§1.14#2ἀλλὰ τούτου τὴν σἰτίαν οὐ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου γένεσιν οἴεσθαι χρή· γελοῖον γὰρ διὰ μικρὰς καὶ ἀκαριαίας μεταβολὰς κινεῖν τὸ πᾶν, ὁ δὲ τῆς γῆς ὄγκος καὶ τὸ μέγεθος οὐδέν ἐστι δή που πρὸς τὸν ὅλον οὐρανόν·
But we must not think that the cause of this is the generation of the cosmos; for it is ridiculous to move the whole because of small and momentary changes, and the volume and size of the earth is surely nothing in comparison with the whole heaven.
ἀλλὰ πάντων τούτων αἴτιον ὑποληπτέον ὅτι γίγνεται διὰ χρόνων εἱμαρμένων, οἷον ἐν ταῖς κατ᾿ ἐνιαυτὸν ὥραις χειμών, οὕτως περιόδου τινὸς μεγάλης μέγας χειμὼν καὶ ὑπερβολὴ ὄμβρων.
Rather, we must assume the cause of all these things to be that they happen through destined periods of time, just as there is winter in the seasons of the year, so too a great winter and excess of rain in some great period.
αὕτη δὲ οὐκ ἀεὶ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς τόπους, ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ ὁ καλούμενος ἐπὶ Δευκαλίωνος κατακλυσμός· καὶ γὰρ οὗτος περὶ τὸν Ἑλληνικὸν ἐγένετο τόπον μάλιστα, καὶ τούτου περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τὴν ἀρχαίαν.
And this does not always happen in the same places, but just as the so-called flood in the time of Deucalion; for this indeed happened especially about the Greek country, and of this especially about ancient Hellas.
αὕτη δ᾿ ἐστὶν ἡ περὶ Δωδώνην καὶ τὸν Ἀχελῷον· οὗτος γὰρ πολλαχοῦ τὸ ῥεῦμα μεταβέβληκεν· ᾤκουν γὰρ οἱ Σελλοὶ ἐνταῦθα καὶ οἱ καλούμενοι τότε μὲν Γραικοὶ νῦν δ᾿ Ἕλληνες.
And this is the region about Dodona and the Achelous; for this river has changed its stream in many places; for the Selli used to dwell there and those who were then called Graeci but now Hellenes.
ὅταν οὖν γένηται τοιαύτη ὑπερβολὴ ὄμβρων, νομίζειν χρὴ ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον διαρκεῖν, καὶ ὥσπερ νῦν τοῦ ἀενάους εἶναί τινας τῶν ποταμῶν τοὺς δὲ μὴ οἱ μέν φασιν αἴτιον εἶναι τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ὑπὸ γῆς χασμάτων, ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ὑψηλῶν τόπων καὶ τὴν πυκνότητα καὶ ψυχρότητα αὐτῶν (οὗτοι γὰρ πλεῖστον καὶ δέχονται ὕδωρ καὶ στέγουσιν καὶ ποιοῦσιν· ὅσοις δὲ μικραὶ αἱ ἐπικρεμάμεναναι τῶν ὁρῶν συστάσεις ἢ σομφαὶ καὶ λιθώδεις καὶ ἀργιλώδεις, τούτους δὲ προαπολείπειν), οὕτως οἴεσθαι δεῖν τότε, ἐν οἶς ἄν γένηται ἡ τοιαύτη τοῦ ὑγροῦ φορά, οἷον ἀενάους ποιεῖν τὰς ὑγρότητας τῶν τόπων μᾶλλον.
When therefore such an excess of rain happens, we must think that it lasts for a long time, and just as now some say that the cause of some rivers being perennial and others not is the size of the chasms beneath the earth, while we say it is the size of the high places and their density and coldness (for these indeed receive, contain, and produce the most water; whereas in those places where the gatherings of the mountains hanging over them are small or porous, stony, and clayey, the rivers fail beforehand), so we must think then, in whichever places such a flow of moisture happens, it makes, as it were, the dampness of those places more perennial.
τῷ χρόνῳ δὲ ταῦτα ηραίνεται γιγνόμενα μᾶλλον, θάτερα δʼ ἐλάττω τὰ ἔφυὅρα, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ πάλιν ἡ καταβολὴ τῆς περιόδου τῆς αὐτῆς.
But in time these places become drier, and the other parts which were wet become less so, until the return of the beginning of the same period.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἀνάγκη τοῦ ὅλου γίγνεσθαι μέν τινα μεταβολήν, μμἡ μέντοι γένεσιν καὶ φθοράν, εἴπερ μένει τὸ πᾶν, ἀνάγκη, καθάπερ ἡμεῖς λέγομεν, μἡ τούς αὐτούς ἀεὶ τόπους ὑγρούς τʼ εἶναι θαλάττῃ καὶ ποταμοῖς καὶ ξηρούς.
And since it is necessary that some change of the whole should happen, yet not indeed generation and corruption, if indeed the universe remains, it is necessary, just as we say, that the same places should not always be wet with sea and rivers, and others dry.
δηλοῖ δὲ τὸ γιγνόμενον· οὖς γάρ φαμεν ἀρχαιοτάτους εἶναι τῶν ἀνθρώπων Αἰγυπτίους, τούτων ἡ χώρα πᾶσα γεγονυῖα φαίνεται καὶ οὖσα τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἔργον.
And what happens shows this; for those whom we say are the oldest of men, the Egyptians, of these the whole country appears to have become and to be the work of the river.
καὶ τοῦτο κατά τε τὴν χώραν αὐτὴν ὁρῶντι δῆλὸν ἐστιν, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν ἐρυθρὰν θάλατταν τεκμήριον ἱκανὸν· ταύτην γὰρ τῶν βασιλέων τις ἐπειράθη διορύττειν (οὐ γὰρ μικρὰς εἶχεν ἂν αὐτοῖς ὡφελείας πλωτὸς πᾶς ὁ τόπος γενόμενος· λέγεται δὲ πρῶτος Σέσωστρις ἐγχειρῆσαι τῶν παλαιῶν), ἀλλʼ εὖρεν ὑψηλοτέραν οὖσαν τὴν θάλατταν τῆς γῆς· διὸ ἐκεῖνός τε πρότερον καὶ Δαρεῖος ὕστερον ἐπαύσατο διορύττων, ὅπως μὴ διαφθαρῇ τὸ ῥεῦμα τοῦ ποταμοῦ συμμιγείσης τῆς θαλάττης.
And this is clear to anyone looking at the country itself, and the things about the Red Sea are a sufficient proof; for one of the kings tried to dig through this (for the whole place being navigable would have had no small benefit for them; and Sesostris is said to have been the first of the ancient ones to attempt it), but he found the sea higher than the land; wherefore both he formerly and Darius later ceased digging, so that the stream of the river might not be corrupted by the sea being mixed with it.
φανερὸν οὖν ὅτι θάλαττα πάντα μία ταύτῃ συνεχὴς ἦν.
It is clear then that all the sea was one continuous body in this part.
διὸ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν Λιβύην τὴν Ἀμμμωνίαν χώραν ταπεινότερα φαίνεται καὶ κοιλότερα παρὰ λόγον τῆς κάτωθεν χώρας· δῆλον γὰρ ὡς ἐγχώσεως μὲν γενομένης ἐγένοντο λίμναι καὶ χέρσος, χρόνου δὲ γενομένου τὸ ἐναπολειφθὲν καὶ λιμνάσαν ὕδωρ ξηρανθέν ἐστιν ἤδη φροῦδον.
Wherefore also the parts about the Ammonium region of Libya appear lower and more hollow, contrary to expectation, than the lower country; for it is clear that when silting happened, lakes and dry land were formed, but as time passed, the water which was left behind and formed a lake, having dried up, is now gone.
ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν Μαιῶτιν λίμνην ἐπιδέδωκε τῇ προσχώσει τῶν ποταμῶν τοσοῦτον, ὥστε πολλῷ ἐλάττω μεγέθει πλοῖα νῦν εἰσπλεῖν πρὸς τὴν ἐργασίαν ἢ ἔτος ἑξηκοστὸν· ὥστε ἐκ τούτου ῥᾴδιον ἀναλογίσασθαι ὅτι καὶ τὸ πρῶτον, ὥσπερ αἱ πολλαὶ τῶν λιμνῶν, καὶ αὕτη ἔργον ἐστὶ τῶν ποταμῶν, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον πᾶσαν ἀνάγκη γενέσθαι ξηράν.
Moreover, the parts about Lake Maeotis have so much increased by the silting of the rivers that vessels of much smaller size now sail in for trade than sixty years ago; so that from this it is easy to infer that at first, like most of the lakes, this too was the work of the rivers, and at last it must all become dry.
ἔτι δὲ ὁ Βόσπορος ἀεὶ μὲν ῥεῖ διὰ τὸ προσχοῦσθαι, καὶ ἔστιν ἔτι ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς ὄμμασιν ἰδεῖν ὅν τινα συμβαίνει τρόπον· ὅτε γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀσίας ᾐόνα ποιήσειεν ὁ ῥοῦς, τὸ ὄπισθεν λίμνη ἐγίγνετο μικρὰ τὸ πρῶτον, εἶτʼ ἐξηράνθη ἄν, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἄλλη ἡ ἀπὸ ταύτης ῆών, καὶ λίμνη ἀπὸ ταύτης· καὶ τοῦτο ἀεὶ οὕτως συνέβαινεν ὁμοίως· τούτου δὲ γιγνομένου πολλάκις ἀνάγκη χρόνου προϊντος ὥσπερ ποταμὸν γενέσθαι, τέλος δὲ καὶ τοῦτον ξηρόν.
And further, the Bosporus always flows because of being silted up, and it is still possible to see with one's own eyes in what manner this happens; for when the stream made a shore from Asia, the part behind became a small lake at first, then it dried up, and after this another shore from this, and a lake from that; and this always happened in like manner; and this happening many times, it must in course of time become like a river, and at last this too must become dry.
φανερὸν τοίνυν, ἐπεὶ ὅ τε χρόνος οὐχ ὑπολείψει καὶ τὸ ὅλον ἀἱδιον, ὅτι οὔτε ὁ Τάναϊς οὔτε ὁ Νεῖλος ἀεὶ ἔρρει, ἀλλʼ ἦν ποτε ξηρὸς ὁ τόπος ὅθεν ῥέουσιν· τὸ γὰρ ἔργον ἔχει αὐτῶν πέρας, ὁ δὲ χρόνος οὐκ ἔχει.
It is clear therefore, since time will not fail and the whole is eternal, that neither the Tanais nor the Nile always flowed, but the place whence they flow was once dry; for their work has a limit, but time has not.
ὁμοίως δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁρμόδσει ποταμῶν λέγειν.
And in like manner it will be fitting to say this also about other rivers.
ἀλλὰ μὴν εἴπερ καὶ οἱ ποταμοὶ γίγνονται καὶ φθείρονται καὶ μὴ ἀεὶ οἱ αὐτοὶ τόποι τῆς γῆς ἕνυδροι, καὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἀνάγκη μεταβάλλειν ὁμοίως.
Moreover, if indeed rivers are generated and decay, and the same places of the earth are not always wet, the sea also must change in like manner.
τῆς δὲ θαλάττης τὰ μὲν ἀπολειπούσης τὰ δʼ ἐπιούσης ἀεὶ φανερὸν ὅτι τῆς πάσης γῆς οὐκ ἀεὶ τὰ αὐτὰ τὰ μέν ἐστιν θάλαττα τὰ δʼ ἢπειρος, ἀλλὰ μεταβάλλει τῷ χρόνῳ πάντα.
And of the sea, some parts always receding and others encroaching, it is clear that the same parts of the whole earth are not always sea and others continent, but all change with time.
διότι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἀεὶ ταὐτὰ οὔτε χερσείύει τῆς γῆς οὔτε πλωτὰ ἐστιν, καὶ διὰ τίνʼ αἰτίαν ταῦτα συμβαίνει, εἴρηται· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ διὰ τὶ οἱ μὲν ἀέναοι οἱ δʼ οὔ τῶν ποταμῶν εἰσιν.
Why therefore the same parts of the earth are not always dry nor navigable, and through what cause these things happen, has been said; and in like manner also why some of the rivers are perennial and others not.