§16.2.42̔η δὲ Σιρβωνὶς λίμνη πολλὴ μέν ἐστι· καὶ γὰρ χιλίων σταδίων εἰρήκασί τινες τὸν κύκλον·
The Sirbonian Lake is large; indeed, some have said that its circumference is one thousand stadia.
τῇ μέντοι παραλίᾳ παρεκτέταται μικρῷ τι πλέον τῶν διακοσίων σταδίων μῆκος ἐπιλαμβάνουσα, ἀγχιβαθής, βαρύτατον ἔχουσα ὕδωρ, ὥστε μὴ δεῖν κολύμβου, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐμβάντα καὶ μέχρι ὀμφαλοῦ εὐθὺς ἐξαίρεσθαι·
However, it extends along the coast for a length of slightly more than two hundred stadia, being deep near the shore, and having very heavy water, so that there is no need of swimming, but anyone who enters, even as far as the navel, is immediately buoyed up.
μεστὴ δʼ ἐστὶν ἀσφάλτου·
And it is full of asphalt.
αὕτη δὲ ἀναφυσᾶται κατὰ καιροὺς ἀτάκτους ἐκ μέσου τοῦ βάθους μετὰ πομφολύγων ὡς ἂν ζέοντος ὕδατος· κυρτουμένη δʼ ἡ ἐπιφάνεια λόφου φαντασίαν παρέχει·
This is blown up at irregular intervals from the midst of the deep with bubbles, as though of boiling water; and when the surface swells, it presents the appearance of a hill.
συναναφέρεται δὲ καὶ ἄσβολος πολλή, καπνώδης μὲν πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὄψιν ἄδηλος, ὑφʼ ἧς κατιοῦται καὶ χαλκὸς καὶ ἄργυρος καὶ πᾶν τὸ στιλπνὸν μέχρι καὶ χρυσοῦ·
A large amount of soot is also brought up with it, which is smoky but invisible to the sight, by which copper, silver, and everything shiny, even down to gold, is tarnished.
ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ κατιοῦσθαι τὰ σκεύη γνωρίζουσιν οἱ περιοικοῦντες ἀρχομένην τὴν ἀναβολὴν τοῦ ἀσφάλτου, καὶ παρασκευάζονται πρὸς τὴν μεταλλείαν αὐτοῦ, ποιησάμενοι σχεδίας καλαμίνας.
From the tarnishing of their vessels, the surrounding inhabitants know that the rise of the asphalt is beginning, and they prepare for its extraction, having made rafts of reeds.
ἔστι δʼ ἡ ἄσφαλτος γῆς βῶλος, ὑγραινομένη μὲν ὑπὸ θερμοῦ καὶ ἀναφυσωμένη καὶ διαχεομένη, πάλιν δὲ μεταβάλλουσα εἰς πάγον ἰσχυρὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ ὕδατος, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ τῆς λίμνης ὕδωρ, ὥστε τομῆς καὶ κοπῆς δεῖσθαι·
Asphalt is a clod of earth, liquefied by heat, blown up, and dispersed, but changing back into a strong solid under the influence of cold water, such as is the water of the lake, so that there is need of cutting and chopping it.
εἶτʼ ἐπιπολάζουσα διὰ τὴν φύσιν τοῦ ὕδατος, καθʼ ἣν ἔφαμεν μηδὲ κολύμβου δεῖσθαι, μηδὲ βαπτίζεσθαι τὸν ἐμβάντα ἀλλʼ ἐξαίρεσθαι· προσπλεύσαντες δὲ ταῖς σχεδίαις κόπτουσι καὶ φέρονται τῆς ἀσφάλτου ὅσον ἕκαστος δύναται.
Then, floating on the surface because of the nature of the water, owing to which we said there is no need of swimming, and anyone who enters is not submerged but buoyed up, they sail up to it on their rafts, chop it, and carry away as much of the asphalt as each is able.
§16.2.43τὸ μὲν οὖν συμβαῖνον τοιοῦτον·
Such, then, is the occurrence.
γόητας δὲ ὄντας σκήπτεσθαί φησιν ἐπῳδὰς ὁ Ποσειδώνιος τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ οὖρα καὶ ἄλλα δυσώδη ὑγρά, ἃ περικαταχέαντας καὶ ἐκπιάσαντας πήττειν τὴν ἄσφαλτον, εἶτα τέμνειν· εἰ μή τίς ἐστιν ἐπιτηδειότης τῶν οὔρων τοιαύτη, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς κύστεσι τῶν λιθιώντων, καὶ ἐκ τῶν παιδικῶν οὔρων ἡ χρυσόκολλα συνίσταται·
But Posidonius says that the people, being sorcerers, pretend that they use incantations, as well as urine and other smelly liquids, which they pour over and squeeze out to make the asphalt solidify, and then they cut it—unless there is some such affinity of urine, just as in the bladders of those who have stones, and chrysocolla is composed from the urine of children.
ἐν μέσῃ δὲ τῇ λίμνῃ τὸ πάθος συμβαίνειν εὔλογον, ὅτι καὶ ἡ πηγὴ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τῆς ἀσφάλτου κατὰ μέσον ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ πλῆθος·
It is reasonable that this phenomenon occurs in the middle of the lake, because the source of the fire and the asphalt is in the middle, as well as the bulk of it.
ἄτακτος δὲ ἡ ἀναφύσησις, ὅτι καὶ ἡ τοῦ πυρὸς κίνησις οὐκ ἔχει τάξιν ἡμῖν φανεράν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλων πνευμάτων πολλῶν.
And the eruption is irregular, because the movement of the fire has no order visible to us, just as is the case with many other vapors.
τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐν Ἀπολλωνίᾳ τῇ Ἠπειρώτιδι.
Such also are the phenomena in Apollonia in Epirus.
§16.2.44τοῦ δʼ ἔμπυρον τὴν χώραν εἶναι καὶ ἄλλα τεκμήρια φέρουσι πολλά·
And they bring many other proofs of the country being fiery.
καὶ γὰρ πέτρας τινὰς ἐπικεκαυμένας δεικνύουσι τραχείας περὶ Μοασάδα καὶ σήραγγας πολλαχοῦ καὶ γῆν τεφρώδη, σταγόνας τε πίττης ἐκ λισσάδων λειβομένας καὶ δυσώδεις πόρρωθεν ποταμοὺς ζέοντας, κατοικίας τε ἀνατετραμμένας σποράδην·
For they show certain burnt, rugged rocks around Moasada, and fissures in many places, and ashy soil, and drops of pitch trickling from smooth cliffs, and boiling rivers that smell bad from afar, and dwellings overthrown here and there.
ὥστε πιστεύειν τοῖς θρυλουμένοις ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων, ὡς ἄρα ᾠκοῦντό ποτε τρισκαίδεκα πόλεις ἐνταῦθα, ὧν τῆς μητροπόλεως Σοδόμων σώζοιτο κύκλος ἑξήκοντά που σταδίων·
So that people believe the stories current among the inhabitants, that once thirteen cities were inhabited here, of which the metropolis, Sodom, had a circumference of about sixty stadia still preserved.
ὑπὸ δὲ σεισμῶν καὶ ἀναφυσημάτων πυρὸς καὶ θερμῶν ὑδάτων ἀσφαλτωδῶν τε καὶ θειωδῶν ἡ λίμνη προπέσοι καὶ πέτραι πυρίληπτοι γένοιντο, αἵ τε πόλεις αἳ μὲν καταποθεῖεν, ἃς δʼ ἐκλίποιεν οἱ δυνάμενοι φυγεῖν.
But by earthquakes and eruptions of fire and hot asphaltic and sulfurous waters, the lake burst forth and the rocks caught fire, and some of the cities were swallowed up, while others were abandoned by those who were able to flee.
Ἐρατοσθένης δέ φησι τἀναντία, λιμναζούσης τῆς χώρας ἐκρήγμασιν ἀνακαλυφθῆναι τὴν πλείστην, καθάπερ τὴν Θετταλίαν.
Eratosthenes, however, says the contrary, that the land being marshy, most of it was uncovered by outbreaks, just as Thessaly was.
§16.2.45ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Γαδαρίδι ὕδωρ μοχθηρὸν λιμναῖον, οὗ τὰ γευσάμενα κτήνη τρίχας καὶ ὁπλὰς καὶ κέρατα ἀποβάλλει.
There is also in the territory of Gadara extremely bad lake-water, of which the beasts that taste it lose hair, hoofs, and horns.
ἐν δὲ ταῖς καλουμέναις ταριχείαις ἡ λίμνη μὲν ταριχείας ἰχθύων ἀστείας παρέχει, φύει δὲ δένδρα καρποφόρα μηλέαις ἐμφερῆ·
And in the place called Taricheae, the lake provides excellent curing of fish, and produces fruit-bearing trees resembling apple trees.
χρῶνται δʼ Αἰγύπτιοι τῇ ἀσφάλτῳ πρὸς τὰς ταριχείας τῶν νεκρῶν.
The Egyptians use the asphalt for the embalming of corpses.
§16.2.46πομπήιος μὲν οὖν περικόψας τινὰ τῶν ἐξιδιασθέντων ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων κατὰ βίαν ἀπέδειξεν Ὑρκανῷ τὴν ἱερωσύνην·
Pompey, then, having cut off some of the territories that had been forcibly appropriated by the Jews, assigned the priesthood to Hyrcanus.
τῶν δʼ ἀπὸ γένους τις ὕστερον Ἡρώδης, ἀνὴρ ἐπιχώριος, παραδὺς εἰς τὴν ἱερωσύνην τοσοῦτον διήνεγκε τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ καὶ μάλιστα τῇ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ὁμιλίᾳ καὶ πολιτείᾳ, ὥστε καὶ βασιλεὺς ἐχρημάτισε, δόντος τὸ μὲν πρῶτον Ἀντωνίου τὴν ἐξουσίαν ὕστερον δὲ καὶ Καίσαρος τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ·
But later, Herod, a man of the country belonging to that family, having slipped into the priesthood, so far surpassed his predecessors, especially in his intercourse and administration with the Romans, that he even was styled king, Antony having given him the authority at first, and later also Caesar Augustus.
τῶν δʼ υἱῶν τοὺς μὲν αὐτὸς ἀνεῖλεν ὡς ἐπιβουλεύσαντας αὐτῷ, τοὺς δὲ τελευτῶν διαδόχους ἀπέλιπε μερίδας αὐτοῖς ἀποδούς.
Of his sons, he himself put some to death on the ground of plotting against him, and at his death left others as successors, assigning portions to them.
Καῖσαρ δὲ καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς ἐτίμησε τοῦ Ἡρώδου καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν Σαλώμην καὶ τὴν ταύτης θυγατέρα Βερενίκην·
Caesar also honored the sons of Herod, and his sister Salome, and her daughter Berenice.
οὐ μέντοι εὐτύχησαν οἱ παῖδες, ἀλλʼ ἐν αἰτίαις ἐγένοντο, καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐν φυγῇ διετέλει παρὰ τοῖς Ἀλλόβριξι Γαλάταις λαβὼν οἴκησιν, οἱ δὲ θεραπείᾳ πολλῇ μόλις εὕροντο κάθοδον, τετραρχίας ἀποδειχθείσης ἑκατέρῳ.
The children, however, were not fortunate, but fell under accusations; and one of them continued in exile, having received a dwelling among the Allobroges in Gaul, while the others, by much court-paying, with difficulty obtained their return, a tetrarchy being assigned to each.