§17.1.14Ἀπὸ μὲν οὖν Καταβαθμοῦ εἰς Παραιτόνιον εὐθυπλοοῦντι σταδίων ἐστὶν ἐνακοσίων ὁ δρόμος·
Therefore, for one sailing in a straight line from Catabathmus to Paraetonium, the course is nine hundred stadia.
πόλις δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ λιμὴν μέγας τετταράκοντά που σταδίων·
There is a city and a large harbor of about forty stadia.
καλοῦσι δʼ οἱ μὲν Παραιτόνιον τὴν πόλιν οἱ δʼ Ἀμμωνίαν.
Some call the city Paraetonium, others Ammonia.
μεταξὺ δὲ ἥ τε Αἰγυπτίων κώμη καὶ ἡ Αἰνησίσφυρα ἄκρα, καὶ Τυνδάρειοι σκόπελοι, νησίδια τέτταρα ἔχοντα λιμένα·
In between are the Village of the Egyptians, Cape Ainesisyphra, and the Tyndarian rocks, four small islands having a harbor.
εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἄκρα Δρέπανον καὶ νῆσος Αἰνησίππεια ἔχουσα λιμένα καὶ κώμη Ἆπις, ἀφʼ ἧς εἰς μὲν Παραιτόνιον στάδιοι ἑκατὸν εἰς δὲ Ἄμμωνος ὁδὸς ἡμερῶν πέντε·
Then next are Cape Drepanum, the island Ainesippeia having a harbor, and the village Apis, from which to Paraetonium is one hundred stadia, and to the temple of Ammon a journey of five days.
ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Παραιτονίου χίλιοί που καὶ τριακόσιοι στάδιοι.
And from Paraetonium is about one thousand three hundred stadia.
μεταξὺ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ἄκρα λευκόγειος, Λευκὴ ἀκτὴ καλουμένη· ἔπειτα Φοινικοῦς λιμὴν καὶ Πνιγεὺς κώμη· εἶτα νῆσος Σιδωνία λιμένα ἔχουσα· εἶτʼ Ἀντίφραι μικρὸν ἀπωτέρω τῆς θαλάττης·
In between, first is the white-soiled cape, called White Coast; then Phoenicus harbor and Pnygeus village; then the island Sidonia having a harbor; then Antiphrae a little further from the sea.
ἅπασα μὲν ἡ χώρα αὕτη οὐκ εὔοινος, πλείω δεχομένου τοῦ κεράμου θάλατταν ἢ οἶνον ὃν δὴ καλοῦσι Λιβυκόν, ᾧ δὴ καὶ τῷ ζύθῳ τὸ πολὺ φῦλον χρῆται τῶν Ἀλεξανδρέων· σκώπτονται δὲ μάλιστα αἱ Ἀντίφραι.
All this country is not cooperative of good wine, as the clay jar receives more seawater than wine, which they call Libyan wine, which indeed and beer the main crowd of the Alexandrians use; and Antiphrae is especially mocked.
εἶθʼ ὁ Δέρρις λιμὴν καλούμενος οὕτως διὰ τὴν πλησίον πέτραν μέλαιναν δέρρει ἐοικυῖαν· ὀνομάζουσι δὲ καὶ Ζεφύριον τὸν πλησίον τόπον·
Then there is the harbor called Derris, so named because of the neighboring black rock resembling a hide; and they also name the neighboring place Zephyrium.
εἶτʼ ἄλλος λιμὴν Λεύκασπις καὶ ἄλλοι πλείους· εἶτα Κυνὸς σῆμα· εἶτα Ταπόσειρις οὐκ ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ, πανήγυριν δεχομένη μεγάλην·
Then another harbor Leucaspis, and several others; then Dog's Tomb; then Taposiris, not on the sea, which receives a great festival.
καὶ ἄλλη δʼ ἐστὶ Ταπόσειρις ἐπέκεινα τῆς πόλεως ἱκανῶς· αὐτῆς δὲ πλησίον πετρῶδες ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ χωρίον καὶ αὐτὸ δεχόμενον πολλοὺς τοὺς κωμάζοντας ἅπασαν ὥραν ἔτους·
And there is another Taposiris quite far beyond the city; and near it is a rocky place by the sea, which itself receives many revellers at all seasons of the year.
εἶθʼ ἡ Πλινθίνη καὶ Νικίου κώμη καὶ Χερρόνησος φρούριον, πλησίον ἤδη τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας καὶ τῆς Νεκροπόλεως ἐν ἑβδομήκοντα σταδίοις.
Then Plinthine, and the village of Nicias, and the fort of Cherronesus, being already near Alexandria and the Necropolis at seventy stadia.
ἡ δὲ Μάρεια λίμνη παρατείνουσα μέχρι καὶ δεῦρο πλάτος μὲν ἔχει πλειόνων ἢ πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν σταδίων, μῆκος δʼ ἐλαττόνων ἢ τριακοσίων.
And Lake Mareia, extending even as far as here, has a width of more than one hundred and fifty stadia, and a length of less than three hundred.
ἔχει δʼ ὀκτὼ νήσους καὶ τὰ κύκλῳ πάντʼ οἰκούμενα καλῶς· εὐοινία τέ ἐστι περὶ τοὺς τόπους ὥστε καὶ διαχεῖσθαι πρὸς παλαίωσιν τὸν Μαρεώτην οἶνον. §17.1.15φύεται δʼ ἐν τοῖς Αἰγυπτιακοῖς ἕλεσι καὶ ταῖς λίμναις ἥ τε βύβλος καὶ ὁ Αἰγύπτιος κύαμος ἐξ οὗ τὸ κιβώριον, σχεδόν τι ἰσοΰψεις ῥάβδοι ὅσον δεκάποδες.
It has eight islands, and all the surroundings are well inhabited; and there is excellent wine around these places, so that Mareotic wine is racked off for aging. Both the papyrus and the Egyptian bean, from which the ciborium is made, grow in the Egyptian marshes and lakes, being rods of almost equal height, about ten feet.
ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν βύβλος ψιλὴ ῥάβδος ἐστὶν ἐπʼ ἄκρῳ χαίτην ἔχουσα, ὁ δὲ κύαμος κατὰ πολλὰ μέρη φύλλα καὶ ἄνθη ἐκφέρει καὶ καρπὸν ὅμοιον τῷ παρʼ ἡμῖν κυάμῳ, μεγέθει μόνον καὶ γεύσει διαλλάττοντα.
But the papyrus is a bare rod having a tuft at the top, while the bean bears leaves and flowers in many parts, and a fruit similar to the bean among us, differing only in size and taste.
οἱ οὖν κυαμῶνες ἡδεῖαν ὄψιν παρέχουσι καὶ τέρψιν τοῖς ἐνευωχεῖσθαι βουλομένοις· εὐωχοῦνται δʼ ἐν σκάφαις θαλαμηγοῖς, ἐνδύνοντες εἰς τὸ πύκνωμα τῶν κυάμων καὶ σκιαζόμενοι τοῖς φύλλοις· ἔστι γὰρ σφόδρα μεγάλα ὥστε καὶ ἀντὶ ποτηρίων καὶ τρυβλίων χρῆσθαι· ἔχει γάρ τινα καὶ κοιλότητα ἐπιτηδείαν πρὸς τοῦτο· καὶ δὴ καὶ ἡ Ἀλεξάνδρεια μεστὴ τούτων ἐστὶ κατὰ τὰ ἐργαστήρια ὡς σκεύεσι χρωμένων· καὶ οἱ ἀγροὶ μίαν τινὰ τῶν προσόδων καὶ ταύτην ἔχουσι τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν φύλλων.
Therefore, the bean-fields afford a pleasant sight and delight to those who wish to feast in them; and they feast in cabin-boats, entering into the thicket of the beans and being shaded by the leaves; for they are very large, so as to be used even instead of cups and bowls; for they have a certain hollowness suitable for this; and indeed Alexandria is full of these in the shops, as people use them as utensils; and the fields have this as one of their revenues, namely that from the leaves.
ὁ μὲν δὴ κύαμος τοιοῦτος, ἡ δὲ βύβλος ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὐ πολλὴ φύεται (οὐ γὰρ ἀσκεῖται), ἐν δὲ τοῖς κάτω μέρεσι τοῦ Δέλτα πολλή, ἡ μὲν χείρων, ἡ δὲ βελτίων ἡ ἱερατική·
Now the bean is such, but the papyrus does not grow much here (for it is not cultivated), but in the lower parts of the Delta it grows in abundance, both the inferior kind and the better kind called hieratic.
κἀνταῦθα δέ τινες τῶν τὰς προσόδους ἐπεκτείνειν βουλομένων μετήνεγκαν τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν ἐντρέχειαν, ἣν ἐκεῖνοι παρεῦρον ἐπὶ τοῦ φοίνικος καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ καρυωτοῦ, καὶ τοῦ βαλσάμου· οὐ γὰρ ἐῶσι πολλαχοῦ φύεσθαι, τῇ δὲ σπάνει τιμὴν ἐπιτιθέντες τὴν πρόσοδον οὕτως αὔξουσι, τὴν δὲ κοινὴν χρείαν διαλυμαίνονται.
And here also, some of those who wished to increase the revenues introduced the Jewish shrewdness, which they devised in the case of the palm tree, especially the caryotic palm, and of the balsam; for they do not allow them to grow in many places, and by imposing a high price because of scarcity, they thus increase the revenue, but ruin the common utility.