§16.4.19συνάπτει δʼ ἡ τῶν Σαβαίων εὐδαιμονεστάτη, μεγίστου ἔθνους, παρʼ οἷς καὶ σμύρνα καὶ λίβανος καὶ κιννάμωμον· ἐν δὲ τῇ παραλίᾳ καὶ βάλσαμον καὶ ἄλλη τις πόα σφόδρα εὐώδης, ταχὺ δʼ ἐξίτηλον τὴν ὀδμὴν ἔχουσα· εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ φοίνικες εὐώδεις καὶ κάλαμος, ὄφεις δὲ σπιθαμιαῖοι φοινικοῖ τὴν χρόαν, προσαλλόμενοι καὶ μέχρι λαγόνος, τὸ δῆγμα ἔχοντες ἀνήκεστον.
And adjacent to this is the most prosperous country of the Sabaeans, a very great tribe, among whom are myrrh, frankincense, and cinnamon; and on the coast is also balsam and another kind of grass, exceedingly fragrant, but having a scent that quickly fades; there are also fragrant palms and reed, and snakes a span long, crimson in color, which leap up even as high as the waist, having an incurable bite.
διὰ δὲ τὴν ἀφθονίαν τῶν καρπῶν ἀργοὶ καὶ ῥᾴθυμοι τοῖς βίοις εἰσὶν οἱ ἄνθρωποι· κοιτάζονται δὲ ἐπὶ * τῶν ῥιζῶν τῶν δένδρων ἐκτέμνοντες οἱ πολλοὶ καὶ δημοτικοί· διαδεχόμενοι δʼ οἱ σύνεγγυς ἀεὶ τὰ φορτία, τοῖς μετʼ αὐτοὺς παραδιδόασι μέχρι Συρίας καὶ Μεσοποταμίας· καρούμενοι δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν εὐωδιῶν αἴρουσι τὸν κάρον ἀσφάλτου θυμιάματι καὶ τράγου πώγωνος.
Because of the abundance of fruits, the people are lazy and easy-going in their lives; most of the common people sleep on the roots of the trees, cutting away [the branches]; and those who are near always receive the cargoes in succession and pass them on to those after them, as far as Syria and Mesopotamia; and when they are made drowsy by the sweet odors, they dispel the drowsiness with the incense of asphalt and goat's beard.
ἡ δὲ πόλις τῶν Σαβαίων, ἡ Μαρίαβα, κεῖται μὲν ἐπʼ ὄρους εὐδένδρου.
The city of the Sabaeans, Mariaba, lies on a well-wooded mountain.
βασιλέα δʼ ἔχει κύριον τῶν κρίσεων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ἐκ δὲ τῶν βασιλείων οὐ θέμις ἐξιέναι, ἢ καταλεύουσιν αὐτὸν παραχρῆμα οἱ ὄχλοι κατά τι λόγιον· ἐν χλιδῇ δʼ ἐστὶ γυναικείᾳ καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ περὶ αὐτόν· τὰ δὲ πλήθη τὰ μὲν γεωργεῖ τὰ δʼ ἐμπορεύεται τὰ ἀρώματα τά τε ἐπιχώρια καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας, πλέοντες ἐπʼ αὐτὰ διὰ τῶν στενῶν δερματίνοις πλοίοις· τοσαῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ πλῆθος ὥστʼ ἀντὶ φρυγάνων καὶ τῆς καυσίμου ὕλης χρῆσθαι κινναμώμῳ καὶ κασίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις.
It has a king who is lord of the judgments and other matters, but it is not lawful for him to go out of the palace, or else the crowds immediately stone him to death in accordance with some oracle; and both he and those about him live in womanly luxury; and of the multitudes, some cultivate the soil, and others trade in the aromatics, both the local ones and those from Ethiopia, sailing for them across the straits in skin boats; and these are so great in quantity that they use cinnamon and cassia and the others instead of firewood and fuel.
γίνεται δʼ ἐν τοῖς Σαβαίοις καὶ τὸ λάριμνον, εὐωδέστατον θυμίαμα.
And among the Sabaeans there is also larimnum, a most fragrant incense.
ἐκ δὲ τῆς ἐμπορίας οὗτοί τε καὶ Γερραῖοι πλουσιώτατοι πάντων εἰσίν, ἔχουσί τε παμπληθῆ κατασκευὴν χρυσωμάτων τε καὶ ἀργυρωμάτων, κλινῶν τε καὶ τριπόδων καὶ κρατήρων σὺν ἐκπώμασι καὶ τῇ τῶν οἴκων πολυτελείᾳ· καὶ γὰρ θυρώματα καὶ τοῖχοι καὶ ὀροφαὶ διʼ ἐλέφαντος καὶ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου λιθοκολλήτου τυγχάνει διαπεποικιλμένα.
From their trade both these and the Gerrhaeans are the richest of all, and they possess a vast abundance of gold and silver vessels, beds, tripods, and mixing-bowls together with drinking-cups, and luxury in their houses; for indeed, their doorways, walls, and ceilings happen to be variegated with ivory, gold, and silver inlaid with precious stones.
ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τούτων εἴρηκε, τἆλλα δὲ τὰ μὲν παραπλησίως τῷ Ἐρατοσθένει λέγει, τὰ δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἱστορικῶν παρατίθησιν.
He has said these things about them, but as for the rest, some things he tells in a similar manner to Eratosthenes, and other things he cites from other historians.
§16.4.20Ἐρυθρὰν γὰρ λέγειν τινὰς τὴν θάλατταν ἀπὸ τῆς χροιᾶς τῆς ἐμφαινομένης κατʼ ἀνάκλασιν, εἴτε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου κατὰ κορυφὴν ὄντος εἴτε ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν ἐρυθραινομένων ἐκ τῆς ἀποκαύσεως· ἀμφοτέρως γὰρ εἰκάζειν·
For he says that some call the sea Red from the color appearing by reflection, either from the sun being directly overhead, or from the mountains being reddened by the scorching heat; for they conjecture both ways.
Κτησίαν δὲ τὸν Κνίδιον πηγὴν ἱστορεῖν ἐκδιδοῦσαν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ἐρευθὲς καὶ μιλτῶδες ὕδωρ·
And Ctesias of Cnidus records a spring that discharges red and ochre-colored water into the sea.
Ἀγαθαρχίδην δὲ τὸν ἐκείνου πολίτην παρά τινος Βόξου, τὸ γένος, ἱστορῆσαι διότι Πέρσης τις Ἐρύθρας, ἱπποφορβίου τινὸς ὑπὸ λεαίνης οἴστρῳ κατασχομένης ἐξελαθέντος μέχρι θαλάττης κἀκεῖθεν εἰς νῆσόν τινα διάραντος, σχεδίαν πηξάμενος πρῶτος περαιωθείη πρὸς τὴν νῆσον·
And Agatharchides, his fellow-citizen, records on the authority of a certain Boxus, by birth a Persian, that a certain Persian named Erythras, when a herd of horses was driven to the sea by a lioness driven mad by estrus, and from there crossed over to a certain island, built a raft and was the first to cross over to the island.
ἰδὼν δὲ καλῶς οἰκήσιμον τὴν μὲν ἀγέλην εἰς τὴν Περσίδα ἀπαγάγοι πάλιν, ἀποίκους δʼ ἐκεῖ στείλαι τε καὶ τὰς ἄλλας νήσους καὶ τὴν παραλίαν, ἐπώνυμον δὲ ποιήσειεν ἑαυτοῦ τὸ πέλαγος.
And seeing that it was well suited for habitation, he led the herd back again to Persia, and sent colonists there and to the other islands and the coast, and made the sea eponymous of himself.
τοὺς δὲ Περσέως υἱὸν ἀποφαίνεσθαι τὸν Ἐρύθραν, ἡγήσασθαί τε τῶν τόπων.
And some declare that Erythras was a son of Perseus, and that he ruled over those places.
λέγεται δʼ ὑπό τινων τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν στενῶν τοῦ Ἀραβίου κόλπου μέχρι τῆς κινναμωμοφόρου τῆς ἐσχάτης πεντακισχιλίων σταδίων, οὐκ εὐκρινῶς, εἴτʼ ἐπὶ νότον εἴτʼ ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολάς.
And it is said by some that the distance from the straits of the Arabian Gulf to the outermost cinnamon-bearing country is five thousand stadia, though not clearly, whether to the south or to the east.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ διότι ὁ σμάραγδος καὶ ὁ βήρυλλος ἐν τοῖς τοῦ χρυσίου μετάλλοις ἐγγίνεται.
And it is also said that emerald and beryl are found in the gold mines.
εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἅλες εὐώδεις ἐν Ἄραψιν, ὥς φησι Ποσειδώνιος.
There is also fragrant salt among the Arabs, as Poseidonius says.