§1Τῆς Λιβύης τὰ νότια ψάμμος ἐστὶν βαθεῖα καὶ γῆ διακεκαυμένη, ἔρημος ἐπὶ πολύ, ἀκριβῶς ἄκαρπος, πεδινὴ ἅπασα, οὐ χλόην οὐ πόαν οὐ φυτὸν οὐχ ὕδωρ ἔχουσα, ἢ εἴ που ἄρα ἐν κοίλοις συνεστηκὸς ὑετοῦ ὀλίγου λείψανον, παχὺ καὶ τοῦτο καὶ δυσῶδες, οὐδὲ πάνυ διψῶντι ἀνθρώπῳ πότιμον.
The southern parts of Libya are deep sand and parched land, largely desert, utterly barren, entirely flat, having neither grass nor herb nor plant nor water, or if by chance there is in some hollows a standing remnant of a little rain, even this is thick and foul-smelling, not at all drinkable even for a very thirsty man.
ἀοίκητος γοῦν ἐστι διὰ ταῦτα· ἢ πῶς γὰρ ἂν οἰκοῖτο ἀνήμερος οὕτω καὶ ξηρὰ καὶ ἄφορος οὖσα καὶ πολλῷ τῷ αὐχμῷ πιεζομένη;
At any rate, it is uninhabitable because of these things; for how indeed could it be inhabited, being so wild and dry and barren, and oppressed by such great drought?
καὶ τὸ θάλπος δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ κομιδῇ πυρώδης καὶ φλογερὸς ὢν καὶ ἡ ψάμμος ὑπερζέουσα παντελῶς ἄβατον τὴν χώραν τίθησι.
And indeed, the heat itself, and the air which is altogether fiery and burning, and the boiling sand make the country completely impassable.
§2Γαράμαντες μόνοι πρόσοικοι ὄντες, εὐσταλὲς καὶ κοῦφον ἔθνος, ἄνθρωποι σκηνῖται, ἀπὸ θήρας τὰ πολλὰ ζῶντες, ἐνίοτε οὗτοι ἐσβάλλουσι θηράσοντες ἀμφὶ τροπὰς τὰς χειμερινὰς μάλιστα, ὕσαντα τὸν θεὸν τηρήσαντες, ὁπότε τὸ πολὺ τοῦ καύματος σβεσθείη καὶ ἡ ψάμμος νοτισθείη καὶ ἀμηγέπη βατὰ γένοιτο.
The Garamantes alone, being neighbors, an active and light-armed nation, tent-dwelling people, living for the most part by hunting, sometimes invade these parts to hunt, especially around the winter solstices, having waited for the god to rain, when the great heat has been quenched, the sand moistened, and it becomes somehow passable.
ἡ θήρα δέ ἐστιν ὄνων τε τῶν ἀγρίων καὶ στρουθῶν τῶν μεγάλων χαμαὶ τούτων καὶ πιθήκων μάλιστα καὶ ἐλεφάντων ἐνίοτε· ταῦτα γὰρ μόνα διαρκεῖ πρὸς τὸ δίψος καὶ ἀνέχεται ἐπὶ πολὺ ταλαιπωρούμενα ὑπὸ πολλῷ καὶ ὀξεῖ τῷ ἡλίῳ.
And their hunt is of wild asses, and of those large ostriches on the ground, and especially of monkeys, and sometimes of elephants; for these animals alone endure the thirst and hold out for a long time under hardship beneath the great and sharp sun.
καὶ ὅμως οἱ Γαράμαντες ἐπειδὰν τὰ σιτία καταναλώσωσιν ἅπερ ἔχοντες ἀφίκοντο, ἀπελαύνουσιν ὀπίσω εὐθὺς δεδιότες μὴ σφίσιν ἡ ψάμμος ἀναφλεγεῖσα δύσβατος καὶ ἄπορος γένηται, εἶτα ὥσπερ ἐντὸς ἀρκύων ληφθέντες καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀπόλωνται μετὰ τῆς ἄγρας.
And yet, as soon as the Garamantes have consumed the provisions which they brought with them, they immediately ride back, fearing lest the sand, catching fire, should become impassable and impossible to cross, and they themselves, caught as if in nets, should perish along with their prey.
ἄφυκτα γάρ ἐστιν ἢν ὁ ἥλιος ἀνασπάσας τὴν ἰκμάδα καὶ τάχιστα ξηράνας τὴν χώραν ὑπερζέσῃ, ἀκμαιοτέραν τὴν ἀκτῖνα προσβαλὼν ἅτε πρὸς τὴν νοτίδα παρατεθηγμένην· τροφὴ γὰρ αὕτη τῷ πυρί.
For escape is impossible if the sun, drawing up the moisture and drying the land very quickly, boils over, casting down a sharper ray as if it were sharpened against the moisture; for this is food for the fire.
§3Καίτοι ταῦτα πάντα ὁπόσα εἶπον—τὸ θάλπος, τὸ δίψος, ἡ ἐρημία, τὸ μηδὲν ἔχειν ἐκ τῆς γῆς λαβεῖν—ἧττον ὑμῖν δυσχερῆ εἶναι δόξει τοῦ λεχθησομένου, καὶ δι’ ὃ φευκτέα πάντως ἡ χώρα ἐκείνη.
Yet all these things which I have mentioned—the heat, the thirst, the solitude, the having nothing to get from the land—will seem to you less troublesome than what is about to be told, and because of which that land must by all means be avoided.
ἑρπετὰ γὰρ ποικίλα μεγέθει τε μέγιστα καὶ πλήθει πάμπολλα καὶ τὰς μορφὰς ἀλλόκοτα καὶ τὸν ἰὸν ἄμαχα ἐπινέμεται τὴν γῆν, τὰ μὲν ὑποβρύχια, φωλεύοντα ἐν μυχῷ τῆς ψάμμου, τὰ δὲ ἄνω ἐπιπολάζοντα—φύσαλοι καὶ ἀσπίδες καὶ ἔχιδναι καὶ κεράσται καὶ βουπρήστεις καὶ ἀκοντίαι καὶ ἀμφίσβαιναι καὶ δράκοντες καὶ σκορπίων γένος διττόν, τὸ μὲν ἕτερον ἐπίγειόν τι καὶ πεζόν, ὑπέρμεγα καὶ πολυσφόνδυλον, θάτερον δὲ ἐναέριον καὶ πτηνόν, ὑμενόπτερον δὲ οἷα ταῖς ἀκρίσι καὶ τέττιξι καὶ νυκτερίσι τὰ πτερά.
For various reptiles, greatest in size, very many in number, strange in their shapes, and irresistible in their venom, infest the land, some under the surface, lurking in the depths of the sand, and others remaining on top—puff-adders, asps, vipers, horned vipers, buprestises, dart-snakes, amphisbaenae, dragons, and two kinds of scorpions, one terrestrial and walking, huge and many-jointed, the other aerial and flying, with membranous wings like those of locusts, cicadas, and bats.
τοιαῦτα ὄρνεα πολλὰ ἐπιπετόμενα οὐκ εὐπρόσιτον ἀπεργάζεται τὴν Λιβύην ἐκείνην.
Many such creatures flying about make that part of Libya hard to approach.
§4Τὸ δὲ δὴ πάντων ἑρπετῶν δεινότατον ὧν ἡ ψάμμος τρέφει ἡ διψάς ἐστιν, ὄφις οὐ πάνυ μέγας, ἐχίδνῃ ὅμοιος, τὸ δῆγμα βίαιος, τὸν ἰὸν παχύς, ὀδύνας μὲν ἀλήκτους ἐπάγων εὐθύς· ἐκκαίει τε γὰρ καὶ σήπει καὶ πίμπρασθαι ποιεῖ, καὶ βοῶσιν ὥσπερ ἐν πυρᾷ κείμενοι.
But indeed, the most terrible of all the reptiles which the sand nourishes is the dipsas, a snake not very large, similar to a viper, violent in its bite, thick in its venom, bringing endless pains immediately; for it burns up, rots, and causes swelling, and they cry out as if lying on a funeral pyre.
τὸ δὲ μάλιστα καταπονοῦν καὶ κατατρῦχον αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖνό ἐστιν, ὁμώνυμον πάθος τῷ ἑρπετῷ.
And that which especially distresses and wears them out is this: a suffering homonymous with the reptile.
διψῶσι γὰρ εἰς ὑπερβολήν, καὶ τὸ παραδοξότατον, ὅσῳπερ ἂν πίνωσι, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ὀρέγονται τοῦ ποτοῦ· καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία πολὺ πλέον ἐπιτείνεται αὐτοῖς.
For they thirst to excess, and what is most paradoxical, the more they drink, the more they desire the drink; and their desire is intensified much more.
οὐδ’ ἂν σβέσειάς ποτε τὸ δίψος, οὐδ’ ἢν τὸν Νεῖλον αὐτὸν ἢ τὸν Ἴστρον ὅλον ἐκπιεῖν παράσχῃς, ἀλλὰ προσεκκαύσειας ἐπάρδων τὴν νόσον, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις ἐλαίῳ πῦρ κατασβεννύοι.
Nor could you ever quench the thirst, not even if you should provide them to drink the Nile itself or the whole Danube, but you would burn them up further by watering the disease, just as if someone were trying to quench fire with oil.