§115ΚΡΙ. καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐλεφάντων ἦν ἐν αὐτῇ γένος πλεῖστον· νομὴ γὰρ τοῖς τε ἄλλοις ζῴοις, ὅσα καθʼ ἕλη καὶ λίμνας καὶ ποταμούς, ὅσα τʼ αὖ κατʼ ὄρη καὶ ὅσα ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις νέμεται, σύμπασιν παρῆν ἅδην, καὶ τούτῳ κατὰ ταὐτὰ τῷ ζῴῳ, μεγίστῳ πεφυκότι καὶ πολυβορωτάτῳ.
Critias: And moreover, there was a very great number of elephants in it; for there was an abundant pasture for all other animals, both those that feed in marshes, lakes, and rivers, and those again on mountains and those in the plains, for all of them indeed in plenty, and likewise for this animal, which is by nature the largest and most voracious.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, ὅσα εὐώδη τρέφει που γῆ τὰ νῦν, ῥιζῶν ἢ χλόης ἢ ξύλων ἢ χυλῶν στακτῶν εἴτε ἀνθῶν ἢ καρπῶν, ἔφερέν τε ταῦτα καὶ ἔτρεφεν εὖ·
In addition to these things, whatever fragrant things the earth now produces anywhere, whether roots, or herbage, or woods, or dripping juices, or flowers, or fruits, it bore and nourished them well.
ἔτι δὲ τὸν ἥμερον καρπόν, τόν τε ξηρόν, ὃς ἡμῖν τῆς τροφῆς ἕνεκά ἐστιν, καὶ ὅσοις χάριν τοῦ σίτου προσχρώμεθα—καλοῦμεν δὲ αὐτοῦ τὰ μέρη σύμπαντα ὄσπρια—καὶ τὸν ὅσος ξύλινος, πώματα καὶ βρώματα καὶ ἀλείμματα φέρων, παιδιᾶς τε ὃς ἕνεκα ἡδονῆς τε γέγονε δυσθησαύριστος ἀκροδρύων καρπός, ὅσα τε παραμύθια πλησμονῆς μεταδόρπια ἀγαπητὰ κάμνοντι τίθεμεν, ἅπαντα ταῦτα ἡ τότε οὖσα ὑφʼ ἡλίῳ νῆσος ἱερὰ καλά τε καὶ θαυμαστὰ καὶ πλήθεσιν ἄπειρʼ ἔφερεν.
Furthermore, the cultivated fruit, both the dry kind which is for our food, and those which we use in addition for the sake of our meals—and we call all these parts together pulse—and that which is of a woody nature, providing drinks and foods and ointments, and the fruit of trees which was made for the sake of amusement and pleasure and is hard to store, and whatever fruits we offer as a welcome solace after a full meal for one who is weary—all these things that sacred island, then existing under the sun, bore beautiful and wondrous, and in infinite abundance.
ταῦτα οὖν λαμβάνοντες πάντα παρὰ τῆς γῆς κατεσκευάζοντο τά τε ἱερὰ καὶ τὰς βασιλικὰς οἰκήσεις καὶ τοὺς λιμένας καὶ τὰ νεώρια καὶ σύμπασαν τὴν ἄλλην χώραν, τοιᾷδʼ ἐν τάξει διακοσμοῦντες.
Receiving all these things, then, from the earth, they constructed the temples, the royal dwellings, the harbors, the docks, and all the rest of the country, arranging them in the following order.
τοὺς τῆς θαλάττης τροχούς, οἳ περὶ τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἦσαν μητρόπολιν, πρῶτον μὲν ἐγεφύρωσαν, ὁδὸν ἔξω καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ βασίλεια ποιούμενοι.
First of all, they bridged the rings of sea which were around the ancient mother-city, making a road to the outside and to the royal palace.
τὰ δὲ βασίλεια ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν προγόνων κατοικήσει κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἐποιήσαντο εὐθύς, ἕτερος δὲ παρʼ ἑτέρου δεχόμενος, κεκοσμημένα κοσμῶν, ὑπερεβάλλετο εἰς δύναμιν ἀεὶ τὸν ἔμπροσθεν, ἕως εἰς ἔκπληξιν μεγέθεσιν κάλλεσίν τε ἔργων ἰδεῖν τὴν οἴκησιν ἀπηργάσαντο.
And the royal palace they had built from the very beginning in this dwelling-place of the god and of their ancestors; and each receiving it from the other, and adorning what was already adorned, always surpassed the predecessor to the utmost of his power, until they made the dwelling-place a wonder to behold for its size and the beauty of its workmanship.
διώρυχα μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ἀρχόμενοι τρίπλεθρον τὸ πλάτος, ἑκατὸν δὲ ποδῶν βάθος, μῆκος δὲ πεντήκοντα σταδίων, ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξωτάτω τροχὸν συνέτρησαν, καὶ τὸν ἀνάπλουν ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ταύτῃ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ὡς εἰς λιμένα ἐποιήσαντο, διελόντες στόμα ναυσὶν ταῖς μεγίσταις ἱκανὸν εἰσπλεῖν.
For beginning from the sea, they dug a canal three plethra in width, a hundred feet in depth, and fifty stadia in length, leading to the outermost ring of sea, and made the passage up from the sea through this to that ring as if into a harbor, opening a mouth wide enough for the largest ships to sail in.
καὶ δὴ καὶ τοὺς τῆς γῆς τροχούς, οἳ τοὺς τῆς θαλάττης διεῖργον, κατὰ τὰς γεφύρας διεῖλον ὅσον μιᾷ τριήρει διέκπλουν εἰς ἀλλήλους, καὶ κατεστέγασαν ἄνωθεν ὥστε τὸν ὑπόπλουν κάτωθεν εἶναι· τὰ γὰρ τῶν τῆς γῆς τροχῶν χείλη βάθος εἶχεν ἱκανὸν ὑπερέχον τῆς θαλάττης.
Moreover, the rings of land which separated those of sea, they cut through at the bridges just enough for one trireme to sail through from one to another, and covered them over from above so that the passage underneath was below; for the banks of the rings of land possessed a height sufficient to rise above the sea.
ἦν δὲ ὁ μὲν μέγιστος τῶν τροχῶν, εἰς ὃν ἡ θάλαττα συνετέτρητο, τριστάδιος τὸ πλάτος, ὁ δʼ ἑξῆς τῆς γῆς ἴσος ἐκείνῳ· τοῖν δὲ δευτέροιν ὁ μὲν ὑγρὸς δυοῖν σταδίοιν πλάτος, ὁ δὲ ξηρὸς ἴσος αὖ πάλιν τῷ πρόσθεν ὑγρῷ· σταδίου δὲ ὁ περὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ἐν μέσῳ νῆσον περιθέων.
And the largest of the rings, into which the sea had been let, was three stadia in width, and the next ring of land was equal to it; and of the second pair, the watery one was two stadia in width, and the dry one was again equal to the preceding watery one; and of one stadium was the ring that ran around the island itself in the middle.