§17.3.16διάπλους δʼ ἐστὶν ἐκ Καρχηδόνος ἑξήκοντα σταδίων εἰς τὴν προσεχῆ περαίαν, ὅθεν εἰς Νέφεριν ἀνάβασις σταδίων ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι, πόλιν ἐρυμνὴν ἐπὶ πέτρας ᾠκισμένην.
And the crossing by sea from Carthage to the opposite coast near it is sixty stadia, from where the ascent to Nepheris is one hundred and twenty stadia, a strong city built upon a rock.
ἐν αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ κόλπῳ ἐν ᾧπερ καὶ ἡ Καρχηδών, Τύνις ἐστὶ πόλις καὶ θερμὰ καὶ λατομίαι τινές· εἶθʼ ἡ Ἑρμαία ἄκρα τραχεῖα καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῇ πόλις ὁμώνυμος· εἶτα Νεάπολις· εἶτʼ ἄκρα Ταφῖτις, καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῇ λόφος Ἀσπὶς καλούμενος ἀπὸ τῆς ὁμοιότητος, ὅνπερ συνῴκισεν ὁ τῆς Σικελίας τύραννος Ἀγαθοκλῆς καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν ἐπέπλευσε τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις· συγκατεσπάσθησαν δὲ τῇ Καρχηδονίᾳ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων αἱ πόλεις αὗται.
And in the very gulf in which Carthage also is situated, there is the city of Tunis, and hot springs, and certain quarries; then the Hermæan promontory, which is rugged, and upon it a city of the same name; then Neapolis; then the promontory Taphitis, and upon it a hill called Aspis from its resemblance, which Agathocles, the tyrant of Sicily, fortified at the time when he sailed against the Carthaginians; and these cities were razed along with Carthage by the Romans.
ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Ταφίτιδος ἐν τετρακοσίοις σταδίοις νῆσός ἐστι Κόσσουρος κατὰ Σελινοῦντα τῆς Σικελίας ποταμόν, καὶ πόλιν ἔχουσα ὁμώνυμον, ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα σταδίων οὖσα τὴν περίμετρον, διέχουσα τῆς Σικελίας περὶ ἑξακοσίους σταδίους· ἔστι δὲ καὶ Μελίτη νῆσος ἐν πεντακοσίοις σταδίοις ἀπὸ τῆς Κοσσούρου.
And from Taphitis at a distance of four hundred stadia is the island of Cossuros, opposite the Selinus river of Sicily, and containing a city of the same name, being one hundred and fifty stadia in circumference, and distant from Sicily about six hundred stadia; and there is also the island of Melite at five hundred stadia from Cossuros.
εἶτα Ἀδρύμης πόλις, ἐν ᾗ καὶ νεώρια ἦν· εἶθʼ αἱ Ταριχεῖαι λεγόμεναι, νησία πολλὰ καὶ πυκνά· εἶτα Θάψος πόλις, καὶ μετὰ ταύτην νῆσος πελαγία Λοπαδοῦσσα· εἶτα ἄκρα Ἄμμωνος Βαλίθωνος, πρὸς ᾗ θυννοσκοπεῖον· εἶτα Θένα πόλις παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν κειμένη τῆς μικρᾶς σύρτεως· πολλαὶ δʼ εἰσὶ καὶ ἄλλαι μεταξὺ πολίχναι οὐκ ἄξιαι μνήμης· παράκειται δὲ τῇ ἀρχῇ τῆς σύρτεως νῆσος παραμήκης ἡ Κέρκιννα εὐμεγέθης ἔχουσα ὁμώνυμον πόλιν, καὶ ἄλλη ἐλάττων Κερκιννῖτις.
Then the city of Hadrymes, in which there were also shipyards; then the so-called Taricheiae, many and closely clustered islets; then the city of Thapsus, and after this the deep-sea island Lopadussa; then the promontory of Ammon Balithon, near which is a tuna-lookout; then the city of Thena, situated near the beginning of the Lesser Syrtis; and there are also many other small towns in between, not worthy of mention; and alongside the beginning of the Syrtis lies the elongated island of Cercinna, of considerable size, containing a city of the same name, and another smaller island, Cercinnitis.
§17.3.17συνεχὴς δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ μικρὰ σύρτις, ἣν καὶ Λωτοφαγῖτιν σύρτιν λέγουσιν.
Continuous with this is the Lesser Syrtis, which they also call the Lotophagitis Syrtis.
ἔστι δʼ ὁ μὲν κύκλος τοῦ κόλπου τούτου σταδίων χιλίων ἑξακοσίων, τὸ δὲ πλάτος τοῦ στόματος ἑξακοσίων· καθʼ ἑκατέραν τὴν ἄκραν τὴν ποιοῦσαν τὸ στόμα προσεχεῖς εἰσι τῇ ἠπείρῳ νῆσοι, ἥ τε λεχθεῖσα Κέρκιννα καὶ ἡ Μῆνιγξ, πάρισοι τοῖς μεγέθεσι.
And the circuit of this gulf is one thousand six hundred stadia, and the width of its mouth is six hundred; at each of the promontories forming the mouth there are islands adjacent to the mainland, the aforementioned Cercinna and Meninx, nearly equal in size.
τὴν δὲ Μήνιγγα νομίζουσιν εἶναι τὴν τῶν Λωτοφάγων γῆν τὴν ὑφʼ Ὁμήρου λεγομένην, καὶ δείκνυταί τινα σύμβολα, καὶ βωμὸς Ὀδυσσέως καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ καρπός· πολὺ γάρ ἐστι τὸ δένδρον ἐν αὐτῇ τὸ καλούμενον λωτόν, ἔχον ἥδιστον καρπόν· πλείους δʼ εἰσὶν ἐν αὐτῇ πολίχναι, μία δʼ ὁμώνυμος τῇ νήσῳ· καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ σύρτει πολίχναι τινές εἰσι.
And they consider Meninx to be the land of the Lotus-eaters mentioned by Homer, and certain tokens are pointed out, both an altar of Odysseus and the fruit itself; for the tree called lotus is abundant in it, bearing a very sweet fruit; and there are several small towns on it, and one of the same name as the island; and in the Syrtis itself there are some small towns.
κατὰ δὲ τὸν μυχὸν ἔστι παμμέγεθες ἐμπόριον, ποταμὸν ἔχον ἐμβάλλοντα εἰς τὸν κόλπον.
And at the innermost recess there is a very large emporium, having a river discharging into the gulf.
διατείνει δὲ μέχρι δεῦρο τὰ τῶν ἀμπώτεων πάθη καὶ τῶν πλημμυρίδων, καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν ἐπὶ τὴν θήραν τῶν ἰχθύων ἐπιπηδῶσιν οἱ πρόσχωροι κατὰ σπουδὴν θέοντες.
And the phenomena of the ebbs and flows extend as far as here, at which time the inhabitants of the neighborhood rush out in haste, running to catch fish.
§17.3.18μετὰ δὲ τὴν σύρτιν Ζοῦχις ἔστι λίμνη σταδίων τετρακοσίων στενὸν ἔχουσα εἴσπλουν καὶ παρʼ αὐτὴν πόλις ὁμώνυμος πορφυροβαφεῖα ἔχουσα καὶ ταριχείας παντοδαπάς· εἶτʼ ἄλλη λίμνη πολὺ ἐλάττων· καὶ μετὰ ταύτην Ἀβρότονον πόλις καὶ ἄλλαι τινές, συνεχῶς δὲ Νεάπολις, ἣν καὶ Λέπτιν καλοῦσιν· ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐστὶ δίαρμα τὸ Λοκρῶν τῶν Ἐπιζεφυρίων τρισχίλιοι ἑξακόσιοι στάδιοι.
After the Syrtis there is the lake Zuchis of four hundred stadia, having a narrow entrance, and near it a city of the same name, containing purple-dyeing works and all kinds of fish-salting establishments; then another lake much smaller; and after this the city of Abrotonon and certain others, and immediately following, Neapolis, which they also call Leptis; and from here the crossing to the Epizephyrian Locrians is three thousand six hundred stadia.
ἑξῆς δʼ ἐστὶ ποταμός· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα διατείχισμά τι, ὃ ἐποίησαν Καρχηδόνιοι γεφυροῦντες βάραθρά τινα εἰς τὴν χώραν ἀνέχοντα· εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἀλίμενοί τινες ἐνταῦθα τόποι, τῆς ἄλλης παραλίας ἐχούσης λιμένας· εἶτʼ ἄκρα ὑψηλὴ καὶ ὑλώδης, ἀρχὴ τῆς μεγάλης σύρτεως, καλοῦσι δὲ Κεφαλάς· εἰς ταύτην δὲ τὴν ἄκραν ἐκ Καρχηδόνος στάδιοί εἰσι μικρῷ πλείους τῶν πεντακισχιλίων.
Next is a river; and after this a certain rampart, which the Carthaginians constructed by bridging over certain ravines extending into the country; and there are also some harborless places here, though the rest of the coast has harbors; then a high and wooded promontory, the beginning of the Greater Syrtis, which they call Cephalae; and to this promontory from Carthage the distance is a little more than five thousand stadia.
§17.3.19̔υπέρκειται δὲ τῆς ἀπὸ Καρχηδόνος παραλίας μέχρι Κεφαλῶν καὶ μέχρι τῆς Μασαισυλίων ἡ τῶν Λιβοφοινίκων γῆ μέχρι τῆς τῶν Γαιτούλων ὀρεινῆς ἤδη Λιβυκῆς οὔσης.
And above the coast stretching from Carthage as far as Cephalae, and as far as the country of the Masaesylians, lies the land of the Libyphoenicians, extending as far as the mountainous country of the Gaetulians, which is already Libyan.
ἡ δʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν Γαιτούλων ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν Γαραμάντων γῆ παράλληλος ἐκείνῃ, ὅθεν οἱ καρχηδόνιοι κομίζονται λίθοι· τοὺς δὲ Γαράμαντας ἀπὸ τῶν Αἰθιόπων τῶν παρωκεανιτῶν ἀφεστάναι φασὶν ἡμερῶν ἐννέα ἢ καὶ δέκα ὁδόν, τοῦ δὲ Ἄμμωνος καὶ πεντεκαίδεκα.
And the land above the Gaetulians is that of the Garamantes, running parallel to the former, from where the Carthaginian stones are brought; and they say that the Garamantes are distant from the Ethiopians who dwell by the ocean a journey of nine or ten days, and from the temple of Ammon fifteen days.
μεταξὺ δὲ τῆς Γαιτούλων καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας παραλίας πολλὰ μὲν πεδία, πολλὰ δὲ ὄρη καὶ λίμναι μεγάλαι καὶ ποταμοί, ὧν τινες καὶ καταδύντες ὑπὸ γῆς ἀφανεῖς γίνονται· λιτοὶ δὲ σφόδρα τοῖς βίοις εἰσὶ καὶ τῷ κόσμῳ, πολυγύναικες δὲ καὶ πολύπαιδες, τἆλλα δὲ ἐμφερεῖς τοῖς νομάσι τῶν Ἀράβων· καὶ ἵπποι δὲ καὶ βόες μακροτραχηλότεροι τῶν παρʼ ἄλλοις· ἱπποφόρβια δʼ ἐστὶν ἐσπουδασμένα διαφερόντως τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν, ὥστε καὶ ἀριθμὸν ἐξετάζεσθαι πώλων κατʼ ἔτος εἰς μυριάδας δέκα.
And between the country of the Gaetulians and our coast are many plains, and many mountains, and large lakes, and rivers, some of which sink underground and become invisible; and they are extremely simple in their lives and in their dress, having many wives and many children, and in other respects resembling the nomadic Arabs; and both their horses and cattle have longer necks than those of other countries; and studs of horses are cared for with exceptional interest by the kings, so that the number of colts inspected annually reaches one hundred thousand.
τὰ δὲ πρόβατα γάλακτι καὶ κρέασιν ἐκτρέφεται, καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς τοῖς Αἰθίοψι.
And their sheep are nourished on milk and meat, especially those near the Ethiopians.
τοιαῦτα μὲν τὰ ἐν τῇ μεσογαίᾳ.
Such are the features of the interior.