged, on accoimt of the ruggednoss of its
locahty. This however cannot be the case, as the word, like its pre-
decessor, is of Greek origin. Its unfortunate name, " E])idamnus," is the
subject of several puns and witticisms in that most amusing perhaps of all
the plays of Plautus, tlie Menaichmi. It was of Corcyra'an origin, ajid
after playing a distinguished part in th.e civil wars bctwcru Ponqiey and
Csesar, was granted by Augustus to his veteran troops. The modern
Durazzo stands on its site. ''' Now called the Yoioussa.

'^ The monastery of Pollina stands on its site. It was founded by

262 plint's natueal histoet. [Book III.

tlie celebrated Nympliseum^ is inhabited by tbe barbarous
Amantes^ and Bidiones. Upon the coast too is the town cf
Oricum^, founded by the Colchians. At this spot begins
Epirus, with the Acroceraimian"* mountains, by which we have
previously mentioned^ this Gulf of Europe as bounded.
Oricum is distant from the Promontory of Salentinum in
Italy eighty^ miles.

CHAP. 27. (24.) THE NOEICI.

In the rear of the Carni and the lapydes, along the coiu*se
of the great river Ister^, the Bhseti touch upon the No-
rici^: their towns are Yirunum^, Celeia, Teurnia, Agun-
tum^°, A^ianiomina^\ Claudia ^^, and Elavium Solvense^^. Ad-
joining to the Norici is Lake Peiso^'', and the deserts of

the Corinthians and Corcyrseans. There are scarcely any vestiges of it
remaining. ^ See farther mention of tliis spot in B. ii. c. 110.

2 Pouqueville states that the ruins of Amantia are to be seen near the
village of Nivitza, on the right bank of the river Suchista. The remains
of Bulhs, the chief town of the Buhones, according to the same traveUer,
are to be seen at a place called Gradista, four miles from the sea.

3 The same writer states that Oricum was situate on the present Gulf
De la Yallona or d' Avlona, and that its port was the place now called by
the Greeks Porto Raguseo, and by the Turks Liman Padisha.

"* The " Heights of Thunder." They were so called from the frequent
thunderstorms with wliich they were visited. The range however
was more properly called the " Ceraunii Montes," and the j^romontory
terminating it " Acroceraunii " or " Acroceraunia," meaning "the end of
the Ceraunii." The range is now called the Mountains of Klihnara, and
the promontory, Glossa, or in Itahan, Linguetta, meaning " the Tongue."

* In C. 15 of the present Book.
~ ^ About 70 Enghsh miles is the distance. ^ The Donau or Danube.

^ Noricum corresponded to the greater part of the present Styria and
Carinthia, and a part of Austria, Bavaria, and Salzburg.

' According to D'AnviUe the modern Wolk-Markt, on the river
Drau or Drave. Celeia is the modern Cilley in Carniola. Teuniia,
accordhig to Mannert, is the Lurnfelde, near the small town of Spital.

^0 According to Mannert it was situate near the modem town of
Innichen, near the som-ces of the Drave.

^^ Supposed to be the same as the Ymdobona or Yindomona of
other authors, standing on the site of the modern city of Yienna.

12 According to Cluver, it stood on the site of the modem Clausen in
Bavana.

13 IMannert says that this place was the same with the modern Solfeld,
near Klagenfurt.

1* D'Anvilie and other writers think that this is the Neusiedler See, not

o

Cnap. 28.] ACCOU]S"T OF COTj:N^TEIES, ETC. 2G3

the Boii^ ; tliey are however now inhabited by the people
of Sabaria^, a colony of the now deified emperor Claudius,
and the town of Scarabantia Julia^.

CHAP. 28. (25.) — PANKONIA.

Xext to them comes acorn-bearing Pannonia"*, alon_
which the chain of the Alps, gradually lessening as it runs
through the middle of Illyricum from north to south, forms
a gentle slope on the right hand and the left. The portion
which looks towards the Adriatic Sea is called Dalmatia
and Illyricum, above mentioned, while Pannonia stretches
away towards tlie north, and has the Danube for its extreme
boundary. In it are the colonies of ^mona^ and Siscia.
The following rivers, both known to fame and adapted for
commerce, flow into the Danube ; the Draus^, which rushes
from Xoricum with great impetuosity, and the Sa\Tis'', which
flows with a more gentle -current from the Carnic Alps, there
being a space between them of 120 miles. The Draus runs
through the Serretes, the Serrapilli^, the lasi, and the An-
dizetes ; the Savus through the Colapiani^ and the Breuci ;
these are the principal peoples. Besides them there are
the Arivates, the Azali, the Amantini, the Belgites, the
Catari, the Cornacates, the Eravisci, the Hercuniates^", the

far from Yienna. Mannert, however, is of opinion that the name ought
to be written Pelso, and that the modern Balaton or Flatten See is meant.

^ The mountainous and woody tract in the vicinity of the Lake
Balaton, on the confines of ancient Noricum and Pannonia.

2 Now Sarvar on the river Raab, on the confines of Austria and
Hungary.

2 Accorduig to Hardouin, the modem Sopron or CEdenburg.

* This province corresponded to the eastern part of Austria, St}-ria,
Carinthia, Carniola, the whole of Hungary between the Danube and
Saave, Slavonia, and part of Croatia and Bosnia. It was reduced by
Tiberius, acting under the orders of Augustus.

* Now Laybach, previously mentioned in c. 22. Sissia has been suc-
ceeded by the modern Sissek on the Saave.

^ The modem Draave or Drau. <" Now the Sau or Saave.

8 According to Hardouin the Serretes and the Serrapilli inhabited
the modern Carinthia on both sides of the Draave. The sites of the other
nations here mentioned arc unknov^Ti.

* So called from the river Colapis. The other tribes are unknown.

^0 Probably the same as the mountain range near Warasdiu on tho

264 V plint's natueal history. [Book III.

Latovici, the Oseriates, the Varciam, and, in front of Mount
Claudius, the Scordisci, behind it the Taurisci. In the Sa\Tis
there is the island of Metubarris^ the greatest of all the
islands formed by rivers. Besides the above, there are
these other rivers worthy of mention : — the Colapis^, which
flows into the Sa\'us near Siscia, where, dividing its channel,
it forms the island which is called Segestica^ ; and the river
Bacuntius^, which flows into the Savus at the town of Sir-
mium, where we find the state of the Sirmienses and the
Amantini. Forty-five miles thence is Taurunum*, where
the Savus flows into the Danube ; above which spot the
Yaldanus'^ and the Urpanus, themselves far from ignoble
rivers, join that stream.

CHAP. 29. (26.) — M(ESIA.

Joining up to Pannonia is the province called Moesia'', which
runs, with the course of the Danube, as far as the Euxine.
It commences at the confluence^ previously mentioned. In it
are the Dardani, the Celegeri, the Triballi, the Timachi, the
Moesi,theThraciaus,and the Scythians who border on the Eux-
ine. The more famous among its rivers are the Margis^, which
rises in the territory of the Dardani, the Pingus, the Tima-
chus, the (Escus which rises in Mount Bhodope, and, rising
in Mount Hsemus, the Utus^°, the Asamus, and the Icterus.

Draave. The nations mentioned here dwelt on the western and eastern
slopes of this range.

^ Now known as Zagi'abia, ^ Now the Culpa.

3 Dion Cassius, B. xix., says that the river Colapis or Colops flowed
past the walls of the town of Siscia, but that Tiberius Caesar caused a
trench to be dug round the towni, and so drew the river round it, leading
it back on the other side into its channel. He calls the island Segetica.

** Now the Bossut. Sirmium occupied the site of the present Sirmich.

^ The modern Tzeruinka, according to D'Anville and Brotier.

^ Now the Walpo and the Sarroiez, according to Hardoiun ; or the
Bosna and the Verbas, according to Brotier and Mannert.

^ Corresponding to the present Servia and Bulgaria.

^ Of the Danube with the Saave or Savus just mentioned,

^ Now the Morava, which runs through Servia into the Danube.
The Pingus is probably the Bek, which joms the Danube near G-radistic.
'J?he Timachus is the modern Timoch, and the (Escus is the Iscar in
B ulgaria.

^^ Now called the Yid, the Osma, and the Jantra, rising in the
Balkan cham.

Chap. 30.] ACCOTJNT OF COUNTRIES. ETC. 266

The breadth of Illyrieum^ at its widest part is 325 miles,
and its length from the ri^'er Arsia to the river Driiiius
530 ; from the Drinius to the Promontory of Acroceraunia
Agrippa states to be 175 miles, and he says that the entire
circuit of the Italian and Illyrian Gulf is 1700 miles. In
this Gridf, according to the limits which we have drawTi,
are two seas, the Ionian' in the first part, and the Adiiatic,
which runs more inland and is called the Upper Sea.

CHAP. 30. — ISLANDS OF THE IONIAN SEA AND THE ADRIATIC.

In the Ausoniau Sea there are no islands worthy of
notice beyond those which we have already mentioned, and
only a few in the Ionian ; those, for instance, upon the Cala-
brian coast, opposite Brundusium, by the projection of which
■ i harbour is formed ; and, over against the Apulian coast,
Diomedia^, remarkable for the monument of Diomedes, and
another island called by the same name, but by some Teutria.

^ Ajasson remarks here that the name of Illyricum was very vaguely
used by the ancients, and that at diiferent periods, ditterent countries
were so designated. In Pliny's time that region comprised the country
between the Arsia and the mouth of the Drilo, bounding it on the side
of Macedonia. It would thus comprehend a part of modern Carniola,
with part of Croatia, Bosnia, Dalmatia, and Upper Albania. In later
times this name was extended to Noricum, Pannonia, Moesia, Dacia,
Macedonia, Thessalia, Achaia, Epirus, and even the Isle of Crete.

2 Here meaning that part of the Mediterranean whi-h lies between
Italy and Greece south of tlie Adriatic. In more ancient times the
Adi'iatic was included in the Ionian Sea, which was probably so called
from the Ionian colonies which settled in Cephallenia and the other
islands on the western coast of Greece.

3 More properly " Diomedese," being a group of small islands off the
coast of Apulia now called Isole di Tremiti, about eighteen miles from
the mouth of the Fortore. Tliey were so called from the fable that here
the companions of Diomedes were changed into birds. A species of sea-
fowl (which Pliny mentions in B. x. c. 44) were said to be the descend-
ants of these Greek sailors, and to show a great partiahty for such
persons as were of kindred extraction. See Ovid's Metamorphoses,
B. xiv. 1. 500. The real number of these islands was a matter of dispute
with the ancients, but it seems that there are but three, and some mere
rocks. The largest of the group is the island of San Dojiienico, and the
others are San Nicola and Caprara. The small island of Pianosa, eleven
miles N.E., is not considered one of the group, but is ncjt improbably
the Teutria of PHny. San Domenico was the place of bunisluucnt of Julia,
the licentious daughter of Augustus.

266 PLI2« r S K^ATUEAL HISTOET. [Book III.

The coast of lUyricum is clustei«ed with more than 1000
islands, the sea being of a shoaly nature, and numerous
creeks and sestuaries running with their narrow channels
between portions of the land. The more famous are those
before the mouths of the Timayus, with warm springs^ that
rise with the tides of the sea, the island of Cissa near the
territory of the Istri, and the Pullaria" and Absyrtides^, so
called by the Greeks from the circumstance of Absyrtus,
the brother of Medea, having been slain there. Some islands
near them have been called the Electrides'', upon which
amber, which they call "electrum," was said to be found;
a most assured instance however of that untruthful-
ness^ which is generally ascribed to the Glreeks, seeing
that it has never j^et been ascertained which of the islands
were meant by them under that name. Opposite to the lader
is Lissa, and other islands whose names have been already
mentioned^ Opposite to the Liburni are some islands
called the Cratese, and no smaller number styled Liburnicse
and Celadussse''. Opposite to Surium is Bavo, and Brattia^,

^ Now called the Bagni di Monte Falcone. See B. ii. c. 106.

2 Now called Cherso and Osero, oiF the lUyrian coast. Ptolemy
mentions only one, Apsorrus, on which he places a town of that name
and another called Crepsa. The Pullaria are now called Li Brioni, in
the Sinus Flanaticus, opposite the city of Pola. ^ gee p. 258.

^ In B. xxxvu. c. 11, he again mentions this chcumstance, and states
that some writers have placed them in the Adi-iatic opposite the mouths
of the Padus. Scymnus of Chios makes mention of them in conjunction
with the Absyrtides. This confusion probably arose from the fact pre-
viously noted that the more ancient writers had a confused idea that the
Ister communicated with the Adriatic, at the same tune mistaking it pro-
bably for the Vistula, which flows into the Baltic. At the mouth of this
last-mentioned river, there were Electrides or " amber- bearing " islands.

^ " Yanitatis." ^ Crexa, Grissa, and Coleutum, in c. 25.

^ According to Brotier, these are situate between the islands of Zuri
and Sebenico, and are now called Kasvan, Capri, Smolan, Tihat, Sestre,
Pai'vich, Zlarin, &c. Some writers however suggest that there were
no islands called Celadu.ss8e, and that the name in Phny is a corruption of
Dyscelados inPomponiusMela; which in its turn is supposed to have been
invented from what was really an epithet of Issa, in a line of Apollonius
E-hodius, B. iv. 1. 565. 'lo-crd re dvaKcXados, " and inauspicious Issa."
See Brunck's remarks on the passage.

^ Now Brazza. According to Brotier the island is stiU celebrated
for the delicate flavour of tbe flesh of its goats and lambs. Issa is now
called Lissa, and Pharia is the modern Lesina. Baro, now Bua, lies ofi"

Cliap, 30.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 267

famous for its goats, Issa with the rights of Eoman citizens,
and Pharia with a town. At a distance of twenty-five miles
from Issa is Corc}Ta\ surnamed Melaena, A^ith a tovm. founded
by the Cnidians ; between which and Illyricum is Melite',
from which, as we learn from Callimachus, a certain kind
of little dogs were called Melitaei ; fifteen miles from it we
find the seven Elaphites^. In the Ionian Sea, at a distance
of twelve miles from Oricnm, is Sasonis^, notorious from
ha^dng been a harbour of pirates.

Summary. — The towns and nations mentioned are in
number * * * *5^ rjij^^ rivers of note are in number * * * *.
The mountains of note are in number * * * *. The islands
are in number * * * *. The to^Tis or nations which have
disappeared are in number * * * *. The facts, statements,
and observations are in number 326.

EoMAN AuTHOES QUOTED. — Turannius Gracilis^, Cor-
nelius Nepos^, T. Livius^, Cato the Censor^, M. Agrip-

the coast of Dalmatia, and was used as a place of banishment under the
emperors.

^ Now Curzola, or, in the Sclavonic, Karkar. It obtained its name of
ISrigi'a or Melaena, "black," fi'om the dark colom* of its pine woods.
Sir Gr. Wilkinson describes it in his *' Dalmatia and Montenegro," vol. i.

^ Now called Meleda or Zapimtello. It is more generally to the
other island of Melita or Malta that the origin of the "MeUtsei" or Maltese
dogs is ascribed. Some winters are of opinion that it was upon this
island that St. Paial was shipwTCcked, and not the larger Melita.

3 So caUed from their resemblance to a stag, eXa^os, of which the
modern Giupan formed the head, Ruda the neck, Mezzo the body, Cala-
motta the haunches, and the rock of Grebini or Pettini the tail. They
produce excellent wine and oil, and are looked upon as the most valuable
part of the Ragusan territory.

■* Still known as Sasino. It is ten miles from Eagusa, tlie port of
Oricura, according to Pouqucville. ^ Tlic original nnmliers are lost.

^ He was a Spaniard by birth, a native of MeUaria in Ilispauia Ba^tica.
He is mentioned by Cicero as a man of great learning, and is ])robably
the same person that is mentioned by Ovid in liis Pontic Epistles, B. iv.
ep. xvi. 1. 2U, as a distingvushed tragic writer.

7 See end of B. ii. ^ See end of B. ii.

* M. Porcius Cato, or Cato the Elder ; famous as a statesman, a
patriot, and a pliUosopher. He wrote " De Re Rustica," a work which
etill survives, and " Letters of Instruction to his Son," of which only some
fragments remain. He also wrote a hit^torical work called " Origines,"

268 pliny's fattiral histoey. [Book III.

pa\ M. Varro^, tlie Emperor Augustus^ now deified, Yarro
Atacinus"*, Antias*, Hyginus^, L. Vetus^, Pomponius Mela*,

of wliich Pliny makes considerable use. Of this also only a few fragments
are left. His life has been written by Cornehus Nepos, Plutarch, and
Aurehus Victor,

^ M. Vipsanius Agi'ippa, the distinguished partisan of Augustus, to
whose niece MarceUa he was married, but he afterwards divorced her
for Juha, the daughter of Augustus by Scribouia, and the widow of
Marcellus. He distinguished himself in Gaul, at Actium, and in Hlyria.
He constructed many public works at Rome, and among them the Pan-
theon ; he also built the splendid aqueduct at Nismes. He died suddenly
in liis 51st year. His body was buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus,
who pronovmced his funeral oration. He wrote memoh-s of his own life.
PUny often refers to the " Commentarii " of Agrippa, by which are meant,
it is supposed, certain official Hsts drawn up by him in the measm'ement
of the Roman world under Augustus. His map of the world is also
mentioned by Phny in c. 3 of the present Book. ^ ggg g^d of B. ii.

3 From Servius, Suetonius and Plutarch we learn that Augustus wrote
Memoirs of his Life, in thirteen books ; from Suetonius, that he com-
posed a Summary of the Empire (which was probably that referred to in
the above note on Agrippa) ; and from QuintUian, Aldus GeUius, and PHny,
B. xviii. c. 38, that he pubUshed Letters written to liis grandson Caius.

* P. Terentius Varro, surnamed Atacinus, from the Atax, a river of
GraUia Narbonensis, in which province he was bora, B.C. 82. Of his
"Argonautica," his " Cosmograpliia" (probably the same with his "Iter"),
his " Navales Libri," and his Heroic and Amatory Poems, only a few
fragments now exist. Of liis life notliing whatever is kno^vn.

^ Valerias Antias. See end of B. ii.

^ C. Jiihus Hyginus, a native of Spam, and frecdman of Augustus, by
whom he was placed at the Palatine Library. He lived upon terms of
intimacy with Ovid. He wrote works on the sites of the cities of Italy,
the Nature of the Gods, an accoimt of the Penates, an accovmt of Virgil
(probably the same as the work called " Commentaries on Virgil"), on the
PamUies of Trojan descent, on Agriculture, the " Propempticon Oinnse,"
the Lives of Illustrious Men (quoted by John of Salisbiu-y in liis " Poly-
craticon "), a book of Examples, and a work on the Art of War, also meil-
tioned by John of Sahsbury. A book of Pables, and an Astronomical
Poem, in four books, are ascribed to hun, but they are probably pro-
ductions of a later age.

7 L. Antistius Vetus, Consul with Nero, a.d. 55. While command-
ing in Germany he formed the project of connecting the MoseUe and the
Saone by a canal, thus establishing a communication between the Medi-
terranean and the Northern Ocean. Nero having resolved on his death,
he anticipated his sentence by opening his veins in a Avarm bath. His
mother-in-law Sextia, and his daughter Pollentia, in a similar manner
perished with liim.

* He was born, it is supposed, at Tingentera, or Cingentera, on the bay
of Algesii-as, and probably floiu'ished in the reign of Claudius. He was

Chap. 30.] EOMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. ' 269

Curio' tlie Elder, Caelius", Arruntius^, Sebosus"*, Liciniua
Mucianus'^ Fabricius Tuscus^, L. Ateiiis^, Capito*, Ver-
riiis riaccus^, L. Piso^", Gellianus'', and Valerianus'".
FoEEiGN Authors quoted. — Artemidorus '^, Alexander

the first Roman author who wrote a treatise on Geography. It is still
extant, and bears marks of great care, while it is written m pm'e and nii-
afiected language.

^ C. Scribonius Curio, the third known of that name. He was the
first Roman general who advanced as far as the Danube. Like his son
of the same name, he was a violent opponent of Julius Caesar. He was
eloquent as an orator, but ignorant and uncultivated. His orations were
pubhshed, as also an invective against Caesar, in form of a dialogue, in
wliich his son was introduced as one of the interlocutors. He died B.C. 53.

2 L. Caehus Antipater. See end of B. ii.

3 L. Arruntius, Consul, A.D. 6. Augustus declared in his last iUness
that he was worthy of the empire. This, with his riches and talents,
rendered liim an object of suspicion to Tiberius. Being charged as an
accomphce in the crimes of Albucilla, he put himself to death by opening
his veins. It appears not to be certain whether it was this person or his
father who wrote a history of the first Punic war, in which he imitated
the style of Sallust.

■* Statius Sebosus. See end of B. ii.

^ Licinius Crassus Mucianus. See end of B. ii.

® Of this writer no particulars whatever are known.

7 In most editions this name appears as L. Ateius Capito, but SiUig
separates them, and with propriety it would appear, as the name of
Capito the great legist was not Lucius, Ateius here mentioned was
probably the person sumamed Praetextatus, and Philologus, a freedman
of the jurist Ateius Capito. For Sallust the historian he composed an
Abstract of Roman Histoiy, and for Asinius PoUio he compiled precepts
on the Art of Writing. His Commentaries were numerous, but a few
only were surviving in the time of Suetonius.

^ C. Ateius Capito, one of the most famous of the Roman legists, and
a zealous partisan of Augustus, who had him elevated to the Consulsliip
A.D. 5. He was the rival of Labeo, the republican jurist. His legal
works were very vohuninous, aud extracts from them are to be fomid in
the Digest. He also wrote a work on the Pontifical Rights and the Law
of Sacrifices.

^ A distinguished grammarian of the latter part of the first century
B.C. He was entrusted by Augustus vkith the education of his grandsons
Cains and Lucius Caesar. He died at an advanced age in the reign of
Tiberius. He wi'ote upon antiquities, history, and philosophy : among
his numerous works a History of the Etruscans is mentioned, also a
treatise on Orthography. Phny quotes liim very frequentlv.

1" See end of B. ii.

^^ He is mentioned in c. 17, but nothing more is knowTi of him

^2 Nothing is known of him. The younger ]*liny addrcs'-rd three
Epistles to a person of this name, B. ii. Ep. 15, B. v. Ep. 4» 14,

^ See end of B. ii.

270 PLINY' S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book III.

Polyliistor\ Tliucydides^, Tlieophrastus^, Isidorus'*, Theo-
pompus^, Metrodorus of Scepsis^, Callicrates'', Xenophon
of Lampsacus^, Diodorus of Syracuse^, Nympliodorus^",
Calliphanes^^ and Timagenes^^.

^ Also called by Pliny Cornelius Alexander. Smdas states that he
was a native of Ephesns and a disciple of Crates, and during the war of
Sylla in Greece was made prisoner and sold as a slave to C. Lentvdus, who
made him the tutor of his cliildren, and afterwards restored him to free-
dom. Servius however says that he received the franchise from L. Cor-
nehus Sylla. He was burnt with his house at Laiu-cntum. Other writers
say that he was a native of Catiseum in Lesser Phrygia. The surname of
" Polyhistor" was given to him for his prodigious learning. His greatest
work seems to have been a historical and geographical account of the
world, in forty-two books. Other works of his are frequently mentioned
by Plutarch, Photius, and other vsriters.

2 The historian of the Peloponnesian war, and the most famous, per-
haps, of all the ancient writers in prose.

3 Of Eresus hi Lesbos ; the favom-ite disciple of Aristotle, and desig-
nated by liim as his successor in the presidency of the Lyceum. He
composed more than 200 works on various subjects, of which only a very
few survive. ■* See end of B. ii. ^ See end of B. ii.

^ He is frequently mentioned by Cicero, and was famous for his elo-
quence. Phny informs us in liis 34th book, that from his hatred of the
Romans he was called the " Roman-hater." It is probable that he was
the wi'iter of a Periegesis, or geographical work, from which Phny seems
to quote.

7 No particulars of tliis author are known. He probably wrote on
geography.

^ He is agam mentioned by Pliny in B. iv. c. 13, and B. vi. c. 31, and
by Solinus, c. xxu. 60. It is supposed that he was the author of a Pe-
riplus or Cfrcumnavigation of the Earth, mentioned by Pliny B. vii. c. 48 ;
but notliing frirther is known of him.

^ Diodorus Siculus was a native of Agyra or Agyrium, and not of
Syracuse, though he may possibly have resided or studied there. It can-
not be doubted that he is the person here meant, and Phny refers in his
preface by name to liis liijSXwOrjicr], " Library," or Universal History.
A great portion of this miscellaneous but valuable work has perished.
We have but few particulars of his life ; but he is supposed to have
written his work after B.C. 8.

^^ Of Syracuse ; an liistorian probably of the time of Pliilip and Alex-
ander. He was tlie autlior of a Periplus of Asia, and an accomit of Sicily
and Sardinia. From his stories in the last he obtained the name of
" Thaumatographus " or 'S\Titer of wonders."

^^ Of Calliplianes the Geographer notliing is known.

^2 Probably Timagenos, the rhetorician of Alexandria. He was taken
prisoner and brought to Rome, but redeemed from captivity by Eaustus,
the son of Sylla. He wrote many works, but it is somewhat doubtful
whotlier the " Periplus," in five Books, was ^^Titten by this Tunagenes. He
is also supposed to have written a work on the Antiquities of Gaul.

271

BOOK ly.

JC^ ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS,
HAYENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEO-
PLES VfHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.

CHAP. 1. (1.) — EPIEUS.

The third great Gulf of Europe begins at the mountains
of Acroceraiinia\ and ends at the Hellespont, embracing an
extent of 2500 miles, exclusive of the sea-line of nineteen
smaller gulfs. Upon it are Epirus, Acarnania, ^tolia, Phocis,
Locris, Achaia, Messenia, Laconia, Argolis, Megaris, Attica,
Bo'otia ; and again, upon the other sea'-^, the same Phocis
and Locris, Doris, Phthiotis, Thessalia, Magnesia, Macedonia
and Thracia, All the fabulous lore of Greece, as well as the
effulgence of her literature, first shone forth upon the banks
of this Gulf "VVe shall therefore dwell a little the longer
upon it.

Epirus^, generally so called, begins at the mountains of
Acroceraunia. The first people that we meet are the Chaones,
from whom Chaonia'* receives its name, then the Tliesproti*,
and then the Autigonenses^. AYe then come to the place
where Aornos'^ stood, with its exhalations so deadly to the
feathered race, the Cestrini^, the Perrha;bi^, in whose coun-

^ Now caUed Monti deUa Chimera, or Mountains of Kliimara. See
p. 262. 2 '£\yQ JEgean Sea, the present Archipelago.

2 This country contained, accordmg to Pouqueville, the present San-
giacs of Janina, Delvino, and Chamouri, with the Yavodilika or Princi-
paUty of Ai'ta. This name was originally given to the whole of the west of
Greece, from the Promontory of Acroceraunia to the entrance of the Corin-
thian Gulf, in contradistinction to Corcyra and the island of Cephallenia.

^ This district, according to Pouqueville, occupied tlie present Cantons
of Chimera, lapouria, Arboria, Paracaloma, and Philates,

^ They occupied the site of the present Paraniytliia, according to Pou-
queville.

^ Antigonia was about a mile distant, PouquevUle says, from tlio
modern town of Tebelen.

7 From 'A "not," and upvis "a bird." Its site is now unknown.
There were many places of this name. Avemus or Aomos in Campania
has been previously mentioned.

^ The remains of Cestria are stiU to be seen at Palea Yenetia, near
the town of Fdiates. PouquetiUe calls the place Chamouri.

^ According to Pouqueville, the modern Zagori stands on the site of
Perrhaebia. Pindus is sometimes called Grammoi?, but is still known by
ito ancient name.

272 PLINY's IfATUEAL UISTOllY. [Book IV.

try Mount Pindus is situate, the Cassiop8ei\ the Dryopes^,
the Sellse^, the Hellopes**, the Molossi, iu whose territory is
the temple of the Dodouaean Jupiter, so famous for its oracle ;
and Mount Tomarus^, so highly praised by Theopompus,
with its hundred springs gushing from its foot.

(2.) Epirus, properly so called, advances towards Mag-
nesia and Macedonia, having at its back the Dassaretse,
previously® mentioned, a free nation, and after them the
Dardani, a savage race. On the left hand, before the Dardani
are extended the Triballi and the nations of Moesia, while in
front of them the Medi and the Denselatae join, and next to
them the Thracians, who stretch away as far as the !5^uxine :
in such a manner is a rampart raised around the lofty heights
of Ehodope, and then of Hsemus.

On the coast of Epirus is the fortress of Chiraapra^,
situate upon the Acroceraunian range, and below it the
spring known as the E-oyal Waters^ ; then the towns of

* Cassiope or Cassope stood near the sea, and near the present village
of Kamarina. Its extensive ruins are still to be seen.

2 Their district, according to Pouqueville, was in the present Canton
of DrynopoHs.

^ The SelU or SeUce Uved in the vicinity of the temple of Jupiter at
Dodona, in the modern canton of Souli, according to Pouqueville.

■^ The country about Dodona is called Hellopia by Hesiod. By some
the HeUi or Hellopes are considered the same as the SelU. Pouqueville
tliinks that the HeUopes dwelt in the modern cantons of Janina, Pogo-
niani, Sarachovitzas, and Com-endas, and that the temple of Jupiter stood
at the spot now called Proskynisis, near Gardiki, the town of Dodona
being near Castritza. Leake is of the same opinion as to the site of the
town ; but, as lias been a svibject of rem.ark, it is the only place of celebrity
in Greece of wliich the situation is not exactly known. Leake however
thinks that the temple stood on the peninsula now occupied by the
citadel of Joanina.

5 Pouqueville thinks that tliis is the hill to be seen at the modern vii-
lage of Gardiki. He is also of opiuion that the springs here mentioned
are those at the modem village of Besdounopoulo. His opinions however
on these points have not been imphcitly received.

6 B. iii. c. 26. The Dardani, TribaUi, and Moesi are mentioned in
c. 29. The locahties of the other tribes here mentioned are not known
with any exactness.

' It retains the same name or that of Khimara, and gives its name to
the Acroceraunian range. It was situate at the foot of the chain, whicii
begins at this spot.

^ " Aquae regise." Pouqueville suggests, without good reason, as An-
eart tliinks, that tliis spring was situate near the modern Drimodez or
Dermadez.

Chap. 2.] AGCO"CNT OF COUN^TRIES, ETC. 273

Maeandria, and Cestria\ the Thy amis ^, a river of Thesprotia,
the colony of Buthrotum^, and the Ambraeian Gulf"*, so
famed in history ; Avhich, with an inlet only half a mile in
width, receives a vast body of water from the sea, being
thirty-seven miles in length, and fifteen in width. The river
Acheron, which runs through Acherusia, a lake of Thespro-
tia, flows into it^ after a course of thirty-six miles ; it is con-
sidered wonderful for its bridge, 1000 feet in length, by a
people who look upon everything as wonderful that belongs
to themselves. Upon this Gulf is also situate the town of
Ambracia. There are also the Aphas and the Arachthus^,
rivers of the Molossi ; the city of Anactoria^, and the place
where Pandosia^ stood,

CHAP. 2. — ACARIS^ANIA.

The towns of Acarnania^ the ancient name of which was
Curetis, are Heraclia*", Echinus ^\ and, on the coast, Actium,

' The place called Palseo-Kistes now stands on its site, and some
remains of antiquity are to be seen. 2 Now the Calama.

3 Its ruins are to be seen near the modern Butrinto. It was said to
have been fovmded by Helenus, the son of Priarei. P'amponius Atticus
had an estate here.

^ This corresponds to the present Gulf of Arta,and was especially famous
for being the scene of the battle of Actium. The city of Ambracia lay to
the north of it. The present Arta is generally beheved to occupy its site.

5 Pouqueville has shown that Pliny is in error here, and lie says that
the Acheron is the modem Mavro Pctamos ; but accorchng to Leake,
the name of it is Gurla, or the river of Suli. It flows into the Port Fa-
nari, formerly called Glykys Limen, or Sweet Harbour, from the fresh-
ness of the water there. The Acherusian Lake is probably the great
marsh that hes below Kastri.

® It is now called the Arta, and gives name to the Gulf.

7 The site of Anactoria or Anactoriiim, like that of its neighbour Ac-
tium, has been a subject of much dispute ; but it is now pretty generally
agreed that the former stood on the modem Cape Madonna, and ActiuTU
on the headland of La Punta.

* Pouqueville takes the ruins in the vicinity of Turco Palaka, eight
miles from Margariti, to be those of Pandosia.

^ This district probably occu])ied the present cantons of Yonitza and
Xeromeros. It was called Curetis from the Curetes, who are said to have
come fromiEtoUa and settled in Acarnania after their expulsion byj^itolus
and his followers.

'0 The modem Yonitza is supposed to stand on its site.

^* Leake places its site at Ai Vasih, where some ruius are to be setn,
TOL. I. T

274 Flint's iTLtueal history. [Book lY.

a colony founded by Augustus, with its famous temple of
Apollo and the free city of Nicopolis^ Passing out of the
Ambracian Gulf into the Ionian Sea, we come to the coast
of Leucadia, with the Promontory of Leucate^ and then the
Gulf and the peninsula of Leucadia^ which last was formerly
called ]S'eritis\ By the exertions of the inhabitants it was
once cut oft' from the mainland, but was again joined to it
by the vast bodies of sand accumulated through the action
of the winds. This spot is called Dioryctos^, and is three
stadia in length : on the peninsula is the town of Leucas,
formerly called Neritus^ We next come to Alyzia'', Stra-
tos*, and Argos^, surnamed Amphilochian, cities of the
Acarnanians : the river Acheloiis^" flows from the heights
of Pindus, and, after separating Acarnania from ^tolia, is
fast adding the island of Artemita'^ to the mainland by the
continual deposits of earth which it brings down its stream.

1 " The city of Yictory." Founded by Augustus on the spot where he
had pitched his camp before the battle of Actium.

2 Now called Capo Ducato or Capo tis Kiras. It is situate at the ex-
tremity of the island of Leucas, and opposite to CephaUenia, Sappho is
said to have leapt from this rock on finding her love for Phaon unre-
quited : the story however is devoid of all historical truth.

3 Now the island of Santa Maura. It was originally a peninsula, and
Homer speaks of it as such ; but the Cormtliians cut a canal through the
isthmus and converted it into an island. After the canal had been choked
up for some time with sand, the Romans reopened it. It is at present
dry in some parts.

4 Probably from its town Nericus, mentioned by Homer.

5 From the Greek word diopvKTo?, a "foss" or "trench."

6 It probably had this name from the circumstance of the inhabitants
of Nericiis being removed thither by the Corinthians imder Cypselus.
The remains of Leucas, which was ravaged by the Eomans B.C. 197, are
stiU to be seen.

7 Its remains are still to be seen in the valley of Kandili, south of
Vonitza.

8 PouqueviUe says that very extensive and perfect ruins of this place
are to be seen near the village of Lepenou.

9 Tliis famous city was deserted on the foundation of Nicopolis by
Augustus. The place of its site has been a subject of much dispute, but
it is considered most probable that Leake has rightly suggested that the
ruins in the plain of VHkha, at the village of Neokhori, are those of this
city. ^'^ Now the Aspropotamo.

i"^ One of the group of the Ecliinades ; small islands off the coast of
Acarnania, which are mentioned by Phny, in C. 19 of the present Book.
It is now quite united to the mainland.

Chap. 3.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC 275

CHAP. 3. (2.) — ^TOLIA.

Tlie peoples of JEtolia are the Athamaiies\ the Tjmphaei^,
the Ephyri^, the ^nieiises, the Perrha^bi"*, the Dolopes^, the
Maraces, and the Atraoes'', in whose territory rises the river
Atrax, which flows into the Ionian Sea. Calydon^ is a city
of ^tolia, situate at a distance of seven miles from the sea,
and near the hanks of the river Evenus*. We tlien come to
Macynia^, and Molycria, behind which lie Mounts Chalcis^'*
and Taphiassus. On tlie coast again, there is the promontory
of Antirrhium'\ oft' which is the mouth of the Corinthian
Grulf, which flows in and separates jEtolia from the Pelopon-
nesus, being less^"^ than one mile in width. The promontory
which faces it on the opposite side is called Ehion^^. The
towns of ^tolia, however, on the Corinthian Gulf are Nau-
pactus^"* and Pylene'^ ; and, more inland, Pleuron and Hali-

^ Pouqueville says that Athamania occupied the locaHties now known
as Djoumerca and Radovitcli. It properly belonged to Epirus, and Pliny
makes a mistake in considering it as a part of iEtolia.

^ According to Pouqueville the ruins of Tymphsea are to be seen near
the village of Paliouri, four miles from Jauina.

3 Ephyre, a town of the Agrsei, is also mentioned by Strabo, but no-
thing whatever is known of it.

4 The main body of the Perrhsebi were a people of Thessaly.

* Dolopia, now called Anovlachia,was properly reckoned part of Epirus.
^ They are probably not the same people as the inhabitants of Atrax iu

Thessaly, which will be found mentioned in the 15th Chapter of this Book.
7 The most famous city of -3itoha in its day, and the residence of
(Eneus, father of Melcager and Tydeus, and gi^andfather of Diomedes.
The greater part of its inhabitants were removed by Augustus to his new
city of Nicopohs. Leake supposes its nuns to be those seen by him at
Kurt- A-ga, to the east of the river Evenus.

* Now called the Fidaris.

^ Pouqueville supposes the site of Macynia to have been that of the
modem Koukio-Castron, and that of Molycria the present Manaloudi.

^^ Probably the present Varassova ; there was a town called Chalcis,
or Hypochalcis, at its foot. The present Kaki-Skala was probably tlie
momitain of Taphiassus.

•1 Opposite the Promontory of Rhium, at the entrance of the Corin-
tliian Gulf. It is now called the Castle of Roumeha, or the Pimta of tlw
Dardanelles of Roum Hi.

12 Leako and Dodwcll make it a mile and a half.

" Or Rhium. It is now called the Castle of the Morca.

1* The modern Enebatche or Lcpanto ; whence the Corinthian Gulf
takes its modem name.

1* Proscliium was built at a later period on the site of Pvlone. Its site

t'2

276 plint's natural history. [Book lY.

cyrna^ The most famous mountains are Tomarus, in the
district of Dodona, Crania- in Amhracia, Aracynthus^ in
Aearnania, and Acantlion^, Pansetolium^, and Macynium^, in
-^tolia.

CHAP. 4. (3.) — LOCRIS AND PHOCIS.

Next to JEtolia are the Loeri'', surnamed Ozolse ; a peo-
ple exempt from tribute. Here is the town of CEanthe^,
the port^ of Apollo Phsestius, and the Gulf of Crissa^*^. In
the interior are the towns of Argyna, Eupalia^\ Phaestum,
and Calamisus. Beyond are the Cirrhsean plains of Phocis,
the town of Cirrha^'^, and the port of Chalseon^^, seven miles

appears to be unknown. The modem Kyra-tis-Irinis is thought to oc-
cupy the site of Pleuron.

1 Leake supposes some ruins between Kurt-aga, the site of Chalcedon,
and the east end of the Lagoon of Missolonghi, to be the remains of
Hahcyma.

2 Leake supposes it to be identical with the high mountain now called
Kelberini. Others again identify it with Grribovo.

3 Phny erroneously places this movmtaia in Aearnania. It was a range
of ^toha, now called Zygos.

* Perhaps the modern Djourmerca.

* Either the present. Plocopari, or perhaps, more probably, Viena.
^ A part of Moimt Tapliiassus. It is mentioned only by Pliny.

" Thev are supposed to have inhabited the modem districts of Ma-
landrino and Salone, They were called "Ozolse" or ' strong-smelling,'
eitlier from the undi'essed skins worn by them, or from the quantities of
asphodel that grew in their country ; or else from the vapours thrown
oif by the mmeral springs in those parts.

^ PouqueviUe imagines its rviins to be those seen about two leagues
from the modem Galaxidi.

^ Lapie marks this in his map as the modern port of lanaklii.

^0 So called from the ancient town of Crissa, which stood on it. It is
the same as the modern Grulf of Salona.

^^ Or Eupahum. Leake supposfs it to have stood in the plain of Ma-
rathia, opposite the islands of Trazonia, where some ruhis still exist.

^^ Pausanias makes this town to be the same witli the Homeric Crissa,
but Strabo distinguishes tlic two places, and liis opmion is now generally
followed ; Cirrha being thought to have been built at the head of the
'CrissKan gulf, as the port of Crissa. Its rmns are thought to be those
wliich bear the modern name of Magula.

^■^ Or Chalseum. Phny erroneously calls it a tovm of Phocis, it being
on the coast of the Locvi Ozola?. He is wi'ong also in placing it seven
mUes from Delphi, and not improbably confounded it with Cirrha. Leake
suggests that its site was the present Larnaki.

Chap. 4] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 277

from wliicli, in the interior, is situate the free town of Delphi \
at the foot of Monnt Parnassus^ and ha^ang the most cele-
brated oracle of Apollo throughout the whole world. There is
the Fountain too of Castalia^, and the river Cephisus"* which
flows past Delphi, rising in the former city of Lila?a*. Besides
these, there is the town of Crissa^ and that of Anticyra", with
the Bulenses^; as also Naulochum^, Pyrrha, Amphissa^",
exempt from all tribute, Tithrone, Tritea'\ Ambry sus^-, and
Dryma?a^^, which district has also the name of Daulis. The
extremity of the gulf washes one corner of Bceotia, with its
towns of Siphae''* and Thebes ^^ surnamed the Corsian, in the

1 Tlie modem village of Kastri stands on part of the site of ancient
Delphi. Its ruins have been explored by Chandler, Leake, and Uhichs.

- The two highest summits of the range of Parnassus in the vichiity
of Delphi were Tithorea, now Yehtza, to the N.W., and Lycorea, now
Liakm-a, to the N.E. Its rocks above Delphi were called the Phsedriadea
or " Resplendent."

3 The famed Castahp.n spring is now called the Fountain of St. John,
from the chapel of thai saint wliich stands close to its soiirce.

* Now the Mavro-Potamo.

5 Its ruuis are still to be seen about tliree leagues from Kastri.

^ Or Crisso. It was situate inland to the S.W. of Delplii. Its ruins
ai'e to be seen at a short distance from the modem village of Chryso.

7 It is supposed that the few ruins seen near the modern Aspra Spitia
are those of tliis place. It was famous for its hellebore, which was ex-
tensively used for the cure of madness. There were two other places oi
the same name.

8 The people of Bulls, near the Crisssean Gulf. Its riuns are situate
at a short distance from the monastery of Dobe.

9 Ansart suggests that tliis was the present port of Agio-Sideri or
Djespliina.

^" It occupied the site of the modem Salona ; the walls of its ancient
Acropohs are stiU to be seen. It was the chief town of the Locri
Ozolae.

^^ Pouqueville thmks that the niins seen near Moulki are those of Ti-
tlu-one, and that Tritea stood on tlie site of the present Turcochorion.

^2 Or Amphrysus, famous for the strength of its fortifications and its
scarlet berries for djeing. Some remains of it are to be seen at the
modem village of Dhistomo.

' ^3 Qn the frontiers of Doris and Phocis. T.eake thinks that its ruins
are those seen midway between Kamares and ( 'lamista. Daulis was aho
the name of an ancient town of Phocis, the ruins of wliich are to be seen
at the modem village of Dhavha.

^•* Probably the present Pala?o Kastro, at flic Port de Dobrena or Polaca.

^^ Leake tliinks that tlie Corsian Thebet-, a port of Ua-olia, is repre-
Bentod by the modem Khosia.

278 flint's natural history. [Book lY^

vicinity of Helicon ^ The tliird town of Boeotia on this
sea is that of Pagae^, from which point the Isthmus of the
Peloponnesus projects in the form of a neck.

CHAP. 5. (4.) THE PELOPONNESUS.

The Peloponnesus, which was formerly called Apia^ and
Pelasgia, is a peninsula, inferior in fame to no land upon the
face of the earth. Situate between the two seas, the JEgaean
and the Ionian, it is in shape like the leaf of a plane-tree, in
consequence of the angular indentations made in its shores.
According to Isidorus, it is 563 miles in circumference ; and
nearly as much again, allowing for the sea-line on the
margin of its gulfs. The narrow pass at which it commences
is know by the name of the Isthmus. At this spot the two
seas, which we have previously mentioned, running from the
north and the east, invade the land from opposite sides'*,
and swallow up its entire breadth, the result being that
through these inroads in opposite directions of such vast
bodies of water, the sides of the land are eaten away to such
an extent, that Hellas^ only holds on to the Peloponnesus
by the narrow neck, five miles in width, which intervenes.
The Grulfs thus formed, the one on this side, the other on
that, are known as the Corinthian^ and the Saronic Gulfs.
The ports of Lechese^, on the one side, and of Cenchreae on
the other, form the frontiers of this narrow passage, which
thus compels to a tedious and perilous circanmavigation
such vessels as from their magnitude cannot be carried across
by land on vehicles. Por this reason it is that both King

^ Helicon is a range of mountains with several summits, the loftiest of
which is now called Paleovuni. Helicon was a grove of the Muses, and
the fountain of Aganippe was supposed to impart poetic inspiration to
those who drank of it. 2 gee p. 288.

3 Fi'om Apis, the son of Phoroneus, or Telcliines, according to Pau-
sanias. After the arrival of Pelops, it took from him its name of Pelo-
ponnesus, or the " Island of Pelops."

■* The Ionian from the north, and the jEgean, or rather, Myrtoan, Sea
from the east.

5 That part of Greece proper wliich lies to the north of the Isthmus,

^ Now the Gulfs of Lepanto and Egina.

7 Lechese was the harbour of Corinth on the Corinthian, and Cenclu'ese
on the Saronic Gulf. The name of the latter is stOl preserved in the
modem appellation Kechries, which is given to its ruins. :

Chap. 5.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 279

Demetrius^ Caesar the Dictator, the prince Caius^, and Do-
mitius Nero^, have at different times made the attempt to
cut through this neck by fc^rming a navigable canal ; a pro-
fane design, as may be clearly seen by the result^ in every
one of these instances.

Upon the middle of this intervening neck which we have
called the Isthmus, stands the colony of Corinth, formerly
known by the name of Ephyre^, situate upon the brow of a
hill, at a distance of sixty stadia from the shore of either
sea. From the heights of its citadel, which is called Acro-
corinthos, or the " Heights of Corinth," and in which is the
Fountain of Pirene, it looks down upon the two seas which
lie in the opposite directions. From Leucas to Patra? upon
the Corinthian gulf is a distance of eighty-eight miles. The
colony of Patrae^ is founded upon the most extensive pro-
montory of the Peloponnesus, facing ^tolia and the river
Evenus, the Corinthian Gulf being, as we have previously^
stated, less than a mile in width at the entrance there,
though extending in length as far as the isthmus, a distance
of eighty-five miles.

^ Demetrius PoHorcetes, king of Macedonia, son of Antigonus, king of
Asia.

2 Caius CaligrJa, the Emperor.

2 The Emperor Nero actually commenced the work, having opened
the undertaking with great pomp, and cut away a portion of the eartli
with his own hands. He had advanced four stadia, when the work was
interrupted by the insurrection of Juhus Yindex in Gaul.

•* AVe cannot agree with Hardouin that "exitus" here means "death,"
in allusion to the unfortunate end of all those who had made the attempt.
The opinion of Spanheim seems rather deserving of support (though
censured by Hardouin), that it merely means " the result" in each case ;
it being the fact, that in all the instances the contemplated undertaking
was interrupted by some unforeseen event. Periander and llerodes Atti-
cus also contemplated the formation of this channel.

5 It is not known when it exchanged this name for that of Corinth ; being
called by both names in Homer. Scarcely any remains of it are now
to be seen. The small town on its site is called Gortho, a corruption of
its ancient name. The water of the lamed spring of Pirene is now oidy
used for washing clothes.

® Now Patras. There are few remains of the ancient city, which was
one of the twelve cities of Achaia. It was made a Koman colony by
Augustus.

t See C. 3 of the present Book, p. 275.

280 plikt's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book IV;

CHAP. 6. (5.) — ACHAIA.

The province called Acliaia^ begins at the Isthmus ; from
the circumstance of its cities being ranged in regular suc-
cession on its coast, it formerly had the name of ^gialos^
The first place there is Lecheae, already mentioned, a port of
the Corinthians ; next to which is Olyros^, a fortress of the
people of Pellene'* ; then the former towns of Helice and
Bura^, and the places in which their inhabitants took refuge
after their towns had been swallowed up by the sea, Sicyon^
namely, ^gira^, ^gium, and Erineos^. In the interior are
Cleonae and Hysise^ ; then come the port of Panormus^", and
E/hium already mentioned ; from which promontory, Patrae,
of which we have previously spoken, is distant five miles ; and
then the place where Pherae" stood. Of the nine mountains
of Achaia, Scioessa is the most famous ; there is also the
fountain of Cymothoe. Beyond Patrae we find the town of
Olenum^^, the colony of Dyme^^, the places where Bupra-

1 Originally a district in the south of Thessaly had this name ; but to
distinguish it from that in the Peloponnesus, its people were called the
Phtliiotian Acheei.

2 From the Greek word alyiaXo^, " the sea-shore."

3 Situate on the coast, about five miles from the present Yostitzat
•< In the interior. The modern Trikala stands on its site.

^ Hehce Avas the place of meeting of the Achsean league ; when, in
B.C. 373, together with Biira, it was swallowed up by an earthquake, and
their sites were covered by the sea. Such of the people as escaped fled to
the places mentioned above by Phny. Pouqueville says that some remains
of these places may still be seen emerging from the sea.

* The modern BasUico or Vasihka stands on its site.

7 The places called Palseo-Kastro and Vostitza are supposed to
occupy tlie sites of ^gvca and ^gium. To the east of Vostitza con-
siderable ruins are still to be seen.

^ Supposed to be the present Artotina.

^ Towns of Koman Argohs. The ruins of the former are supposed to
be those at a spot still called Klenes, near the village of Curtesi. The
remains of Hysise, on the road from Argos to Tegea, stand on a hill
above the plain of Achladokampos.

1" Now called Tekieh ; fifteen stadia from Rhium,

^^ OrPharse; 150 stadia from Patrse.

^^ The modem Kato-Achaia.

^•^ Its remains are to be seen near the modem village of Kararostasi.
Pliny is mistaken probably in calling it a colony, as we know that it was
placed under the authority of the colony of Patrae, which alone was
allowed to enjoy the privilege of self-government.

Cliap. 6.] ACCOUIfT or COTJNTETES, ETC. 281:

simn' and Hyrmine once stood, the Promontoiy of Araxus%
the Bav of C vllene, and the Promontory of Chelonates, at hve
miles' distance from CyUenel There is also the fortress of
Phlius^ ; the district aronnd which was called by liomer
Ar£ethyrea% and, after his time, Asopis.

The territory of the Eleans then begins, who were formerly
called Epei, with the city of Elis^ in the niterior, and, at a
distance of twelve miles from Phlius, being also in the m-
terior, the temple of Olympian Jupiter, which by the uni-
versal celebrity of its games, gives to Greece its mode ot
reckonino-^ Here too once stood the town of Plsa^ the river
Alpheus flowing past it. On the coast there is the Promon-
tory of Ichthys^ The river Alpheus is navigable six miles
nearly as far as the to^vns of Anion ^« and Leprion. We next
come'to the Promontory of Platanodes^'. All these localities
lie to the west.

1 Pouqiievillc thinks that it was situate on the rivernow caUed the
Yerga. Leake supposes that the to^vn of Hyrmine stood o^ tl^^ ^^^^^ «*
the present Kastro Tomeseon the peninsula of Khlemutzi ; b-tBoWa^
and Curtius place it further north, at the modem harbour of ^unupeli,
where there are some ancient ruins.

2 Now Capo Papa. , . , p,

3 The locality of CyUene is doubtfid. Most ^Titers placeit at Gla-
rentza but Po/quevill^e suggests Andravida or Andvav.Ua, and Mannert
places it near Clarenza. Chelmates or Chelonatas J^s probably the
naine originally of the whole peninsula of Khlemutzi, but the pomt here
mentioned wa^ most probably the modern Cape lomese

4 It lay in the interior, soutli of Sicyonia, and north of Argos. ir-QU
nueville found its rmns on the banks of the Asopus.

^ 'Strabo savs that this was the name of the most ancient town of

Phhasia, and that the inhabitants afteinvards '^f't^'YJZl^^l:^ of

6 Some smaU ruins of it arc to be seen at the foot of the hill ot

^ftSiV::;«^3!tckoned according ^

tion oi- the Olympic games : they were estabhshed in the year B.C. / /O,

and were celebrated cveiT fom-th year.

8 It was destroyed in the year' B.C. 572 by the E nms. not a vestige
of it bein.- left. The Alpheus retains the name ot Aliio.

« Or "the Fish," from its peculiar shape. It is now called Ivatakolo.

10 Probably situate in the yalley betwe.-n Ehs and Messema, whu-h was
so called It is not elsewhere mentioned ; and its rums are thought to
be tliose near the sea, on the right bank of the river C^pari^sus. Lepriou

is again mentioned in c. x. i. 4 • x- ; i.;

" Or Platamodos. Supposed to be the present Aja Jvyi laki.

282 . PLINT's NATURAL HISTOET. [Book IV.

CHAP. 7. — MESSENIA.

Purther soutli is the Grulf of Cjparissus, witli the city of
Cyparissa^ on its shores, the line of which is seventy-two
miles in length. Then, the towns of Pylos- and Methone^,
the place where Helos stood, the Promontory of Acritas"*,
the Asinaean Grulf, which takes its name from the town of
Asine", and the Coronean, so called from Corone ; which gulfs
terminate at the Promontory of Tsenarum^. These are all in
the country of Messenia, which has eighteen mountains, and
the river Pamisus'^ also. In the interior are Messene^, Ithome,
CEchalia, Arene^, Pteleon, Thryon, Dorion^", and Zancle^^
all of them known to fame at different periods. The margin
of this gulf measures eighty miles, the distance across being
thirty.

^ This city survived tlirough the middle ages, when it was called
Arkaclia. In 1525 it was destroyed by the Turks, and whea rebuilt
resumed nearly its ancient name as Cyparissia, by which it is now called.
The bay or gulf is called the Grulf of Ai-kadia.

2 Messenian Pylos probably stood on the site of the modem Erana ;
Pouqueville says however that it is still called Pilo, and other writers
place it at Zonchio. It stood on the modern Bay of Navarino.

2 Its site was at the spot called Palseo Kastro, near the modern town of
Modon. The site of Messenian Helos, so called £i*om its position in the
marshes, to eXo?, is now unknown.

^ Now Capo Gallo.

^ It stood on the western side of the Messenian Gulf, which from
it was called the Asinsean Gulf. Grisso, or, according to some, laratcha,
occupies its site. Ivoroni however is most probably the spot where it
stood, the inhabitants of ancient Corone having removed to it. PetaUdlii
stands on the site of Corone. A small portion of the Messenian Gulf
was probably called the Coronean.

^ Now Cape Matapan. " Now the Pymatza.

^ Its ruins, which are extensive, are to be seen in the vicinity of the
modem village of Mavromati. Ithome was the citadel of Messene, on
a mountam of the same name, now called Vourcano.

" It is supposed that in ancient times it occupied the site of the
more modern Samos or Samia in Triphyha. The modem Sareni is
thought to occupy its site.

^^ Dorion or Dorium, the spot where, according to Homer, the Muses
punished Thamyris with blindness, is supposed to have been situate on
the modern plain of Svdima.

^^ Nothing seems to be known of this place ; but it is not improbable
that it gave its name to the place so called in Sicily, originally a Mes*
eenian colony.

Chap. 8.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 283

CHAP. 8. — LACONIA.

At Taenarum begins the territory of Laconia, inhabited by
a free nation, and situate on a gulf 106 miles in circuit, and
38 across. The towns are, Taenarum \ Amyclae^', Pherae'\
and Leuctra'* ; and, in the interior, Sparta^, Theramne^, and
the spots where Cardamyle', Pitane*, and Anthea formerly
stood ; the former site of Thyrea^, and Gerania^*^. Here is
also Mount Taygetus^\ the river Eurotas, the Gulf of JEgi-
lodes^^, the town of Psamathus, the Gulf of Gytheum^^, so
called from the town of that name, from which place the
passage is the safest across to the island of Crete. All these
places are bounded by the Promontory of Malea".

* Or Tsenarus, afterwards called Csenopolis. The present town of
Kisternes, or Kimaros, occupies its site.

2 Its site is generally placed at Sklavokhori, six miles from Sparta ;
but Leake supposes it to liave been situate on the liill called Agliia
Kyriaki, between that place and Sparta.

^ Or Pharis. The present Chitries occupies its site.

* Or Leuctrum, on the river Pamisus, now called Levtros. It must
not be confounded with the town in Boeotia where the Thebans defeated
the Spartans, B.C. 371.

^ Or Lacedaemon. Its site is occupied by the modern villages of
Magula and Psykhiko. The principal modern town in the vicinity
is Mistra.

^ Or Therapnae, on the left bank of the Eurotas. Some ruins of it
are stiU to be seen.

' Considerable ruins of it are stUl to be seen to the N.E. of the modern
towTi of Skarhamula.

^ Authors are not agreed as to the site of this town and that of
Anthea or Anthene.

9 Memorable for the pitched battle between 300 Argives and 300
Spartans, — Otlnrades being the sole survivor of the Spartans, and
AJcenor and Chromius of the Argives. ^^ By Homer called Enope.

" Pente Dactylon, or Pente Dactyh, the "Five Fingers," is the pre-
sent name of the range of Taygetus, Its principal summits are now St.
Elias and Paixamadlii. The river Eurotas is now called Iris and Niris in
its upper and middle course, and Basih-potamo from tlie Spartan plain
to the sea.

^'- ^gila, according to Leake, occupied the site of the present Scutari;
if 80, this gulf was probably the Gulf of Scutari. Psamathus was near
the point of Tsenarum.

13 Or Gythium, near the mouth of the Eurotas. It was famous for its
cheeses. The rums are called PaleopoH, a little to the north of Mara-
thonisL ^^ Now Capo Santo Angelo.

284 TLIlfy's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book lY.

CHAP. 9. — AEGOLTS.

The next gnJf, wMcli extends as far as Scyllseum^ is called
the Argolic Gulf, being fifty miles across, and 162 in circuit.
The towns upon it are, Boea^, Epidaurus^, surnamed Limera,
Zarax^, and the port of Cyphanta'. The rivers are the
Inachus^ and the Erasinus, between which lies Argos, sur-
named Hippium^, situate beyond the place called Lerna^, and
at a distance of two miles from the sea, Nine miles farther is
My cense'', and the place w^here, it is said, Tiryns^" stood ; the
site, too, of Mantinea^^ The mountains are, Artemius, Ape-
santus'^, Asterion^^, Parparus, and some others, eleven in
number. The fountains are those of Niobe^"*, Amymone, and
Psamathe.

Prom Scyllseum to the Isthmus of Corinth is a distance
of 177 miles. We find here the tovnis of Hermione^^,
Troezen^^, Coryphasium^'^, and Argos, sometimes called " Ina-

1 Now Capo Skillo.

2 Or Boese. Its ruins are to be seen at the head of the Grulf of Yatika.

3 It stood on the site of the place called Palae-Emyasiaj above
Monenibasia.

^ Its site is the modem Porto Kari, according to Ansart.

^ Leake places Cyphanta either at Cyparissi, or farther north, at
Lenidlii. Ansart makes it the modern Porto Botte, or Stilo,

^ Now the Banitza. The Erasiaus is the modern Kephalari.

' So called from its breed of horses. It is now also called Argos ;
three leagues from Napoli di Romania.

^ Its site is now called Milos. In the marshes in its vicinity Hercules
was said to have killed the Lernsean Hydra.

9 Karvata is the name of the place on its site. Its ruins are numerous,
and of great magnificence.

10 Its ruins are of the most interesting nature, presenting enormous
masses of stone, of Cyclopian architectm'e. The spot is at the present day
called Palse-NaupHa.

" It must not be confounded with the place in Arcadia, where Epami-
nondas fell. Its site appears to be unknown.

1- Or Apesas, in the territory of Cleonse, now called Fuka. Artemius
is probably the present Malvouni, or Malcyo.

13 A river of the same name rose in this mountain j its identity is
unknown.

" So called from Niobe, the sister of Pelops and wife of Ampliion,
king of Thebes. The spring of Amymone ran into the lake of Lerna.

1* Its ruins are to be seen in the vicinity of the modern village of Castri:
they are very extensive.

1^ The modem Dhamala occupies the site of Trcezen.

i? The identity of this Coryphasium seems to be miascertained. There

Chap. 10.] ACCOUNT OF COrNTKIESj ETC, 285

cliian," sometimes " Dipsian"^ Argos. Then comes tlie port
of Schoenites-, and the Saronic G-uIf, which was formerly
encircled with a grove of oaks^, from which it derives its
present name, oaks in ancient Greece having been so called.
Upon this gulf is the town of Epidaurus, famous for its
temple of ^.sculapius"*, the Promontory of Spirseum^, the port
of Anthedus^, Bucej)halus^, and then Cenchreae, previously
mentioned, on this side of the Isthmus, with its temple of
Neptune^, famous for the games celebrated there every five
years. So many are the gulfs which penetrate the shores of
the Peloponnesus, so many the seas which howl around it.
Invaded by the Ionian on the north, it is beaten by the
Sicilian on the west, buffeted by the Cretan on the south,
by the ^Egean on the S.E., and by the Myrtoan on the N.E. ;
which last sea begins at the Grulf of Megara, and washes all
the coast of Attica.

CHAP. 10. (6.) AECADIA,

Its interior is occupied for the greater part by Arcadia,
which, remote from the sea on every side, was ori-

was a promontory of that name in Messenia ; but it cannot be the place
here spoken of.

^ It is supposed that Phny here alludes to Argos Hippium, which he
has previously mentioned ; but only in connection with the rivers Inaehus
and Erasinus, and not as included in the hst of the towns of Argolis.
The origin of the term " Dipsian" is probably unknown. It could hardly
allude to drought, as Argos was abundantly suppUed with water. But
6ee B. vii. c. 57.

2 Ancart says that tliis is the modem Porto Estremo, at the mouth of
tbe Saronic Gulf.

3 Hesycliius says that oaks were called aapiavi^es in the language of
ancient Greece. Tliis gulf is now called tJie Gidf of Egijia, or of
j^thens.

^ He was worshipped here mider the form of a serpent ; and his
temple, five miles from Epidaurus, was resorted to by patients from all
pai'ts of Greece for the cure of their diseases. The ruins of this tomplo
are still to be seen, and those of the theatre at Epidaurus are very ex-
tensive. The village of Pidliarvo stands in the midst of the ruins.

^ The modem Capo Franco.

^ Lapie takes Anthedus, or Anthedon, to be the place now called
Porto d' At hone.

7 This appears to have been a port of Corinth, on a promontory of the
same name, meaning, probably from its shape, the " Bull's Head Point."

*» Called the 'Posideium'; in its vicinity the games were celebrated.
The Isthmian Sanctuary was especially famous as a place of refuge.

286 plint's natural histoet. [Book IV.

ginally called Drymodes^ and at a later period Pelasgis.
The cities of Arcadia are, Psophis^, Mantinea^, Stympha-
lus*, Tegea^ Antigonea®, Orcliomenus^, Pheneum', Palan-
tium^ (from Avhich the Palatium^" at Rome derives its
name), Megalopolis ^\ Gortyna^^, Bucolium, Carnion, Par-
rhasia^^ Thelpusa''*, Melsense'^ Hersea'^ PylfB^^ Pallene,
AgraD, Epium, CynsethsB^', Lepreon of Arcadia^^, Parthe-

1 From SpvfKuS^s, "woody," it being filled with groves and forests.

2 Now called the Klian of Tripotamo.

3 Now called Paleopoli. Here Epaminondas fell, fighting against
the Spartans, B.C. 362.

* In the N.E. of Arcadia. Its ruins are supposed to be those seen
near the modern Cliionia. It was in the vicinity of the lake of the same
name, the scene of one of the labours of Hercules.

5 An important city : the modern Piah marks its site.

6 Built upon the rums of the ancient Mantinea.

7 An ancient town mentioned by Homer, N.W. of Mantinea. The
modern Kalpaki stands on its site.

8 Or Pheneus, on the N.W. of Arcadia. Phonia stands on its site.

9 Near Tegea ; said to have been the birth-place of Evander. On the
foundation of Megalopohs, it was nearly deserted, but was restored by
Antoninus Pius. Its ruins are supposed to be those seen near the
modern village of Thana, according to Ansart.

10 It being said to have been so called in compliment to Evander, a
native, as above stated, of Palantium.

11 Founded by the advice of Epaminondas, after the battle of Leuctra,
B.C. 371, near the frontiers of Messenia. The ruins of its theatre, once
the largest in Greece, are the only remains of it now to be seen, near the
modem village of Sinano.

12 It contained a famous temple of ^Esculapius. Its niins are to be
seen near the village of Atzikolo. The exact site of Bucohon, wliich was
near Megalopohs, is probably unknown, though Ansart says that the
spot is caUed Troupiais. Of Carnion nothing is known.

1' The town of Parrhasia, which is mentioned by Homer, seems to
have given name to the Parrhasian district. Leake tliinks it to be the
same as Lycosura.

1'* On the river Ladon : its ruins are seen near the modem Yanena.

IS In the west of Arcadia, on the river Alpheus.

!*• Or " Juno's Town." It was a place of great importance, situate
on the lower Alpheus. Its remains are to be seen on a hill west of the
village of Aianni, or St. John. They are very inconsiderable. Its wine
"was highly esteemed, and stiU. mamtains its ancient celebrity.

17 Of Pyla?, Pallene, Agree, and Epium, nothing appears to be known.

1^ Or Cynajtha, in the north of Arcadia, upon the Aroanian mountains,
beyond the natural boundaries of Arcadia. The modern village of Kala-
vryta occupies its site ; but there are scarcely any traces of its remains.

19 Or Lepreum, so called to distinguish it from Lepreum in Eluj.

Chap. 10.] ACCOUNT OP COTJI^TEIES, ETC. 287

niumS Alea, Methydrium", Enispe, Macistum, Lampia,
Clitorium^, and Cleonse"* ; between which two last to^^^ls is
the district of Nemea, commonly known as Bembinadia^

The mountains of Arcadia are, Pholoe^, with a town of the
same name, Cyllene'^, Lycaeus^, upon which is the temple of
Lycaean Jupiter; Maenalus*, Artemisius^", Parthenius", Lam-
peus^', and Nonacris ^^, besides eight others of no note.
The rivers are the Ladon^^, which rises in the marshes of
Pheneus'^, and the ErjTiianthus^^, which springs from a
mountain of the same name, and flows into the Alpheus.

The other cities of Achaia wortliy of mention are those
of the Aliphirsei^'', the Abeatae^^, the Pyrgenses^^, the Paro-

^ !N'otlirng seems to be known of tliis Parthenium. Alea lay between
Orchomenus and Stymphalus. Its ruins have been discovered in the
dark valley of Skotini, a mile to the N.E. of the village of Buyati.

2 Its site has the modern name of Palseopyrgos. The sites of Enispe,
mentioned by Homer, and Macistum, are unknown.

3 Or Cleitor, a famous town of Arcadia. Its ruins are to be seen on
the plain of Kalzana, or Katzanes. One of the rivulets that ran past it
stiU retains the name of Chtora.

* Its ruins, few in number, but testifying its importance, are found
near the modern village of Kleves, not far from Kurtesi. The Nemean
games weio celebrated in honour of Hercules in the grove of Nemea,
between Cieonce and Phhus.

* From the village of Bembina there, mentioned by Strabo, and on
which Koutzomati probably now stands.

s Now called Olono. It received its name from the Centaur Pholus,
accidentaDy slain by one of the poisoned arrows of Hercules.
7 The modem Zyria.

* Nomiai and HeUenitza are modem names given to this mountain.
9 In the south of Arcadia. It is now called Roinon.

^0 Or Artemisium, forming the boundary between Argohs and Arcadia.
It is now called Turniki.

" The pass by this mountain from ArgoUs to Tcgea is stiU called
Partheni.

12 Now called Zembi, according to Ansart.

^3 The town of Nonacris stood at its foot. The river Styx took its rise
in these mountains. ** Now called the Landona.

'5 The town now called Fonia, already mentioned by Pliny. Tlio
waters of its marshes were discharged by a subterranean passage, said to
have been made by Hercules.

^ Now called the Dogana. The two principal heights of Mount Ery-
manthus are Olonos and Kalcfoni,

17 The people of Alij)hira, a town of Arcadia, in the chstrict of Cynura.
Considerable remains of it are still to be seen on the hUl of Nerovitza.

^ The people of Abea, in Messeuia. '^ The people of Pyrgos, m Arcadia.

'288 PLINT's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book IT.

reatse^ tlie Paragenitae, the Tortimi, the Typanei^, the
Thriasii^, and the Tritienses^. Domitius Nero [the emperor]
granted liberty to the whole of Achaia^ The Peloponnesus,
from the Promontory of Malea to the town of ^gium^ on
the Corinthian Grulf, is 190 miles in length, and 125 miles
across from Elis to Epidaurus ; the distance being, from
Olympia to Argos, through Arcadia, sixty-eight miles. The
distance from Olympia to Phlius has been already men-
tioned'^. Throughout the whole of this region, as though
nature had been desirous to compensate for the inroads of
the sea, seventy-six mountains raise their lofty heads.

CHAP. 11. (7.) — ATTICA.

At the narrow neck of the Isthmus, Hellas begins, by our
people known as Grsecia. The first state that presents
itself is Attica, anciently called Acte^. It touches the
Isthmus in that part of it which is called Megaris, from the
colony of Megara^, lying on the opposite side to Pagse^".

These two towns are situate at the spot where the Pelo-
ponnesus projects to the greatest distance ; being placed, one
on each side, upon the very shoulders of Hellas as it were.
The Pagaeans, as well as the people of -Sgosthena", belong
to the jurisdiction of Megara. On the coast there is the
port of Schoenos^"^, the towns of Sidus^^ and Cremmyon^^, the

^ The people of Parorsea, in Arcadia. Of the two next, nothing appears
to be known. ^ The inhabitants of Typanese, ia Elis.

3 The people of Thrius, in EUs, near Patrse.

^ The people of Tritia, in Achaia, now Chalanthistra.

5 Nero abolished the institutions of the Roman province of Achaia,
which had been assigned to the Roman senate, and governed by a pro-
consul, granting it its liberty. Vespasian, however, again established
the provincial government, and compelled the Greeks to pay a yearly
tribute. ^ Now Vostitza.

' See p. 281. ^ From the Grreek aicr^}, " the sea-shore."

^ It still retains its ancient name.

^° Or Pegse. It lay on the borders of the Corinthian Gulf, being, as
Pliny says, the utmost point of the Peloponnesus on that side, as Megara
was on the Saronic Gulf. According to Kruse, Psato occupies its site, but
according to Lapie, Alepochori. The former is most probably correct.

^* On the Corinthian Gulf. Porto Ghermano occupies its site.

^2 On the Saronic Gulf, to the north of Cenclu-ese. The present
Porto Cocosi occupies its site. ^-^ Now Leandra, according to Ansart.

** Or Crommyon. It was the chief place on the Saronic Gulf, between

Chap. 11.] ACCOUIST OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 2S9

Scironian Rocks\ six miles in length, Geranea, Megara, and
Eleusis^. (Enoe'^ and Probalintlios also formerly existed
here : the ports of Piraeus and Phalerum"* are distant from the
Isthmus fifty-five miles, being united to Athens, which lies
in the interior, by a wall'^ five miles in length. Athens is a -free
city, and needs*^ not a word more from us in its commen-
dation; of fame it enjoys even more than enough. In
Attica there are the Eountains of Cephisia', Larine,
Callirrhoe Enneacrunos^, and the mountains of Bri-
lessus^, ^Egialeus, Icarius, Hymettus^°, Lycabettus", and
the place where Ilissus^'-^ stood. At the distance of forty-
five miles from the Piraeus is the Promontory of Sunium^^.
There is also the Promontory of Thoricos^^; Potamos'%

the Istlimus, properly so called, and Megara. Its ruins are tlionght to
be those seen near the chapel of Saint Theodorus. It -was said to hare
been the liaunt of the wild boar killed by Theseus.

^ So called from being tlie scene of the ravages of the robber Scu'on.
They are now called Kaki Scala.

2 Famous as the principal seat of the worship of the goddesses Demeter
and Perse]5hone. Its remains are to be seen at tlie modern Lefsina.

3 Pera Chora marks its site. It was a member of the Tetrapohs of
Attica, and Probalinthos another.

* Ulriclis, the best authority, places the port of Plialerum at tlie east
corner of tlie gi*eat Plialeric Bay, in the vicinity of Tripirglii, or tlie
Three Towers. The three harbours of the PiroEus are the present Pha-
nari, Stratiotiki or Paschalimani, and Drako or Porto Leone.

5 The Piraeus was united to tlie city by two walls, called the " Long
WaUs," forty stadia in length. The length cf the Phaleric wall was
thirty-five stadia.

^ It is to be regretted that such was his opinion. He could have well
spared space for a description of it.

' The city of Cephisia, still called Kivisia, was one of the twelve cities
of Cecrops. The fountain of transparent water is still to be seen here.

8 Or the " Nine Springs." It was the only source of good water for
drinking purposes in Athens. This spring is still called by its ancient
name. Of Larine nothing seems to be known.

9 Tliis is thought to have been the ancient name of the mountain
afterwards kno^^'n as Pentchcus, so famous for its marble, now called
Mendeh or Pentch.

^0 The northern or Greater Hymettus is now called Telo-Yuni, the
southern or Lesser Mavro-Yuni.

^' On the N.E. of Athens, now called the Ilill of Saint George.

^- Probably on the river of the same name. -^ Now Cajio Colonna.

^* North of Sunium and the modern bay of Panorimo. Thoricus was
one of the Demi of Attica.

^5 This was the name of two Demi, though probably one place. It lay
TOL. I. U

290 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book IT.

Steria\ and Brauron^, once towns, fhe borougli of Eham-
nus^, the place where Marathon'* stood, the Thriasian^ plain,
the town of Melite^, and Oropus-^ upon the confines of
Bceotia.

CHAP. 12. BCEOTIA.

In this coimtry are Anthedon^, Onchestus'^, the free town
of Thespise^", Lebadea^\ and then Thebes ^^, surnamed
Boeotian ^^, which does not yield the palm to Athens even in
celebrity ; the native land, according to the common notion,
of the two Divinities Liber and Hercules. The birth-place
of the Muses too is pointed out in the grove of Helicon.
To this same Thebes also belong the forest of Cithseron^'*,

on the east coast to the north of Thoricus. Its harbour was probably
the modern Dhaskaho ; and the town is placed by Leake at the rums called
Paleokastro, to the south of the village of Dardheza.
^ On the east coast, between Prasiee and Brauron.

2 One of the twelve ancient cities of Cecrops, on the eastern coast.
Its name is supposed to be preserved in those of the villages Vraona and
Paleo Vraona.

3 A Demus belonging to the tribe Mantis. It was famous for its temple
of Nemesis, the goddess of retribution. The present Obrio Castro
occupies its site.

■* Memorable for the defeat of the Persians by the Athenians, B.C. 490.
The site of the ancient town of Marathon is thought not to have been at
the modern village of Marathon, but a place called Vrana, to the south
of it.

^ The eastern part of the Eleusinian plain was thus called, from the
Demus of Thria. Its exact site is uncertain.

^ MeUte was a Denius of the tribe Cecropis, of Athens, west of the
Inner Ceramicus.

7 Now Oropo, on the eastern frontiers of Boeotia and Attica, near the
Eiu-ipus. It originally belonged to the Boeotians.

^ Its ruins are supposed to be those seen eight miles from Egripo.
Lukisi has also been suggested.

^ Its ruins are still to be seen on the S.W. slope of Mount Faga.

^° On the S.E. slope of Mount HeUcon. Its ruins are to be seen at
the modern Eremo or Rimokastro,

^1 Now Livadhia. The celebrated cave of Trophonius stood in its
vicinity.

^2 Extensive remains of it are stUl to be seen ; but the modem town
of Theba or Stiva stands only on the site of its ancient Cadmea or citadel.

^3 To distinguish it from places of the same name in Egypt, Phthiotis,
and Lucania,

^* On the range of mountains of that name separating Boeotia from

Chap. 12.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 291

and the river Ismenus. Besides these, there are in Bceotia
the Fountains of CEdipodia, Psamathe, Dirce, Epicraue,
Arethusa, Hippocrene\ Aganippe, and Gargaphie ; and, be-
sides the moimiains already mentioned, Mycalesos,Hadylius,
and Acontius, The remaining to\\Tis between Megara and
Thebes are Eleutherse'^ Haliartus^ PlatseEe"*, Pherae, Asple-
don^_ Hyle^ Thisbe^ Erythraj^ Glissas^ and Cop^e^"; near
the river Cephisus, Larymna and Anchoa^^ ; as also Medeon,
Phlygone, Acrsephia^% Coronea^^, and Chaeronea^"*. Again,

Megai'is and Attica. The forest abounded in game, and the vicinity was
a favourite scene of the poetic legends. Paleovuni is the highest summit
of the Hehconian range. Leake fixes the Grove of the ]\Iuses at the
present chm'ch of Saint Nicholas, at the foot of Momit Marandali, one
of the summits of Hehcon.

^ These fountains or sprmgs are veiy difficult to identify, but Hippo-
crene, or the " Horse-Spring " (said to have been produced by Pegasus
striking the ground with his feet), was probably at the present Maka-
riotissa ; wliile Aganippe is the fountam that flows midway between
Paleo-panagliia and Pyrgaki.

2 Tliis place was originally a member of the Boeotian confederacy, but
joined the Athenians, though it did not become an Attic Demus. Leake
thuiks that its ruins are those seen at Myupoh. Ross tliinks that it
stood to the east of Ghyfto-kastro, while other writers are of opinion that
it stood more to the west, near the modem village of Kundara.

^ Razed to the ground by the Roman praetor Lucretius, for having
espoused the cause of king Perseus. Its remains are seen about a mile
from the village of ]\Iazi, on the road from Thebes to Lebada^a.

^ Memorable for the defeat of the Persians under Mardonius, B.C. 479.

^ Distant twenty stadia from Orcbomenus. Leake places it at the
modem Izamah, Forchhammer at Avro-Kastro.

*• Its site is micertaiii. Leake supposes it to be at Paleokastro, between
the north end of Lake Hylica and the foot of INIount Palea. Uh-iehs places
it at the south end of the lake. ^ The modern Kakosia occupies its site.

s At the foot of Mount Cithseron. Leake places it eastward of Kat-
zula, at the foot of the rocks there.

" Leake identifies it with the ruins on tlie torrent of Plataniki, below
the mountain of Siamata. Pausanias says it was situate seven stadia
beyond Teumessus, and at the foot of Hypatus, now Siamata.

^" On Lake Copais. The modem village of TopoUa occupies its site.

^' The waters of the Cephisus here bui*st forth from their subterra-
neous channel.

*2 On Lake Copais. Its ruins are at a short distance to the south o.
the modem Kardliitza.

13 South of ]\Iount Helicon. Its principal remains are those of its
theatre, a temple of Hera, and the agora or market-place.

^■^ On the borders of Phocis j famous for the battles for.glit in its

u2

292 PLINT'S IfATTJRAL HISTORY. [Book IV.

on tlie coast and below Thebes, are Ocalea\ Heleon, Scolos.
Schoenos^, Peteon^, Hyrise'^, Mycalesos^, Iresion, Pteleon,
Olyros, and Tanagra^, the people of which are free ; and,
situate upon the very mouth of the Euripus'^, a strait formed
by the opposite island of Euboea, Aulis^, so famous for its
capacious harbour. The Boeotians formerly had the name
of Hy antes.

After them come the Locrians, sumamed Epicnemidii^,
formerly called Leleges, through whose country the river
Cephisus passes, in its course to the sea. Their towns are
Opus^^ ; from which the Opuntian GrulP^ takes its name, and
Cynos. Daphnus^'" is the only town of Phocis situate on the
coast. In the interior of Locris is Elatea^^, and on the
banks of the Cephisus, as we have previously stated^"*, Lilsea,
and, facing Delphi, Cnemis^^ and Hyampolis^^. Again, upon

vicinity between the Athenians and Boeotians, B.C. 447, and between
Philip of Macedon and the Atlienians and Boeotians, B.C. 338, and that
in wliicli Sylla defeated the generals of Mithridates B.C. 86. It stood on
the site of the modem village of Kapvu'na.

^ On the river Copais, at the foot of Mount Tilphusion.

2 On the river of that name, and on the road from Thebes to Anthedon.

3 Its site appears to be unknown.

* Enumerated by Homer with AuHs. Ancient critics have, without
sufficient reason, identified it with Ilysise.

5 It was sacked by the Athenians, B.C. 413, and in ruins m the time
of Pausanias.

6 The modem Grrimadha or Glrimala occupies its site.

7 The modem channel of Egripo.

8 The place where the G-recian fleet assembled when about to saU for
Troy. Leake says that its harbour is now caUed Vathy, evidently from
the Greek (3a9vs, " wide."

9 So called from dweUing near Moimt Cnemis.

10 Its ruins are to be seen three miles from the modern Talanti.
n Now the Golfo di Talanti.

12 On the Euboean Sea, which here extended to the Corinthian Gulf.
It was in ruins m the time of Strabo. Cynus was the chief sea-port
of the Locri Opuntii. Its site i^s marked by a tower called Palseopyrgo,
and some ruins to the south of the village of Livanates.

13 The modern village of Lefti stands on its site, and there are some
ruins to be seen.

!■♦ In C. iv. of this Book.

15 Or Cnemides, a fortress built on the range of Mount Cnemis, near
the modem Nikoraki.

1^ Kavaged by Plulip of Macedon. Its ruins are near the modern vil-
lage of Vogdhani.

Chap. 14.] ACCOUNT OF COU]S'TEIES, ETC. 293

the coast of the Locrians, are Larymna\ and Thronium-,
near which last the river Boagrius enters the sea. Also, the
towns of Narycion, Alope^, and Scarphia"* ; and then the
gulf which receives the name of the Maliac^ from the people
who dwell there, and upon which are the towns of Haley one,
Econia, and Phalara^

CHAP. 13. DOEIS.

Doris comes next, in which are Sperchios^, Erineon^,
Boion^, Pindus, and Cytinum^". Behind Doris lies Mount
(Eta.

CHAP. 14. — PHTHIOTIS.

Hsemonia follows, a country which has often changed its
name, ha\-ing been successively called Pelasgic Argos, Hel-
las, Thessaly, and Dryopis, always taking its surname from
its kings. In this country was born the king whose name
was Grrgecus ; and from whom GrrcTcia was so called ; and here
too was born Hellen^\ from whom the Hellenes derive their
name. The same people Homer has called by three different
names, MjTmidones, Hellenes, and Achaei.

That portion of these people which inhabit the country
adjacent to Doris are called Phthiotae. Their to^vns are
Echinus^', at the mouth of the river Sperchius, and, at four

1 The Lower Larymna. Its ruiBs are seen between the modern Mat-
zumadi and Martini.

* Its ruins are to be seen near the modern Andera.

3 Between Daphnus and Cynus. Gell fomid its ruins on a hill near
the sea-shore.

^ Its ruins are to be seen three miles from those of Thronium.

» Now called the Gulf of Zeitoun. The people from whom it received
its name were the Mahcnses.

6 Its ruins are two leagues from the modem town of Zeitoun.

7 Or Sperchia,

8 Strabo says tliat it lay below the town of Pindus. It is perhaps the
present Palseo Choria.

9 Its ruins are placed by Leake near the modern Mnriolates.

^'^ Like Pindus, one of the four towns or TetrapoHs of Doris. Its site
corresponds to the modem Gravia.

1^ He seems to think that the name Graccus is older than that of
Hellen, in which he is supported by Apollodorus.

^- So called from Ecliion, fabled to lia\ c sprung from the dragon's

294 pliis^t's natural HISTOET. [Book TV.

miles from tlie narrow pass of Thermopylae^ Heraelea, which
from it takes its surname of Trachin". Here too is Mount
Callidromus^, and tlie celebrated towns of Hellas ''j Halos^,
Lamia "^j Phthia^, and Arne^.

CHAP. 15. (8.) — THESSALT PEOPEE.

In Thessaly is Orchomenus, formerly called the Minyan^,
and the towns of Almon, by some called Salmon, Atrax^°,
and Pelinna ; the Fountain of Hyperia ; the towns also of
Pherae^^ at the back of which is Pieria^'^, extending to Ma-
cedonia, Larisa^^, Gromphi^*, Thebes ^^ of Thessaly, the grove
of Pteleon, the Grulf of Pagasa, the town of Pagasa^^, which
was afterwards called Demetrias^^, the Plains of Pharsalia,

teeth. Its site is marked by the modern village called Akhino. The
Sperchius is now called the EUada.

1 This famous spot still retains its name. It is also called Bocoa di Lupo.

2 From rpaxws, "narrow," in allusion to the narrowness of the moun-
tain passes. Brotier places it on the site of the modern Zeitoun, but he
is probably in error. ^ A peak of the range of OEta.

"* The name of a town and small district of Phthiotis : it eyentuaUy
gave its name to the whole of Grreece, which by its mhabitants was called
Hellas.

5 Near the river Amplirysus. Leake places it at Kefalosi, at the ex-
tremity of Mount Otlu-ys. ^ The modern Zeitoun.

' Said to have been the city of Achilles.

^ According to Stephanus of Byzantium, Cierium was identical with
Arne. Leake places it at the modem Mataranga.

9 So called from the people called Minyse, who derived their name
from Minyas, the father of OrcJiomenus. In the time of Strabo, this
city, the capital of the Minyan empire, was in ruins. Its site is now
called Seripu.

^^ Leake places its site on the left bank of the Peneius, opposite the
village of Grunitza.

^^ The residence of Admetus, and in later times of the tyrants of
Thessaly. The modern Yalestina occupies its site.

^2 Spoken of in C. 17 of the present book.

^^ The ancient capital of the Pelasgi. It is now called Larissa, Larza,
or lenitchen.

^^ Leake jjlaces Gomplii on the heights now called Episkopi, on the
left bank of the Bhuri.

^» Its ruins are said to be seen about eight miles from the modern
city of Yolo.

16 Tbe city of Volo stands on its site. The Grulf is caUed the Bay of Volo.

17 Tliis is not strictly correct. Demetrias was founded by Demetrius
PoUorcetes, about two or three mQes to the west of Pagasa, the inhabit-

Chap. 15.] ACCOUNT OF COUIs'TEIES, ETC. 295

with a free city of similar name\ Cranuon^ and Iletia.
The moimtains of Phthiotis are Njmphseus, once so beau-
tiful for its garden scenery, the work of nature ; Busygaeus,
Donacesa, Bermius^ Daphusa, Chimerion, Athainas, and
Stephane. In Thessaly there are thirty-four, of which the
most famous are Cercetii, Olympus^ Pierus, and Ossa, oppo-
site to which last are Pindus and Othrys, the abodes of the
Lapithje. These mountains look towards the west, Pelion"
towards the east, all of them forming a curve like an amphi-
theatre, in the interior of which, lying before them, are no
less than seventy-five cities. The rivers of Thessaly are the
Apidanus^ the Phoenix^ the Enipeus^ the Onochonus^ and
the Pamisus. There is also the Fountain of Messeis, and
the lake Boebeis^^. The river Peneus^' too, superior to all
others in celebrity, takes its rise near Gomphi, and flows
down a well-wooded valley between Ossa and Olympus, a

ants of which were removed to that place. Its remains are to be seen,
according to Leake, on the face of a maritime height called G-oritza.

1 Pharsalus, now Farsa or Fersala, in Thessahotis. On its plain
Pompey was defeated by CsEsar, B.C. 48.

2 Or Cranon; said to have been anciently called Ephyre. Leake
places its site at some ruins called Palea Larissa, distant two hom-s and
twenty-seven minutes' journey from Larissa. It was the residence of the
powerful family of the Scopada;.

2 This range in Macedonia is now called Yerria. Herodotus states
that it was hnpassable for cold, and that beyond were the gardens of
Midas, where roses grew spontaneously.

* The name of the eastern part of the great mountain cham extending
west and east from the Promontory of Acroceraunia on the Adriatic to
the Thermaic Gulf. It is now caUed by the Greeks Elymbo, and by the
Tm-ks Semavat-Evi, the " Abode of the Celestials." A portion of this range
was called Pierus ; and Ossa, now Kissavo, the " ivy-clad," was divided
from Olvmpus on tlie N.W. by the A^ale of Tempe. Othrys extended
from the south of Mount Pmdus, to tlie eastern coast and the Promon-
tory between the Gulf of Pagasa and tlie nortliern point of Eubtf a.

5 Now caUed Plessedld or Zagora ; situate in the district of Magnesia
in Tliessaly, between lake Poebeis and the Pagasa^au Guh".

6 Now the Gouropotamo.

7 Flo\\-ing into the Asopus near Thermopylae.

8 In Pieria. Supposed to be the modern Litoklioro.

9 Tlie modem Kajani.

10 This lake received the rivers Onchestus, Amyrus, and others. It is
now caUed Karla, from an adjoining viUage which has ceased to exist.
The town of Bcebe was in its vicinity.

" Now the Salambria or Salamria.

296 plint's fatueal history. [Book lY.

distance of five hundred stadia, being navigable half that
distance. The vale, for a distance of five miles through which
this river runs, is called by the name of Tempe ; being a
jugerum^ and a half nearly in breadth, while on the right
and left, the mountain chain slopes away with a gentle
elevation, beyond the range of human vision, the foliage
imparting its colour to the light within. Along this vale
glides the Peneus, reflecting the green tints as it rolls along
its pebbly bed, its banks covered with tufts of verdant
herbage, and enlivened by the melodious warblings of the
birds w The Peneus receives the river Orcus, or rather, I
should say, does not receive it, but merely carries its waters,
which swim on its surface like oil, as Homer says^ ; and then,
after a short time, rejects them, refusing to allow the waters
of a river devoted to penal sufferings and engendered for
the Puries to mingle with his silvery streams.

CHAP. 16. (9.) — MAGNESIA.

To Thessaly Magnesia joins, in which is the fountaia of
Libethra^. Its towns are lolcos'^, Hormenium, Pyrrha^,
Methone^, and Olizon'^. The Promontory of Sepias^ is here
situate. We then come to the towns of Casthanea^ and Spa-

* The jngerum was properly 240 feet long and 120 broad, but Pliny
uses it here solely as a measure of length ; corresponding probably to the
Grreek 7rXe9pov, 100 Grrecian or 104. Roman feet long. Tempe is the
only channel through which the waters of the Thessahan plain flow into
the sea.

2 XL B. ii. c. 262, He alludes to the poetical legend that the Orcus or
Titaresius was a river of the uxfernal regions. Its waters were unpreg-
nated with an oily substance, whence probably originated the story of
the unwillingness of the Peneus to mingle with it. It is now called the
Elasonitiko or X.eraghi.

3 Near Libetln-um ; said to be a favom-ite haunt of the Mvises, whence
their name " Libetln-ides." It is near the modern Goritza.

■* Leake places its site on the height between the southernmost houses
of Yolo and Vlakho-Makhala. No remains of it are to be seen.

^ Ansart says that on its site stands the modern Korakai Pyrgos.

^ Near Neokhori, and called Eleutherokhori.

^ Now Kortos, near Argahsti, accorchng to Ansart.

** Now Haghios Georgios, or the Promontory of St. George.

^ At the foot of Mount Pehon. Leake places it at some ridns near a
small port called Tamukhari. The chestnut tree derived its Greek and
modern name from this place, in the vicuiity of wliich it stiU abounds.

Cliap. 17.] ACCOUNT OF COITNTEIES, ETC. 297

lathra\ the Promontory of ^antiiim-, tlie toA^iis of Meliboea^,
Hhizus, and Erynmse^ ; the month of the Peneus, the towns
of Homolium^, Orthe, Thespiae, Phahmna^, Thaumacie^,
Gryrton^, Crannon^, Acharne^", Dotion^\ Melita^a, Phylaee^^,
and Potniae'^. The length of Epirns, Aehaia, Attica, and
Thessaly is said altogether to amonnt to 490 miles, the
breadth to 287.

CHAP. 17. (10.) — MACEDONIA.

Macedonia comes next, inclnding 150 nations, and re-
nowned for its two kings ^^ and its former empire over the
world ; it was formerly known by the name of Emathia^^.
Stretching away towards the nations of Epirns on the west
it lies at the back of jNIagnesia and Thessaly, being itself
exposed to the attacks of the Dardani^^ Piponia and Pela-
gonia protect its northern parts from the Triballi^^ Its

1 Probably near the village of Hagia Eutimia, according to Ansart.

2 Now Trikeri.

3 Meliboea was near the modem Mintzeles, and Eliizus near Pesi
Dendra, according to Ansart.

^ Ansart says, in the vicinity of the modern Conomio.

5 Situate at the foot of Mount Homole, between Tempe and the village
of Karitza. Leake thinks that the Convent of St. Demetrius, on the
lower part of Moimt Kissavo, stands on its site.

^ Now Tom'novo, according to .Insart.

^ Now called Denioco, according to Ansart.

8 Between the Titaresius and the Peneus. The modern vUlage of
Tatari stands on its site.

9 Probably the place of the same name mentioned in the last Chapter.
^0 Probably the same as Acharrse on the river Pamisus, mentioned

by Livy, B. xxxii. c. 13.

^^ On the Dotian Plam, mentioned by Hcsiod, and probably the same
place that Pindar calls Lacereia.

'2 The bu'th-place of Protesilaiis, the first victim of the Trojan war.

^3 Nothing is known of tliis place. The word " porro" appears instead
of it in some editions.

^^ Phihp, the Conqueror of Greece, and Alexander, the Conqueror of
Asia.

1^ The original Emathia, as mentioned by Homer, is coupled with
Pieria as lying between the Ilellcnic cities of Thessaly and Pa'onia, and
Tlirace,

^^ A tribe of the south-west of Moesia, and extending over a part of
lUyricum. According to Strabo, they were a wild race, of lilthv habits,
Hving in caves under dunghills, but fond of music.

^7 A people of Mccsia, mentioned in C. 2U of the last Book.

298 plixt's natural histoet. [Book IV.

to^^-ns are ^giae\ at which place its kings were usually
buried, Berjpa-, and, in tlie coimtry called JPieria from the
grove of that name, ^ginium^ Upon the coast are Hera-
clea^ the^ river Apilas^ the towns of Pydna*^ and Aloros^,
and the river Haliacmon^ In the interior are the Aloritee^,
the Vallaei^", the PhylacsBi, the Cyrrhest^e^^ the Tyrissaei,
the colony of Pella^', and Stobi^^ a toTVTi with the rights of
Eoman citizens. Next comes Antigonea'"*, Europus^^ upon
the river Axius, and another place of the same name by
which the EhcKdias flows, Scydra, Eord^ea, Mieza, and Gor-
dyniae. Then, upon the coast, Ichnae'^ and the river Axius :
along this frontier the Dardani, the Treres'^, and the Pieres,
border on Macedonia. Leaving this river, there are the

1 Supposed by some -writers to be the same place as Edessa. Ansart
says it is the spot now known as Moglena.

2 Now Verria in Eomneha. St. Paul and Silas withdrew to tliis place
fi'om Thessalonica. The remains are very considerable.

3 Described by Livy as of great strength. It occupied the site of the
modern Stagus.

4 Surnamed Lyncestis ; the chief town of Upper Macedonia. It must
have stood not far from the modern town of Felurina.

^ Now the Platamona.

^ Now Kitron. The Eomans usually called it Citron or Citrus.

7 In the inmost recess of the Thermaic Gulf. Leake supposes it to
have occupied the site of the present Palea Khora, near Kapsokhori.

8 Now the Vistritza, by the Turks caUed Inje-Karra. Csesar calls it
the boundary between Macedonia and Thessaly.

9 The people apparently of Aloros just mentioned.

^0 Valise and Phylacse appear to have been two towns of Pieria.

^1 The people of Cyrrhus; probably on the site of the present
Vistritza. _ Leake however makes a place called Paleokastro to occupy its
site. Tyrissse was probably in its vicinity.

12 Now AlakKsi, upon a lake formed by the Lydias. Phihp made it
the capital of Macedonia, and it was the bn-th-place of Alexander the
Great. It was made a Eoman colony under the name of Juha Augusta
^ella. 13 Its ruins are still called StoH.

14 There were two places of this name in Macedonia ; one called Anti-
gonia Psaphara in Chalcidice, and the other in Paonia.

15 Between Idomene and the plains of Pella. As Pliny here says, it
was a different place from Europus of Almopia, by which the Ehoedias
flows. Of the following places nothing seems to be known.

16 Coupled by Herodotus with Pella. Eordsea seems to have been the
name of the district on the river Eordaicus, identified with the modern
Devol.

17 They dwelt in the vicinity of Mount Scomium. The river Axius is
the modei*n Vardhari.

:iiap. 17.] ACCOrNT OF C0U^'TI1IES, ETC.

290

aations of PcTonia\ tlie Paroroei^ tlie Eordenses^ the Al-
iiopii^ the Pehigoues, aud the Mygdones^

Next come the mountains of Rhodope, Scopius, and Ovbe-
ius ; and, lymg along the extent of country in front of these
mountains,* the Arethusii^ the Antiochienses', the Idome-
Qenses^ the Doberi^ the ^straeenses, the Allantenses, the
Audaristenses, the Morylli, the Garesci'^ the Lyncesta)'\ the
Othryonei'-, and the Amantini'^ and Orestae^', both of them
[ree peoples ; the colonies of Bullis^^ and Dium^^ the Xylo-
polit^, the Scotussa^i, a free people, Heraclea Sintica'', the
IvmphcTi^^ and the Toronsei.

* Upon the coast of the Macedonian Gulf there are the
town of Chalastra'^, and, more inland, Piloros ; also Lete,

1 Or Thrace. ^ People of Parorsea in Thrace.

3 The people probably of Eordjea, already mentioned.

4 Leake thinks that Almopia was the name of the district now caUed

Moglena. mr i •

' The IMygdones were a Thracian people m the east ot Macedonia, on

the Thermaic Gulf. . ,^ -, • • .i

6 The people of Arethusa, a town of Bisaltia in Macedoma, m the pass
3f Anion. Emnpides, the tragic poet, was bm-ied here.

7 A town of Mvgdonia. .-, /. -i e

8 The people of Idomenc, a town about twelve miles ti'om the pass ot
3tena, now Demirkapi, or the ' Iron Gate,' on the river Yardlian.

9 Then- district of Doberus is supposed to have been near the modern

Dogliiran. -, ., -^ ^i

1" It has been suggested that Garescus stood on the same site as the

modern Nm-ocopo. Many of these peoples are now entirely unknown
Ji The people of Lynccstis, m Macedonia, of lUyrian origin and on the

frontiers of lUyria. Lyncus was the ancient capital, Ileracla^a the more

modem one.

12 Probably the inhabitants of the slopes of Mount Othrys.

13 Amantia was properly in lUjT-ia, to the south of the river Aous.
Leake places it at Nivitza.

1^ A people of the north of Epirus, on the borders of Macedonia. I hey
svere said to have derived their name from Orestes, who, after the murder
Df his mother, founded in their tc-rritoiT the town ot Argos Orestieum.

15 A Greek city of Illyria. Dr. liolland discovered its remams at Gra-
aitza on the Aoiis or Viosa. p .. x xi n

16 The bulwark of the Macedonian maritime frontier to tlio south.
Leake chscovered its site near tlie modern :Malathria.

17 On the right bank of tlie river Strymon m Thracian Macedonia. It
3tood on the site of the modem Zervokhori.

13 A people of Epnus on the borders of Thessaly.
19 In Mvgdonia, at the mouth of the Axius— King Perseus put all its
male inhabitants to death. Its site was at or near the modem Kulakia.

300 PLINT's NATUHAL HISTOET. [Book lY.

and at the extreme bend of the Gridf, Thessalonica\ a free
city; (from this place to Dyrrhachium it is 245 miles",)
and then Thermse^. Upon the Grulf"* of Thermae are the
towns of Dicsea, Pydna^, Derra, Scione^, the Promontory of
Canastreeum", and the towns of Pallene^ and Phlegra. In this
region also are the mountains Hypsizorus, Epitus, Halcyone,
and Leoomne ; the towns of Nyssos^, Phryxelon, Mendae, and
what was formerly Potidsea^'' on the isthmus of Pallene, but
now the Colony of Cassandria; Anthemus'\01ophyxus^^,and
the Gulf of Mecyberna^^ ; the towns of Miscella, Ampelos^'*,
Torone^^j Singos^^, and the canal, a mile and a half in length
by means of which Xerxes, king of the Persians, cut off Mount
Athos^'' from the main land. This mountain projects from

1 Now Saloniki. Its original name was Thermae, but it was first made
an important city by Cassander, B.C. 315, who gave it its new name in
honour of his wile, the sister of Alexander the Great : St. Paul visited it
about A.D. 53, and two years after addi'essed from Corinth two Epistles
to liis converts in the city.

2 Polybius says, in Strabo, B. vii., 267 miles.

3 As ah'eady mentioned. Thermae became merged in Thessalonica, wher
refounded by Cassander under that name. ■* Now the Gulf of Saloniki

^ This is probably an error. Pydna, ah'eady mentioned, lay far inland
in the district of Pieria.

On the peninsula of Pallene. Its male inliabitants were put to deatl:
by tlie Athenians in the Peloponnesian war.

7 Now Capo Paliuri, the extreme point of the Isthmus of Pallene

^ The most westerly of the three peninsulas of Chalcidice. Pldegra is
generally understood to have been its former name.

^ Perhaps the same as Nyssa, between the rivers Nestus or Mestus, anc
Strymon.

^^ Its ruins are now called Pinaka. It was a colony of the Corinthians
but refounded by Cassander, King PlaiUp havuig previously destroyed th(
city. _ _ i

^1 South-east of Thessalonica, and north of Chalcidice. It was giver;
by King Pliihp to the Olyntliians. ^^ jv^ear Mo\mt Athos. i

^2 Now Mohvo, at the head of the Toronaic Gulf, part of wliich thenct
took its name.

^* The name of a promontory at the extremity of the peninsula of Si|
thonia, in Chalcidice. It seems to correspond with the modern Capi
Kartah.

^5 In the district of Chalcidice, on the S.W. of the peninsula
Sithonia.

*^ On the east of the peninsula of Sithonia. It gave its name to th
Sinus Singiticus or Singitic Gulf.

^7 Now Monte Santo, at the end of. the long peninsula running ou
from Chalcidice,

C

:niap. 17.] ACCOUNT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 301

;lie level plain of the adjacent country into tlie sea, a distance
)f seventy-five' miles ; its circumference at its base being loO
niles in extent. There was formerly upon its summit the
^oxs-n of Acroathon-: the present towns are TJranopolis
Pala^orium, Thvssus, Cleonc^\ and Apollonia, the uihabitants
3f which have the surname of Macrobii^ The town also_ ot
Cassera, and then the other side of the Isthmus, after Avhich
pome Acanthus^ Stagira", Sithone^ Heraclea^ and the coun-
try of Mygdonia that lies below, in which are situate, at some
distance 'from the sea, Apollonia'" and Arethusa. Again, upon
the coast we have Posidium'', and the bay with the town oi
Cermorus, Ampllipolis'^ a free town, and the nation ot the

1 This is a mistake. It is only forty miles in length. From Lieut.
Smith {Journal of Royal Geogr. Soc. vol. vii. p. 65) we learn that its
average breadth is about fom- miles ; consequently Phny s statement as to
its circumference must be greatly exaggerated. Juvenal Sat x. 1. 174
mentions the story of the canal as a specunen of Greek falsehood ; but
distinct traces havie sm-vived, to be seen by modern traveUers, aU the way
from the GuK of Monte Santo to the Bay of Erso m the Gult ot Lon-
tessa, except about 200 yards in the middle, winch has been probably

^s^'cTr^ Acrothoum. Phny, with Strabo and Mela, errs in thinking that
it stood on the mountain. It stood on the peninsula only, probably on

the site of the modern Lavra. , . . t^ r a^a

3 Or the ' Heaven City,' from its elevated position. It was lounclea
by Alexarchus, brother of Cassandcr, king of Macedon.

4 Probably on the west side of the peninsula, south of Thyssus.

5 Or " long-lived." , i . -i i i i^

6 Kow Erisso ; on the east side of the Isthmus, about a mde and a halt
from the canal of Xerxes. There are ruins here of a large mole

7 A httle to the north of the Istlmms now caUed Stavro. It was tlie
birth-place of Aristotle the philosopher, commonly called the Stagi-
rite, and was, in consequence, restored by Phihp by whom it, had been
des royed ; or, as Pliny says in B. vii. c. 30, by Alexander the Gmit-

8 The nkme of the central one of the three peninsulas projecting from
ChalcicUce. The poets use the word Silhonius frequently as sigmiymg

'^s'poSly not the same as theHcraclea Sintica previously mentioned.
10 Now ckUed PoUina, south of Lake Bolbe, on the road from Thes-

'^J^l^^'Son or Neptune. Now Capo Stavros in Thessaly,
the west front of the Gulf of Pagasa, if indeed this is the place hero

"''2''on the left or eastern bank of the river Strymon wliieh flowed round
it, whence its name Amphi-poUs" round the -ty." Its site is now oc-
cupied by a village called Neokhorio, m Turkish Jeni-Kcm or JNew

302 pliny's nattjeal histoet. [Book lY.

Bisaltae. "We tlien come to the river Strymon^ which takes
its rise in Mount Hsemus^ and forms the boundary of Ma
cedonia : it is worthy of remark that it first discharges itself
into seven lakes before it proceeds onward in its course.

Such is Macedonia, which was once the mistress of the
world, which once extended^ her career over Asia, Armenia,
Iberia, Albania, Cappadocia, Syria, Egypt, Taurus, and Cau-
casus, which reduced the whole of the East under her power,
and triumphed over the Bactri, the Medes, and the Persians.
She too it was who proved the conqueror of India, thus
treading in the footsteps of Eather Liber^ and of Hercules ;
and this is that same Macedonia, of which our own general
Paulus ^milius sold to pillage seventy-two^ cities in one day.
So great the difference in her lot resulting from the actions
of two^ individuals !

CHAP. 18. (11.) — THEACE ; THE ^GEAIS" SEA.

Thrace now follows, divided into fifty strategies^, and to
be reckoned among the most powerful nations of Europe.
Among its peoples whom we ought not to omit to name are
the DenseletsD and the Medi, dwelling upon the right bank
of the Strymon, and joining up to the Bisaltse above ^ men-
tioned ; on the left there are the Digerri and a number of
tribes of the Bessi^ with various names, as far as the river
Mestus^", which winds around the foot of Mount Pan-
town." A few remains are still to be seen. The bay at the mouth of
the Strymon, now Strmna or Kara-Sou, is called the Gulf of Orphano.

1 A Thracian people, extending from the river Strymon on the east
to Crestonica on the west.

2 In Mount Scomius namely, one of the Hajmus or Balkan range.

2 Under Alexander the Great. On his death liis empire was torn in
pieces by the contentions of his generals.

'' In allusion to the legendary accounts of the Indian expeditions of
Bacchus and Hercules.

^ On the conquest of Perseus. Plutarch says that these seventy cities
were pillaged in one and the same hour. They were thus punished for
their support of Perseus.

^ Alexander the Great and Paulus ^mihus.

7 Or prEefectiires, as the Romans called them. ^ In the last Chapter.

^ An extensive tribe occupying the country about the rivers Axius,
Strymon, and Nestus or Mestus.

^^ This river is now called the Mesto or Kara-Sou.

Cliap. 18.] ACCOUNT or COUNTRIES, ETC. 303

gcTum\ passing among tlie Eletlii, the Diobessi^, tlie Carbi-
lesi ; and then the Brys«, the Sapaei, and the Odomanti.
The territory of the OdrvscT^ gives birth to the Hebrus^ its
banks being inhabited by the Cabyleti, the P}TOgeri, the
Drngeri, the Csenici, the Hvpsalti, the Bern, the Corpdi,
the Bottijei, and the Edoni\ In the same district are also the
Selleta', the PriantcT, the Dolonca?, the Thyni, and the
Greater CoeletcT, below Mount Hsemus, the Lesser at the
foot of Ehodope. Between these tribes runs the river He-
brus. We then come to a town at the foot of Ehodope,
first called Poneropolis^ afterwards PhilippopolisM'rom the
name of its founder, and now, from the peculiarity of its
situation, Trimontium^ To reach the summit of Hsemus
you have to travel six*^ miles. The sides of it that look m
the opposite direction and slope towards the Ister are in-
habited by the Moesi^°, the Getse, the Aorsi, the Gaudae, and
the Clarire ; below them, are the ArrcTi Sarmatse", also called
ArreatcT, the Scythians, and, about the shores of tlie Euxme,
the Moriseni and the Sithonii, the forefathers of the poet
Orpheus^', dwell.

1 A range between the StiTmon and the Nestus, now the Pangea or
De^poto-Dagh. 2 Probably a canton or division ot the Bessi.

3 The most powerM people of Thrace ; dwdhng on both sides of the
Artiscu8, and on the plain of the Hebrus.

4 Now the Maritza. It rises near the point where JVlonnt bconuus
joins Mount Rhodope. The locahties of most of the tribes here named

are unknown. ,

5 The name of this people is often used by the poets to express the
whole of Thrace. The district of Edonis, on the left bank of the Strymon,
properly extended from Lake Cercinitis as for east as the river ^e3tus.

6 Or'" Trouble City," also caUed Eumolpias.

7 Or "Pliihp's City J " founded by Philip of Macedon ; still called

Thihppopoh. . XT 1 i.1 -D

8 Because it stood on a hill ^^-ith three summits. Under the Roman
^mpu-e it was the capital of the province of Thracia.

9 On account probably of the winding nature of the roads ; as tho
height of the Balkan range in no part exceeds 3000 feet. NVith Iheo-
pompus probably originated the eiToneous notion among the ancients as
to its exceeding height. , , • j •

w The people of Mccsia. Tho Aorsi and act£B arc again mentioned in

C. 25 of this Book.

^' The inhabitants of the present Bulgaria, it is supposed.

" Following the account wliii-h represent him as a king of the Cicones,
and dweUing in the vicinity of Mount Rhodope. The Sithonu here men-

304 plint's fatueal histoey. [Book IV.

Thus is Thrace bounded by the Ister on the north, by the
Euxine, and the Propontis^ on the east, and by the ^Egean
Sea on the south ; on the coast of which, after leaving the
Strymon, we come in turn to Apollonia^, CEsyma^, Neapolis"*
and Datos. In the interior is the colony of Philippi^,
distant from Dyrrhachium 325 miles ; also Scotussa^, the
city of Topiris, the mouth of the river Mestus^, Mount
Pangseus, Heraclea^, Olynthos®, Abdera^", a free city, the
people of the Bistones" and their Lake. Here was formerly
the city of Tirida, which struck such terror with its stables
of the horses'"^ of Diomedes. At the present day we find
here Dicaea^^, Ismaron^'*, the place where Parthenion stood,
Phalesina, and Maronea^'^, formerly called Orthagorea. AVe

tioned dwelt about the mouth of the Ister, or Danube, and were a
diifei'ent people from those of Sithonia, in Chaleichce, referred to in a
previous note. ^ Tlie Sea of Marmora.

2 It is difficult to conceive which place of this name is here alluded to,
as there seem to have been four places on this coast so called, and all
mentioned by Phny in the present Book.

3 Called ^Esyma by Homer ; between the rivers Strymon and Nestus.
^ Now called Kavallo, on the Strymonic Gulf. The site of Datos

a ppears to be unknown.

^ Now called Fihba, or Fehbejik, on a height of Mount Panggeus, on
the river Grangites, between the Nestus and the Strymon. It was founded
by Pluhp, on the site of the ancient town of Crenides, in the vicinity of
the gold mmes. Here Augustus and Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius,
B.C. 42 ; and here the Apostle Paul first preached the Gospel in Europe,
A.D..53. See Acts xvi. 12.

^ Its site seems unknovm, but it is evidently a different place from
that mentioned in the last Chapter.

7 Also called Mestus. ^ Sintica, previously mentioned.

^ Now Aco Mamas, at the head of the Toronaic Gulf It was the
most important Greek city on the coast of Macedon. It was taken and
destroyed by Phihp, B.C. 347, and its inhabitants sold as slaves. Mecy-
berna, ah'eady mentioned, was used as its sea-port.

^" On the coast, and east of the river Nestus. Its people were pro-
verbial for their stupidity, though it produced the philosophers Demo-
critus, Protagoras, and Anaxarchus. No traces of its site are to be
found.

^^ Now called the Lagos Bm'u. The name of the Bistones is some-
times used by the poets for that of the Thracians in general.

^- Or mares rather. Diomedes was the son of Ares, or Mai'S, and king
of the Bistones. He was slain by Hercules.

^3 By some identified witli the modern Curnu, by others with Bauron.

^"^ Or Ismarus, at the foot of Mount Ismarus. ^^ Now Marogna.

Chap. 18.] ACCOUNT OF COUKTBIES, ETC. 305

then come to Mount Serrium^ and Zone-, and then tlie
place called Doriscus"^, capable of containing ten thoiisand
men, for it Avas in bodies of ten thousand that Xerxes here
numbered his army. We then come to the mouth of the
Hebrus'*, the Port of Steritor, and the free town of ^nos^,
with the tomb there of Polydorus^, the region formerly of
the Cicones-

From Doriscus there is a winding coast as far as Macron
Tichos^, or the "Long AVall," a distance of 122 miles;
round Doriscus flows the river Melas, from which the Gulf
of Melas^ receives its name. The towns are, Cypsela^,
Bisanthe^", and Macron Tichos, already mentioned, so called
because a wall extends from that spot between the two
seas, — that is to say, from the Propontis to the Gulf of
Melas, thus excluding the Chersonesus", Avhicli projects
beyond it.

The other side of Thrace now begins, on the coast ^'
of the Euxine, where the river Ister discharges itself; and
it is in this quarter perhaps that Thrace possesses the finest
cities, Histropolis^^, namely, founded by the Milesians,

I A promontory opposite the island of Samothrace.

"■^ A towTi on a promontory of the same name, said to have been fre-
quented by Orpheus.

3 The Plain of Doriscus is now called the Plain of Romigik. Parisot
suggests the true reading here to be 100,000, or, as some MSS. have
it, 120,000, there being notliing remarkable in a plain containing 10,000
men. PUny however does not mention it as being remarkable, but
merely suggests that the method used by Xerxes here for numbering
his host is worthy of attention.

^ Now the Maritza. At its mouth it divides into two branches, the
eastern forming the port of Stentor. * Still called Enos.

^ A son of Priam and Ilccuba, murdered by Polymnestor, king of the
Thracian Chersonesus, to obtain his treasiu-es. See the iEneid, B, iii.

7 From the Greek, fiaicpov rei^os. ^ Now the Gulf of Enos.

9 Now Ipsala, or Chapsylar, near Keshan.

^0 Now Rodosto, or Rodostsliig, on the coast of the Propontis, or Sea
of Marmora.

II Now called the Peninsula of the Dardanelles, or of Gallipoh. The
wall was built to protect it from incxu-sions from the mainland.

12 He here skips nearly five degrees of latitude, and at once ])rocceds to
the northern parts of Thirace, at the mouth of the Danube, anil moves to
the south.

13 Or, the "city of the Ister," at the south of Lake Ilalmyris, on the
Euxine. Its site is not exactly known ; but by some it is sxipposcd to
have been the same with that of the modem Kostendsje.

YOL. I. X

306 PLIXr's iS^ATUEAL HI9T0ET. [Book lY.

Tomi\ and Callatis^, formerly called Acervetis. It also
had the cities of Heraclea and Bizone, which latter was
swallowed np by an eartliquake ; it now has Dionysopolis^,
formerly called Cruni, which is washed by the river Zyras.
All this country was formerly possessed by the Scythians,
surnamed Aroteres ; their towns were, Aphrodisias, Libistos,
Zygere, Eocobe, Eumenia, Parthenopolis, and Grerania^,
where a nation of Pigmies is said to have dwelt ; the bar-
barians used to call them Cattuzi, and entertain a belief
that they were put to flight by cranes. Upon the coast,
proceeding from Dionysopolis, is Odessus", a city of the
Milesians, the river Panysus*^, and the town of Tetranaulo-
chus. Mount Heemus, which, mth its vast chain, over-
hangs the Euxine, had in former times upon its summit
the town of AristsBum''. At the present day there are upon
the coast Mesembria^, and Anchialum^, where Messa for-
merly stood. The region of Astice formerly had a town
called Anthium ; at the present day Apollonia^° occupies
its site. The rivers here are the Panisos, the Eiras, the
Teams, and the Orosines ; there are also the towns of Thy-
nias", Halmydessos^^, Develton^^, with its lake, now known
as Deultum, a colony of veterans, and Phinopolis, near
which last is the Bosporus^"*. From the mouth of the Ister
to the entrance of the Euxine, some writers have made to be

1 Now Temesvai', or Jegni Pangola, the capital of Scytliia Minor. It
Avas said to have been so called from the Greek re/xrw, "to cut," because
Medea here cut to pieces the body of her brother Absyrtus. It is famous
as the place of Ovid's banishment ; and here he wrote his ' Tristia' and liis
* Pontic Epistles.' ^ Usually identified with the modern Collat, or CoUati.

3 Its site does not appear to be known, nor yet those of many of the
towns here mentioned.

^ This story no doubt arose from the similarity of its name to yepavos,
" a crane ;" the cranes and the Pigmies, according to the poets, being in
a state of continual warfare. ^ Supposed to be the present Varna.

6 Now caUed Daphne-Soui, according to D'Anville.

7 Said to have been built by Aristseus, son of Apollo.

^ Now Missivri. ^ Or Anchiale, now AkiaH.

^^ Now Sizeboh, famous for its temple of Apollo, with his statue, thirty
cubits in height, wliich Lucullus carried to Rome. In later times it
was called Sozopolis. ^^ Now Tiniada.

^2 The present Midjeh, according to D'AnviUe.

^3 Afterwards called Zagora, wliich name it still bears.

^■^ Or Straits of Constantinople.

Cliap. 18.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 307

a distance of 555 miles ; Agi'ippa, however, increases the
length by sixty miles. The distance thence to JNIacronTichos,
or the Long Wall, previously mentioned, is 150 miles ; and,
from it to the extremity of the Chersonesus, 126.

On leadiig the Bosporus we come to the Grulf of Cas-
tlienes\ and two harbours, the one called the Old Men's
Haven, and the other the Women's Haven. Next comes
the promontory of Chrysoceras'^, upon which is the town of
Byzantium^, a free state, formerly called Lygos, distant from
Dyrrhachium 711 miles, — so great being the space of land
that intervenes between tlie Ach'iatic Sea and the Propontis.
AV^e next come to the rivers Bathynias and Pydaras"*, or
Athyras, and the towns of Selymbria* and Perinthus^, which
join the mainland by a neck only 200 feet in width. In the
interior are Bizya", a citadel of the kings of Thrace, and hated
by the swallows, in consequence of the sacrilegious crime
of Tereus*^ ; the district called Csenica^, and the colony of
Flaviopclis, where formerly stood a town called Cfela. Then,
at a distance of fifty miles from Bizya, we come to the colony
of Apros, distant from Philippi 180 miles. Upon the coast
is the river Erginus^"; here formerly stood the town of
Ganos^^ ; and Lysimachia^" in the Chersonesus is being now
gradually deserted.

At this spot there is another isthmus", similar in name
to the other ^^j and of about equal width ; and, in a manner

^ Between Galata and Fanar, according to Brotier.

2 Or Golden Horn ; still known by that name.

3 The site of the pi-esent Constantinople.

4 These rivers do not appear to have been identified.

5 The present Sihvri occupies its site.

6 All important town of Tlu'ace. Eski Erckli stands on its site.

7 Now Yizia, or Viza.

" He alludes to the poetical story of Tereus, king of Thrace, Progne,
and Philomela. Aldrovandus suggests that the real cause of the absence
of the swallow is the great prevalence hero of northern winds, to wliich
they have an aversion.

^ So called probably from the Thracian tribe of the Cffinici, or Cfsni.

^^ Now called Erkene, a tributary of llie llebrus.

^^ All that is known of it is, that it is mentioned as a fortress on tho
Propontis. ^^ llexamila now occupies its site.

^2 The isthmus or neck of the Peninsula of Galhpoh,or the Dardanelles.

^•* That of Corinth. They are both about live miles wide at the nar-
rowest part.

x2

308 plint's KATXJEAL HISTOET. [Book IV.

by no means dissimilar, two cities formerly stood on the sliore,
one on either side, Pactye on the side of the Propontis, and
Cardia^ on that of the Grulf of Melas, the latter deriving its
name from the shape^ which the land assumes. These, how-
ever, were afterwards united with Lysimachia^, which stands
at a distance of five miles from Macron Tichos. The Cherso-
nesus formerly had, on the side of the Propontis, the towns
of Tiristasis, Crithotes, and Cissa'*, on the banks of the river
^gos* ; it now has, at a distance of twenty-two^ miles from
the colony of Apros, Hesistos, which stands opposite to the
colony of Parium. The Hellespont also, which separates,
as we have already^ stated, Europe from Asia, by a channel
seven stadia in width, has four cities facing each other,
Callipolis'^ and Sestos^ in Europe, and Lampsacus^*' and
Abydos^^ in Asia. On the Chersonesus, there is the pro-
montory of Mastusia^^, lying opposite to Sigeum^^ ; upon
one side of it stands the Cynossema^^ (for so the tomb of
Hecuba is called), the naval station^^ of the Achaeans, and a
tower ; and near it the shrine ^^ of Protesilaiis. On the ex-

1 Now Cardia, or Caridia. It was the bii'th-place of king Eumenes.

2 From Kapcia, in consequence of its supposed resemblance to a heart,

3 Lysimachus destroyed Cardia, and, budding Lysimacliia, peopled it
with the inliabitants.

■* Mamiert identifies it with the ancient ^gos and the modern Galata.

5 More generally called ^Egospotamos, the " Groat River," upon which
the town of ^Egos stood. It was here that Lysander defeated the Athe-
nian fleet, B.C. 405, which put an end to the Peloponnesian war.

6 Antonmus, in liis Itinerary, makes this distance twenty-six. miles.

7 B. ii. c. 92. The present Straits of GraUipoh.

s Now Gallipoh, a place of considerable commercial importance.

^•' Now lalova ; famous hi Grrecian poetry, with Abydos, for the loves
of Hero and Leander. ^° Now Lamsaki.

^1 The village of Aidos, or Avido, probably marks its site. To the
north, Xerxes passed over to Sestos on his bridge of boats, B.C. 480.

1^ Now Capo Helles.

^3 Now Jeni-Hisari, the N.W. promontory of Troas. Here Homer
places the Grrecian camp during tlie Trojan war.

^^ Meanmg tlie " Bitch's tomb," the fable being that Hecuba, in her
old age, was changed bito that animal. It was near the town of Madytus.

^* Meanmg that their fleet was anchored ofi" here during the Trojan war,

^^ A magnificent temple was erected near his tomb atEleus, where he
also had a sacred grove. It was greatly enriched by the votive ofierings
of Greek travellers. According to D'Anville, its site lay to the south of
Mastusia.

Claap. 18.] ACCOUNT OF COTJXTEIES, ETC. 309

treme front of tlie Chersonesus, wMcli is called ^^oliiim, there
is the city of Elieus. Advancing thence towards the Grulf of
Melas, we have the port of Coelos\ Panormus, and then
Cardia, previously mentioned.

In this manner is the third great Gulf of Europe bounded.
The mountains of Thrace, besides those already mentioned,
are Edonus, Grigemoros, Meritus, and Melamphyllos ; the
rivers are the Bargus and the Syrmus, which fall into the
Hebrus. The length of Macedonia, Thrace, and the Hel-
lespont has been already^ mentioned ; some writers, how-
ever, make it 720 miles, the breadth being 384.

What may be called a rock rather than an island, lying
between Tenos and Chios, has given its name to the ^gean
Sea ; it has the name of jEx^ from its strong resemblance
to a goat, which is so called in Grreek, and shoots precipitately
from out of the middle of the sea. Those who are sail-
ing towards the isle of Andros from Achaia, see this rock on
the left, boding no good, and warning them of its dangers.
Part of the ^wan Sea bears the name of Mvrtoan^ beinir
so called from the small island [of Myrtos] which is seen
as you sail towards Macedonia from Gersestus , not far from
Carystus' in Euboea. The Eomans include all these seas
under two names, — the Macedonian, in those parts where it
touches the coasts of Macedonia or Thrace, and the Grecian
where it washes the shores of Greece. The Greeks, how-
ever, divide the Ionian Sea into the Sicilian and the Cretan
Seas, after the name of those islands ; and they give the
name of Icarian to that part which lies between Samos and
Myconos. The gulfs iKvhich we have already mentioned,
have given to these seas the rest of their names. Such,

^ Now called Kilidbalir. Near this place the Spartans were de-
feated by the Athenians, who erected a trophy near tlie tomb of
Hecuba.

2 In the present Chapter ; wliere he says tliat the distance from Byzan-
tium to Dyrrhaeliium is 711 miles. See p. 3' »5.

3 J\uK, "a goat." Other authors give other derivations for tlie name of
jEgean, — from the town of Ai^iv in Euboeii, or from ^Kgt'us, the father
of Theseus, who threw himself into it; or from JEgfeix, a ciueen of the
Amazons, who perished there ; or from yl^gffon, a god of the sea ; or
from the Greek rtt'yis, " a squall," on account of its storms.

4 See c. 5 of this Book.

* Both places m Euboea, mentioned in c. 21 of this Book.

310 PLIIiTT'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book IT.

then, are the seas and the various nations which are com-
prehended in the third great Gulf of Europe.

CHAP. 19. (12.) THE ISLANDS WHICH LIE BEEOEE THE

LANDS ALEEADY MElSTTIOlSrED.

Lying opposite to Thesprotia, at a distance of twelve
miles from Buthrotus, and of fifty from Acroceraunia, is the
island of Corcyra\ with a city of the same name, the citi-
zens of which are free ; also a town called Cassiope^, and a
temple dedicated to Jupiter Cassius. This island is ninety-
seven miles in length, and in Homer has the names of
Scheria and Phseacia ; while CaUimachus calls it Drepane.
There are some other islands around it, such as Thoronos'"^,
lying in the direction of Italy, and the two islands of Paxos"*
in that of Leucadia, both of them five miles distant from
Corcyra. Not far'^ from these, and in front of Corcyra, are
Ericusa, Marathe, Elaphusa, Malthace, Trachie, Pythionia,
Ptychia, Tarachie, and, off Phalacrum^, a promontory of
Corcyra, the rock into which (according to the story, which
arises no doubt from the similarity of appearance) the ship
of Ulysses was changed.

Before Leucimna'^ we find the islands of Sybota, and be-
tween Leucadia and Achaia a great number of islands, among
which are those called Teleboides^, as also Taphiae ; by the
natives, those which lie before Leucadia are called by the
names of Taphias, Oxiae, and Prinoessa^ ; while those that
are in front of ^Etolia are the Echinades^", consisting of
^gialia, Cotonis, Thyatira, Greoaris, Dionysia, Cyrnus,
Chalcis, Piuara, and Mystus. im

1 Now Corfu. Of its city of Corcyra only a few ruins now exist.

2 There are still some remains of it near the village called Cassopo.

3 Now Fano, or Merlere. ^ Now Paxo and Antipaxo.

5 On the contrary, they he at the other end of the isle of Corcyi'a.
Some of them are mere rocks, and cannot be distinguished by their ancient
names. The present names of four are Sametraki, Diaplo, Boaia, and
the Isle of Ulysses. ^ Now Capo Drasti.

7 Now Capo Levkimo. The islands are those of Santo Niccolo.

8 Or Islands of the Teleboans.

9 These three seem to be those now called Magnisi, Kalamota, and
Kastus. These lie facmg the promontory of Leucadia, the others opposite
;E oha.

^° Opposite Acamania : by the Venetians they were called the Islands of
Kurtzolari. Some of them are cultivated, others again are mere rocks.

Cliap. 19.] ACC0U2TT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 311

Tn front of these, and lying out at sea, are Cepliallenia^ and
Zacynthus", botli of them free, Ithaea'"^, Dalicliium^, Same',
and Crocyle^. Cephanenia, formerly known as ISIeliena'',
lies at a distance of eleven miles from Paxos, and is ninety-
three miles in circumference : its city of Same has been
levelled to the groimd by the Romans ; but it still pos-
sesses three others^. Between this island and Achaia lies
the island of Zacynthus, remarkable for its city of the
same name, and for its singidar fertility. It formerly had
the name of Hyrie, and lies to the south of Cephallenia, at
a distance of twenty-five miles ; in it there is the famous
mountain of Elatus^. This island is thirty-six miles in cir-
cumference. At a distance of fifteen miles from Zacynthus
is Ithaca, in which is Moimt Neritus ^'^ ; its circumference
in all is twenty-five miles. Twelve miles distant from
this island is Araxus", a promontory of the Peloponnesus.
Before Ithaca, lying out in the main sea, are Asteris^" and
Prote ; and before Zacynthus, at a distance of thirty-
five miles in the direction of the south-east wind, are the
two Strophades^^, by some known as the Plotse. Before
Cephallenia lies Letoia^^, before Pylos the three SphagiiB^^,
and before Messene the (Enussa3^^, as many in number.

^ Now called CepliaUcnia. 2 Xow Zante.

3 Now Thiaki, or Cefalogna Piccola — Little Cephallenia.

^ The general opinion is, that Strabo is right m identifying this island
with one of the Echinades ; but it seems impossible now to say which
of them was so called.

° Sometimes confoimded witli Cephallenia ; but, according to Virgil
and Mela, as weU as Phny, they were different islands.

^ Crocylsea was a town of Acarnania, referred to by Homer ; and there
was a district of Ithaca called Crocyleium. Pliny is probably in error in
mentioning Crocyle as an island. ' Or the " Black Island ;"

probably from its thick foUage. ' Pale, Cranii, and Proni.

9 So called from its fir-trees. It now has the name of Scopo.

10 Now Monte Stefano. '' See c. 6 of this Book.

^2 Supposed by some wTiters to be the same with the rocky isle now
called Dyscallio. Though mentioned by Homer, its existence was dis-
puted by many of the ancient commentators.

13 The modem Strivali and Stamjihane.

^* The present Guardiania, according to Lapie.

15 According to Ansart, these were Prote, nowProdano, and Sphagia,
formerly Spha<'teria, before Pylos, now called Zonchio, or Old Navariuo j
the third being perliaps the isle of Beehli, in tlie Bay of Navariuo.

1^ Now called Sapicnza, Santa Maria, and Cabrera.

312 PLINY 'S I^ATOEAL HISTOET. [Book lY.

In the Asinsean Gulf there are the three Thyrides\ and in
that of Laconia Thegauusa-, Cothon, and Cythera^, with the
to^\Ti of that name, the former name of which island was
Porphyris. It is situate five miles from the promontory of
Malea^,thus forming a strait very dangerous to navigation. In
the Grulf of Argolis are Pitynsa^, Irine, and Ephyre ; opposite
the territory of Hermione^, Tiparenus, Aperopia^, Colonis^,
and Aristera ; and, opposite that of Troezen, Calauria^, at a
distance of half a mile, Plateis^", Belbina, Lasia, and Bau-
cidias. Opposite Epidanrus is Cecryphalos'\ and Pity-
onesos^^, six miles distant from the mainland ; and, at a
distance of fifteen miles from tliis last, JEgina^^, a free island,
the length of which, as you sail past it, is eighteen miles.
This island is twenty miles distant from Piraeus, the port of
Athens : it nsed formerly to be called GEnone. Opposite
the promontory of Spirsenm^^, lie Eleusa^^, Adendros^^, the
two islands called Craugia?, the two Caecise, Selachusa,
Cenchreis, and Aspis ; as also, in the Gulf of Megara, the
four Methurides. MgiW^ lies at a distance of fifteen miles

^ Venetico and Formignes are the names of two of them.

2 Now Servi.

^ The modern Cerigo.

■* It is much fm'ther from the Cape of Malea or Santo Angelo than
the distance here mentioned. It derived its name of Porphyris from the
purple fishery estabhshed here by the Phoenicians.

5 The modern Isle of Port Tolon. Irine is the present Hipsyli ac-
cording to Leake, who also identifies Ephyre with Spetzia.

6 At the south of Argolis.

7 The modern Dlioko, according to Leake. Some authorities tlnnk
that Tiparenus, and not Ephyre, is the modern Spetzia.

^ Leake tliinks that Colonis and Hydreia, now called Hydra, were the
same island ; but lUepert tlnnks it the same as the small island to the
south of Spetzia. ^ Now Poros.

10 These are the islands now called Moni Jorench, Koplunidia, and
San Giorgio d'Arbora. It is perhaps impossible to identify them, except
that Belbina is generally supposed to be the island of San Giorgio.

1* Now Kyra.

12 The modern Angistri.

'•■J Which name, or Egliina, it stUl retains.

n See c. 9 of tliis Book.

1' Probably the modern Laoussa, one of this group.

1^ By Brotier said to be the modern Pentenesia. The other islands
here mentioned seem not to have been identified.

17 Now Cerigotto.

Chap. 20.] ACCOTJNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 313

from Cvtliera, aud of twenty-five from Phalasarna, a city
of Crete.

CHAP. 20. — CEETE.

Crete itself lies from east to west, the one side facing the
south, the other the north, and is known to fame by the
renown of its hundred cities. Dosiades says, that it took
its name from the nymph Crete, tlie daughter of Hesperides ^ ;
Anaximander,from a king of the Curetes, Philistides of Mallus
*#**#. -^yl^ile Crates says that it was at first called Aeria,
and after that Curetis ; and some have been of opinion
that it had the name of Macaron"- from the serenity of its
climate. In breadtli it nowhere exceeds fifty miles, being
widest about the middle. In length, however, it is full 270
miles, and 589 in circumference, forming a bend towards
the Cretan Sea, which takes its name from it. At its
eastern extremity is the Promontory of Sammonium^, facing
llhodes, wliile towards tlie west it throws out that of Criu-
metopon**, in the direction of Cyrene.

The more remarkable cities of Crete are, Phalasarna, Eta^a*,
Cisamon'^, Pergamum, Cydonia^, Minoium^, Apteron^, Panto-
matrium, Amphimalla^", Rhithymna, Panormus, Cytaum, A-
pollonia, Matium'\ lleraclea, Miletos, Ampelos, Kierapytna^^,

^ Daleclmmps suggests Hesperus.

2 The island " of the Blessed." 3 jfow Capo Salomon.

^ Frora the Greek Kpiov ^erujirov, "the ram'a forehead" ; now called
Capo Crio.

^ Also called Elaa. Pococke speaks of it as a promontory called
Chaule-burnau. ^ Ilardoidn calls it Chisamo.

7 The modem Kliania, The quince derived its Latui name, "Malum
Cydoniiun," from this district, to Avhich it was indigenous. From its
Latin name it was called melicototie bv the writers of the Elizabellian
period. ^ Now Minolo, according to llardouin.

^ The port of Apteron, or Aptera, wliich Mr. Pashlev supjioses to be
denoted by the ruins of Palteokastro ; he also thinks that its port was
at or near the modern Kalyres.

^*' Now La 8uda, aceordhig to llardouin, who says that llliithyuma is
called Rctimo; Panormus, Panormo ; and Cytieum, Set la.

^' Sui)posed by Ansart to iiave stood in the vicinity uf tlie modem city
of Candia.

'- Strabo says that it stood on the nan-owest part of the island, opposite
Minoa. Vestiges of it have been found at the Kastele of Jlierapetra.
Its foundation was ascribed to the Corybantcs.

yl4 PLINT's ITATUEAL HISTORY. [Book lY.

Lebena\audHierapolis; and, in the interior, Grortyna^, Phae-
stnm, Cnossus^, Polyrreuiiim, Myrina, Lycastus, Eliamnus,
Lyctiis, Dium"*, Asus, Pyloros, Ehytion, Elatos, Pharae,
liolopyxos, Lasos, Eleuthernae^, Tberapnae, Maratbusa, and
Tjdisos ; besides some sixty otbers, of wbicb tbe me-
mory only exists, Tbe mountains are tbose of Cadistus®,
Ida, Dictynnaeus, and Corycus^. Tbis island is distant, at
its promontory of Criumetopon, according to Agrippa, from
Pbycus'^, tbe promontory of Cyrene, 125 miles ; and at Ca-
distus, from Malea in tbe Peloponnesus, eigbty. Erom tbe
island of Carpatlios^, at its promontory of Sammonium it
lies in a westerly direction, at a distance of sixty miles ; tbis
last-named island is situate between it and Ebodes.

Tbe otber islands in its vicinity, and lying in front of tbe

1 Now Lionda.

2 Next to Cnossus in splendour and importance. Mr. Pasliley places
its site near the modern Haghius Dheka, the place of the martyrdom of
the ten Saints, according to tradition, in the Decian persecution.

3 It has been remarked, that Pliny is mistaken here if he intends to
enumerate Cnossus among the towns of the interior of Crete. The only
remains of tliis capital of Crete, situate on the north of the island, are
those seen at Makro-Teikho, or the " Long Walls," so called fi'om the
masses of Rom.an brick- work there seen.

■* Though an inland town, it probably stood in the vicinity of the
headland or promontory of the same name, which is now called Kavo
StaTTO. Many of these names are utterly unknown.

^ One of the most important towns of Crete, on the N.W. slope of
Mount Ida, about fifty stadia from the port of Astale. Mr. PasUey
says that some remains probably of tliis place are stiU to be seen on a
hill near a place called Eletherna, five miles south of the great convent
of Arkadlii.

6 The loftiest point of the momitain-range that traverses the island of
Crete from west to east. Its head is covered with snow. The modern
name is Psiloriti, looking down on the plain of Mesara. The word Ida
is supposed to mean a mountain in which mines are worked, and the
Idaei DactyH of Crete were probably among the fu"st workers in iron and
bronze. The position of Momit Cadistus, belonging to the range of
White Mountains, has been fixed by Hoeck at Cape Spadlia, the most
northerly point of the island. It is thought that Phny and Solinus are
in error in speaking of Cadistus and Dictynnseus as separate peaks,
these being, both of them, names of the mountain of which the cape was
formed; the latter name havmg been given in later times, from the
worsliip and temple there of Dictynna.

7 Now Grabusa, the N.W, promontory of Crete.

^ Now Ras-al-Sem, or Cape Rasat, in Africa. The distance, according
to Brotier, is in reality about 225 miles. ^ Now Skarpanto.

Chap. 20.] ACCOrXT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 315

Peloponnesus, are the two isles knoAvn as Corycse, and the
two called Myla}^ On the north side, having Crete on the
right, and opposite to Cydonia, is Leuce"', and the two islands
known as Budrope^. Opposite to Matium lies Dia^ ; opposite
to the promontory of Itauum^, Onisia and Leuce ; and over
against Hierapytna, Chrysa and Gaudos^. In the same
neighbourhood, also, are Ophiussa, Butoa, and Aradus ; and,
after doubling Criumetopon, we come to the three islands
known as Musagorus. Before the promontory of Sam-
monium lie the islands of Phocoe, the Platise, the Sirnides,
Xaulochos, Armedon, and Zephyre.

Belonging to Hellas, but still in the ^gean Sea, we have
the Lichades'', consisting of Scarphia, Coresa, Phocaria,
and many others which face Attica, but have no towns
upon them, and are consequently of little note. Opposite
Eleusis, however, is the lar-famed Salamis^ ; before it, Psytta-
lia^; and, at a distance of five miles from Sunium, the
island of Helene^^. At the same distance from this last is
Ceos'\ wliich some of our countrpnen have called Cea, and
the Grreeks Hydrussa, an island which has been torn away
from Euboea. It was formerly 500 stadia in length ; but
more recently four-fifths of it, in the direction of Boeotia, have
been swallowed up by the sea. The only towns it now has

^ According to Hardouin, all of these are mere rocks rather than
islands. 2 ''ji^q rnodern Ilajrhios Theodhoros.

3 According to Hoeck, they are now called Tm-lui'e.
■* Now called Standiu.

5 Now Capo Xacro, on the east, though Cape Salomon, further north,
has been suggested. In the latter case, the Grandes islands woidd cor-
respond with Onisia and Leuce, mentioned by Pliny.

6 Now Graidurognissa. Noneof the other islands here mentioned seem
to have been iden tided.

7 Between Euboea and Locris. They arc now called Ponticoncsi.

8 Now Koluri. It is memorable for the naval battle fought off* its
coast, when Xerxes was defeated by the Greeks, B.C. 480.

9 Now called Lyjisokutali.

^^ Now Makronisi, or " the Long Island." Its ancient name was also
IMacris. Strabo identifies it with the Homeric Cranac, to which Paris
fled with Helen.

^1 Usually called Cea, one of the Cyclades, about thirteen miles S.E. of
Smiium. Its modern name is Zea. lulis was the most important to^\^l,
and the birth-i)laee of the poets Simonides and Baeehylides, of the
sophist Prodicus, the physician Erasistratus, and the Peripatetic philo-
sopher Ariston. Extensive remains of it still exist.

816 plii^y's natueal iiistoet. [Book lY.

left are lulis and Carthaea^ ; Coresus^ and Poeeessa^ have
perished. Varro informs us, that from this pLice there used to
come a cloth of very fine texture, used for women's dresses.

CHAP. 21. EUBCEA.

Euboea'* itself has also been rent away from Boeotia; the
channel of the Euripus, which flows between them, being so
narrow as to admit of the opposite shores being united by
a bridge^. At the south, this island is remarkable for its
two promontories, that of Grersestus^, which looks towards
Attica, and that of Caphareus^, which faces the Hellespont ;
on the north it has that of Censeum^. In no part does
this island extend to a greater breadth than forty miles,
while it never contracts to less than two. In length it
runs along the whole coast of Boeotia, extending from
Attica as far as Thessaly, a distance of 150 miles 9. In
circumference it measures 365, and is distant from the
Hellespont, on the side of Caphareus, 225 miles. The cities
for which it was formerly famous were, Pyrrha, Porthmos,
Nesos, Cerinthos^*^, Oreum, Dium, ^depsos^\ Ocha, and
(Echalia; at present it is ennobled by those of Chalcis^^

1 There are considerable remains of this town, called by the inhabit-
ants Stais Palais.

2 Or Coresia. It was the harbour of luHs, to wliich place we learn
from Strabo that its inhabitants were transferred.

3 On the S.W. side of the island. Its ruins are inconsiderable, but
retain their ancient name.

* Now called Euboea, as also Egripo, or IN'egropont, — a corruption of
the former word and " pont," " a bi'idge."

^ Ilardouin speaks of tliis as existing in liis time, 1670, and being 250
feet m length. It is supposed to have been fu'st constructed about B.C.
411, for the pin*pose of uninterrupted communication with Boeotia.

6 Now Capo Mandili, ^ Now Kavo Doro, or Xylofago.

8 Now Lithadha, with a mountain 2837 feet above the sea.

3 These measurements are not exactly correct. The length from north
to south is about ninety miles ; the extreme breadth across, thu'ty, and
in one part, not more than four miles.

^0 Still extant ui the time of Strabo, who speaks of it as an incoii-
siderable place.

^^ Its site is now called Lipso. It contained warm baths sacred to
Ilercules, and used by the Dictator Sylla. They are still to be seen.

^2 Now Egripo, or Negropont, having given name to the rest of the
island. The Euripus is here only forty yards across, being crossed by a

Cliap. 22.] ACCOUNT OF COUITTEIES, ETC. 317

(opposite which, on the mainland, is Aulis), Geraestus*,
Eretria"^, Carystiis^, Oritaniim, and xVrtemisium\ Here are
also the Fountain of Aretluisa^ the river Lelantus, and the
warm springs known as Ellopiae ; it is still better known,
liowever, for the marble of Carystus. This island used
fonnerly to be called Chalcodontis and Macris", as we learn
from Dionysius and Ephorus ; according to Aristides, Macra ;
also, as Callidemus says, Chalcis, because copper was first
discovered here. Mensechmus says that it was called
Abantias^, and the poets generally give it the name of
Asopis.

CHAP. 22. — THE CTCLADES.

Beyond Euboea, and out in the Myrtoan^ Sea, are numerous
other islands ; but those more especially famous are, Glau-

bridge, partly of stone, partly of wood. The poet Lvcophron and the
orator Isoeus were natives of this place, and Ai'istotle died here.

^ Near the promontory of that name, now Capo jMandili. In the
town there was a famous temple of Poseidon, or Neptune. According
to Hardouin, the modern name is lastura.

2 One of the most powerful cities of Euboea. It was destroyed by the
Persians vuidcr Darius, and a new tovm was built to the soutli of tlie old
one. New Eretria stood, according to Leake, at the modern Kastri, and
old Eretria in the neighbourhood of Vathy. The tragic poet Aeha?us, a
contemporary of ^Esehylus, was born here ; and a school of philosoplay
was founded at this place by Mencdemus, a disciple of Plato.

3 Now Karysto, on the south of the island, at the foot of Monnt
Ocha, upon which are supposed to have been its quarries of marble.
There are but few remains of the ancient city. The liij;torian Antigonus,
the comic poet Apollodorus, and the physician Diodes, were natives of
this place.

■* Probably on the promontory of the same name. It was off this
coast that the Greek fleet engaged that of Xerxes, B.C. -180.

^ There were tame fish kept in this fountain ; and its waters were
sometimes disturbed by volcanic agency. Leake says that it has now
totally disappeared.

s From the fact of its producing copper, and of its being in shape long
and narrow.

7 Strabo remarks, that Homer calls its inhabitants Abantea, while he
gives to the island the name of Euboea. The poets say tliat it took its
name from the cow (Boi)s) lo, who gave birth to Epaphus on this
island.

8 Hardouin remarks here, that Pliny, Strabo, Mela, and Pausanias use
tlio term " Myrtoan Sea," as meaning that portion of it which lies
between Crete and Attica, while Ptolemy so calls the sea wliich hes olf
the coast of Caria.

818 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book lY.

connesos and the ^gila^ Off the promontory, too, of
Grersestus are the Cyclades, lying in a circle around Deles,
from which circumstance^ they derive their name. The
first of them is the one called Andros^ with a city of the
same name, distant from Gersestus ten miles, and from Ceos
thirty-nine. Myrsilus tells us that this island was at first
called Cauros, and after that Antandros ; Callimachus calls
it Lasia, and others again Nonagria, Hydrussa, and Epagris.
It is ninety-three miles in circumference. At a distance ot
one mile from Andros and of fifteen from Delos, is Tenos"*,
with a city of the same name ; this island is fifteen miles
in length. Aristotle says that it was formerly called Hy-
drussa, from the abundance of water found here, while some
writers call it Ophiussa^ The other islands are, Myconos^,
with the mountain of Dimastus^, distant from Delos fifteen^
miles ; Siphnus^ formerly called Meropia and Acis, twenty-
eight miles in circumference ; Seriphus^°, twelve miles in
circuit ; Prepesinthus^^ ; Cythnos^^ ; and then, by far the most
famous among the Cyclases, and lying in the very middle
of them, Delos ^^ itself, so famous for its temple of Apollo,
and its extensive commerce. This island long floated on the
waves, and, as tradition says, was the only one that had never

1 Now called Spitilus, and the group of Micronisia, or " Little Islands,"
according to Hardoviin. ^ From kvkXo?, " a circle."

3 Now Andi'O. It gives name to one of the comedies of Terence. The
ruins of tlie ancient city were found by the G-erman traveller Eoss, who
has published a hymn to Isis, in hexameter verse, which he discovered
here. It was famous for its wines.

4 Now Tino. ^ From its aboimding in snakes (o^eis) and scorpions.

6 Now Mycono, south-east of Tenos and east of Delos. It was famous
in ancient mythology as one of the places where Hercules was said to
have defeated the Giants. It was also remarkable for the great proportion
of bald persons among its inhabitants.

7 So called from its resemblance to two breasts, fxaZoi.

8 Wheeler says tliat the distance is but tlu-ee miles ; Toumefort, six.

^ Once famous for its gold and silver mines, but equally notorious for
the bad character of its people. It is now called Siphno.

1" Now Serpho, lying between Cythnos and Siphnus.

^^ Now Fermina, according to Hardouin.

^- Between Ceos and Seri})hus. It is now called Thermia. Cydias the
painter was born here, and it was famous for its cheeses. Its modern
name is derived fi'om its hot springs, wliich are much frequented.

^•* Still called Delos ; and, though so celebrated, nothhig more than a
mere rock, five miles in circumference.

Chap. 22.] ACCOUXT OF COU>'TEIES, ETC. 319"

experienced an earthquake, do\Mi to the time of M. Yarro* i
Mucianus however has informed us, that it has been twice
so visited. Aristotle states that this island received its
name from the fact of its having so suddenly made its
appearance' on emerging from the sea ; Aglaosthenes, how-
e\"er, gives it the name of Cynthia, and others of Ortygia^,
Asteria, Lagia, Chlamydia, Cynthus, and, from the circum-
stance of fire ha^dng been first discovered here, P}Tpile. Its
circumference is five miles only ; Mount CjTithus^ here
raises his head.

Xext to this island is Eliene*, which Anticlides calls by
the name of Celadussa, and Callidemus, xA-rtemite ; Scyros^,
which the old writers have stated to be twenty miles in cir-
cumference, but Mucianus 160 ; Oliaros'' ; and Paros^, with
a city of the same name, distant from Delos thirty-eight
miles, and famous for its marble^ ; it was first called Platea,

^ That is, accorcUng to Yarro, whose statement is ridiculed by Seneca.
Some of the editors, however, pimctuate this passage dhferently, makmg
it to mean, " the only island that has never experienced an earthquake.
IMucianus however has informed us, that do\m to the time of M. Yarro,
it has been twice so visited."

2 From its then becoming cijXos:, "plain," or "manifest." It was
after the fall of Cormth that Delos became so famous for its commei'ce.
Its bronze was in gi*eat request.

3 From oprv^, " a quail" ; the legend being, that Latona was changed
into that bhd by Jupiter, m order to effect her escape thither from tlie anger
of Juno. Its name of Asteria was derived from dffrpov, "a star," either
inconsequence of its being devoted to the worship of tlie great luminaiy
Apollo, or of its being considered by tlie gods the star of the earth. It was
also called Lagia, from Xayujs, "a hare," that animal abounding there;
and Cyna?thus, from kuwv, "a dog," it being famous for its hounds.

■* A bare granite rock, not more tlian 500 feet in height. The island
is now a mass of ruins ; a great part of its remains liavmg been can'ied
awav in the middle ages to Yeuice and Constantinople.

5 Divided by a strait of four stadia in width from Di-los. Js icias con-
nected the two islands by a bridge. Its name of Ci-ladussa Avas said to
be derived from the noise of the waves, KeXaco^, and of Artemite, from
Artemis, or Diana. ^ Now S}-ra ; famous for its wine and com.

7 Now Antiparos ; famous for its stalactite grotto, wliich is not men-
tioned by the ancient writers.

8 Now Paro ; south of Delos and west of Naxos. The ruins of its
town are still to be seen at the modem Paroikia. The Parian Chronicle,
inscribed on marble, and containing a clironiele of Grecian history from
Cecrops, B.C. 1582, to B.C. 26 1, was found here. It is jiresen'ed at Oxford.

9 Cliiefly obtamed from a mountain called Marpessa.

320 plikt's KATUEAL HISTOET. [Book ly.

and after that, Minois. At a distance of seven miles from
this last island is Naxos\ with a town of the same name;
it is eighteen miles distant from Delos. This island was
formerly called Strongyle^ then Dia, and then Dionysias^,
in consequence of the fruitfulness of its vineyards ; others
again have called it the Lesser Sicily, or Callipolis"'. It is
seventy-five^ miles in circumference — half as large again as
Paros.

CHAP. 23. THE SPOHADES.

The islands thus far are considered as helonging to the
Cyclades ; the rest that follow are the Sporades^. These
are, Helene", Phacussa, Nicasia, Schinussa, Pholegandros,
and, at a distance of thirty-eight miles from Naxos, Icaros^,
which has given its name to the surrounding sea, and is the
same number of miles in length^, with two cities, and a
third now no longer in existence : this island used formerly
to be called Doliche, Macris, and Ichthyoessa^°. It is situate
fifty miles to the north-east of Delos, and thirty-five from the
island of Samos. Between Euboea and Andros, there is an
arm of the sea ten miles in width, and from Icaros to
Geraestus is a distance of 112^ miles.

^ jSTow ISTaxia, famous both in ancient and modem times foi' its re-
markable fertility.

2 From arpoyyvXo?, "round," its shape being somewhat inchned to
cu'cular, though by Eustathius it is compared to the shape of a vine-leaf.
It is commonly called Dia by the poets. Tournefort says tliat it is distant
forty miles from Delos. ^ From Ai6vv(tos, or Bacchus, the god of wine.

'^ Or " Fine City." It took its other name from the fact of its rivalling
the fertihty of Sicily.

^ According to Brotier, the Jesuit Babin, on visiting it, found its cir-
cumference estimated at tliirty-six miles only.

^ So called from lying scattered at random as it were, cnropd^ "scattered."

7 Helene is supposed to be the modern Pu^a ; Phacussa, Fecussa ;
Nicasia, Rachia ; Scliinussa, Scliinusa ; and Pholegandros, Pohcandro.

8 Now Nikaria, to the west of Samos. According to tradition, it
derived its name from Icarus, the son of Dsedalus, who was believed to
have fallen into the sea in its vicinity.

** Its length is not so gi-eat as is here mentioned by Pliny. Its tovms
were Drepanum, or Dracanum, Qilnoe, and Isti.

^^ The first two names are from the Greek, in allusion to its long,
narrow shape, and the last bears reference to the fact of its shores
aboimding in fish.

Cliap. 23.] ACCOXJITT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 321

After we pass these, no regular order can "be well observed ;

tlie rest must therefore be mentioned indiscriminatelj.

There is the island of Scyros\ and that of los^, eighteen miles

distant from Xaxos, and deser\'iuf]: of all veneration for the

• • •

tomb there of Homer ; it is twenty-five miles m length, and

was formerly known by the name of Phoenice ; also Odia,
Oletandros, and Gyara^, -vs-ith a city of the same name, the
island being twelve miles in circumference, and distant from
Andros sixty-two. At a distance of eighty miles from
Gryara is Syrnos, then C}Tia)thus, Telos"*, noted for its un-
guents, and by Callimachus called Agathussa, Donusa%
Patmos^, thii'ty miles in circumference, the Corassia)'^, Le-

^ 'Now Scyro, east of Euboea, aud one of the Sporades. Here AcliiUes
was said to have been concealed by his mother Thetis, in -woman's
attire. •

2 JS'ow Nio, one of the Sporades, inaccm-ately called by Stephanus one
of the Cjclades. The modern town is built on the site of the ancient
one, of which there are some remains. It was said that Homer died
here, on his voyage from Smyrna to Athens, and that liis mother,
Clvmene, was a native of this island. In 1773, Van Ki'ienen, a Dutch
nobleman, asserted that he had discovered the tomb of Homer here, with
certain inscriptions relative to him ; but they have been generally re-
garded by the leanied as forgeries. Odia and Oletandi'os seem not to
have been identified.

' Now called Gioura, or Jura. It was little better than a barren rock,
though inhabited ; but so notorious for its poverty, that its mice
were said to be able to gnaw through u'on. It was used as a place
of banishment under the Roman emperors, whence the line of Ju-
venal, i. 73 —

" Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum."

" Dare some deed deserving of the httle Gyara and the gaol." It is now
uninhabited, except by a few sheplierds in the summer.

^ Now Telos, or Piskopi, a small island in the Carpathian Sea, and one
of the Sporades. It Ues off the coast of Caria. Syrnos appears not to
have been identified.

s NearNaxos. Virgil calls it 'viridis,' or 'green,' which Soi-vius ex-
plains by the colour of its marble. Like Gyara, it was used as a place
of banishment under the Roman Empire. In C. 22, Phny has mentioned
Cynfcthus as one of the names of Dclos.

^ Now Patmo, one of the Sporades, and west of the Pi-omontory of
Posidium, in Caria. To this place St. John was banit^hed, and liere iic
wrote the Apocalypse.

7 A group between Icaria and Samoa. They are now called Pluu'ni
and Krusi.

YOL. I. T

322 plint's natijeal histokt. [Book IV.

biiitlius^ Leros^, Cinara^ ; Sicinus'*, formerly called QEnoe^ ;
Hieracia, also called Onus; Casos*^, likewise called Astrabe ;
Cimolus", or Ecliiuussa ; and Melos^, with a city of that name,
which island Aristides calls Memblis, Aristotle Zephyria,Cal-
limachus Mimallis, Heraclides Siphis and Acytos. This last
is the most circular® in form of all these islands. After this
comes Machia, then Hypere, formerly Patage, or, as others
have it, Platage, but now called Amorgos^", Polyajgos",
Phyle, and Thera^", known as Calliste when it first sprang
from the waves. Prom this, at a later period, the island of

1 One of the Sporades, now Lebitlia.

2 Now Lero. Its inhabitants were of Milesian origin, and of indif-
ferent character. In its temple of Ai-temis, the sisters of Meleager were
said to have been changed into guinea-fowls. It w^as opposite the coast
of Caria.

3 Now Zinari, N.E, of Amorgos, The artichoke (called Kivapa in
Greek) is said to have given name to it.

^ Now Sikino ; between Pholegandros and los.

* So called, accordhig to Stephanus, from its cultivation of the vine
and produce of wine, olvos. It was situate between Pholegandros and los.
It was said to have had the name of Siciuus from a son of Thoas and
GEnoe. Hieracia seems to be miknoAvii.

^ StiU known by that name, and lymg between Carpathus and Crete.
The ruins of the ancient town of Casos are stiU to be seen at the village
of Polin, It is mentioned by Homer.

7 Now Kiaioli, one of the Cyclades, between Siplmos and Melos. It
took its name of Echmussa from the ' Ecliinus,' or Sea-m'chin, of wliich
various fossil specunens are stiU found on the coast ; but nowhere else in
these islands, except the opposite coast of Melos. There are considerable
ruins of its ancient town.

^ Now MQo, the most westerly of the Cyclades. It is remarkable for
its extreme fertility. Its town, which, according to most authorities,
was called Bybhs, was situate on the north of the island.

'^ Ansart remarks, that our author is mistaken in tliis assertion, for
not only are many others of these islands more circular in form, but
even that of Kimolo, wliich stands next to it.

^^ Now Amorgo, S.E. of Naxos. It was the bu'th-plaee of the Iambic
poet Simonides. It is noted for its fertility. Under the Roman em-
perors, it was vised as a place of banishment.

11 Now Polybos, or Antimelos, an mimhabited island near Melos.
Phyle seems not to have been identified.

^'^ Now Santorin, south of the island of los. The tradition was, that
it was formed from a clod of earth, thrown from the ship Argo. It is
evidently of volcanic origin, and is covered with pumice-stone. It was
colonized by Lacedcemonians and Minyans of Lemnos, under the Spartau
Theras, who gave ids name to the island.

Chap. 23.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTETES, ETC. 323

Tlierasia^ was torn a^Yay, and between the two afterwards
arose Automate, also called Hiera, and Thia, which in our
own times came into existence in the vicinity of these islands,
los is distant from Tliera twenty-five miles.

Next to these follow Lea, Ascania^, Anaphe', Ilippuris,
and Astypalsea^, a free state. This island is eighty-eight
miles in circumference, and 125 miles distant from Cadistus,
in Crete. From Astypalrea, Platea is distant sixty miles,
and Caminia thirty-eight from this last. AVe then come to
the islands of Azibintha, Lanise, Tragsea, Pharmacussa,
Techedia, Chalcia^, Calymna^, in which is the town of Coos,
Calymna, at a distance of twenty-five miles from which
is Carpathum'^, which has given its name to the Carpathian
Sea. The distance thence to Ehodes^, in the direction of the
south-west wind, is fifty miles. From Carpathum to Casus
is seven miles, and from Casus to Sammonium, the pro-
montory of Crete, thirty^. In the Euripus of Euboea, almost*
at the very mouth of it, are the four islands called Petaliae^'' ;

^ A small island to the west of Thera, still kno\\Ti by the same name.

^ In Lapie's map, Ascania is set do%vn as the present Christiana.

' Now Anaphe, IS'amfi, or Namphio, one of the Sporades. It was
celebrated for the temple of ApoUo .Egletes, the fomidution of which
was ascribed to the Ai'gonauts, and of whicli considerable remains stiU
exist. It aboimds m partridges, as it did also in ancient times.

■* Now Astropalsea, or Stamphaha. By Strabo it is called one of the
Sporades, by Stephanas one of the Cyclades. It probably was favoured
by the Romans for the excellence and importance of its harbours. From
Hegesander we leaim that it was famous for its hares, and PUny tells us,
in B. viii. c. 59, that its mussels were (as tliey still are) very celebrated.

5 None of these islands can be now identified, except perhaps Chalcia,
also mentioned by Strabo, and now known as Karki.

^ Now Kalymno, the prmcipal island of the grou^-), by Homer called
Calydne. According to most of the editions, Winy mentions here
Calydna andCalymna,makhigthis island, wliich had those two names, into
two islands. Altliough Pliny here mentions only the tovm of Coos, still,
in B. V. c. 3n, he speaks of three otliers, Notium, Nisyrus, and Mondc-
terus. There are still some remains of antiquity to be seen here.

7 Or Carpathus, now Skarpanto. It gave name to the sea between
Crete and Rhodes.

^ It still preserves its ancient name, and presents some interesting
remains of antiquity.

'•^ Brotier says tliat the distance is really fifly-two miles.

^^ So called from the town of PetaUa, on the mainland. Ansart says
Hiat theu" present name is SpUi.

t2

324 PLINT's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book IV.

and, at its outlet, Atalante^ The Cyclades and tlie Sporades
are bounded on the east by the Asiatic shores of the Icarian
Sea, on the west by tlie Attic shores of the Myrtoan Sea,
on the north by the ^gean, and on the south by the Cretan
and Carpathian seas, extending 700 miles in length, and 200
in breadth.

The Gulf of Pagasa^ has in front of it Euthia^, Cicynethus^,
Scyros, previously mentioned^, and the very furthermost
of the Cyclades and Sporades, Grerontia and Scandila^; the
Gulf of Thermie'', Iraesia, Solimnia, Eudemia, and Nea, which
last is sacred to Minerva. Athos has before it four islands ;
Peparethus^, formerly called Evoenus,with a city of that name,
at a distance from Athos of nine miles ; Sciathus^, at a
distance of fifteen, and Imbros^", with a city of the same
name, at a distance of eighty-eight, miles. This last island
is distant from Mastusia, in the Chersonesus, twenty-five
miles ; it is sixty-two ^^ miles in circumference, and is washed
by the river Ilisus. At a distance of twenty-two miles from
it is Lemnos^^, being distant from Mount Athos eighty-
seven; it is 112 miles in circumference, and has the cities
of Hephaestia and Myrina^^ ; into the market-place of which
last city Athos throws its shadow at the summer solstice.
The island of Thasos^^, constituting a free state, is six miles

■ 1 I^ow Talanti, giving name to the Channel of Talanti.

2 The present Gulf of Volo, mentioned in ,C. 15 of the present Book.

3 Ansart suggests that this may possibly be the small island now
called Agios Nicolaos.

4 Now Trikeri.

5 In the present Chapter.

^ Now Scangero, or Skaiitzoura, accordmg to Ansart.

7 Now the G-ulf of Saloniki, mentioned in C. 17. The islands here
mentioned have apparently not been identified.

s Off the coast of Thessaly, now Piperi.

^ Now Skiathos. It was famous for its wine.

^^ Now called Embro, or Imru. Both the island and city of Imbros
are mentioned by Homer.

11 This is double the actual circumference of the island.

12 Now called StaUmene.

1' Its site is now called Palseo Eastro. Hephsestia, or Yulcan's Town,
stood near the modern Rapanidi. That god was said to have fallen into
this island when tln"own from heaven by Jupiter.

1^ Now Thaso, or Tasso. Its gold mines were in early periods very
valuable.

Chap. 23.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 325

distant from Lemnos ; it formerly had the name of Aeria,
or ^Ethria. Abdera\ on the mainland, is distant from
Thasos twenty-two miles, Athos sixty-two^. The island of
Samothrace^, a free state, facing the river Hebrus, is the
same distance from Thasos, being also tliirty-two^ miles
from Imbros, twenty-two from Lemnos, and thirty-eight'
from the coast of Thrace ; it is thirty-two miles in circum-
ference, and in it rises Mount Saoce*', ten miles in height.
This island is the most inaccessible of them all. Callimachus
mentions it by its ancient name of Dardania.

Between the Chersonesus and Samothrace, at a distance
of about fifteen miles from them both, is the island of
Halonnesos'', and beyond it Gethone, Lamponia, and Alo-
peconnesus^, not far from Coelos, aport^ of the Chersonesus,
besides some others of no importance. The following names
may be also mentioned, as those of uninhabited islands in
this gvdf, of which we have been enabled to discover the
names: — Desticos, Sarnos, Cyssiros, Charbrusa, Calathusa,
Scylla, Draconon, Arconnesus, Dietliusa, Scapos, Capheris,
Mesate, ^antion, Pateronnesos, Pateria, Calate, Neriphus,
and Polendos'".

^ Mentioned in C. 17 of this Book.

- Ansart says that " forty-two" would be the coiTcct reading here, that
being also the distance between Samothrace and Thasos.

^ Its modern name is Saiuothraki. It was the chief seat of the mys-
terious worship of the Cabii'i,

* Only twelve, according to Ansart.

^ Barely eighteen, according to Brotier.

^ Now Monte Nettuno. Of course the height liere mentioned by
Pliny is erroneous ; but Homer says that h*om this mountain Troy
coidd be seen. •

7 Now called Skopelo, if it is the same island wliich is mentioned
by Ptolemy imder the name of Scopelus. It exports wine in largo
quantities.

" Or the Fox Island, po called from its first settlers having been
directed by an oracle to cstabli!«li a colony wliere tliey sliould first meet a
fox with its cub. Like many otlicrs of the islands here mentioned, it
appears not to have been identified.

« See C. 18 of this Book.

^^ None of these islands appear to have been identified by modern
gcograpliers.

326 plikt's natueal histoet. [Book rv.

CHAP. 24. — THE HELLESPONT. — THE LAKE MiEOTIS.

The fourtli great Gulf of Europe begins at the Hellespoi.fc
and ends at the entrance of the M8eotis\ But in order
that the several portions of the Euxine and its coasts may
be the better known, we must briefly embrace the form,
of it in one general yiew. This vast sea, lying in front of
Asia, is shut out from Europe by the projection of the shores
of the Chersonesus, and eifects an entrance into those coun-
tries by a narrow channel only, of the wddth, as already
mentioned, of seven stadia, thus separating Europe from
Asia. The entrance of these Straits is called the Hel-
lespont; over it Xerxes, the king of the Persians, con-
structed a bridge of boats, across which he led his army.
A narrow channel extends thence a distance of eighty-six
miles, as far as Priapus^, a city of Asia, at which Alexander
the Grreat passed over. At this point the sea becomes
wider, and after some distance again takes the form of a
narrow strait. The mder part is known as tlie Propontis^,
the Straits as the Thracian Bosporus'*, being only half-a-
mile in width, at the place where Darius, the father of
Xerxes, led his troops across by a bridge. The extremity of
this is distant from the Hellespont 239 miles.

"We then come to the vast sea called the Euxine, which
invades the land as it retreats afar, and the name of which
was formerly Axenus^ As the shores bend inwards, this
sea with a vast sweep stretches far away, curving on both
sides after the manner of a pair of horns, so much so that in
shape it bears a distinct resemblance to a Scythian bow^.

^ Now generally known as the Pains Mceotis or Sea of Azof.

2 The modem Caraboa, according to Brotier, stands on its site. Pri-
apiis was the tutelary divinity of Lampsacns in this vicinity.

3 Or " entrance of Pontns " ; now the Sea of Marmora.

■* " Ox Ford," or " passage of the cow," lo being said to have crossed
it in that form : now caUed the " Straits of Constantinople."

5 Said to have been called d^evos or " mhospitable," from its frequent
storms and the savage state of the people hvmg on its shores. In later
times, on the principle of Euphemism, or abstaining from words of ill
omen, its name was changed to evt,eivos, "hospitable."

^ This was a favourite comparison of the ancients ; the north coast,
between tlie Thracian Bosporus and the Phasis, formed the bow, and the
BOiithern shores the strmg. The Scythian bow somewhat resembled in
form the figui'C S, the capital Sigma of the Greeks.

Cliap. 24.] ACCOUNT OF C0TJ3TTEIES, ETC. 327

In the middle of the curve it is joined by the mouth of
Lake Mseotis, Avhich is called the Cimmerian^ Bosporus,
and is two miles and a half in width. Between the two
Bospori, the Thracian and the Cimmerian, there is a distance
in a straight line, of 500 miles, as Polybius informs us. We
learn from Yarro and most of the ancient writers, that tlie
circumference of the Eiixine is altogether 2150 miles ; but
to this number Cornelius Nepos adds 350 more ; while
Artemidorus makes it 2919 miles, Agrippa 23G0, and jMu-
cianus 2425, In a similar manner some writers have fixed
the length of the European shores of this sea at 1478 miles,
others again at 1172. M. Yarro gives the measurement as
follows : — from the mouth of the Euxine to Apollonia 187
miles, and to Callatis the same distance ; thence to the
mouth of the Ister 125 miles ; to the Borysthenes 250 ; to
Chersonesus-, a town of the Heracleota?, 325 ; to Pantica-
pseum^, by some called Bosporus, at the very extremity of
the shores of Europe, 212 miles : the whole of whieli added
together, makes 1337^ miles. Agrippa makes the distance
from Byzantium to the river Ister 560 miles, and from
thence to Panticapseum, 635.

Lake Maeotis, which receives the river Tanais as it flows
from the Biphaean Mountains^ and forms the extreme boun-
dary between Europe and Asia, is said to be 1406 miles in
circumference ; which however some writers state at only
1125. From the entrance of this lake to the mouth of tlie
Tanais in a straight line is, it is generally agreed, a distance
of 375 miles.

The inhabitants of the coasts of this fourth great Gulf of

' Now the Straits of Kaffa or Enikale.

2 Tliis town lay about the middloot'the Tauric Cliorsoncsus or Crimea,
and was situate on a small peninsula, ealled the Smaller Chersonesus, to
distinguish it from the larger one, of wliich it formed a part. It was
founded by the inhabitants of the Pontic Ilcraclea, or Ileracleium, the
site of which is unkno^\'Tl. See note ^ to p. 333.

3 Now Kertsch, in tlic Crimea. It derived its name fi-om llic river
Panticapes ; and was founded by llie ^lilesians about B.C. 5 tl. It was
the residence of the Greek kings of Bosporus, and lience it was some-
times so called. ■* " Tliirty-six" properly.

5 The Tanais or Don does not rise in tlie Kiiiha^an ^Mountains, or
western branch of the Urahan chain, but on slightly elevated ground in
the centre of European Russia.

328 plint's natural HISTOET. [Book ly.

Europe, as far as Istropolis, have been already^ mentioned in
our account of Thrace. Passing beyond that spot we come
to the mouths of the Ister. This river rises in Grermany in
the heights of Mount Abnoba^, opposite to Eauricum^, a
to^\Ti of Graul, and flows for a course of many miles beyond
the Alj^s and through nations innumerable, under the name
of the Danube. Adding immensely to the volume of its
waters, at the spot where it first enters Illyricum, it assumes
the name of Ister, and, after receiving sixty rivers, nearly
one half of which are navigable, rolls into the Euxine by
six** vast channels. The first of these is the mouth of
Pence ^, close to which is the island of Pence itself, from
which the neighboui'ing channel takes its name ; this mouth
is swallowed up in a great swamp nineteen miles in length.
Prom the same channel too, above Istropolis, a lake^ takes
its rise, sixt)' -three miles in circuit ; its name is Halmyris.
The second mouth is called Naracu- Stoma'' ; the third, which
is near the island of Sarmatica, is called Calon-Stoma^ ; the
fourth is known as Pseudo-Stomon^, with its island
called Conopon-Diabasis^" ; after which come the Boreon-

1 Chap. 18 of the present Book. Istropolis is supposed to be the
present I.stere, though some would make it to have stood on the site of
the present Kostendsje, and Bi'otier identifies it witli Kara-Kerman.

2 Now called the Schwarzwald or Black Forest. The Danube or Ister
rises on the eastern side at the spot called Donauescloingen.

2 So called from the Raurici, a powerful people of GaUia Belgica, who
possessed several tov^Tis, of which the most important were Augusta, now
Augst, and Basiha, now Bale.

'* Only tlu'ee of these are now considered of importance, as being the
mam branches of the river. It is looked upon as hnpossible by modern
geographers to identify the accounts given by the ancients vnth. the
present channels, by name, as the Danube has undergone in lapse of time,
very considerable changes at its mouth. Strabo mentions seven mouths,
three being lesser ones.

5 So called, as stated by Pliny, from the island of Peuce, now Piczina.
Pence appears to have been the most southerly of the mouths.

^ Now called Kara-Sou, accorduig to Brotier. Also called Rassefu
in the maps.

7 Now called HazraH Bogasi, according to Brotier. It is called by
Ptolemy the Narakian Mouth,

* Or the " Beautiful Mouth." Now Susie Bogasi, according to Brotier.

^ Or the "False Mouth" : now the Sulina Bogasi, the principal mouth
of the Danube, so maltreated by its Russian guardians.

^^ Or the " Passage of the Gnats," so called from being the resort of

Chap. 25.] ACCOUNT OF COTHfTEIES, ETC. 329

Stoma^ and the Psilon-Stoma^. These mouths are each of
them so considerable, that for a distance of forty miles, it is
said, the saltness of the sea is quite overpowered, and the
water found to be fresh.

CHAP, 25. DACIA, SAEMATIA.

On setting out from this spot, all the nations met
Avith are iScytliian in general, though various races have
occupied the adjacent shores ; at one spot the Getse'*, by the
Eomans called Daci ; at another the Sarmatse, by the Greeks
called Sauromatae, and the Hamaxobii^ or Aorsi, a branch
of them ; tlien again the base-born Scythians and descend-
ants of slaves, or else the Troglodytae^ ; and then, after
them, the Alani^ and the Khoxalani, The higher^ parts
again, between the Danube and the Hercynian Forest^, as
far as the winter quarters of Pannonia at Carnuntum^, and
the borders of the Germans, are occupied by the Sarmatian
lazyges^", who inhabit the level .country and the plains,

swarms of mosqvdtoes, -which were said at a certain tmie of the year to
migrate to the Palus Ma^otis. AccortUng to Bi'otier the present name
of tills island is Ilan Adasi, or Serpent Island.

^ The " Xorthera Mouth " : near the town of Kiha.

2 Or the " Narrow Mouth."

3 Though Strabo distinguishes the Getce from the Daci, most of the
ancient writers, with Phny, speak of them as identical. It is not known,
however, why the Getse in later times assumed the name of Daci.

* " Dwellers in waggons." These were a Sarmatian tribe who wan-
dered with their waggons along the banks of the Volga. The chief seats
of the Aorsi, who seem in reality to have been a distinct people from the
Ilamaxobii, was in the country between the Tanais, the Euxine, the
Caspian, and the Caucasus.

5 " Dwellers in Caves." Tliis name appears to have been given to
various savage races in different parts of tlie world.

^ There were races of the Alani in Asia on the Caucasus, and in Eu-
rope on the Ma'otis and the Euxine ; but their precise geograpliical
position is not clearly ascertained.

7 The present Transylvania and Hungary.

8 The name given in the age of Pliny to the range of mountains ex-
tending around Bohemia, and through Moravia into Hungary.

' Its ruins are still to be seen on the south bank of tlie Danube near
Haimburg, between Deutsch-Altenburg and Pctronell. The Roman Ueet
of tlie Danube, with the 11th legion, was originally estabhshed there.

^^ In Pliny's time this migratory tribe seems to have removed to the

330 plikt's NATTTEAL HISTOET. [Book lY.

while the Daci, whom they have driven as far as the river
Pathissus\ inhabit the mountain and forest ranges. On
leaving the river Mariis", whether it is that or the Duria^,
that separates them from the Suevi and the kingdom of
Vannius^, the Basternse, and, after them, other tribes of
the Germans occupy the opposite sides^. Agrippa considers
the whole of tliis region, from the Ister to the ocean, to be
2100 miles in length, and 4400 miles in breadth to the river
Vistula in the deserts^ of Sarmatia. The name " Scythian"
has extended, in every direction, even to the Sarmatse and the
Germans ; but this ancient appellation is now only given to
those who dwell beyond those nations, and live unknown to
nearly all the rest of the world.

CHAP. 26. — SCTTHIA.

Leaving the Ister, we come to the to^Tis of Cremniscos'',
^polium, the mountains of Macrocremnus, and the famous
river Tyra^, which gives name to a town on the spot where
Ophiusa is said formerly to have stood. The Tyragetse
inhabit a large island^ situate in this river, which is distant

plains between tlie Lower Theiss and the mountains of Transylvania,
from wliich places they had expelled the Dacians.

^ The Lower Theiss. ^ Now the river Mark, Maros, or Morava.

3 The name of the two streams now known as the Dora Baltea and
Dora Riparia, both of which fall into the Po. Tliis passage appears to
be in a mutilated state.

■* A cliief of the Quadi ; who,'as we learn from Tacitus, was made king
of the Suevi by Germanicus, a.d. 19. Being afterwards expeUed by his
nephews Vangio and Sido, he received from the emperor Claudius a
settlement in Pannonia. Tacitus gives the name of Suevia to the whole
of the east of Germany from the Danube to the Baltic.

^ Accorduig to Hardouin, Phny here speaks of the other side of the
mountainous district called Higher Hungary, facing the Danube and
extending from the river Theiss to the Morava,

^ Tliis, according to SiUig, is the real meaning of a desertis here, the
distance being mej\sured from the Danube, and not between the Vistula
and the wUds of Sarmatia. The reading " four thousand" is probably
corrupt, but it seems more Hkely than that of 404 miles, adopted by
Littre, in his French translation.

"^ Placed by Forbiger near Lake Burmasaka, or near Islama.

^ The Dniester. The mountains of Macrocremnus, or the "Great
Heights," seem not to have bt>en identified.

^ According to Hardouin, the modern name of this island is Tandra.

Chap. 26.] ACCOUNT OF COXTNTEIES, ETC. 331

from Pseudostomos, a mouth of the Ister, so called, 130
miles. We then come to the Axiacae, who take their name
from the river Axiaces\ and heyond them, the Crobyzi, the
river Ehodes", the Sagariau Guli'^, and the port of Ordesos^.
At a distance of 120 miles from the Tyra is the river Bory-
sthenes^ Avith a lake and a people of similar name, as also
a towii*^ in tlie interior, at a distance of fifteen miles from the
sea, the ancient names of which were Olbiopolis and Mile-
topolis. Again, on tlie shore is the port of the Acha)i, and
the island of Achilles'', famous for the tomb there of that
hero, and, at a distance of 125 miles from it, a peninsula
which stretches forth in the shape of a sword, in an oblique
direction, and is called, from having been his place of exercise,
Dromos Achilleos^ : the length of this, according to Agrippa,
is eighty miles. The Taurian Scythians and the ISiraci*
occupy all this tract of country.

At this spot begins a well-wooded district^", which has

^ Now called the Tehgul, east of the Tyra or Dniester.

* Now called Sasik Beregen, according to Brotier.

3 The modern Gulf of Berezen, according to Brotier.

•* Probably the modern Okzakow. ,

5 The modern Dnieper. It also retains its ancient name of Borrsthcnes.

" We learn from Strabo that the name of this town was Olbia, and
that from being founded by the Milesians, it received the name of Mile-
topoHs. According to Brotier, the modern Zapurooski occupies its site,
between the mouths of the river Buzuluk.

7 This was adjacent to the strip of land called " Dromos AchUleos," or
the 'race-course of Achilles.' It is identified by geographers with the
httle island of Zmievoi or Oulan Adassi, the ' Serpents Island.' It was
said that it was to this spot that Thetis transported tlie body of Achilles.
By some it was made the abode of the shades of the blest, where Achilles
and other heroes of fable were the judges of tlie dead.

* A narrow strip of land X.W. of the Crimea and south of the mouth
of the Dnieper, running nearly due west and east. It is now divided
into two parts called Kosa Tendra and Kosa Djarilgatch. Aeliilles was
said to have instituted games here.

^ According to Ilardouin, the Siraci occupied a portion of the present
Podoha and Ukraine, and the Tauri the modern Bessarabia.

^•^ According to Herodotus, tliis region, called Ilylffa, lay to the east of
the Borysthenes. It seems uncertain whether there are now any traces
of this ancient woodland ; some of the old maps however give the name
of the " Black Forest " to this district. From the statements of modem
travellers, the woody country dues not commence till the river Don has
been reaclied. The district of llyla-a has been identified by geographers
■with the great pkin of Juiiboylouk in the steppe of the iSogai.

382 PLIIfT's NATUEA.L HISTOET. [Book lY.

given to tlie sea tliat waslies its banks the name of the
Hylsean Sea; its inhabitants are called Enoechadlfce\ Be-
yond them is the river Panticapes"^, which separates the
JSFomades^ and the Georgi. and after it the Acesinus^. Some
authors say that the Panticapes flows into the Boi^ysthenes
below Olbia^. Others, who are more correct, say that it is
the Hypanis^ : so great is the mistake made by those who
have placed if in Asia.

The sea runs in here and forms a large gulf ^, until there
is only an intervening space ^ of five miles between it and the
Lake Mseotis, its margin forming the sea-line of extensive
tracts of land, and numerous nations ; it is known as the Gulf
of Carcinites. Here we find the river Pacyris^", the towns of
Navarum and Carcine^\ and behind it Lake Buges^^, which

* For Enoechadlse, Hardouin suggests that we should read Inde St/lcBi^
"hence the mhabitants are called by the name of Hylsei."

2 The Panticapes is usually identified with the modern Somara, but
perhaps withoiit suiBcient grounds. It is more probably the Kouskawoda.

2 The Nomades or wandering, from the Georgi or agricultural Scy-
thians-.

^ The Acesinus does not appear to have been identified by modern
geographers. ° Above called Olbiopohs or Miletopohs.

^ The Bog or Boug. Flowmg parallel with the Borysthenes or
Dnieper, it cUsLarged itself into the Euxine at the town of Olbia, at no
great distance from the mouth of the Borysthenes.

7 Probably meaning the mouth or point at which the river discharges
itself into the sea.

^ The modern Grulf of Negropoli or Perekop, on the west side of the
Chersonesus Taurica or Crimea.

3 Forming the present isthmus of Perekop, which divides the Sea of
Perekop from the Sea of Azof.

^^ Called by Herodotus Hypacyris, and by later writers Carcinites. It
is generally supposed to be the same as the small stream now known as
the Kalantchak.

^^ Hardouin says that the city of Carcine has still retained its name,
but changed its site. More modern geographers however are of opinion
that nothing can be determined with certainty as to its site. Of the site
also of Navarum nothing seems to be known.

^2 Or Buces or Byce. This is reaUy a gulf, almost enclosed, at the end
of the Sea of Azof. Strabo gives a more full description of it imder the
name of the Sapra Zdmne, " the Putrid Lake," by wlaieh name it is still
called, in Russian, SibacJie or Sivache More. It is a vast lagoon, covered
with water when an east A\Tnd blows the water of the Sea of Azof into it,
but at other times a tract of shme and mud, sending forth pestilential
vapours.

Chap. 26.] ACCOUNT OP COTJlsTKIES, ETC. 333

discliarges itself by a cliannel into tlie sea. This Biiges is
separated by a ridge of rocks ^ from Coretus, a gulf iu the
Lake M^eotis ; it receives the rivers Buges'^, Gerriis^, and
Hvj^acaris^ wliich approach it from regions that lie in
various directions. For the Gerrus separates the Basilidse
from the Xomades, the Ilypacaris flows through the Xo-
mades and the Hyla}i, by an artificial channel into Lake
Buges, and by its natiu^al one into the Gulf of Coretus :
this region bears the name of Scythia Sindice.

At the river Carcinites, Scythia Taurica^ begins, which
was once covered by the sea, where we now see level
plains extended on every side : beyond this the land rises into
mountains of great elevation. The peoples here are thirty
in nimiber, of wliich twenty-three dwell in the interior, six
of the cities being inhabited by the Orgocyni, the Chara-
ceni^, the Lagyrani, the Tractari, the Arsilachitae, and the
Caliordi. The Scythotam^i possess the range of moimtains :
on the west they are boimded by the Chersonesus, and on
the east by the Scythian Satarchse''. On the sliore, after
we leave Carcinites, we find the folloAving towns ; Ta-
phrae^, situate on the very isthmus of the peninsula, and
then ITeraclea Chersonesus^, to which its freedom has been
granted'" by the Eomans. This place was formerly called

^ It is rather a ridge of sand, that almost separates it from the waters
of the gulf.

2 This river has not been identified by modem geographers.

3 According to Herodotus the Gerrhus or GeiTus fell into the Hypa-
caris ; whicli must be understood to be, not the Kalantchak, but the
Outlouk. It is probably now represented by the Moloschnijawoda,
which forms a shallow lake or marsh at its mouth.

^ It is most probable that the Pacyris, mentioned above, the Hypa-
caris, and the Careuiites, were various names for the same river, gene-
rally supposed, as stated above, to be the small stream of Kalantchak.

* Now the Crimea.

^ It does not appear that the site of any of these cities has been iden-
tified. Cliarax was a general name for a fortified towni.

7 Mentioned again by Pliny in B.vi. c. 7. Sohnus says that in order
to repel avarice, the Satarclux' prohibited the use of gold and silver.

8 On the site of the modern Perekop, more commonly ealletl Orkapi.
^ Or Chersonesus of the Ileraoleans. The town of Jvosleve or Eupa-

toria is supposed to stand on its site.

^" After the conquest of Mithridatcs, when the whole of these regions
fell into the hands of the Romans.

834 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book IV.

Megarice, being the most polished city throughout all these
regions, in consequence of its strict preservation of Grecian
manners and customs. A wall, five miles in length, sur-
rounds it. Next to this comes the Promontory of Par-
thenium\ the city of the Tauri, Placia, the port of the Sym-
bolic, and the Promontory of Criumetopon^, opposite to
Carambis^, a promontory of Asia, which runs out in the
middle of the Euxine, leaving an intervening space between
them of 170 miles, which circumstance it is in especial that
gives to this sea the form of a Scythian bow. After leaving
this headland we come to a great number of harbours and
lakes of the Tauri'. The town of Theodosia*^ is distant
from Criumetopon 125 miles, and from Chersonesus 165.
Beyond it there were, in former times, the towns of CytsB,
Zephyrium, Acras, Nymphseum, and Dia. Panticapaeum', a
city of the Milesians, by far the strongest of them all, is
still in existence ; it lies at the entrance of the Bosporus,
and is distant from Theodosia eighty-seven miles and a half,
and from the town of Cimmerium, which lies on the other
side of the Strait, as we have previously^ stated, two miles
and a half. Such is the width here of the cliannel which
separates Asia from Europe, and which too, from being
generally quite frozen over, allows of a passage on foot.

^ The modern Felenk-burun. So called from the Parthenos or Yirgia
Diana or Artemis, whose temple stood on its heights, in which human
sacrifices were offered to the goddess.

2 Supposed to be the same as the now-famed port of Balaklava.

3 The modern Aia-burun, the great southern headland of the Crimea.
According to Plutarcli, it was called by the natives Brixaba, which,
like the name Criumetopon, meant the " Ram's Head."

* Now Kerempi, a promontory of Paphlagonia in Asia Minor. Strabo
considers this promontory and that of Criumetopon as dividing the
Euxine into two seas.

^ According to Strabo, the sca-hne of the Tauric Chersonesus, after
leavmg the port of the Symboh, extended 125 miles, as far as Theodosia.
Pliny would here seem to make it rather greater.

^ The modern Kaffa occupies its site. The sites of many of the places
here mentioned appear not to be known at the present day.

7 The modern Kertsch, situate on a hill at the very mouth of the
Cimmei'ian Bosporus, or Straits of Enikale or Kaffa, opposite the town
of Phanagoria in Asia.

^ In C. 21 of the present Book. CLxrk identifies the town of Cim-
merium with the modem Temruk, Forbiger witli Eskiki'imm. It is
again mentioned in B. vi. c. 2.

Chap. 26.] ACCOITNT OP COrXTBIES, ETC. 335

The widtli of the Cimmerian Bosporus^ is twelve miles and
a half: it contains the towns of Hermisium'^, Myrmecium,
and, in the interior^ of it, the island of Alopece. From the
spot called Taphra^"*, at the extremity of the isthmus, to the
mouth of the Bosporus, along the line of the Lake Mseotis,
is a distance of 260 miles.

Leaving Taphrae, and going along the mainland, we find
in the interior the Auchetae^, in whose country the Hypanis
has its rise, as also the jN^euroe, in whose district the Bory-
sthenes has its source, theGreloni^,theThyssagetae,theBudini,
the Basilida?, and the Agathyrsi''^ with their azure-coloured
hair. Above them are the Nomades, and then a nation of
Anthropophagi or cannibals. On lea^ang Lake Buges, above
the Lake Mjcotis we come to the Sauromata? and the Esse-
dones'. Along the coast, as far as the river Tanais^, are

^ He alludes here, not to the Strait so called, but to the Peninsula
bordering upon it, upon wliich the modern town of Kertscli is situate,
and which projects £i*om the larger Peninsula of the Crimea, as a sort of
excrescence on its eastern side.

2 Probably Heniies or Mercury was its tutelar divinity : its site
appears to be unknown.

3 Probably meaning the Straits or passage connecting the Lake Mseotis
with the Euxine. The fertile district of the Cimmerian Bosporus was
at one time the granary of Greece, especially Athens, wliich imported
thence annually 400,000 medimni of com.

^ A town so called on the Isthmus of Perckop, from a Td<ppos or
trench, which was cut across the isthmus at this point.

^ Lomonossov, in his History of Russia, says that these people were
the same as the Sclaroni : but that one meaning of the name 'Slavane'
being " a boaster," the Greeks gave them tlie corresponding appellation
of Auchetoe, fi-om the word avxt), wliich signifies "boasting."

6 Of the Geloni, called by Virgil "picti," or "painted," nothing cer-
tain seems to be known : they are associated by Herodotus with the
Eudini, supposed to belong to the Slavic family by Scbafarik. In B. iv.
c. 108, 109, of his History, Herodotus gives a very particular account of
theBudini, who had a city built entirely of wood, the name of which was
Gelonus. The same autlior also assigns to the Geloni a Greek origin.

' The Agathyrsi are placed by Herodotus near the upper course of the
river Maris, in the S.E. of Dacia or the modem IVansylvania. Phny
however seems here to assign them a dillerent locality.

^ Also called "Assedones" and " Issedones." It has been suggested by
modem geogra]ihers that their locality must be assigned to the east of
Ichim, on tlie steppe of the central horde of the Kirghiz, and that of the
Arima>pi on the northern dccUvity of the chain of the Altai.

^ Kow the Don.

336 flint's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book lY.

the MseotEe, from wliom the lake derives its name, and the
last of all, in the rear of them, the Arimaspi. "We then
come to the Eiphsean^ moimtams, and the region known by
the name of Pterophoros^, because of the perpetual fall of
snow there, the flakes of which resemble feathers ; a part of
the world which has been condemned by the decree of
nature to lie immersed in thick darkness ; suited for nothing
but the generation of cold, and to be the asylum of the
chilling blasts of the northern winds.

Behind these moiuitains, and beyond the region of the
northern winds, there dwells, if we choose to believe it, a
happy race, known as the Hyperborei^, a race that lives to an
extreme old age, and which has been the subject of many mar-
vellous stories^. At this spot are supposed to be the hinges
upon which the world revolves, and the extreme limits of the
revolutions of the stars. Here we find light for six months
together, given by the sun in one continuous day, who does
not, however, as some ignorant persons have asserted, conceal
himself from the vernal equinox^ to autumn. On the contrary,
to these people there is but one rising of the sun for the year,
and that at the summer solstice, and but one setting, at the
wdnter solstice. This region, warmed by the rays of the
sun, is of a most delightful temperature, and exempt from

^ Most probably these mountains were a western brancli of the Ura-
lian chain.

2 From the Greek Trrepo^opos, " wiug-beai'ing " or "feather-bearing."

3 This legendary race was said to dwell in the regions beyond Boreas,
or the northern wind, which issued from the Eiphsean mountains, the
name of which was derived from pnrai or " hrn'rictines " issuing from
a cavern, and which these heights warded off from the Hyperboreans and
sent to more southern nations. Hence they never felt the northern
blasts, and enjoyed a hfe of supreme happiness and undistvirbed repose.
" Here," says Hu.mboldt, " are the first views of a natural science which
explains the distribution of heat and the difference of chmates by local
causes — by the direction of the winds — the proximity of the sun, and the
action of a moist or sahne principle." — Asie Cent rale, vol. i.

^ Pindar says, in the " Pytliia," x. 56, " The Muse is no stranger to
their manners. The dances of ghls and the sweet melody of the lyre
and pipe resound on every side, and wreathing their locks with the
glistening bay, they feast joyously. For this sacred race there is no doom
of sickness or of disease ; but they hve apart from toil and battles, undis-
tm'bed by the exacting Nemesis."

^ Ilardouin remarks that Pomponius Mela, who asserts that the
sun rises here at the vernal and sets at the autumnal equinox, is right ia

Chap. 26.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 337

every noxious blast. The abodes of the natives are tbe
woods and groves ; the gods receive their worship singly
and in groups, while all discord and every kind of sick-
ness are things utterly unknown. Death comes upon them
only when satiated with life ; after a career of feasting,
in an old age sated with every luxiu'y, they leap from a
certain rock there into the sea ; and this they deem the
most desirable mode of ending existence. Some writers have
placed these people, not in Europe, but at the very verge of
the shores of Asia, because we find there a people called the
Attacori\ who greatly resemble them and occupy a very
similar locality. Other writers again have placed them mid-
way between the two suns, at the spot where it sets to the
Antipodes and rises to us ; a thing however that cannot
possibly be, in consequence of the vast tract of sea which
there intervenes. Those writers who place them nowhere"
but under a day which lasts for six months, state that in the
morning they sow, at mid-day they reap, at sunset they
gather in the fruits of the trees, and during the night conceal
themselves in caves. Nor are we at liberty to entertain any
doubts as to the existence of this race ; so many authors^
are there who assert that they were in the habit of sending
their first-fruits to Delos to present them to Apollo, whom
in especial they worship. Yirgins used to carry them, who
for many years were held in high veneration, and received
the rites of hospitality from the nations that lay on the
route ; until at last, in consequence of repeated "violations
of good faith, the H}'3)erboreans came to the determination
to deposit these offerings upon the frontiers of the people
who adjoined them, and they in their turn were to convey

his position, and that Pliny is incorrect in his assertion. The same
commentator tliinks that Pliny can have hardly uitended to censure Mela,
to whose learning he liad been so much indebted for his geographical
information, by applying to him the epithet "imperitus," 'ignorant'
or 'unskilled' ; he therefore suggests that the proper reading here is,
" ut non imperiti dLxere," " as some by no means ignorant persons have
asserted." ^ The Attacori are also mentioned in B. vi. c. 2Q

' SUlig omits the Trord "non" here, in which case the reading woula
be, " Those writers who place them anywhere but, &c. ;'* it is dilficult to
see with what meaning.

3 Herodotus, B. iv., states to this effect, and afler him, Pomponius
Mela, B. iii. c. 5.

VOL. I. K

338 plint's katueal history. [Book rv.

them on to their neighbours, and so from one to the other,
till they should have arrived at Delos. However, this
custom, even, in time fell into disuse.

The length of Sarmatia, Scjthia, and Taurica, and of the
whole of the region which extends from the river Bory-
sthenes, is, according to Agrippa, 980 miles, and its breadth
717. I am of opinion, however, that in this part of the
earth all estimates of measurement are exceedingly doubtful.

CHAP. 27.— THE ISLANDS OF THE EUXINE. THE ISLANDS
or THE NOETHEEN OCEAN.

But now, in conformity vnth the plan which I originally
proposed, the remaining portions of this gulf must be de-
scribed. As for its seas, we have already made mention of
them.

(13.) The Hellespont has no islands belonging to Europe
that are worthy of mention. In the Euxine there are, at a
distance of a mile and a half from the European shore, and
of fourteen from the mouth of the Strait, the two Cyansean^
islands, by some called the Symplegades^, and stated in fabu-
lous story to have run the one against the other ; the reason
being the circumstance that they are separated by so short
an interval, that while to those who enter the Euxine opposite
to them they appear to be two distinct islands, but if viewed
in a somewhat oblique direction they have the appearance of
becoming gradually united into one. On this side of the
Ister there is the single island^ of the Apolloniates, eighty
miles from the Thracian Bosporus ; it was from this place
that M. Lucullus brought the Capitoline^ Apollo. Those

^ These islands, or rather rocks, are now known as Fanari, and lie at
the entrance of the Straits of Constantinople.

2 From <Tvv and TrXrjyrf, "a striking together." Tournefort has ex-
plained the ancient story of these islands runnmg together, by remarking
that each of them consists of one craggy island, but that when the sea is
distui'bed the water covers the lower parts, so as to make the different
points of each resemble isolated rocks. They are united to the maioland
by a kind of isthmus, and appear as islands only when it is inundated in
stormy weather.

3 Upon which the city of Apollonia (now Sizeboh), mentioned in
C 18 of the present Book, was situate.

* So called because it was dedicated by Lucullus in the Capitol. It
"was tliii'ty cubits in height.

Chap. 27.] ACCOirN"T OP COTJNTEIES, ETC. 339

islands which are to be found between the moutlis of the
Ister we have already mentioned^ Before the Borysthenes
is Achillea" previously referred to, known also by the names
of Leuce and Macaron^. Researches which have been made
at the present day place this island at a distance of 140 miles
from the Borysthenes, of 120 from Tyra, and of fil'ty from
the island of Pence. It is about ten miles in circumference.
The remaining islands in the Gulf of Carcinites are Cepha-
lonnesos, Rhosphodusa, and Macra. Before we leave the
Euxine, we must not omit to notice the opinion expressed
by many writers that all the interior^ seas take their rise in
this one as the principal source, and not at the Straits of
Gades. The reason they give for this supposition is not an
improbable one — the fact that the tide is always running
out of the Euxine and that there is never any ebb.

AVe must now leave the Euxine to describe the outer por-
tions'" of Europe. After passing the Riphsean mountains we

^ In C. 24 of the present Book.

^ Mentioned in the last Chapter as the " Island of AchUles."

' From the Greek fiaKapwi', " (The island) of the Blest." It was also
called the " Island of the Heroes."

^ Meaning aU the inland or Mediterranean seas.

* As the whole of Phny's description of the northern shores of Europe
is replete with difficulties and obscurities, we cannot do better than tran-
scribe the learned remarks of M.Parisot, the Geographical Editor of Ajas-
son's Edition, in reference to this subject. He says, " Before entering on
the discussion of tliis portion of Pliny's geography, let us here obsen^e, once
for all, that we shall not remark as worthy of our notice aU those ridiculous
hypotheses which covJd only take their rise in ignorance, precipitation, or
a love of the marvellous. We shall dechne then to recognize the Doflre-
felds in the mountains of Sevo, the North Cape in the Promontory of
Rubeas, and the Sea of Greenland in the Cronian Sea. The absurdity
of these suppositions is proved by — I. The impossibility of the ancients
ever making their way to these distant coasts without the aid of large
vessels, the compass, and others of tliose apphances, aided by which Eu-
ropean skill finds the greatest difficulty m navigating tliosc distant seas.
II. The immense lacuna; wliich woidd be found to exist hi the. descrip-
tions of these distant seas and shores : for not a word do we find about
those numerous arcliipelagos which are found scatten'd tlirougliout tlio
North Sea, not a word about Iceland, nor about the numberless seas and
fiords on the coast of Norway. III. The abseniie of all remarks upon
the local phamomena of these spots. The Norl.h Cape belongs to the
second polar climate, the longest day there being two months and a half.
Is it hkcly that navigators would have omitted to mention this renuirkablc
phsenomenon, well known to the Kumuus by virtue of their astronomical

z2

340 plint's NATUEAii HTSTOET. [Book rv.

have now to follow the shores of the Northern Ocean on the
left, until we arrive at Grades. In this direction a great

theories, but one with wliich practically they had never made themselves
acquainted ? — The only geographers who here merit our notice are those
who are of opinion that in some of the coasts or islands here mentioned
Pliny describes the Scandinavian Peninsida, and in others the Coast of
Finland. The first question then is, to what pomt Pliny first carries us ?
It is evident that from the Black Sea he transports himself on a sud-
den to the shores of the Baltic, thus passing over at a single leap a con-
siderable space filled with nations and unknown deserts. The question
then is, what hne has he followed ? Supposing our author had had before
his eyes a modern map, the imaginary hne which he would have drawn
in making this transition would have been from Odessa to the Kurisch-
Haif. In this direction the breadth across Europe is contracted to a
space, between the two seas, not more than 268 leagues in length. A
very shnple mode of reasoning will conclusively prove that Pliny has
deviated httle if anytliing from this route. If he fails to state in precise
terms upon what point of the shores of the Baltic he ahghts after leaving
the Riphsean mountains, his enumeration of the rivers which discharge
themselves into that sea, and with which he concludes his account of
Germany, will supply us with the requisite information, at aU events in
great part. In following his description of the coast, we find mention
madeof the following rivers, theGuttalus, the Vistula, theElbe, theWeser,
the Ems, the Rhine, and the Meuse. The five last mentioned follow in
their natm^al order, from east to west, as was to be expected in a descrip-
tion starting from the east of Europe for its western extremity and the
shores of Cadiz. We have a right to conclude then that the Guttalus
was to the east of the Vistula. As we shall now endeavour to show,
this river was no other than the Alle, a tributary of the Pregel, wliich
the Romans probably, in advancing from west to east, considered as the
principal stream, from the circximstance that they met with it, before
coming to the larger river. The Pregel after being increased by the waters
of the Alle or Guttalus falls into the Frisch-Hafi", about one degree
fm-ther west than the Kurisch-Haff. It may however be here remarked,
Why not find a river more to the east, the Niemen, for instance, or the
Duna, to be represented by the Gruttalus ? The Niemen ha especial would
suit in every respect equally well, because it discharges itself into the
Kurisch-HalT. This conjecture however is incapable of support, when
we reflect that the ancients were undoubtedly acquainted with some
points of the coast to the east of the mouth of the Guttalus, but which,
according to the system followed by oux author, wovdd form part of the
Continent of Asia. These points are, 1st. The Cape Lytaiifiis (men-
tioned by Phny, B. vi. c. 4). 2ndly. The mouth of the river Carambucis
(similarly mentioned by him), and 3rdly, a little to the east of Cape Ly-
tarmis, the moutli of the Tanais. The name of Cape Lytarmis suggests
to us Lithuania, and probably represents Domess-Ness in Command ; the
Carambucis can be no other than the Niemen ; while the Tanais, xipon
which 80 many authors, ancient and modern, have exhausted their con-

Chap. 27.] ACCOITNT OF COTTNTRIES, ETC. 341

number of islands^ are said to exist that have no name ; among
which there is one Avhich lies opposite to Scythia, mentioned
under the name of Eaunonia'-, and said to be at a distance
of the day's sail from the mainland ; and upon which, accord-
ing to Timaeus, amber is thrown up by the waves in the spring
season. As to the remaining parts of these shores, they are
only known from reports of doubtful authority. "With refer-
ence to the SeptentrionaP or Northern Ocean; Hecataeus
calls it, after we have passed the mouth of the river Parapa-
nisus, where it washes the Scythian shores, the Amalchian

jectures, from confounding it with the Southern Tanais which falls into
the Sea of Azof, is evidently the same as the Dw-ina or Western Dmia.
Tliis is estabhshed incontrovertibly both by its geographical position (the
mouth of the Dwina being only fifty leagues to tlie east of Domess-Ness)
and the identity evidently of the names Dwma and Tanais. Long since,
Leibnitz was the first to remark the presence of the radical T. «, or D. w,
either with or without a vowel, in the names of the great rivers of Eastern
Europe ; Danapris or Dnieper,' Danaster or Dniester, Danube (in Grer-
man Donau, in Hungarian Duna), Tanais or Don, for example; all
which rivers however discharge tliemselves into the Black Sea. There
can be httle doubt then of the identity of the Duna with the Tanais, it
being the only body of water in these vast comitries which bears a name
resembhng the initial Tan, or Tn, and at the same time belongs to the
basm of the Baltic. We are aware, it is true, that the AMiite Sea re-
ceives a river Dwina, which is commonly called the Northern Dwina,
but there can be no real necessity to be at the trouble of combating the
opinion that this river is identical with the Northern Tanais. As the
result tlien of our investigations, it is at the eastern extremity of the
Frisch-Haff and near the mouth of the Pregel, that we would place the
point at which Phny sets out. As for the Riphacan mountains, they have
never existed anywhere but in the head of the geographers from whom
our author drew his materials. From the momitains of Ural and Poias,
wliich Pliny could not possibly have in view, seeing that tliey lie in a
meridian as eastern as the Caspian Sea, the traveller has to proceed 600
leagues to the south-west without meeting with any chains of mountains
or indeed considerable elevations."

^ It is pretty clear that he refers to the numerous islands scattered over
the face of the Baltic Sea, such as Dago, Oesel, GolhlantI, and Aland.

2 The old reading here was Bannomanna, which Dupinet woukl trans-
late by the modem Bomholm. Parisot considers that the modern Runa,
a calcareous rock covered with vegetable earth, in the vicinity of Domess-
Ness, is the place indicated.

3 It has been suggested by Broticr that Pliny here refers to the Icy
Sea, but it is more probable that he refers to tlie north-eastern part of
the Baltic, wliich was looked upon by the ancients as fonuiug part of
the open sea.

342 plint's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book IT.

sea, the word ' Amalcliian' signifying in tlie language of these
races, frozen, Philemon again says that it is called Morima-
rusa or the " Dead Sea" by the Cimbri, as far as the Promon-
tory of Eubeas, beyond which it has the name of the Cro-
nian^ Sea. Xenophon of Lampsacus tells us that at a distance
of three days' sail from the shores of Scythia, there is an
island of immense size called Baltia^, which by Pytheas is
called Basilia^. Some islands'* called Oonse are said to be

1 With reference to these divisions of land and sea, a subject which is
involved in the greatest obscurity, Parisot states it as his opinion that
the Amalchian or Icy Sea is that portion of the Baltic wliich extends
fi'om Cape Rutt to Cape Grinea, wliile on the other hand the Cronian
Sea comprehends all the gulfs which lie to the east of Cape Rutt, such
as the Ilaff, the gulfs of Stettin and Danzic, the Frisch-Hafi', and the Ku-
risch-HafF. He also tliinks that the name of 'Cronian' oi'iginaUy belonged
only to that portion of the Baltic which washes the coast of Courland,
but that travellers gradually apphed the term to the whole of the sea.
He is also of opinion that the word " Cronium" owes its origin to the
Teutonic and Danish adjective groen or " green." The extreme verdure
wliich characterizes the islands of the Danish archipelago has given to
the piece of water wliich separates the islands of Falster and Moen the
name of Grroensimd, and it is far from improbable that the same epithet
was given to the Pomeranian and Prussian Seas, which the Romans wovdd
be not unhkely to call 'Gronium' or 'Cronium fretum,' or 'Cronium
mare.' In the name 'Parapanisus' he also discovers a resemblance to that
of modern Pomerania.

2 Upon this Parisot remarks that on leaving Cape Rutt, at a distance
of about twenty-five leagues in a straight hne, we come to the island of
Funen or Fyen, commonly called Fionia, the most considerable of the
Danish archipelago next to Zealand, and wliich lying between the two
Belts, the Greater and the Smaller, may very probably from that cir-
cumstance have obtained the name of Baltia. Brotier takes Baltia to
be no other than Nova Zembla — so conflicting are the opinions of com-
mentators !

3 Parisot suggests that under tliis name may possibly He concealed
that of the modern island of Zealand or Seeland, and that it may have
borne on the side of it next to the Belt the name of Baltseeland, easily
corrupted by the Greeks into Basiha.

^ Brotier takes these to be the islands of Aloo, and Bieloi or Ostrow,
at the mouth of the river Paropanisus, wliich he considers to be the same
as the Obi. Parisot on the other hand is of opinion that islands of the
Baltic are here referred to ; that from the resemblance of the name Oonae
to the Greek wor, "an egg," the story that the natives subsisted on the
eggs of birds was formed ; that not improbably the group of the Hippo-
podes resembled the shape of a horse- shoe, from which the story men-
tioned by Pliny took its rise j and that the Fanesii (or, as the reading here

Chap. 27.] ACCOU^fT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 843

here, the inhahitants of which live on the eggs of birds
and oats ; and others again upon which human beings
are produced witli the feet of horses, thence called Hippo-
podes. Some other islands are also mentioned as those of
tlie Panotii, the people of which have ears of such extra-
ordinary size as to cover the rest of the body, which is
otherwise left naked.

Leaving these however, we come to the nation of the In-
gaevones\ the first in Grermany ; at which we begin to have
some information upon which more implicit reliance can be
placed. In their country is an immense mountain called
Sevo^, not less than those of the Eiphaean range, and which
forms an immense gulf along the shore as far as the Promon-
tory of the Cimbri. This gulf, which has the name of the
' Codanian,' is filled with islands ; the most famous among
which is Scandinavia^, of a magnitude as yet unascertained :
the only portion of it at all known is inhabited by the nation
of the Hilleviones, who dwell in 500 villages, and call it a
second world: it is generally supposed that the island of

has it, the Panotii, "all-ears") wore their hair very short, from which
circumstance their ears appeared to be of a larger size than usual.

^ Tacitus spesks of three great groups of the German tribes, the In-
gsevones forming the first thereof, and consisting of those wliieh dwelt on
the margin of the ocean, the Hermiones in the interior, and the Istffivones
in the east and south of Germany. We shall presently find that PHny
adds two groups, the Vandih as the foiu-th, and the Peucini and Bastemse
as the fifth. This classification however is thought to originate in a mis-
take, for Zeuss has satisfactorily shown that the Vandili belonged to the
Hermiones, and that Peucini and Basteruce are only names of individual
tribes and not of groups of tribes.

2 Bi'otier and other geographers are of opinion that by this name the
chain of the Doffrefeld mountains is meant ; but this cannot be tlie case
if we suppose with Parisot tliat Pliny here returns soutli from the Scan-
dinavian islands and takes his departure from Cape Rutt in the territory
of the Ingsevoncs. Still, it is quite impossible to say what mountains he
would designate under the name of Sevo. Parisot sugg(>sts that it is a form
of the compound word " seevohner," " inhabitants of (lie sea," and that it
is a general name for tlie elevated lands along the margin of the sea-shore.

3 Parisot supposes that under this name the isle of Funen is meant,
but it is more generally thought that Norway and Sweden are thus de-
signated, as that peninsida was generally looked upon as an island by the
ancients. The Codanian Gulf was the sea to the east of the Cimbrian
Chersonesus or Jutland, filled with the islands which belong to the modem
kingdom of Denmark. It was therefore the southern part of the Baltic.

344 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book lY.

Eningia^ is of not less magnitude. Some -writers state that
these regions, as far as the river A^istula, are inhabited hj the
Sarmati, the Yenedi', the Sciri, and the Hirri^, and that there
is a gulf there known by the name of Cylipenus^, at the mouth
of which is the island of Latris, after which comes another
gulf, that of Lao-nus, which borders on the Cimbri. The
Cimbrian Promontory, running out into the sea for a great
distance, forms a peninsula which bears the name of Cartris^.
Passing this coast, there are three and twenty islands which
have been made known by the Eoman arms^: the most
famous of which is Burcana^, called by our people Pabaria,
from the resemblance borne ^ by a fruit Avhich grows there
spontaneously. There are those also called Glaesaria^ by our

1 By Eningia Hardouin thinks that the country of modem Finland is
meant. Poinsinet thinks that mider the name are mcluded Ingria, Li-
vonia, and Courland ; wlxile Parisot seems incUned to be of opinion that
imder tliis name the island of Zealand is meant, a village of wliich, about
three-fourths of a league from the western coast, according to him, stiU
bears the name of Heininge.

2 Parisot is of opinion that the Yenedi, also called Yinid* and Yin-
dih, were of Sclavish origin, and situate on the shores of the Baltic. He
remarks that this people, in the fifth century, founded in Pomerania, when
quitted by the Goths, a kingdom, the chiefs of which styled themselves
the Konjucs of Yinland. Their name is also to be foxmd in Yenden, a
Hussian town in the government of Riga, in Windenbm'g in Courland, and
in Wenden in the circle of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenbui'g Schwerin.

' Parisot remarks that these two peoples were probably only tribes
of the Yenedi,

"^ Parisot feels convinced that Phny is speaking here of the Gulf of
Travemunde, the island of Femeren, and then of the gulf wliich extends
from that island to Kiel, where the Eider separates Holsteiu from Jut-
land. On the other hand, Hardouin tliinks that by the Gulf of Cylipe-
nus the Gulf of Riga is meant, and that Latris is the modern island of
Oesel. But, as Parisot justly remarks, to put this construction on Pliny's
language is to invert the order in which he has hitherto proceeded, evi-
dently from east to west.

5 The modern Cape of Skagen on the north of Jutland.

^ When Drusus held the command in Germany, as we learn from
Strabo, B. vii.

'^ It is generally agreed that tliis is the modem island of Borkhum, at
the mouth of the river Amaiius or Ems.

3 To a bean, from which {/aba) the island had its name of Fabaria.
In confirmation of this Hardouin states, that in liis time there was a
tower still standing there which was called by the natives Het boon huys^
*' the bean house."

• From the word gles or glas^ which primarily means ' glass,' and then

Chap. 28.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 345

soldiers, from their amber ; but by the barbarians they are
kuown as Austeravia and Actania.

CHAP. 28. — GEEMANT.

The whole of the shores of this sea as far as the Scaldis\
a river of G-ermany, is inhabited by nations, the dimensions
of whose respective territories it is quite impossible to state,
so immensely do the authors differ who have touched upon
this subject. The Greek \\Titers and some of our own
countrymen have stated the coast of Germany to be 2500
miles in extent, while Agrippa, comprising Ehaetia and Nori-
cum in his estimate, makes the length to be 686' miles, and
the breadth 148 ^ (14.) The breadth of Ehaetia alone how-
ever very nearly exceeds that number of miles, and indeed
we ought to state that it was only subjugated at about the
period of the death of that general ; while as for Germany,
the whole of it was not thoroughly known to us for many
years after his time. If I may be allowed to form a conjec-
ture, the margin of the coast will be found to be not far short
of the estimate of tlie Greek writers, while the distance in a
straight line wiU nearly correspond with that mentioned by
Agrippa.

There are five German races ; the Vandili^, parts of whom

figuratively " amber." Probably (Eland and Gotliland. They will be
found again mentioned ia the Thirtieth Chapter of the present Book.
See p. 351. ^ Now the Scheldt.

2 In a straight line, of course. Parisot is of opinion that in forming
this estimate Agrippa began at the angle formed by the river Piave in
lat. 46° 4', measuring thence to Cape Rubeas (now Rutt) in lat. 54° 25'.
This would give 8° 21', to wliicli, if we add some twenty leagues for obU-
qviity or diti'erence of longitude, the total would make exactly the distance
here mentioned.

3 As Parisot remarks, it is totally impossible to conceive the source
of such an erroneous conclusion as this. Some readings make the amount
248, others 268.

^ As already mentioned, Zeuss has satisfactorily 8ho^vn that the Van-
diU or VindUi properly belonged to the llermiones. Tacitus mentions
but three groups of the German nations ; the Inga;vones on the ocean,
the Henniones in the interior, and the Istpcvones in tlie east and south
of Germany. The VandiU, a Gothic race, dwelt originally on the northern
coast of Germany, but afterwards settled north of the Marcomanni on the

846 plint's natueal histoet. [Book rv.

are tlie Burgundiones\ tlie Yarini^, the Carini^, and tlie
Grutones^; the Ingaevones, forming a second race, a por-
tion of whom are the Cimbri\ the Teutoni^, and the tribes

Riesengebirge. They subsequently appeared in Dacia and Pannonia, and
in the beginning of the fifth century invaded Spain. Under Genseric they
passed over into Afi'ica, and finally took and plundered Rome in A.D. 455.
Their kingdom was finally destroyed by BeUsarius.

^ It is supposed that the Burgundiones were a Gothic people dwelling
in the country between the rivers Viadus and Vistula, though Armnianus
MarceUinus declares them to have been of pure Roman origin. How
they came into the country of the Upper Maine in the south-west of
Germany in A.D. 289, liistorians have found themselves at a loss to in-
form us. It is not improbable that the two peoples were not identical,
and that the similarity of their name arose only from the circumstance that
they both resided in " burgi" or burghs. See Gibbon, iii. 99. BohrCs Ed.

2 The Varhii dwelt on the right bank of the Albis or Elbe, north of the
Langobardi. Ptolemy however, who seems to mention them as the Ava-
rini, speaks of them as dwelling near the sources of the Vistula, on the
Bite of the present Cracow. See Gibbon, iv. 225. Bohn^s Ed.

3 Nothing whatever is known of the locahty of tins people.

^ They are also called in history Gothi, Gothones, Gotones and Gutse.
According to Pytheas of Marseilles (as mentioned by Phny, B.xxsvii.
c. 2), they dwelt on the coasts of the Baltic, in the vicinity of what is
now called the Fritsch-Hafi*. Tacitus also refers to the same district,
though he does not speak of them as inhabiting the coast. Ptolemy
again speaks of them as dwelling on the east of the Vistula, and to the
south of the Venedi. The later form of their name, Gothi, does not occur
tiU the time of CaracaUa. Their native name was Gutthinda. They are
first spoken of as a powerful nation at the beginning of the third cen-
tury, when we find them mentioned as 'Gette,' fi'om the circumstance of
their having occupied the countries formerly inhabited by the Sarmatian
Getse. The formidable attacks made by this people, divided into the
nations of the Ostrogoths and Visigoths, upon the Roman power during
its decline, are too well known to every reader of Gibbon to require
further notice.

* The inhabitants of Chersonesus Cimbrica, the modern peninsula of
Jutland. It seems doubtful whether these Cimbri were a Germanic na-
tion or a Celtic tribe, as also whether they were the same race whose
numerous hordes successively defeated six Roman armies, and were finally
conquered by C. Marius, B.C. 101, in the Campi Raudii. The more
general impression, however, entertained by liistorians, is that they were
a Celtic or GaUic and not a Germanic nation. The name is said to have
signified " robbers." See Gibbon, i. 273, iii. 365. Bolm's Ed.

^ The Teutoni or Teutones dwelt on the coasts of the Baltic, adjacent
to the territory of the Cimbri. Then* name, though belonging originally
to a single nation or tribe, came to be afterwards apphed collectively to
the whole people of Germany. See Gibbon, iii. 139. Bohti's Ed,

Chap. 28.] ACCOUNT OP GOTJNTEIES, ETC. ^ 347

of the Chauci^ The Istsevones^, who join up to the Ehine,
and to -^-hom the Cimbri^ belong, are the third race ; while
the Hermiones, forming a fourth, dwell in the interior,
and include the Suevi"*, the Hcrmunduri*, the Chatti*', and

^ Also called Cauchi, Cauci, and Cayci, a German tribe to the east of
the Frisians, between the rivers Ems and Elbe. The modern Olden-
burg and Hanover are supposed to pretty nearly represent the country
of the Chauci. In B. xvi. c. 1. 2, will be found a further account of them
by PUny, -who had visited their countiT, at least that part of it which lay
on the sea-coast. They are mentioned for the last time in the third cen-
tury, when they had extended so far south and west that they are spoken
of as living on the banks of the Kliine.

2 Mentioned by Tacitus as dweUing in the east and south of Grcrmany.

3 It has been suggested by Titzius that the words " quorum Cunbri,"
*' to whom the Cunbri belong," are an interpolation ; which is not un-
probable, or at least that the word "Cimbri" has been substituted for
some other name.

* This a]:)pear3 to be properly the collective name of a great nvmaber of
the German tribes, who were of a migi-atory mode of hfe, and spoken of
in opposition to the more settled tribes, who went imder the general name
of Ingsevones. Cffisar speaks of them as dweUing east of the Ubii and
Sygambri, and west of the Cherusci. Strabo makes them extend in an
easterly direction beyond the Albis or Elbe, and southerly as far as tho
soiu-ces of the Danube. Tacitus gives the name of Suevia to the whole
of the east of Germany, from the Danube to the Baltic. The name of
the modem Suabia is derived from a body of adventurers from various
German tribes, who assimied the name of Suevi in consequence of their
not possessing any other appellation.

^ A large and powerful tribe of Germany, which occupied the exten-
sive tract of country between the moimtains in the north-west of Bohe-
mia and the Roman Wall in the south-west, which formed the boundary
of the Agri Decumates. On the east they bordered on the Narisei, on
the north-east on the Cherusci, and on tlie north-west on the Chatti.
There is httle doubt that they originally formed part of the Suevi. At
a later period tliey spread in a north-easterly direction, taking possession
• of the north-western part of Bohemia and tlie country about tlie sources
of the Maine and Saale, that is, the }iart of Franeonia as far as Kissingen
and the south-western part of the kingdom of Saxony. The name ller-
munduri is tliought by some to signify higlilanders, and to be a com-
pound oi Her or Ar, "high," and Mund, "man."

^ One of the great tribes of Germany, which rose to importance after
the decay of the power of the Cherusci, It is thouglit by ellmograjihers
that their name is stiU preserved in the word "Hessen." Tlu-y formed tho
chief tribe of the Hermiones liere mentioned, and are described by Cjrsar
as belonging to the Suevi, though Tacitus ilistinguishes them, and no
German tribe in fact occujjied more permanently its original loeahty than
the Chatti. Their original abode seems to have extended from the Wester-

34!8 PLINT'S NATUBAL HISTOBT. [Book I Y.

the Cherusci^ : the fifth race is that of the Peucini', who are
also the Basternae, adjoining the Daci previously mentioned.
The more famous rivers that flow into the ocean are the
Gruttalus^ the Vistillus or Vistula, the Albis"*, the Yisurgis^
the Amisius®, the Rhine, aiM the Mosa''. In the interior is
the long extent of the Hercjnian^ range, which in grandeur
is inferior to none.

•wald in the west to the Saale in Franconia, and from the river Maine
in the south as far as the sources of the Ehson and the Weser, so that
they occupied exactly the modern country of Hessen, inchidmg perhaps
a portion of the north-west of Bavaria. See Gribbon, vol. iii. 99, JSohn's Ed.
^ The Cherusci were the most celebrated of all the Grerman tribes, and
are mentioned by Caesar as of the same importance as the Suevi, from
whom they were separated by the Silva Bacensis. There is some diffi-
culty in stating their exact locahty, but it is generally supposed that
their country extended from the Visurgis or Weser in the west to the
Albis or Elbe in the east, and fi'om MeUbocus in the north to the neigh-
bourhood of the Sudeti in the south, so that the Chamavi and Lango-
bardi were their northern neighbours, the Chatti the western, the Her-
munduri the southern, and the Sihngi and Semnones their eastern
neighbours. Tliis tribe, mider their chief Arminius or Hermann, form-
ing a confederation with many smaller tribes in a.d. 9, completely defeated
the Romans in the famou.s battle of the Teutoburg Forest. In later times
they were conquered by the Chatti, so that Ptolemy speaks of them
only as a small tribe on the south of the Hartz mountain. Their name
afterwards appears, in the beginning of the fourth centmy, in the con-
federation of the Franks.

2 The Peucini are mentioned here, as also by Tacitus, as identical with
the Bastemse. As already mentioned, supposing them to be names for
distinct nations, they must be taken a*^ only names of individual tribes,
and not of groups of tribes. It is generally supposed that their first
settlements in Sarmatia were in the highlands between the Theiss and
the March, whence they passed onward to the lower Danube, as far as
its mouth, where a portion of them, settling in the island of Pence, ob-
tained the name of Peucini. In the later geographers we find them
settled between the Tyrus or Dniester, and the Borysthenes or Dnieper,
the Peucini remaining at the mouth of the Danube.

3 According to Parisot, the GTuttalus is the same as the Alle, a tribu-
tary of the Pregel. Cluver thinks that it is the same as the Oder.
Other writers again consider it the same as the Pregel.

4 Or Elbe. ^ Now the Weser. ^ The modem Ems. 7 TheMeuse.
* The ' Hercynia Silva,' Hercynian Forest or Range, is very differently

described by the writers of various ages. The earUest mention of it is
by Aristotle. Judging from the accovmts given by Csesar, Pomponius
Mela, and Strabo, the ' Hercynia SUva' appears to have been a general
name for almost all the mountains of Southern and Central G-ermany,
that is, from the sources of the Danube to Transylvania, comprising the

Chap. 29.] ACCOUNT OF COTJKTEIES, ETC. 349

CHAP. 29. (15.) — NINETY-SIX ISLANDS OF THE GALLIC OCEAN.

In the Ehine itself, nearly 100 miles in length, is the
most famous island^ of the Bata^d and the Canniuefates, as
also other islands of the I'risii", the Chauei, tlie Frisia-
bones^, the Sturii"', and the Marsaeii, which lie between He-
lium' and Flevum^. These are the names of tlie moutha

Schwarzwald, Odenwald, Spcssart, Ehon, Tliiiringer Wald, the Hartz
mountain (which seems in a great measiire to have retained the ancient
name), Raube Alp, Steigerwald, Ficlitelgcbirge, Erzgcbirge, and Riesen-
gebirge. At a later period when the mountains of Germany had become
better known, the name was apphed to the more limited range extending
around Bohemia, and through Moravia into Hvmgary.

^ This island appears to have been formed by the bifurcation of the
Ehine, the northern branch of which enters the sea at Katwj^ck, a few
miles north of Leyden, by the Waal and the com'se of the Maas, after it has
received the Waal, and by the sea. The Waal or Vahahs seems to have
undergone considerable changes, and the place of its junction with the
Maas may have varied. Phny makes the island nearly 100 miles in length,
wliich is about the distance fi'om the fort of Schenkenschanz, where the
first separation of the Ehine takes place, to the mouth of the Maas. The
name of Batavia was no doubt the genuine name, which is stiU preserved
in Betuwe, the name of a district at the bifiu-cation of the Ehine and the
Waal. The Canninefates, a people of the same race as the Batavi, also
occupied the island, and as the Batavi seem to have been in the eastern
part, it is supposed that the Canniuefates occupied the western. They
were subdued by Tiberius in the reign of Augustus.

2 The Frisii or Frisones were one of the great tribes of north-western
Germany, properly belonging to the group of the Inga?vones. They in-
habited the covmtry about Lake Flevo and other lakes, between the Ehine
and the Ems, so as to be bounded on the south by the Bructeri, and on
the east by the Chauei. Tacitus distinguishes between the Frisii Ma-
jorcs and Minorcs, and it is supposed tliat the latter dwelt on the east of
the canal of Drusus in the north of Holland, and the former between the
rivers Flevus and Amisia, that is, in the coimtiy which stnU bears the
name of Friesland. The Chauei have been previously mentioned.

3 The Frisiabones or Frisfcvones are again mentioned m C. 31 of the
present Book as a people of Gaul. In what locality they dwelt has not
been ascertained by historians.

4 The Sturii are supposed to liave inhabited the modem South IIoDand,
while the IMarsacii probably inhabited the island which tlie Meuso fonna
at its junction with the Eliine, at the ntodern Dortn^cht in Zealand.

* Supposed to be the site of the modem fortress of Briel, situate at
the mouth of the Meuse.

' Probably the same as the modem Ylieland (thus partly retaining its
ancient name), an island north of the Texel. The more ancient writers
speak of two main arms, into which the Ehine was divided on entering

850 PIIKT's NATTTEAL HISTOET. [Book IV.

into wliich the Ehine divides itself, discharging its waters on
the north into the lakes there, and on the west into the river
Mosa. At the middle mouth which lies between these two,
the river, having but a very small channel, preserves its own
name.

CHAP. 30. (16,) — BEITAKNIA.

Opposite to this coast is the island called Britannia, so
celebrated in the records of Gi-reece^ and of our own country.
It is situate to the north-west, and, with a large tract of
intervening sea, lies opposite to Grermany, Gaul, and Spain,
by far the greater part of Europe. Its former name was
Albion^ ; but at a later period, all the islands, of which we
shall just now briefly make mention, Avere included under the
name of " Britannise." This island is distant from Gesoriacum,
on the coast of the nation of the Morini^, at the spot where
the passage across is the shortest, fifty miles. Pytheas and
Isidorus say that its circumference is 4875 miles. It is
barely thirty years since any extensive knowledge of it was
gained by the successes of the E-oman arms, and even as yet
they have not penetrated beyond the vicinity of the Caledo-
nian^ forest. Agrippa believes its length to be 800 miles, and

the territory of the Batavi, of which the one on the east continued to bear
the name of Rhenus, while that on the west into which the Masa, Maas
or Meuse, flowed, was called Vahalis or Waal. After Drusus, B.C. 12,
had connected the Flevo Lacus or Zuyder-Zee with the Rhine hy means
of a canal, m forming which he probably made use of the bed of the
Yssel, we find mention made of three mouths of the Rhine. Of these
the names, as given by Phny, are, on the west, HeUum (the Vahahs of
other writers), in the centre Rhenus, and at the north Flevum ; but at
a later period we again find mention made of only two mouths.

1 Britain was spoken of by some of the Grreek writers as superior to
all other islands in the world. Pionysius, in his Periegesis, says, " that
no other islands whatsoever can claim equahty with those of Britain."

2 Said to have been so called from the whiteness of its cliffs opposite
the coast of Gaul.

3 Afterwards called Bononia, the modem Boulogne. As D'AnviUe
remarks, the distance here given by PUny is far too great, whether we
measure to Dover or to Hythe ; our author's measurement however is
probably made to Rutupise (the modem Richborough), near Sandwich,
where tlie Romans had a fortified post, wliich was their landing-place
when crossing over from Graul. This would make the distance given by
Phny nearer the truth, though still too much.

* Probably the Grrampian range is here referred to.

Chap. 30,] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 351

its breadth 300 ; he also thinks that the breadth of Hibernia
is the same, but that its length is less by 200 miles. This
last island is situate beyond Britannia, the passage across
being the shortest from the territory of the Silures\ a distance
of thirty miles. Of the remaining islands none is said to
have a greater circumference than 125 miles. Among these
there are the Orcades", forty in number, and situate within
a short distance of each other, the seven islands called Ac-
modce^, the HtTbudes, thirty in number, and, between Hi-
bernia and Britannia, the islands of Mona'*,Monapia^,Eicina®,
Vectis^ Limnus^, and Andros'. Below it are the islands
called Samnis and Axantos'", and opposite, scattered in the
German Sea, are those known as the Grlsesarise^^, but which

^ The people of South Wales.

' The Orkney islands Tvere included under this name. Pomponius
Mela and Ptolemy make them but tliirty in number, while Sohnus Qxes
their number at three only.

3 Also called ^modse or Hsemodse, most probably the islands now
known as the Shetlands. Camden however and the older antiquarians
refer the Hsemodse to the Baltic sea, considering them ditferent from the
Acmoda; here mentioned, wliile Salmasius on the other hand considers the
Acmodae or Hsemodse and the Hebrides as identical. Parisot remarks
that off the West Cape of the Isle of Skye and the Isle of North Uist,
the nearest of the Het rides to the Shetland islands, there is a vast gulf
filled with islands, which still bears the name of Mamaddy or ISIaddy,
from which the Grreeks may have easily derived the words At MaSdaly
whence the Latin Hsemodse.

^ The Isle of Anglesea. ^ Most probably the Isle of Man.

^ Camden and Gosselin (JRecJi. stir la Geogr. des Anciens) consider
that under this name is meant the island of Rackhn, situate near the
north-eastern extremity of Ireland. A Ricina is spoken of by Ptolemy,
but that island is one of the Hebrides.

7 This Vectis is considered by Gossehn to be the same as the small
island of White-Horn, situate at the entrance of the Bay of Wigtown in
Scotland. It must not be confounded with the more southern Vectis, or
Isle of Wight.

^ According to Gosselin this is the island of Dalkey, at the entrance of
Dubhn Bay.

3 Camden thinks that this is the same as Bardsey Island, at the south
of the island of Anglesea, wlule Manncrt and Gosselin tliink that it is
the island of Lambay.

^^ Accorchng to Brotier these islands belong to the coast of Britaimy,
being the modem isles of Sian and Ushant.

^' As already mentioned, he probably sj^eaks of the islands of (Eland
and Gothl md, and Amelund, called Au>teravia or Actania, in which
glcBsum or amber was found by the liomun eoldiers. Sec \). i^k

352 plikt's natural HISTOBT. [Book IV.

the G-reeks liave more recently called tlie Electrides, from
the circumstance of their producing electrum or amber.
The most remote of all that we find mentioned is Thule\ in
which, as we have previously stated^, there is no night at the
summer solstice, when the sun is passing through the sign
of Cancer, while on the other hand at the winter solstice
there is no day. Some writers are of opinion that this state
of things lasts for six whole months together. Timseus the
historian says that an island called Mictis^ is within six days'
sail of Britannia, in which white lead"* is found ; and that the
Britons sail over to it in boats of osier', covered with sewed
hides. There are writers also who make mention of some
other islands, Scandia^ namely, Dunma, Bergos, and, greater

1 The opinions as to the identity of ancient Thule have been numerous
in the extreme. We may here mention six : — 1. The common, and ap-
parently the best foimded opinion, that Thule is the island of Iceland.
2. That it is either the Ferroe group, or one of those islands. 3. The
notion of Ortehus, Farnaby, and Schoenning, that it is identical with
Thylemark in Norway. 4. The opinion of Malte Brun, that the conti-
nental portion of Denmark is meant thereby, a part of which is to the
present day caUed Thy or Thy land. 5. The opinion of Eudbeck and of
Calstron, borrowed originally from Procopius, that this is a general
name for the whole of Scandinavia. 6. That of Gossehn, who thinks
that under tliis name Mainland, the principal of the Shetland Islands, is
meant. It is by no means impossible that under the name of Thule
two or more of these locahties may have been meant, by different authors
writing at distant periods and under different states of geograpliical
knowledge. It is also pretty generally acknowledged, as Parisot re-
marks, that the Thule mentioned by Ptolemy is identical with Thylemark
in Norway. ^ 2 g. ii. c. 77.

3 Brotier thinks that under this name a part of Cornwall is meant, and
that it was erroneously supposed to be an island. Parisot is of opinion
that the copyists, or more probably Phny himself, has made an error in
transcribing Mictis for Vectis, the name of the Isle of Wight. It is not
improbable however that the island of Mictis had only an imagmary
existence.

■* " Wliite lead" : not, however, the metalhc substance which we un-
derstand by that name, but tin.

5 Commonly known as " coracles," and used by the Welch in modern
times. See B. vii. c. 57 of this work, and the Note.

^ Brotier, with, many other writers, takes these names to refer to va-
rious parts of the coast of Norway. Scandia he considers to be the same
as Scania, Bergos the modern Bergen, and Nerigos the northern part of
Norway. On the other hand, Gossehn is of opinion that vmder the name
of Bergos the Scottish island of Barra is meant, and under that of Neri-

Cliap. 31.] Accoi::?TT of counteies, etc. 368

than all, IS'erigos, from which persons embark for Tlnile.
At one day's sail from Thule is the frozen ocean, \vliich by
some is called the Cronian Sea.

CHAP. 31. (17.) — GALLIA BELGICA.

The whole of Gaul that is comprehended under the one
general name of Comata^, is divided into three races of
people, which are more especially kept distinct from each
other by the following rivers. From the Scaldis to the Se-
quana- it is Belgic G-aul ; from the Sequana to the Garumna^
it is Celtic Gaul or Lugdunensis"* ; and from the Garumna
to the promontory of the Pyrensean range it is Aquitanian
Gaul, formerly called Aremorica*. Agrippa makes the en-
tire length of the coast of Gaul to be 1800 miles, mea-
sured from the Ehine to the Pyrenees : and its length,
from the ocean to the mountains of Gebenna and Jura,
excluding therefrom Gallia Xarbonensis, he computes at
420 miles, the breadth being 318.

Beginning at the Scaldis, the parts beyond^ are inliabited
by the Toxandri, who are divided into various peoples with
many names ; after whom come the Menapii', the Morini^,
the Oromarsaci^, who are adjacent to the burgh which is
known asGesoriacum'*^, theBritanni'\ the Ambiani^'^, theBel-

gos, the island of Lewis, the BOi'them promontory of which is in the old
maps designated by the name of Narj- or Nery. Ptolemy makes men-
tion of an island called Doumna in the vicinity of the i rcades.

1 Transalpine Gaul, with the exception of that part of it called Nar-
bonensis, was called Gallia Comata, fi-om the custom of the people
allo\^'ing their hair to grow to a great length.

2 From the Scheldt to tlie Seine. ^ p'^om the Seine to the Garonne.
^ LyoneseGaul, fromLugdunum, the ancient name of the city of Lyons.
* Said by Camden to be derived from the Celtic words Ar - mor, " by

the Sea." ^ The provinces of Antwerp and North Brabant.

7 Inhabiting Western Flanders.

8 So called, it is supposed, from the Celtic word Mor, which means
"the sea." Terouane and Boulogne are supposed to occupy the site of
their towns, situate in the modern Pas de Calais.

5 D' AnvUle places them between Calais and GravcUincs, in the Pas do
Calais, and on the spot now known as the Terre de Marck or Merk.

'** Boulogne, previously mentioned.

^^ Cluver tliuiks that " Brianni" would be the correct reading hero j but
D'Anville places the Britanni on the southern bank of tlie stream called
La Canche in the Pas de Calais.

^" According to Parisot and Ansart they occupied the department of
YOL. I. 2 A

354 ^ pliny's natueal histoet. [Book rv.

lovaci\ tlieHassi^, and, more in the interior, the Catoslugi^,
the Atrebates'*, the Nervii^, a free people, the Veromandui®,
the Suaeuconi'^, the Suessiones^, a free people, the ULnianetes^,
a free people, the Timgri^", the Sunuci^\ the Frisiabones^^,
theBetasi^^, the Leuci", a free people, the Treveri^^, who were

the Somme, with places on the site of Amiens (derived from their name)
and Abbeville for then- chief towns.

^ They dwelt in the modern department of the Oise, with Beauvais
(which stUl retains their name) for their chief town.

■^ D'Anville is of opinion that the place called Haiz or Hez in the
diocese of Beauvais, received its name from this people, of whom nothing
else is known. The name is omitted iti several of the editions.

3 D'Anville is of opinion that thefr chief town was situate at the
modern Chaom-s, at the passage of the river Serre, not far from Vervias
in the dejjartment of the Aisne.

* Accordhig to Ptolemy their chief town would be on the site of the
modern Orchies in the department du Nord, but Csesar makes it to be
Nemetacum, the modem Arras, the capital of the department of the
Pas de Calais.

^ According to Ansart their chief town was Bavai, in the department
du Nord. They are called " Liberi," or free, because they were left at
liberty to enjoy their own laws and institutions.

® Their capital was Augusta Yeromanduorum, and it has been sug-
gested that the place called Vermand, in the department de 1' Aisne, de-
notes its site ; but according to BeUay and D'Anville the city of St.
Quentin, which was formerly called Aouste, mai'ks the spot.

7 Nothing whatever is known of them, and it is suggested by the com-
mentators that this is a corrupted form of the name of the Suessiones,
which follows.

^ They gave name to Soissons in the southern part of the department
de I'Aisue.

^ It has been suggested that these are the same as the Silvanectes,
the inhabitants of Senhs in the department de I'Oise.

^•^ The people of Tongres, in the provinces of Namur, Liege, and
Limboiu'g.

^1 They are supposed to have dwelt ia the eastern part of the province
of Lunbourg.

^2 They probably dwelt between the Sunuci and the Betasi.

^3 They are supposed to have dwelt in the western part of the province
of Limbourg, on the confines of that province and South Brabant, in the
vicinity probably of the place wliich still bears the name of Beetz, upon
the river Gette, between Leau and Haclen, seven miles to the east of
Louvain.

^* According to Ptolemy the Leuci dwelt on the sites of Toul in the
department of the Meurthe, and of Nais or Nays in that of the Meuse.

'•'' From them Treves or Trier, in the Grand Duchy of the Lower
Khine, takes its name.

Chap. 32.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 355

•

formerly free, and the Lingones\ a federal state, the federal
Eemi-, the Mediomatriei^, the Sequaui*, the Eaiiriei', and
the Helvetii®. The Eoman colonies are Equestris'' and
Eauriaca^. The nations of Germany which dwell in this
province, near the sources of the Ehine, are the JN'emetes^,
the Triboci^^, and the Vangiones" ; nearer again ^^, the Ubii'^,
the Colony '■* of Agrippina, the Cugerni^% the Batavi^^, and
the peoples whom we have already mentioned as dwelling
on the islands of the Ehine.

CHAP. 32. (18.) — GALLIA LUGDUNENSIS.

That part of Gaul which is known as Lugdunensis-' con-

* Their chief town was on the site of Langrcs, in the department of
the Haute Marne.

2 They gave name to the city of Rlieims m the department of the Marne.

3 Their chief town stood on the site of the modern Metz, in the
department of the IVIoselle.

■* Besanfon stands on the site of their chief town, in the department
of the Doubs, extending as far as Bale.

^ The inhabitants of the district called the Haut Ehin or Higher Rhine.

^ The inhabitants of tlie west of Switzerland.

"^ Or the "Equestrian Colony," probably founded by theRomanEquites.
It is not known where this colony was situate, but it is suggested by
Cluver and Monetus that it may have been on the lake of Geneva, in the
vicinity of the modern to^vn of Xyon.

^ Littre, in a note, remarks that Rauriaca is a barbarism, and that the
readuig properly is " Ra\irica."

^ Spire was their chief city, in the province of the Rhine.

^^ They are supposed to have occupied Strasbourg, aiad the greater part
of the department of the Lower Rliine.

^^ They dwelt in the modem Grand Duchy of HesseDarmstadt ; "Worms
was their chief city. ^- That is, nearer the mouths of the Rliine.

^3 They originally dwelt on the right bank of the Rhine, but were
transported across the river by Agrippa in B.C. 37, at their own request,
fi'om a wish to escape the attacks of the Suevi.

^^ Now known as the city of Cologne. It took its name from Agrippina,
the wife of ClaucHus and the mother of Nero, who was born tliore, and who,
as Tacitus says, to show olFher power to the allied nations, planted a colony
of veteran soldiers in her native city, and gave to it her own name.

'5 Their district was in the modem circle of Cloves, in the province of
Juhers-Berg- Cloves.

'^ Dwelhng in the Insula Batavorum, mentioned in C. 29 of the pre-
sent Book.

'7 He first speaks of the nations on the coast, and then of those more
in the interior.

2 a2

856 plint's natueal histoUt. [Book lY.

tains the Lexovii\ tlie Yellocasses^, the Galeti^, the Veneti^,
the Abrincatui^, the Ossismi^, and the celehrated river Lige-
ris'^, as also a most remarkable peninsula, which extends into
the ocean at the extremity^ of the territory of the Ossismi,
the circumference of which is 625^ miles, and its breadth at
the neck 125^". Beyond this are the Nannetes^\ and in the
interior are the ^dui^^, a federal people, the Carnuti^^, a federal
people, the Boii^^, the Senones^^, the Aulerci, both those sur-
named Eburovices^'^ and those called Cenomanni^'^, the
Meldi'^, a free people^ the Parisii^^, the Tricasses'*^, the An-

1 Dwelling in the west of the department of Calvados, and the east of
the department of the Eure. From them Lisieiix takes its name.

2 They occupied the department of the Lower Seine.

^ They are supposed to have dwelt in the vicinity of Lillebonne, in
the department of the Lower Seine.

* They gave name to the town of Vannes in the department of Morbihan.

5 From them the city of Avranches, in the department of La Manche,
derives its name.

^ They occupied the modern department of Fmisterre. ^ The Loire.

s This spot is placed by D' Anville near the modern city of Saint Brieuc.
He refers here to the peninsula of Brittany, wliich ends in Finisterre.

^ Ansart remarks that the circuit of the peninsula from Saint Brieuc
to the mouth of the river Vilaine is only 4o0 miles, but that if taken from
the city of Avranches to the mouth of the Loire, it is 650.

^^ Ansart states that from Avranches to the mouth of the Loire, in a
straight line, is twenty miles less than the distance here given by Pliny.

1^ Inhabitants of the department of the Lower Loire or Lofre Inferieure.

^2 This extensive people inhabited the present departments of the Saone
et Loire, Allier, Nievre, Ehone nord, and Loire nord. Autuu and Chalons-
sm'-Marne stand on the site of their ancient towns.

^^ They inhabited the departments of the Eure et Loire, and portions
of those of the Seine et Oise, of the Lofre et Cher, and of the Loiret.
Chartres occupies the site of their town.

^'^ They occupied a part of the department of the AUier. Mouhns stands
on the site of then* chief town.

^^ Sens, in the department of the Yonne, stands on the site of their
chief town.

^^ The cliief town of the Aiilerci Eburovices was on the site of the
present Passy-sur-Eure, called by the mliabitants Old Evreux, in the
department of the Eure.

^7 They dwelt in the vicinity of the city of Le Mans, in the department
of the Sarthe.

^^ Meaux, in the department of the Seine et Marne, denotes the site of
their principal tov\Ti. ^^ Paris, anciently Lutetia, denotes then* locahty.

2" The city of Troyes, in the depax'tment of the Aube, denotes their
locality.

Chap. 33.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 357

decavi\ the Yiducasses^, the Bodiocasses^, the Yenelli'', the
Cariosvelites*, the Diabliiiti^, the llhedones'', the Turones.'',
the Atesui^, and the JSccusiaui^", a free people, in whose ter-
ritory is the colony of Lugdunum".

CHAP. 33. (19.) — GALLIA AQUITANICA.

In Aquitanica are the Ambilatri^-, the Anagnutes^^, the

* Their cliief town stood on the site of Angers, in the department of
the Maine et Loire,

2 D'Anville says that their chief town stood on the spot now known
as Yieux, two leagues from Caen, in the department of Calvados.

^ The reading here is not improbably " Vadicasses." If so, thev were a
people situate at a great distance from the other tribes here mentioned
by Pliny. They dwelt in the department De I'Oise, in the district for-
merly knowTi as Yalois, their cliief town or city occupying the site of Vez,
not far from Tillers Cotterets.

•* D'Anville assigns to the Venclli, or UneUi, as some readmgs have
it, the former district of Cotantin, now called the department of La
Manche.

^ According to D'Anville, Corseuil, two leagues from Dinan, in the
department of the Cotes du Nord, denotes the site of their cliief town.
Hardouin takes Quhnper to mark the locality.

^ They are supposed by Ansart to have occupied that part of the
department of La Mayenne where we find the village of Jublaiiis, two
leagues from the city of Mayenne.

7 D'Anville assigns to them the greater part of the department of the
lie et YUaine, and is of opinion that the city of Rennes occupies the
site of Condate, their chief town.

^ Toiu's, in the department of the Indre et Loire, marks the site of
their cliief town.

^ They are supposed to have occupied a portion of the department of
the Loire.

^^ They probably occupied a part of tlie department of the Loire, as
also of that of the Rhone. Then* town. Forum Secusianoruiu, stood on
the site of the present Feurs, in the department of the Loire.

'^ The city of Lyons occupies the site of ancient Lugdunum. It is
suggested by Ilardouin, that the name Lugdunum is a corruption of
" Lucudunum," a compound of the Latm word lucus, *' a grove," and
the CoUic dun, "a hill" or "mountain."

^- They are mentioned by Ciesar (B. C. iii. 9), in conjunction with the
Nannetes, Morini, and otliers, but notliing can be inferreil as to the
precise ])osition they occupied.

^3 Their locality also is unkno\\Ti, but it is supposed that they dwelt
in the vicinity of the department of La Vendee.

858 plint's nattjeal histoet. [Book IV.

Pictones\ the Santoni^, a free people, the Bituriges^, sur-
named Yivisci, the Aquitani^ from whom the province derives
its name, the Sediboviates^ the Convense^, who together
form one town, the Begerri^, the Tarbelli Quatuorsignani^,
the Cocosates Sexsignani^, the Venami^^, the Onobrisates",

* From them ancient Poitou received its name. They are supposed
to have occiipied the department of the Haute- Vienna, and portions of
the departments of La "Vendee, the Loire Inferieure, the Maine et Loire,
the Deux-Sevi-es, and La Vienne.

• 2 They gave name to the former Saintonge, now the department of
Charente and Charente Inferieure. The town of Saintes occupies the
site of their cliief town.

3 They occupied the modem department of the Gironde. The city
of Bordeaux occupies the site of their chief town.

* They gave name to Aquitame, wliioh became corrupted into Gruyenne.
Phny is the only author that makes the Aquitani a distinct people of
the province of Aquitanica. The Tarusates are supposed to have after-
wards occuj)ied the site here referred to by him, with Atures for theu'
cliief town, afterwards called Aire, in the department of the Landes.

5 Their locahty is unknown, but it has been suggested that they
occupied the departments of the Basses Pyi'enees, or Lower Pyrenees.

^ So called from the Latin verb convenire, "to assemble" or "meet
together." They are said to have received this name from the circum-
stance that Ptolemy, after the close of the Sertorian war, finding a pas-
toral people of predatory habits inhabiting the range of the Pyrenees,
ordered them to unite together and form a community in a town or city.
From them the present town of Saint Bertrand de Comminges, in the
S.W. of the department of the Haute Garonne, derives its Latin name
*'Lugdunum Convenarum,"

' By Csesar called the Bigerriones. Their name was preserved in that
of the district of Bigorre, now the department of the Hautes-Pyrenees.
Their cliief town was Turba, now Tarbes.

^ By calling the Tarbelli Quatuorsignani, he seems to imply that
their cliief town was a place garrisoned by four maniples of soldiers, each
■with a signiim or standard. Aquse Tarbelhcse was their chief town, the
modern Acqs or Dax, in the S.W. of the department of the Landes.

^ Their chief town was probably garrisoned by six signa or maniples.
Cocosa, or Coequosa, as it is written in the Antonine Itinerary, is the first
place on a road from Aquae Tarbelhcse or Dax to Burdegala or Bordeaux,
now called Marensin. Their locality was in the southern part of the
department of the Landes, the inhabitants of which are still divided into
two classes, the Bouges, those of the north, or of the Tete de Buch ; and
the Cousiots, those of the south. ^"^ Their locahty is unknown.

^' D'Anvillc would read " Onobusates," and thinks that they dwelt in
the district called Nebousan, in the department of the Hautes Pyrenees.
JTe is also of opinion that tlioir town stood on the site of the modem
Cioutat, between the rivers Adour and Neste.

Chap. 33.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 359

the Belendi\ and then the Pyrena?an range. Below these
are the Monesi '\ the Oscidates^ a mountain race, the Sibyl-
lates*, the Camponi*, the Bercoreates^, the Pindediiniii^,
the Lassunni^, the Vellates^, theTomates^", the Consoranni'^
the Ausci'", the Elusates^^, the Sottiates^^, the Oscidates
Campestres^% the Succasses^^, the Tarusates'^, the Basabo-
eates'^, the Yassei^^, the Sennates, and the Cambolectri Ages-
sinates-". Joining up to the Pictones are the Bituriges*\ a

^ They occupied the southern part of the department of the Gironde.

2 From them Ilardouin suggests that Moneins, in the department of
the Basses Pyrenees, takes its name.

3 D'Anyille is of opinion that they inliabited and gave name to the
Yallee d'Ossim, between the Pyrenees and the city of Oleron in the
department of the Basses P^Tenees.

■* D'Anville places them in the Yallee de Soule, in the department of
the Basses Pyrenees.

* From tliem Campon, a place in the department of the Hautes
Pyrenees, is supposed to have received its name.

^ Biscarosse, not far from Tete de Buch in the department of the
Landes, is supposed to derive its name from tliis tribe.

7 Nothing whatever is known of them.

^ The more general reading is " Sassumini." Ansart suggests that
the town of Sariimi, between Cognac and Perigueux, in the department
of the Dordogne, may have received its name from them.

^ Ansart suggests thatRieumes,inthe department of tlieHaute Garonne
occupies the site of Ryesium, their chief town, mentioned by Ptolemy.

^° They are supposed to have given name to ToiUTiay, m the depart
ment of the Ilautes Pyrenees.

^^ Supposed to be the same as the Consuarini, mentioned in B. iii. c. 5

^2 They probably gave name to Audi, in the department of Gers.

^3 Their cliief town occupied the site of Fuse or Eause, m the depart
ment of Gers.

^* Their locahty is marked by Soz, in the department of the Lot-ct
Garonne.

15 Qj. « Oscidates of the Plains." They probably gave name to Ossun
two miles from Tarbes, in the department of the Ilautes Pyreiic'os.

^^ From them the village of Cestas, three leagues from Bordeaux, in
the department of the Gironde, is supposed to derive its name.

^'^ The village of Tursan, in the department of the Landes, probably
derived its name from this tribe.

18 Their town was Cossio, afterwards Vasates, now Bazas, in tlie de-
partment of the Gironde.

ly The site of the Yassei and the Sennates appears to be unknown.

^ D'Anville is of opinion that this tribe gave name to Aisenay or
Azenay, a village four leagues distant from Bourbon-Ycndee, in the
department of La Yendee.

^1 They occupied the district formerly known as Berry, but now the

860 PLINY's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book lY.

free people, wlio are also known as tlie Cubi, and tlien the
Lemovices \ the Arverni^, a free people, and the Grabales^.

Again, adjoining the province of Narbonensis are theE.u-
teni"*, the Cadurei^, the Nitiobriges^, and the Petrocori^,
separated by the river Tarnis from the Tolosani. The seas
around the coast are the Northern Ocean, flowing up to
the mouth of the Khine, the Britannic Ocean between the
Bhine and the Sequana, and, between it and the Pyrenees,
the Grallic Ocean. There are many islands belonging to the
Veneti, which bear the name of " Veneticse^," as also in the
Aquitanic Gulf, that of Uliarus^.

CHAP. 34. (20.j — NEAEER SPAIN, ITS COAST ALOITa THE
GALLIC OCEAlf.

At the Promontory of the Pyrenees Spain begins, more
narrow, not only than Graul, but even than itself ^° in its

departments of the Indre, the Cher, and the west of the department of
the Alher. Their chief town was Avaricmn, now Bourges.

^ They inhabited the district formerly known as the Limosin, now the
departments of the Creuse, the Haute Viemie, and the Correze. Their
chief town was Augnstoritum, afterwards Lemovices, now Lmioges.

- They occupied the district formerly known as Auvergne, foi*ming the
present department of the Alher, and the southern part of thePuy deDome
and the Cantal. Augustonemetum was their cliief town, now Clennont.

^ Situate in the district formerly known as Gevaudan, now tlie de-
partment of La Lozere. Their chief town stood on the site of the
present small town of Javoidx, foiu' leagues from Mende.

^ They are supposed to have occupied the former district of Rouergue,
now known as the department of Aveyron. Their chief town was Sego-
dunum, afterwards Ruteni, now known as Rhodez.

* They occupied the former district of Querci, the present department
of Lot and Lot-et-Graronne. Divona, afterwards Cadurci, now Cahors,
was their principal town.

^ According to Ptolemy their town was Aginnum, probably the mo-
dem Agen, in the present department of Lot-et- Garonne. " Antobroges,"
however, is the more common reading.

7 They occupied the district formerly known as Perigord, in the de-
partment of theDordogne j their town was Yesanna, afterwards Petrocori,
now Perigueux.

^ Ansart says they are about 200 m number, consisting of Belle Isle,
6-roaix, Houat, Hoedic, and others. Also probably Morbilian.

^ Tlie Isle of Oleron, the fountain-head of the maritune laws of Europe.

^^ He means to say that it gradually increases in breadth after leaving
the narrow neck of the Pyrenees and approaching the confines of Lu-
sitania.

Chap. 34.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 361

otlier parts, as we have previously mentioned \ seeing to what
an immense extent it is liere hemmed in by the ocean on the
one side, and by the Iberian Sea on the other. A chain of
the Pyrenees, extending from due east to south-west'-, divides
Spain into two parts, the smaller one to the north, the
larger to the south. The first coast that presents itself is
that of the Nearer Spain, otherwise called Tarraconensis.
On lea^4ng the Pyrenees and proceeding along the coast, we
meet with the forest ranges of the Vascones^, Olarso^, the
to\\'ns of the Yarduli^ the Morosgi^, Menosca', Vesperies^,
and tlie Port of Anianus^, where now stands the colony of
Plaviobriga. We then come to the district of the nine
states of the Cantabri^", the river Sauga^\ and the Port of
Victoria of the Juliobrigenses^-, from which place tlie sources
of the Iberus^"* are distant forty miles. We next come to
the Port of Blendium^"*, the Orgenomesci^', a people of the
Cantabri, Vereasueca^^ their port, the country of the As-

1 B. iii. c. 3. 2 From Kuscino to Gades.

3 In the province now known as Guipuzcoa.

■* Supposed to be the present Cabo do la lliguera.

^ Probably mhabiting the eastern part of the provinces of Biscay and
Alava, the eastern portion of Navarre, and, perhaps, a jDart of the pro-
vince of Guipuzcoa. * According to Hardouin the
modem San Sebastian occupies the site of their to\vn.

7 On the same site as the modern Bermco, according to Mannert.
Hardoxiin thinks, however, and with greatei* probabihty, that it was
situate at the mouth of the river Orio.

^ D'Anville considers this to be the site of the city of Berraeo.

^ Poinsinet thinks that this is Flavio in Bilbao, D'Anville calls it
Portugalette, and Mannert thinks that it is the same as Santander, with
which opinion Ansart agrees.

^^ Accordmg to Ptolemy, the Cantabri possessed the western part of
the provmce of La Montana, and the northern parts of the provinces of
Palencia and Toro.

^^ Most probably thepresentRio de Suanc&s, by Mannert called the Saya,
into which the Besanga flows. Hardouin however calls it the Nervio.

^'' Ansart suggests that this is the modern San Vicente de la Barqucra.
If the river Sauga is the same with the Suanees, this cannot be the port of
Santander, as has been suggested. '•* Or Ebro.

^* According to Ansart, tliis is cither the modern Ensenada de Ballota
or else the Puerta de P6.

^^ According to Ansart, the Orgenomesci occupied the same ten'itory
whichPtolemy has assigned to the Cantabri in general. See Note ^^ above.

•^ Hardouin takes tliis to be Yillavieiosa. Ajisart tliinks that Bia
de Cella occupies its site.

3G2 plikt's natural history. [Book IT.

tiires\ the town of Noega^, and on a peninsula^, the Paesici.
Next to these we have, belonging to the jurisdiction of
Lueus'^, after passing the river Navilubio^, the Cibarei*', the
Egovarri, surnamed jSTamarini, the ladoni, the Arrotrebae^,
the Celtic Promontory, the rivers Plorius^ and JSTelo, the
Celtici^, surnamed Neri, and above them the Tamarici^'^, in
Avhose peninsula^^ are the three altars called Sestianae, and
dedicated*" to Augustus ; the Capori*^, the town of Noela*^,
the Celtici surnamed Praesamarci, and the Cileni*^ : of the
islands, those worthy of mention are Corticata*^ and Aunios.
After passing the Cileni, belonging to the jims diction of the
Bracari*', we have the Heleni*^, the Grravii*^, and the fortress
of Tyde, all of them deriving their origin from the Greeks.

* They are supposed to have occupied the greater part of the princi-
pahty of the Astiirias and the province of Leon.

2 Ilardouin and Mannert consider tliis to be identical with Navia or
Nava, six miles to the east of Oviedo, an obscure place in the interior.
Ansart liowever would identify it with Villaviciosa.

3 No doubt the headland now known as the Cabo de Pena3.
^ Now Lugo in Q-aUicia.

* Supposed by Ansart to be the Rio Caneiro, into which the Rio
Labio discharges itself.

^ Supposed by Ansart to have dwelt in the vicinity of the Celtic pro-
montory, now Cabo de Finisterra or Cape Finisterre. Of the Egovarri
and ladoni nothing whatever is known.

7 Their towns are mentioned by Ptolemy as being situate on a bay
near Nerium or the promontory of Cape Fiuisterre.

s Mannert thinks that the Nelo is the same as the Rio Allones ; the Flo-
rins seems not to have been identified.

^ The inhabitants of Cape Finisterre.

^0 DweUing on the banks of the river wliich from them takes its
modern name of Tambre.

^' Mannert and Ansart are of opinion that this peninsula was probably
the modem Cabo Tamnnan or Cabo Yillano, most probably the latter.

^2 On the occasion probably of liis expedition against the Cantabri.

^3 Their towns, Iria Flavia and Lacus Augusti, lay in the mterior, on
the sites of the present Santiago de ComposteUa and Lugo.

^* Probably the modern Noya.

^* They are supposed to have occupied the district in wliich the warm
springs are found, which are known as Caldas de Contis andCaldas deRey.

^^ It is suggested by Ansart that the islands here meant are those called
Carreira, at the mouth of the river TJlla, and the Islas de 0ns, at the
mouth of the Tenario. ''7 See B. iii. c. 4.

^^ Inhabiting the vicinity of the modem Pontevedra.

*' According to Ptolemy also their town was Tudae, the modem Tuy.

Chap. 35.] ACCOTIN"T OF COITKTEIES, ETC. 363

Also, the islands called Cic8e\ the famous city of Abo-
"brica^, the river Miiiius^, four miles vdde at its mouth, the
Leuui, the Seurbi'*, and Augusta*, a town of the Bracari,
above whom lies GalLTcia. AVe then come to the river
Limia^, and the river Durius^, one of the largest in Spain,
&nd which rises in the district of the Pelendoues^, passes
near Numantia, and through the Arevaci and the Yaccaei,
di^^ding the Yettones from Asturia, the Gralla?ci from Lusi-
tania, and separating the Turduli from the Bracari. The
^whole of the region here mentioned from the Pyrenees is
full of mines of gold, silver, iron, and lead, both black and
white ^

CHAP. 35. (21.) — LTJSITANIA.

After passing the Durius, Lusitania^° begins . AYe here have
the ancient Turduli'', the Ptesuri, tlie river Yaga'^, the town
of Talabrica, the town and river '^ of ^minium, the towns of
Conimbrica'^, Collippo'*, and Eburobritium'^ Apromontory'''
then advances into the sea in shape of a large horn ; by some
it has been called Artabrum'^, by others the Grreat Promou-

^ The modem Islas do Scyas or of Bayona.

" The town of Bayona, about six leagues from the mouth of the river
Minho. 3 The Minlio.

* They occupied the tract of country lying between the rivers, and
known as Entre Douro y Mmho, ^ Now Braga on the Cavado.

^ The Lima. ^ The river Douro. ^ See B. iii. c. 3.

^ Both lead, properly so called, and tm.

^0 In a great degree corresponding with modem Portugal, except that
the latter includes the tract of country between tlie Minho and Doiu*o.

^1 To distinguish them from the nation of t\ie same name sprung
ii'om them, and occupying the Farther Sjiain. (B. iii. c. 3.) The Pa^smi
occupied the site of the present towns of Lamego and Arouca.

12 The modem Tonga, wliich runs below the town of Aveiro, raised
from the ruins of ancient Talabrica.

13 Agueda, which, according to ITardouin, is the name of both the
river and the town. i"* Coimbra, formerly Condtja la Yeja.

1^ Leiria is supposed to occupy its site.

1^ According to lIardoui:i, the modem Ebora dc Alcobaza, ten leagues
from Leiria.

17 The modem Cabo de la Koea, seven leagues from Lisbon.

18 Phny, in C. 31-, places the Arrotrebsr, belonging to the Con-
ventus of IjUcus Angusti, about the Promontorium Coltieum, whicli, if not
the same as the Nerium (or Cape Finisterre) of the otliers, is evitlenlly
in its immediate neighbourhood j but he confuses the whole matter by

364 plint's natfeal history. [Book ly.

tory, while many call it the Promontory of Olisipo, from
the city^ near it. This spot forms a dividing line in the
land, the sea, and the heavens. Here ends one side^ of
Spain ; and, when we have doubled the promontory, the
front of Spain begins. (22.) On one side of it lie the North
and the Grallic Ocean, on the other the "West and the Atlantic.
The length of this promontory has been estimated by some
persons at sixty miles, by others at ninety. A considerable
number of writers estimate the distance from this spot to
the Pyrenees at 1250 miles ; and, committing a manifest
error, place here the nation of the Artabri, a nation
that never^ was here. Per, making a slight change in the
name, they have placed at this spot the Arrotrebge, whom
we have previously spoken of as dwelling in front of the
Celtic Promontory.

Mistakes have also been made as to the more celebrated
rivers. Prom the Minius, which we have previously men-
tioned, according to Varro, the river ^minius^ is distant
200 miles, which others^ suppose to be situate elsewhere,
and called Limsea. By the ancients it was called the " Kiver
of Oblivion," and it has been made the subject of many
fabulous stories. At a distance of 200 miles from the
Durius is the Tagus, the Munda^ Ijii^g between them.
The Tagus is famous, for its golden sands''. At a distance

a very curiou8 error. He mentions a promontory called Artabrum as
the headland at the N. W. extremity of Spain ; the coast on the one side of
it looking to the north and the Grallic Ocean, on the other to the west and
the Atlantic Ocean. But he considers this promontory to be the west
headland of the estuary of the Tagus^ and adds, that some called it
Magnum Promontorium, or the " Great Promontory," and others OHsi-
ponense, from the city of OUsipo, or Lisbon. He assigns, in fact, all the
west coast of Spain, down to the mouth of the Tagus, to the north
coast, and, instead of being led to detect liis error by the resemblance of
name between his Artabrum Promontorium and liis Arrotrebse (the
Artabri of his predecessors, Strabo and Mela), he perversely finds fault
with those who had placed above the promontory Artabrum, a people of
the same name who never were there.

^ On the site of which the present city of Lisbon stands.

2 See note ^^ in the preceding page. ^ See note ^^.

■* See note ^^ in the preceding page.

^ Among these is Pomponius Mela, who confounds the river Limia,
mentioned in the last chapter, with the -^minius, or Agueda.

^ Now the river Mondego. ^ See B. xxxiii. c. 21.

Chap. 35.] ACCOTJITT OF COrNTEIES, ETC. 365

of 160 miles from it is the Sacred Promontory^ projecting
from nearly the very middle of the front- of JSpaiu. From
this spot to the middle of the Pyrenees, A^arro says, is a
distance of 1400 miles ; while to the Anas, by which we
have mentioned^ Lusitania as being separated from Ba^tica,
is 126 miles, it being 102 more to Gades.

The peoples are the Celtici, the Turduli, and, about the
Tagus, the Vettones'*. From the river Anas to the Sacred
Promontory* are the Lusitani. The cities worthy of men-
tion on the coast, beginning from the Tagus, are that of
Olisipo^, famous for its mares, wliich conceive^ from the
west wind ; Salacia"^, Avhich is surnamed the Imperial
City ; Merobrica'-' ; and then the Sacred Promontory, viith
the other known by the name of Cuneus^", and the towns of
Ossonoba^\ Balsa^-, and Myrtili^^.

The whole of this province is divided into three jurisdic-
tions, those of Emerita, Pax, and Scalabis. It contains in
all forty-six peoples, among whom there are five colonies,

^ Now Cape St. Tincent.

^ Pliny contmues his error here, in taking part of the -western side of
Spain for the north, and part of the southern coast for the western.

3 B. iii. c. 2.

■* With the Vettones, situate in the province of the Alentcjo. See
B. iii. c. 3.

^ In the present province of Algarve.

^ Now Lisbon. Botli Strabo, iSohnus, and Martianus Capella make
mention of a stoi"y that Ulysses came to Spain and founded this city.

7 See B. viii. c. 67 of the present work.

^ According to llardouin, followed by D'Anville and Uckert, tliis
place gives name to Alcazar do Sal, nearly midway between Evora and
the sea-shore. Manncrt says Setuval, wliich D'Anville however supposes
to be the ancient Cetobriga.

^ On its site stands Santiago de Cacem, nearly midway between Lisbon
and Cape St. Tincent.

^^ Or tlie " Wedge," generally supposed to be Cabo de Santa ^Maria.
Ansart however tliinks that it is the Punta de Sagres, near Cape St.
Vincent. Phny's words indeed seem to imply a closer proximity than
that of Capes St. Vincent and Santa Maria.

^' According to llardouin, the modem Estombar; according to
D'Anville, in the vicuiity of Faro ; but ten leagues from that place, ac-
cording to Manncrt.

^- Hardouin and D'Anville are of ophiion that Tavii*a occupies
its site.

^ Now Mertola, on the river Guadiana.

366 plint's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book IV.

one municipal town of Eoman citizens, tliree mth the
ancient Latin rights, and thirty-six that are tributaries.
The colonies are those of Augusta Emerita\ situate on the
river Anas, Metallinum^, Pax^, and Norba'^, surnamed Cae-
sariana. To this last place of jurisdiction the people of
Castra Servilia^ and Castra CsBcilia*^ resort. The fifth juris-
diction is that of Scalabis'', which also has the name of
Praesidium Julium^. Olisipo, surnamed Felicitas Julia^, is a
municipal city, whose inhabitants enjoy the rights of Eoman
citizens. The towns in the enjoyment of the ancient Latin
rights are Ebora^", which also has the name of Libera-
litas Julia^\ and Myrtili and Salacia, which we have pre-
viously mentioned. Those among the tributaries whom it
may not be amiss to mention, in addition to those already ^^
alluded to am^ong the names of those in Baetica, are the
Augustobrigenses'^, the Ammienses^^, the Aranditani, the
Arabricenses, the Balsenses, the Ca?sarobricenses, the Ca-
perenses^^, the Caurenses^*', the Colarni, the Cibilitani, the
Concordienses^'^, the Elbocorii, the Interannienses, the Lan-

^ Now Merida, on the Guadiana. A colony of veterans (Emeriti)
wi 9 planted there by Augustus.

2 Now Medellin, in the province of Estremadura.

3 Pax Julia, or Pax Augusta, m the covmtry of the Turduli, or Tur-
detani ; now Beja, in the province of the Alentejo.

^ Now Alcantara, in the province of Estremadura.
s Now Truxillo, so called from Turris Julia.
* Now Caceres.

7 Now called Santarem, from Saint Irene, the Vu'gin.

8 " The Gan-ison of Juhus."

9 " The Success of Juhus."

10 Evora, between the Guadiana and the Tagus.
" " The Liberahty of Juhus."

12 B. iii. c. 3.

13 Hardoum takes Augustobriga to have stood on the site of Yillar
del Pedroso on the Tagus. Other wi'iters think that it is represented
by the present Ponte del Arcobispo.

i** From Ammia, now Portalegre, on the frontier of Portugal. The
sites of Arabrica and Balsa do not appear to have been ascertaiaed.

1^ Capera stood on the site now called Las Ventas de Capara, between
Alcantara and Coria. The site of Caesarobrica has not been ascer-
tained.

1^ Coria, in Estremadura, probably occupies the site of Caura.

17 Hardouin suggests that the modern Tomar occupies the site of
Concordia.

Cliap. 36.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 3G7

cienses\ tlie Mirobrigenses, siimamed^ Celtici, the Medu-
brigenses^, suriianied Plumbarii, the Ocelenses"* or Lauci-
enses, the Turduli, also called Barduli, and the Tapori.
Agrippa states, that Lusitaiiia, with Asturia and Galhecia,
is 540 miles in length, and 536 in breadth. The pro-
vinces of Spain, measiu'ed from the two extreme* promontories
of the P^Tcnees, along the sea-line of the entire coast, are
thought to be 3922 miles in circumference ; while some
writers make them to be but 2600.

CHAP. 36. — THE ISLANDS IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.

Opposite to Celtiberia are a number of islands, by the
Greeks called Cassiterides^in consequence of their abounding
in tin : and, facing the Promontory^ of the Arrotreba?, are
the six Islands of the Gods, which some persons have
called the Fortunate Islands^. At the very commencement

^ Mannert is of opinion that the city of Lancia was situate in the
north of Lusitania, on the river Durius, or Douro, near the modern
Zamora.

2 To distinguish them from the IMirobrigenses, sumamcd Turduli,
mentioned in B. iii. c. 3. Some writers think that this Mii-obriga is the
present Ciudad Eodrigo ; but Ambrose Morales takes it to be the place
called Malabriga, in the vicinity of that city.

3 The name of Medubriga was afterwards Aramenha, of which Har-
douin says the ruins only were to be seen. They were probably called
JPlumharii, from lead mines in their vicmity.

■* According to Hardouin, Ocelum was in the vicroity of the modem
Capara.

» From Cape de Creuz to the Promontory between the cities of Fon-
tarabia and Saint Sebastian.

^ From the Greek jcacrcrtrepos, " tin." It is generally supposed that the
" Tin Islands" were the Scilly Isles, in the vicinity of Cornwall. At the
same time the Greek and Koman geographers, borrowing their knowlodgo
from the accounts probably of the Phoenician merchants, soem to have had
a very indistinct notion of their precise locality, antl to have thought them
to be nearer to Spain than to Britain. Thus we fhid Strabo, in B. iii.,
saying, that " the Cassiterides are ten in number, lying near eacli other
in the ocean, towards the rxorih. from the haven of the Ariabri." From
a comparison of the accounts, it would almost ajjpear that the ancient
geographers confused the Scilly Islands with the Azores, as those, who
enter into any detail, attribute to the Cassiterides the characteristics
almost as much of the Azores and the sea in their vicinity, aa of the
Scilly Islands. 7 Capo Finisterre.

8 Or the " Islands of the Blest." Wo cannot do better than quote a

368 plis-t's NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book ly.

of Eaetica, and Wenty-five miles from the moufh of the
Straits of Grades, is the island of Gradis, twelve miles long
and three broad, as Polybius states in his writings. At its
nearest part, it is less than 700 feet^ distant from the main-
land, while in the remaining portion it is distant more than
seven miles. Its circuit is fifteen miles, and it has on it a
city which enjoys the rights of Eoman citizens^, and whose
people are called the Augustani of the city of Julia
Graditana. On the side which looks towards Spain, at about
100 paces distance, is another long island, three miles wide,
on wliich the original city of Grades stood. By Ephorus and
Philistides it is called Erythia, by Timseus and Silenus Aphro-
disias^, and by the natives the Isle of Juno. Timaeus says,
that the larger island used to be called Cotinusa'*, from its
portion of the article on tliis subject in Dr. Smith's "Dictionary of
Ancient Geography." " ' Fortunatse Instilae' is one of those geograpliical
names whose origm is lost in mythic darkness, but wliich afterwards
came to have a specific apphcation, so closely resembling the old mythical
notion, as to make it almost impossible to doubt that that notion was
based, in part at least, on some vague knowledge of the regions afterwards
discovered. The earliest Grreek poetry places the abode of the happy
departed spirits far beyond the entrance of the Mediterranean, at the
extremity of the earth, and upon the shores of the river Oceanus, or in
islands in its midst ; and Homer's poetical description of the place may
be apphed almost word for word to those islands in the Atlantic, off the
west coast of Africa, to wliich the name was given in the historical
period. (Od. iv. 1. 563, seq.) ' There the life of mortals is most easy ;
there is no snow, nor whiter, nor much rain, but Ocean is ever senduig
up the shrill breatliing breezes of Zephyrus to refresh men.' Their de-
hcious cHmate, and their supposed identity of situation, marked out the
Canary Islands, the Madeira group, and the Azores, as worthy to re-
present the Islands of the Blest. In the more specific sense, however,
the name was appUed to the two former groups ; wliile, in its widest
apphcation, it may have even included the Cape de Verde Islands, its
extension being in fact adapted to that of maritime discovery." Plhiy
gives a further description of them in B. vi. c. 37.

^ The strait between the island and the mainland is now called the
Hiver of Saint Peter. The circuit of the island, as stated by Pliny,
varies m the MSS. from fifteen to twenty-five nules, and this last is pro-
bably correct.

2 Juhus Csesar, on his visit to the city of Grades, during the CivU War
in Spain, B.C. 49, conferred the citizenship of Kome on aU the citizens of
Gadcs. Under Augustus it became a municipium, with the title of
* Augusta urbs Juha Gaditana.' The modern city of Cadiz is biult upon
its site. 2 Or the Island of Venus.

* From the Greek word Konros, " an oHve-tree."

Chap. 37.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 369

olives ; the Eomans call it Tartessos^ ; the Carthaginians
Gadir', that Avord in the Puuic language signifying a hedge.
It was called Erythia because the Tyrians, the original an-
cestors of the Carthaginians, Avere said to have come from
the Erythraean, or Red Sea. In this island Greryon is by
some thought to have dwelt, whose herds were carried off
by Hercules. Other persons again think, that his island
is another one, opposite to Lusitania, and that it was there
formerly called by that name^.

CHAP. 37. (23.) — THE GENERAL MEASIJEEMENT OF EUEOPE.

Having thus made the circuit of Europe, we must now
give the complete measurement of it, in order that those
who wish to be acquainted with this subject may not feel
themselves at a loss. Artemidorus and Isidorus liave given
its length, from the Tanais to Gades, as 8214 miles. Poly-
bius in his writings has stated the breadth of Europe, in a
line from Italy to the ocean, to be 1150 miles. But, even
in his day, its magnitude was but little known. The distance
of Italy, as we have previously^ stated, as far as the Alps, is
1120 miles, from which, through Lugdunum to the British
port of the Morini^, the direction which Polybius seems to

^ If Grades was not the same as Tartessus (probably the Tarshish
of Scripture), its exact locaUty is a question in dispute. Most ancient
vrriters place it at the mouth of the river Ba;tis, while others identity
it, and perhaps with more pi-obabihty, with the city of Carteia, on
Mount Calpe, the Rock of Gibrahar. The whole country west of
Gibraltar was called Tartessis. See B. iii. c. 3.

2 Or more properly ' Agadir,' or ' Hagadir.' It probably received
this name, meaning a ' hedge,' or ' bulwark,' Irom the fact of its beuig
the chief Phoenician colony outside of the Pillars of Ilercules.

3 Of Erythrsea, or Erjtheia. The monster Genon, or Geryones, fabled
to have had three bodies, hved in the fabulous Island of Erytheia, or the
"Red Isle," so called because it lay under the rays of the setting sun in
the west. It was originally said to be situate oW the coast of Epirub,
but was afterwards identified either with Gades or the Balearic islandb,
and was at all times beheved to be ui the distant west. Gerjon was
said to have been the son of Chrysaor, the wealthy king of Iberia.

* ^Uluding to B. iii. c. 6. From Rhegium to the Alps. But tfiere the
reading is 1020.

^ Meaning Gessoriacum, the prf*8ent Boulogne. Ke probably calls it
Britannicum, from the circumstance that the Romans usually embarked
there for the pvu^ose of crossing over to Britain.

VOL. I. 2 B

370 plint's natueal histoet. [Book IV.-

follow, IS 1168 miles. But the better ascertained, thougli
greater length, is that taken from the Alps through the
Camp of the Legions^ in Germany, in a north-westerly
direction, to the mouth of the Ehine, being 1543 miles.
We shall now have to speak of Africa and Asia.

Stjmmaet. — Towns and nations mentioned * * * *. Noted
rivers * * * *. l^'amous mountains * * * *. Islands * * * *.
People or towns no longer in existence * * * *, Kemarkable
events, narratives, and observations * * * *.

EoMAN AuTHOES QUOTED. — Cato the Censor^, M. Yarro^
M. Agrippa^, the late Emperor Augustus^, Varro Atacinus®,
Cornelius Nepos'', Hyginus^, L. Vetus®, Mela Pomponius^'*,
Licinius Mucianus^\ Pabricius Tuscus^^, Ateius Capito^^
Ateius the Philologist^^.

PoEEiGN AuTKOES QUOTED. — Polybius^^, Hecatseus ^^,

^ The present Santen in the Duchy of Cleves.

2 See end of B, iij. * See end of B. ii. ■* See end of B. iii.

* See end of B. iii. ^ See end of B. iii. 7 See end of B. ii.

8 See end of B. iii. ^ See end of B. iii. ^^ See end of B. iii.

11 See end of B. ii. i^ See end of B. iii. 13 See end of B. iii.

1^ Ateius, surnamed Prcetextatus, and also Philologus, which last
name he assumed to indicate his learning, was born at Athens, and was
one of the most celebrated grammarians of Rome, in the latter part of
the first century B.C. He was originally a freedman of the jurist Ateius
Capito, by whom he was described as " a rhetorician among grammarians,
and a grammarian among rhetoricians." He was on terms of intimacy
with Sallust the historian, and Asinius PoUio. It is supposed that he
assisted Sallust in the compilation of liis history ; but to what extent is
not known. But few of his numerous commentaries were extant even
in the time of Suetonius.

1" A native of Megalopolis in Arcadia, born about B.C. 204. He was
trained probably in political knowledge and the mihtary art imder
Philopcemen, and was sent as a prisoner to Eome, vfiilx others, to
answer the charge of not aiding the Romans in their war against
Perseus. Here, by great good fortune, he secured the finendship of
Scipio Africanus, with whom he was present at the destruction of Car-
thage. His history is one of the most valuable works that has come
down to us from antiquity.

i** Of Miletus, one of the earhest and most distinguished Greek his-
torians and geographers. He hvcd about the 65th Olympiad, or B.C.
520. A few li-agments, quoted, are all that are left of liis historical and

Chap. 37.] ACCOTJNT OF COUlfTEIES, ETC. 371

Hellamcus\ Damastes^, Eudoxiis', Dicaearchiis^, Timo-
sthenes^, Eratosthenes^, Ephorus', Crates the Grrammarian',
Serapion' of Antioch, Callimachus^", Artemidorus^^ Apol-
lodorus ^^, Agathocles ^^, Eumachus ^'*, Timaeus the Sici-

geographical works. There is Httlo doubt that Herodotus extensively
availed himself of tliis -wTiter's works, though it is equally untrue that
he has transcribed whole passages from him, as Porphyrins has ventured
to assert.

^ Of Mitylene, supposed to have flourished about B.C. 450. He ap-
pears to have written nvunerous geographical and historical works, wliich,
with the exception of a considerable number of fragments, are lost.

2 Of Sigseum, a Greek liistorian, contemporary with Herodotus. He
wrote a history of Greece, and several other works, all of wliich, with a
few unimportant exceptions, are lost.

3 See end of B. ii. * See end of B. ii.

* A Rhodian by bu'th. He was admiral of the fleet of Ptolemy Phila-
delphus, who reigned from B.C. 385 to 247. He wi-ote a work " On
Harbours," in ten books, which was copied by Eratosthenes, and is
frequently quoted by ancient writers. Strabo also says that he com-
posed poetry. ^ See end of B. ii.

7 Of Cuma?, or Cyma?, in Ionia. He flourished about B.C. 108. He
studied imdcr Isocrates, and gained considerable fame as a historian.
Though anxious to disclose the truth, he has been accused of sometimes
forcing his authorities to suit his own views. Of his historj' of Greece,
and his essays on various subjects, a few fragments only survive.

8 A grammarian of MaUus, in CiUcia. He lived in the time of Ptolemy
PhUopater, and I'csided at Pergamus, under the patronage of Eumenes II.
and Attains II. In his grammatical system he made a strong distinc-
tion between criticism and grammar, the latter of whidi seienees he re-
garded as quite subordinate to the former. Of his learned commentaries
on the Ihad and the Odyssey, only a few fragments have come down
to us. • See end of B. ii.

^*^ Of Cyrene, an Alexandrian grammarian and poet. He flourished
at Alexandria, whither Ptolemy Pliiladelphus had invited him to a place
in the Museum. Of liis Hymns and Epigrams many are still extant. His
Elegies, wliich were of considerable poetical merit, witli the excei)tion of
a few fragments, have all perished. Of his numerous other works in
prose, not one is extant in an entire state. ** See end of 1{. ii.

^2 Probably ApoUodorus of Artemita, in Mesopotamia. It is probably
to him that a Treatise on Islands and Cities has been ascribed by Tzetzes,
as also a History of the Partliians, and a History of Pontus.

^ Probably tlie author of tliat name, wlio wrote tlic History of Cyzicus,
is the jierson here referred to. He is called by Athenivus both a Baby-
lonian and a Cyzican. His work is entin-ly lost ; but it ajipeurs to liavo
been extensively read, and is referred to by Cicero and ollu-r ancient
writers.

^* Of Ncapolis. He An'ote a History of Hannibal, and to him has

o ,, o

«.> Ji .u

372 pliny's FATUEAL HISTOET. [Book IV.

lian\ Myrsilus'^, Alexander Polyliistor ^, Thucydides '',
Dosiades^, Anaximander ^, Philistides Mallotes '^, Dio-
nysius ^, Aristides ^, Callidemus ^°, Menseclimus ", Agla-

been ascribed a Description of the Uniyerse, of which a fragment still
survives.

1 Of Tauromenium, in Sicily ; a celebrated historian, who flourished
about the year B.C. 300. He was banished from SicHy by Agathocles,
and passed his exile at Athens. He composed a History of Sicily,
from the earUest times to the year B.C. 264. The value of his history
has been gravely attacked by Polybius ; but there is httle doubt that it
possessed very considerable merit. Of tliis, and other works of Timseus,
only a few fragments survive.

2 A Greek historian ; a native of Lesbos. When he lived is unknown.
Dionysius, of Hahcarnassus, has borrowed from him a portion of his ac-
count of the Pelasgians. He is said to have been the author of the notion
that the Tyrrhenians, in consequence of then* wanderings after they left
their original settlement, got the name of irekapyoi, or " storks." He is
supposed to have written a History of Lesbos, as also a work called
" Historical Paradoxes." ^ gee end of B. iii. ■* See end of B. iii.

■ ^ Of tliis author nothing whatever seems to be known.
^ Of Miletus, bom B.C. 610. One of the earhest philosophers of the
Ionian school, and said to be a pupil of Thales. Unless Pherecydes of
Scyros be an exception, he was the first author of a philosophical treatise
in Grreek prose. Other writmgs are ascribed to lum by Suidas ; but, no
doubt, on insufficient grounds. Of his treatise, wliich seems to have
contained summary statements of his opinions, no remains exist.

7 Of this writer nothing whatever is known, beyond the fact that,
from his name, he seems to have been a native of MaUus, in Cihcia.

8 It seems impossible to say wliich, out of the vast number of the
authors who bore this name, is the one here referred to. It is not im-
probable that Dionysius of Chalcis, a Greek liistorian who hved before
the Cln-istian era, is meant. He wi'ote a work on the Foundation of
Towns, in five books, which is frequ^ently referred to by the ancients. It
is not probable that the author of the Periegesis, or " Description of the
World," is referred to, as that book bears internal marks of having been
compiled in the third or fom'th century of the Christian era.

8 Of Miletus. He was the author of the " Milesiaca," a romance of
licentious character, which was translated into Latin by L. Cornehus
Sisenna. He is looked upon as the inventor of the Greek romance, and
the title of his work is supposed to have given rise to the term Milesian^
as apphed to works of fiction.

^^ A Greek author, of whom nothing is known, except that PHny,
and after him SoUnus, refer to him as the authority for the statement
that Euboea was oinginaUy called Chalcis, from the fact of (xaXwds) copper
being first discovered there.

^^ Probably Menfcchmus of Sicyon, who wrote a book on Actors, a
History of Alexander the Great, and a book on Sicyon. Suidas says
that he flovu*ished in the time of the successors of Alexander.

Chap. 37.] AccoryT of corNXEiES, etc. 373

ostlienes\ Anticlides-, Heraclides^ Pliilemon", Xenoplion*,
Pytheas^ Isidorus^, Pliiloiiides^, Xenagoras^, Astynomus'",
Staphylus", Aristocritus'^, Metrodorus '^, Cleobidus^*, Posi-
donius'^.

* When he flourished is unknown. He is said by Hyginus to have
written a History of the Island of Naxos.

2 He lived after the time of Alexander the Great ; but his age is un-
known. He -oTote a book, Trepi v6(jtu)v, on tlie retm-ns of the Greeks
from their various expeditions, an account of Delos, a History of Alex-
ander the Great, and other works, all of which have perished.

3 Of Heraclaea, m Pontus. He was a pupil of Plato, and, after him,
of Aristotle. His works upon philosophy, history, mathematics, and
other subjects, were veiy numerous ; but, imfortmiately, they are nearly
all of them lost. He wrote a Treatise upon Islands, and another upon
the Origin of Cities.

■* A geographical writer, of whom nothing further is known.

5 The Greek historian, the disciple of Socrates, deservedly styled the
" Attic Bee." His principal works arc the Anabasis, or the History of
the Expedition of the younger Cyrus and the Retreat of the Ten Thou-
sand ; the Hellenica, or Historv' of Greece, from the time when that of
Thucydides ends to the battle of IMantinea, B.C. 362 ; and tlie Cyropa^dia,
or Education of Cyi-us. The greater portion of his works is now lost.

6 See end of B. ii. 7 See end of B, ii.
8 There were two physicians of this name, one of Catana, in Sicily, the

other of Dyrrhachium, in Illyricum, who, like his namesake, was the
author of numerous works. It is doubtful, however, whether PHny here
refers to either of those authors.

' A Greek historian, quoted by Dionysius of Hahcamassus. If the
same person as the father of the historian lS'ymi)liis, he must have hved
in the early part of the second centurv- B.C. He wrote a work on Islands,
and another entitled Xpovoi, or Clu-onicles.

^•^ A Greek geographer, who seems to have wTitten an account of C^-p^us.

" He is quoted by Strabo, Atlienseus, and the Schohasts ; but all that
is known of him is, that he wi-ote a work on Thessaly, ^olia, Attica,
and Arcadia.

12 He ^^Tote a work relative to IMiletus ; but nothing further is known
of him. 13 See end of B. iii.

1** Probably a writer on geography, of whom no narticulara are known.

^* See end of B. ii.

374

BOOK Y.

AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, NATIONS, SEAS TOWNS
HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, EIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEo'
PLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.

CHAP. 1. — THE TWO MAUEITANIAS.

The Greeks have given the name of Libya ^ to Africa, and
have called the sea that lies in front of it the Libyan Sea
It has Egypt for its boimdary, and no part of the earth is
there that has fewer gulfs or inlets, its shores extending in a
lengthened line from the west in an oblique direction The
names of its peoples, and its cities in especial, cannot pos-
sibly be pronounced with correctness, except by the aid of
their own native tongues. Its population, too, for the most
part dwells only m fortresses'^.

(1.) On our entrance into Africa, we find the two Mauri-
tanias, which, until the time of Gains C^sar^ the son
ol Grermamcus, were kingdoms ; but, suff^ering under his
cruelty, they were divided into two provinces. The extreme
promontory of Africa, which projects into the ocean, is caUed
Ampelusia^ by the Greeks. There were formerly two towns
Lissa and C<)tte^ beyond the Pillars of Hercules; but, at
the present day, we only find that of Tingi«, which was for-

1 Not reckoning under that appellation the country of Effypt which
was more generally looked upon as forming part of Asia. Josep'hus in-
tormsus that Africa received its name from Ophir, great-grandson of
Abraham and his second wife, Keturah. ^ ' & &

2 'CasteUa,' fortified places, erected for the purpose of defence: not
towns lormed for the reception of social communities.

3 The Emperor Caligula, who, in the year 41 A.D., reduced the two
Mauntamas to Roman provinces, and had King Ptolemy, the son of
J uba, put to death. ''

4 Now Cape Spartel. By Scylax it is caUed Herm^um, and by
Ptolemy and Strabo Cote, or Coteis. Phny means «' extreme," with re-
lerence to the sea-line of the Mediterranean, in a direction due west.

Mentioned again by Phny in B. xxxii. c. 6. Lissa was so caUed

accordmg to Bochart, from the Hebrew or Phoenician word liss, «a

lion. At the present day there is in this vicinity a headland caUed the

Cape of the Lion. Bochart thinks that the name ' Cotta,' or ' Cotte '

W£^ derived from the Hebrew quoihef, a ' vine-dresser.' '

Ihe modem Tangier occupies its site. It was said to have derived

Chap. 1.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 375

merly founded by Antaeus, and afterwards received the name
of Traducta Julia \ from Claudius Caesar, when he esta^
blished a colony there. It is thirty miles distant from
Belong a town of Baetica, where the passage across is the
shortest. At a distance of twenty-five miles from Tingi,
upon the shores of the ocean^, we come to Julia Cou-
stautia Zilis"*, a colony of Augustus. This place is exempt
from all subjection to the kings of Mauritania, and is in-
cluded in the legal jurisdiction of Baetica. Thirty-two
miles distant from Julia Constantia is Lixos*, which was v
made a Eoman colony by Claudius Caesar, and which has
been the subject of such wondrous fables, related by the
Krriters of antiquity. At this place, according to the
story, was the palace of Antaeus ; this was the scene of his
combat with Hercules, and here were the gardens of the
Hesperides^. An arm of the sea flows into the land here,

its name from Tinge, the wife of Antseus, the giant, who was slain by
Hercules. His tomb, which formed a hill, in the shape of a man.
stretched out at full length, was shown near the town of Tingis to a
late period. It was also beheved, that whenever a portion of the earth
covering the body was taken away, it rained until the hole was filled up
again. Sertorius is said to have dug away a portion of the hiU ; but, on
discovering a skeleton sixty cubits in length, he was struck with horror,
and had it immediately covered again. Procopius says, that the fortress
of this place was built by the Canaanites, who were driven by the Jews
out of Palestine.

^ It has been supposed by Salmasius and others of the learned, that
Pliny by mistake here attributes to Claudius the formation of a colony
which was really estabhshed by either Julius Csesar or Augustus. It is
more probable, however, that Claudius, at a later period, ordered it to
be called " Traducta Juha," or " the removed Colony of Julia," in re-
membrance of a colony having proceeded thence to Spain in the time of
Juhus Caesar. Claudius liimself, as stated in the text, estabhshed a
colony here.

2 Its ruins are to be seen at Belonia, or Bolonia, tliree Spanish miles
west of the modem Tarifa.

3 At tliis point Phny begins his description of the western side of
Africa.

* Now Arzilla, in the territory of Fez. Ptolemy places it at tlie mouth
of the river Zileia. It is also mentioned by Strabo and Antoniims.

5 Now El Araiche, or Larache, on the river Lucos.

^ Mentioned again in B. ix. c. 4 and c. 5 of the present Book, where
Phny speaks of them as situate elsewhere. The story of Antaeus is
further enlarged upon by Solinus, B. xxiv. j Lucan, B. iv. 1. 589, et seq. ;
and Martian us Capella, B. vi.

376 PLIXX'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book V.

witli a serpentine channel, and, from the nature of the
locality, this is interpreted at the present day as having been
what was really represented by the story of the di'agon
keeping guard there. This tract of water surrounds an
island, the only spot which is never overflowed by the tides
of the sea, although not quite so elevated as the rest of the
land in its vicinity. Upon this island, also, there is still in
existence the altar of Hercules ; but of the grove that bore
the golden fruit, there are no traces left, beyond some wild
olive-trees. People will certainly be the less siu'prised at
the marvellous falsehoods of the Grreeks, which have been
related about this place and the river Lixos\ when they re-
flect that some of our own^ countrymen as well, and that
too very recently, have related stories in reference to them
hardly less monstrous ; how that this city is remarkable for
its power and extensive influence, and how tliat it is even
greater than Grreat Carthage ever was ; how, too, that it is
situate just opposite to Carthage, and at an almost im-
measurable distance from Tingi, together with other details
of a similr.r nature, all of which Cornelius Nepos has believed
with the most insatiate credulity^.

In the interior, at a distance of forty miles from Lixos, is
Babba\ surnamed Julia Campestris, another colony of Augus-
tus ; and, at a distance of seventy-five, a third, called Banasa^,

^ Now the Lucos.

2 Hardoimi is of opinion, that he here has a hit at G-abinius, a Roman
author, who, in liis Annals of Mauritania, as we learn fi'om Strabo
(B. xvii.), inserted numerous marvellous and incredible stories.

2 Wlien we find Pliny accusing other wTiters of credulity, we are
strongly reminded of the proverb, ' Clodius accusat moechos.'

^ Or the " Juhan Colony on the Plains." Marcus suggests that the
word Bahha may possibly have been derived from the Hebrew or Phbe-
nician word heab or heaha, " situate in a thick forest." Poinsinet takes
Babba to be the Beni-Tuedi of modem times. D'AnviUe thinks that it
is Naranja.

^ There is considerable difficulty about the site of Banasa. Moletius
tlvinks that it is the modern Fanfara, or Pefenfia as Marmol calls it.
D'AnviUe suggests that it may be Old Mahmora, on the coast ; but, on
the other hand, Ptolemy places it among the inland cities, assigning to
it a longitude at some distance from the sea. Phny also appears to
make it inland, and makes its distance from Lixos seventy-five miles,
wliile he makes the mouth of the Subvu' to be fifty miles from the
aame place.

Chap, 1.] ACCOTJITT OP COUNTRIES, ETC. 377

"witli the surname of Yalentia. At a distance of tliii-ty-five
miles from this last is the town of A'olubilis, which is just
that distance also from botli^ seas. On the coast, at a
distance of fifty miles from Lixos, is the river Subur"-, which
flows past the colony of Banasa, a fine river, and available
for the pui'poses of navigation. At the same distance from
it is the city of Sala^, situate on a river which bears the
same name, a place which stands upon the very verge of the
desert, and though infested by troops of elephants, is much
more exposed to the attacks of the nation of the Autololes,
through whose country lies the road to Mount Atlas, the
most fabulous** locality even in Africa.

It is from the midst of the sands, according to the story,
that this mountain^ raises its head to the heavens ; rugged
and craggy on the side which looks toward the shores of the
ocean to which it has given its name, while on that which
faces tlie interior of Africa it is shaded by dense groves
of trees, and refreshed by flowing streams ; fruits of all
kinds springing up there spontaneously to such an extent,
as to more than satiate every possible desire. Throughout
the daytime, no inhabitant is to be seen ; all is silent, like
that dreadfid stillness which reigns in the desert. A religious
horror steals imperceptibly over the feelings of those who
approach, and they feel themselves smitten with awe at the
stupendous aspect of its summit, which reaches beyond the
clouds, and well nigh approaches the very orb of tlie moon.
At night, they say, it gleams with fires innumerable lighted

^ From both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. According to
Poinsinet, TolubQis was the synonym of the African name Fez^ signify-
ing a ' band,' or ' swathe.' Mannert conjectures that it is the same as
the modem Wahli, or QuaUli. D'AnvLlle calls it Guulih, and says that
there are some remains of antiquity there.

2 The modern Subu, or Sebou. D' Anville is of opinion that this river
has changed a part of its course since the time of PUny.

^ Most probably the modem Sallee stands on its site.

^ Not in reference to the fact of its existence, but the wonderful stories
which were told respecting it.

^ Like others of the ancient writers, Pliny falls into the error of con-
sidering Atlas, not as an extensive chain of mountains, but as an isolated
mountain, surroimded by sands. With reference to its lieight, the whole
range declines considerably from west to east ; tlie liighcst summits in
Morocco reaching near 13,000 feet, m Tunis not 5000.

378 flint's natural HISTOET, [Book Y.

up ; it is tlien the scene of tlie gambols of the JEgipans' and
the Satyr crew, while it re-echoes with the notes of the flute
and the pipe, and the clash of drums and cymbals. All this
is what authors of high character have stated, in addition to
the labours which Hercules and Perseus there experienced.
The space which intervenes before you arrive at this moun-
tain is immense, and the country quite unknowTi.

There formerly existed some Commentaries vtritten by
Hanno^, a Carthaginian general, who was commanded, in
the most flourishing times of the Punic state, to explore
the sea-coast of Africa. The greater part of the Greek
and E/oman writers have followed him, and have related,
among other fabulous stories, that many cities there were
founded by him, of which no remembrance, nor yet the
slightest vestige, now exists.

While Scipio JEmilianus held the command in Sicily,
Polybius the historian received a fleet from him for the
purpose of proceeding on a voyage of discovery in this part
of the world. He relates, that beyond^ Mount Atlas, pro-

^ Or " Groat-Pens ;" probably another name for the Fauni, or Fauns.
More usually, there is but one -^gipan mentioned, — the son, according
to Hyginus, of Zeus or Jupiter, and a goat, — or of Zeus and .^ga, the
wife of Pan. As a foundation for one part of the stories here men-
tioned, Brotier suggests the fact, that as the Kabyles, or moimtain tribes,
are in the habit of retiring to their dweUings and reposing during the
heat of the day, it would not, consequently, be improbable that they
would devote the night to their amusements, Hghting up fires, and
dancing to the music of drums and cymbals.

2 Under his name we still possess a " Periplus," or account of a
voyage round a part of Libya. The work was originally written iu
Punic, but what has come down to us is a Greek translation. We fail,
however, to discover any means by wliich to identify him with any one
of the many Carthaginians of the same name. Some writers caH
him king, and others dux, or imperaior of the Carthaginians ; from
which wo may infer, that he held the office of suffeies. This expedition
has by some been placed as far back as the time of the Trojan war, or of
Hesiod, while others again place it as late as the reign of Agathocles.
Falconer, Bougainville, and Gail, place the time of Hanno at about
B.C. 570, while other critics identify him with Hanno, the father or son
of Ilamilcar, who was killed at Himera, B.C. 480. Pliny often makes
mention of him ; more particularly see B. viii. c. 21.

' 2 M. Gossehn thinks that tlie spot here indicated was at the south-
western extremity of the Atlas range, and upon the northern frontier of
the Desert of Zahara.

Chap. 1.] ACCOUNT OF COTJKTEIES, ETC. 379

ceeding in a westerly direction, there are forests filled with
wild beasts, peculiar to the soil of Africa, as far as the
river Anatis\ a distance of 485 miles, Lixos being distant
from it 205 miles. Agrippa says, that Lixos is distant from
the Straits of Gades 112 miles. After it we come to a
gulf which is called the Gulf of Saguti^, a town situate on
the Promontory of Mulelacha^, the rivers Subnr and Salat*,
and the port of Eutubis^, distant from Lixos 213 miles
We then come to the Promontory of the Sun^, the port of
Bisardir", the Gietulian Autololes, the river Cosenus^, the
nations of the Selatiti and the Masati, the river Masathat^,
and the river Darat'^, in which crocodiles are found. After
this we come to a large gulf, G16^^ miles in extent, which is
enclosed by a promontory of Mount Barce^', which runs
out in a westerly direction, and is called Surreutium''.
Next comes the river Salsus^^, beyond which lie the Ethio-
pian Perorsi, at the back of whom are the Pharusii'^, who

^ Supposed by some geographers to be the same as tliat now called
the Ommirabili, or the Om-Rabya. This is also thouglit by some to have
been the same nver as is called by Pliny, in p. 381, by the name of
Asana ; but the distances do not agree.

2 Supposed by Gossehn to be the present bay of Al-cazar, on the
African coast, m the Straits of Cadiz ; though Hardouin takes it to be
the koXtto? f^fiTToptKO'?, or " Gulf of Commerce," of Strabo and Ptolemy.
By first quoting from one, and then at a tangent from another, Pliny
involves this subject in almost inextricable confusion.

3 Probably the place called Thymiaterion in the Periplus of TTanno.

* The present Subu, and the river probably of Sallce, previously
mentioned.

* The modem Mazagan, according to Gosselin.

^ Cape Cantin, according to Gosseliji ; Cape Blanco, according to
Marcus. 7 Probably the Safi, Af^afi, or SafTee of the present day.

8 The river Tensift, which runs close to the city of Morocco, in the
interior. ^ The river Mogador of the present day.

^0 The modem river Sus, or Sous.

" The learned Gosselin has aptly remarked, that this cannot be other
than an error, and that "ninety-six" is the correct reading, the Gulf of
Sainte-Croix being evidimtly the one here referred to.

'2 Mount Barce seems to be here a name for the Atla.9, or Daran chain.

^3 Supposed by Gosselin <o be the present Ca])e Ger.

^* The river Assa, according to Gosselin. There is also a river Suae
placed here in the maps.

'^ These two tribes probably dwelt between the modern Capes Ger
and Js'on.

380 plii^t's natural histoet. [Boot Y.

are bordered upon by the Gsetulian Darse^ lying in tbe
interior. Upon the coast again, we find the Ethiopian
Daratit^e, and the river Bambotus^, teeming with croco-
diles and hippopotami. From this river there is a con-
tinuous range^ of mountains till we come to the one which
is kno^^'n by the name of Theon Ochema"*, from which to the
Hesperian Promontory^ is a voyage of ten days and nights ;
and in the middle of this space he*' has placed Mount Atlas,
which by all other writers has been stated to be in the ex-
treme parts of Mauritania.

The Eoinan arms, for the first time, pursued their con-
quests into Mauritania, under the Emperor Claudius, when
the freedman -^demon took up arms to avenge the death of
King Ptolemy^, who had been put to death by Caius Caesar ;

1 Marcus believes these to have been the ancestors of the present race
of the Touaricks, while the MelanogeetuU were the progenitors of the
Tibbos, of a darker complexion, and more nearly resembling the negroes
in bodily conformation.

2 Supposed by Gosselin to be the present river Nun, or Non. Ac-
cordhig to Bochart, tlais river received its name from the Hebrew or
Phoenician word behemoth or hamoth, the name by which Job (xl. 15)
calls the crocodile [or rather the hippopotamus]. Bochart, however,
with Mannert, BougamviUe, De Rennet, and De Heeren, is of opinion,
that by this name the modern river Senegal is meant. Marcus is of
opinion that it is either the Non or the modern Sobi.

3 Marcus here observes, that from Cape Alfach, below Cape Non,
there are no mountains, but continual wastes of sand, bordering on the
sea-shore. Indeed there is no headland, of any considerable height,
between Cape Sobi and Cape Bajador.

^ " The Chariot of the Gods." Marcus is of opinion that it is the
modem Cape Verde ; while, on the other hand, Gosselin takes it to be
Cape Non. Brotier calls it Cape Ledo.

^ In B. vi. c. 36, Phny speaks of tliis promontory as the " Hesperian
Horn," and says that it is but four days' sail from the Theon Ochema.
Brotier identifies this promontory with the modern Cape Roxo. Marcus
is of opinion that it was the same as Cape N6n ; but there is considerable
difficulty in determining its identity.

® Alluding to Polybius ; though, according to the reading which SiUig
has adopted a few hnes previously, Agrippa is the last author mentioned.
Phny has here mistaken the meaning of Polybius, who has placed Atlas
midway between Carthage, from which he had set out, and the Pro*
montory of Theon Ochema, which he reached.

7 Ptolemy the son of Juba II. and Cleopatra, was summoned to Rome
in the year a.d. 40, by Cahgula, and shortly after put to death by him,
his riches having excited the emperor's cupidity. Previously to this, he

Chap. 1.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 881

and it is a well-known fact, that on the flight of the bar-
barians our troops reached Mount Atlas. It became a boast,
not only among men of considar rank, and generals selected
from the senate, who at that time held tlie command, but
among persons of equestrian rank as well, who after that
period held the government there, that they had penetrated as
far as Mount Atlas. There are, as we have already stated, five
Eoman colonies in this province ; and it may very possibly ap-
pear, if we listen only to what report says, that this mountain
is easily accessible. Upon trial, however, it has been pretty
generally shown, that all such statements are utterly fal-
lacious ; and it is too true, that men in high station, when
they are disinclined to take the trouble of inquiring into
the truth, through a feeling of shame at their ignorance arc
not averse to be guilty of falsehood ; and never is implicit
credence more readily given, than when a falsehood is sup-
ported by the authority of some personage of high considera-
tion. Por my own part, I am far less surprised that there are
still some facts remaining undiscovered by men of the eques-
trian order, and even those among them who have attained
senatorial rank, than that the love of luxury has left any-
thing unascertained ; the impulse of which must be great
indeed, and most powerfully felt, when tlie very forests are
ransacked for their ivory and citron-wood \ and all tlie rocks
of Gaetulia are searched for the nuirex and the purple.

From the natives, liowever, we learn, that on the coast, at
a distance of 150 miles from the Salat, the river Asana- pre-
sents itself; its waters are salt, but it is remarkable for its
fine harbour. They also say that after this we come to a
river known by the name of Fut^, and then, after crossing
another called Yior wliich lies on tlie road, at a distance of
200 miles we arrive at Dyris'*, such being the name which in
their language they give to Mount Atlas. According to their

liad boon on terms of strict aUiance with the Roman peo]ilc, who had
decreed him a ioga picta and a sceptre, as a mark of their friendship.

' IvoiT and citron-wood, or cedar, were used for the making and in-
laying of the tables used by the Roman nobility. See B. xiii. c. 23.

2 Supposed by some geograi)hers to be the modem Wach-Tensiil. It
has been also confounded with the Anatis (see note \ p. 3G9) ; while
others agam identify it with the Anidus. It is more coninionly spelt
'Asama.' ^ Or Phuth. It does not a]>pear to huvc been identilied.

* The range is still called by the name oi" Uaran.

882 Flint's kattteal histoet. [Book V.

story there are still existing in its vicinity many vestiges which
tend to prove that the locality was once inhabited ; such as
the remains of vineyards and plantations of palm-trees.

Suetonius Paulinns\ whom we have seen Consul in our
own time, w^as the first Eoman general who advanced a
distance of some miles beyond Mount Atlas. He has given
us the same information as we have received from other
sources with reference to the extraordinary height of this
mountain, and at the same time he has stated that all the
lower parts about the foot of it are covered with dense
and lofty forests composed of trees of species hitherto un-
known. The height of these trees, he says, is remarkable ;
the trunks are without knots, and of a smooth and glossy
surface ; the foliage is like that of the cypress, and besides
sending forth a powerful odour, they are covered with a
flossy Sovm, from which, by the aid of art, a fine cloth might
easily be manufactured, similar to the textures made from the
produce of the silk-worm. He informs us that the summit
of this mountain is covered with snow^ even in summer, and
says that having arrived there after a march of ten days, he
proceeded some distance beyond it as far as a river which
bears the name of Ger^; the road being through deserts
covered with a black sand^, from which rocks that bore the
appearance of having been exposed to the action of fire, pro-
jected every here and there ; localities rendered quite uninha-
bitable by the intensity of the heat, as he himself experienced,

1 The same general who afterwards conquered the Britons under Boa-
dicea or Bonduca. While Propreetor in Mauritania under the Emperor
Claudius, in the year A.D. 42, he defeated the Mauri who had risen in
revolt, and advanced, as PHny here states, as far as Mount Atlas. It is
not known from what point Paulinus made his advance towards the Atlas
range. Mannert and Marcus are of opinion that he set out from Sala,
the modern Sallee, while LatreUle, Malte Brun, and Walkenaer think
that his point of departure was the mouth of the river Lixos. Sala was
the most southerly town on the western coast of Africa that in the time
of Pliny had submitted to the Eoman arms.

2 Some of the editions read ' Niger' here. Marcus suggests that that
river may have been called 'Niger' by the Phoenician or Punic colonists
of the western Mauritania, and 'Ger' or' Grar' in another quarter. The
same writer also suggests that the SigHmessa was the river to which
Paulinus penetrated on his march beyond Atlas.

' The SigUraessa, according to Marmol, flows betAveen several moun-
tains which appear to be of a blackish hue.

Chap. 1.] ACCOUNT OF COriTTEIES, ETC. 883

although it was in the winter season that he visited them.
We also learn from the same source that the people who
inhabit the adjoining forests, whicli are full of all kinds of
elephants, wild beasts, and serpents, have the name of Ca-
narii ; from the circumstance that they partake of their food
in common with the canine race, and share with it the
entrails of wild beasts.

It is a well-known fact, that adjoining to these localities
is a nation of Ethiopians, which bears the name of Perorsi.
Juba, the father of Ptolemy, who was the first king^ wlio
reigned over both the ]Mauritanias,and who has been rendered
even more famous by the brilliancy of his learning than by
his kingly rank, has given us similar information relative to
Mount Atlas, and states that a certain herb grows there,
which has received the name of ' euphorbia'^ from tliat of his
physician, who was the first to discover it. Juba extols with
wondrous praises the milky juice of this plant as tending to
improve the sight, and acting as a specific against the bites
of serpents and all kinds of poison ; and to this subject alone
he has devoted an entu-e book. Thus much, if indeed not
more than enough, about Mount Atlas.

(2.) The province of Tingitana is 170 miles iii leugth'.
Of the nations in this province the principal one was for-
merly that of the Mauri'*, who have given to it the name of
Mauritania, and have been by many writers called the
Maurusii^. This nation has been greatly weakened by the
disasters of war, and is now dwindled down to a few fami-
lies only^. Next to the Mauri was formerly the nation of

^ Bocchu9 however, the kinsman of Maesinissa, had previously for
some time reigned over both the Mauritanias, couaifiting of Mauritania
Tuigitana and Maui'itania Cajf»aEiana.

2 See B. XXV. c. 7. 12, and B. xxvi. c. 8.

3 Extending from the sea to the river Moluga, now called the Molucha
and Moloeliath, or Malva and Malvana.

* From whom the Moors of the present day take their name. IVfarrus
observes liere, that tliough Phny di.slinguishes the Mauri from the GivtuU,
they essctitiiilly belonged to the same raee and sjioke tlie same hmguage,
the so-ealli'd I>erber, and its diak-ets, the SeheUou and tlie 8i-lu)viah.

* ' Maurusii' was the On-ek name, ' ^hiuri' l\w Latin, for this peo])le.
Mareus suggests tliat Mauri was a synonym only for the Greek word
nomades, ' wanderers,'

* As Mareus observes, IHiny is here greatly in error. On the inroads of
Paulinus, the Mauri had retreated uito the interior and taken refuge in

384 plint's natural nisxoET. [Book V.

the Massaesyli^ ; they in a similar manner have become ex-
tinct. Their country is now occupied by the Gsetulian na-
tions^, the Baniura3^, the Autololes^ by far the most power-
ful people among them all, and the Vesuni, who formerly
were a part of the Autololes, but have now separated from
them, and, turning their steps towards the Ethiopians®,
have formed a distinct nation of their own. This province,
in the mountainous district which lies on its eastern side,
produces elephants, as also on the heights of Mount Abyla^
and among those elevations which, from the similarity of
their height, are called the Seven Brothers'^. Joining the
range of Abyla these mountains overlook the Straits of Gades.
At the extremity of this chain begin the shores of the in-
land sea **, and we come to the Tamuda^, a na\igable stream,
with the site of a former town of the same name, and then

the deserts of Zaliara, whence they had again emerged in the time of the
geographer Ptolemy.

^ From the time of the second Punic War this people had remained
in undisputed possession of the country situate between the rivers Mo-
lochath or Moluga and Ampsaga, which formed the Csesarian Maurita-
nia. Ptolemy speaks of finding some remains of them at Siga, a town
situate on a river of the same name, and at which King Syphax had
formerly resided.

2 Wliile Pomponius Mela does not make any difference between the
Mauri and the Gsetuli, Pliny here speaks of them as being essentially
different.

3 Derived, according to Marcus, from the Arabic compound hani-our.,
* child of nakedness,' as equivalent to the Greek word gymnetes, by which
name Pliny and other ancient writers designate the wandering naked
races of Western Africa.

* The Autololes or, as Ptolemy calls them, the Autololae, dwelt, it is
supposed, on the western coast of Africa, between Cape Cantin and Cape
Ger. Their city of Autolala or Autolalse is one of Ptolemy's points of
astronomical observation, having the longest day thirteen hours and a half,
being distant three hours and a half west of Alexandria, and having the
sun vertical once a year, at the time of the winter solstice. Keichard
takes it for the modern Agulon or Aquilon,

^ The iEthiopian Daratitse, Marcus says. ^ The present Ceuta.

7 They were so called from the cii'cumstance, Marcus says, of their
peaks being so numerous, and so strongly resembling each other. They
are now called, according to D' Anville, ' Gebel Mousa,' which means " the
Mountain of Apes," an animal by which they are now much frequented,
instead of by elephants as in Pliny's time. ^ Or Mediterranean.

^ The modern Bedia, accordhig to Olivarius, the Tasanel, according to
Dupinet, and the Alamos or Kerkal, according to Ansart. Marcus says

Chap. 1.] ACCOUNT OF COUN-TEIES, ETC. 385

the river Laud', which is also navigable for vessels, the town
and port of Ehysaddir'-^, and Malvaue^, a navigable stream.

The cityofSiga"*, formerly the residence of King S}-phax,lies
opposite to that of Malaca* in Spain : it now belongs to the
second^ Mauritania. But these countries, I should remark,
for a long time retained the names of their respective kings,
the further Mauritania being called the "land of Bogud%"
Avhile that which is now called Ciesariensis was called the
" country of Bocchus." After passing Siga we come to the
haven called "Portus Magnus^" from its great extent, with a
town whose people enjoy the rights of lioman citizens, and
then the river Mulucha^, Avhieh served as the limit between
the territory of Bocchus and that of the Masssesyli. Next
to this is Quiza Xenitana'", a town founded by strangers,
and Arsenaria", a place with the ancient Latin rights, three
miles distant from the sea. "We then come to Cartenna^-, a

that it is called the Setuan, and is the largest stream on the nortliem
shores of Western Africa.

^ The modern Gromera according to Hardonhi, the Nocor according
toMannert.. 2 r^^Q modern MchUa most probably.

3 The modem Maluia. Antoninus calls it Malva, and Ptolemy Maloua.

* Its site is occupied by the modemi Aresgol, according to Mariana,
Guardia or Sereni according to Dupmet, Ned- Roma according to Man-
nert and D'Anville, and Tachumbrit according to Shaw. Marcus is iu-
cHned to be of the same opinion as the last- mentioned geographer.

* Now the city of Malaga.

^ Mauritania Ca;sariensis, or Caesarian Mauritania, now forming the
French province of Algiers.

7 "Bogudiana;" from Bogud or Bogoas. The last king Bogud was
deprived of his kingdom by Bocchus, king of Mam-itania Ca-sariensis, a
warm partisan of Csesar.

3 Or the " Great Harbour," now Arzeu according to D'Anville, and
Mars-el-Kebir according to Marcus.

^ The same river probably as the ]\ralva or jMalvana proriously men-
tioned, the word mulucha or malacha coming from the Greek jxoXoxi]-, " i*
marsh mallow," wliich malva, as a Latin word, also signifies. See }). 383.

^^ From the Greek word ^evos, " a stranger." Pomponius ]\Iela anil
Antoninus call this place Guiza, and Ptolemy Quisa. D'Anville places
it on the right side of the river Malvana or Midueha, and Shaw says
tliat it was situate in the vicinity of the modern town of Oran.

^' Now Mjirz-Agolet, or situate m its vicinity, according to Hardouin
and Ansart, and tlie ]iresent Arzen, according to Marcus, where nume-
rous remains of antiquity are found.

^2 Now Tenez, according to D'Anville, and Mcegraim, according to
Mannert ; with wliich last opinion Marcus agrees.

VOL. I. 2 0

386 PLINT's TfATUEAL HISTORY. [Book V.

colony founded under Augustus by the second legion, and
Gunuguni\ another colony foimded by the same emperor, a
praetorian cohort being established tliere ; the Promon-
tory of Apollo^, and a most celebrated city, now called
Csesarea^, but formerly known by the name of lol; this
place was the residence of King Juba, and received the
rights of a colony from the now deified Emperor Claudius.
Oppidum Novum^ is the next place ; a colony of veterans
was established here by command of the same emperor.
Next to it is Tipasa^, which has received Latin rights, as
also Icasium", which has been presented by the Emperor
Vespasianus with similar rights ; Eusconise^, a colony
founded by Augustus ; E-usucurium^, honoured by Clau-
dius with the rights of Eoman citizens ; Euzacus^, a colony
founded by Augustus ; Salde^", another colony founded
by the same emperor ; Igilgili", another ; and the toAvn of

1 Ptolemy and Antoninus place this colony to the east of the Pro-
montory of Apollo, and not the west as Phny does.

2 The present Cape Mestagan.

3 According to Dupinet and Mannert, the modem Tenez occupies its
site, Zershell according to Hardoiiin and Shaw, Vacur according to
D'AnviUe and Ansart, and Algiers according to others. It is suggested
by Marcus that the name lol is derived from the Arabic verb galla, " to
be noble" or " famous." There is no doubt that the magnificent ruins
at Zershell are those of lol, and that its name is an abbreviation of
Csesarea lol. * Or New Town.

^ Scylax calls it Thapsus ; Ammianus MarceUinus, Tiposa. According
to Mannert it was situate in the vicinity of the modern Damas.

6 Or Icosium. It has been identified by inscriptions discovered - by
the French as standing on the same site as the modern Algiers. D' Anville,
Mannert and others identify it with SchercheU or Zershell, thus placing
it too far west. Mannert was evidently misled by an error in the Anto-
nine Itinerary, whereby aU the places along this coast are, for a con-
siderable distance, thrown too far to the west ; the researches however
which followed the French conquest of the country have revealed inscrip-
tions which completely set the question at rest.

7 According to Mannert, this was situate on the modern Cape Arbatel.
Marcus thinks that the Hebrew ros, or Arab ras, "a rock," enters into
tiie composition of the word.

8 Now Hur according to D' Anville, Colcah according to Mannert.
' The modern Acor, according to Marcus.

^" The modern Pedeles or Delys, according to Ortellius and Mannert,
Tedles according to D' Anville.

" The modem Jigeh or Gigeri. It was probably in ancient times the
emporium of the surrounding country.

Chap. 2.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 387

Tucca\ situate ou the sea-shore and upon the river Amp-
saga. In the interior are the colony of Augusta, also called
Succabar", Tubusuptus^ the cities of Timici and Ticravie'*
the rivers SardabaP, Aves«, and Nabar^ the nation Sf the
Macm-ebi, the river Usar^ and the nation of the JN'ababes.
The river Ampsaga is distant from Csesarea 322' miles. The
length of the two Mauritanias is 1038, and their breadth
•iG7 miles,

CHAP. 2. (3.)— NUMIDIA.

At the river Ampsaga Xumidia begins, a coimtry rendered
iHustrious by tlie fame of i\rasinissa. By the Greeks this
region was called Metagonitis^'^ ; and the :^umidians received
the name of " A^omades " from their frequent changes of pas-
turage ; upon which occasions they were accustomed to carry ^^
their ma^alia, or in other words, their houses, upon waggons.

1 Destroyed, a<;cording to Hardouin, and probably by the incursions
Ot tlie sea. At the mouth of the Ampsaga (now called the W'ad-El-Kebh-
or Sufjunar and higher up the Wadi Koumel) there is situate a smaU
sea-port called Marsa Zeitoun.

2 Near the present Mazuaa, according to Mannert.

3 The modem 13urgh, accordmg to D'Anville and Mannert, but more
probably considerably to the east of that place.

■• The modern El-Herba, according to Mannert.

* Marcus suggests that tliis is the Clunalaphof Ptolemy, and probably
the modern Schellif. ^

« The same that is caUed Sayis by Ptolemy, who places Icosium on
its banks.

7 Ey Mela called the Vabar. Marcus supposes it to be the same as
the modem Griffer.

8 By Ptolemy caUed the Sisar ; the Ajebbi of modem geographers
which falls mto the Mechterranean, near tlu- city of Budja. '

^ Brotier says tliat this reading is incorrect, and that 222 is the pro-
per one, tliat being the true distance between the river Ampsaga or ^\^ad-
el-Kebu- and the city of Cscsarea, the modern Zershell. "

10 It was not only Nuniidia that bore this name, but all Die northern
coast of Africa from the frontiers of the kingdom of Cartilage near IJipi)o
Keguis to the Colunms of Hercules. It was thus called from the (J reek
metaffonos, a "descendant" or "successor;" as tlie Carthaginians
estabhshed a number of small towns and villages on the coa^^t .whieli
were thus posterior in their origin to the large cities ah-eady founded
there. *^

" Hardouin says that the Moors in the interior still follow the same
usage, carrying their houses from pasture to pasture on wagi^c^ns.

2 c 2^

3S8 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book Y.

The towns of tliis country are Ciillu^ and Eusicade' ; and
at a distance of forty-eiglit miles from the latter, in the in-
terior, is the colony of Cirta^, surnamed " of the Sitiani ;"
still more inland is another colony called Sicca^, with
the free town of Bulla Eegia^ . On the coast are Tacatua^,
Hippo Regius'', the river Armua^, and the town of Tabraca^,
•\^dth the rights of E-oman citizens. The river Tusca^° forms
the boundary of ISTumidia. This country produces nothing
remarkable except its marble ^^ and wild beasts.

CHAP. 3. (4.) AFEICA.

Beyond the river Tusca begins the region of Zeugitana^^,
and that part which properly bears the name of Africa^^.

^ Now Chollum or CoUo.

2 The modern Sgigada or Stora, according to Mannert, D'Anville,
and Shaw.

3 The modern Constantina occupies its site. Numerous remains of
the ancient town are still discovered. Sitius was an officer who served
under Csesar, and obtained a grant of this place after the defeat of Juba.

^ Called Urbs, or Kaff, according to D'Anville and Shaw j the latter
of whom found an inscription there with the words Ordo Siccensiv/m.

5 Or ' Koyal Bulla' ; which epithet shows that it was either a residence
or a foundation of the kings of Numidia, and distinguishes it from a small
place called Bulla Mensa, south of Carthage. Bulla Kegia was fom* days'
journey south-west of Cartilage, on a tributary of the river Bagrada, the
vaUey of wliich is still called Wad-el-Boul. This place was one of the
points of Ptolemy's recorded astronomical observations, having its longest
day fom'teen hours and one-eighth, and being distant from Alexandria
two hours to the west.

^ The modern Tamseh, according to Shaw and Mannert, and Tagodet,
according to D'Anville.

7 Its rums are south of the modern Bona. It received the name of
Regius or ' Royal' from being the residence of the Numidian kings. It
was also famed as being the see of St. Augustine, It was a colony of
Tyi'c, and stood on the bay now forming the Gulf of Bona. It was one
of the most flourisliing cities of Africa tiU it was destroyed by the Van-
dals A.D. 430.

^ Now the Mafragg, according to Mannert.

3 Still called Tabarca, according to Hardouin,

^^ Now the Zaina, according to Marcus.

" For tlie character of the Numidian marble, see PHny, B. xxxvi. c. 7.

'2 Extending from the river Tusca, or Zaina, to the northern frontiers
of Byzaciiun. It corresponds with the Turkish province or bcylik of
Tunis.

^ He says thia not only to distingmsh it from Africa, considered as

Cliap. 3.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 389

"We here find tliree promontories ; the "Wliite Promontory',
the Promontory of Apollo^, facing Sardinia, and that of
Mercury^, opposite to Sicily. Projecting into tlie sea these
headhmds form two gnlfs, the first of which bears the name
of "Hipponensis" from its proximity to the city called
Hippo Dirutns"*, a corruption of the Greek name Diarrhy-
tus, which it has received from the channels made for irriga-
tion. Adjacent to this place, but at a greater distance from
the sea-shore, is Theudalis*, a towTi exempt from tribute.
We then come to the Promontory of Apollo, and upon
the second gulf, we find Utica^, a place enjoying the rights
of Eoman citizens, and famous for the death of Cato ; the
river Bagrada*", the place called Castra CorneKa^, the co-

one-thii'd of the globe, but also in contradistinction to the proconsular
province of the Roman empire of the same name, which contained not
only the province of Zeugitana, but also those of Nmnidia, 13yzacium,
and Ti'ipohs.

1 Candidum : now Ras-el-Abiad.

^ The references to this headland identify it with Cape Farina, or Eas
Sidi Ali-al-Mekhi, and not, as some have thought, the more westerly Cape
Zibeeb or Ras Sidi Bou-Shoushe. Shaw however applies the name of
Zibeeb to the former. ^ ]Nfow Cape Eon, or Kas-Addar.

■* More properly called Hippo Diarrhytus or Zariliis, a Tyrian colony,
situate on a large lake wliicli communicated with tiie si-a, and received
the waters of another lake. Its situation exposed it to frequent inunda-
tions, whence, as the Greeks used to state, the epithet ciappvros. It
seems more probable however that this is tlie remnant of some Phoeni-
cian title, as the ancients were not agreed on the true form of the name,
and of this imcertahity we have a fiu'ther proof in tlie U'qipo Dirutus
of our author.

^ This is placed by Ptolemy to the south-east of Hippo, and near the
southern extremity of Lake Sisar.

^ Tliis important city stood on the north part of tlie Carthaginian
Gulf, west of the mouth of the Bagrada, and twenty-seven Roman miles
N.W. of Carthage ; but the site oC its ruins at tlie modern Bou-Shater is
now inland, m consequence of the changes made by tlie Bagrada in the
coast-line. In the Third Punic war Utica took part with the Romans
against Carthage, and was rewarded with the greater part of the Car-
thaginian territory.

' Kow called the Mejerdah, and though of very inconsiderable- size, the
chief river of the Cartliaginian territory. The main stream is formed
by the union of two branches, the southern of whieh, the ancient Bagrada^
is now called the Melhg, and in its upper C(jurse the Meskianah. The
other branch is called the Hamiz.

^ Or the " Cornehan Camp." The spot wlu re Cornelius Scipio A.''ri.^a-

390 plint's fatijral nisTOEX. [Book V.

lony^ of Carfhage, founded upon the remains of Great Car-
thage^, the colony of Maxula^ the towns of Carpi'*, Misua,
and Clypea^, the last a free town, on the Promontory of
Mercury ; also Curubis, a free town^, and Neapolis^

Here commences the second division^ of Africa properly
so called. Those who inhabit Byzacium have the name of
Libyphcenices^. Byzacium is the name of a district which
is 250 miles in circumference, and is remarkable for its ex-
treme fertility, as the ground returns the seed sown by the
husbandman with interest a hundred-fold ^°. Here are the

nus the Elder first encamped, on landing in Africa, B.C. 204. Csesar de-
scribes this spot, in liis description of Cui*io's operations against Utica,
B. C. b. ii. c. 24, 25. This spot is now called Ghellah.

J^ This colony was first established by Caius Gracchus, who sent 6000
settlers to found on the site of Carthage the new city of Junonia. The
Roman senate afterwards annulled this with the other acts of
"G-racchus. Under Augustus however the new city of Carthage was
founded, which, when Strabo wrote, was as prosperous as any city in
Africa. It was made, in place of Utica, which had favom*ed the Pom-
peian party, the seat of the proconsul of Old Africa. It stood on the
peninsula terminated by Ras-Sidi-Bou-Said, Cape Carthage or Car-
thagena. As Gibbon has remarked, "The place might be unknown if
some broken arches of an aqueduct did not guide the footsteps of the
inquisitive traveller."

2 The original city of Carthage was called ' Carthago Magna' to di-
stinguish it from New Carthage and Old Carthage, colonies in Spain.

3 Now Ehades, according to Marcus.

^ Marcus identifies it with the modern Gurtos.

5 By the Greeks called ' Aspis.' It derived its Greek and Roman names
from its site on a hiU of a shield-hke shape. It was built by Agathocles,
the Sicilian, B.C. 310. In the first Punic war it was the landuig-place
of Manlius and Regulu.s, whose first action was to take it, B.C. 256. Its
site is stiU known as Kalebiah, and its ruins are pecuharly interesting.
The site of Misua is occupied by Sidi-Doud, according to Shaw and
DAnvHle.

fi Shaw informs us that an inscription foimd on the spot designates this
place as a colony, not a free city or town. Its present name is Kurbah.

7 The present Nabal, according to DAnville.

^ Zeugitana extended from the river Tusca to Horrea-Coeha, and Byza-
cium from this last place to Thenge.

3 As sprung partly from the Phoenician immigrants, and partly from '
the native Libyans or Africans.

JO Phny says, B. xvii. c. 3, "A hundred and fifty fold." From Shaw
we learn that this fertility no longer exists, the fields producing not more
than eight- or at most twelve-fold.

Cliap. 4.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 891

free to^vns of Leptis\ Admmetiim*, Euspina', and Thapsus* ;
and then TlienaB*, Macomades'', Tacape% and ISabrata^ ^vilic'h
touches on the Lesser S\Ttis ; to which spot, from the
Ampsaga, the length of Numidia and Africa is 580 miles,
and the breadth, so far as it has been ascertained, 200.
That portion which we have called Africa is divided into
two provinces, the Old and the New'; these are separated
by a dvke wliicli was made by order of the second Scipio
Afi'icanus^ and the kings'", and extended to Thenss, which
town is distant from Carthage 216 miles.

CHAP. 4. THE STRTES.

A third Gulf is divided into two smaller ones, those of
the two Syrtes'\ which are rendered perilous by the shallows

^ Tlie modem Lempta occupies its site.

2 Originally a Phoenician colony, older than Carthage. It was the
capital of Byzacium, and stood within the southern extremity of. the
Sinus NeapoUtanus or Gulf of Haramamet. Ti-ajan made it a colony,
under the high-sounding name, as we gather from inscriptions, of Colonia
Concordia Uljna Trajana Augusta Frugifera Hadrumetana, or, as set
forth on coins, Colonia Concordia Julia Hadrumetana Pia. The epithet
Frugifera refers to the fact that it was one of the chief sea-ports for tlie
corn-producing country of Byzacium. It Avas destroyed by the Vandals,
but restored by the Emperor Justinian under the name of Justiniana or
Justinianopohs. The modem Sousa stands on its site ; and but sUght
traces of the ancient city are to be found.

3 Situate hi the vicinity of the modern Monastir.

* Shaw discovered its ruins at the modern town of Demas.

* Now Taineli, accorduig to D'Anville. This place formed the boun-
dary between the proconsular provuice of Africa and the territory of tlie
Numidian king Masinissa and his descendants.

^ The present Mahometa, accorduig to Marcus, El Malires according
to D'Anville.

' Now Cabes, according to D'Anville, givmg name to the Gulf of
Cabes. INIarcus calls it Gaps.

^ Now Tripoli "S'^eccliio ; also called Sabart according to D'Anville.

' Scipio yEmilianus, the son-in-law of yEmilius Paiilus.

'^ Micipsa, tlie son of IVIasinissa, and liis two legitimate brethren.
Scipio having been left by Masinissa executor of his will, the sovi-reign
power was divided by liim between Mici])sji and his two brethren Gidussa
and Mastanabal. On this occasion also he sejiaratcd Nuniidiu from
Zeugitana and Byzacium, by a long dyke dra\%ni from Thenjr, due south,
to the borders of the Great Desert, and thence in a north-westerly direc-
tion to the river Tiisca.

'1 The SjTtes or 'Quicksands' are now called, the Lesser Syrtes the

392 PLI^fT's IfATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book T.

of their quicksands and the ebb and flow of the sea. Poly-
bius states the distance from Carthage to the Lesser Syrtis,
the one which is nearest to it, to be 300 miles. The inlet
to it he also states to be 100 miles across, and its circum-
ference 300. There is also a way^ to it by land, to find
which we must employ the guidance of tlie stars and cross
deserts which present nothing but sand and serpents. After
passing these we come to forests filled with vast multitudes
of wild beasts and elephants, then desert wastes^, and beyond
them the Graramantes^, distant twelve days' journey from
the Augylae^, Above the Garamantes was formerly the na-

Giilf of Cabes, and the Greater the Gulf of Sydra. The country situate
between the two Syrtes is called Tripoh, formerly Tripohs, a name
which, according to Sohnus, it owed to its three cities, Sabrata, LeptK,
and CEa.

1 Marcus observes with reference to this passage, that both Hardouia
and Poinsinet have mistaken its meaning. They evidently think that Pliny
is speakmg here of a route to the Syi-tes leading from the interior of
Ah'ica, whereas it is pretty clear that he is speaking of the dangers wliich
attend those who approach it by the line of the sea-coast, as Cato did, on
his march to Utica, so beautifully described by Lucan in Ms Ninth Book.
This is no doubt the same route which was taken by the caravans on their
passage from Lebida, the ancient Leptis, to Berenice m Cyi'enaica.

2 Those which we find at the middle of the coast bordering upon the
Greater Syrtis, and which separate the mountains of Eezzan and Atlas
fr'om Cyrenaica and Barca.

3 In its widest sense this name is applied to all the Libyan tribes in-
habiting the Oases on the eastern part of the Great Desert, as the Gsetu-
lians mhabited its western part, the boundary between the two nations
being drawn at the soxirces of the Bagrada and the mountain Usargala.
In the stricter sense however, and in which the term must be here under-
stood, the name 'Garamantes' denoted the people of Phazania, the mo-
dem Fezzan, wliich forms by far the largest oasis in the Grand Desert
of Zahara.

i^ Augylcc, now Axxjelah, was an oasis in the desert of Barca, in the
region of Cyrenaica, about 3-^° south of Cyrene. It has been remarked
that Pliny, here and in the Eighth Chapter of the present Book, in abridg-
ing the account given by Herodotus of the tribes of Northern Africa, has
transferred to the Augylse what that author really says of the Nasamones.
This oasis fonns one of the chief stations on the caravan route from Cairo
to Fezzan. It is placed by EenneU in 30° 3' North Lat. and 23° 46' East
Long., 180 miles soxith-east of Barca, ISO west by north of Siwah, the
ancient Amrnonimn, and 426 east by north of Mourzouk. Later autho-
rities, however, place the village of Aujelah m 29° 15' North Lat. and
21° 55' East Long.

CHiap. 4.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 393

tion of the Psylli\ aud above them again the Lake of Lyco-
medes", surrounded with deserts. The Augyla? themselves
are situate ahnost midway between Ethiopia which faces
the west^, and the region which lies between'' the two Syrtes,
at an equal distance from both. The distance along the
coast that lies between the two Syrtes is 250 miles. On it
are found the city of (Ea^, the river Cinyps^, and the country
of that name, the towns of Neapolis'', Graphara^, and Abroto-
num**, and the second, surnamed the Greater, Leptis^".

AVe next come to the Greater Syrtis, 625 miles in cir-
cumference, and at the entrance 312 miles in width ; next
after which dwells the nation of the Cisippades. At the
bottom of this gulf was the coast of the Lotophagi, whom
some writers have called the Alachroae*\ extending as far as
the Altars of the Phila^ni^- ; these Altars are formed of heaps

^ For an account of the Psylli see B. vii. c. 2, They probably dwelt
in the vicinitr of the luodera Cape Mesurata.

- Xow Lake Lynxama, according to Marcus.

3 Marcus observes that in order properly to understand this passage we
must remember that the ancients considered Africa as terminating north
of the Equator, and imagined that from the Straits of Hercules the western
coast of Africa ran, not towards the south-west, but slanted in a south-
easterly direction to the Straits of Babehnandel. ^ The modem Tripoli.

' A iiourishing city with a mixed population of Libyans and Sicihans.
It was at this place that Apuleius made his eloqtrcnt and ingenious de-
fence against the charge of sorcery brought against liim by his step-sons.
AccorcUng to some writers the modem Tripoli is built on its site, wliile
other accoimts make it to have been situate six leagues from that city.

^ iS'ow called the W'ady-el-Quaham.

" ]\lannert is of opinion that this was only another name for the city
of Leptis ^[agna or the "Greater Leptis" here mentioned by Pliny.
There is little doubt that his supposition is correct.

** The more common reading is Taplu*a or Taphara. D'Anville iden-
tifies it witli the to\m of Sfakes.

^ Scylax identifies it with Neapolis or Leptis, and it is generally looked
upon as being the same place as Sabrata or OKI Tripoli.

1" Now called Lebida. It was the birth-place of the Emperor Sep-
timius Severus. It was almost destroyed by an attack from a Lilnan
tribe a.d. 366, and its ruin was completed by tlie mvasion of the Arabs.
Its ruins are considerable.

11 " Men of sea complexion," is the meaning of this Greek name. Ac-
cording to Marcus they dwelt bctwivii the (Jreater Leptis niul tlie Lake
Trit(mis, at the present day called Schihkali-el-Loudeah. For a further
account of tlie Lotophagi, see L. xiii. c. 32.

12 Two brothers, citizens of Carthagi', who in a dispute as to tiicir

394i PLIKT's NATTJEAL HISTORY. [Book V.

of sand. On passing these, not far from tlie shore there is
a vast swamp ^ which receives the river Triton^ and from it
takes its name : by Callimachus it is called Pallantias^, and
is said by him to be on the nearer side of the Lesser Syrtis ;
many other writers however place it between the two Syrtes.
The promontory which bounds the Greater Syrtis has the
name of Borion"* ; beyond it is the province of Cyrene.

Africa, from the river Ampsaga to this limit, includes
516 peoples, who are subject to the Roman sway, of which
six are colonies ; among them Uthina* and Tuburbi*^, be-
sides those already mentioned. The towns enjoying the
rights of E-oman citizens are fifteen in number, of which
I shall mention, as lying in the interior, those of Assurae'^,
Abutucum, Aborium, Canopicum^, Cilma^, Simithium, Thu-
nusidium, Tuburnicum, Tynidrumum, Tibiga, the two towns
called Ucita, the Greater and tlie Lesser, and Yaga. There
is also one town with Latin rights, Uzalita by name, and
one town of tributaries, Castra Cornelia^". The free towns
are thirty in number, among which we may mention, in the
interior, those of Acholla^\ Aggarita, Avina, Abzirita, Cano-

respective territories with the people of Cyrene, submitted to be biu'ied
ahve in the sand, at the boundary-hne between the two countries. Sal-
lust (Jugurthine War) is the main authority for the story. It is also
related by Pomponius Mela, B. i. c. 7, and Yalerius Maxmius, B. v, c. 6,
but fi'om the Greek name of the brothers, meaning " lovers of praise," it
is doubtfid whether the story is not of spurious origin.

1 The Lake Tritonis mentioned in note ^\ p. 393.

2 Now called El Hammah, accordhig to Shaw.

3 According to some accounts the goddess Pallas or Minerva was bom
on the banks of Lake Tritonis.

* The modern Cape of Tajuni.

5 Now called Udina, accorcUng to Marcus.

^ Now called Tabersole, according to Marcus.

7 In the north of Byzacium, near the Bagrada and the confines of
Numidia. It was the station of a Roman garrison, and considerable
remains of it are still visible near the modern Zanfour.

8 Called Cannopissse by Ptolemy, who places it to the east of Tabraca.
^ There is great doubt as to the correct orthography of these places,

most of which can be no longer identified.

^0 According to Marcus the present Porto Tarina.

^^ Also called Achilla and Achulla, the ruins of which are to be seen at
the modern El Ahah. It stood on the sea-coast of Byzacium, a Httle
above the northern extremity of the Lesser Syrtis. It was a colony from
the island of Melita, now Malta.

Chap. 5.] ACCO^^'T of COrNTRIES, ETC. 395

pita, Melizita, ]\ratera, Salaphita, Tusdrita\ Tiphica, Tunica',
Theuda, Tagasta^ Tiga\ Ulusubrita, a second Vaga, Visa, and
Zanla^ Of the remaining number, most of them aliould be
called, in strictness, not only cities, but nations even ; such
for instance as the Natabudes, the Capsitani^, the ilusu-
lami, the Sabarbares, the Massyli^, the Nisives, the Vama-
cures, the Cinithi, the Musuni, the jMarchubii'^ and tlie whole
of GrcTtulia^ as far as the river Nigris^", which separates
Africa proper from Ethiopia.

CHAP. 5. (5.) — CTEENATCA.

The region of CjTcnaica, also called Pentapolis", is ren-
dered famous by the oracle of Hammon'-, which is distant
400 miles from the city of Cyrene ; also by the Fountain of

1 Now called El-Jcmma, according to Marcus.

2 From it modem Tunis takes its name.

3 The bii-th-place of St. Augustiu. It was to the north-west of Hippo
Kegius.

* In the vicinity of this place, if it is the same as the Tigisis mentioned
by Procopius, there were two columns to be seen in his day, upon wliich
was wi-itten in the Phoenician language, " We fled from before the robber,
Joshua the son of Xim."

* There were two towns of this name in the proconsular province of
Africa. The first was situate in tlie country of Zeugitana, five days'
journey west of Carthage, and it was here that Scipio defeated Hannibal.
The other bore the svumame of Hegia or Royal, from being the fi'equcnt
residence of the Numidian kings. It lay in 'the interior, and at the pre-
sent day its site bears the name of 'Zowarin' or 'Zewarin.'

^ The ruins of Capsa still bear the name of Cafsa or Ghafsah. It was
an important city m the extreme south of Numidia, situate in an oasis,
in the midst of an arid desert abounding in serpents. In the Jugurthiuo
war it was the treasury of Jugurtha, and was taken and destroyed by
Marius ; but was afterwards rebuilt and made a colony.

7 They dwelt between the river Am])S!i(Ta or Wady-El-Ivebir and the
Tusca or Wady-Zain, tlie westeni boundary of tlie Carthaginian territory.

s Dwelling to tlic east of the mountain Zatyeus, now known as the
Wanashrise, according to Shaw.

» The ancients called by the name of ' Gojtulians' all the people of
Africa who dwelt soutli of the iMauritanias and Nuniidia, as far as the
line which, aceorthng to tlieir ideas, sejiarated Africa from iEthiopia.

^^ The QuoiTa most probably of modem geographers.

^' So called, as mentioned below, from its five ])rincipal cities.

^■- Where Jupiter Amnion orHammon was worshiped under tlie form
of a ram, the form he was said to have assumed when tlie deities wero
dispersed in tlie \^r with the Giants. Ancient Ammonium id the pre-
sent oasis of Siwah in the Libyan Desei't.

396 PLINT's NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book V.

tlie Sim^ there, and five cities in especial, those of Bere-
nice-, Ai'sinoe^ Ptolemais^ Apolloma% and Cyrene^ itself,
Berenice is situate upon the outer promontory that bounds
the Sp'tis ; it was formerly called the city of the Hesperides
(previously mentioned''), according to the fables of the

1 The same that has been abeady mentioned in B. ii, c. 106. It is
mentioned by Herodotus and Pomponius Mela.

2 Previously called Hesperis or Hesperides. It was the most westerly
city of Cyrenaica, and stood just beyond the eastern extremity of the
Greater Syrtis, on a promontory called Pseudopenias, and near the river
Lethon. Its historical unportance only dates from the times of the
Ptolemies, when it was named Berenice, after the vnfe of Ptolemy III.
or Euergetes. Havmg been greatly reduced, it was fortified anew by the
Emperor Justmian. Its ruins are to be seen at the modern Ben Grhazi.

3 So called from Arsinoe, the sister of Ptolemy Pliiladelphus. Its
earUer name was Tauchefra or Teuchefra, wliich name, according to
Marcus, it still retains.

^ Its ruins may still be seen at Tolmeita or Tolometa. It was situate
on the N.W. coast of Cyrenaica, and originally bore the name of Barca.
From which of the Ptolemies it took its name is not known. Its splendid
ruins are not less than four miles m circumference.

5 Its ruuis are still to be seen, bespeaking its former splendour, at the
modem Marsa Sousah. It was originally only the port of Cyrene, but
mider the Ptolemies it floiunshed to such an extent as to eehpse that
city. It is pretty certain that it was the Sozusa of the later Greek A^Titers.
Eratosthenes was a native of this place.

^ The cliief city of Cyrenaica, and the most important Hellenic colony
in Africa, the early settlers having extensively intermarried with wives of
Libyan parentage. In its most prosperous times it maintained an ex-
tensive commerce with Greece and Egypt, especially in silpliium or
assafoetida, the plantations of Avliich, as mentioned in the present chapter,
extended for miles in its vicinity. Great quantities of tliis plant were
also exported to Capua in Southern Italy, where it was extensively
employed in the manufacture of perfumes. The scene of the ' Rudens,'
the most picturesque (if we may use the term) of the plays of Plautus, is
laid in the vicinity of Cyrene, and frequent reference is made in it to the
extensive cultivation of silphium ; a head of which plant also appears on
the coins of the place. The philosophers Aristippus and Carneades were
bom here, as also the poet Calhmachus. Its ruins, at the modem
Glu'ennah, are very extensive, and are incUcative of its former splendour.

^ In C. 1 of the present Book. It was only the poetical fancy of the
Greeks that fomad the fabled gardens of the Hesperides in the fertile re-
gions of Cyrenaica. Scylax distinctly mentions the gardens and the lake
of the Hesperides in this vicinity, where we also Ihid a people called
Hesperidse, or, as Herodotus names them, Euesperidse. It was probably
in consequence of this similarity of name, in a gre^^t degree, that the
gardens of the Hesperides were assigned to this locality.

Cliap. 5.] ACCOUNT OP COUNTEIES, ETC. 397

Greeks, Avliicli very often change tlieir localities. Not far
from tlie city, and running before it, is the river Lethon,
and with it a sacred grove, where the gardens of the Hes-
perides are said to have formerly stood ; this city is distant
from Leptis 375 miles. Prom Berenice to Arsinoe, com-
monly called Teuchii'a, is forty-three miles ; after which, at
a distance of twenty-two, we come to Ptolemais, the ancient
name of which was Barce ; and at a distance of forty miles
from this last the Promontory of Phycus\ which extends far
away into the Cretan Sea, being 350 miles distant from Taena-
rum-, the promontory of Laconia, and from Crete 225. After
passing tliis promontory we come to Cyreue, which stands
at a distance of eleven miles from the sea. Prom Phycus
to ApoUonia^ is twenty-four miles, and from thence to the
Chersonesus^ eighty-eight ; from which to Catabathmos^ is a
distance of 216 miles. The Marmarida^'^ inhabit this coast,
extending from almost the region of Para^tonium^ to the
Greater Syrtis ; after them the Ararauceles, and then, upon
the coasts of the Syrtis, the Nasamones^, whom the Greeks

^ IS'ow called Eas-Sem or Eas-El-Kazat. It is situate a little to the
west of Apolloilia and N.W. of Cyrene.

" According to Ansart, 264 miles is the real distance between Capes
Bas-Sem and Tsenarum or Matapan.

3 As ah'eady mentioned, Apollonia formed the harbour of Cyrene.

^ This was called the Chersonesus Magna, being so named in contra-
chstmction to the Chersonesus Parva, on the coast of Egypt, about thirty-
five miles west of Alexandria. It is now called Kas-£1-Tm, or more
commonly Raxatin.

^ So called from the pecuhar features of the locahty, the Greek word
KaTa(ia9ixus, signifying "a descent." A deep valley, bounded east! and
west by ranges of liigh hills, runs from this spot to the frontiers of
Egypt. It is again mentioned by Phny at the end of the present
Chapter. The spot is still known by a similar name, being called JMarsa
Sollem, or the " Port of the Ladder." In earlier times the Eg}ptian
territory ended at the Gulf of Plinthinethes, now Lago Segio, and did not
extend so far as Catabathmos.

6 This name was unknown to Herodotus. As Marcus observes, it
was probably of Phoenician origin, signifying " leaduig a wandermg life,"
like the term " nomad," derived from the Greek.

" Now called El Bareton or Marsa-Labeit. This city was of consi-
derable importance, and belonged ]>roperly to Marmaria, but was included
politically in the Nomos Libya of Egypt. It stood i^oar the promontory
of Artos or Pythis, now Ras-El-IIazeit.

8 So called from the words Maid-Ammon; " the tribe of Amnion,'* ac-

898 PLINX'S NATURAL niSTORT, [Book Y.

formerly called Mesammones, from the circumstance of
their being located in the very midst of sands \ The terri-
tory of Cyrene, to a distance of fifteen miles from the shore,
is said to abound in trees, while for the same distance
beyond that district it is only suitable for the cultivation of
corn : after which, a tract of land, thirty miles in breadth
and 250 in length, is productive of nothing but laser [or
silphium^].

After tlie Nasamones we come to the dwellings of the
Asbystae and the Macae^ and beyond them, at eleven days'
journey to the west of the Greater Syrtis, the Amantes", a
people also surrounded by sands in every direction. They
find water however without any difficulty at a depth mostly
of about two cubits, as their district receives the overflow of
the waters of Mauritania. They build houses mth blocks
of salt^, which they cut out of their mountains just as we
do stone. From this nation to the Troglodytse*' the distance
is seven days' journey in a south-westerly direction, a peo-
ple with whom our only intercourse is for the purpose of
procuring from them the precious stone which we call the
carbuncle, and which is brought from the interior of Ethiopia.
Upon the road to this last people, but turning oif towards
the deserts of Africa, of which we have previously' made
mention as lying beyond the Lesser Syrtis, is the region of
Phazania^ ; the nation of Phazanii, belonging to which, as

cording to Bochart. The Nasamones were a powerful but savage people
of Libya, who dwelt originally on the shores of the Greater Syrtis, but
were driven inland by the G-reek settlers of Cyrenaica, and afterwards by
the Eomans. i From neaos " the middle," and d/nnos " sand."

" See note ^ in p. 396.

2 Herodotus places this nation to the west of the Nasamones and on
the river Cinyps, now called the Wadi-Quaham.

*♦ In most of the editions they are eaUed ' Hammanientes.' It has been
suggested that they were so called from the Greek word d/xfios " sand."

^ This story he borrows from Herodotus, B. iv. c. 158.

^ From the Greek word rpioyXo^vTai, " dwellers m caves." Pliny has
used the term already (B. iv. c. 25) in reference to the nations on the banks
of the Danube. It was a general name applied by the Greek geographers
to various unciviHzed races who had no abodes but caves, and more
especially to the inhabitants of the western coasts of the Eed Sea, along
the shores of Upper Egypt and Ethiopia.

7 At the beginning of C. 4.

" Which gives name to the modern Fezzan.

Cliap. 5.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 899

^vell as the cities of Alele^ and Cilliba^, we have subdued
by force of anns, as also Cydamus^, which lies over against
Sabrata. After passing these places a range of mountains
extends in a prolonged chain from east to west : these have
received from our people the name of the Black Moun-
tains"*, either from the appearance which they naturally bear
of having been exposed to the action of fire, or else from the
fact that they have been scorched by the reflection of the
sun's rays. Beyond it" is the desert, and then Talgse, a city of
the Garamantes, and Debris, at which place there is a spring'',
the waters of which, from noon to midnight, are at boiling
heat, and then freeze for as many hours until the following
noon ; Garama too, that most famous capital of the Ga-
ramantes ; all which places have been subdued by the Roman
arms. It was on this occasion that Cornelius Balbus'' was
honoured with a triumph, the only foreigner indeed that was
ever honoui'ed with the triumphal chariot, and presented
with the rights of a Eoman citizen ; for, although by birth
a native of Gades, the Roman citizenship was granted to him
as well as to the elder Balbus^, his uncle by the father's side.
There is also this remarkable circumstance, that our writers

^ Now called Tanet-lVIellixlen, or the station of Melluleu, on the route
from Gadamez to Osei'ona.

2 Zaoiiila or Zala, half way between Aiig;v'la and Mourzouk.

3 Now GadameZj which, according to Marcvis, is situate almost under
the same meridian as Old Tripoli, the ancient Sabrata.

^ According to Marcus this range still bears the name of Gibel-Assoud,
wliich in the Arabic language means the " Black Mountam."

5 In a southerly dh'ection. He alludes probably to the Desert of
Bildulgerid.

^ This spring is also mentioned by Pliny in B. ii. c. 106. Marcus sug-
gests that the Debris of Pliny is the same as the Bedir of Ptolemy. He
also remarks that the Enghsh traveller Oudney discovered caverns hcwni
out of the sides of the hills, evidently for the pui-poses of habitation, but
of wlxich the use is not kno\m by the present people. These he con-
Biders to have been the abodes of the ancient Troglodyte or "cave-
dwellers." In the Tibesti range of mountains, however, we find a race
called the Rock Tibboos, from the circumstance of their dweUing in caves.

7 Comehus Balbus G-aditanus the Younger, who, upon his victories
over the Garamantes, obtained a triumph in the year B.C. 19.

8 L. Cornelius Balbus the Elder, also a native of Gades. He obtained
the consulship in B.C. 40, the first instance, as we find mentioned by
Phny, B. vii. c. 44, in which this honour had been conferred upon oue
who was not a Roman citizen.

400 PLINX'S NATURAL HISTOEX. [Book Y.

have lianiled down to us the names of the cities above-men-
tioned as having been taken by Balbus, and have informed
us that on the occasion of his triumph \ besides Cy damns
and Grarama", there were carried in the procession the
names and models of all the other nations and cities, in
the following order: the town of Tabudium^, the nation
of Niteris, the town of Nigligemella, the nation or town of
Bubeimn^, the nation of Enipi, the town of Thuben, the
mountain known as the Black Mountain, Nitibrum, the
towns called Eapsa, the nation of Discera^, the town of
Debris^, the river Nathabur'', the town of Thapsagum^,
the nation of Nannagi, the town of Boin, the town of
Pege^, the river Dasibari ; and then the towns, in the
folloAving order, of Baracum, Buluba, Alasit, Gralia, Balla,
Maxalla^*^, Zizama, and Mount Gryri^\ which was preceded by

^ On the occasion of a triumph by a Roman general, boards were
carried aloft on "fercula," on wliich were painted in large lettei's the names
of vanquished nations and countries. Here too models were exliibited in
ivory or wood of the cities and forts captured, and pictures of the moun-
tains, rivers, and other great natural features of the subjugated region,
with appropriate inscriptions. Marcus is of opinion that the names of
the places here mentioned do not succeed in any geographical order, but
solely according to their presumed importance as forming part of the
conquest of Balbus. He also thinks that Balbus did not penetrate
beyond the fifteenth degree of north latitude, and that his conquests did
not extend so far south as the banks of Lake Tchad.

^ The site of Garama stUl bears the name of ' Gherma,' and presents
very considerable remams of antiquity. It is four days' journey north
of Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan.

3 Now Tibesti, according to Marcus.

^ Marcus suggests that this is probably the Febabo of modei*n geo-
graphers, to the N.E. of Belma and Tibesti.

* Discera was the Im-Zerah of modern travellers, on the road from
Sockna to Mourzouk, according to Marcus, who is of opinion that the
places which foUow were situate at the east and north-east of Thuben
and the Black Momitain.

^ Om-El-Abid, to the N.W. of Garama or Gherma, according to
Marcus, and Oudney the traveller.

7 The same, Marcus thinks, as the modern Tessava in Fezzan.

^ Marcus suggests that this may be the modern Sana.

^ The town of Winega mentioned by Oudney, was probably the
ancient Pega, according to Marcus. '

^0 The modern Missolat, according to Marcus, on the roiite from Tri-
poli to Murmuck.

" According to Marcus, tliis was the Mount Goriano of the English

Chap. 6.] ACCOinrT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 401

an inscription stating that this was the place where precious
stones were produced.

Up to tlie present time it has been found impracticable
to keep open the road that leads to the country of the
Garamantes, as the predatory bands of that nation have filled
up the Avells with sand, which do not require to be dug for
to any great depth, if you only have a knowledge of the
locality. In the late war^ however, which, at the beginning
of the reign of the Emperor Yespasian, the Eomans carried
on with the people of (Ea, a short cut of only four days'
journey was discovered ; this road is known as the " Prceter
Caput Saxi^." The last place in the territory of Cyrenaica
is Catabathmos, consisting of a tovm, and a valley M-ith a
sudden and steep descent. The length of C}Tenean Africa,
up to this boundary from the Lesser Syrtis, is 1060 miles ;
and, so far as has been ascertained, it is 800^ in breadth.

CHAP. 6. (6.) — LIBYA MAEEOTIS.

The region that follows is called Libya Mareotis^, and
borders upon Egypt. It is held by the Marmaridae, the
Adyrmachidae, and, after them, the Mareotae. The di-
stance from Catabathmos to Paraetonium is eighty-six

travellers Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney, where, confirming the
statement here made by Pliny, they foxmd quartz, jasper, onyx, agates,
and comeHans.

* Mentioned by Tacitus, B. iv. c. 50. The town of (Ea has been
alluded to by Phny ia C. 4.

2 "Past the head of the rock." Marcus suggests that this is the
Gibel-Gclat or Rock of Gelat spoken of by the Enghsh travellers Den-
ham, Clapperton, and Oudney, forming a portion of the chain of Guriano
or Gyr. He says, that at the foot of this mountain travellers have to
pass from Old andTsewTripoU on their road toMissolat, tlioMaxala of
Phny, and thence to Gerama or Gherma, tlie ancient capital of Fezzan.

3 As Marcus observes, this would not make it to extend so far south
as the sixteenth degree of north latitude.

^ The Mareotis of the time of the Ptolemies extended from Alexandria
to the Gulf of PHnthinethes ; and Libya was properly that portion of
territory which extended from that Gulf to Catabathmos. PHny is in
error here in confounding the two appellations, or rather, blending them
into one. It includes the eastern portion of the modern Barca, and the
western division of Lower Egypt. It most probably received its name
from the Lake Mareotis, and not the lake from it.

VOL. I. 2d

402 plift's NATUEAL HISTOET, [Book Y.

miles. In tbis district is Apis^ a place rendered famous by
the religious belief of Egypt. From this town Paraetonium
is distant sixty-two miles, and from thence to Alexandria
the distance is 200 miles, the breadth of the district being
169. Eratosthenes says that it is 525 miles by land from
Cyrene to Alexandria ; while Agrippa gives the length of
the whole of Africa from the Atlantic Sea, and including
Lower Egypt, as 3040 miles. Polybius and Eratosthenes,
who are generally considered as remarkable for their extreme
correctness, state the length to be, from the ocean to Great
Carthage 1100 miles, and from Carthage to Canopus, the
nearest mouth of the Nile, 1628 miles ; while Isidorus speaks
of the distance from Tingi to Canopus as being 3599 miles.
Artemidorus makes this last distance forty miles less than
Isidorus.

CHAP. 7. (7.) — THE ISLAIfDS IN THE VICINITY OF AEEICA.

These seas contain not so very many islands. The most
famous among them is Meninx^, twenty-five miles in length
and twenty-two in breadth: by Eratosthenes it is called
Lotophagitis. This island has two towns, Meninx on the
side whicli faces Africa, and Troas on the other ; it is situate
off the promontory which lies on the right-hand side of the
Lesser Syrtis, at a distance of a mile and a half. One hun-
dred miles from this island, and opposite the promontory
that lies on the left, is the free island of Cercina^, with a

^ This was a seaport town on the northern coast of Africa, probably
about eleven or twelve miles west of Pargetonium, sometimes spoken of
as belonging to Egypt, sometimes to Marmorica. Scylax places it at the
western boundary of Egypt, on the frontier of the Marmaridse. Ptolemy,
hke Pliny, speaks of it as being in the Libyan Nomos. The distances
given m the MSS. of Pliny of this place from Paraetonium are seventy-
two, sixty-two, and twelve miles ; the latter is probably the correct
reading, as Strabo, B. xvii., makes the distance 100 stadia. It is extremely
doubtful whether the Apis mentioned by Herodotus, B. ii. c. 18, can be
the same place : but there is Kttle doubt, from the words of Pliny here,
that it was dedicated to the worsliip of the Egyptian god Apis, who was
represented under the form of a buU.

2 Now caUed Zerbi and Jerba, derived from the name of Grirba, which
even in the time of Aurehus Victor, had supplanted that of Meninx. It
is situate in the Gulf of Cabes. According to SoHnus, C. Marius lay in
concealment here for some time. It was famous for its purple. See
B. ix. c. 60. 3 jj^Q^y called Kerkeni, Karkenah, or Eamlah.

Chap. 8.] ACCOUNT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 403

city of the same name. It is twenty-five miles long, and
half that breadth at the place where it is the widest, but
not more than five miles across at the extremity : the di-
minutive island of Cercinitis\ which looks towards Car-
thage, is united to it by a bridge. At a distance of nearly
fifty miles from these is the island of Lopadusa'^, six miles
in length ; and beyond it Graulos and Galata, the soil of which
kills the scorpion, that noxious reptile of Africa. It is
also said that the scorpion ^vill not live at Glypea ; opposite
to which place lies the island of Cosyra^, with a town of the
same name. Opposite to the Grulf of Carthage are the two
islands known as the ^gimuri''; the Altars^ which are
rather rocks than islands, lie more between Sicily and Sar-
dinia. There are some authors who state that these rocks
were once inhabited, but that they have gradually subsided
in the sea.

CHAP. 8. (8.) — COTJNTEIES ON THE OTHEE SIDE OE AFEICA.

If we pass through the interior of Africa in a southerly
direction, beyond the Grsetuli, after having traversed the
intervening deserts, we shall find, first of all the Liby-
Egyptians^, and then the country where the Leucsethio-

^ Now Gherba. It was reckoned as a mere appendage to Cercina, to
which it was joined by a mole, and which is found often mentioned in
history.

2 Still called Lampedusa, off the coast of Tunis. This island, with
Gaulos and Galata, has been already mentioned among the islands off
Sicily ; see B. iii. c. 14.

3 Now Pantellaria. See B. iii. c. 14. •

* A lofty island surrounded by dangerous cliffs, now called Zbwamour
or Zembra.

^ In the former editions the word "Arse" is taken to refer to the
jEgimuri, as meaning the same islands. SiUig is however of opinion
that totally distinct groups are meant, and punctuates accordingly. The
" Arse " were probably mere rocks lying out at sea, which received their
name from their fancied resemblance to altars. They are mentioned by
Virgil in the jEneid,B. i. 1. 113, upon which hncs Servius says, that they
were so called because there tlie Romans and the people of Africa on
one occasion made a treaty.

^ The greater portion of this Chapter is extracted almost verbatim
from the account given by Mela. Ptolemy seems to place the Liby-
Egyptians to the south of the Greater and Lesser Oasis, on the route
thence to Darfour.

404 pliny's kattjeal histoet. [Book V.

plans ^ dwell. Beyond^ these are the Nigritse^, nations of
Ethiopia, so called from the river Nigris"*, which has been
previously mentioned, the Gymnetes^, siirnamed Pharusii,
and, on the very margin of the ocean, the Perorsi®, whom
we have already spoken of as lying on the boundaries
of Mauritania. After passing all these peoples, there are
vast deserts towards the east until we come to the Gara-
mantes, the Augylse, and the Troglodytse; the opinion of
those being exceedingly well founded who place two -^thio-
pias beyond the deserts of Africa, and more particularly
that expressed by Homer'', who tells us that the ^Ethiopians
are divided into two nations, those of the east and those of
the west. The river Nigris has tlie same characteristics as
the Nile ; it produces the calamus, the papyrus, and just
the same animals, and it rises at the same seasons of the
year. Its source is between the Tarrselian Ethiopians
and the CEcahcae. Magium, the city of the latter people,
has been placed by some writers amid the deserts, and, next

1 Or "White Ethiopians," men though of dark complexion, not
negroes. Marcus is of opinion that the words " intervenientibus desertis"
refer to the tract of desert country lying between the Leucsethiopians and
the Liby-Egyptians, and not to that between the Gaetuhans on the one
hand and the Liby-Egyptians and the Leucsethiopians on the other.

2 Meaning to the sovith and the south-east of these three nations, accord-
ing to Marcus. Kennel takes the Leucsethiopians to be the present Man-
dingos of higher Senegambia : Marcus however thhiks that they are the
Azanaghis, who dweU on the edge of the Great Desert, and are not of so
black a complexion as the Mandingos.

3 Probably the people of the present Nigritia or Soudan.

* Marcus is of opmion that Pliny does not here refer to the Joliba of
Park and other travellers, as other commentators have supposed ; but
that he speaks of the river called Zis by the modern geographers, and
wliich Jackson speaks of as flowing from the south-east towards north-west.
The whole subject of the Niger is however enwrapped in almost impene-
trable obscurity, and as the most recent inquirers have not come to any
conclusion on the subject, it would be httle more than a waste of time
and space to enter upon an mvestigation of the notions which Phny and
Mela entertained on the subject, ^ From yvfivos, "naked."

^ Mentioned in C. 1 of the present Book.

7 He refers to the words m the Odyssey, B. i. 1. 23, 24. —
AiQioTras toi SixOa Sedaidrai, errxo-Toi dvdpojv'
Oi fiev ^VfTOfxevov 'YTrepioiws, oi S' dviovros.
" The ^Ethiopians, the most remote of mankind, are divided into two
parts, the o.ae at the setting of Hyperion, the other at his rising."

Cliap. 8.] ACCOTINT OF COUNTEIES, ETC, 405

to them the Atlantes ; then the Mgiipani, half men, half
beasts, the Blemmyae^ the Gamphasautes, the Satyri, and
the Himantopodes.

The Atlantes^, if we believe what is said, have lost all
characteristics of humanity ; for there is no mode of distin-
guishing each other among tliem by names, and as they look
upon the rising and the setting sun, they give utterance to
direful imprecations against it, as being deadly to them-
selves and their lands ; nor are they visited with dreams^, like
the rest of mortals. The Troglodytae make excavations in
the earth, which serve them for dwellings ; the flesh of ser-
pents is their food ; they have no articulate voice, but
only utter a kind of squeaking noise"* ; and thus are they
utterly destitute of all means of communication by language.
The Graramantes have no institution of marriage among
them, and live in promiscuous concubinage with their
women. The Augylse worship no deities^ but the gods of the
infernal regions. The Gamphasautes, who go naked, and
are unacquainted with war^, hold no intercourse whatever
with strangers. The Blemmya^ are said to have no heads,

^ A tribe of Ethiopia, whose position varied considerably at different
epochs of histoxy. Their predatory and savage habits caused the most
extraordinary reports to be spread of their appearance and ferocity.
Tlie more ancient geographers bring them as far westward as the region
beyond the Libyan Desert, and into the vicinity of the Oases. In the
time however of the Antonines, when Ptolemy was composing his de-
scription of Africa, they appear to the south and east of Egypt, in the
wide and almost mxknown tract which lay between the rivers Astapus
and Astobores.

2 Mela speaks of this race as situate farthest to the west. The de-
scription of them here given is from Herodotus, B. iv. c. 183-185, who
speaks of them under the name of " Atarantcs."

3 The people who are visited by no dreams, are called Atlantes by
Herodotus, the same name by which Pliny calls them. He says that
their territory is ten days' journey from that of the Atarantes.

* This also is borrowed from Herodotus. As some confirmation of
this account, it is worthy of remark, that the Kock Tibboos of the pre-
ecnt day, who, like the ancient Troglodytir, dwell in caves, have so
pecuUar a kind of speech, that it is com]iared by the people of Aujelah
to nothing but the whistling of birds. The TroglodytaD of Fezzan are
liere referred to, not those of the coasts of the Red Sea.

5 Mela says that they look upon the Manes or spu-its of the departed
as their only deities.

^ This is said, in ahnost the same words, of the Garamantes, by He-

406 PlilNT's NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book V.

their mouths atid eyes being seated in their breasts. The
Satyri\ beyond their figure, have nothing in common with
the manners of the human race, and the form of the -^gi-
pani^ is such as is commonly represented in paintings. The
Himantopodes^ are a race of people with feet resembling
thongs, upon which they move along by nature with a ser-
pentine, crawling kind of gait. The Pharusii, descended
from the ancient Persians, are said to have been the compa-
nions of Hercules when on his expedition to the Hesperides.
Beyond the above, I have met with nothing relative to
Africa^ worthy of mention.

CHAP. 9. (9.) — EGYPT AKD THEBAIS.

Joining on to Africa is Asia, the extent of which, accord-
ing to Timosthenes, from the Canopic mouth of the Nile
to the mouth of the Euxine, is 2689 miles. From the
mouth of the Euxine to that of Lake Mseotis is, according to
Eratosthenes, 1545 mdes. The whole distance to the Ta-
nais, including Egypt, is, according to Artemidorus and
Isidorus, 6375^ miles. The seas of Egypt, which are several

rodotus. The mistake was probably made by Mela in copying from
Herodotus, and continued by Pliny when borrowing from him.

^ So called from thefr supposed resemblance in form to the Satyrs
of the ancient mythology, who were represented as Httle hairy men with
horns, long ears, and tails. They were probably monkeys, which had been
mistaken for men. 2 Half goat, half man. See the Note relative to
JEgipan, in C. 1 of the present Book, p. 378.

** Evidently intended to be derived from the Greek tjuds "a thong,"
and Tropes " the feet." It is most probable that the name of a savage
people in the interior bore a fancied resemblance to this word, upon
which the marvellous story here stated was coined for the purpose of
tallying with the name. From a statement in the ^thiopica of HeUo-
dorus, B. X., Marcus suggests that the story as to theBlemmyse having
no heads arose from the cfrcumstance, that on the invasion of the Per-
sians they were in the habit of falling on one knee and bovmig the head
to the breast, by which means, without injury to themselves, they
afforded a passage to the horses of the enemy.

^ It must be remembered, as afready mentioned, that the ancients
looked upon Egypt as forming part of Asia, not of Africa. It seems
impossible to say how this supposition arose, when the Red Sea and the
Isthmus of Suez form so natural and so jaalpable a frontier between
Asia and Africa.

" It is not improbable that these numbers are incorrectly stated in
the MSS. of oiu* author.

Cliap. 9.] ACCOTTNT Or COUNTEIES, ETC. 407

in number, have received their names from those who dwell
upon their shores, for which reason they will be mentioned
together.

Egypt is the country which lies next to Africa ; in the in-
terior it runs in a southerly direction, as far as the territory
of the Ethiopians, who lie extended at the back of it. The
river IS'ile, dividing itself, forms on the right and left the
boundary- of its lower part, which it embraces on every side\
By the Canopic mouth of that river it is separated from
Africa, and by the Pelusiac from Asia, there being a distance
between the two of 170 miles. For this reason it is that
some persons have reckoned "Egypt among the islands, the
Nile so dividing itself as to give a triangular form to the
land which it encloses: from which circumstance also
many persons have named Egypt the Delta-, after that of
the Greek letter so called. The distance from the spot
where the channel of the river first divides into branches, to
the Canopic mouth, is 146 miles, and to the Pelusiac, 166.

The upper part of Egypt, which borders on Ethiopia, is
known as Thebais. This district is divided into prefec-
tures of towns, which are generally designated as " Nomes."
These are Ombite3^ Apollopolites^ Hermonthites^ Thi-
nites^ Phaturites^ Coptites^ Tentyrites^ Diopolites'*', An-

1 Parisot remarks that Pliny is in error in this statement. A consi-
derable part of Lower Egypt lay both on the right and left of the Delta
or island formed by the branches of the Nile. ' It must be remembered,
however, that our author has ah-eady included a portion of what was
strictly Egypt, in his description of Libya Mareotis.

2 By reason of its triangxdar form, A.

3 The Ombite nome worshipped the crocodile as the emblem of Sebak.
Its capital was Ombos. . j ,

4 This nome destroyed the crocodile and worshipped the sun. its
capital was Apollinopohs Magna.

5 It worshipped Osiris and his son Orus. The chief town was Tiier-
monthis.

6 Probably the original kingdom of Mencs of Tlus, the founder ot the
Egyptian monarchy. It worshipped Osiris. Its capital was This, after-
wards called Abydos.

7 The nome of Thebes, which was its chief town.

8 Its capital was Coi)tos.

9 Its chief town was Tentyra. This nome worshipped Athor or Venus,
Isis, and Typhon. It destroyed the crocodile.

i3 Perhaps the same as the Punopolite or Chemmite nome, which had

408 pliky's NATFKAL HISTOET. [Book y.

taeopolites\ Aphroditopolites^, and Lycopolites'. The di-
strict which lies in the vicinity of Pelusium contains the
following Nomes, Pharbsethites, Bubastites'*, Sethroites,
and Tanites^. The remaining Nomes are those called the
Arabian ; the Hammonian, which lies on the road to the
oracle of Jupiter Hammon ; and those known by the names
of Oxyrynchites, Leontopolites, Athribites^, Cynopolites'^,
Hermop elites^, Xoites, Mendesium, Sebennytes^, Cabasites,
Latopolites, Heliopolites, Prosopites,Panopolites,Busirites^°,
Onuphites", Saites^", Ptenethu, Phthemphu^^, Naucratites^"*,
Metelites, G-ynsecopolites, Menelaites, — all in the region of
Alexandria, besides Mareotis in Libya.

Heracleopolites^^ is a Nome on an island^^ of the Nile,

for its chief town Chemmis or Panopolis. It paid divine honours to a
deified hero.
^ It probably worshipped Typhon. Its capital was Antseopolis.

2 Probably an offshoot from a nome in theHeptanomis of similar name.

3 Dedicated to the worship of the wolf. Its chief town was Lycopohs.
It should be remarked that these names do not appear to be given by
Pliny in their proper geographieal order.

^ Some of these nomes were inconsiderable and of httle importance.
The Bubastite nome worshipped Bubastis, Artemis, or Diana, of whom. '
it contained a fine temple.

•'' Its chief town was Tanis. In this nome, according to tradition,
Moses was born.

^ Its capital was Athribis, where the shrew-mouse and crocodile were
worshipped.

7 The seat of the worship of the dog-headed deity Anubis. Its capital
was CynopoUs ; which is to be distingiiished from the Deltic city and
other places of that name, as this was a nome of the Heptanomis or
Middle Egypt, to which also the Hammonian nome belonged.

^ The border nome of Upper and Middle Egypt.

^ Its capital was Paclmamunis. It worshipped a goddess correspond-
ing to the Greek Leto, or the Latona of the Romans.

'^ Its capital was Busiris. It worshipped Isis, and at one period was
said to have sacrificed the nomad tribes of Syria and Arabia.

^^ Its chief town was Onuphis.

^2 Its chief city was Sais, and it worshipped Neith or Athene, and
contained the tomb and a sanctuary of Osiris. ^^ Its capital was Tava.

^■^ Its chief town was Naucratis on the coast, the birth-place of Athe-
nseus, the Deipnosophist. By some authors it is made part of the Saitic
nome. The names given by PUny vary very considerably from those
found in others of the ancient writers.

^^ The capital of this nome was Heracleopolis, 'The city of Hercules,*
as Pliny calls it, situate, as he says, on an island, at the entrance of the

Chap. 9.] ACCOUNT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 409

fifty miles in length, upon which there is a city, called the
' City of Hercules.' There are two places called Arsiuoites^ :
these and Memphites^ extend to the apex^ of the Delta ; ad-
joining to which, on the side of Africa, are the two Nomes
of Oasites"*. Some writers vary in some of these names and
substitute for them other Nomes, such as Heroopolites^
and Crocodilopolites^ Between Ai-sinoites and Mem-
phites, a lake^ 250 miles, or, according to what Muci-
anus says, 450 miles in circumference and fifty paces deep,
has been formed by artificial means: after the king by
whose orders it was made, it is called by the name of Moeris.
The distance from thence to Memphis is nearly sixty-two
miles, a place which was formerly the citadel of the kings of
Egypt ; from thence to the oracle of Hammon it is twelve
days' journey. Memphis is fifteen miles from the spot where
the river Nile di^ddes into the diff'erent channels which we
have mentioned as forming the Delta.

nome of Arsinoites, formed by the Nile and a canal. After Memphis
and HeHopolis, it waa probably the most important city couth of the
Thebaid. Its ruins arc inconsiderable ; a portion of them are to be seen
at the modern hamlet of Amasieh.

1 He probably means Arsinoe or Arsinoitis, the chief to^vn of the
nome of that name, and the city so called at the northern extremity of
the HeroopoUte Gulf in the Eed Sea. Tho former is denoted by the
modem district of El-Fayoom, the most fertile of ancient Egypt. At
this place the crocodile was worshipped. The Labyrinth and Lake
Moeris were in this nome. Extensive ruins at IVIedinot-el-Fayoom, or
El-Fares, represent its site. The modem Ardscherud, a village near
Suez, corresponds to Arsinoe on the Red Sea. There is some lit tie doubt
however whether this last Arsinoe is the one here meant by Phny.

2 Memphis was the chief city of this nome, which was situate in
Middle Egypt, and was the capital of the whole country, and the resi-
dence of the Pharaohs, who succeeded Psammctichus, B.C. 616. This
nome rose in importance on the decline of the kingdom of Thobais, but
was afterwards echpsed by tho progress of Alexandria under the suc-
cessors of Alexander the Great.

3 At which Middle Egypt terminates.

* They are more generally looked upon as forming one norae only,
and included under the name of llammonium. , . r

5 Its chief town was Iloroopohs, a principal scat of tho worship of
Typhon, the evil or destroying genius. , /. i • , » • .

*6 The same as the nome of Arsinoites, the capital of which, Arsinoe,
was originally called Crocodilopohs.

7 Now known as Birket-el-Keroum. This was o vast lake on tho
western side of the Nile hi Middle Egypt, used for the reception and

410 plint's FATUEAL HTSTOET. [Book V.

CHAP. 10. — THE EIVEE NILE.

The sources of tlie Nile^ are unascertained, and, travelling
as it does for an immense distance through deserts and burn-
ing sands, it is only known to us by common report, having
neither experienced the vicissitudes of warfare, nor been
visited by those arms which have so effectually explored all
other regions. It rises, so far indeed as King Juba was
enabled to ascertain, in a mountain^ of Lower Mauritania,
not far from the ocean ; immediately after which it forms a
lake of standing water, which bears the name of Nilides^.
In this lake are found the several kinds of fish known by
the names of alabeta'*, coracinus, and silurus ; a crocodile
also was brought thence as a proof that this really is the
Nile, and was consecrated by Juba himself in the temple of
Isis at Csesarea', where it may be seen at the present day.
In addition to these facts, it has been observed that the
waters of the Nile rise in the same proportion in which the

subsequent distribution of a part of the overflow of the Nile. The sup-
position that it was formed by artificial means is now pretty generally
exploded, and it is regarded as of natural formation. It was situate in
the nome of Arsinoites or Crocodilopohtes. Its length seems to be over-
stated by our author, as at the present day it is only thirty miles in
length and five in breadth at the widest part.

^ And it is generally supposed that they are so up to the present day.
The ethnographer Jablonski is of opinion that this river derives its name
from the Coptish word tneialei " to rise at stated times." Servius, the
commentator on Virgil, says that it is derived from the two Greek words
vea iXvs "fresh mud," in allusion to the fresh mud or slime which it
leaves after each inimdation. Singularly enough, ChampolHon prefers
this silly etymology to that suggested by Jablonski.

2 An interesting disquisition on the probable sources of the Nile, as
viewed by the ancients, is to be foimd in the Ninth Book of Lucan's
Pharsaha. The Indian word " mZas," "black," has also been suggested
as its possible origin.

3 What spot is meant under this name, if indeed it is anything more
than the creation of fancy, it is impossible to ascertain vrith any degree
of precision. It is possible however that the ancients may have had
some knowledge of "Lake Tchad, and the Moimtains of the Moon, or
Djebel-Kumri, though at the same time it is more than doubtful that
the Nile has its source in either of those locahties, the former especially.

* Perhaps a kind of river lamprey. As to the Coracinus, see B. ix.
c. 24, 32, and B. xxxii. c. 19, 24, 34, 44, and 53 ; and as to tke Silurus,
B. ix. c. 17, 25, and B. xxxii. c. 31, 36, 40, 43, 44, &c.

* The modem Yacur in Northern Africa.

Chap. 10.] ACCOUNT Or COUNTEIES, ETC. 411

snows and rains of Mauritania increase. Pouring forth from
this lake, the river disdains to flow through arid and sandy
deserts, and for a distance of several days' journey conceals
itself; after which it bursts forth at another lake of greater
magnitude in the country of the Massaesyli^ a people of
Mauritania Caesariensis, and thence casts a glance around, as
it were, upon the communities of men in its vicinity, giving
proofs of its identity in the same peculiarities of the animals
which it produces. It then buries itself once again in the
sands of the desert, and remains concealed for a distance of
twenty days' journey, till it has reached the confines of ^Ethio-
pia. Here, when it has once more become sensible of the pre-
sence of man, it again emerges, at the same source, in all pro-
bability, to which writers have given the name of Niger, or
Black. After this, fonning the boundary-line between Africa
and Ethiopia, its banks, though not immediately peopled by
man, are the resort of numbers of vrild beasts and ani-
mals of various kinds. Giving birth in its course to dense
forests of trees, it travels through the middle of ^Ethiopia,
under the name of Astapus, a word which signifies, in the
language of the nations who dwell in those regions, " water
issuing from the shades below." Proceeding onwards, it
divides^ innumerable islands in its course, and some of them
of such vast magnitude, that although its tide runs with the
greatest rapidity, it is not less than five days in passing
them. When making the circuit of Meroe, the most
famous of these islands, the left branch of the river is called
Astobores^, or, in other words, " an arm of the water that
issues from the shades," while the right arm has the name
of Astosapes^, which adds to its original signification the

^ A district which in reahty was at least 1200 or 1500 miles distant
. from any part of the Nile, and probably near 3000 from its real source.

2 " Spargit." It is doubtful whether tliis word means hero " waters,"
or " divides." Probably however the latter is its meaning.

3 This is the third or eastern branch of the river, now known as the
Tacazze. It rises in the higlilands of Abyssinia, in about 11° 40' north
lat. and 39° 40^ east long., and joins the main stream of the Nile, formed
by the union of the Abiad and tlie Azrek, in 17° 45' north lat. and about
34° 5' east long. ; the point of junction being the apex of the island of
Meroe, here mentioned by Phny.

* Possibly by this name he designates the Bahr-el-Abied, or White
Eiver, the main stream of the Nile, the sources of which have not been

412 pliny's natueal histoet.

meaning of " side^" It does not obtain the name of " Mle'*
until its waters have again met and are united in a single
stream ; and even then, for some miles both above and
below the point of confluence, it has the name of Siris.
Homer has given to the whole of this river the name of
JEgyptus, while other writers again have called it Triton^.
Every now and then its course is interrupted by islands which
intervene, and which only serve as so many incentives to
add to the impetuosity of its torrent ; and though at last
it is hemmed in by mountains on either side, in no part is
the tide more rapid and precipitate. Its waters then hasten-
ing onwards, it is borne along to the spot in the country of
the ^Ethiopians which is known by the name of "Catadupi^ ;"
where, at the last Cataract*, the complaint is, not that it
flows, but that it rushes, with an immense noise between the
rocks that lie in its way : after which it becomes more
smooth, the violence of its waters is broken and subdued,
and, wearied out as it were by the length of the distance it
has travelled, it discharges itself, though by many mouths^,
into the Eg}^tian sea. During certain days of the year, how-
ever, the volume of its waters is greatly increased, and as it
traverses the whole of Egypt, it inundates the earth, and,
by so doing, greatly promotes its fertility.

There have been various reasons suggested for this increase
of the river. Of these, however, the most probable are,

hitherto satisfactorily ascertained. The Astapus is supposed to have
been really the name of the Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue River, the third
branch of the Nile, the sources of which are in the liiglilands of Abys-
sinia, in about 11° 40' north lat, and 39° 40' east long.

^ Or " side of the water that issues from the shades." As Hardouin
says, this does not appear to be a very satisfactory explanation.

2 Said by Tzetzes to have been derived from the Greek rptVos, '* the
third," because it had three times changed its name : having been called,
first, the Ocean ; secondly, Aetus, or the Eagle ; and thhdly, ^gyptus.

3 Or the " Cataracts," for which it is the G-reek name. The most
northerly of these cataracts, called the First Cataract, is, and always
has been, the southern boundary of Egypt. According to the most
recent accomits, these Cataracts are devoid of any stupendous features,
sucli as characterize the Falls of Niagara.

^ The one now called the First Cataract.

^ Seven mouths in ancient times, which have now dwindled down to
two of any importance, the Damietta mouth on the east, and the Rosetta
on the west.

Chap. 10.] ACCOITKT OF COTTNTEIES, ETC. 413

either that its waters are driven back by the Etesian winds \
which are blowing at this season of the year from an oppo-
site direction, and that the sea which lies beyond is driven
into the mouths of the river ; or else that its waters are
swollen bv the summer rains of ^Ethiopia^, wnich fall from
the clouds conveyed thither by the Etesian winds from
other parts of the earth. Tim«us the mathematician has
alleged a reason of an occult nature : he says that the source
of the river is known by the name of Phiala, and that the
stream buries itself in channels underground, where it sends
forth vapoms generated by the heat among the steaming
rocks amid which it conceals itself; but that, during the days
of the inundation, in consequence of the sun approaching
nearer to the earth, the waters are drawn forth by the
influence of his heat, and on being thus exposed to the
air, overflow ; after which, in order that it may not be
utterly di'ied up, the stream hides itself once more. He
says that this takes place at the rising of the Dog-Star,
when the sun enters the sign of Leo, and stands in a vertical
position over tlie source of the river, at which time at
that spot there is no shadow throwai. Most authors, however,
are of opinion, on the contrary, that the river flows in greater
volume when the sun takes his departure for the north, which
he does when he enters the signs of Cancer and Leo, because
its waters then are not dried up to so great an extent ; while
on the other hand, wlien he returns towards the south pole and
re-enters Capricorn, its waters are absorbed by the heat,
and consequently flow in less abundance. If there is
any one inclined to be of opinion, with Timseus, that the
waters of the river may be drawn out of the earth by the
heat, it will be as well for him to bear in mind the fact, that
the absence of shadow is a phsenomenon which lasts conti-
nuously^ in these regions.

^ The Etesians are periodical winds, which blow steadily from one
qiiarter for forty days each year, during tlie season of the Dog-days.
The opinion here stated was that promulgated by Thales the pliilosopher.
Seneca refutes it in B. iv. c. 2. of his Qurest. Nat.

2 This was the opinion of Democritus of Abdera, and of Agathar-
cliidas of Cnidos. It is combated by Diodorus Siciilus, B. i., but it is
the opinion most generally received at the present day. See the disqui-
sition on the subject introduced in the Ninth book of Lucan's Pharsalia.

3 And that the high tide or inundation would be cousequently con-
tinuous as well.

414 pltnt's natural histoet. [Book V.

The Nile begins to increase at tlie next new moon after
tHe summer solstice, and rises slowly and gradually as the
sun passes through the sign of Cancer ; it is at its greatest
height while the sun is passing through Leo, and it falls as
slowly and gradually as it arose while he is passing through
the sign of Virgo. It has totally subsided between its
banks, as we learn from Herodotus, on the hundredth day,
when the sun has entered Libra. While it is rising it has been
pronounced criminal for kings or prefects even to sail upon
its waters. The measure of its increase is ascertained by
means of wells^ Its most desirable height is sixteen cubits^ ;
if the waters do not attain that height, the overflow is not
universal ; but if they exceed that measure, by their slowness
in receding they tend to retard the process of cultivation.
In the latter case the time for sowing is lost, in consequence
of the moisture of the soil ; in the former, the ground is so
parched that the seed-time comes to no purpose. The country
has reason to make careful note of either extreme. When
the water rises to only twelve cubits, it experiences the
horrors of famine ; when it attains thirteen, hunger is still
the result ; a rise of fourteen cubits is productive of glad-
ness ; a rise of fifteen sets all anxieties at rest ; while an
increase of sixteen is productive of unbounded transports of
joy. The greatest increase known, up to the present time,
is that of eighteen cubits, which took place in the time
of the Emperor Claudius ; the smallest rise was that of five,
in the year of the battle of Pharsalia^, the river by this
prodigy testifying its horror, as it were, at the murder of
Pompeius Magnus, When the waters have reached their
greatest height, the people open the embankments and admit
them to the lands. As each district is left by the waters,
the business of sowing commences. This is the only river
in existence that emits no vapours'*.

The Nile first enters the Egyptian territory at Syene*, on

* The principal well for this purpose was called the " NHometer," or
*' Gauge for the Nile."

- On this subject see Pliny, B. xviii. c. 47, and B. xxxvi. c. 11.

3 Seneca says that the Nile did not rise as usual in the tenth and
eleventh years of the reign of Cleopatra, and that the circumstance was
said to bode ruin to her and Antony. — Nat. Qusest. B. iv. c. 2.

■* He means dense clouds, productive of rain, not thin mists. See what
is said of the Borysthencs by our author, B. xxxi. c. 30.

' Syene waa a city of Upper Egypt, on the eastern bank of the N''«

Chap. 10.] ACCOUNT OP COUNTRIES, ETC. 415

the frontiers of jEtliiopia ; that is the name of a peninsula a
mile in circumference, upon which Castra^ is situate, on the
side of Arabia. Opposite to it are the four islands of
PhiliB^, at a distance of 600 miles from the place where
the Nile divides into two channels ; at which spot, as
we have already stated, the Delta, as it is called, begins.
This, at least, is the distance, according to Artemidorus,
who also informs us that there were in it 250 towns ; Juba
says, however, that the distance between these places is 400 f
miles. Aristocreon says that the distance from Elephantis
to the sea is 750 miles ; Elephantis^ being an inhabited
island four miles below the last Cataract, sixteen"* beyond
Syene, 585 from Alexandria, and the extreme limit of the
na\ngation of Egypt. To such an extent as this have the
above-named authors* been mistaken! This island is the
place of rendezvous for the vessels of the -Ethiopians : they
are made to fold up^, and the people carry them on their
shoulders w^henever they come to the Cataracts.

just below the First Cataract, and was looked upon as the southern
frontier city of Egypt against j^thiopia. It was an important point in
the geography and astronomy of the ancients ; for, lying just under the
tropic of Cancer, it was chosen as the place through wliich they drew
their chief parallel of latitude. The sim was vertical to Syene at tho
time of the summer solstice, and a well was 8ho^vn there where the face
of the sun was seen at noon at that time. Its present name is Assouan
or Ossouan.

^ If tliis word means the " Camp," it does not appear to be known
what camp is meant. Most editions have "Cerastse," in wliich case it
would mean that at Syene the Cerastes or horned serpent is foimd.

2 One of these (if indeed PhUfC did consist of more than a single
island, which seems doubtful) is now known as Djeziret-cl-Birbc, tho
"Island of the Temple."

3 Tliis island was seated just below the Lesser Cataract, opposite Syene,
and near the western bank of the Nile. At this point the river becomes
navigable downward to its mouths, and the traveller from Meroe or
Ethiopia enters Egyjit Proper. The original name of this island was
" Ebo," Eb being in the language of hieroglyphics the symbol of tbe ele-
phant and ivory. It was remarkable for its fertility and verdure, and
the Arabs of the present day designate the island as Djesirct-el-Sag, or
" the Blooming."

* This is a mistake of Pliny's, for it was opposite to Syene. Brotier
thinks that Pliny intended to write ' Philaj,' but by mistake inserted Syene.

6 Artemidorus, Juba, and Aristocreon.

^ They were probably made of papyrus, or else of liides, like the British
coracles.

416 PLINX'S NATTJEAL HISTOBT. [Book Y,

CHAP. 11. — THE CITIES OE EGYPT.

Egypt, besides its boast of extreme antiquity, asserts tbat
it contained, in the reign of King Amasis\ 20,000 inhabited
cities : in our day they are still very numerous, though no
longer of any particular note. Still however we find the
following ones mentioned as of great renown — the city of
Apollo^ ; next, that of Leucothea^ ; then Grreat Diospolis'*,
otherwise Thebes, known to fame for its hundred gates ;
Coptos^, which from its proximity to the Nile, forms its
nearest emporium for the merchandise of India and Arabia ;
then the town of Venus®, and then another town of Jupi-

* The last king of the line of Psammetichus, B.C. 569. He succeeded
Apries, w'hom the Egyptians put to death. He died just before the in-
vasion by Cambyses, having displayed great abihties as a ruler.

2 There was the Greater ApoUinopohs, the modem Edfoo, in the
Thebaid, on the western bank of the Nile, in lat. 25° north, about thirteen
miles below the lesser Cataract : its inhabitants were enemies of the cro-
codile and its worshippers. The remains of two temples thex'e are con-
sidered second only to the temple of Denderah as specimens of the sacred
structures of Egyj^t. A Lesser ApoUinopolis was in Upper Egypt, on
the western bank of the Nile, in lat. 27° north. Another Lesser Apol-
linopoHs was a town of the Thebaid in the Coptite Nome, in lat. 26°
north, situate between Thebes and Coptos. It was situate at the pre-
sent Kuss.

3 Its site is unknown. Hardouin suggests that it is the Eilethuia of
Ptolemy, the modern El-Kab.

^ " City of Jupiter," the Grreek name for Thebes, the No or No Ammon
of Scripture. It stood in the centre of the Thebaid, on both banks of the
Nile, above Coptos, and in the Nomos Coptites. Its ruins, which are the
most magnificent in the world, enclose within their site the four villages
of Camac, Luxor, Medinet Abou, and Gournou.

^ Its hieroglyphical name was Kobto, and its site is now occupied by
the modern town of Kouft or Keft. It was situate in lat. 26° north,
on the right bank of the Nile, about a mile from its banks. As a halting
place or rather watering-place for the caravans, it was enriched by the
commerce between Libya and Egypt on the one hand, and Arabia and
India and Egypt on the other, the latter being carried on through the
port of Berenice on the Red Sea, founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus,
B.C. 266. In the seventh century of the Christian era, it bore for some
time the name of Justinianopolis. There are a few remains of Eoman
buildings to be seen on its site.

^ Also called Aphrodite or Aphroditopolis. Of this name tliere
were several towns or cities in ancient Egypt. In Lower Egypt there
was Atarbechis, thus named, and a town mentioned by Strabo in the
aome of Leontopolites. In the Heptanomis or Middle Egypt there was

Chap. 11.] ACCOUNT OF C0T7NTEIES, ETC. 417

ter\ After this comes Tentyris^, below which is Abj^dus^, the
royal r.bode of Memnon, and famous for a temple of Osiris^,
which is situate iu Libya^ at a distance from the river of
seven miles and a half. Next to it comes Ptolemais^, then
Panopolis^, and then another town of Venus ^, and, on the
Libyan side, Lycon^, where the mountains form the boun-
dary of the pro^dnce of Thebais. On passing these, we come
to the towns of Mercury^", Alabastron^\ the town of

the place, the ruins of which are called Aftyeh, on the east side of the
Nile, and the capital of the nome of Apliroditopolites. In Tipper Egy])t
or the Thebais there was the present Tachta, on the west side of the 5>ilt',
between Ptolemais and Panopolis, capital of another nonie of Aplu-odito-
poHtes, and that one the ruins of which are now called Deir, on the west
bank of the Nile, liigher up than the fonner, and, Hke it, some distance
from the river. It was situate in the nome Hermonthites.

^ Another Diospolis. Great DiospoHs is mentioned in the preceding::
page. 2 Or Tentjra. The modem Dendera of tlie

Arabs, called Dcnd6ri or Hidendori by the ancient Eg\^tians.

3 In ancient times caLed This, and in Coptic Ebot, the ruins of which
are now kno\\Ti as Arabat-el-Matfoon. It was the cliief town of tlic
Nomos Thinites, and was situate in lat. 26° 10' north and long. 32° 3'
east. In the Thebaid it ranked next to Thebes itself. Here according
to general belief was the bui'ial-place of Osiris. In the tune of Strabo it
had sunk into a mere village. Its ruins, though neai'ly buried in thr
sand, are very extensive. There is, however, some imcertainty as to the
exact identity of This with Abydus.

■* The ruins of these places are stiU to be seen at Abydus.

^ He calls the whole of the country on the western bank of the NQt;
by this name. ^ CaUed Absou or AbsaJi by the Arabs, and Psoe by

the ancient Egyptians. It has been suggested that it was the same place
as This, more generally identified with Abydus.

' Its site is now called Ekhmin or Akiimin by the Arabs, Khmim being
its ancient Egyptian name. It was the cliicf town of the nome of Pano-
pohtes, and the deity Phtliah was worshipped there under the form of
Priapus.

^ Another Aphroditopolia, the present Tachta, mentioned above, in
Note ** in the last page. Phny distincuislu's it from that tiow called
Deir, mentioned above. * Now known as Es-Siout.

^0 Or Ilermopolis — the modem Erfli-moon or Ash-niounion, on tlic
eastern bank of the Nile, in lat. 27° 51' north. It was the capital of
tlie Hermoi)ohte nome in the Hc})tanomis. It was a place of great
opulence and densely populated. The deities Typhon and Thoth were
principally worshipped at this place. Tlio latter, the inventor of tlie
pen and letters, nearly corresponded with the Hermes of the Greeks (the
Mercury of the Romans), from which the HcUenized name of the place.
Its ruins are very extensive.

*' Tliis town ^vas no doubt cor.uected v^ith the alabaster quarries of
VOL. I. 2 E

418 PLINX'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book Y,

Dogs\ and that of Hercules already mentioned^. "We next
come to Arsinoe^, and Memphis'*, which has been previously
mentioned ; between which last and the Nome df Arsino-
'ites, upon the Libyan side, are the towers known as the
Pyramids, the Labyrinth^ on Lake Moeris, in the construc-
tion of which no wood was employed, and the town of
Crialon^. Besides these, there is one place in the interior,
on the confines of Arabia, of great celebrity, the City of
the Sun^.

Mount Alabasternus, now Mount St. Anthony, and the hill of Alabas-
tritcs, now the Coteau Hessan.

^ Or CynopoUs, the cliief place of the CynopoHte nome. The Dog-
headed deity Aiiubis was worshipped here. The modern Samallus occu-
pies its site. This place was in the Heptanomis, but there were several
other towns of the same name, one of which was situate m the Delta or
Lower Egypt.

2 In C. 9, when speaking of the nome of Heracleopohtes ; of which
nome, tliis place, called Heracleopohs, was the capital. It was situate at
the entrance of the valley of tlie Fayoum, on an island formed by the
Nile and a canal. After Memphis and Hehopohs it was probably the
most important city north of the Thebaid. It furnished two dynasties
of kings to Egypt. The ichneumon was worshipped here, from which it
may be inferred that the people were hostile to the crocodile. Its ruius
are inconsiderable ; the village of Anasieh covers part of them.

3 The capital of the nome of Arsinoites, seated on the western bank of
the Nile, between the river and Lake Moeris, south-west of Mempliis, m
lat. 29° north. It was called under the Pharaohs, " the City of Croco-
diles," from the reverence paid by the people to that animal. Its ruins
are to be seen at Medinet-el-Fayoom or El-Fares.

* Its magnificent ruins, known by the name of Menf and Metrabenny,
are to be seen about ten miles above the pyramids of Gizeli.

5 This lay beyond Lake Moeris, or Birket-el-Keroun, at a short distance
from the city of Arsmoe. It had 3000 apartments, 1500 of which were
imderground. The accounts given by modern travellers of its supposed
ruins do not agree with what we have learned from the ancients respect-
ing its arcliitectm'e and site. The purposes for wliich it was built are
unknown. Its supposed site is called Havara.

^ If this is not au abbreviation or corruption for Crocodilon, as Har-
douin suggests, it may probably mean the " town of Kams," from the
worship perhaps of that animal there.

7 Ileliopohs or Eameses. In Scripture it is called by the names
of On and No — Gen. xU. 45 and Ezek. xxx. 15. It stood on the
eastern side of the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, near the right bank of
the Great Canal which connected the river with the Red Sea, and close
adjoining to the present overland route for travellers to India. It was
one of the most ancient of the Egyptian cities j here the father-ia-law of

Chap. 11.] ACCOrXT OF COTTNTRIES, ETC. 419

(10.) AVitli tlie greatest justice, however, we may lavish
our praises upon Alexandria, built by Alexander tlie Great
on the shores of the Egyptian Sea, upon the soil of Africa,
at twelve miles' distance from the Canopic Mouth and near
Lake Mareotis^ ; the spot having previously borne the name
of Rhacotes. The plan of this city Avas designed by the
architect Dinochares", who is memorable for the genius which
he displayed in many ways. Building the city upon a wide
space ^ of ground fifleen miles in circumference, he formed
it in the circular shape of a Macedonian chlamys"*, uneven
at the edge, giving it an angular projection on the right and
left ; while at the same time he devoted one-fifth part of the
site to the royal palace.

Lake Mareotis, which lies on the soutli side of the city,
is connected by a canal which joins it to the Canopic mouth,
and serves for the purposes of communication with the in-
terior. It has also a great number of islands, and is thirty

Joseph exercised the office of high-priest, and here the prophet Jeremiah
is supposed to have -vvritten his Book of Lamentations. Its priests were
the great depositaries of the theological and historical learning of Egypt.
Solon, Thales, and Plato were reputed each to bave visited its schools.
According to Macrobius, Baalbec, the Syrian City of the Sun, was a
colony from this place. It was the capital of the nome Heliopolites,
and paid worsliip to the sun and the bull INIncvis, tlie rival of Apis.
From Josephus we learn that after the dispersion and fall of the tribes
of Judah and Israel, great numbers of the Jews took refuge at this place,
forming almost one-half of its population. The ruins, which were ex-
tremely magnificent, occupied in the twelfth centiny an area nearly three
miles m extent. Pliny speaks of the great obelisk there, which is still
standing. (See B. xxxvi. c. 9.) The village of Matarieh occupies a part
of its site, and besides the obelisk of red gi'anite, there are a few remains
of the Temple of tlie Sun.

1 Now called Birk-el-Mariout.

" Or Dinocrates. lie was the architect of the new temple of Diana at
Ephesus, which was built after the destruction of the former one by He-
rostratus. It was this architect who formed a design for cutting Mount
Athos into a statue of Alexander, witli a city in the right hand and a re-
servoir of the mountain streams in the left.

3 Holland seems to thmk that the word "laxitate" applies to
clilamys.

•* The chlamys was a scarf or cloak worn over the shoulders, and espe-
cially used by military persons of high rank. It did not reaeli lower
tlian the knees, and was open in front, covering only the neck, back, and
shoulders.

2e2

420 pliny's natural history. [Book V.

miles across, and 150 in circumference, according to Claudius
Caesar. Other writers say that it is forty schceni in length,
making the schcenum to be thirty stadia ; hence, accord-
ino" to them, it is 150 miles ^ in lensrth and the same in
breadth.

There are also, in the latter part of the course of the Nile,
many towns of considerable celebrity, and more especially
those which have given their names to the mouths of the
piver — I do not mean, all the mouths, for there are no less
than twelve of them, as well as four others, which the people
call the False Mouths'. I allude to the seven more famous
ones, the Canopic^ Mouth, next to Alexandria, those of Bol-
bitine'', Sebennys^ Phatnis^ Mendes'', Tanis^, and, last of all,
Pelusium^ Besides the above there are the towns of Butos^'^,

1 Its real dimensions were something less than 300 stadia, or thirty
geogi'aphical miles long, and rather more than 150 stadia wide.

2 Or " Pseudostomata." These were crossed in small boats, as they
were not navigable for ships of burden.

3 In the Pharaonic times Canopus was the capital of the nome of
Menelaites, and the principal harbour of the Delta. It probably owed
its name to the god Canobus, a pitcher full of holes, with a human head,
which was worshipped here with pecuHar pomp. It was remarkable for
the number of its festivals and the general dissoluteness of its morals.
Traces of its ruins are to be seen about tln-ee miles from the modem
Aboukir.

* Corresponding to the modern Easchid or Eosetta. It is supposed
that tliis place was noted for its manufactory of chariots.

* The town of Sebennys or Sebennytum, now Samannoud, gave name
to one of the nomes, and the Sebennytic Mouth of the Nile.

6 Or the Pathinetic or BucoUc Mouth, said to be the same as the
modern Damietta Mouth.

' The capital of the Mendesian nome, called by the Arabs Ochmoun.
This mouth is now known as the Deibeh Mouth.

^ Now called Szan or Tzan. The Tanitic Mouth, which is sometimes
called the Saitic, is at the present day called Omm-Faredje.

9 Its ruins are to be seen at the modern Tineh. This city in early
times had the name of Abaris. It was situate on the eastern side of the
most easterly mouth of the Nile, which, after it, was called the Pelusiac
Mouth, about two miles from the sea, in the midst of morasses. Bemg
the frontier city towards Syria and Arabia it was strongly fortified. It
was the birth-place of Ptolemy the geographer.

^0 Butos or Buto stood on the Sebennytic arm of the Nile near its
mouth, on the southern shores of the Butic Lake. It was the chief seat
of the worship of the goddess Buto, whom the Greeks identified with
Leto or Latona. The modern Xem Kasir occupies its site.

Chap. 11.] ACCOUNT OF COUKTEIES, ETC. ' 421

Pharbsethos^ Leontopolis^, Athribis^, the town of Isis^,
BuFiris^, Cynopolis®, Aphrodites^, Sais^, and Naucratis®, from
which last some M'riters call that the Naucratitic Mouth,
wliicb is hj others called the Heracleotic, and mention it
instead^" of the Canopic Mouth, which is the next to it.

^ Called Harbait by the Arabs, and Farbait by the ancient Egyp'
tians.

" In the Delta. It was the capital of the nome of Leontopolites, and
probably of late foiuidation, as no writer previous to PHny mentions it.
Its site is uncertain, but Thall-Essabouah, the " Hill of the Lion," has
been suggested.

3 The chief town of the Athribitic nome in Lower Egypt. It stood on
the eastei'n bank of the Tanitic branch of the IS^ile. This nome and
town dei'ived their name from the goddess Tlu'ipliis, whom the inscrip-
tions there and at PanopoUs designate as the " most great goddess." The
ruins at Atrieb or Trieb, at the spot where the modem canal of Moneys
turns off from the IS^ile, represent the ancient Athribis. They are very
extensive, and among them are considerable remains of the Eoman era.

■♦ Tliis was situate near the city or town of Busii-is in the Delta. The
modem village of Bahbeyt is supposed to cover the ruins of the temple
of Isis.

^ The modem Busyr or Abousir, where considerable ruins of the an-
cient city are still to be seen. It was the chief town of the nome of
Busirites, and stood south of Sais, near the Phatnitic mouth, on the
western bank of the Nile. This was also the name of a town in Middle
Egypt, i:a the neighbourhood of Memphis, and represented by another
village of the name of Abousir. Phny, B. xxxvi. c. 16, speaks of the
Catacombs in its vicinity.

^ The place of that name in the Delta is here meant.

7 Probably the town of that name, otherwise called AphroditopoHs,
in the nome of Leontopolites.

^ The ruins of which are now called Sa-el-Hayar. It was situate in
the Delta, on the east side of the Canopic branch of the Nile. It was the
ancient capital of Lower Egypt and contained the palace and burial-place
of the Pharaohs. It was tlie chief seat of the worship of the Egyptian
goddess Neith, also known as Sais. It gave its name to the nome of
Saites.

3 It was situate in the Delta of Egy]")t and in the nome of Saites,
on the eastern bank of the Canopic branch of the Nile. It Was a
colony of the Milesians, founded probably in the reign of Amasis,
about B.C. 550, and remained a pure Greek city. It was the only place
in Egypt in which, in the time of the later Pharaolis, foreigners were
permitted to settle and trade. In later times it was famous for the
worship of Aplirodite or Venus, and rivalled Canopus in the dissolute-
ness of its manners.

^o Ptolemy the geographer does tliis.

422 plint's natural history. [Book V.

CIIAP. 12. (11.) THE COASTS OF ARABIA, SITUATE 03S" THE

EGYPTIAN SEA.

Beyond the Pelusiac Mouth is Arabia^ which extends to
the Red Sea, and joins the Arabia known by the surname of
Happy ^, so famous for its perfumes and its wealth. This'
is called Arabia of the Catabanes"*, the Esbonitse', and the
Scenitae^ ; it is remarkable for its sterility, except in the parts
where it joins up to Syria, and it has nothing remarkable
in it except Mount Casius*^. The Arabian nations of the
Canchlaei^ join these on the east, and, on the south the
Cedrei^, both of which peoples are adjoining to the Naba-
taei^". The two gidfs of the Eed Sea, where it borders upon

^ Arabia Petraea ; that part of Arabia which immediately joins up to
EgyP*- ^ Called Arabia Felix to the present day.

3 The part of Arabia which joins up to Egypt, Arabia Petrsea namely.

•* Strabo places this people as far south as the mouth of the Red Sea,
i.e. on the east of the Straits of Bab-el- Mandeb. Forster (in his ' Arabia,'
vol. ii.) takes tliis name to be merely an mversion of Beni Kahtan, the
great tribe which mainly peoples, at the present day, central and south-
ern Arabia.

^ Probably the people of Esebon, the Heshbon of Scripture, spoken of
by Jerome as being the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites.

^ The " tent-people," from the Greek (tkijvh}, " a tent." This seems to
have been a name conmion to the nomadic tribes of Arabia. Ammianus
MarceUinus speaks of them as being the same as the Saraceni or Saracens.

7 The modern El Katieh or El Kas ; which is the summit of a lofty
range of sandstone hills on the borders of Egypt and Arabia Petrsea, im-
mediately south of the Sirbonian Lake and the Mediterranean Sea. On its
western side was the tomb of Pompey the Great.

^ The same as the Amalekites of Scripture, according to Hardouin.
Bochart thinks that they are the same as the Chavilsei, who are men-
tioned as dwelling in the vicinity of Babylon.

^ The position which Phny assigns to tins nation would correspond
with the northern part of the modern district of the Hedjaz, Forster
identifies them with the Cauraitse, or Cadraitse of Arrian, and the Darrre
of Ptolemy, tracing their origin to the Cedar or Kedar, the son of Ishmael,
mentioned in Genesis xxv. 13, and represented by the modern Harb nation
and the modern town of Kedeyre. See Psalm cxx. 5 : "Woe is me, that
I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!"

^^ An Arabian people, said to have descended from the eldest son of
Ishmael, who had theu' original abodes in the north-western part of the
Arabian pcninsida, east and south-east of the Moabites and Edomites.
Extending their territory, we find the Nabatsei of Greek and Roman
lustory occupying nearly the whole of Arabia Petraea, along the north-
east coast of the Red Sea, on both sides of theiElanitic Gulf, and on the

Cliap. 13.] ACCOUNT OP COUNTRIES, ETC. 423

Egypt, are called tlie Heroopolitic' and the JElanitic-. Be-
tween the two towns of ^Elaua^ and Gaza"* upon our sea%
there is a distance of 150 miles. Agrippa says that Arsiuoe^,
a town on the Eed Sea, is, by way of the desert, 125 miles
from Pelusium. How different the characteristics impressed
by nature upon two places separated by so small a distance !

CHAP. 13. (12.) — STRIA.

Next to these countries Sj-ria occupies the coast, once the
greatest of lands, and distinguished by many names ; for the
part which joins up to Arabia was formerly called Palaestina,
Judaea, Coele^, and Phoenice. The country in the interior
was called Damascena, and that further on and more to the
south, Babylonia. The part that Lies between the Euphrates

Idumtean mountains, where they had their capital, Petra, hewTi out of
the rock. ^ Now the Bahi'-el-Soueys, or Gulf of Suez.

2 The Bahr-el-Akabah, or Gulf of Akabah.

3 Now Akabah, an Idmnsean town of Arabia Petrsea, situate at the head
of the eastern gidf of the Red Sea, which was called after this town "^Ela-
niticus Sinus." It was annexed to tlie kingdom of Judah, with the other
cities of Idiunsea, by David, 2 S.am. vui. 14, and was one of tlie harbours
on the Red Sea from which the ships of Solomon sailed for Ophir. See
1 Kings Ls. 26 and 2 Chron, viii. 17. It was a place of commercial im-
portance under the Romans and the head-quarters of the Tenth Legion.
A fortress now occupies its site.

* Its site is now kno\vn as Guzzah. It was the last city on the south-
west frontier of Palestine, and from the earhest tunes was a strongly forti-
fied place. It was taken from the Philistines by the Jews more than once,
but as often retaken. It was also taken by Cyrus the Groat and Alex-
ander, and afterwards by Ptolemy Lagus, who destroyed it. It after-
wards recovered, and vas again destroyed by Alexander Janna^us, B.C.
96, after which, it was rebuilt by Gabinius and uUimately united to the
Roman province of Syria. In a.d. 65 it was again destroyed, but was
rebuilt, and finally fell into the hands of the Arabs, in a.d. (53 1.

5 Meaning the Mediterranean. ^ The present Suez. See B. vi. c. 33.

' Or the " Hollow" Syria. This was properly the name given, after
the Macedonian conquest, to the great valley between the two great
ranges of Mount Lebanon, in the south of Syria, bordering ujion Phoe-
nicia on the west, and Palestine on the south. In the wars between the
Ptolemies and the Seleucida', the name was ajtplied to the whole of the
southern portion of Syria, which became subject for some time to tlxe
kings of Egypt ; but under the Romans, it was confined to Ccrlesyria
proper with the district east of Anti-Libanus, about Damascus, uud A
portion of Palestine east of Jordan.

424! PLINT's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book Y.

and tlie Tigris was called Mesopotamia, tliat beyond Taurus
Sophene, and that on this side of the same chain Comagene.
Beyond Armenia was the country of Adiabene, anciently
called Ass}Tia, and at the part where it joins up to Cilicia,
it was called Antiochia. Its length, between Cilicia and
Arabia\ is 470 miles, and its breadth, from Seleucia Pieria^ to
Zeugma^, a town on the Euphrates, 175. Those who make
a still more minute division of this country will have it that
Phoenice is surrounded by Syria, and that first comes the
maritime coast of Syria, part of which is Idumsea and Judaea,
after that Phoenice, and then Syria. The whole of the tract
of sea that lies in front of these shores is called the Phoe-
nician Sea. The Phoenician people enjoy the glory of having
been the inventors of letters'*, and the first discoverers of the
sciences of astronomy, navigation, and the art of war.

CHAP. 14. — IDTJM^A, PAL.ESTII^A, AIN'D SAMARIA.

On leaving Pelusium we come to the Camp of Cha-
brias", Mount Casius^, the temple of Jupiter Casius, and the
tomb of Pompeius Magnus. Ostracine^, at a distance of
sixty-five miles from Pelusium, is the frontier town of Ara-

' Or Ostracine, the northern point of Arabia.

2 This was a great fortress of Syria founded by Seleucus B.C. 300, at
the foot of Mount Pieria and overhanging the Mediterranean, four miles
north of the Orontes and twelve miles west of Antioch. It had fallen
entirely to decay ia the sixth century of otu* era. There are considerable
ruins of its harbour and mole, its walls and necropoUs. They bear the
name of Seleukeh or Kepse.

3 From the Greek ^evyiia, " a junction ;" built by Seleucus Nicator on
the borders of Commagene and Cyrrhestice, on. the west bank of the
Euphrates, where the river had been crossed by a bridge of boats con-
structed by Alexander the Great. The modern Bumkaleh is supposed
to occupy its site.

^ On this svibject see B. vii. c. 57. The invention of letters and the
first cultivation of the science of astronomy have been claimed for the
Egy]5tians and other nations. The Tyrians were probably the first who
applied the science of astronomy to the piu'poses of navigation. There
is little doubt that warfare must have been studied as an art long before
the existence of the Phoenician nation.

5 Strabo places this between Mount Casius and Pelusium.

" See C. 12 of the present Book. Chabrias the Athenian aided "Neo-
tanebus II. against his revolted subjects.

? Its ruins are to be seen on the present Ras Straki,

Cliap. 14.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 425

bia. (13.) After this, at the point where the Sirbonian
Lake^ becomes visible, Idumoea and Pahrstina begin. This
lake, which some wi-iters have made to be 150 miles in circum-
ference, Herodotus has placed at tlie foot of Mount Casius ;
it is now an inconsiderable fen. The to^^'ns are Ehinocolura^,
and, in the interior, Ehaphea^, Gaza, and, still more inland,
Anthedon"*: there is rflso Mount Argaris^ Proceeding along
the coast we come to the region of Samaria ; Asealo", a free
town, Azotus^, the two Jamniae^, one of them in the in-

1 Now called the Sabakat Bardowal. It lay on the coast of Egypt,
east of Mount Casius, and it is not improbable that the boundary-line
between Egypt and Palsestina or Idumsea ran thi'ough the middle of its
waters. It was strongly impregnated with asphaltus, A connection
formerly existed between it and the Mediten*anean, but this being stopped
up, it gradually grew smaller by evaporation and is now nearly diy.

2 The present Kulat-el-Arich or El Arish, situate at the uiouth of the
brook El- Arish, caUed by the Scriptures the " river of Egypt." Its name
signifies in Gi-eek, "cutting off' of noses," and is probably derived fi*om
the fact of its having been the place of exile for criminals who had been
so mutilated, imder the ^Ethiopian kings of Eg;\"pt. Poinsinet suggests
however that the name means the " to^^^l of the circumcised."

3 The place on its site is still caUed Kefah, but it was really situate on
the coast. Gaza has been already mentioned in a Note to C. 12, p. 423.

< Anthedon was on the coast of Palestine, altliough Pluiy says to the
contrary. It was situate about three miles to the south-west of Gaza,
and was destroyed by ^Uexander Jannaeus. In the time of Julian it was
addicted to the worship of Astarte, the Syrian Venus. Accordhig to
Dupinet the present name of its site is Daron.

5 Brotier says that this is the same as the Mount Gerizim of Scrip-
ture, but that was situate in Samaria, a considerable distance fi-ora the
southern coast of Palaestina. Phny is tlic only author that mentions it.

^ The Ascalon of Scripture, one of the five cities of the Philistines,
situate on the coast of the Mediterranean, between Gaza and Jamnia.
In early times it was the seat of the worship of Derceto, a fish with a
woman's head. The ruins, which still bear the name of Askidan, are very
extensive, and indicative of great strength. The shalot or scallion was
originally a native of this place, and thence derived its name.

7 The Ashdod of Scripture. It was one of the five cities of tlie Phi-
listines and the chief seat of the worsliip of Dagon. Herodotus states
that it stood a siege of twenty-nine years from Psammetiehus, king of
Egypt. It was afterwards taken and retaken several times. It was
eituate between Ascalon and Janmia, and its site is indicated by the

' modem village of Esdad, but no ruins of the ancient city are visible.

8 One of these was a city of the PhiHstines, assigned to the tribe of
Judah in the fifteenth Cha))ter of Joshua, iri, uccorduiv to the Septua-
gint version, but omitted in the Hebrew, which only mentions it in

426 pli^t's natural HISTOET. [Book Y.

terior ; and Joppe\ a city of the Phoenicians, which existed,
it is said, before the deluge of the earth. It is situate on
the slope of a hill, and in front of it lies a rock, upon which
they point out the vestiges of the chains by which Andro-
meda was bound^. Here the fabulous goddess Ceto^ is
worshipped. Next to this place comes Apollonia^, and
then the Tower of Strato^, otherwise Csesarea, built by

2 Chron. xxvi. 6 (where it is called Jabneh in the EngHsh version), as one
of the cities of the Pliilistines taken and destroyed by King Uzziah. The
place of this name that lay in the interior, is probably the one spoken of
by Josephus as in that part of tlie tribe of Judah occupied by the cliildren
of Dan, as also in the 1 Maccabees, x. 69-71. The one was probably the
port of the other. The ruins of the port still retain the name of Yebora,
and are situate on an eminence about an hour's distance from the sea, on
the banks of the river Rubin.

^ Or Joppa of Scripture, now called Yafa or Jaffa. The timber from
Lebanon intended for both the first and second Temples was landed here.
It was taken and retaken more than once dm'ing the wars of the Macca-
bees, and was finally amaexed by Pompey to the Roman province of Syria.
It is mentioned several times in the New Testament in coimection with
Saint Peter. In the Jewish war, having become a refuge for pirates, it
was taken by Cestius and destroyed, and even the very ruins were de-
mohshed by Yespasian. It was afterwards rebuilt, and in the time of the
Crusades was alternately in the hands of the Christians and the Moslems.

2 To be devom-ed by the sea monster, ft'om which she was dehvered
by Perseus, who had borrowed for the occasion the talaria or winged
shoes of Mercury. In B. ix. c, 4, Pliny states that the skeleton of the
monster was exhibited at Rome by M. ^mihus Scamais, when he was
Curule ^dile.

3 Probably the same as Derceto or Atargatis, the fish-goddess with a
woman's head, of the Syrians.

* Situate between Csesarea and Joppa. It is probable that it owed its
name to the Macedonian kings of either Egypt or Syria. Arsuf, a de-
serted village, but which itself was of considerable importance in the time
of the Crusades, represents the ancient Apollonia.

5 The site of the Turris Stratonis was afterwards occupied by Csesarea,
a city on the coast, founded by Herod the G-reat, and named Ctesarea in
honom* of Augustus Caesar. It was renowned for the extent and magni-
ficence of its harbour, wliich was secured by a breakwater of stupendous
construction. For some time it was considered the principal city of
Palestine and the chief seat of the Roman government. Although it
again changed its name, as Pliny states, it still retained its name of
Csesarea as the Metropohtan See of the First Palestine. It was also of
considerable importance during the occupation of the Iloly Land by the
Crusaders. Its ruins are still visible, but have served as a quarry for
many generations, and Jaffa, Sidon, Acre and Beyrout have been sup-

Cliap. 15.] ACCOUNT OF COUITTEIES, ETC. 427

King Herod, but now the Colonj of Prima Flavia, esta-
blished by the Emperor Yespasiauiis : this place is the fron-
tier town of Palsestina, at a distance of 188 miles from the
confines of Arabia ; after which comes Phoenice^ In the in-
terior of Samaria are the towns of Neapolis", formerly called
Mamortha, Sebaste^, situate on a mountain, and, on a still
more lofty one, Gamala\

CHAP. 15. (11.) — JUD^A.

Beyond Idumsea and Samaria, Judsea extends far and
wide. That part of it which joins up to Syria^ is called
GalilcTa, while that which is nearest to Arabia and Egypt
bears the name of Per^ea*'. This last is thickly covered with
rugged moimtains, and is separated from the rest of Judaea
by the river Jordanes. The remaining part of Judrea is
divided into ten Toparchies, which we will mention in the
following order : — That of Hiericus^, covered with groves of

plied with stones from tliis site. Massive remains of its mole or break-
water and its towers still exist. ^ Or Phoenicia.

- By some regarded as the Scriptural town of Sichem, but by others
as a distinct place, though in its immediate vicinity. Its present name is
Naplous or Nabolos, situate between Mounts Ebal and Gerizun. Its
proper name under tlie Romans was Flavia Neapolis. It was the birth-
place of Justin iVIartyr.

3 The city of Samaria, so called from Shemer, the owner of the hill
wliich Omri, King of Israel, puveliased, about B.C. 922, for its site. Herod
greatly renovated tliis ciry, wliich he called Sebaste, in honour of liis pa-
tron Augustus, in Greek" Sebastos." Its site is now occupied by a poor
village, which bears the name of Sebustieh.

* A town of Palaestina, frequently mentioned by Josephus as remarkablo
for the strength of its fortifications, and situate on the Lake Tiberias,
opposite to Tarichtea. After a spirited defenci', it was taken by Ves])asian,
who slaughtered lOOO of the survivors, upon which 5000 tluTW themselves
from the walls, and were dashed to pii'ces below. The site had been for-
gotten for nearly eighteen centuries, when Lord Lindsay discovered it on
a lofty luU on the cast of Lake Tiberias, and nearly opposite the town of
that name. It is now called El-Hossn, and the ruins of the fortifications
arc very extensive. * Autiochian Syria.

^ Pera-a was the general name of tliat part of Palirstina which lay cast
of the river Jordan ; but more usually, in a restricted sense, it signilied
a part only of that region, namely the district between the rivers Hiero-
max on the north, and Anion on the south.

J Jericho, so oftoa mentioned in Scripture. It was celebrated for its

428 Pliny's natueal histort. [Book V.

palm-trees, and watered by numerous springs, and thoee of
Emmaiis^ Lydda-, Joppe, Acrabatena^ Gophna^ Thamna^
Bethleptephene*', Oriua^ in which formerly stood Hiero-
solyma^ by far the most famous city, not of Judaea only,
but of the East, and Herodium^, with a celebrated town
of the same name.

(15.) The river Jordanes^*^ rises from the spring of Panias",
which has given its surname to Csesarea, of which we shall

pakn-grove, which was presented by Antony to Cleopatra. A Bedomn
encampment called Eiha is all that now occupies its site.

1 A city eight or ten miles from the village Emmaiis of the New Tes-
tament. It was called NicopoHs, in commemoration, it has been sug-
gested, of the destruction of Jerusalem. Its site is still marked by a
village called Ammious, on the road from Jerusalem to Jaffa.

2 So often mentioned in the New Testament. Tliis town lay to the
S.E. of Joppa, and N.W. of Jerusalem, at the junction of several roads
which lead Irom the sea-coast. It was destroyed by the Komans in the
Je^vlsh war, but was soon after rebuilt, and caUed Diospohs. A village
called Lud occupies its site.

3 So caUed from Acrabbim, its chief town, situate nine mHes from
JNicopohs. The toparchy of Acrabbim, which formerly formed part of
Samaria, was the most northerly of those of Juda?a.

_ * Situate in the country of Benjamui. Josephus reckons it second in
miportance only to Jerusalem, from which, according to Eusebius, it was
distant fifteen miles, on the road to the modern Nablous. That author
also identifies it with the Eshcol of Scriptm-e. Its site is marked by a
small Christian village, called by the natives Jufna.

5 Like the two precetling ones, this toparchy for a long time belono-ed
to Samaria. Thamna, or Thamnis, was the Thnnath-Serah in Momit
Ephraim, mentioned in Joshua xix. 50, and xxiv. 30, as the place where
Joshua was buried.

6 The toparchy of Bethleptepha of other authors. It appears to
have been situate m the south of Judaea, and in that part wliich is br
Josephus commonly caUed Idumcea. Eeland has remarked, that the
name resembles Beth-lebaoth, a city of the tribe of Shneon, mentioned
m Joshua xix. 6.

From the Greek, meaning the "mountain district," or the "hill
country," as mentioned in Luke i. 39.

8 Or " Sacred Solyma."

9 A fortress of Palsestina, erected by Herod the Great, at a distance of
about sixty stadia from Jerusalem, and not far from Tekoa. Its site has
been identified by modern traveUers ^^-ith El-Furedis, or the Paradise •
probably the same as the spot caUed the "Frank Mountain," on the
top oi which the ruined waUs of the fortress are still to be seen.

^" Called by the Arabs Bahr-el-Arden.

" Situate on Mount Panias, or Paneas, on the range of Anti-Libanus.

Chap. 15.] ACCOUNT OF COTTNTEIES, ETC. 429

have occasion to speak'. This is a delightful stream, and,
so far as the situation of the localities will allow of, winds
along- in its course and lingers among the dwellers upon
its banks. "With the greatest reluctance, as it were, it
moves onward towards Asphaltites^, a lake of a gloomy and
unpropitious nature, by which it is at last swallowed up,
and its bepraised waters are lost sight of on being mingled
with the pestilential streams of the lake. For this reason
it is that, as soon as ever the valleys through which it runs
aftbrd it the opportimity, it discharges itsell' into a lake, by
many writers known as Genesara^, sixteen miles in lengtli
and six wide ; which is skirted by the pleasant to^vns of
Jidias^ and Hippo^ on the east, of Tarichea'' on the south
(a name which is by many persons given to the lake itself),
and of Tiberias^ on the west, the hot springs^ of which are
so conducive to the restoration of health. r

(IG.) Asphaltites'" produces nothing whatever except bitu-

1 In C. 16 of the present Book.

- On the contrary, as Parisot observes, the Jordan runs in a straight
Hnc abnost into the Dead Sea.

3 The Lake of Sodom, or the Dead Sea, in which the Cities of the
Plain were swallowed up.

•^ In Scripture also called the Lake Tiberias, and the Sea of G-ennc-
sareth, or Chinnereth. It is now called the Sea of Tabariah, or Tabarieh.

* Tlie one of the two Bethsaidas, which was situate on the north of
the Sea of Tiberias. It was enlarged by Pliilip the Tctrarch, who greatly
beautified it, and changed its name to Jidias, in honour of the daugliter
of Augustus, the wife of Tiberius. It is generally supposed by the
learned world, that this was not the Bethsaida mentioned so often in tlio
New Testament. Its ruins are probably those now seen on a liill called
Et-TeU, on the north-western extremity of the lake.

'"' On the east of the lake. From it the district of Hippene took its
name.

' Its ruins arc to be seen at El-Kereh, on the south side of the Jake.
It was strongly fortified, and made a vigorous resistance agamst tho
Komans in the Jewish War. It received its name from the great quan-
tities of fish which were salted there, raptx"'-

Now Tabariah, or Tabarieh, a miserable village. It was built by
Ilcrod Antipas, m honour of tlie Emperor Tiberius. After the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, it became the seat of the Jewish Sanhedrim.

3 These hot springs are by Josephus called Emmaiis, ]irobably a form
of the Hebrew name Ilammath. Dr. Robinson, in his Biblical Re-
Bcarehes, identifies tliis with the to^\^l of llaiumatli, of the tribe of Naph-
thah, mentioned in Joshua xix. 35. "^ From the Greek datpaXros,

430 Pliny's nattjeal histoet. [Book Y.

men, to which indeed it owes its name. The bodies of
animals will not siuk^ in its waters, and even those of bulls
and camels float there. In length it exceeds 100 miles
being at its greatest breadth twenty-five, and at its smallest
six. Arabia of the JSTomades^ faces it on the east, and
Machaerus on the south ^, at one time, next to Hierosoljma,
the most strongly fortified place in Judaea. On the same
side lies Callirrhoe'', a warm spring, remarkable for its me-
dicinal qualities, and which, by its name, indicates the cele-
brity its waters have gained.

(17.) Lying on the west of Asphaltites, and sufficiently
distant to escape its noxious exhalations, are the Esseni*, a

^ This is an exaggeration, though it is the fact that many heavy sub-
stances, -which in ordinary water would sink immediately, will float on
the surface of this lake. It has been suggested, that the story here
mentioned arose from the circumstance of the name of ' bulls,' or ' cows,'
having been applied by the ancient Nabatsei to the large masses of
asphaltum which floated on its siirface.

2 Ihe country of the Arabian Scenitse, or " tent people."

2 It lay on the east of the Dead Sea, and not the south, as here men-

ioned by PUny, being a border fortress m the south of Persea, and on

oie confines of the Nabatsei. There was a tradition that it was at this

place that John the Baptist was beheaded. The city now bears the

name of Mascra.

** A Greek name, signifying the " Fine Stream." These were warm.
springs, situate on the eastern side of Jordan, to wliich Herod the Great
resorted during liis last iUness, by the advice of his physicians. The
valley of Callirhoe was visited by Captains Irby and Mangles in 1818,
and an interesting account of it is to befound in their 'Travels,' pp. 467-469.
Tlie waters are sulphureous to the taste.

^ The Essenes, or Hessenes. These properly formed one of the great
sects into which the Jews were divided in the time of Christ. They are
not mentioned by name in the New Testament, but it has been con-
jectured that they are alluded to in Matt. xix. 12, and Col. ii. 18, 23.
As stated here by Pliny, they generally lived at a distance from large
towns, in communities which bore a gi'eat resemblance to the monkish
societies of later times. They sent gifts to the Temple at Jerusalem,
but never ojQPered sacrifices there. They were divided into four classes,
according to the time of their uiitiation. Thefr origin is uncer-
tain. Some writers look upon them as the same as the Assidians, or
Chasidim, mentioned in 1 Maccabees, ii, 42, vii. 13. Their principal
society was probably the one mentioned by Pliny, and from this other
smaller ones proceeded, and spread over Palestine, Sp'ia, and Egypt.
The Essenes of Egyjjt were divided into two sects ; the practical
Essenes, whose mode of life was the same as those of Palestine ; and the
contemplative Essenes, who were called Tlierapeutcs.. Both sects main-

Chap. 16.] ACCOUNT OF COTJNTRIES, ETC. 431

people that live apart from the world, and marvellous beyond
all others tlirougliout the whole earth, for they have no women
among tliem ; to sexual desire they are strangers ; money
they have none ; the palm-trees are their only companions.
Day after day, however, their numbers are fully recruited by
multitudes of strangers that resort to them, driven thither
to adopt their usages by the tempests of fortune, and wearied
with the miseries of life. Thus it is, that through thousands
of ages, incredible to relate, this people eternally prolongs
its existence, without a single birth takmg place there ; so
fruitful a source of population to it is tliat weariness of
life wliich is felt by others. Below this people was for-
merly the town of Engadda\ second only to Hierosolyma in
the fertility of its soil and its groves of palm-trees ; now,
like it, it is another heap of ashes. 'Next to it we come to
Masada-, a fortress on a rock, not far from Lake Asphaltites.
Thus much concerning Judaea.

CHAP. 16. (18.) — DECAPOLIS.

On the side of Syria, joining up to Judrea, is the region
of Decapolis^, so called from the number of its cities ; as to
which all writers are not agreed. Most of them, however,
agree in speaking of Damascus'* as one, a place fertilized

tained the same doctrines ; but the latter were distinguished bv a more
rigid mode of hfe. It has been suggested by Taylor, the editor of
' Cabnet's Dictionary of the ]3ibk^,' tliat John the Baptist belonged to
this sect.

^ Or Engedi. Its ancient name was ITazozon-Tamar, when it was
inhabited by the Amorites. See Gen. xiv. 7 ; 2 Clu'on. xx. 2. Accord-
ing to Josephus, it gave name to one of the fifteen toparchies of Judtea.
It still retains its name, Ain-Jedey, or " Fountain of the Goats," and
was so called from a spring wliich issued out of the limestone rock at tho
base of a lofty clilT.

^ Its site is now known as Scbbch, on the south-west of the Dead Sea.

3 Af/cct TToXets, the "Ten Cities." lie alludes to the circumstance,
that the number of cities varied from time to time in tliis district;
one being destroyed in warfare, and others suddenly rising fi'om its
foundation.

^ The capital city of Syria, both in ancient and modem times. It is
now called Ks-Sham. The only c]nthet given to it by the ancient \)Octa
is that of " ventosa," or " wuulv," found in the I'harsalia of Luean, 13. iii.
1. 215, wliich, it has been remarlied, is anything but appropriately chosen.

432 plist's nattteal htstort. [Book V.

"by the river Chryson'oos^ wliicli is draAvn off into its
meadows and eagerly imbibed; Philadelphia^, and Rha-
phana^, all which cities fall back towards Arabia ; Scy-
thopolis"* (formerly called Nysa by Father Liber, from his
nurse having been buried there), its present name being
derived from a Scythian colony which was established
there ; Gadara% before which the river Hieromix^ flows ;
Hippo, which has been previously mentioned ; Dion^, Pella^,
ricli with its waters ; Glalasa^, and Canatha^*'. The Tetrar-

1 Or the " Golden Eiver." It is uncertain whether this was the
Abana or Pharpar, mentioned in 2 Kings v. 12. Strabo remarks, that
the waters of the Chrysorroos " are almost entirely consumed in irriga-
tion, as it waters a large extent of deep soil."

2 The ancient Rabbath Ammon, a city of the Ammonites. It was after-
wards called Astarte, and then Pliiladelphia, in honour of Ptolemy Phila-
delphus. According to D' AnvOle, the present name of its site is Amman.

3 Thu'ty-three miles from Apamea. Its riiins are probably those
mentioned by Abulfeda under the name of Eafaniat. WiUiam of Tyre
says, that it was taken in the year 1125 by the Cotmt of Tripoh.

4 Previously called Beth-shan. It was the next city of the DecapoHs
in magnitude after Damascus. It was situate La the land of the tribe of
Issachar, though it belonged to the Manasites. At this place the bodies
of Said and his sons were hung up by the Philistines ; see 1 Sam. xxxi.
10-12. Reland siiggests that it received the name of Scythopohs, not
from a Scythian colony, but from the Succoth of Gi-en. xxxiii. 17, which
appears to have been in its vicuiity. Its ruins, which still bear the name
of Baisan, are very extensive.

^ Called by Josephus the capital of Persea, and the chief place of the
district of the Gadarenes of the Evangehsts. Its rains, about six miles
south-east of the Sea of GaUlee, are very extensive.

^ StiU called the Yarmak, evidently from its ancient name. Hippo
has been mentioned in the last Chapter.

7 Or Dium, between PeUa and Gadara. In later times, this place was
included La Roman Arabia.

s Also called Butis. It was the most southerly of the ten cities which
comprised the Decapolis, standing about five miles south of Scythopohs,
or Beth-shan. Its exact site seems not to have been ascertamed ; but it
has been suggested that it is the modem El-Bujeh. Fi'om. the expression
iised by Phny, it would appear to have had mineral waters in its vicuiity.

9 Of this place notliing is known ; but it is most probable that the
Oerasa of Ptolemy and Josephus is meant. According to the former
writer, it was thfrty-five miles from PeUa. Its site is marked by ex-
tensive ruLas, tliirty-five miles east of the Jordan, known by the name
of Gerash, and on the borders of the Great Desert of the Hauvan. Ac-
cording to Dr. Keith, tlie ruins bear extensive marks of splendour.

^^ Ptolemy mentions a city of this name in Coelesyria.

Chap. 17.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 43S

chies^ lie between and around these cities, equal, each of
them, to a kingdom, and occupying the same rank as so
many kingdoms. Their names are, Trachonitis'-, Panias^j
in wuich is Caesarea, with the spriug previously mentioned*,
Abila", Arca^, Ampeloessa^, and Gabe,*^.

CHAP. 17. (19.) PH(ENICE.

"We must now return to the coast and to Phoenice. There
was formerly a town here known as Crocodilon ; there is still
a river ^ of that name : Dorum '" and Sycaminon^' are the names

* So called from having been originally groups of four principalities, held
by princes who were vassals to the Roman emperors, or the kings of Syria.

2 Containing the northern district of Palestine, beyond the Jordan,
between Antilibanus and the mountains of Arabia. It was bounded on
the north by the territory of Damascus, on the east by Auranitis, on the
south by Ituraea, and on the west by Gaulanitis. It was so called from
its ranges of rocky mountains, or rpax^j^es, the caves in which gave
refuge to numerous bands of robbers.

2 So called from the momitain of that name. Csesarea PhiUppi also
bore the name of Panias. It was situate at the south of Momit Hermon,
on the Jordan, just below its source. It was built by Phihp the Tetrarch,
B.C. 3. King Agrippa called it Neronias ; but it soon lost that name.

^ In C. xiv. of the present Book, as that in wliich the Jordan takes
its rise. * A place of great strength in Coele-Syria, now

known as Nebi Abel, situate between Heliopolis and Damascus.

^ Situate between Tripolis and Antaradus, at the north-west foot of
Mount Libanus. It lay within a short distance of the sea, and was
famous for the worship paid by its inhabitants to Astai'te, the Syrian
Aphrodite. A temple was erected here to Alexander the Great, in
wliich Alexander Severus, the Roman Emperor, was born. Ids parents
having resorted thither to celebrate a festival, a.d. 205. From this eir-
camstance, its name was changed to Cajsarea. Burckhardt fixes its site
at a liill called Tel-Arka.

^ Of this place, which probably took its name from its numerous
vines, notliing wliatever is known.

^ Called by Phny, in B. xii. c. 41, Gabba. It was situate at the foot
of Mount Carmel between CsEsarea and Ptolemais, sixteen miles li-om
the former. No remains of it are to be seen. It must not bo eon-
founrled with Gabala, in Galilee, fortified by Herod tlie Great.

" Tlie towTi was situate between Csesarea and Ptolemais. The river
has been identified with the modem Nalu-el-Zerka, in which, according
to Pococke, crocodiles have been found.

^•^ Called Dor, before the conquest of Canaan by the IsracUt<^s. See
Jophua xvii. 11, and Judges i. 27. It afterwards belonged to the half-
tribe of Manasseh. Its site is now called TDrtura.

'^ Its site is now called Atlik, according to D'Anville. Parisot suggestB
VOL. I. 2 F

434 pltnt's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book V.

of cities of which the remembrance only exists. "We then
come to the Promontory of Carmelus\ and, upon the moun-
tain, a town^ of that name, formerly called Acbatana. Next
to this are Getta^, Jeba, and the river Pacida, or Belus'',
which throws up on its narrow banks a kind of sand from
which glass''' is made : this river flows from the marshes of
Cendebia, at the foot of Mount Carmelus. Close "to this
river is Ptolemais, formerly called Ace®, a colony of Claudius
Caesar; and then the town of Ecdippa^, and the promon-
tory known as the White Promontory^. "We next come
to the city of Tyre^, formerly an island, separated from
the mainland by a channel of the sea, of great depth, 700
paces in vddth, but now joined to it by the works which
were thrown up by Alexander when besieging it, — the
Tyre so famous in ancient times for its offspring, the cities
to which it gave birth, Leptis, TJtica, and Carthage'", —
that rival of the Eoman sway, that thirsted so eagerly for the

that it is the modern Keufah ; others that it is Hepha, near Mount
Carmel.

1 Insignificant in height and extent, but celebrated in Scripture liistory.
It still bears the name of Cape Carmel.

2 It is not improbable that. he means the town of Porphyrium, now
Khaifa, at the foot of the mountain.

3 Probably the Gitta of Polybius. Of it and Jeba, nothing is known.
* Tlie Nahr-Naman, or Abou, on which Ptolemais was situate.

5 Employed in the extensive manufacture of that article at Tyre and
Sidon, to the north of this district.

^ A corruption of Acco, the native name ; from which the English
name Acre, and the French St. Jean d' Acre. The earhest mention of it
is in the Book of Judges, i. 31. It is supposed that it was Ptolemy I.,
the son of Lagus, who enlarged it and gave it the name of Ptolemais.
Its citadel, however, still retained the name of Ace. Under the. Komans,
Ptolemais, as mentioned by Pliny, was a colony, and belonged to G-alilee.
The modern city of Acre occupies its site.

7 The Ach-Zib of Scripture, mentioned in Joshua xix. 29, and Judges
1. 31, Its ruins ai-e to be seen near the sea-shore, about thi*ee houi's'
journey north of Acre. The spot is stiU called Es-Zib.

^ StiU called the Ras-el-Abiad, or White Promontoiy.

' A colony of the Sidonians : its scanty ruins are stiU to be seen at the
poor village of Sur. The wars of the Crusades completed its downfall.
The island is stiU joined to the mainland by the mole which was erected
by Alexander the Great during the siege of the place ; or, according to
some, by the Syrians themselves.

^" Carthage is supposed to have been colonized immediately by the
people of Utica.

Chap. 17.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTIIIES, ETC. 435

conquest of the whole earth ; Gades, too, which she founded
beyond tlie limits of the world. At the present day, all her
fame is confined to tlie production of the murex and the
purpled Its circumference, including therein Paltutyrus^, is
nineteen miles, tlie place itself extending twenty-two stadia.
The next towns are Sarepta^ and Ornithon"*, and then
Sidon\ famous for its manufacture of glass, and the parent
of Thebes^ in Bceotia,

(20.) In the rear of this spot begins the chain of Libanus,
which extends 1500 stadia, as far as Simyra ; this district
has the name of Coele Syria. Opposite to this cliain, and
separated from it by an intervening valley, stretches away
the range of Antilibanus, which was formerly connected
with Libanus^ by a wall. Beyond it, and lynig in the in-
terior, is the region of Decapolis, and, with it, the Tetrarchies
already mentioned, and the whole expanse of Palaestina. On
the coast, again, and lying beneath Libanus, is the river
Magoras\ the colony of Berytus^ which bears the name of
Felix Julia, tlie town of Leontos^", the river Lycos ^\ Palae-
byblos'-, the river Adonis ^^, and the towns of By bios ^*,

' From wliicli was made the famous Tyrian purjile.

" Or "ancient Tyre," whieh was built on tlie mainland.

3 The Zarephath of 1 Kings xvii. 9, 10, whitlier Elijah was sent to
the widow, whose son he afterwards raised from the dead. Its site ia
now known as Sarfand.

* Probably meaning " City of the Birds," perhaps from the quantities
of game in its vicinity. Its site now bears the name of Adlan.

^ Its site is now called Saida. In the time of David and Solomon, it
was probably subject to the kings of Tyre.

* Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, was said to have been the son of its
king Agenor. 7 I'he Lebanon of Scripture. This inter-
vening space, the ancient Coele-Syria, is now inhabited by the Druses.

* Perhaps the modern Nahr-el-Damur.

^ Kow Beyrout. By some it has been identified with the Berotha, or
Berothai, of tiie Hebrew Scriptures. Its full name as a Roman colony
was, " Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Berytus." It was coloni/ed by the
veterans of the Fifth, or Macedonian, ami the Eighth, or Augustan,
Legions. Beyrout, or Berut, is now, in a commercial point of view, the
most important place in Syria.

'" Nothing is known of this place. The name seems to mean, the
"Town of the Lion." " Now the Nahr-el-Kelb, or " Dog's River."

^2 The site of this place seems not to be known.

'3 Now the Nahr-el-Ibrahim.

^^ The modem town which stands on its site is called JebcU. It is

2 F 2

10

4B6 PLINY's NATURAL HISTOHT. [Book V.

Botrys\ (>igarta^ Trieris^ Calamos^ Tripolis^ inhabited
by the Tyriaiis, Sidonians, and Aradians ; Orthosia^ the
river Eleutl\eros^ tlie towns of Simyra and Marathos^ ; and
opposite, Arados^, a town seven stadia long, on an island,
distant 200 paces from the mainland. After passing
througli the country in which the before-named mountains
end and the plains that lie between, Mount Bargylus'"
is seen to rise.

CHAP. 18. — STEIA ANTIOCHIA.

Here Phoenicia ends, and Syria recommences. The towns

situate at the foot of Lebanon. The ancient name seems to have been
Gebal, and tlie Geblites are mentioned in Joshua, xiii. 5 ; 1 Kings, v. 18 ;
and Ezek. xxvii. 9. The ruins of the ancient city are very extensive.
Astarte and Isis seem to have been worshipped here.

1 Now Batrun, a small town about twelve miles north of Byblus, said
to have been founded by Ithobal, king of Tyre.

2 Now Gazir, according to D'AnviUe.

3 Twelve miles from Tripohs. Its name would seem to bear reference
to a trireme, or galley. It has been said that this is the place referred to
in the Book of Daniel, xi. 30.

4 Polybius speaks of this place as being burnt by Antiochus. Its site
still beai-s the name of Calamon, according to D'AnviUe.

5 This properly consisted of three distinct cities, 600 feet apart, each
with its own walls, but all connected in a common constitution ; having
one place of assembly, and forming in reality one city only. They were
colonies,, as here suggested by PHny, of Tyre, Sidon, and Arados respec-
tively. It is still a considerable place, called Tarabolos, or Tarablis, by
the Turks.

6 Its site is stiU known as Ortosa, or Tortosa.

^ Probably the same as the Nalu'-el-Kebir, or " Great River," to the
north of Tripolis. It may have derived its Greek name, which signifies
"free," from its similarity to that given to it by the people of the
countrv.

8 This was an important city, near Antarados. Its nuns are spoken
of as very extensive. Simyra is stiU caUed Sumira.

" Now called Ruad ; an island off the northern coast of Phoenicia, at
a distance of twenty stadia from the mainland, Pliny falling short here
in his measurement. The city of Arados was very populous, though
built on a mere rock ; and, contrary to Eastern custom, the houses con-
tained many stories. It is spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel under the
name of Arvad : see c. xxvii. 8, 11. In importance, it ranked next to
the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

^^ Its modern name does not appear to be known.

Chap. 18.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 437

are, Cariie\ Balanea^, Paltos', and Gabale^ ; then the pro-
montory upon which is situate the free town of Laodicea* ;
and then Diospolis^ Heraclea^, Charadrus^, and Posidium®.
(21.) AVe then come to the Promontory of Syria Antio-
chia. In the interior is the free city of Antiochia'" itself,
surnamed Epidaphnes", and divided by the river Orontes'^.

^ Also called Antarados, as lying nearly opposite to the city of Arados.
According to Strabo, the port of Antarados was called Came, or Camos.
In the time of the Crusades, it was known under the name of Tortosa.
Its present name is Tartus.

' Now Banias. It was situate twenty-four miles north of Antarados.
Its name is supposed to have originated in the baths in its vicinity.
The site is deserted ; but a few ruins of the ancient town are still to
be seen.

3 Eight miles from Balanea. Its ruins are known by the name of Boldo.

* Its site is now known as Djebeleh, a small village m the vicinity of
Laodicea, or Latakia. The sun was probably worshipped here, and
hence the Emperor Heliogabalus derived his name.

* About fifty miles south of Antioch, now called Ladikiyeh, or Latakia,
noted for the excellence of its tobacco, which has an European reputation.
It was built by Seleucus I., on the site of an earlier city, called Kamitha.
It was afterwards greatly favoured by Juhus Casar. Herod the Great
built an aqueduct liere, tlie ruins of which are still in existence. It is
now a poor Turkish village ; but there are considerable remains of the
ancient city to be seen in its vicinity.

* It has been suggested, that Phny means the city of Lydda, in the
tribe of Benjamin, which of course would be veiy much to the south,
and quite out of the order in which he is proceeding. If that is not the
place meant, this Diospolis is utterly unknown.

7 At some miles' distance to the north of Laodicea. Pococke found
some traces of its site at a spot called Minta Baurdeleh, or the Bay of
the Tower.

* Phny is in error here most probably, and is sjieaking of a place aa
being in Syria which in reahty was inCilicia, between Plat anus andCragus.
The name imphes its situation near a mountain torrent.

9 On a small bay, some miles north of lieraclea.

^^ Or Antioch, the capital of the Greek kings of Syria, and the most
famous of the sixteen cities built by Seleucus Nicator, and called after
the name of his father, (or son, a;* some say,) Antioclius. It was built on
the Orontes, and formed one of tlie most beautiliil and ])liasant cities of
the ancient world. The modern Antakieh is a ])oor town, built on the
north-western part of the site of the ancient city, by the river. The
walls, built by Justinian, may stUl be traced for a circuit of four mUcs.
Here the followers of our Savioiu* first obtained the name of "Christians."

^' That is, " Near Daphne," there being a celibrated grove of that
name, consecrated to Apollo, in its immediate vicinity.

^2 Now called the Nahr-cl-Asy.

438 pliny's natural histoet. [Book Y.

On the promontory is Seleucia\ called Pieria, a free city.
(22.) Beyond it lies Mount Casius^, a different one from the
-mountain of the same name^ which we have already mentioned.
The height of this mountain is so vast, that, at the fourth
watch ''of the night, you can see from it, in the midst of the
darkness, the sun rising on the east ; and thus, by merely
turning round, we may at one and the same time behold both
day and night. The winding road which leads to its summit
is nineteen miles in length, its perpendicular height four.
Upon this coast there is the river Orontes, which takes its
rise near Heliopolis", between the range of Libauus and An-
tilibanus. The towns are, Ehosos^, and, behind it, the Grates
of Syria'', lying in the space between the chain of the Rho-
siaji mountains and that of Taurus. On the coast there is the
town of Myriaudros^, and Mount Amanus^, upon which is the
town of Bomitse ^°. This mountain separates Cilicia from Syria.

CHAP. 19. (23.) — THE REMAINING PARTS OF STRIA.

We must now speak of the interior of Syria. Ccele Syria

^ Now Seleuca, or Kepse, at the foot of Mount Pieria. It has been
referred to in a previous note. 2 -^qw known as DjebL4-el-Akra.

3 In the extreme north-east of Egypt. See pp. 422 and 424.

'* The beginning of the fourth watch was three o'clock in the morning.
The height of this mountain does not in reahty appear to be anything
remarkable, and has been ascertained to be but 5318 feet. There is
probably no foundation for the marvellous story here told by Phny ;
nevertheless, we are told by Spartianus, that the Emperor Adrian passed
a night upon the mountain, for the purpose of seeing this extraordinary
Bight ; but a storm arising, it prevented the gratification of his curiosity.
It lay near Nymphaeum and Seleucia, and its base was waslied by the
waters of the Orontes. » Or Baalbec, in the ulterior of Syria.

^ According to Ansart, it still retams that name.

7 Now called Bylan. This was the name of the narrow pass between
n portion of Mount Taurus and the Kock of Rossicuni. According to
Ansart, the spot is called at the present day Saggal Doutan.

^ This was a Phoenician colony, on the eastern side of the Gulf of
Issvis ; it is said by Ansart still to retain its ancient name.

" Now called Aima-Dagh, a branch of Mount Tam-us, running from
the head of the Gulf of Issus, north-east, to the principal chain, and
dividing Syria from Cilicia and Cappadocia. There were two passes in
it, the Syrian Gates and the Amanian Gates. It is often spoken of by
Cicero, who was the Roman governor of Cihcia.

^° The locality of this place is unknown, as Pliny is the only author
who mentions it.

Chap. 19.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 439

has the town of Apamea\ divided by the river Marsyas from
the Tetrarehy of the Nazerini^ ; Bambyx, the other name of
whieli is Hierapolis^, but by the Syrians called Mabog\
(here the monster Atargatis% called Derceto by the Greeks,
is worshipped) ; and the place called Chalcis® on the Belus'',
from which tlie region of Chalcidene, the most fertile part of
Syria, takes its name. We here find also CjTrhestice, with
Cyrrhum^, the Gazatse, the Gindareni, the Gabeni, the two
Tetrarchies called Granucomatse^, the Emeseni^", the Hyla-

1 Now Kulat-el-!Mudik, situate in the valley of the Orontes, and capital
of the province of Apamene. It was fortified and enlarged by Seleucus
Nicator, who gave it its name, after his wife Apama. It also bore the
Macedonian name of PeUa. It was situate on a hill, and was so far sur-
rounded by the windings of the Orontes, as to become a peninsida, whence
its name of Chersonesus. A^ery extensive nuns of this place still exist.

^ It is suggested, that these are tlie Phylarchi Arabes of Strabo, now
called the Nosairis, who were situate to the east of Apamea. The river
Marsyas here mentioned was a small tributary of the Orontes, into
wliich it falls on the east side, near Apamea.

^ This was situate in Cyrrhestica, in Syria, on the high road from
Antioch to Mesopotamia, twenty-four miles to the west of the Euphrates,
and thirty-six to the south-west of Zeugma ; two and a half days' jour-
ney from Beroea, and five from Antioch. It obtained its Greek name
of the " Sacred City" from Seleucus Nicator, owing to its being the chief
Beat of the worship of the Syrian goddess Astarte. Its ruins were first
discovered by Maundrell.

* In the former editions it is "Magog;" but Sillig's reading of
**Mabog" is correct, and corresponds with the Oriental forms of Mun-
bedj, Manbesja, Manbesjun, Menba, Manba, Manbegj, and the modem
name, Kara Bambuche, or Buguk Munbedj.

° Astarte, the semi-fish goddess,

^ This Chalcis is supposed to have been situate somewhere in the
district of the Buckaa, probably south of Ileliopolis, or Baalbec. It has
been suggested, that its site may have been at, or near Zahle ; in the
vicinity ol" whicli, at the village of Ileusn Nieba, are to be seen some
remarkable remains. Or else, possibly, at Majdel Anjar, whore Abul-
feda speaks of great ruins of hewn stone.

7 Ansart suggests, that Belus is here the name of a mountain, and
that it may be the same that is now called Djebel-il-Semmaq.

^ To tlie north of Chalcidene, a town of Syria, on the slopes of the
Taurus, eiglity miles to the north-cast of Antioch. In the Roman times,
it was the head-quarters of the Tenth Legion. The ruins near the modem
village of Corns represent the ancit-iit Cyrrhus. Of tlie Gazata^ and
Gindareni, nothing is known. * Possibly meaning the " Biu^ghcrs

of Granum." Nothing is known of these peo])le.

^^ The people of Emesa, a city in the district of Apamcnc, on tlu) right,

440 plint's t^atural history. [Book T.

tae\ the nation of the Ituraei, and a branch of them, the
people called the Baetarreni; the Mariamitani^, the Te-
trarchy known as Mammisea, Paradisus^, Pagrae"*, the
Pinaritse®, two cities called Seleucia, besides the one already
mentioned, the one Seleucia on the Euphrates^, and
the other Seleucia^ on the Belus, and the Cardytenses.
The remaining part of Syria (except those parts which will
be spoken of in conjunction with the Euphrates) contains
the Arethusii^, the Beroeenses^, and the Epiphanseenses^";

or eastern bank of the Orontes, to which, in C. 26 of the present Book,
Pliny assigns a desert district beyond Pahnyi'a. It was celebrated in
ancient times for its magnificent temple of the sun, and the appointment
of its priest, Bassianus, or HeUogabalus, to the imperial dignity, in his
fourteenth year. It was made a colony, with the jus Italicum, by Cara-
ealla, and afterwards became the capital of Phoenicia Libanesia. The
present name of its site is Hems.

^ The Hylatae are totally miknown. Itursea was situate in the north-
east of Palestine, and, with Trachonitis, belonged to the tetrarchy of
Phihp. Its boundaries cannot be precisely determined; but it may
probably be traversed by a line drawn from the Lake of Tiberias to
Damascus.

2 According to Ptolemy, the people of Mariama, some miles to the
west of Emesa.

3 In the district of Laodicea, according to Ptolemy.

* Near the Portse Amani, or " Passes of Amanus."

* Pinara was near Pagrse, in Pieria, last mentioned.

* Probably Seleucia, in Mesopotamia, now called Bir, on the left bank
of the Euphrates, opposite to the ford of Zeugma, a fortress of con-
siderable importance.

7 Its site is doubtful. Sebj d'Aboulgazi has been suggested.

8 The people of Arethusa, a city of Syria, not far from Apamea,
situate between Epiphania and Emesa. In later times, it took the
name of Restan.

^ The people of Beroea, a town of Syria, midway between Antioch and
Hierapohs. Seleucus Nicator gave to it the Macedonian name of Beroea ;
but, in A.D. 638, it resumed its ancient name of Chaleb, or Chalybon.
The modern Haleb, or Aleppo, occupies its site. Some excavations, on
the eastern side of it, are the only vestiges of ancient remains in the
neighbourhood.

^" The people of Epiphansea, placed by Ptolemy in the district of
Cassiotis, in which also Antioch and Larissa were situate. The Itine-
rary of Antoninus places it sixteen mUes from Larissa, thirty-two from
Emesa, and 101 from Antioch of Syria. It is supposed to have been
identical with the ancient Hamath, mentioned in 2 Sam. viii. 9 ; 1 Kings
viii. 65 ; Isaiah x. 9, and called " Hamath the great" in Amos vi. 2,
which name it also retaiaed in the time of St. Jerome.

rhap. 20.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 441

ind on the east, the Laodiceni\ who are called the Laodiceni
on the Libanus, the Leucadii^, and the Larissa?i, besides
seventeen other Tetrarcliies, divided into kingdoms and
bearins: barbarous names.

o

CHAP. 20. (24.) — THE EUPHEATES.

This place, too, will be the most appropriate one for
making some mention of the Euphrates. This river rises in
Caranitis^, a praefecture of Greater Armenia, according to
the statement of tliose who have approached the nearest to
its source. Domitius Corbulo says, that it rises in Mount
Aba ; Licinius Mucianus, at the foot of a mountain which
he calls Capotes'*, twelve miles above Zimara, and tliat at its
source it has the name of Pyxurates. It first flows past
Derxene^ and then Anaitica^, shutting out^ the regions of
Armenia from Cappadocia. Dascusa^ is distant from Zimara
seventy-five miles ; from this spot it is navigable as far as

* The people of Laodicea ad Libanum, a city of Coele-Syria, at the
northern entrance to the narrow valley, between Libanus and Anti-
Libanus. During the possession of Coele-Syria by the Greek kings of
Egypt, it was the south west border fortress of Syria. It was the chief
city of a district called Laodicene.

2 Of Leucas, or Leucadia, nothing is known. Larissa, in Syria, was
y city in the district of Apamene, on the western bank of the Orontes,
About half-way between Apamea and Epiphania. The site is now called
i ulat-Seijar.

\ 3 In the western branch of the plateau of Iran, a portion of the Taurus
cniin. Considerable changes in the course of the lower portion of tlie
riy^r have taken place since the time wlien Phny wrote. Caranitis is
tH ! modem Arzrum, or Erzrum, of the Turks.

' • Now called Dujik Tagh, a mountain of Armenia.

It has been suggested, that the proper readhig here would be
Xerxene.

^ Probably the district where the goddess Anais was worshipped,
who is mentioned by Phny in B, xxxiii. c. 24.

7 From the place of confluence where the two mountain streams
forming the Euphrates unite. This spot is now known as Kebban
Ma'den.

8 A fortress upon the river Euphrates, in Lesser Armejiia. It
has been identified with tlie ferry and lead-mines of Kebhan Ma'den,
the points where the Kara Su is.joined by the Myratl-C'hai, at a ihstanco
of 270 miles from its source j tlie two streaius forming, by tlieir con«
fluence, the Euphrates.

442 plint's natural history. [Book V.

Sartona^, a distance of fifty miles, thence to Melitene^, in
Cappadocia, distant seventy -fonr^ miles, and thence to Ele-
gia'*, in Armenia, distant ten miles ; receiving in its course the
rivers Lycus^, Arsanias^, and Arsanus. At Elegia it meetg
the range of Mount Taurus, but no efiectual resistance is
offered to its course, although the chain is here twelve
miles in width. At its passage'^ between the mountains,
the river bears the name of Omma^ ; but afterwards, when it
has passed through, it receives that of Euphrates. Beyond
this spot it is full of rocks, and runs with an impetuous
tide. It then divides that part of Arabia which is called
the country of the Orei^, on the left, by a channel three

^ Other readings liave "Pastona" here, said by D'Anville to be the
modern Pastek.

2 Called the metropoHs of Lesser Armenia by Procopius. It was
situate between Anti-Taurus and the Euphrates, and celebrated for its
fertility, more especially in fruit-trees, oil, and wine. The site of the
city Mehtene is now called Malatiyah, on a tributary of the Euphrates,
and near that river itself.

3 It is generally supposed that " twenty-foiir " would be the correct
reading here.

^ There were two places of this name. The one here spoken of was a
town of Lesser Armenia, on the right bank of the Euphrates, at the
fu-st, or prmcipal curve, which takes place before the river enters Mount
Taurus. It is represented by the modern Iz Oghlu.

5 No other writer is found to make mention of the Lycus, which
flows into the Euphrates, though there is a river formerly so called, which
flows into the Tigris below Larissa, the modem Nimroud. D'Anville
is of opinion, that it is formed from the numerous springs, called by the
people of the district Bing-gheul, or the " Thousand Springs."

^ Now called the Myrad-Chai. Ritter considers it to be the south
arm of the Euphrates. The Arsanus is mentioned by no writer except
Pliny. •

7 The defile at this place is now called the Cataract of Nachour, ac-
cording to Parisot.

8 The more general reading here is "Omfra." Hardouin is of opinion,
that this is the district referred to in the Book of Judith, ii. 24. In the
Vulgate, it appears to be twice called the river Mambre; but in our
version it is called Arhonai.

^ Bumouf has concluded, from a cuneiform inscription which he
deciphered, that the name of this people was Ayura, and that Hardouin
i^s wrong in conjecturing that it was a name derived from tlie Greek
opos, " a mountain," and designating the people as a mountain tribe.
If Bumouf is right, the proper reading here would seem to be Aroei, or
Arrhcsi.

Chap. 21.] ACCOU>'T OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 413

schoeni^ in width, from the territory of the Commageni* on
the right, and it admits of a bridge being thrown across it,
even where it forces a passage through tiie range of Taurus.
At CLaudiopolis^, in Cappadocia, it takes an easterly direc-
tion ; and here, for the first time in this contest, Taurus
turns it out of its course ; though conquered before, and
rent asunder by its channel, the mountain-chain now gains
the victory in another way, and, breaking its career, com-
pels it to take a southerly direction. Thus is this warfare
of nature equally waged, — the river proceeding onward to
the destination which it intends to reach, and the mountains
forbidding it to proceed by the path which it originally
intended. After passing the Cataracts*, the river again
becomes navigable ; and, at a distance of forty miles from
thence, is Samosata^, the capital of Commagene.

CHAP. 21. SYRIA UPON THE EUPHRATES.

Arabia, above mentioned, has the cities of Edessa^, for-
merly called Antiochia, and, from the name of its fountain,
Callirhoe'^, and Carrhae^, memorable for the defeat of Crassus

^ The lengtli of the schoenus has been mentioned bj our author in
C. 11 of the present Book. M. Saigey makes the Persian parasang to be
very nearly the same length as the schoenus of Phny.

2 Commagene was a district in the north of Syria, bounded by the
Euphrates on the east, by Cihcia on the west, and by Auianus on the
north. Its capital was Samosata.

3 The place here spoken of by Pliny is probably the same mentioned
by Ptolemy as in Cataonia, one of the provinces of Cappadocia. Ac-
cording to Parisot, the site of the place is called at the prest-nt day
•KaClaudie.'

* Salmasius has confounded these cataracts with those of Naehour, or
Elegia, previously mentioned. It is evident, however, that tliey are not
the same.

5 Now called Someisat. In literary liistory, it is celebrated as beiiig
the birtli-place of the satirist Lucian. IS'otliing remains of it but a lieap
of ruins, on an artificial mound.

6 In the cHstrict of Osrhoene, in the northern part of MesojKitumia.
It was situate on the Syrtus, now the Daisan, a small tributary oi' the
Euphrates. Phny speaks ratlier loosely when ho ])lace!» it in Arabia.
It is supposed that it bore tlie name of Antiochia during tlie reign of
the Syrian king, Antiochus IV. The modern town of Orl'alior rut'ali is
supposed to represent its site. ^ "The beautiful stream." It is
generally supposed that this was another name of Edessa.

Supposed to be the llaran, or Charan, of the Uld Testament. It

444 pliny's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book T.

there. Adjoining to tliis is the prsefecture of Mesopotamia,
which derives its origin from the Assyrians, and in which are
the towns of Anthemusia^ and Nicephorium^ ; after which
come the Arabians, known by the name of Prsetavi, with Sin-
gara^ for their capital. Below Samosata, on the side of Syria,
the river Marsyas'* flows into the Euphrates. At Cingilla
ends the territory of Commagene, and the state of the
Immei begins. The cities which are here washed by the
river are those of Epiphania^ and Antiochia^, generally
known as Epiphania and Antiochia on the Euphrates ; also
Zeugma, seventy-two miles distant from Samosata, famous
for the passage there across the Euphrates. Opposite
to it is Apamia', which Seleucus, the founder of both
cities, united by a bridge. The people who join up to
Mesopotamia are called the E-hoali. Other towns in Syria
are those of Europus^, and what was formerly Thapsa-

was here, as alluded to by Pliny, that Crassus was defeated and slain by
the Partliian general, Surena. It was situate in Osroene, in Mesopo-
tamia, and not far from Edessa. According to Stephanus, it had its
name from Carrha, a river of Syria, and was celebrated in ancient times
for its temple of Luna, or Lunus.

^ According to Strabo, the Aborras, now the Khabur, flowed round
this town. By Tacitus it is called Anthemusias. According to Isidorus
of Charax, it ky between Edessa and the Euplu-ates.

2 Now Rakkah, a fortified town of Mesopotamia, on the Euphrates,
near the mouth of the river Bilecha. It was built by order of Alexander
the Great, and completed probably by Seleucus. It is supposed to have
been the same place as CaUinicum, the fortifications of which were re-
paired by Justinian. Its name was changed in later times to Leontopolis
by the Emperor Leo.

3 Now called Sinjar, according to Brotier. Some writers imagine
that this was the site of " the plain in the land of Sliinar," on wliich the
Tower of Babel was built, mentioned in the Book of Genesis, xi. 2.

* Mentioned in C. 17 of the present Book.

5 Probably not that in the district of Cassiotis, and on the western
bank of the Orontes, mentioned in C. 19 of the present Book. Of this
locahty nothing seems to be known, except that Dupinet states that it
is now called Adelphe by the Turks.

^ Probably the " Antiochia ad Taurum " mentioned by the geographer
Stephanus, and by Ptolemy. Some writers place it at the modem
Ainthb, seventy-five miles north-east of Aleppo.

7 Now called Roum-Cala, or the "Roman Castle." For Zeugma
Bee p. 424.

8 In the north-east of the district of Astropatene, origmaUy called
Ehaga. It was rebuilt by Seleucus Nicator, and by him called Euro-

Chap. 21.] ACCOUNT OF GOUNTRIES, ETC. 445

cus\ now Amphipolis. We then come to the Arabian
Scenitae^. The Euphrates then proceeds in its course till
it reaches the place called Ura^, at which, taking a turn
to the east, it leaves the Syrian Deserts of Palmyra'*,
which extend as far as the city of Petra* and the regions
of Arabia Felix.

(25.) Palmyra is a city famous for the beauty of its site,
the riches of its soil, and the delicious quality and abundance
of its water. Its fields are surrounded by sands on every
side, and are thus separated, as it were, by nature from the rest
of the world. Though placed between the two great empires
of Eome and Parthia, it still maintains*' its independence ;
never failing, at the very first moment that a rupture
between them is threatened, to attract the careful attention
of both. It is distant 337 miles from Seleucia^ of the
Parthians, generally known as Seleucia on the Tigris, 203
from the nearest part of the Syrian coast, and twenty-seven
less from Damascus.

pii3. Colonel Rawlinson has identified it with the present Yeramin, at
no great distance fi*om the ancient Rhages.

^ Its ruins are to be seen at the ford of El Hamman, near the modern
Hakkah. It stood on the banks of the Euphrates ; and here was the
usual, and, for a long time, the only ford of the Euphrates. It is sup-
posed to have derived its name from the Aramean word " Thiphsach,"
signiJfymg " a ford." 2 Qr " DweUers in Tents." See p. 422.

3 According to Ortehus and llardouin, tliis is the place called Sura
by Pliny, in C. 26 of the present Book ; but Parisot diti'ers fi'om that
opinion. Bochart suggests, that " Ur, of the Chaldees," is the place
referred to under this name ; but, as Hardouin observes, that place lay
at a considerable distance to the south.

^ So called from the circumstance that Palmyra stood in tlie midst
of them. It was built by King Solomon, in an oasis of the Desert, in
the midst of palm groves, from which it received its Greek name, which
was a translation also of the Hebrew " Tadmor," " the city of palm-trees."
It lay at a considerable distance from the Euphrates. Its site presents
considerable ruins ; but they are all of the Roman period, and greatly
inferior to those of Baalbec or Heliopohs.

5 The rock fortress of the Idumccans in Arabia Petrjra, now called
Wady-Musa, half-way between the head of the Gulf of Akabah and the
Dead Sea.

^ Wliich it continued to do until it was conquered under its queen,
Zenobia, by the Emperor Aurehan, in a.i>. 270. It was partially de-
stroyed by him, but was afterwards fortified by Justinian ; though it
.never recovered its former greatness. 7 gee j}. vi. c. 30.

446 PLINY's NATUllAL HISTORY. [Book Y.

(26.) Eelow the deserts of Palmyra is the region of
Stelendene\ and Hierapolis, Beroea, and Chalcis, already
mentioned^. Beyond Palmyra, Emesa^ takes to itself a
portion of these deserts ; also Elatium, nearer to Petra by
one-half than Damascus. At no great distance from Sura^
is Philiscum, a town of the Parthians, on the Euphrates.
Erom this place it is ten days' sail to Seleucia, and nearly
as many to Babylon. At a distance of 5r4 miles be-
yond Zeugma, near the village of Massice, tl e Euphrates
divides into two channels, the left one of which runs through
Mesopotamia, past Seleucia, and falls into the Tigris as it
flows around that city. Its channel on the right runs towards
Babylon, the former capital of Chalda^a, and flows through
the middle of it ; and then through another city, the name of
which is Otris^, after which it becomes lost in the marshes.
Like the Nile, this river increases at stated times, and at
much about the same period. When the sun has reached
the twentieth degree of Cancer, it inundates® Mesopotamia ;
and, after he has passed through Leo and entered Virgo,
its waters begin to subside. By the time tlie sun has
entered the twenty-ninth degree of Virgo, the river has fully
regained its usual height.

CHAP. 22. (27.) — CILICIA A^B THE ADJOININa NATIONS.

But let us now return to the coast of Syria, joining up
to which is Cilicia. We here find the river Diaphanes'^,

' Pliny is the only author that makes mention of Stelendene.
2 In C. 19 of the present Book.

' Previously mentioned by Phny. See p. 439. Of Elatium nothing
is known.

* The same place that is also mentioned in liistory as Flavia Finna
Sura. The site of Pliiliscum is totally imknovra.

* Notliing is known of this place.

^ Parisot remarks, that it is true that the Euphrates increases peri-
odically, much in the same manner as the Nile ; but that its increase
does not arise from similar causes, nor are the same results produced by
it, seeing that the river does not convey the same volume of water as the
Nile, and that the country in the vicinity of its bed does not, like Egypt,
form a valley pent up between two ranges of liills.

' So called probably from the Greek diacpavtjs, "transparent." It
has not been identified, but it was no doubt a small stream falling into
the Gulf of Issus.

Chap. 22.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 447

Mount Crocodilus, the Gatcs^ of Mount Amanus, tlie rivers
Androcus-, Pinarus', and Lycus'', the Gulf of Issos^ and the
town of that name ; then Alexandria^ the river Chlorus^,
the xree town of ^gae^, the river Pyramus^, the Gates ^° of
Cilicia, the towns of Mallos" and Magarsos'-, and, in the
interior, Tarsus ^^. We then come to the Aleian Plains '\ the
town of Cassipolis, Mopsos^*, a free to^vn on the river Ey-
ramus, Thynos, Zephyrium, and Anchiale^®. Next to these

1 Or " Passes." As to Mount Amanus, see C. 18 of the present Book.

2 Parisot suggests that this is the Chersos of Xenophon, the modern
Kermes.

3 The Deh-Su of modem times according to D'AnvHle, the Maher-
Su according to Pococke.

4 PHny is the only writer that mentions this river Lycus.

s The "Gulf of Issos is now called the Gulf of Scanderoon or Isken-
derun, from the town of that name, the former Alexandria ad Issum,
mentioned here by Pliny. In the vicinity of Issus, Alexander defeated
the army of Darius. The exact site of the town appears not to have
been ascertained.

^ Which stiU preserves its name in Iskenderun, on the east side of the
Gulf. It probably received its name in honour of Alexander the Great.

" Or the " Green" River. Its identity is unknown.

8 Now called Ayas Ivala or Kalassy. It was a place, in the Roman
period, of some importance. ^ The modern river Jihan.

10 Or " Passes " of Cihcia, through the range of Taurus.

1^ Called Mallo in modem times, according to llardouin and Dupinet.

12 At the moutli of the Pyramus, according to Tzetzes.

13 Famous as the birth-place of St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles.
Its ruins still bear the name of Tersus. During the civil war it took part
with Julius Ca}sar, and from him received the name of Juliopolis.

14 They he between the rivers Djilioun and Sylioun, according to Ansart.

15 Now called Messis, according to D'Anville and Manncrt. The site
of Cassipolis, or Cassiopolis according to some readings, is unknown.

IS The sites of Thynos and Zephyrium appear to be unknown. Anchiale
was situate on the coast, upon the river Anchiak-us, according to tho
geographer Stephanus. Aristobulus, quoted by Strabo, says that at this
place was the tomb of Sai-dana]ialus, and on it a relief in stone repre-
senting a man snapj)ing the fingers of tlio riglit liand. He adds,
*'It is said that tlicre is an Assyrian inscri))lion also, recording that Sar-
danapalus built Anchiale and Tarsus in one day, and exhorting tlie reader
to eat, drink, &c., as everj'tliing else is not worth Tliat, the moaning of
which was shown by tlie attitude of the figure." Atlu'naus however
cites Amyntas as his authority lor stating tliat tlie tomb of Sardanapalus
•was at Nineveh. Leake is of opinion that a inomid on the banks of tho
river beyond the modem viUagca of Kazalu and Kaiaduar forma the re-
mains of Anchiale,

448 PLINT's NATUllAL HISTOET. [Book T.

are the rivers Saros^ and Cydnus^, the latter of wliich, at
some distance from the sea, runs through the free city of
Tarsus, the region of Celenderitis with a town^ of similar
name, the place where Nymphaeum^ stood. Soli of.Cilicia^,
now called Pompeiopolis, Adana^, Cibyra^, Pinare^, Pedalie^,
Ale, Selinus^", Arsinoe", lotape^^, Doron, and, near the sea,

* The modern Syhou, according to Ansart.

2 Now called the Tersoos Chai. It is remarkable for the coldness of
its waters, and it was here that Alexander the Great nearly met with his
death from bathing when heated, in the stream.

3 Now Chelendreh. It was a strong place on the coast, situate on a
high rock nearly surrounded by the sea. None of its ruins seem older
than the early period of the Roman empire. The Turks call it Guhiare.

•* Probably so called from a temple to the Sea Nymphs there.

5 To distinguish it from Soles or Soh of Cyprus. It was situate be-
tween the rivers Cydnus and Lamus, and was said to have been colonized
by Ai'gives and Lydians from Rhodes. Alexander mulcted its inha-
bitants of 200 talents, for their adl^esion to the Persians. It was cele-
brated as the birth-place of the Stoic plulosopher Chrysippus, the comic
poet Philemon, and the poet and astronomer Aratus. Its name is per-
petuated in the word Solecism, which is said to have been first apphed to
the corrupt dialect of Greek spoken by the mhabitants of this city, or as
some say, of SoU in Cyprus.

^ It still retains its ancient name, and is situate on the western side of
the Sarus, now the Syhovm or Syhan. Pompey settled here some of the
Cilician pirates whom he had conquered.

"^ Leake, in his 'Asia Minor,' p. 196, says, "The vestiges of Cibyraare
probably those observed by Captain Beaufort upon a height which rises
from the right bank of a considerable river about eight miles to the
eastward of the Melas, about four miles to the west of Cape Karaburnu,
and nearly two miles from the shore." Ptolemy mentions Cibyra as aa
inland town of Cihcia Trachea, but Scylax places it on the coast.

8 Its ruins are still called Pinara or Mmara. It was an inland city of
Lycia, some distance west of the river Xanthus, and at the foot of
Mount Cragus.

^ Or perhaps ' Podahe.' Of it nothing seems to be known.

^° Or Sehnuntum, now Selenti, on the coast of Cilicia. In consequence
of the death here of the Emperor Trajan, it received the name of Trajano-
pohs. Of Ale, if that is the correct reading, nothing whatever is knovni.

^^ On the coast of Cihcia ; mentioned by Strabo as having a port.
Leake places it at or near the ruined castle called Sokhta Kalesi, below
which is a port, and a peniusula on the east side of the harbour covered
with ruins.

'^ In the district of Selenitis. It has been identified with the site of the
modern fortress of Lambardo. It is also suggested that it may have
been the same place as Laerte, the native city of Diogenes Laertius.
Of Doron nothing seems to be known.

Chap. 22.] ACCOUNT OF COTJNTEIES ETC. 449

Corycos, there being a town\ port, and cavc"-^ all of the same
name. Passing these, we come to the river Calycadnus^,
the Promontory of Sarpedon*, the towns of Hulmoe* and
Myle, and the Promontory and town of Venus^, at a short
distance from the island of Cyprus. On the mainland there
are the toAMis of Myanda, Anemurium^, and Coracesium*,
and the river Melas^, the ancient boundary of Cilicia. In
the interior the places more especially worthy of mention
are Anazarbus^", now called Ca?sarca, Augusta, Castabala^\
Epiphania^-, formerly called OEniandos, Eleusa'^, Iconium^^,

^ Its ruins are supposed to be those seen by Leake near the island of
Ci'ambusa. Here the walls of an ancient city may still be traced, and a
mole of unhewn rocks projects from one angle of the fortress about 100
yards across the bay.

2 Strabo describes this cave as a vast hollow of circular form, sur-
rounded by a margin of rock on all sides of considerable height ; on
descending it, the ground was found full of shrubs, both evergi-eens and
cultivated, and in some parts the best satfron was gro■w^l. He also says
tliat there was a cave wliich contained a large spring, from which arose a
river of clear water which immediately afterwards sank into the earth
and flowed miderground into the sea. It was called the Bitter Water.
This cave, so famed in ancient times, does not appear to have been
examined by any modern traveller. It was said to have been the bed of
the giant Typhon or Typhoeus. ^ Now known as the Ghiuk-Su.

* Supposed to be the same as the modem Lessan-el-Kahpeh.

* Or Holmi, on the coast of Cilicia Tracheia, a little to the south-west
of Seleucia. Leake thinks that the modern town of Aghaliman occupies
the site of Holmce.

^ Probably the same place as the Aplirodisias mentioned by Livy, Dio-
dorus Siculus, and Ptolemy.

7 On the headland now called Cape Anemour, the most southerly part
of Asia Minor. Beaufort discovered on the point indications of a con-
siderable ancient town.

8 Its sita is now called Alaya or Alanieh. This spot was Strabo's
boundary-line between Pamphylia and Cilicia. Some sliglit remains of the
ancient town were seen here by Beaufort, but no inscriptions were found.

3 Identified by Beaufort witli the modem Manaugat-Su.
'0 So called, either from an adjacent mountain of that name, or its

founder, Anazarbus. Its later name was Cocsarea ad Ana/.arhum. lis site is
called Anawasy or Amnasy, and is said to display considerable reinaiTis of
the ancient town. Of Augusta notliing is known": Ptolemy places it in a
district called Bi'yehce.

^^ Identified by Ainsworth with the ruins seen at Kara Kaya in Cilicia.

^2 Pompey settled some of the Cilieian pirates here aftt-r his defeat of
them. It was thirty miles east of Anazarbus, but its site does not appear
to have been identiified. ^^ An island oil' the shore of Cihcia, also
called Sebaste. ^* Seme of the MSS. read " Riconiiuu " here.

YOL. I. 2 a

450 plikt's natural HISTOET, [Book V.

Seleucia^ upon the river Calycadnus, surnamed Tracheotis,
a city removed^ from the sea-shore, where it had the name of
Hohnia. Besides those already mentioned, there are in the
interior the rivers Liparis^ Bombos, Paradisus, and Mount
Imbarus^.

CHAP. 23. — ISAUBIA AND THE HOMONADES.

All the geographers have mentioned Pamphylia as joining
up to Cilicia, without taking any notice of the people of
Isauria'. Its cities are, in the interior, Isaura^ Clibanus,
and Lalasis ; it runs down towards the sea by the side of
Anemurium'" already mentioned. In a similar manner also,
all who have treated of this subject have been ignorant of
the existence of the nation of the Homonades bordering upon
Isaiu-ia, and their to\\Ti of Homona^ in the interior. There
are forty-four other fortresses, which lie concealed amid
rugged crags and valleys.

1

Its ruins are called Selefkeh. This was an important city of Seleucia
Aspera, bililt by Seleucus I. on the western bank of the river Calycadnus.
It had an oracle of Apollo, and annual games m honour of Zeus Olympms.
It was a free city under the Romans. It was here that Frederick Bar-
barossa, the emperor of G-ermany, died. Its ruins are picturesque and
pici'GnsiVG

2 Meaning that the inhabitants of Hohnia were removed by Seleucua
to his new city of Seleucia.

3 Said by Yitruvius to have had the property of anomtmg those who
bathed in its waters. If so, it probably had its name from the Greek
word Xnrapbs, " fat." It flowed past the town of Soloe. Bombos and
Paradisus are rivers which do not appear to have been identified.

■♦ A branch of the Taurus range. ^ ^

5 It bordered in the east on Lycaonia, in the north on Phrygia, m the
west on Pisidia, and in the south on Cihcia and PamphyHa.

6 A weU-fortified city at the foot of Mount Taurus. It was twice
destroyed, first by its inhabitants when besieged by Perdiccas, and again
by the Roman general Servihus Isauricus. Strabo says that Amyntas of.
Galatea built a new city in its vicinity out of the rums of the old one.
P'AnviUe and others have identified the site of Old Isauria with the:

■ modem Bei Sheher, and they are of opinion that Seidi Shehcr occupies
the site of New Isaura, but Hamilton thinks that the ruins on a hill
near the village of Olou Bounar mark the site of New Isaura. Of the
two next places nothing seems to be known at the present day.

7 In the last Chapter.

8 In Pisidia, at the southern extremity of Lake Caralitis. Tacitus,
Annals, iii. 48, says that this people possessed forty-four fortresses :

CJliap. 25.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 451

CHAP. 24. — PISIDIA.

The Pisidae\ formerly called the Solymi, occupy the higher
parts of the mountains. In their country there is the colony
of Ca?sarea, also called Antiochia", and the towns of Oro-
anda^ and Sagalessos.

CHAP. 25. — LTCAONIA.

These people are bounded by Lycaonia^, which belongs to
the jurisdiction of the province of Asia*, to which also resort
the people of Philomelium^, Tymbrium'^, Leucolithium*,
Pelta, and Tyrium. To this jurisdiction is also added a

whereas Strabo speaks of them as the most barbarous of all the Pisidian
tribes, dwelhng only in caves. They were conquered by the consul Qoi-
rinius in the time of Augustus.

^ Pisidia was a mountainous region formed by that part of the main
chain of Mount Taurus which sweeps round in a semicii'cle parallel to
the shore of the Paraphylian Gulf; the shore itself at the foot of the
mountains forming the district of Pamphyha. On the south-east it was
boimded by Cihcia, on the east and north-east by Lycaonia and Isauria,
and by Phrygia Parorios on the north, where its boimdaries greatly
varied at different times.

2 G-enerally called " Antioch of Pisidia," was situate on the south side of
the mountain boundary between Phrygia and Pisidia. The modem Ya-
lobatch is supposed to occupy its site. The remains of the ancient town
are numerous. Its title of Csesarea was probably given to it on its be-
coming a Eoman colony early in the unperial period.

3 D'Anville suggests that the modem Havhan occupies its site, and
that Sadjakla stands on that of Sagalessos.

* This coimtry was bounded on the north by Galatia, on the east by
Cappadocia, on the south by Cilicia Aspera, on the south-west by Tsauria
and Phrygia Parorios, and on the north-west by Great Plirygia. It
was assigned under the Persian empire to the satra])y of Cappadocia,
but considered by the Greek and Roman geographers the soutli-east part
of Phrygia.

^ Phrygia, or the western part of Asia, the first part of the Asiatic
continent that received the name of Asia. See Chapters 28 & 29 of the
present Book.

^ D'Anville thinks that the place called Il-Goim occupies the site of
Pliilomela.

7 Hardouin suggests that the reading here is "Tibriani," the people
of Tibrias. Ansart is of opinion that Thymbrium is meant, the place at
which Cyrus defeated the army of Cnrsus.

8 Its site is unknown. It was probably so called from the quarries of
white stone or marble in its vicinity. Pelta and T\ riuiu are also equally
unknown.

2o2

452 pliny's natural history. [Book V.

Tetrarchy of L^'^caonia in that part which joins np to Galatia,
containing fourteen states, with the famous city of Iconiuni\
In Lycaonia itself the most noted places are Thebasa^ on
Taurus, and Hyde, on the confines of Gralatia and Cappa-
docia. On the [western] side of Lycaonia, and above Pam-
phylia, come the Milyse^, a people descended from the
Thracians ; their city is Arycanda.

CHAP. 26. PAMPHYLIA.

The former name of Pamphylia'* was Mopsopia®. The
Pamphylian Sea^ joins up to that of Cilicia. The towns of
Pamphylia are Side'', Aspendum*^, situate on the side of a
mountain, Pletenissum^, and Perga^°. There is also the Pro-
montory of LeucoUa, the mountain of Sardemisus, and the

1 Tconiura was regarded in the time of Xenoplion as the easternmost
town of Phrygia, while all the later authorities described it as the prin-
cipal city of Lycaonia. In the Acts of the Apostles it is described as a
very populous city, uihabited by Grreeks and Jews. Its site is now called
Kunjah or Koniyeh.

2 It has been suggested that this may be the Tarbassus of Artemidorus,
quoted by Strabo. Hyde was in later times one of the episcopal cities of
Lycaonia.

3 Their district is called Melyas by Herodotus, B. i. c. 173. The city
of Arycanda is unknown.

^ United with Cihcia it now forms the province of Caramania or Ker-
manieh. It was a narrow strip of the southern coast of Asia Minor,
extending in an arch along the Pamphylian Grulf between Lycia on the
west, Cilicia on the east, and on the north bordering on Pisidia.

^ Tradition ascribed the first Grreck settlements in this country to
Mopsus, son of Apollo (or of Rhacius), after the Trojan war.

^ Now called the Gulf of Adaha, lying between Cape KheHdonia and
Cape Anemour.

7 Now called Candeloro, according to D'AnviUe and Beaufort.

8 Or Aspendus, an Argeian colony on the river Euiymedon. The
" mountain " of Phny is notlung but a hill or piece of elevated ground.
It is supposed that it still retains its ancient name. In B. xxxi. c. 7,
Pliny mentions a salt lake in its vicinity.

^ Hardouin suggests that the correct reading is 'Petnelessum.'
^^ A city of remarkable splendour, between the rivers Catarrhaetes and
Cestrus, sixty stadia from the mouth of the former. It was a celebrated
scat of the worship of Artemis or Diana. In the later Roman empire it
was the capital of Pamphyha Secunda. It was the first place visited by
St. Paul in Asia Minor. See Acts, xiii. 13 and xiv. 25. Its splendid
ruins are still to be seen at Murtana, sixteen miles north-east of Adaiia.

Cliap. 27.] ACCOUNT OF COFNTEIES, ETC. 453

rivers Eurymedon', which flows past Aspendus, and Catar-
ractes^, near to which is Lyrnesus : also the towns of
Olbia^, and Phaselis^ the last on this coast.

CHAP. 27. — MOUNT TAUEUS.

Adjoining to Painphylia is the Sea of Lycia and the conn-
try of Lycia^ itself, where the chain of Taurus, coming from
the eastern shores, terminates the vast Gulf ^ by the Promon-
tory of Chelidonium''. Of immense extent, and separating
nations innumerable, after taking its first rise at tlie Indian
Sea^, it branches off to the north on the right-hand side,
and on the left towards the south. Then taking a direction
towards tlie west, it would cut through the middle of Asia,
were it not that the seas check it in its triumphant career
along the land. It accordingly strikes off in a northerly
direction, and forming an arc, occupies an immense tract of
country, nature, designedl}^ as it were, every now and then
throwing seas in the way to oppose its career ; here the Sea
of Phoenicia, there the Sea of Pontus, in tliis direction the
Caspian and Hyrcanian^, and then, opposite to them, the
Lake Mfeotis. Altliough somewhat curtailed by tliese ob-
stacles, it still winds along between them, and makes its

1 Now known as the Kapri-Su.

' Now called Dudon-Su. It descends the mountains of Taurus in a
great broken waterfall, whence its name.

3 Probably occupying the site of the modern Atalieh or Satalieh.

■* On the borders of Lycia and Pamphyha, at the foot of Mount
Solyma. Its ruins now bear the name of Tekrova.

5 It was inclosed by Coria and Pamphylia on the west and cast, and
on tlie north by the district of Ciby rates in Phrygia.

6 The Gulf of Sataheh or Adalia.

7 Still kno\\-n as Cape Khelidonia or Cameroso.

8 Parisot remarks here, " Phny describes on this occasion, witli an
exactness vei-y remarkable for his time, the chain of mountains which
runs through the partof Asia known to the ancients, although it is evitlent
that he confines the extent of them within much too small a compass."

^ The Caspian and the Ilyrcanian Seas are generally looked upon as
identical, but we find them again distinguished by Pliny in B.vi. c. 13,
where he says that this inland sea commences to be called ihe Caspian
after you have passed the river Cyrus (or Kiir), and that the Cas]iii live
near it ; and in C. IG, that it is called the Jli/rcanian Sea, from the ilyr-
cani who live along its shores. The western side would therefore in
strictness be called the Caspian, and the eastern the Ui/rcanian Sea.

454 PLINY's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book V.

way even amidst these barriers ; and victorious after all, ifc
then escapes with its sinuous course to the kindred chain
of the Ripha3an mountains. Numerous are the names
which it bears, as it is continuously designated by new ones
throughout the whole of its course. In the first part of its
career it lias the name of Imaus\ after which it is known
successively by the names of Emodus, Paropanisus, Circius,
Gambades, Paryadres, Choatras, Oreges, Oroandes, Niphates,
Taurus, and, where it even out-tops itself, Caucasus. Where
it throws forth its arms as though every now and then it
would attempt to invade the sea, it bears the names of Sar-
pedon, Coracesius, Cragus, and then again Taurus. Where
also it opens and makes a passage to admit mankind, it still
claims the credit of an unbroken continuity by giving the
name of " Gates" to these passes, which in one place are
called the " Grates of Armenia'V in another the " Gates of the
Caspian," and in another the " Gates of Cilicia." In addition
to this, when it has been cut short in its onward career, it
retires to a distance from the seas, and covers itself on the
one side and the other with the names of numerous nations,
being called, on the right-hand side the Hyrcanian and the
Caspian, and on the left the Paryadrian^, the Moschian, the
Amazonian, the Coraxican, and the Scythian chain. Among
the Greeks it bears the one general name of Ceraunian^.

^ "The name of Imaiis was, in the first instance, applied by the Greek
geographers to the Hindii-Kush and to the chain parallel to the equator,
to which the name of Himalaya is usually given at the present day. The
name was gradually extended to the intersection running north and south,
the meridian axis of Central Asia, or the Bolor range. The divisions of
Asia into ' intra et extra Imaum,' were unknown to Strabo and Phny,
though the latter describes the knot of mountains formed by the inter-
sections of the Himalaya, the Hindii-Kush, and Bolor, by tlie expression
'quorum (Montes Emodi) promontorium Imaiis vocatui*.' The Bolor
chain lias been for ages, with one or two exceptions, the boundary be-
tween the empu^es of Cliina and Turkestan." — Dr. Smith's Dictionary of
A.ncient Geography.

2. The Gates of Ai'menia are spoken of in B. vi. c. 12, the Gates of the
Caspian ui C. 16 of the same Book, and the Gates of Cihcia in C. 22 of
the present Book. 3 ggg q i^. of tlie next Book.

"* " Strabo gives this name to only the eastern portion of the Cauca-
sian chain Avhich overhangs the Caspian Sea and forms the northern
boundary of Albania, and m which he places the Amazons. Mela seems
to a])ply the name to the whole chain which other writers call Caucasus,
confining the latter term to a part of it. Plmy (B. r. c. 27 & B. vi. c. 11)

Chap, 28.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 455

CHAP. 28. — LTCIA.

In Lycia, after leaving its promontory \ we come to the
town of Simena, Mount Chimfera^, which sends forth flames
by night, and the city of Hephaestium^, the heights above
which are also frequently on fire. Here too formerly stood the
city of Olympus'* ; now we find the mountain places known
as Gagae^, Corydalla^, and Khodiopolis''. Xear the sea is
Limyra' with a river of like name, into which the Aryeandus

gives precisely the same representation, with the additional error of
making the Ceraunii (i. e. the Caucasus of others) part of the Great
Taurus Chain. He seems to apply the name of Caucasus to the spurs
which spread out both to the north-east and the south-east from the
main chain near its eastern extremity, and which he regarded as a con-
tinuous range, bordering the western shores of the Caspian. See B. vi.
e. 10." — Dr. SynitKs Dictionary of Ancient Geography.

^ Of CheHdonium, now Khelidonia, formed by the range of Taufus.

2 See B. ii. c. 116. The flame wliich continually burned on this moun-
tain has been examined by Beaufort, the modern traveller. The name of
the moimtain is now Yanar : it is formed of a mass of scagUa with ser-
pentine. Spratt says that the flame is notliing more than a stream of
inflammable gas issuing from a crevice, such as is seen in several places
in the Apennines. By Homer it is represented as a fabulous monster,
wliich is explained by Servius, the commentator of Virgil, in the following
manner. He says that flames issue from the top of tlie mountain, and
that there are hons in the vicinity ; the middle part abounds ui goats,
and the lower part ^^•ith seri^ents. Simena appears to be unknown.

3 So called from "H^atoros, the Greek name of Vulcan. Pliny men-
tions this spot also in B. ii. c. 110. The flame probably proceeded from
an inflammable gas, or else was ignited by a stream of naphtha.

^ More generally known as Pha?nicus, a flourisliing city on Mount
Olympus ; now Yanar Dagh, a volcano on the eastern coast of Lycia, with
wliich it often exchanged names. Having become the head-quarters of
the pirates, it was destroyed by the Koman general Servilius Isauricus.
Its ruins are to be seen at a spot called Deliktash.

5 Mentioned again in B. xxxvi. c. SI, as tlie spot whence the qayafes
lapis or ' agate ' took its name. The ruins at Aladja are regarded by
Leake as marking the site of Gaga> ; but Sir Charles Fellowes identifies
the place with the modem village of Hascooe, the vicinity of wlvich is
covered with ruins.

^ On the road from Phasehs in Lycia to Patara. Its site is a village
called Hadgivella, about sixteen miles south-west of Phaselis. The re-
mains are very considerable.

7 Tlie remains of Rhodiopolis were found by Spratt and Forbes in the
vicinity of Corydalla.

8 On the Limyrus, probably the modem Phineka ; the ruins to the
north of which are supposed to be those of Limyra.

456 plint's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book V.

flows, Mount Masy cites', the state of Andriaca^, Myra^, the
towns of Aperrse* and Antiphellos*, formerly called Ha-
beasiis, and in a corner Phellos^ after which comes P}T:'ra,
and then the city of Xanthus', fifteen miles from the sea,
as also a river known by the same name. We then come
to Patara*, formerly Pataros, and Sidyma, situate on a moun-

^ The modern Akhtar Dagh.

2 Now Andx-aki. Tliis was the port of Myi'a, next mentioned. It stood
at the mouth of the river now known as the Andraki. Cramer observes
that it was here St. Paul was put on board the ship of Alexandria, Acts
xxvii. 5, 6.

^ Still called Myra by the Greeks, but Dembre by the Turks, It was
built on a rock twenty stadia from the sea. St. Pavd touched here on his
voyage as a prisoner to Rome, and from the mention made of it in Acts
xxvii. 5, 6, it would appear to have been an important sea-port. There
are magnificent ruins of this city still to be seen, in part hewn out of the
sohd rock.

From an inscription found by Cockerell at the head of the Hassac
Bay, it is thoiight that Aperlce is the proper name of tliis place, though
again there are coins of Gordian which give the name as Aperrce. It is
fixed by the Stadismus as sixty stadia west of Somena, which Leake sup-
poses to be the same as tlie Simena mentioned above by Phny.

* Now called Antephelo or Andifilo, on the south coast of Lycia, at
the head of a bay. Its theatre is still complete, with the exception of
the proscenium. There are also other interesting remains of antiquity.

^ Fellowes places the site of PheUos near a village called Saaret, west-
north-west of Antiphellos, where he fovmd the remains of a town ; but
Spratt considers this to mark the site of the Pyrra of Phny, mentioned
above — -judging from PHny's words. Modern geographers deem it more
consistent with liis meamng to look for Pliellos north of Antiphellos than
in any other du'ection, and the ruins at Tchookoorbye, north of Anti-
phellos, on the spur of a mountain called FeUerdagh, are thought to be
those of PheUos.

' The most famous city of Lycia. It stood on the western bank of the
river of that name, now called the Echen Chai. It was twice besieged,
and on both occasions the inhabitants destroyed themselves with their
property, first by the Persians under Harpagus, and afterwards by the
Romans mider Brutus. Among its most famous temples were those of
Sarpedon and of the Lycian Apollo. The ruins now kno^vn by the name
of Gunikf have been explored by Sir C. Fellows and other travellers,
and a portion of its remains are now to be seen in the British Museum,
under the name of the Xanthian marbles.

® Its ruins still bear the same name. It was a flourishing seaport, on
a promontory of the same name, sixty stadia east of the mouth of the
Xanthus. It was early colonized by the Dorians from Crete, and became
a chief scat of the worsliip of Apollo, from whose son Patarus it was said
to have received its name. Ptolemy Pliiladelphus enlarged it, and called

Chap. 28.] ACCOUNT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 457

tain. Xext comes the Promontory of Cragus\ and beyond
it a gulf-, equal to the one that comes before it ; upon it are
Pinara^, and Telmessus"*, the frontier town of Lycia.

Lycia formerly contained seventy towns, now it has but
thirty-six. Of these, the most celebrated, besides those
already mentioned, are Canas^ Candyba, so celebrated for
the Qi^nian Grove, Podalia, Choma, past which the river
^desa flows, Cyanese^, Ascandalis, Amelas, Noscopium,
Tlos^ and Telaudrus^. It includes also in the interior the
district of Cabalia, the three cities of which are (Enianda,
Balbura^, and Bubon^".

it Arsinoe, but it still remained better known by its old name. This
place was visited by St. Paul, who tlience took sliip for Phcenicia. See
Acts xxi. 1.

1 This was more properly the name of a mountain district of Lycia.
Strabo speaks of Cragus, a mountain with eight summits, and a city of
the same name. Beaufort thinks that Yedy-Eooroon, the Seven Capes,
a group of high and rugged mountains, appear to have been the ancient
]\Iount Cragus of Lycia.

2 Probably the Gulf of Macri, equal in size to the Gulf of Satalia,
which is next to it.

3 This place lay in the interior at the base of Cragxis, and its ruins are
still to be seen on the east side of the range, about Imlf-way between
Telmessus and the termination of the range on the south coast.

^ Its ruins are to be seen at Mei, or the modem port of Macri.

5 Its site is unknown. That of Candyba lias been ascertained to be a
place called Gendevar, east of the Xantlius, and a few miles from the coast.
Its rock-tombs are said to be beautifully executed. The ffinian grove or
forest, it has been suggested, may still be recognized in the extensive
pine forest that now covers the mountain above the city. The sites of
Podalia and Glioma seem to be unknown.

^ In some editions "Cyane." Leake says that this place was discovered
to the west of Anch'iaca by Cockcrell. It ap])ears from Scott and Ft)rbes's
account of Lycia, that three sites have been found between port Tristorus
and the inland valley of Kassabar, wliich from the inscriptions appeared
anciently to have borne tliis name, Yarvoo, Gliiouristan, and Toussa.
The former is the chief place and is covered witli ruins of the Roman and
middle-age construction. At Gliiouristan lliere are Lycian rock-tombs.

7 Its ruins are to be seen near the modern Doover, in the interior of
Lycia, about two miles and a half east of the river Xanthus. Of the
three places previously mentioned the sites apjjcar to be unknown.

8 Mentioned by the geograjiher Stephanus as being in Caria.

9 Its site is fixed at Katara, on both sides of the Katara Su, the most
northern braneli of the Xanthus. Tlu; ruins are vory considerable, lying
on both sides of the stream. Ualbura is a neuter phiral.

''' It lay to the west of Balbura, near a place now called Ebajik, on a

458 plint's KATUEAL HISTOET. [Book V.

On passing Telmessus we come to the Asiatic or Carpa-
thian Sea, and the district -^'liich is properly called Asia.
Agrippa has divided this region into two parts ; one of which
he has bounded on the east by Phrygia and Lycaonia, on the
west by the ^gean Sea, on the south by the Egyptian Sea,
and on the north by Paphlagonia, making its length to be
473 miles and its breadth 320. The other part he has
bounded by the Lesser Armenia on the east, Phrygia, Ly-
caonia, and Pamphylia on the west, the province of Pontus
on the north, and the Sea of Pamphylia on the south, making
it 575 miles in length and 325 in breadth.

CHAP. 29 CAEIA.

Upon the adjoining coast is Caria\ then Ionia, and beyond
it ^olis. Caria surrounds Doris, which lies in the middle,
and runs down on both sides of it to the sea. In it" is the
Promontory of Pedalium^, the river Glaucus"*, into which
the Telmedium^ discharges itself, the towns of Dsedala®,
Crya^, peopled by fugitives, the river Axon^, and the town
of Calynda^.

small stream that flows into the Horzoom Tchy. In B. xxxr. c. 17, Bliny
mentions a kind of chalk found in the vicinity of this place. Its ruins
are still to be seen, but they are not striking.

^ In the south-west corner of Asia Minor, bounded on the north and
north-east by the mountains Messagis and Cadmus, dividing it from
Lydia and Phrygia, and adjoining to Phrygia and Lycia on the south-east.

2 Caria.

3 Now Cape Grhinazi. It was also called Artemisium, from the temple
of Artemis or Diana situate upon it.

^ Discharging itself into the bay of Telraissus, now Makri.

^ "Telmissus" is the reading here in some editions.

^ Situate in the district of Caria called Persea. It was also the name
given to a movmtainous district. In Hoskyn's map the ruins of Dsedala
are placed near the head of the Gulf of Glaucus, on the west of a small
river called Inegi Chai, probably the ancient Ninus, where Deedalus was
bitten by a water-snake, in consequence of which he died.

7 On the Gulf of Glaucus : Stephanus however places it in Lycia.
Mela speaks only of a promontory of this name.

* Leake places this river immediately west of the Gulf of Glaucus.

^ Placed by Strabo sixty stadia from the sea, west of the Gulf of
Glaucus, and east of Carinus. Its site is uncertain, but it may possibly
be the place discovered by Fellows, which is proved by inscriptions to
have been called Cadyanda, a name otherwise unknown to us. Tliis Hes

Oiap. 29.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTBIES, ETC. 459

(28.) The river Indus \ which rises in the mountains of
the Cibyrata?^, receives sixty-five rivers which are constantly
flowing, besides upwards of 100 mountain torrents. Here
is the free town of Caunos^, then the town of Pyrnos"*, the
port of Cressa*, from which the isLand of Khodes is distant
twenty miles ; the place where Loryma formerly stood, the
towns of Tisanusa^, Paridion'^, and Lar>Tnna^, the Gulf of
Thymnias^, the Promontory of Aphrodisias^", the tov\'n of
Ilyda, the Gulf of Schoenus, and the district of Bubasus^^
There was formerly the town of Acanthus here, another

N.N.E. of Makri, on the Gulf of Glaucus or Makri, at a place called
Hoozoomlee, situate on an elevated plain.

' The same as the river Calbis of Strabo and Mela, at present the
Dalamon Tehy, Quingi or Taas, having its sources in i\Iount Cadmus
above Cibyra. It was said to have derived its name from an Indian, who
had been thrown into it from an elephant.

^ Their district was Cibyratis, of which the chief city was Cibyra.
This place, uniting with the towns of Balbura, Bubon, and (Enianda,
had the name of Tetrapohs ; of wliich league Cibyra was the head, mus-
tering 30,000 infantry and 2000 cavalry. The u-on foimd in this district
was easily cut with a chisel or other sliarp tool. The site of this power-
ful city has been ascertained to be at Horzoom, on the Horzoom Tchy,
a branch of the Dalamon Tchy or Indus. The ruins are very extensive,
and the theatre in fine preservation.

3 Placed by Strabo west of Calynda. The ancient descriptions of its
locaHty vary, but the place now known as Kaiguez is said to denote its
site. The Caunii are frequently mentioned in the Persian, Grecian, and
Roman histories. It was noted for its dried figs, mentioned by Pliny in
B. XV. c. 19.

^ Supposed by Mannert to be the Physcus of Strabo and the Phnscffi
of Ptolemy.

5 Leake says that this harbour is now called Aplothika by the Greeks,
and Porto Cavahcre by the Italians. He also says that on its western
shore are the ruins of an Hellenic fortress and town, which are imdoubt-
edly those of Loryma.

fi It had a port of the same name.

7 Called Pandion by ]\Iela, according to Parisot.

^ Parisot suggests that it is the same as Loryma previously mentioned.

' Like the Gulf of Schocnus, a portion probably of the i)orian Gidf,
now the Gulf of Syme.

'° The modem name of this promontory is not given by Hamilton, who
sailed round it. It has been confounded with the Cynos Sema of Strabo,
now Capo Velo. The site of Hyda or Hyde is unknown.

'' There was a tovri\ of this name as well. Stephen of Byzantium
tells us that it received its name from a shepherd who saved the life of
Podalirius, when shipwrecked on the coast of Caria.

460 Pliny's natural histoet. [Book V.

name of which was Dulopolis. "We then come to Cnidos^
a free toAATi, situate on a promontory, Triopia^, and after
that the towns of Pegusa and Stadia.

At this last town Doris begins ; but, first, it may be as
well to describe the districts that lie to the back of Caria
and the several jurisdictions in the interior. The first of
these^ is called Cibyratica , Cibyra being a town of Phrygia.
Twenty-five states resort to it for legal purposes, together
with the most famous city of Laodicea"*.

(29.) This place at first bore the name of Diospolis, and
after that of Ehoas, and is situate on the river Lycus, the
Asopus and the Caprus^ washing its sides. The other people
belonging to the same jurisdiction, whom it may be not
amiss to mention, are the Hydrelitse^, the Themisones^, and
the Hierapolitae^. The second jurisdiction receives its title

^ Part of it was situate on an island now called Cape Krio, connected
by a causeway with the mainland. Its site is covered with ruins of a
most interesting character in every direction. The Triopian promontory,
evidently alluded to by Pliny, is the modern Cape Krio.

2 It has been remarked that in liis description here Phny is very brief
and confused, and tliat he may intend to give the name of Triopia either
to the small peninsida or island, or may include in this term the western
part of the whole of the larger peninsula.

^ Of these conventus. For an account of Cibyra see last page.

■* On the Lycus, now known as the Choruk-Su. By different writers
it has been assigned to Lydia, Caria, and Phrygia, but in the ultimate
division of the Roman provinces it was assigned to the Greater Phrygia.
It was founded by Antiochus II. on the site of a previous town, and
named in honour of liis wife Laodice. Its site is occupied by ruins of
great magnificence. In the Apostohc age it was the seat of a flourishing
Clu-istian Chiirch, which however very soon gave signs of degeneracy,
as we learn from St. John's Epistle to it. Revel, ii. 14-22. St. Paul also
addresses it in common with the neighbouring church of Colossse. Its
site is now called Eski-Hissar, or the Old Castle.

^ A tributary of the Phrygian Mseander.

^ The people of Hydrela, a town of Cai-ia, said to have been founded
by one of three brothers who emigrated from Sparta.

7 The people of Themisonium, now caUed Tseni.

* The people of Hierapolis, a town of Phrygia, situate on a height be-
tween the rivers Lycus and Mseander, about five miles north of Laodicea,
on the road from Apamea to Sardis. It was celebrated for its warm
springs, and its Plutonium, or cave of Pluto, from which issued a me-
phitic vapour of a poisonous nature ; see B. ii. c. 95. The Christian
Chm^ch here is allvided to by St. Paul in liis Epistle to the Colossians, iv. 13.
Its ruins are situate at an uninhabited place called Pambuk-Kalessi.

Chap. 29.] ACCOUNT OF COTTNTEIES, ETC. 461

from Synnas^ ; to it resort the Lycaones'^, the Applani^,
the Eucarpcni"*, the Dorylsei"'', the Midaei, tlie Jidienses^, and
fifteen other peoples of no note. The third jurisdiction has
its seat at Apamea^, formerly called Celaenae^, and after that
Cibotos. This place is situate at the foot of Mount Signia,
tlie Marsyas, the Obrima, and the Orga, rivers Avhich fall
into the Mseander, flowing past it. Here the Marsyas,
rising from the earth, again makes its appearance, but soon
after buries itself once more at Aulocrense^, the spot where

^ Situate in the nortli of Phrygia Sakitaris ; its ruins being probably
those to be seen at Afioiu'-Kara-Hisar. From the time of Constantine
tliis place became the capital of Phrygia Salutaris. It stood in a fi-uitful
plain, near a raoimtain quarry of the celebrated Synnadic marble, which
was white ^^•ith red veins and spots. This marble was also called " Doci-
miticus," from Docimia, a nearer place.

2 As already mentioned in C- 2-5 of the present Book.

3 The site of Appia does not appear to be known. Cicero speaks of
an apphcation made to him by the Appiani, when he was governor of
Cilicia, respecting the taxes with which they were burdened, and the
buildings of their town.

^ Eucarpia was a town of Phrygia, not far from the sources of the
Mreandcr, on the road from Doryla?um to Apamea Cibotus. The vine
grew there in great luxuriance, and to its fruit fulness the town probably
owed its name. Kiepert places it in the vicmity of Segielar, but its exact
site is imknown.

5 The site of Dorylseum is now called Eski-Shehr. The hot-baths here
ai'e mentioned by Atlienjeus, and its waters were pleasant to the taste.
8heep-feechng appears to have been carried on here to a gi'cat extent, and
under the Greek empire it was a flourishing place. The site of Midseum
does not seem to be known.

" Tlie people of Juha, .Tuliopolis, or Julianopohs, a town of Lydia,
probably to the south of Mount Tmolus.

7 This place was built near Cclsenae by Antiochus Soter, and named
after his mother Apama. Strabo says that it lay at the mouth of the
river Marsyas. Its site has been fixed at the modem Denair. Some
ancient ruins are to be seen.

•' Pliny commits an error here ; Celoenoc was a diflercnt place from
Apamea, though close to it.

9 Meaning tlie " Fountains of the Pipe," and probably deriving its
name from the legend here mentioned by Pliny, and in B. xvi. c. 4-t.
Strabo describes the Marsyas and Ma^ander as rising, according to report,
in one lak(^ above CeliTcnie* whicli produced reeds adapted for making the
mouth-pieces of musical instruments, but he gives no name to tlie lake.
Hamilton found near Denair or Apamea, a lake nearly two miles in cir-
cumference, full of reeds and rushes, which he looks u]ion as the lake on
the mountain Aulocrene, described by Pliny in the 31bt Chapter of the

462 I'LIft's natural history. [Eook V.

Marsyas had tbe musical contest with Apollo as to supe-
riority of skill in playing on the flute. Aulocrenae is the
name given to a valley which lies ten miles on the road
towards Phiygia from Apamea. As belonging to this juris-
diction, it may be as well to mention the Metropolitae\ the
Dionysopolita)-, the Euphorbeni^, the Acmonenses^, the Pel-
teni®, and the SiJbiani^ besides nine other nations of no note.
Upon the Grulf of Doris^ we have Leucopolis, Hamaxitos,
Eleus, and Euthene^. We then come to Pitaium, Eutane^,
and Halicarnassus^", towns of Caria. To the jurisdiction of
this last place six towns were appended by Alexander the
Great, Theaugela^\ Sibde, Medmasa, Euralium, Pedasus,
and Telmissus^^. Halicarnassus lies between two gulfs,
those of Ceramus" and lasus^*. We then come to Myn-
present Book. His account however is very confused, as be mentions on
diiferent occasions a region of Aulocrene, a valley of Aulocrene, and a
mountain of Aulocrene.

^ People of " the Mother City," said by Stephen of Byzantium to have
received that name from Cybele, the Mother of the Gods.

2 Notlung is knowTi of the site of Dionysopohs. It is mentioned in a
letter of Cicero's to his brother Quintus, in which he speaks of the people
of this place as being very hostile to the latter.

3 The site of Euphorbium is denoted, according to Leake, by the mo-
dern Sandukh. It lay between Synnas and Apamea, and not impro-
bably, like Eucarpia, received its name from the fertihty of its territory.

■* The site of Acmona has been fixed at Ahatkoi, but it seems doubtful.
^ The site of Pelta is by D'Anville called Eis-Chak or Hou-Chak.
^ The people of Silbium or Silbia, near Metropolis.

7 The Dorian settlements on the coast of Caria were so called. The
Dorian G\ilf was probably the Sinus Ceramicus mentioned below.

8 Of these places nothing whatever seems to be known.
^ Pitaium and Eutane seem to be unknown.

^^ A member of the Dorian HexapoUs, or League of the Six Cities.
Tlie site of this famous city is occupied by the modern Boodroima, and
its ruins are very extensive. It was famous as being the birth-place of
the two historians Herodotus and Dionysius. It was the largest and
best fortified city of Caria. " According to Parisot the site of tliis

place is now called Angeh and Karabaglas.

^2 This place must not be confounded with Telmessus or Telmissus in
Lycia, which has been previously mentioned. It was situate six miles
from Hahcarnassus. Of the other places here mentioned nothing seems
to be known.

^3 Now the Gulf of Staneo, Kos, or Boodroum. It took its name from
the port of Ceramus, now Keramo, according to D'Anville.

^* Now the Gulf of MandoHyeh. It took its name from the city of
lasus, the site of which is now called Askem or Asyn-Kalessi.

Chap. 29.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 463

dos\ and the former site of Palseomyndos ; also Nariandos,
Neapolis-, Carj'anda^, the free town of Termera"*, Bargyla",
and the town of Tasus®, from which the lasian Gulf takes
its name.

Caria is especially distinguished for the fame of its places
in the interior ; for here are Mylasa^, a free town, and that
of Antiochia**, on the site of the former towns of Sym-
majthos and Cranaos : it is now surrounded by the rivers
Maeander^ and Orsinus^". In this district also was formerly
Maeaudi'opolis" ; we find also Eumenia^"-, situate on the river
CludroSjthe river Glaucus'', the town of Lysias andOrthosa",

^ Its niins are to be seen at the port called Giamishlu. This was a
Dorian colony on the coast of Caria, founded probably on the site of the
old town of the Leleges.

2 It has been suggested that this was only another name for the new
to^^^l of Myndos, in contradistinction to Pala?omyndos, or "old MyndoS."

3 Scylax the geographer is supposed to have been a native of tliis
place. The town is supposed to have been built partly on the mainland
and partly on an island. Pastra Lunani is supposed to have been the
harbour of Caryanda.

^ A Dorian city on the Promontory of Termerium.

5 Situate near lasus and Myndos. Leake conjectures that it may have
been on the bay between Pastra Limane and Asyn Kalosi. There was a
statue here of Artemis Cindyas, under the bare sky, of wliich the incre-
dible story was told that neither rain nor snow ever feU on it.

^ See note ^* on the last page.

7 Its ruins are to be seen at the spot stUl called Melacso. It was a
very floiu'ishing city, eight mUes from the coast of the Gulf of lasus, and
situate at the foot of a^rock of fine white marble. It was partly destroyed
in the Roman civd wars by Labienus. Its ruins are very extensive.

'** Hamilton has fixed tlie site of tliis place between four and five miles
south-east of Kuyuja, near the mouth of the valley of the Kara-Su. The
sm-rounchng district was famous for the excellence of its figs. The city
was built by Antiochus, the son of Seleucus.

3 Now called the Mendereh or Meinder.

^^ Pococke thinks tliat the present Jenjer is the Orsinus, wliile "Nfannert
takes it to be the Iladcliizik, a little winding river that falls into the
Meander. '' Now called Guzel-llissar, according to Ansart.

'■* On the road from Dorylffium to Apamea. It is said lo liave received
its name from Attains II., who named the town after his brother and
predecessor Eumenes II, Its site is known as Ishekle, and it is stiU
marked by numerous ruins and sculptui*e8.

^^ A tributary of the Ma'ander. Its modern name is not mentioned.

^* Mannert takes the ruins to be seen at Jegni-Chehr to be those of
ancient Drthosia. The town of Lysias does not appear to have been
identified.

464 plint's natural history. [Book Y.

tlie district of Berecyntlius\ Nysa^, and Tralles^, also called
Euanthia^, Seleucia, and Antiochia: it is washed by the
river Eudon, wliile the Thebais runs through it. Some
authors say that a nation of Pygmies formerly dwelt here.
Besides the preceding towns, there are Thydonos, Pyrrha^,
Eurome®, Heraclea', Amyzon^, the free town of Alabanda^,
which has given name to that jurisdiction, the free town of
Stratonicea^**, Hynidos, Ceramus^^ Trcezene^^, and Phorontis.

' The situation of this district is not known. See B. xvi. c. 16, where
it appears that this region was famous for its boxwood.

2 One of the numerous places of that name devoted to the worship of
Bacchus. It was built on both sides of the ravine of the brook Eudon,
which fell into the Mteander. Its ruins are to be seen at Sultan-Hissar,
a httle to the west of HazeH.

3 Its ruins are to be seen at Grhiuzel-Hissar, near Aidin. This was a
flourishing commercial city, included sometimes in Ionia, sometimes in
Caria. It stood on the banks of the Eudon, a tributary of the river
Mseander. Under the Seleucidse it was called Antiochia and Seleucia.

4 From the beauty and fertility of the surrounding country.

5 An Ionic town of Caria, on the north side of the Sinus Latmicus,
fifty stadia from the mouth of the Mseander.

6 Or Euromus, a town of Caria, at the foot of Mount Grion, which
runs parallel with Latmos. Ruins of a temple to the north-west of Ala-
banda are considered to belong to Euromus.

7 A town of uncertain site. It must not be confounded with the place
of the same name, mentioned in c. 31 of the present Book.

8 The ruins of its citadel and walls still exist on the east side of
Mount Latmos, on the road from Bafi to Tchisme.

9 Situate about twenty miles south of Tralles, The modern site is
doubtful, but Arab Hissa, on a branch of the Mteander, now called the
Tchma. is supposed to represent Alabanda. It was notorious for the
luxuriousness of its inhabitants. A stone found in the vicinity was used
for making glass and glazing vessels. See B. xxxvi. c. 13.

^" Built by Antiochus I. Soter, and named, in honovir of his wife, Stra-
tonice. It stood south of Alabanda, near the river Marsyas. It is sup-
posed that it stood on the site of a former city called Idrias, and still
earlier, Chrysaoris.

^^ D'AnvHle identifies it with a place called Keramo, but no such
place appears to be known. Strabo places it near the sea between Cnidus
and Halicarnass'iis, and Ceramus comes next after Cnidus. Ptolemy
seems to place it on the south side of the bay. Of Hynidos nothing
appears to be known.

^2 Its situation is unknown ; but there can be httle doubt that it was
founded by the Dorians who emigrated to the coast of Asia Minor from
Argolis and Trcezene m the Peloponnesus. Phorontis appears to be
unknown.

Chap. 30.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 465

At a greater distance \ hut resorting to the same place of
jurisdiction, are the Orthronienses, the Alindienses- or Hip-
pini, the Xystiani^, the Ilydissenses, the Apolloniatae^, the
Trapezopolitae*, and the Aphrodisienses^, a free people. Be-
sides the above, there are the towns of Coscinus', and Ilar-
pasa^, situate on the river Harpasus^, which also passed the
town of Trallicon when it was in existence.

CHAP. 30. LTDIA.

Lydia, bathed by the sinuous and ever-recurring windings
of the river IVfeander, lies extended above Ionia ; it is joined
by Phrygia on the east and Mysia on the north, while on the
south it runs up to Caria: it formerly had thenameof Maeonia^".
Its place of the greatest celebrity is Sardes^\ which lies on
the side of Blount Tmolus'^, formerly called Timolus. From
this mountain, which is covered with vineyards, flows the

^ Parisot observes that many of the towTis here mentioned belonged
to the nortliem part of Phrygia.

2 The people of Alinda in Caria, wliich was sun'endered to Alexander
the Great by Alinda, queen of Caria. It was one of the strongest places
in Caria. Its position has been fixed by Fellowes at Demnieergee-derasy,
between Arab-IIissa and Karpuslce, on a steep rock.

3 Of Xystis, as also of Hydissa, nothing apjiears to be known.

* Inhabitants of ApoUonia in Caria, of which place nothing appears
to be known.

5 Pococke says that the modem site of Trapezopolis is called Karadche.

^ The people of Aphrodisias, an ancient city of Caria, situate at the
modem Ghera or Geyra, south of ibitiochia on the IVIirander. Aphro-
dite or Venus seems to have been principally worshipped at this place.
Strabo places it in Phrygia.

7 Or Coscinia, a place in Caria, which, as we may gather fi*om Strabo,
ranked below a town. Leake thinks tliat Tshma, whore Pococke found
considerable remains, is the site of tliis place.

8 On the eastern bank of tlie Ilarpasus, a tributary of tlie Mreander.
Its ruins are supposed to be those seen at a place called Ilarpas Kalossi.
In B. ii. c. 98, Pliny speaks of a wonderful rock at this place.

9 Now kno\\'n as the Harjia.

10 By tins name alone it is known to Homer.

11 Its ruins, now called Sart, are very extensive, though presenting no-
thing of importance. Its citadel, situated on a rock, was considered to
be almost impregnable.

12 Now called Kisilja MusaDagh. It was famous for its wine, saffron,
and gold.

VOL. I. 2 a

466 PLINT's KATtTBAL HISTOET. [Book V.

river Pactolus\ also called the Chrysorroas, and the sources
of the Tarniis : this famous city, which is situate upon the
G-ygaean Lake^, used to be called Hyde^ by the people of
Maeonia. This jurisdiction is now called that oi JSardes,
and besides the people of the places already mentioned, the
following now resort to it — the Macedonian Cadueni^, the
Loreni, the Philadelpheni^, the Maeonii, situate on the river
Cogamus at the foot of Mount Tmolus, the Tripolitani, who
are also called the Antoniopolitse, situate on the banks of
the McTander, the Apollonihieritse®, the Mesotimolitse', and
some others of no note.

CHAP. 31. — IONIA.

Ionia begins at the Grulf of lasos, and has a long winding
coast with numerous bays. First comes the Grulf of Basili-
cum^, then the Promontory^ and town of Posideum, and the
oracle once called the oracle of the Branchidse^", but now of
Didymsean Apollo, a distance of twenty stadia from the sea-
shore. One hundred and eighty stadia thence is Miletus ^^,

1 Now called the Sarabat. It was famous for its gold-producing sands.

2 On the road between Thyatira and Sardes : near it was situate the
necropohs of Sardes.

3 Strabo says that some persons called the citadel only by that name.
^ There was a city of Mysia or Phrygia of the name of Cadus or Cadi ;

but nothing is known of the place here aUuded to, whose people would
appear to have been a colony from Macedonia.

^ The people of Philadelphia, now Ala- Cher, or the "Fine City,"
twelve leagues south-east of Sardes, and nine leagues south of Attaha.

^ So called from the Greek 'AttoXXwj'os Upov, " the temple of Apollo,"
in the vicinity of wliicli, south-east of Pergamus, their town was probably
situate. Nothing is known of these localities.

' Dwellers in Mesotmolus, a town wliich, from its name, would ap*
pear to have been situate on the middle of Mount Tmolus.

^ Now called the Gulf of Melasso. ^ Now the Cape of Melasso.

^•^ The remains of the Temple of Didymsean Apollo at Branchidse are
BtUl visible to those sailing along the coast. It was in the Milesian ter-
ritory, and above the harbour Panormus. The name of the site was
probably Didyma or Didymi, but the place was also called Branchidse, I
from that being the name of a body of priests who had the care of the
temple. We learn from Herodotus that Croesus, king of Lydia, consulted
this oracle, and made rich presents to the temple. The temple, of which
only two columns are left, was of wliite marble.

11 The ruins of this important city are difficult to discover on account

Chap, 31.] ACCOUNT or COUNTRIES, ETC. 467

the capital of Ionia, which formerly had the names of Lele-
geis, Pityusa, and Anactoria, the mother of more tlian ninety
cities, founded upon all seas ; nor must she be deprived of the
honour of having Cadmus^ for her citizen, who was the first
to write in prose. The river Meander, rising from a lake in
Moiuit Aiiloerene, waters many cities and receives numerous
tributary streams. It is so serpentine in its course, that it
is often thought to turn back to the very spot from which
it came. It lii'st runs through the district of Apamea, then
that of Eumeuia, and then the plains of Bargyla ; after
which, with a placid stream it passes through Caria, water-
ing all that territory with a slime of a most fertilizing quality,
and then at a distance of ten stadia from Miletus with a
gentle current enters the sea. AYe then come to Mount
Latmus^, the towns of Heraclea^, also called by the same
name as the mountain, Carice, Myus"*, said to have been first
built by lonians who came from Athens, Naulochum^ and
Priene^. Upon that part of the coast which bears the naine
of Trogilia^ is the river G-essus. This district is lield sacred
by all the lonians, and thence receives the name of Panionia.
Near to it was formerly the town of Phygela, built by

of the great changes made on the coast by the river Maeandcr. They are
usuaUy supposed to be those at the poor vilkge of Palatia on the south
bank of the Mendereh ; but Foi'bigcr has sliown that these are more
probably the remains of Myus, and that tliose of ]\Iiletus are buried in a
lake forined by the Mendereh at the foot of Mount Latmus.

^ See B. vii. c. 57. Josephus says that he hved very shortly before
the Persian invasion of Cxreece.

2 Now called the Monte di Palatia.

3 Generally called "Heraclea upon Latmus," from its situation at the
western foot of Mount Latmus. Ruins of tliis town still exist at the
foot of that mountain on the borders of Lake BallL

^ Its ruins are now to be seen at Palatia. It was the smallest city of
the Ionian Confederacy, and was situate at the mouth of the Maiauder,
tliirty stadia from its mouth.

5 Mannert says that its ruins are to be seen at a spot called by the
Turks Sarasun-Kalesi.

6 One of the twelve Ionian cities, situate at the foot of Mount Mycale.
It stood originally on the shore, but the change in the coast by the allu-
vial deposits of the Majander left it some distance from the land. It was
celebrated as being the birth-place of the philosopher Bias. Its nuns
^re to be seen at the spot called Sauisun.

7 Now called Cape Santa Maria, or Samsim.

2h2

468 plint's natfeal htstoet. [Book Y.

fugitives, as its name implies^ and that of Marathesium ^.
Above these places is Magnesia""^, distinguished by the sur-
name of the "Maeandrian," and sprung fromMagnesia inThes-
saly : it is distant from Ephesus fifteen miles, and three more
from Tralles. It formerly had the names of Thessaloche and
Androlitia, and, lying on the sea-shore, it has withdrawn from
the sea the islands known as the Derasidse* and joined them
to the mainland. In the interior also is Thyatira^, washed
by the Lycus ; for some time it was also called Pelopia and
Euhippia^.

Upon the coast again is Mantium, and Ephesus^, which
was founded by the Amazons^, and formerly called by so
many names : Alopes at the time of the Trojan war, after that
Ortygia and Morges, and then Smyrna, with the surname of
Trachia, as also Samornion and Ptelea. This city is built
on Mount Pion, and is washed by the Cayster', a river which
rises in the Cilbian range and brings down the waters of
many streams^", as also of Lake Pegasseus^^, which receives

1 He implies that it is derived from 0wy^ " flight."

- Between Ephesus and Neapolis. It belonged to the Samians who
exchanged with the Ephesians for Neapohs, which lay nearer to their
island. The modem Scala Nova occupies the site of one of them, it is
uncertain which.

3 Its ruins are to be seen at the modern Inek-Bazar. It was situate
on the river Lethseus, a tributary of the Mseander. It was famous for its
temple of Artemis Leucophryene, the riiins of which stiU exist.

4 SeeB.ii. c. 91.

* Now known as Ak-Hissar or the " White Castle." Strabo informs
us that it was founded by Seleucus Nicator,

^ From the excellence of its horses.

7 Its ruins are to be seen near the modern Ayazaluk. It was the chief
of the twelve Ionian cities on the coast of Asia Minor, and devoted to
the worsliip of Artemis, whose temple here was deemed one of the won-
ders of the world. Nothing, except some traces of its fomidations, is
now to be seen of this stupendous building.

^ It was more generally said to have been founded by the Carians and
the Leleges.

^ Now called the Kara-Su, or Black Eiver, or Kuchuk-Meinder, or
Little Mseander.

^° It has been observed that though Pliny seems to say that the Cayster
receives many streams, they must have had but a short course, and could
only be so many channels by which the rivers descend from the mountain |
elopes that shut in the contracted basin of the river. '

^^ This lake or marsh seems to be the morass situate on the road from

Chap. 31.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 469

those discharged by the river Phyrites'. Prom these streams
there accumulates a large quantity of slime, which vastly
increases the soil, and has added to the mainland the island
of Syrie^, M'hich now lies in the midst of its plains. In this
city is the fountain of Calippia^ and the temple of Diana,
which last is surrounded by two streams, each knoA\Ti by the
name of Selenus, and flowing from opposite directions.

After leaving Ephesus there is another Mantium, belong-
ing to the Colophonians, and in the interior Colophon"* itself,
past which the river Halesus^ flows. After tliis we come to
the temple® of the Clarian Apollo, and Lebedos'^ : the city
of Notium'' once stood here. Next comes the Promontory
of Coryceium'-', and then Mount Mimas, which projects 150
miles into the sea, and as it approaches the mainland sinks
down into extensive plains. It was at this place that Alex-
ander the Grreat gave orders for the plain to be cut through, a
distance of seven miles and a half, for the purpose of joining
the two gulfs and making an island of Erythra?'" and Mimas.

Smyrna to Ephesus, into which the Phyrites flows, and out of which it
conies a considerable stream.

^ The Phjrites is a email river that is crossed on the road from Ephesus
to Smyrna, and joins the Cayster on the right bank ten or twelve miles
above Ayazaluk, near the site of Ephesus.

2 See B. ii. c. 91. for further mention of this island.

3 Said to be derived from the Greek, meaning " The beautiful (stream)
from Pion."

^ One of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia, founded by Andrsemon.
Notium was its port. There do not seem to be any remains of either of
these places.

5 Called also the Hales or Ales, and noted for the coolness of its
waters.

* At Clarus, near Colophon. "\Mien Germnnicus was on his way to
the East, this oracle foretold to him his speedy death. Chandler is of
opinion that lie discovered the site of this place at Zille, where he found
a spring of water with marble steps to it, which he considers to have
been the sacred fountain. Others again suggest that these ruins may be
those of Notium.

7 Its site was probably near the modem Ekklesia, but no traces of the
city itself arc to be found.

8 Implying that in his time Notrum was not in existence, wliereas in
reality Notium superseded Old Colophon, of wliich it was the port, and
Was sometimes known as New Colophon.

9 Now known as Cape Curco.

10 The site of this place is now known as Ritri, on the south side of a

470 plint's kattteal histoet. [Book v.

Near Erytlirse formerly stood the towns of Pteleon, Helos,
and Dorion; we now find the river Aleon, Corynaeum, a
Promontory of Mount Mimas, Clazomenae^ Partheuie^, and
Hippi^, knowTi by the name of Chytrophoria, when it
formed a group of islands ; these were united to the con-
tinent by the same Alexander, by means of a causeway^ two
stadia in length. In the interior, the cities of Daphnus,
Hermesia, and Sipylum^, formerly called Tantalis, and the
capital of Mseonia, where Lake Sale now stands, are now
no longer in existence : ArchaeopoKs too, which succeeded
Sipylum, has perished, and in their turns Colpe and Libade,
which succeeded it.

On returning thence^ towards the coast, at a distance of
twelve miles we find Smyrna"^, originally founded by an
Amazon [of that name], and rebuilt by Alexander ; it is re-
ireshed by the river Meles, which rises not far off. Through
this district run what may almost be called the most famous
mountains of Asia, Mastusia in the rear of Smyrna, and
Termetis^, joining the foot of Olympus. Termetis is joined

small peninsula, which projects into the bay of Ery thrse. The ruins are
considerable.

^ On the south side of the bay of Smyrna. In Strabo's time this city
appears to have been removed from Chytrium, its original site. Chandler
ibund traces of the city near Vourla, from wliich he came to the conclu-
sion that the place vpas very small and iuconsiderable.

2 According to Nicander, tliis was a mountain of the territory of Cla-
zomenae, almost surrounded by sea.

3 Or " the Horses," originally four islands close to the mainland, off
Clazomense.

^ This was probably the same causeway that was observed by Chandler
in the neighbom'hood of Vourla, the site of ancient Clazomense.

^ See B. ii. c. 91, where he speaks of this place as being swallowed up
in the earth.

6 From Clazomense.

^ Now called Izmir by the Turks, Smyrna by the western nations of
Europe ; the only one of the great cities on the western coast of Asia
Minor that has siirvived to the present day. This place stood at the
head of the cities that claimed to be the birth-place of Homer ; and the
poet was worshipped here for a hero or demi-god in a magnificent build-
ing called the Homereum. There are but few remaius of the ancient
city : the modern one is the greatest commercial city of the Levant.

8 Hardouia takes this to be the name of a toviTi, but Ortehus and
Pinetus seem to be more correc'" ti? thinking it to be the name of a
moimtain.

Chap. 31.] ACCOrNT OF COUNTEIES ETC. 47 L

by Draco, Draco running into Tmolus, Tmolus into Cadmus \
and Cadmus into Taurus. Leaving Smyrna, the river Hermus
forms a tract of plains, and gives them its own name. It
rises near Dorylaeum'', a city of Phrygia, and in its course
receives several rivers, among them the one called tlie Phryx,
which divides Caria from the nation to which it gives
name ; also the Hyllus^ and the Cryos, themselves swollen
by the rivers of Phrygia, Mysia, and Lydia. At the mouth
of the Hermus formerly stood the town of Temnos^ : we
now see at the extremity of the gulf^ the rocka called
Myrmeces^, the town of Leuce'' on a promontory which
was once an island, and Phocaea^, the frontier town of
Ionia.

A great part also of ^olia, of which we shall have pre-
sently to speak, has recourse to the jurisdiction of Smyrna ;
as well as the Macedones, surnamed Hyrcani'*, and the Mag-
netes^" from Sipylus. But to Ephesus, that otlier great lumi-
nary of Asia, resort the more distant peoples known as the

^ It does not appear that all these mountains have been identified.
Cadmus is the Baba Dagh of the Tui-ks.

2 Mentioned in C. 29 of the present Book.

3 In tlie time of Strabo this tributary of the Hermus seems to have
been known as the Plu-ygius.

■* Its site is now called Menemen, according to D'Anville. The Cryus
•was so called fi'om the Greek Kpvos, "cold."

5 The present Gulf of Smyrna.

6 Or the "Ants."

7 Probably so called from the whiteness of the promontory on which
it was situate. It was built by Tachos, tlie Persian general, in B.C. 352,
and remarkable as the scene of the battle between the Consid Licinius
Crassus and Aristonicus in B.C. 131. The modern name of its site ia
Lefke.

8 Its ruins are to be seen at Karaja-Fokia or Old Fokin, soutli-west of
Fouges or New Fokia. It was said to have bei-n louuded by Phocian
colonists under Philogcncs and Damon.

9 The people of HjTcania, one of tlie twelve cities which were prostrated
by an eartliquake in the reign of Tiberius Ca-sar ; see B. ii. c. 86.

10 The people of Magnesia "ad Sipyluin," or the city of Magnesia on
the Sipylus. It was situate on the south bank of the llerinus, and is
famous in history as (he scene of the vielury gained by the two Seipios
over Antiochus the Great, which secured tt) the Romans the empire of
the East, B.C. 190. Tliis place also suilered from the great earthquake
in the reign of Tiberius, but was still a place of importance in the fifth
century.

472 plikt's natural histoet. [Book V.

Caesarienses\ the Metropolitae^ the Cilbiani^, "both the
Lower and Upper, the Mysomacedones"*, the Mastaurenses",
the Briiditae^, the H^^psepeni^, and the Dioshieritae^.

CHAP. 32. (30.)— ^OLIS.

JEolis^ comes next, formerly known as Mysia, and Troas
which is adjacent to the Hellespont. Here, after passing
Phocsea, we come to the Ascanian Port, then the spot where
Larissa^" stood, and then Cyme'\ Myrina, also called Sebas-
topolis^"^, and in the interior, Mgse^^, Attalia^'*, Posidea, Neon-

1 The people, it is supposed, of a place called Hierocsesarea.

2 The people probably of Metropolis in Lydia, now Turbali, a city on
the plain of the Cayster, between Ephesus and Smyrna. Cilbis, perhaps
the present Durgut, was their cliief place.

3 A people dwelling in the upper valley of Cayster.

4 Or Mysian Macedonians.

5 The people of Mastaura in Lydia. Its site is stiU known as Mas-
taura-Kalesi. *

6 The people of Briida, the site of which is unknown.

' The people of Hypaepae, a small town of Lydia, on the southern
slope of Mount Tmolus, forty-two miles from Ephesus. Under the
Persian supremacy, the worship of Fire was introduced at this place.
Arachne, the spinner, and competitor with Minerva, is represented by
Ovid as dwelling at this place; he calls it on two occasions "the little
Hypsepse." Leake is of opinion that the ruins seen at Bereki belong to
this place.

** The people of Dios Hieron, or the " Temple of Jupiter." This was
a small place in Ionia between Lebedus and Colophon. It has been sug-
gested that it was on the banks of the Cayster, but its site is uncertain.

^ ^olis, properly so called, extended as far north as the promontory
of Lectum, at the northern entrance of the bay of Adramyttium.

^* Near Cyme, a place of Pelasgian origin. It was called Egyptian
Larissa, because Cyrus the Great settled here a body of his Egyptian
soldiers. According to D'AnviUe its site is stiU known as Larusar.

1* Said to have been so called from Cyme an Amazon. It was on the
northern , side of the Hermus : Herodotus gives it the surname of Phri-
conis. Its site is supposed to be at the modern SanderH or Sandarho.
The father of the poet Hesiod was a native of tliis place.

'2 It was probably so called in honour of the Emperor Augustus.

^"* Situate at a short distance from the coast. We learn from Tacitus
that it suffered from the great earthquake in the time of Tiberius. Its
site is called Guzel-Hissar, according to D'Anville.

^•* Originally named Agi'oeira or Alloeira. There is a place stQl called
Adala, on the river Hermus, but Hamilton found no remains of anti-
quity there.

Chap. 32.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 473

tichos\ and Temnos^. Upon the shore we come to the river
Titanus, and the city which from it derives its name. Grynia^
also stood here on an island reclaimed from the sea and joined
to the land : now only its harbours are left"*. AVe then come
to the town of Elaea^ the river Caicus^, which flows from
Mysia, the town of Pitane^, and the river Canaius. The fol-
lowing towns no longer exist — Came^, Lysimachia^, Atarnca'",
Carene^\ Cisthene^^', Cilla^^ Cocylium'^^ Theba•^ Astyre'^

* Or the " Xew Walls." Strabo speaks of it as distant thirty stadia
from Larissa.

2 Its site is unkno\^Ti ; but it must not be confounded with the place
of that name mentioned in the last Chapter, which stood on the sea-coast.
It suffered from the great earthquake in the reign of Tiberius Caesar.

3 Or Grynium, foi'ty stadia from Myrina, and seventy from Ela^a. It
contained a sanctuary of Apollo with an ancient oracle and a splendid
temple of white marble. Parmenio, the general of Alexander, took the
place by assault and sold the inhabitants as slaves. It is agaiu mentioned
by Pliny in B. xxxii. c. 21.

* Tliis passage seems to be in a corrupt state, and it is difficult to
arrive at Phny's exact meaning.

5 The port of the Pergameni. Strabo places it south of the river
Caicus, twelve stadia from that river, and 120 from Pergamum. Its site
is imcertam, but Leake fixes it at a place called KhseU, on the road from
the south to Pergamum.

^ Its modern name is said to be Ak-Su or Bakir.

7 On the coast of the Elaitic gulf. It was almost destroyed by an
earthquake in the reign of the Emperor Titus. Its site is by some thought
to have been at SanderU.

8 Supposed to have been situate near the modem Cape Coloni. It
•was here that in the war with Antiochus, B.C. 191-190, the Roman
fleet was hauled up for the winter and protected by a ditch or rampart.

9 So called from Lysimachus, the son of Agathocles.

^° A strong place opposite to Lesbos. It was on the road from Adra-
myttium to the plain of the Caicus. Its site is generally fixed at Dikeli
Koi.

" Or Carine. The army of Xerxes, on its route to the Hellespont,
marched tlirough this place. Its site is unknown.

^2 It lay outside of the bay of Adramyttium and the promontory of
Pyrrha.

J3 Mentioned in the Iliad with Chryse and Tenedos.

'^ A place called Kutchulan, or, as some \\Titc it, Cotschiolan-Kuni,
is supposed to occupy its site.

15 Or Thcbc", in the viciiiity of Troy.

J8 In the plain of Thebes between Antandros and Adramyttium. It
had a temple of Artemis, of which the Antandrii had the superintendence.
Its site does not appear to have been ascertained.

474 plikt's natural HISTOET. [Book y.

Chrysa\ Palaescepsis^, Gergitlia^, and Neandros'*. "We
then come to the city of Perperene^, which still survives,
the district of Heracleotes, the town of Coryphas®, the
rivers Grrylios and Ollius, the region of Aphrodisias'',
which formerly had the name of Politice Orgas, the di-
strict of Scepsis^, and the river Evenus^, on whose banks
the towns of Lyruesos^" and Miletos have fallen to decay.
In this district also is Mount Ida^\ and on the coast Adra-
mytteos'^, formerly called Pedasus, which gives its name to
the gulf and the jurisdiction so called. The other rivers are
the Astron, Cormalos, Crianos, Alabastros, and Hieros, flow-
ing from Mount Ida : in the interior is Mount Grargara^^,

1 Not improbably the Cbryse, mentioned by Homer in the IHad, B. i.
11. 37, 390, 431 ; but there were several places of tliis name.

2 See the note to Scepsis in the present Chapter.

3 Or Grergis, Gergithus, or Gergithes, a town in the Troad, north of
Scamander. It was a place with an acropoUs and strong walls. Attains,
king of Pergamus, transplanted the people of Gergis to another spot
near the som'ces of the Caicus, whence we afterwards find a place called
Gergetha or Gergithion, ia the vicinity of Larissa. The old town of
Gergis was by some said to have been the birth-place of the Sibyl, and
its coins have her image impressed on them.

* Also called Neandria, upon the Hellespont.

^ South of Adramyttium ; in its vicinity were copper-mines and cele-
brated vineyards. It was here that Thucydides is said to have died.

^ In the district of Coryphantes, opposite to Lesbos, and north of
Atarneus. Pliny speaks of the oysters of Coryphas, B. xxxii. c. 6.

7 This Aphrodisias does not appear to have been identified.

^ Again mentioned by PUny in B. xi. c. 80. Scepsis was an ancient
city in the interior of the Troad, south-east of Alexandria, ui the moun-
tains of Ida. Its inhabitants were removed by Antigonus to Alexandria ;
but being permitted by Lysimaehus to retmni to then* homes, they built
a new city, and the remains of the old town were then called Palsescepsis.
This place is famous in hterary history for being the spot where certain
MSS. of Aristotle and Theophrastus were buried to prevent their transfer
to Pergamus. When dug up they were found nearly destroyed by mould,
and in this condition were removed by Sylla to Athens.

^ Sometimes called the Lycormas, now known as the Fidhari or Fidharo.

10 Frequently mentioned by Homer.

^^ Still known as Ida or Kas-Dagh.

^2 More generally known as Adramyttium or Adramyteum, now Adra-
miti or Edremit. According to tradition it was founded by Adramys,
the brother of Croesus, king of Lydia. It is mentioned as a sea-port in
the Acts, xxvii. 2. There are no traces of ancient remains on its site.

*3 One of the heights of Mount Ida in the Troad, now called Kaz-Dag.
The territory in this vicinity, as we learn from Virgil and Seneca, was

Chap. 32.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 475

with a town of the same name. Again, on the coast we
meet with Antanclros\ formerly called Edonis, and after
that Cimmeris and Assos, also called Apollonia. The town
of Palamedium also formerly stood here. The PromontorT
of Lecton"" separates -3!^olis from Troas. In ^'Eolis there
was formerly the city of Polymedia, as also Chrysa, and a
second Larissa. The temple of Smintheus^ is still standing ;
Colone'* in the interior has perished. To Adramyttium
resort upon matters of legal business the Apolloniatae*,
whose town is on the river Rhyndacus^, the Erizii'', the
Miletopolitse^, the Poemaneni^, the Macedonian Asculacte,
the Polichnaei^", the Pionitae^\ the Cilician Mandacadeni,
and, in Mysia, the Abrettini*'-, the people known as the
Hellespontii^^, and others of less note.

fatnous for its fertility. The modem village of Ine is supposed to occupy
the site of the ancient town of Gargara.

1 Now Antandro, at the head of the Gulf of Adramyttium. Aristotle
also says that its former name was Edonis, and that it was inhabited by
a Thracian tribe of Edoni. Herodotus as well as Aristotle also speak of
the seizure of tlie place by the Cinimerii in their incursion into Asia.

2 Now Cape Baba or Santa Maria, the south-west promontory of the
Troad.

3 Or Sminthian Apollo. This appears to have been situate at the
Chrysa last mentioned by Phny as no longer in existence. Strabo places
Chrvsa on a hill, and he mentions the temple of Smintheus and sj)eak3
of a symbol wliich recorded the etymon of that name, the mouse which
lay at the foot of the wooden figiire, the work of 8coi)as. Accoriling to
an ancient tradition, Apollo had lus name of Smintheus givi-n him as
being the mouse-destroyer, for, accorduig to Apion, the meaning of Smin-
theus was a " mouse,"

^ AccorcUng to tradition this place was in early times the residence of
Cycnus, a Tlu-acian prince, -who possessed the adjoining country, and the
island of Tenedos, opposite to which Colone was bituatc on the mainland.
Pliny however here places it in the interior.

5 The site of this Apollonia is at Abulliontc, on a lake of the same
name, the Apolloniatis of Strabo. Its remains are very inconsiderable.

^ Or Lvcus, now known as the Edrenos.

7 Of this people nothing whatever is known. " D'Anville thiiika

that the modem BaU-Kcsri occupies the site of Miletopolis.

" Stephanus Byzantinus mentions a place called IVmaiiinum near
Cvzicus. ^'^ The hihabitants of rolit-hna, a town ol the Truud.

'* The people of Pionia, near .Sce]>sis and Gargara.

^2 They occupied the greater part of Mysia Proper. They had a native
divinity to wliich they paid peculiar honours, by the Greeks caiUd Atvs

'ASpeTT7]v69.

^^ The same as the Olympeni or Olynipii-ni, in the district of Oljmpcne

476 Flint's natural histoet. [Book V.

CHAP. 33. — TROAS AND THI^ ADJOINING NATIONS.

The first place in Troas is Hamaxitus^ then Cebrenia^,
and then Troas^ itself, formerly called Antigonia, and now
Alexandria, a Eoman colony. We then come to the town
of Nee**, the Scamander^, a navigable river, and the spot
where in former times the town of Sigeum^ stood, upon a
promontory. We next come to the Port of the Achaeans'', into
which the Xanthus^ flows after its union with the Simois^,
, and forms the Palaescamander^°, which was formerly a lake.
The other rivers, rendered famous by Homer, namely, the
E-hesus, the Heptaporus, the Caresus, and the Rhodius, have
left no vestiges of their existence. The Granicus^\ taking a
difterent route, flows into the Propontis^'. The small city of
Scamandria, however, still exists, and, at a distance of a mile

at the foot of Mount Olympus ; next to whom, on the south and west,
were the Abretteni.

^ On the south-western coast of the Troad, fifty stadia south of La-
rissa. In the time of Strabo it had ceased to exist. No ruins of this
place have been known to be discovered, but Prokesch is induced to think
that the architectm'al remains to be seen near Cape Baba are those of
Hamaxitus.

2 Or Cebrene or Cebren. It was separated from the territory of Scepsis
by the river Menander. Leake supposes it to have occupied the higher
region of Ida on the west, and that its site may have been at a place
called Kushunlu Tepe, not far from Baramitsh.

3 Mentioned in Acts xvi. 8. It is now called Eski Stambul or Old
Stambid. It was situate on the coast of Troas, opposite to the south-
eastern point of the island of Tenedos, and north of Assus. It was
founded by Antigonus, under the name of Antigonia Troas, and peopled
with settlers from Scepsis and other neighbouring towns. The ruins of
tliis city are very extensive, * Or Nea, mentioned in B. ii. c. 97.

^ Now called the Mendereh-Chai.

^ On the north-west promontory of Troas. Here Homer places the
Grecian fleet and camp during the Trojan war. The promontory is now
called Yenisheri.

' Now called Jeni-Scher, according to Ansart. It was at this spot
that the Greeks landed in their expedition against Troy.

8 Usually identified with the Mendereh-Chai or Scamander.

9 The modern Gmr^brek.

^0 Or " ancient Scamander."

*i Now known as theKoja-Chai ; memorable as the scene of the three
great victories by which Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian
empire, B.C. 334. Here also a victory was gained by Lucullus over
Mithi-idates, B.C. 73. ^ Or Sea of Marmora.

Chap. 33.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 477

and a half from its harbour, IHum\ a place exempt from
tribute'-, the fountain-head of universal fame. Beyond the
gulf are the shores of Ehoeteum^, peopled by the towns of
Ehoeteum'*, Dardanium% and Al'isbe^ There was also in
former times a town of Achilleon^, founded near the tomb of
Achilles by the people of Mitylene, and afterwards rebuilt
by the Athenians, close to the spot where his fleet had been
stationed near Sigeura. There was also the town of ^an-
tion^, founded by the Ehodians upon the opposite point,
near the tomb of Ajax, at a distance of thirty stadia from
Sigeum, near the spot where his fleet was stationed. Above
Jj^olis and part of Troas, in the interior, is the place called
Teuthrania^, inhabited in ancient times by the ^Mvsians.
Here rises the river Caicus already mentioned. Teuthrania
was a powerful nation in itself, even when tlie whole of ^^olis
was held by the Mysians. In it are the Pioniae^", Andera'',

* It is not exactly known whether New Hium was built on the same
site as the Ilium or Troy which had been destroyed by the Greeks ; but
it has been considered improbable tliat the exploits mentioned in tho
Iliad sliould have happened in so sljort a space as (hat lying between tho
later IHum and the coast. The site of New Ilium is generally considered
to be tho spot covered with ruins, now called Kissarlik, between tho
villages called Kum-kioi, KaUi-fath, and Tcliiblak.

2 The Dictator SyUa showed especial favour to Ilium.

3 Now called Cape Intepeh or Barbieri.

* The modern Paleo Castro probably occupies its site.

5 More generally called Dardanus, or Dardanum, said to have been
built by Dardanus. It was situate about a mile south of the ]-)roinon-
tory Dardanis or Dardanium. Its exact site does not apjiear to bo
known : from it the modern Dardanelles are supposed to have derived
their name.

6 Situate between Percote and Abydus, and founded by Scamandrius
and Ascanius the son of yEneas. The village of Moussa is supposi>d to
OCCUJ1V its site. The army of Alexander nuistered here after crossing
the Hellespont.

7 Alexander the Great visited this ]ilace on his Asiatic expedition in
B.C. 334, and placed chaplets on the tomb of Achilles.

" So called from Ma», the Greek name of Ajax.

5 Teutlirania was in the south-western corner of Mysia, between Tem-
nus and the borders of Lydia, where in very early times Teuthras was
said to have founded a Mysian kingdom, which was early subdued by
the kings of Lydia : this ])art was also called rergamene.

10 Called Pionita; in the jireceding Chaj)ter.

^^ A town in the Troad, the site of which is unknown.

4^8 flint's NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book T.

Cale, Stabulum, Conisium, Teium, Balcea\ Tiare, Teuthranie,
Sarnaca, Haliserne, Lycide, Parthenium,Thymbre,Oxyopum'
Lygdamiim, Apollonia, and Pergamum^, by far the most fa-
mous city in Asia, and through which the river Selinus runs ;
the Cetius, which rises in Mount Pindasus, flowing before
it. Not far from it is Elaea, which we have mentioned^ as
situate on the sea-shore. The jurisdiction of this district is
called that of Pergamus ; to it resort the Thyatireni^ the
Mosyni, the Mygdones^, the Bregmeni, the Hierocometc^^,
the Perpereni, the Tiareni, the Hierolophienses, the Her-
mocapelitse, the Attalenses^, the Panteenses, the Apolloni-
dienses, and some other states unknown to fame. The little
town of Dardanum^ is distant from Ehoeteum seventy stadia.
Eighteen miles thence is the Promontory of Trapeza^, from
which spot the Hellespont first commences its course.'

Eratosthenes tells us that in Asia there have perished the
nations of the Solymi^", the Leleges'^ the Bebryces^^^ the

' A town on the Propontis, according to Stephanus. The sites of
most of the jDlaces here mentioned are utterly unknown.

2 Also caUed Pergama or Pergamus. Its ruins are to be seen at the
modern Pergamo or Bergamo. It was the capital of the kingdom of
Pergamus, and situate in the Teuthranian district of Mysia on the
northern bank of the river Caicus. Under its kmgs, its hbrarV almost
equalled that of Alexandi-ia, and the formation of it gave rise to the in-
vention of parchjnent, as a writhig material, which was thence caUed
tharta Pergamena. Tliis city was an early seat of Christianity, and is
one of the seven chm-ches of Asia to whom the Apocalyptic Epistles are
addressed. Its ruins are stiU to be seen.

3 At the beginning of the preceding Chapter.

* The people of Thyatu-a, mentioned in B. v. c. 31.

5 The people of Mygdonia, a district between Mount Olympus and
the coast, m the east of Mysia and the west of Bithynia.

^ " The people of the Holy Village." Hierocome is mentioned by Livy
as situate beyond the river Meander.

7 The people of Attaha, mentioned in C. 32.

s Previously mentioned in the present Chapter.

^ Or " the Table." Now known as Capo de Janisseri.

Also caUed the Milyse, probably of the Syro-Arabian race; thev
were said to have been the earhest inhabitants of Lycia.
T A "^n^ Leleges are now considered to have been a branch of the great
Indo-Germanic race, who gradually became incorporated with the Hel-
lenic race, and thus ceased to exist as an independent people.

- A nation belongmg probably more to mythology than history,
btrabo supposes them to have been of Thi'acian origin, and that their
nrst place of settlement was Mysia.

Chap. 34] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 479

Colyeantii, and the Tnpsedri. Isidorus adds to these the
Ariiiii', as also the Capretae, settled ou the spot where Apa-
mea" stands, which was founded by King Seleucus, between
Cilicia, Cappadocia, Cataonia, and Ai-meuia, and was at first
called Damea^ from tlie fact that it had conquered nations
most remarkable for their fierceness.

CHAP. 34. (31.) — THE ISLANDS WHICH LIE IN FEONT OF ASIA.

^ Of the islands which lie before Asia the first is the one
situate in the Canopic Moutli of the Nile, and which received
its name, it is said, from Canopus, the pilot of Menelaiis. A
second, called Pharos, is joined by a bridge to Alexandria,
and was made a colony by the Dictator Caesar. In former
times it was one day's *saiP from the mainland of Bg}-pt ; at
the present day it directs ships in their course by means of
the fii-es which are lighted at night on the tower^ there ; for
in consequence of the insidious nature of the shoals, there
are only three channels by wliich Alexandria can be ap-
proached, those of Steganus*', Posideum'' and Taurus.

In the Phoenician Sea, before Joppe there is the island of
Paria^, the whole of it forming a town. Here, they say,
Andromeda was exposed to the monster : the island also of
Arados, already mentioned^, between which and the con-
tinent, as we learn from Mucianus, at a depth of fifty cubits
in the sea, fresh water is brought up from a spriug at the
very bottom by means of leather pipes *°.

^ By some supposed to have been a ]>eople of Phrygia.

2 Mentioned in C. 29 of the present Book.

3 From the Greek dcifiao}, " to subdue." Ilardouin thinks tliat this
appellation is intended to be given by Pliny to Asia in getu'ral, and not
to the city of Apamea in ]-)articidar, as imagined by Ortehus and others.

^ It is so described by Homer.

5 This was the hght-house built upon it by Ptolemy TI. Philadelphus,
whence the name of pharus came to be a]>i)lied to similar structures. It
was here also that, according to tlie common story, the seventy 'IVanslatora
of the Greek version of tlie Old Testament, hence called the Septuagint,
were confined wliile com^ileting their work.

^ The narrotv or fortijied channel.

^ The Neptunian channel.

^ Mentioned also m C. 14 of the present Book.

^ In C. 17 of the present Book.

^^ The boatmen of Ruad, the ancient Aradus, still draw fresh wat^r

480 PLIKT's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book V.

CHAP. 35.— CYPRUS.

The Pamphylian Sea contains some islands of little note.
The Cilician, besides four others of very considerable size, has
Cyprus \ which lies opposite to the shores of Cilicia and Sy-
ria, running east and west ; in former times it was the seat
of nine kingdoms. Timosthenes states that the circumfer-
ence of this island is 427 miles, Isidorus^ 375 ; its length,
between the two Promontories of Dinse^ and Acamas"* lying
on the west, is, according to Artemidorus, 1601 miles, ac-
cording to Timosthenes, 200. Philonides says that it was
formerly called Acamantis, Xenagoras that it had the
names of Cerastis^, Aspelia, Amathusia, and Macaria^,
while Astynomus gives it the names of Cryptos'^ and Co-
linia. Its towns are fifteen in number, Neapaphos',
Palsepaphos^, Curias^", Citium^\ Corineum, Salamis'^, Ama-

from the spring .A in Ibrahjm, in tlie sea, a few rods from the shore of
the opposite coast. ^ Now called Kibris.

2 Strabo makes it 425. Hardouin remarks that Isidorus has not made
allowance for the margin of the creeks and bays.

3 The north-eastern extremity of Cyprus. It is now called Capo Sant
Andreas. It is more generally known in the editions of PHny by the
name of Dinaretum.

^ Now called Capo Sant Epifanio, or Pifano, after the celebrated me-
tropolitan of Cy]^)rus. It is the western extremity of the island.

^ From the Greek Kepas, "a horn." It was not improbably so called
from the numerous horns or promontories on its coast.

^ From the G-reek fiaicapios, *' blessed," in compliment to its fertile
soil and deUghtful temperature.

7 Apparently from the Greek Kpvirrbi, "concealed." Stephanus By-
zantinus says that it was so called because it was frequently hidden
beneath the surface of the sea.

* Or New Paphos. The spot is still called Bafa or Bafo.

^ Or Old Paphos, now Kukala or Konukha. Old Paphos was situate
ne-4ir the promontory Zephyrium on the river Bocarno, where it had a
good harbour ; while New Paphos lay more inland, in the midst of a
fertile plain, sixty stadia from the former. Old Paphos was the cliief
seat of worship of Aplirodite or Venus, who was said to have landed at
that place after her ascent from the sea.

^^ Situate on the most southerly point in the island ; now Capo Gavatta
or delle Gatte.

^^ A town situate on the south coast of Cyprus. Its ruins are to be
seen between Larnika and the port now known as Sahnes ; they are veiy
extensive. In B. xxx. c. 9, Phny speaks of the salt lakes near this place,
which are worked at the present day.

*^ In the middle of the east coast. It was said to have been founded

Chap. 35.] ACCOUNT OE COUil^TRIES, ETC. 481

tlius\ Lapethos^, Soloe, Tamasos^ Epidamm, Chytri^ Arsi-
noe^ CarpasIum^ and Golgi'". The towns of Cinvri;, Ma-
rmm, and Ida mm « are no longer in existence. It 'is distant
from Anemurmm^ in Cilicia fifty miles ; the sea which runs
between the two shores being called the Channel of Cilicia^"
lu tlie same locality ^^ is the island of Eleusa^^ and the four

by Teucer the son of Telamon, who gare it the name of his native land
from winch he had been banished bv his father

its worXn'o/ln?"^ ^T'^lr ' ^^^^"^ '^' ^^^^^ ^°^^' ^^l^^^^ted for
StpXn,^ of Apln-odite or Venus. It was a Phanieian settlement, and
Stephanu caUs it the most ancient city in the island. It long presCd
Its oriental customs, and here the l>iai Hercules was worshipped u^er
3 P^h t^^:^'''' : Its site is now eaUed Lapitho ovL.Z

3 Probably the same as the Temese of Homer. It was situate in a
fertile district m the middle of Cyprus, and m the neighborhood of ex^

Salami ""^"^ ^^^^"'' ^ ^""^ °^ ^^P""' °^ ^^' "°^^ ^'^^ Perinea to
« n ^^J^"'• ^^'^ ^ C^rus, near the Promontory of Acamas, formerly
mhabi ants to Paphos. The modern name of its site is Pohkrusoko or
thanTne'dt?^ r ''''^ "^" n'" '^^ -^gl^bourhood. There was more
lhZ7 ^f I' ''^^^ "^ ^'^'^'"'' '^^'^' ^'^' probably bestowed on
them durmg Its subjection to the princes of the hne of Lagus. Another
Arsmoe is placed near Ammochostus to the north of the=^island, and a
thud ot the same name appears in Strabo with a harbour temnle and
grove, between Old and New Paphos. ' ^

« Or Carpasia to the north-east of the island, facing the Promontory
of Sarpedon on the Cihcian coast. It was said to hav? been fo3ed bT
i^'^mahon, kmg of Tyre. Pococke speaks of remains at Carpas, the sit^
ot this place, especiaUy a long waU and a pier.

7 Or Golgos, famous for the worsliip of Aphrodite or Venus, which
had existed here even before its introduction at Paphos by Agapenor
Its position IS unknown. ^ 8«Fcuur.

8 Or Idaha, adjoining to which was a forest sacred to Aphrodite The
poets, who connect this place with her worsliip, give us no indications
whatever of Its precise locality. Engel identifies it with the modem

TIj ' "^ ^""/^'^ '°''^^' of Leucosia, at the foot of Mount Olympus.
iN ow Cape Anamur. "^ '■

!? 1^^°^ Cihcium," now the Sea of Caramania or Cyprus
^J The Cihcian Sea, namely. ^^

'- There were several islands of this name. It is not improbable that
Plmy alludes to the one lying off the coast of Caria between the isle of
K nodes and the mainland, and which seems to be the island marked
Alessa m the maps. There was another of the same name close to the
snore ot Cihcia, afterwards knowm by the name of Scbaste.
VOL. I. , 2 I

482 plot's natural history. [Book Y.

islands known as the Clides\ lying before the promontory
which faces Syria ; and again at tlie end of the other cape
is Stiria: over against Neapaphos is Hierocepia^ and op-
posite to Salamis are the Salaminise.

In the Lycian Sea are the islands of lUyris, Telendos,
and Attelebussa^ the three barren isles called Cypri^, and
Dionysia, formerly called Caretha. Opposite to the Pro-
montory of Taurus are the Chelidom^e^ as many in num-
ber, and extremely dangerous to mariners. Further on we
find Leucolla with its town, the Pactyse^ Lasia, Nymphais,
Maoris, and Megista, the city on which last no longer exists.
After these there are many that are not worthy of notice.
Opposite, however, to Cape Chimserais Dolichiste^ Choerogy-
lion, Crambussa«, Ehoge^ Enagora, eight miles m circum-
ference, the two islands of Dsedala'°, the three of Cr^a ,

1 Or Cleides, meaning the " Keys." This was a group of smaU islands
lying to the north-east of Cyprus. The name of the islands was after-
wards transferred by some geographer to the Cape which Phny above
calls Dinee, and others Dinaretum. 2 Cape Acamas, now Pilano.

3 Or the " Sacred Garden." The names of this and the Salamim® do
not appear to be known to the modern geographers.

4 This is identified by Beaufort with the islet called Boeshat, which is
separated by a narrow channel from the Lycian shore. The others do
not seem to have been identified. Attelebussa is supposed to take its
name from a kind of destructive grasshopper without wmgs, caUed by
the Greeks arreXe^os.

5 Situate oflF the commencement of the sea-coast of Pamphyha, on tne
borders of Lycia. Beaufort speaks of them as five m number ; he chd
not meet with any of the dangers of the navigation here mentioned by
Phny. The Greeks still caU them Chehdonise, and the Itahan sailors
Cehdoni, which the Turks have corrupted into Shehdan.

6 Hardouin supposes these four islands to be the names of the group
forming the Pacty®. The names given appear to signify, the "Wild
or « Kough Islands," the " Isle of the Nymphs," the " Long Island, and
the " Greatest Island." They were ofi" the coast of Lycia, and seeni to
have belonged to the Ehodians. The modem name of Megista is E.a-
stelorizo, according to Ansart. r .^ •

7 Or Dohche, the " Long Island," in the Lycian Sea, west ot the rums
of Myra. Its modern name is Kakava. It is now umnhabited. _

8 Still known as Grambousa, a smaU island ofi* the east coast of Lycia.
There seems to have been another of the same name off the Lycian coast.

9 An island off the coast of Lycia. r -r^ j i

10 Hardouin thinks that they were opposite to the city of Dsedala on
the coast of Caria.

" Off the city of Crya, probably, in Caria.

Chap. 36.] ACCOTJNT OF COTJNTEIES, ETC. 483

Strongyle, and over against Sidyma^ the isle of Antiocluis.
Towards the mouth of the river Grlaucus", there are Lagussa^,
Macris, Didymae, Helbo, Scope, Aspis, Telandria, the town
of wliich no longer exists, and, in the vicinity of Caunus^,
Khodussa.

CHAP. 36. — EHODES.

But the fairest of them all is the free island of Eliodes,
125, or, if we would rather believe Isidorus, 103 miles in
circumference. It contains the inhabited cities of Lindos,
Camii^us^, and lalysus^, now called Ehodos. It is distant
from Alexandria in Egypt, according to Isidorus, 583 miles ;
but, according to Eratosthenes, 469. Mucianus says, that
its distance from Cyprus is 166. This island was formerly
called Ophiussa'', Asteria^, JEthria^, Trinacrie^", Corymbia^\
Poeeessa^^, AtabjTia^^, from the name of one of its kings ; and,
in later times, Macaria^"* and Oloessa^^ The islands of the
Hhodians are Carpathus^^, which has given its name to the

^ On the coast of Lycia.

2 In Lycia. See C. 29 of the present Book.

^ Probably so called from the number of hares found there.

^ On the coast of Caria.

^ Still kno\ATi as Lindo and Camiro, according to D'Anville.

^ One of the three ancient Doric cities of Rhodes. It lay three-quarters
of a mile to the south-west of the city of Rhodes, willi which Pliny
seems here to confound it. Its site is occupied by a Aillage which still
bears the name of laliso, and where a few ancient renuims are to be foimd.

"^ From its productiveness of serpents.

8 Either from Asterius, its former king, or from its being a *' constella-
tion" of the sea.

9 Probably because of the clearness and serenity of its atmosphere.
See B. ii. c. 62.

^^ From its three-cornered shape.

^^ Perhaps so called from its fruitfulness in ivy, in Greek tcopv^jSi'iOpay
or else from Kopv^Pos, " a summit," from its elevated position.

^- From its verdant and grassy soil.

^3 Either from King Atabyrius, or the mountain Atabyrion ; or else
from the temple of Jupiter Tabyrius, which Appian speaks of as situate
in this island,

» The " fortunate," or " blessed" island.

^5 " Venomous," or " deadly." This name it most probably lu\d in
early times (and not more recently, as Phny says), when it was covered
with dense forests, the retreats of sei-pents and noxious reptiles.

^^ Now known as Skarpanto.

2i2

484 PLINT's NATURAL HISTOKT. [Book V.

surrounding sea ; Casos\ formerly known as Aclme^ ; Ni-
S}TOS^, twelve miles distant from Cnidos, and formerly
called Porphyris"* ; and, in the same vicinity, midway between
libodes and Cnidos, Syme^. This island is thirty-seven miles
and a half in circumference, and welcomes us with eight fine
harbours. Besides these islands, there are, in the vicinity
of Ehodes, those of Cyclopis, Teganon, Cordylussa^, the
four islands called Diabetse^, Hymos, Chalce^, with its city
of that name, Seutlussa^, Nartliecussa^", Dimastos, Progne ;
and, off Cnidos, Cisserussa, Therionarce, and Calydne^^ with
the three towns of Notium, Nisyros, and Mendeterus. In
Arconnesus'^ there is the town of Ceramus. Off the coast
of Caria, there are the islands known as the Argise, twenty
in number ; also Hyetussa^^, Lepsia, and Leros.

The most noted island, however, in this gulf is that of
Cos^^, fifteen miles distant from Halicarnassus, and 100 in
circumference, according to tlie opinion of many writers.
It was formerly called Merope ; according to Staphylus, Cea ;

* Mentioned by Homer, II. ii. 676, See also B. iv. c. 23 of the present
work. It is described by Boss as a single ridge of mountaias, of con-
siderable height. 2 Signifying " sea-foam."

3 StiU known as Nicero.

* From its production of the ' murex,' or ' pm'ple.'

5 Now called Symi, a small island off the south-west coast of Caria,
at the mouth of the Gulf of Doris, to the west of the Promontory of
Cynossema.

^ Now called the Island of St. Catherine, according to Ansart.

7 Stephanus Byzantinus mentions these islands as lying in the vicinity
at Syme. Perhaps they are the group lying to the south of it, now
called Siskle.

^ Distant about fifty miles from Carpathus, or Skarpanto. It was
probably subject to Rhodes, in the vicinity of which it was situate. Its
present name is Chalki.

'■^ An island, according to Hardouin, not far from HaHcarnassus, on
the coast of Ionia.

^'^ So called from its productiveness of the vdp9r]^, or ferula.

^^ More probably Calydnse, because there were several islands forming
the group, of which Calymna was the chief. See B. iv. c. 23, where
Pliny mentions only one towai, that of Coos. There are some remains
of th3 ancient towns still to be seen.

'2 A small island of Caria, south of Halicarnassus. It is now called
Orak-Ada.

^^ Probably so called from the almost continual rains there.

^* Now called Stanko, or Stancliio, a corruption of es tuv Kw,

Cliap. 37.] Acco^^'T or countries, etc. 485

Meropis, as Dionysius tells us ; and, after that, iN'ympliaea.
In this island there is jNIoiint Prion. iS^isyros\ formerly
called PorT)hyris, is supposed to have been severed from tlie
island of Cos. AVe next come to the island of Caryanda'-^,
•VNTith a city of that name, and that of Pidosus^, not far
from Halicarnassus. In the Gulf of Ceramieus we also find
Priaponnesos^, Hipponnesos, Psyra, Mya,Lampsa, JEmyndus,
Passala, Crusa, Pinnicussa, Sepiussa^, and Melano. At a
short distance from the mainland is an island which bears
the name of Cinaedopolis, from the circumstance that King
Alexander left behind there certain persons of a most
disgraceful character.

CHAP. 37. — SAMOS.

Tlie coast of Ionia has the islands of Trageae, Corseae^,
and Icaros, which has been previously" mentioned ; Lade**,
formerly called Late ; and, among others of no note, the two
Camelida)^, in the vicinity of Miletus ; and the three Ti'o-
giliae''^, near Mycale, consisting of Philion, Argennon, and
Sandalion. There is Samos also, a free'' it^land, eighty-seven
miles in circumference, or, according to Isidorus, 100: Ari-
stotle tells us, that it was at first called Parthenia'^, after

^ ^Tiich has been previously mentioned in this Chapter.

2 In C. 29, PUny has mentioned a Caryanda on the n.ainland. It is
probable that there was a town on the maiiiland and another in the
island of the same name. Leake says, that there can be Uttle doubt that
the large peninsula, towards the west end of whicli is the fine harbour
called by the Turks Pasha Limani, is the ancient island of Caryanda, now
joined to the mainland by a narrow sandy istlunus.

3 The island of Hyali, near the harbour of MefTi, on the coast of
Caria, aceorchng to Dupinet.

■* Probably so called from the worship of the god Priapus there.
5 Few, if any, of these islets can now be recognized. S/]iiussa was
probably so called from the abundance of the sepia, or cutlle-llsh, there.
^ Over against the isle of Samos. ^ 13. iv. c. 23.

8 Near the city of Miletus.

9 So called from their resemblance to camels.

^'^ Lying before the Promontory of Trogilium, mentioned in C. 31.

^^ Augustus gave their liberty to tlie Sainians, The island is still
called by the Greeks Samo, and by the Turks Su^am Adassi.

^2 The "Virgin's Island," if so called after Juno, as some say; but
according to Strabo, it received its name from tlie river Partheniua.

486 PLINT's ]!irATURAL HISTORY. [Book V.

that Dryussa\ and then Anthemussa^. To these names
Aristocritus has added Melamphyllus^ and Cyparissia'* :
other WTiters, again, call it Parthenoarussa^ and Stephane^.
The rivers of this island are the Imbrasus, the Chesius, and
the Ibettes. There are also the fountains of Gigartho and
Leucothea ; and Mount Cercetius. In the vicinity of Samos
are the islands of Ehypara, Nymphsea, and Achillea.

CHAP. 38. — CHIOS.

At a distance of ninety-four miles from Samos is the free
island of Chios'', its equal in fame, with a town of the same
name. Ephorus says, that the ancient name of this island
was ^^thalia ; Metrodorus and Cleobulus tell us, that it had
the name of Chia from the nymph Chioiie ; others again say,
that it was so called from the word signifying snow^ ; it was
also called Macris and Pityusa^. It has a mountain called
Pelennseus ; and the Chian marble is well known. It is 125^^
miles in circumference, according to the ancient writers ; Isi-
dorus however makes it nine more. It is situate between
Samos and Lesbos, and, for the most part, lies opposite to
Erythrae".

The adjacent islands are Thallusa^^, by some writers called
Daphnusa'^, CEiiussa, Elaphitis, Euryanassa, and Arginusa,
with a town of that name. All these islands are in the vici-
nity of Ephesus, as also those called the Islands of Pisistra-
tus, Anthinse, Myonnesos, Diarreusa, — in both of these last
there were cities, now no longer in existence, — Poroselene^*,

^ From its numerous oaks. 2 From tlie abundance of its flowers.

^ " Of dark," or " black foliage ; " in allusion probably to its cypresses.

^ " Cypress-bearing."

* This is not improbably a compound, formed by a mistake of the
copyists, of the two names, Parthenia and Aryusa, mentioned by
Herachdes,

^ " The Crown." This island was the bu'th-place of Pythagoras.

7 Now known as Khio, Scio, Saka Adassi, or Saksadasi. Chios was
declared free by the Dictator Sulla. *• Xnov, gen. Xiovos.

^ Macris, from its length, and Pityusa, from its pine-trees.

^0 Dalechamps says 112 is the correct measm'ement.

1^ Mentioned in C. 31 of the present Book.

^2 Meaning " green and flourishing."

13 " Productive of laurels." None of these islets appear to have been
rccogTiized by their modern names.

^^ By Strabo called Pordoselene. He says that the islands ia its

Chap. 39,] ACCOTJKT OF COTTNTEIES, ETC. 487

Tvitli a city of that name, Cercire, Halone\ Commone,
llletia, Lepria and Eliesperia, Procusae, BolbuLr, Phana?,
Priapos, Syce, Melaue, JEnare, Sidiisa, Pele, Drymusa*,
Anhydros, Scopelos^, Sycnssa, Marathussa, Psile, Perirreusa,
and many others of no note. In the main sea lies the
celebrated island of Teos, with a city"* of that name, seventy-
o^e miles and a half distant from Chios, and the same from
the Erythrcne.

In the vicinity of Smyrna are the Peristerides*, Carteria,
Alopece, Elsenssa, Bachina, Pystira, Crommyonnesos, and
Megale^. Facing Troas there are the Ascanire, and the
three islands called Plateae. "We find also the Lamiiie, the
two islands called Plitanioe, Plate, Scopelos, Getone, Arthe-
don, CoelcT, Lagussa?, and Didymge.

CHAP. 39. LESBOS.

But Lesbos', distant from Chios sixty-five miles, is the
most celebrated of them all. It was formerly called Himerte,
Lasia, Pelasgia, ^gira, ^thiope, and Macaria, and is
famous for its nine cities. Of these, however, that of Pyrrha
has been swallowed up by the sea, Arisbe^ has perished by
an earthquake, and 5lethymna is now united to Antissa** ;
these lie in the vicinity of nine cities of Asia, along a
coast of thirty-seven miles. The towns of Agamede and

vicinity were forty in number ; of which Phny here gives the names of
two-and-twenty. ^ South of Proconncsus ; now called Aloni.

* Near the city of Clazomenae. It is now called Vourla, accorcUng
to Ansart. ^ Kow Koiitali, according to Ansart.

* We learn from Strabo and other writers, tliat tliis city was on a ]icn-
insiila, and that it stood on the southern side of tlie isthnuis, coiniecting
Mount Mhnas with the mainland of Lydia. It was the birth-place of
Anacreon and Ilccataeus.

* Or the " Dove Islands ;" probably from the multitude of those birds
found on those islands.

^ Now called Antigona, according to Ansart.

' Now Mitylene, or Metelin.

^ We find it also stated by Herodotus, that this island was destroyed
by the Methymnwans. The cities of Mitylene, Melhynma, Erebus,
Pyrrha, Antissa, and Arisbe, originally formed the vEolian HexapoUs,
or Confederation of Six Cities.

^ The ruins found by Pocoeke at Calas Limneonas, ncirtli-east of Capo
Sigi'i, may be those of Antissa. This j)laee was the bhth-phice of Ter-
pander, the mveutor of the seven- stringed lyre.

488 PLINT's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book V.

Hiera have also perished. Eresos\ Pyrrlia, and the free
city of Mitylene^, still survive, the last of which was a
powerful city for a space of 1500 years. The circumference
of the whole island is, according to Isidorus, 168 miles^,
but the older writers say 195. Its mountains are, Lepe-
thymnus, Ordymnus, Macistus, Creon, and Olympus. It is
distant seven miles and a half from tlie nearest point of the
mainland. The islands in its vicinity are, Sandaleon, alid
the five called Leucae"* ; Cydonea^, which is one of them,
contains a warm spring. The Arejinussre^ are four miles
distant from Mge'^ ; after them come Phellusa^ and Pedna.
Beyond the Hellespont, and opposite the shore of Sigeum,
lies Tenedos^, also known by the names of Leucophrys^°,
Phcenice, and Lyrnesos. It is distant from Lesbos fifty-six
miles, and twelve and a half from Sigeum.

CHAP. 40. (32.) — THE HELLESPOTfT ATfD MTSIA,

The tide of the Hellespont now begins to run with greater
violence, and the sea beats against the shore, undermining
with its eddies the barriers that stand in its way, until it
has succeeded in separating Asia from Europe. At this
spot is the promontory which we have already mentioned
as Trapeza" ; ten miles distant from which is the city of

^ Or Eressus, according to Strabo. It stood on a HU, reacliing down
to the sea. Its ruins are said to be near a place still called Eresso. It
was the birth-place of the phUosoplier Theopln-astus, the disciple of
Aristotle. 2 g^in called Mitylene, or MeteUn.

3 Strabo makes it about only 137 miles. ^ Or the White Islands.

5 So caUed fi-om its fruitfulness in quinces, or " Mala Ci/donia."

^ These were three small islands, near the mainland of yEolis. It
was off these islands that the ten generals of the Athenians gaiued
a victory over the Spartans, B.C. 406. The modern name of these
islands is said to be Janot.

7 One of the Leuca?, previously mentioned.

8 So called from the (peWbs, or " cork," which it produced.

9 Still known as Tenedos, near the mouth of the Hellespont. Here
the Grreeks were said to have concealed their fleet, to induce the Trojans
to think that tliey had departed, and then introduce the wooden horse
within their walls.

^0 " Having white eve-brows ;" probably from the wliiteness of its cliffs.
" In C. 33 of the present Book.

Chap. 40.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 489

Abydos\ ^Yhere the straits are only seven stadia wide ; then
the town of Percote"^ ; Lampsacus^, at first called Pityusa ;
the colony of Parium'', which Homer calls by the name of
Adrastia ; the town of Priapos^ ; the river ^Esepus'' ; Zelia^ ;
and then the Propontis'^, tliat beinf? the name given to
the tract of sea where it enlarges. We then come to the
river Granicus^, and the liarbour of Artace'", wliere a town
formerly stood. Beyond this is an island which Alexander
joined to the continent, and upon which is Cyzicus'', a city
of the Milesians, which was formerly called Arctonnesos'-,
Dolionis, and Dindymis ; above it are the heights of
Mount Dindymus'^. We then come to the towns of Placia,
Ariace^^, and Scylace ; in the rear of which places is jMount
Olympus, known as the " Mysian Olympus,*' and the city of
Olympena. There are also the rivers Horisius'^ and Rhyn-
dacus '^, formerly called the Lycus ; this last river rises in
Lake Artynias, near Miletopolis, and receives the Macestos,
and many other streams, dividing in its course Asia'' from
Bithynia'^.

^ Opposite to Seatos, made famous by the loves of Hero and Leander.
Aidos, or Avido, a village on the Hellespont, is thought to occupy its site.

2 Now called Bergase, according to D'Anville.

^ Its ruins are stiU known as Lapsaki. Tliis important city was cele-
brated for its wine, and was the cliicf seat of the worsliip of the god
Priapus. "* Its site is now called Camanar, according to D'Anville.

* According to Ansart, the modern Caraboa marks its site.

® Now called the Satal-dere, accorchng to Ansart.

^ Its locality was not far from the modem Biga, according to Ansart.

^ Now the Sea of Marmora.

^ Mentioned in C. 33 of the present Book.

^^ Now called Artaki, or Erdok, a town of Mysia, and a Milesian
colony. A poor town now occupies its site.

*' Its ruins are called by the Turks Bal Kiz, probably meaning " Old
Cyzicus." There are many subterraneous passages, and the ruins are of
considerable extent. Its tem])les and storehouses appear to have been
built on a scale of great magnificence. See I'liny, B. xxxvi. e. 15.

^■^ The " Island of the Bears," whicli animals frequented the moim-
tain in its yicinity. ^^ Called Diiulyniuni hy Herodotus;

probably the modem Morad Dagh, in which the river lieriuus rises.

14 Now called Saki, according to Ansart.

15 Now called the Lartaeho, according to Ansart.

16 Previously mentioned in C. 32 of the j)resent Book.

17 In its limited sense; considered as a portion only of Asia Minor.

1^ On the west it bordered on Mysia, and on the south on Thrygiaand
Galatia, wliile the eastern boundary seems to have been less deliiula.

490 flint's natural HISTOET. [Book V.

This coimtry was at first called by the name of Cronia,
after that, Thessalis, and then Malianda and Strymonis. The
people of it are by Homer called Halizones\ from the fact
that it was a nation begirt by the sea. There was formerly
a vast city here, Attussa by name ; at present there are
tAvelve cities in existence ; among which is Grordiucome^,
otherwise Juliopolis ; and, on the coast, Dascylos". We
then come to the river Grelbes'* ; and, in the interior, the
town of Helgas, or Grermanicopolis, which has also the
other name of Booscoete^ ; Apamea^, now more generally
known as Myrlea of the Colophonians : the river Etheleus
also, the ancient boundary of Troas, and the commencement
of Mysia. Next to this comes the gulf^ into which the
river Ascanius flows, the town of Bryllion^, and the rivers
Hylas and Cios, with a town of the same name as the last-
mentioned river ; it was founded by the Milesians at a place
which was called Ascania of Phrygia, as an entrepot for the
trade of the Phrygians who dwelt in the vicinity. We may
therefore look upon this as a not ineligible opportunity for
making further mention of Phrj^gia.

CHAP. 41. — PHRTGIA.

Phrygia lies above Troas, and the peoples already men-

^ Ephorus, as quoted by Stephanus Byzantinus, says, that the Hali-
zones inhabited the district lying between Caria, Mysia, and Lydia.
Hesychius incorrectly places them in Paphlagonia.

2 Meaning the " Village of Grordius," one of its ancient kings. It was
also called Gordium. After falling to decay, it was rebuilt by Augustus,
and called Juhopohs. It is celebrated in history as the place where
Alexander the Great cut the Grordian knot ; the scene of the adventure
being the Acropolis of the town, the former palace of King Gordius.

3 Therewere several Asiatic cities of the simdar name of Dascyhum. The
site of the one here mentioned does not appear to have been ascertained.

4 More generaUy read " Gebes." 5 The " BuU's Bed," or " Den."
It probably took its second name from the Roman general Germanicus.

^ Now called Medania, or Mutania. It received its name of Apamea
fi'om Prusias, king of Bithynia, in compHment to his wife. In the time
of the first Csesars, it was made a Roman colony.

^ The Bay of Cios. The river runs into a lake, formerly known as
Lake Ascanius ; probably that mentioned by Pliny in B. xxsi. c. 10.

^ Stephanus Byzantinus says that it was the same as the town of Cios,
or Cius, here mentioned as near to it. It was on the shores of the
Propontis.

Chap. 42.] ACCOUNT OF COTJNTRIES, ETC. 491

t'Miied as extending from the Promontory of Lectnm^ to

■ river Etheleus. On its northern side it borders upon

, alatia, on the south it joins Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Myg-

dMiiia, and, on the east, it touches upon Cappadocia. The

re celebrated towns there, besides those ah-eady men-

. lied, are Ancyra', Andria, Celsenje^ Coloss8e\ Carina*,

( ..tyaion^ Ceraine, Conium, and Midaium. There are

ihors who say that the Mcesi, the Brygi, and the Thyni

issed over from Europe, and that from them are descended

" peoples called the Mysi, Phryges, and Bithyni.

CHAP. 42. GALATIA AND THE ADJOINING NATIONS.

On this occasion also it seems that we ought to speak of
Galatia% which lies above Phrygia, and includes the greater
part of the territory taken from that province, as also its

1 Cape Baba, or Santa Maria ; the south-western promontory of
the Troacl.

2 In Plirygia Epictctus, or " Conquered Phrygia, so called Irom its
conquest by ccrtam of the kmgs of Bithynia. Strabo calls this place a
"small city, or hill-fortress, towards Lydia." It was probably situate
near the source of the Macestus, now the SusughcrU Su, or the Simaul
Su, as it is called in its upper course.

3 The place from wliich the citizens were removed to Apamea, as men-
tioned in C. 29 of the present Book. Hamilton (Researches, &c., p. 499)
supposes its acropohs to have been situate about half a mile from the
Bom'ces of the river IVIarsvas. u u

■» First mentioned by Herodotus, and situate on the Lycus, a brancli
of the Ma?ander. It liad greatly declined in Strabo's time, and m tho
midcUe ages there rose near it a town of the name of Chonrt', and Colossa)
disappeared. Hamilton found extensive ruins of an ancient city about
three miles north of the modern Khonos. It was one of the early Chris-
tian chui-ches of A>ia, and the Apostle Paul addressed oneot liis Kpistles
to the people of this place. It does not appear from it that he liad ever
visited the place; indeed, from Chap. u. 1 we may conclude that ho

had not. ., ^, • .• i •

5 This does not appear to be the same as the Canno mentioned m
C 32 of this Book, as having gone to decay. Its site is unknown.

6 Or Coticeum or Cotyaum. It was on the Roman road trora
Dorvla^um to Philadelphia, and in Phrj-gia Epictctus, according to
SHrabo. The modern Kutahiyah is supposed to denote its site; but
there are no remains of ant i(iuity. ,..1.1

7 It was bounded on the west, south, and f^mth-enst by those
countries; and on the north-east, north, and norlli-west by ioiitus,
Paphlagonia, and Bithynia.

492 PLITfT'S NATITEAL HISTOET. [Book Y.

former capital, Gordiuin^ The G-auls" wlio have settled in
these parts, are called the Tolistobogi, the Voturi, and the
Ambitouti ; those who dwell in Mseonia and Paphlagonia
are called the Trocmi. Cappadocia stretches along to the
north-east of Gralatia, its most fertile parts being possessed
by the • Tectosages and the Tentobodiaci. These are the
nations by which those parts are occupied ; and they are
divided into peoples and tetrarchies, 195 in number. Its
towns are, among the Tectosages, Ancyra^ ; among the
Trocmi, Tavium^ ; and, among the Tolistobogi, Pessinus*.
Besides the above, the best known among the peoples of
this region are the Actalenses, the Arasenses, the Comen-
ses^, the Didienses, the Hierorenses, the Lystreni'', the
Neapolitani, the (Eandenses, the Seleucenses^, the Sebas-

^ Mentioned in C. 40, under the name of Gordiucome.

2 Who mvaded and settled in Asia Minor, at various periods during
the third century B.C.

2 Near a small stream, which seems to enter the Sangarius. It ori-
ginally b'^longed to Phrygia, and its mythical founder was Midas, the
son of Grordius, who was said to have found an anchor on the spot, and
accordingly given the name to the town ; wliich story woidd, however,
as it has been observed, imply that the name for anchor (dyKvpa) was the
same in the Greek and the Phrygian languages. The Tectosages, who
settled here about B.C. 277, are supposed to have been fi'om the neigh-
boxu'liood of Toulouse. It is now called Angora, or Engareh ; and the
fine hair of the Angora goat may have formed one of the staple com-
modities of the place, which had a very considerable trade. The cliief
monument of antiquity here is the marble temple of the Emperor
Augustus, built in his honour during his lifetime. In the inside is the
Latin inscription knovra as the monumenfum, or marmor Ancyranwm^
containing a record of the memorable actions of Augustus. The ruins
here are otherwise interesting in a liigh degree.

^ Now Tchoroum, according to Ansart.

^ Its ruins are called Bala-Hisar, in the south-west of Galatia, on
the southern slope of Mount Didymus. Tliis place was celebrated as
a chief seat of the worship of the goddess Cybele, under the surname of
Agdistis, whose temple, filled with riches, stood on a hill outside of
the city.

^ Hardouin suggests that these are the Chomenses, the people of the
rity of Choma, in the interior of Lycia, mentioned in C. 28 of the
present Book.

7 The people of Lystra, a city of Lycaonia, on the confines of
Isauria, celebrated as one of the chief scenes of the preaching of Paul
and Barnabas. See Acts xiv.

8 The people of Seleucia, in Pisidia.

Chap. 43.J ACCOUNT OF COTJKTEIES, ETC. 493

tv'iii', the Timoniacenses^, and the Thebaseni^. G-alatia
' -0 touches upon Carbalia in Pamphylia, and the Hilyae"*,
^)ut Baris ; also upon Cyllanticum and Oroandieum% a di-
strict of Pisidia, and Obizene, a part of Lycaonia. Besides
those ah'cady mentioned'', its rivers are the Sangarius'' and
the GraUus^, from which last the priests® of the Mother ol
the gods have taken their name.

CHAP. 43. — BITHTNIA.

And now as to the remaining places on this coast. On
the road from Cios into the interior is Prusa^", in Bithynia,
founded by Hannibal at the foot of Olympus, at a distance
of twenty- five miles from Xictea, Lake Ascanius^^ Ij^^o ^^"
tween them. We then come to Nicaea'", formerly called

^ The people of Sebaste, a town jof the Tectosages.

2 The people of Timonium, a town of Paphlagonia, according to Ste-
phamis Byzantinus.

3 Thebasa, a town of Lycaonia, has been mentioned in C. 25 of the
present Book. ^ See C. 25 of the present Book.

^ The town of Oroanda, giving name to this district, is mentioned at
the end of C. 24 of the present Book.

^ The Cayster, the Rhyndacus, and the Cios.

7 !Now called the Sakariyeh, the largest river of Asia Mmor after the
ancient Halys.

^ Now called the Lefke, which discharges itself mto the Tangarius,
or Sakariyeh.

^ Called " GaUi." They were said to become mad from di'inking of
the waters of this river, and to mutilate themselves when in a frantic
state. See Ovid's Fasti, B. iv. 1. 364 et seq.

^° Kow called Brusa. It stood on the north side of Movmt Olympus,
jBfteen Roman niUes fi-om Cius. According to most accounts, it was
built by Prusias, king of Bithynia. It is most probable that Hannibal
superuitended the works, while staying as a refugee at the com't of Prusias.

'^ iNow Lake Iznik.

J- Its ruins are to be seen at Iznik, on the east side of the lake o^ that
name. Its site is supposed to have been originally occupied by the town
of Atta?a, and afterwards by a settlement of the Bottia'ans, called An core,
or Helicore, wliich was destroyed by the Mysians. On this spot, sliortly
after the death of Alexander the Great, Antigonus built a city which
he named after liimself, Antigonaea ; but Lysimachus soon alterwards
changed the name into Nicsea, in honour of his wile. Under the kings
of Bithynia, it was often the royal residence, and it long disputed with
Nicomedia the rank of capital of Bithynia. Tlie modern JznLk is only
a poor village, with about 100 houses. Considerable ruins of the ancient

494 PLINX'S NATTJEAL HISTOET. [Book V.

Olbia, and situate at the bottom of the Ascanian Gulf; as
also ii second place called Prusa\ at the foot of Mount
Hypius. Pythopolis, Parthenopolis, and Coiyphanta are
no longer in existence. Along the coast we find the rivers
^sms, Bryazon, Plataneus, Areus, ^syros, Geodos, also
called Chrjsorroas^, and the promontory ^ upon which once
stood the town of Megarice. The gulf that here runs
inland received the name of Craspedites from the circum-
stance of that to^Ti lying, as it were, upon its skirts Asta-
cum^ also, formerly stood here, from which the same gulf
has received the name of the ' Astacenian' : the town of
Libyssa^ formerly stood at the spot where we now see
nothing but the tomb of Hannibal. At the bottom of
the gulf lies Nicomedia'', a famous city of Bithynia ; then
comes the Promontory of Leucatas^ by which the Asta-
cenian G-ulf IS bounded, and thirty-seven miles distant
from Nicomedia; and then, the land again approaching
the other side, the straits'-* which extend as far as the
city are stiU in existence. Littre seems to think tliat there are two
]Nicseas meant m these passages ; but it would seem that the same place
13 aUuded to m both Hues. The only tiling that seems to give counte-
nance to Littre's supposition (in which he is supported by Hardouin)
IS, the expression " Et Prusa item altera."

1 It has been suggested, that this is only another name for the town
ot Uos, previously mentioned ; but it is most proljable that they were
distinct places, and that this was originaUy caUed Cierus, and belon^red
to the territory of Heraclea, but was conquered by King Prusias, who
named it after hhnself. It stood to the north-west of the other Prusa.

2 Or the " Golden Stream."

•' Suggested by Parisot to be the modern Cape Fagma.

4 Prom the Greek Kpd(T7reSov, a " sku-t."

s OrAstacus, a colony originaUy from Megara and Athens. From
bcyiax it would appear that this city was also caUed Olbia. Its site is
placed by some of the modem geographers at a spot caUed Ovaschik.
and also Bashkele. *

6 CaUed Gebiseh, according to Busbequis,— at least in his day. The
modern Hereket, on the coast, has been suggested.

7 Its ruins now bear the name of Izmid, or Iznikmid, at the north-
eastern corner of tlie Smus Astacenus, or Gulf of Izmid. It was the
chief residence of the kings of Bithynia, and one of the most splendid
cities m the world. Under the Eomans it was made a colony, and was
a favourite residence of Diocletian and Constantme the Great. Arrian
tne historian was born here.

I m^^c^^''^^^- ^^ ^"^ ^I'o caUed Akritas by Ptolemy,
ihe Straits, or Channel of Constantmople.

Chap. 43.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTETES, ETC. 495

Thracian Bosporus. Upou these are situate Chalcedon^,
a free town, sixty-two miles from ]S'icomedia, formerly
called Proeerastis^j then Colpusa, and after that the " City
of the Blind," from the circumstance that its founders
did not know where to build their city, Byzantium being
only seven stadia distant, a site which is preferable in every
respect.

In the interior of Bithj-nia are the colony of Apamea',
the Agrippenses, the Juliopolita?, and Bithmion'' ; the rivers
Syrium, Laphias, Pharnacias, Alces, Serinis, Lila^us, Scopius,
and Ilieras^, which separates Bithynia from Galatia. Be-
yond Chalcedon formerly stood Chrysopolis^, and then Ni-
copolis, of which the gulf, upon which stands the Port of
Amycus^, still retains the name ; then the Promontory of
IS^aulochum, and Estise*, a temple of Neptune^. A\^e then
come to the Bosporus, which again separates Asia from
Europe, the distance across being half a mile ; it is distant
twelve miles and a half from Chalcedon. The first entrance
of this strait is eight miles and three-quarters wide, at the

* Its site is supposed to have been about two miles south of the
modem Scutari, and it is said that the modem Greeks call it Chalkodon,
and the Turks Kadi-Kioi. Its destruction was completed by the Turks,
who used its materials for the construction of the mosques and other
buildings of Constantinople.

2 So called, Hardouin thinks, from its being opposite to the Golden
Horn, or promontory on which Byzantium was built.

3 Or Myrlea, mentioned above in C. 40. See p. 490.

■* Or Bithyniiun, lying above Tins. Its vicinity was a good feeding
coimtiy for cattle, and noted for the excellence of its cheese, as men-
tioned by Pliny, B. xi. c. 42. Antinoiis, the favourite of the Emperor
Adrian, was bom here, as Pausauias informs us. Its site does not
appear to be known,

* These rivers do not appear to have been identified by tlie modem
geographers.

6 The modem Scutari occupies its site. Dionysius of Byzantium
states, that it was called Chr^sopohs, eitlier because the Persians nia<le
it the place of deposit for the gold which they levied from tlie citici", or
else from Chrj'ses, a son of Agamemnon and Chryscis.

7 A king of the Bebrycians. For some further particulars relative to
this place, see B. xvi. c. 89 of the present Book.

8 Situate on a promontory', which is represented by the modem Algiro,
accorchng to Hardouin and Parisot.

« Other writers say that it was erected in honour of the Twelve Greater
Divinities.

496 PLINY's NATIJEAL HISTOET. [Book V.

place where tlie town of Spiropolis^ formerly stood. The
Thyni occupy the whole of the coast, the Bithyni the in-
terior. This is the termination of Asia, and of the 282
peoples, that are to be found between the Grulf of Lycia^
and this spot. We have already^ mentioned the length of
the Hellespont and Propontis to the Thracian Bosporus as
beino[ 239 miles ; from Chalcedon to Sigeum, Isidorus makes
the distance 322-|-.

CHAP. 44. — THE ISLANDS OP THE PROPONTIS.

The islands of the Propontis are, before Cyzicus, Elaphon-
nesus"*, from whence comes the Cyzican marble ; it is also
known by the names of Neuris and Proconnesus. Next
come Ophiussa^, Acanthus, Phcebe, Scopelos, Porphyrione,
Halone^, with a city of that name, Delphacia, Polydora, and
Artaceon, with its city. There is also, opposite to Nico-
media, Demonnesos^ ; and, beyond Heraclea, and opposite
to Bithynia, the island of Thynias, by the barbarians called
Bithynia ; the island of Antiochia : and, at the mouth of
the Ehyndacus, Besbicos^, eighteen miles in circumference ;
the islands also of Elsea, the two called Ehodussae, and those
of Erebinthus^, Megale, Chalcitis^°, and Pity odes ^\

^ Called Phinopolis in most of the editions. It is very doubtful
whether this passage ought not to be translated, " At a distance thence of
eight miles and three-quarters is the first entrance to tliis strait, at the
spot," &c. We have, however, adopted the rendering of Holland, Ajas-
son, and Littre. 2 Mentioned hi C. 28 of the present Book.

3 In B. iv. c. 24. ^ Or " Deer Island."

^ Now Afzia, according to D'AnvUle.

^ There is still an island in the Sea of Marmora known by the name
Alon, which is separated from the north-western extremity of the Penin-
sula of Cyzicus by a narrow channel.

7 Hesycliius says, that there were two islands near Byzantium called
by the common name of Demonncsi, but severally having the names of
Chalcitis and Pityusa. Phny, on the other hand, places Demonnesus
opposite to Nicomedia, and at the same time mentions Chalcitis and
Pityodes (^ probably the same as Pityusa) as distinct places. D'Anvihe
calls Demonnesus " The Isle of Princes."

8 The position assigned to this island by Pliny and Strabo corresponds
with that of Kalohmno, a small island ten miles north of the mouth of
the Khyndacus. ^ Now called Prota, according to Parisot.

^^ So called from its copper-mines ; now called Khalki, or Karki.
^^ Now called Prinkipo, east of Khalki.

Chap. 44.] ACCOUNT OF COrNTEIES, ETC. 497

Summary. — Towns and nations spoken of * * * *. Xotecl
rivers * * * *. Famous mountains * * * *. Islands, 118 in
number. People or towns no longer in existence * * * *.
Eemarkable events, narratives, and observations * * * *.

EoMAN Authors quoted. — Agrippa\ Suetonius Pau-
linus^, M. Yarro^, A'arro Atacinus^ Cornelius Nepos^,
Hyginus^ L. Yetus^, Mela^, Domitius Corbulo^ Licinius
Mucianus^", Claudius Ca^sar'\ Arruntius^-, Livius the Son'^,
Sebosus^", the Eegister of the Triumphs ^^

* See end of B. iii.

2 A celebrated Eoman general, who was successively governor of
Nnmidia and Britain, where he defeated Queen BoacUcea. He was a
supporter of the Enipei-or Otho, but afterwards obtained a pardon from
ViteUius on the plea that he had betrayed Otlio at the battle of Bedi-i-
aeum, and so contributed to his defeat ; which, however, was not the
case.

3 See end of B. ii. "* See end of B. iii. * See end of B. ii.
6 See end of B. iii. ^ See end of B. iii. ^ See end of B. iji.
8 Brother of Csesonia, the wife of Caligula, and father of Doniitia

Longina, the wife of Doiuitian. lie was the greatest general of liis day,
and conquered Tiridates, the powerfid kuig of Parthia. He slew hunsdf
at Cenchrese, a.d. 67, upon hearhig that Nero had given orders for his
execution. ^" See end of B. ii.

1' The Roman emperor, grandson of Livia, the wife of Augustus. As
an author, the character in which he is here referred to, he occupied him-
self chiefly with history, and was encouragetl in the pursuit by Livy tlie
historian. At an early age he began to write a Instoiw from the deatli
of the Dictator Ca?sar,' a plan which he afterwards abandoned, and began
his work witli the restoration of peace, after the battle of Actium. Of
the earlier period he had wTitten only fom* books, but tlie latter work he
extended to forty-four. He also wrote memoirs of liis own Hfe, whic-li
Suetonius describes as written with more silliness than inelegance. A
fourth work was a defence of Cicero against tlie attacks of Asinius PoUio.
He also wrote histories of Carthage and of Etruria in Greek. All of his
literary works liave perished. '- See end of B. iii.

13 Notliing whatever is knowni of tins son of T. Livius, the great
Roman historian. It is not improbable (hat the transcribers have com-
mitted an error in inserting the word Jiliu,i\u(\ thai llie historian hiiuself
is the person meant. '^ '^t't' i'"^! i>f 15. ii.

1* "Acta Triuniplionnn" probably nu-au the registers ke))t m thr
Capitol, in wliich were inscribed the uauies of tlu)sc who were honoured
with triumphs, and the decrees of the senate or tlie pi-ople in tli.ir
favour. This register must not be confounded with the "Tubulse
, Consulares."

VOL. I. 2 K

498 plint's natural history. [Book V.

FoREiGisr Authors quoted. — King Juba^ Hecataeus'
Hellanicus^, Damastes'', Dicsearchus^, Bseton*^, Timosthenes^,
Philonides^, Zenagoras^, Astynomus^°, Staphylus^\ Aris-
toteles^', Aristocritus^^, Dionysius^^, Epliorus^^, Eratos-
thenes^^, Hipparclius*^, Pansetius^*, Serapion^^ of Antiocli,
Callimaclius^", Agathocles"^\ Polybms'-^, Timgeus"^ the
mathematician, Herodotus'^^, Myrsilus^^ Alexander Poly-
histor'", Metrodorus^^, Posidonius^^, who wrote the Peri-
plus and the Periegesis, Sotades"^, Periander^", Aristar-

^ Jwba II., king of Mauritania. After the defeat of liis father at
Thapsus, be was carried a prisoner to Rome, though quite a cliild, and
compelled to grace the conqueror's triumph. Augustus Caesar after-
wards restored to liim his kingdom, and gave him in marriage Cleopatra,
or Selene, the daugliter of Antony and Cleopatra. To his hterary pur-
suits he is chiefly indebted for his reputation. His works are continually
quoted by Phny, who regards his authority with the utmost deference.
Among his numerovis Avorks he seems to hare written a History of
Africa, Assyria, Arabia, and Rome; as also Treatises on the Stage,
Music, Grammar, and Painting. 2 Qf Miletus. See end of B. iv.

3 See end of B. iv. '* See end of B. iv. * See end of B. ii.

^ He was employed by Alexander the Great in measuring distances in
Ms marches. He vn'ote a work upon tliis subject, entitled, " Distances

of the Marches of Alexander."

^ See end of B. iv.

^ See end of B. iv.

^ See end of B. iv.

10 See end of B. iv.

11 See end of B. iv.

12 See end of B. ii.

15 See end of B. iv.

14 OfCbalcis. SeeendofB.iv.

15 SeeendofB.iv.

IS See end of B. ii.

I'' See end of B. ii.

1^ Of Rhodes, the friend of P. Scipio ^Emihanus and Lselius. He was
the head of the Stoic School at Athens, where he died. His principal
w^ork was a Treatise on Moral Duties, which served as a model for Cicero
in the composition of his work, " De Officus." He also wrote a work on
the philosophical sects.

19 See end of B. ii. so See end of B. iv.

21 See end of B. iv. 22 gge end of B. iv.

23 See end of B. h. 24 gee end of B. ii.

2^ See end of B. iv. 26 gg^ end of B. iii.

27 See end of B. iii. 28 gee end of B. ii.

2" There are four literary persons mentioned of this name. 1. An
Athenian comic poet of the middle comedy. 2. A native of Maronaea,
in Tlirace, or else of Crete, who wrote lascivious and abusive verses, and
was at last put to death by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus. He was the
inventor of the Sotadean verse, or Ionic a Majore, Tetrameter Brachyca-
talectic. 3. An Atlienian Philosopher, who wrote a book on mysteries.
4. A Byzantine philosopher, of whom nothing whatever is known.

** There were two writers of this name, before the time of PHny. 1.

Chap. 44.] ACCOUIs'T OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 499

chus^ of Sicyon, Eudoxus", Antigcnes', Callicrates^, Xeno-
phon* of Lampsacus, Diodonis*' of Syracuse, IFanno^, Him-
ilco^ Nympliodorus^, Calliplianes^", Artemidorus", Meg-

Periander of Corinth, one of the Seven Wise Men, who wTote a didactic
poem, containing moral and pohtical precepts, in 2000 Unes ; and, 2. a
physician and bad poet, contemporary with Arcliidamas, the son of
Agesilails. It is uncertain to which Phny here refers.

* Probably a WTiter on geography. Nothing appears to be known
of him.

' Of Cyzicus, see end of B. ii. ; of Cnidos, see end of B. iv.
' A Greek historian, who appears, from Plutarch, to have written a
liistory of the cxpecUtions of Alexander the Great.

* See end of B. iii. * See end of B. iii. * See end of B. iii.
' The author of the Periplus,or voyage wliich he perfonned round a part

of Libya, of wlxich we have a Greek translation fi-om the Punic original.
His age is not known, but PUny states (B. ii. c. 67, and B. v. c. 1) that
the voyage was imdertaken in the most floiu-isliing days of Carthage. It
has been considered on the whole, that he may be probably identified
with Hanno, the son or the father of Ilamilcar, who was slain at
Himera, B.C. 480.

^ Mentioned also by Phny, B. ii. c. 67, as having conducted a voyage
of discovery from Gades towards the north, along the western shores of
Europe, at the same time that Hanno proceeded on his voyage along the
western coast of Africa. He is repeatedly quoted by Festus Avienus, in
his geographical poem called Ora Maritima. His voyage is said to have
lasted four months, but it is impossible to judge how far it extended.
« See end of B. iii. '" See end of B. iii. " See end of B. il

*2 A Greek geographer, and friend of Seleucus Nicator, by whom ho
was sent on an embassy to Sandrocottus, king of the Prasii, whoso
capital was Palibothra, a to\m probably in the vicinity of tlie present
Patna. Whether he had accompanied Alexander on his invasion of
India is quite micei'tain. He wrote a work on In(Ha in four books, to
which the subsequent Greek writt-rs wen' chiefly indebted for their
accounts of India. Arrian sjK-aks highly of him as a writer, but Strabo
impeaches his veracity; and we find Pliny hinting the same in B. vi.
c. 21. Of his work only a few iragments survive.

13 See end of B. ii. " Sec end of B. iv.

** There was a philosopher of this name, a nepliew of Chrjsi])pu8, and
his puj)il ; but it is not known whether he is the person referretl to, in
C. 10, cither as having WTitten a work on universal geography, or on that
of Egypt.

END OF VOL. I.

APPENDIX OP COEEECTIONS.

Page 1, line 9, The allusion, otherwise obscure, is to the fact that
some friends of Catullus had filched a set of table-
napkins, which had been given to him by Veranius
and Fabius, and substituted others in their place.

„ 13, „ 2,ybr Koman figures, read other figuires.

„ 20, J, ^,for the Grod of nature ; he also tends, down to and
most excellent, read the God of nature. He supplies
light to the universe, and dispels all darkness ; He
both conceals and reveals the other stars. It is He
that regulates the seasons, and, in the course of
nature, governs the year as it ever springs anew into
birth ; it is He that dispels the gloom of the heavens,
and sheds his light upon the clouds of the human
muad. He, too, lends his brightness to the other
stars. He is most briUiant and most excellent.

„ 21, „ 13,ybr elected, read erected.

„ 21, „ 13,yb/* good fortune, read evil fortune.

„ 23, „ 18, ybr our scepticism concerning God is still increased,
read our conjectures concerning God become more
vague still,

„ 23, „ 31, /b/* and the existence of God becomes doubtful, read
whereby the very existence of a God is shewn to be
uncertain.

„ 33, „ ^^for as she receives, read as receives.

„ 54, „ 15,^0^ the seventh of the circumference, read the seventh
of the third of the cu'cumference.

„ 59, „ 36,ybr transemitia, read transcurrentia.

„ 67, „ 26, /or circumstances, read influences.

„ 78, „ 9,yb^' higher wmds, read higher waves.

„ 78, „ V7,for the male wiads are therefore regulated by the odd
numbers, read hence it is that the odd numbers are
generally looked upon as males.

„ 79, „ 1 5, /or of the cloud, reac? of the icy cloud.

„ 79, „ 21, jfor sprmkling it with vinegar, read throwing vinegar
against it.

„ 79, „ 22, for this substance, read that Hquid.

„ 80, „ 13, /or but not until, read and not after.

„ 80, „ 14,ybr the former is diffused, doion to impulse, read the
the latter is diffused in the blast, the former is con-
densed by the violent impulse.

„ 80, „ Vl.for dash, read crash.

„ 81, „ 21, ybr thunder-storms, read thunder-bolts.

„ 81, „ ^n^for thefr operation, read its operation.

„ 82, „ 8, jTor thunder-storms, read? thunder-bolts.

„ 85, „ ^,for blown up, read blasted.

., 88, „ 15,ybr the east, read the west.

„ 89, „ W,for even a stone, read ever a stone.

„ 92, „ ^,for how many things do we compel her to produce
spontaneously, read how many things do we compel
her to produce ! How many thmgs does she pour
forth spontaneously !

„ 92, „ 10, /or odours and flowers re«cZ odours and flavours.

„ 93, „ 16, for luxm-ies, read caprices.

4

1

^5