§3.54.1ἐκ δὲ ταύτης ὁρμωμένας ἐγχειρῆσαι μεγάλαις ἐπιβολαῖς, ὁρμῆς αὐταῖς ἐμπεσούσης ἐπελθεῖν πολλὰ μέρη τῆς οἰκουμένης.
And setting out from this city, they say that they undertook great enterprises, a desire having fallen upon them to overrun many parts of the inhabited world.
ἐπὶ πρώτους δʼ αὐτὰς στρατεῦσαι λέγεται τοὺς Ἀτλαντίους, ἄνδρας ἡμερωτάτους τῶν ἐν τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις καὶ χώραν νεμομένους εὐδαίμονα καὶ πόλεις μεγάλας· παρʼ οἷς δὴ μυθολογεῖσθαί φασι τὴν τῶν θεῶν γένεσιν ὑπάρξαι πρὸς τοῖς κατὰ τὸν ὠκεανὸν τόποις, συμφώνως τοῖς παρʼ Ἕλλησι μυθολόγοις, περὶ ὧν τὰ κατὰ μέρος μικρὸν ὕστερον διέξιμεν.
And it is said that they campaigned first against the Atlantians, men who were the most civilized of those in those places and who inhabited a fertile land and large cities; among whom indeed they say it is mythologized that the birth of the gods occurred near the places by the ocean, in agreement with the mythologists among the Greeks, concerning which things we shall relate in detail a little later.
§3.54.2τῶν οὖν Ἀμαζόνων λέγεται βασιλεύουσαν Μύριναν συστήσασθαι στρατόπεδον πεζῶν μὲν τρισμυρίων, ἱππέων δὲ τρισχιλίων, ζηλουμένης παρʼ αὐταῖς περιττότερον ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ἱππέων χρείας.
Now Myrina, being queen of the Amazons, is said to have assembled an army of thirty thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry, since the usefulness of cavalry was exceptionally zealously pursued among them in wars.
§3.54.3ὅπλοις δὲ χρῆσθαι σκεπαστηρίοις ὄφεων μεγάλων δοραῖς, ἐχούσης τῆς Λιβύης ταῦτα τὰ ζῷα τοῖς μεγέθεσιν ἄπιστα, ἀμυντηρίοις δὲ ξίφεσι καὶ λόγχαις, ἔτι δὲ τόξοις, οἷς μὴ μόνον ἐξ ἐναντίας βάλλειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὰς φυγὰς τοὺς ἐπιδιώκοντας εἰς τοὐπίσω τοξεύειν εὐστόχως.
And they used for defensive weapons the skins of large snakes, since Libya has these animals of unbelievable sizes, and for offensive weapons swords and lances, and also bows, with which they not only shot from opposite, but also during retreats they shot backward accurately at those pursuing them.
§3.54.4ἐμβαλούσας δʼ αὐτὰς εἰς τὴν τῶν Ἀτλαντίων χώραν τοὺς μὲν τὴν Κέρνην καλουμένην οἰκοῦντας παρατάξει νικῆσαι, καὶ συνεισπεσούσας τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἐντὸς τῶν τειχῶν κυριεῦσαι τῆς πόλεως· βουλομένας δὲ τῷ φόβῳ καταπλήξασθαι τοὺς περιοίκους ὠμῶς προσενεχθῆναι τοῖς ἁλοῦσι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄνδρας ἡβηδὸν ἀποσφάξαι, τέκνα δὲ καὶ γυναῖκας ἐξανδραποδισαμένας κατασκάψαι τὴν πόλιν.
And when they invaded the territory of the Atlantians, they defeated in a pitched battle those who inhabited the city called Cerne, and rushing inside the walls along with those who fled, they made themselves masters of the city; and wishing to strike terror into the neighboring peoples, they treated those who were captured savagely, and slaughtered the men from youth upward, and having enslaved the children and women, they razed the city.
§3.54.5τῆς δὲ περὶ τοὺς Κερναίους συμφορᾶς διαδοθείσης εἰς τοὺς ὁμοεθνεῖς, λέγεται τοὺς μὲν Ἀτλαντίους καταπλαγέντας δι’ ὁμολογίας παραδοῦναι τὰς πόλεις καὶ πᾶν τὸ προσταχθὲν ποιήσειν ἐπαγγείλασθαι, τὴν δὲ βασίλισσαν Μύριναν ἐπιεικῶς αὐτοῖς προσενεχθεῖσαν φιλίαν τε συνθέσθαι καὶ πόλιν ἀντὶ τῆς κατασκαφείσης ὁμώνυμον ἑαυτῆς κτίσαι· κατοικίσαι δʼ εἰς αὐτὴν τούς τε αἰχμαλώτους καὶ τῶν ἐγχωρίων τὸν βουλόμενον.
And when the disaster concerning the inhabitants of Cerne was spread abroad among those of the same nation, it is said that the Atlantians, being terrified, surrendered their cities by agreement and promised that they would do everything that was commanded, and that Myrina the queen, having treated them with moderation, both concluded a friendship and founded a city of the same name as herself in place of the one that had been razed; and she settled in it both the captives and anyone of the inhabitants who wished.
§3.54.6μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν Ἀτλαντίων δῶρά τε μεγαλοπρεπῆ δόντων αὐτῇ καὶ τιμὰς ἀξιολόγους κοινῇ ψηφισαμένων, ἀποδέξασθαί τε τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν αὐτῶν καὶ προσεπαγγείλασθαι τὸ ἔθνος εὐεργετήσειν.
After this, when the Atlantians gave magnificent gifts to her and voted noteworthy honors to her in common, she accepted their kindness and further promised that she would benefit the nation.
§3.54.7τῶν δʼ ἐγχωρίων πεπολεμημένων πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῶν ὀνομαζομένων Γοργόνων, οὐσῶν πλησιοχώρων, καὶ τὸ σύνολον ἔφεδρον ἐχόντων τοῦτο τὸ ἔθνος, φασὶν ἀξιωθεῖσαν τὴν Μύριναν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀτλαντίων ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν χώραν τῶν προειρημένων.
And since the inhabitants had been warred upon many times by those called Gorgons, who were neighbors, and had this nation entirely as an enemy lying in wait for them, they say that Myrina, having been requested by the Atlantians, invaded the territory of the aforementioned.
ἀντιταξαμένων δὲ τῶν Γοργόνων γενέσθαι καρτερὰν μάχην, καὶ τὰς Ἀμαζόνας ἐπὶ τοῦ προτερήματος γενομένας ἀνελεῖν μὲν τῶν ἀντιταχθεισῶν παμπληθεῖς, ζωγρῆσαι δʼ οὐκ ἐλάττους τρισχιλίων· τῶν δʼ ἄλλων εἴς τινα δρυμώδη τόπον συμφυγουσῶν ἐπιβαλέσθαι μὲν τὴν Μύριναν ἐμπρῆσαι τὴν ὕλην, σπεύδουσαν ἄρδην ἀνελεῖν τὸ ἔθνος, οὐ δυνηθεῖσαν δὲ κρατῆσαι τῆς ἐπιβολῆς ἐπανελθεῖν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρους τῆς χώρας.
And when the Gorgons drew up their forces against them, a fierce battle took place, and the Amazons, gaining the upper hand, slew a great multitude of those arrayed against them, and took alive no fewer than three thousand; and when the rest fled together into a certain wooded place, Myrina attempted to set fire to the forest, being eager to destroy the nation utterly; but not being able to succeed in her enterprise, she returned to the borders of the country.