LITMIR.BIZ

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angles to the Pyrenees, and terminates in the central plains of Keltica.871 The Alps, which are a very lofty range of mountains, form a curved line, the convex side of which is turned towards the plains of Keltica, mentioned before, and Mount Cemmenus, and the concave towards Liguria872 and Italy.

      The Alps are inhabited by numerous nations, but all Keltic with the exception of the Ligurians, and these, though of a different race, closely resemble them in their manner of life. They inhabit that portion of the Alps which is next the Apennines, and also a part of the Apennines themselves. This latter mountain ridge traverses the whole length of Italy from north to south, and terminates at the Strait of Sicily.

      29. The first parts of Italy are the plains situated under the Alps, as far as the recess of the Adriatic and the neighbouring places.873 The parts beyond form a narrow and long slip, resembling a peninsula, traversed, as I have said, throughout its length by the Apennines; its length is 7000 stadia, but its breadth is very unequal. The seas which form the peninsula of Italy are, the Tyrrhenian, which commences from the Ligurian, the Ausonian, and the Adriatic.874

      30. After Italy and Keltica, the remainder of Europe extends towards the east, and is divided into two by the Danube. This river flows from west to east, and discharges itself into the Euxine Sea, leaving on its left the entire of Germany commencing from the Rhine, as well as the whole of the Getæ, the Tyrigetæ, the Bastarnæ, and the Sauromatæ, as far as the river Don, and the Lake Mæotis,875 on its right being the whole of Thrace and Illyria,876 and in fine the rest of Greece.

      Fronting Europe lie the islands which we have mentioned. Without the Pillars, Gadeira,877 the Cassiterides,878 and the Britannic Isles. Within the Pillars are the Gymnesian Islands,879 the other little islands of the Phœnicians,880 the Marseillais, and the Ligurians; those fronting Italy as far as the islands of Æolus and Sicily, and the whole of those881 along Epirus and Greece, as far as Macedonia and the Thracian Chersonesus.

      31. From the Don and the Mæotis882 commences [Asia] on this side the Taurus; beyond these is [Asia] beyond the Taurus. For since this continent is divided into two by the chain of the Taurus, which extends from the extremities of Pamphylia to the shores of the Eastern Sea,883 inhabited by the Indians and neighbouring Scythians, the Greeks naturally called that part of the continent situated north of these mountains [Asia] on this side the Taurus, and that on the south [Asia] beyond the Taurus. Consequently the parts adjacent to the Mæotis and Don are on this side the Taurus. The first of these is the territory between the Caspian Sea and the Euxine, bounded on one side884 by the Don, the Exterior Ocean,885 and the Sea of Hyrcania; on the other886 by the Isthmus where it is narrowest from the recess of the Euxine to the Caspian.

      Secondly, but still on this side the Taurus, are the countries above the Sea of Hyrcania as far as the Indians and Scythians, who dwell along the said sea887 and Mount Imaus. These countries are possessed on the one side by the Mæotæ,888 and the people dwelling between the Sea of Hyrcania and the Euxine as far as the Caucasus, the Iberians889 and Albanians,890 viz. the Sauromatians, Scythians,891 Achæans, Zygi, and Heniochi: on the other side beyond the Sea of Hyrcania,892 by the Scythians,893 Hyrcanians, Parthians, Bactrians, Sogdians, and the other nations of India farther towards the north. To the south, partly by the Sea of Hyrcania, and partly by the whole isthmus which separates this sea from the Euxine, is situated the greater part of Armenia, Colchis,894 the whole of Cappadocia895 as far as the Euxine, and the Tibaranic nations.896 Further [west] is the country designated on this side the Halys,897 containing on the side of the Euxine and Propontis the Paphlagonians, Bithynians, Mysians, and Phrygia on the Hellespont, which comprehends the Troad; and on the side of the Ægæan and adjacent seas Æolia, Ionia, Caria, and Lycia. Inland is the Phrygia which contains that portion of Gallo-Græcia styled Galatia, Phrygia Epictetus,898 the Lycaonians, and the Lydians.

      32. Next these on this side the Taurus are the mountaineers of Paropamisus, and various tribes of Parthians, Medes, Armenians, Cilicians, with “the Lycaonians,”899 and Pisidians.900 After these mountaineers come the people dwelling beyond the Taurus. First amongst these is India, a nation greater and more flourishing than any other; they extend as far as the Eastern Sea901 and the southern part of the Atlantic. In the most southerly part of this sea opposite to India is situated the island of Taprobana,902 which is not less than Britain. Beyond India to the west, and leaving the mountains [of the Taurus] on the right, is a vast region, miserably inhabited, on account of the sterility of its soil, by men of different races, who are absolutely in a savage state. They are named Arians, and extend from the mountains to Gedrosia and Carmania.903 Beyond these towards the sea are the Persians,904 the Susians,905 and the Babylonians,906 situated along the Persian Gulf, besides several smaller neighbouring states. On the side of the mountains and amidst the mountains are the Parthians, the Medes, the Armenians, and the nations adjoining these, together with Mesopotamia.907 Beyond Mesopotamia are the countries on this side the Euphrates; viz. the whole of Arabia Felix, bounded by the entire Arabian and Persian Gulfs, together with the country of the Scenitæ and Phylarchi, who are situated along the Euphrates and in Syria. Beyond the Arabian Gulf and as far as the Nile dwell the Ethiopians908 and Arabians,909 and next these the Egyptians, Syrians, and Cilicians,910 both those styled Trachiotæ and others besides, and last of all the Pamphylians.911

       33. After Asia comes Libya, which adjoins Egypt and Ethiopia. The coast next us, from Alexandria almost to the Pillars, is in a straight line, with the exception of the Syrtes, the sinuosities of some moderately sized bays, and the projection of the promontories by which they are formed. The side next the ocean from Ethiopia up to a certain point is almost parallel to the former; but after this the southern portions become narrowed into a sharp peak, extending a little beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and giving to the country something the figure of a trapezium. Its appearance, both by the accounts of other writers, and also the description given to ourselves by Cnæus Piso, who was governor of this province, is that of a panther’s skin, being dotted over with habitations surrounded by parched and desert land: these habitations the Egyptians call Auases.912 This continent offers besides several other peculiarities, which may be

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