§17.3.20̔η δὲ μεγάλη σύρτις τὸν μὲν κύκλον ἔχει σταδίων ἐνακοσίων τριάκοντά που, τὴν δʼ ἐπὶ τὸν μυχὸν διάμετρον χιλίων πεντακοσίων, τοσοῦτον δέ που καὶ τὸ τοῦ στόματος πλάτος.
The Greater Syrtis has a circuit of about nine hundred and thirty stadia, and a diameter to its innermost recess of one thousand five hundred, and the width of its mouth is also about the same.
ἡ χαλεπότης δὲ καὶ ταύτης τῆς σύρτεως καὶ τῆς μικρᾶς ὅτι πολλαχοῦ τεναγώδης ἐστὶν ὁ βυθὸς καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἀμπώτεις καὶ τὰς πλημμυρίδας συμβαίνει τισὶν ἐμπίπτειν εἰς τὰ βράχη καὶ καθίζειν, σπάνιον δʼ εἶναι τὸ σωζόμενον σκάφος.
The danger of both this Syrtis and the Lesser is that in many places the bottom is shoaly, and at the ebbs and flows it happens that some run aground on the shallows and strand, and a vessel that is saved is a rare thing.
διόπερ πόρρωθεν τὸν παράπλουν ποιοῦνται φυλαττόμενοι μὴ ἐμπέσοιεν εἰς τοὺς κόλπους ὑπʼ ἀνέμων ἀφύλακτοι ληφθέντες·
Therefore, they make their voyage along the coast at a distance, guarding against falling into the gulfs by being caught off their guard by the winds.
τὸ μέντοι παρακίνδυνον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων διαπειρᾶσθαι ποιεῖ, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν παρὰ γῆν παράπλων.
Yet the love of danger makes all men try it, and especially those who make coasting voyages.
εἰσπλέοντι δὴ τὴν μεγάλην σύρτιν ἐν δεξιᾷ μετὰ τὰς Κεφαλὰς ἔστι λίμνη τριακοσίων που σταδίων τὸ μῆκος ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ τὸ πλάτος, ἐκδιδοῦσα εἰς τὸν κόλπον, ἔχουσα καὶ νησία καὶ ὕφορμον πρὸ τοῦ στόματος.
As one sails into the Greater Syrtis, on the right after Cephalae, there is a lake of about three hundred stadia in length and seventy in width, discharging into the gulf, having also islets and an anchorage before its mouth.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν λίμνην τόπος ἐστὶν Ἀσπὶς καὶ λιμὴν κάλλιστος τῶν ἐν τῇ σύρτει.
After the lake is a place called Aspis, and a harbor, the finest of those in the Syrtis.
συνεχὴς δὲ ὁ Εὐφράντας πύργος ἐστίν, ὅριον τῆς πρότερον Καρχηδονίας γῆς καὶ τῆς Κυρηναίας τῆς ὑπὸ Πτολεμαίῳ·
Continuous with this is the Tower of Euphrantas, the boundary of the former Carthaginian territory and of the Cyrenaica under Ptolemy.
εἶτʼ ἄλλος τόπος Χάραξ καλούμενος, ᾧ ἐμπορίῳ ἐχρῶντο Καρχηδόνιοι κομίζοντες οἶνον, ἀντιφορτιζόμενοι δὲ ὀπὸν καὶ σίλφιον παρὰ τῶν ἐκ Κυρήνης λάθρᾳ παρακομιζόντων·
Then another place called Charax, which the Carthaginians used as an emporium, bringing wine and receiving in exchange juice and silphium from those who smuggled them from Cyrene.
εἶθʼ οἱ Φιλαίνων βωμοί·
Then the Altars of the Philaeni.
καὶ μετὰ δὲ τούτους Αὐτόμαλα φρούριον φυλακὴν ἔχον, ἱδρυμένον κατὰ τὸν μυχὸν τοῦ κόλπου παντός.
And after these, Automala, a fortress with a garrison, situated at the very innermost recess of the entire gulf.
ἔστι δʼ ὁ διὰ τοῦ μυχοῦ τούτου παράλληλος τοῦ μὲν διʼ Ἀλεξανδρείας μικρῷ νοτιώτερος χιλίοις σταδίοις, τοῦ δὲ διὰ Καρχηδόνος ἐλάττοσιν ἢ δισχιλίοις·
The parallel of latitude passing through this innermost recess is about one thousand stadia further south than that through Alexandria, and less than two thousand further south than that through Carthage.
πίπτοι δʼ ἂν τῇ μὲν καθʼ Ἡρώων πόλιν τὴν ἐν τῷ μυχῷ τοῦ Ἀραβίου κόλπου, τῇ δὲ κατὰ τὴν μεσόγαιαν τῶν Μασαισυλίων καὶ τῶν Μαυρουσίων·
And it would coincide on one side with Heroonpolis, situated at the innermost recess of the Arabian Gulf, and on the other with the interior of the Masaesylians and the Maurusians.
ὅπου τὸ λειπόμενον ἤδη τῆς παραλίας ἐστὶν εἰς πόλιν Βερενίκην στάδιοι χίλιοι πεντακόσιοι.
From here, the remaining distance along the coast to the city of Berenice is one thousand five hundred stadia.
ὑπέρκεινται δὲ τοῦ μήκους τοῦδε παρήκοντες καὶ μέχρι τῶν Φιλαίνου βωμῶν οἱ προσαγορευόμενοι Νασαμῶνες, Λιβυκὸν ἔθνος·
Above this stretch of coast, extending as far as the Altars of the Philaeni, dwell the people called Nasamones, a Libyan nation.
ἔχει δὲ τὸ μεταξὺ διάστημα καὶ λιμένας οὐ πολλοὺς ὑδρεῖά τε σπάνια.
And the intervening distance has but few harbors and scarce watering-places.
ἔστι δὲ ἄκρα λεγομένη Ψευδοπενιάς, ἐφʼ ἧς ἡ Βερενίκη τὴν θέσιν ἔχει παρὰ λίμνην τινὰ Τριτωνίδα, ἐν ᾗ μάλιστα νησίον ἐστὶ καὶ ἱερὸν τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἐν αὐτῷ·
There is a promontory called Pseudopenias, upon which Berenice is situated, next to a certain lake Tritonis, in which there is especially an islet, and upon it a temple of Aphrodite.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ λίμνη Ἑσπερίδων, καὶ ποταμὸς ἐμβάλλει Λάθων.
There is also a Lake of the Hesperides, and a river Lathon discharges into it.
ἐνδοτέρω δὲ τῆς Βερενίκης ἐστὶ τὸ μικρὸν ἀκρωτήριον λεγόμενον Βόρειον ὃ ποιεῖ τὸ στόμα τῆς σύρτεως πρὸς τὰς Κεφαλάς·
Further inland from Berenice is the small promontory called Boreium, which, together with Cephalae, forms the mouth of the Syrtis.
κεῖται δὲ ἡ Βερενίκη κατὰ τὰ ἄκρα τῆς Πελοποννήσου, κατὰ τὸν καλούμενον Ἰχθύν καὶ ἔτι κατὰ τὴν Ζάκυνθον, ἐν διάρματι σταδίων τρισχιλίων ἑξακοσίων.
And Berenice lies opposite the promontories of the Peloponnesus, opposite the so-called Ichthys, and also opposite Zacynthus, at a sea distance of three thousand six hundred stadia.
ἐκ ταύτης τῆς πόλεως τριακοσταῖος πεζῇ περιώδευσε τὴν σύρτιν Μάρκος Κάτων, κατάγων στρατιὰν πλειόνων ἢ μυρίων ἀνδρῶν, εἰς μέρη διελὼν τῶν ὑδρείων χάριν·
From this city, Marcus Cato, leading an army of more than ten thousand men, marched around the Syrtis on foot in thirty days, having divided his forces into parts for the sake of the watering-places.
ὥδευσε δὲ πεζὸς ἐν ἄμμῳ βαθείᾳ καὶ καύμασι.
And he made the march on foot through deep sand and burning heat.
μετὰ δὲ Βερενίκην πόλις ἐστὶ Ταύχειρα ἣν καὶ Ἀρσινόην καλοῦσιν·
After Berenice is the city of Taucheira, which they also call Arsinoe.
εἶθʼ ἡ Βάρκη πρότερον, νῦν δὲ Πτολεμαΐς·
Then Barke, formerly so called, but now Ptolemais.
εἶτα Φυκοῦς ἄκρα, ταπεινὴ μὲν πλεῖστον δʼ ἐκκειμένη πρὸς ἄρκτον παρὰ τὴν ἄλλην τὴν Λιβυκὴν παραλίαν·
Then the promontory Phycus, which is low-lying but projects furthest to the north compared with the rest of the Libyan coast.
κεῖται δὲ κατὰ Ταίναρον τῆς Λακωνικῆς ἐν διάρματι δισχιλίων ὀκτακοσίων σταδίων·
And it lies opposite Taenarum in Laconia, at a sea distance of two thousand eight hundred stadia.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ πολίχνιον ὁμώνυμον τῇ ἄκρᾳ.
There is also a small town of the same name as the promontory.
οὐ πολὺ δὲ τοῦ Φυκοῦντος ἀπέχει τὸ τῶν Κυρηναίων ἐπίνειον ἡ Ἀπολλωνία, ὅσον ἑκατὸν καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα σταδίοις, τῆς δὲ Βερενίκης χιλίοις, τῆς δὲ Κυρήνης ὀγδοήκοντα, πόλεως μεγάλης ἐν τραπεζοειδεῖ πεδίῳ κειμένης, ὡς ἐκ τοῦ πελάγους ἑωρῶμεν αὐτήν.
And Apollonia, the seaport of the Cyrenaeans, is not far distant from Phycus, being about one hundred and seventy stadia, and one thousand from Berenice, and eighty from Cyrene, a great city situated on a trapezoid plain, as we saw it from the sea.
§17.3.21ἔστι δὲ Θηραίων κτίσμα, Λακωνικῆς νήσου, ἣν καὶ Καλλίστην ὠνόμαζον τὸ παλαιόν, ὥς φησι καὶ Καλλίμαχος
καλλίστη τὸ πάροιθε, τὸ δʼ ὕστερον οὔνομα Θήρη, μήτηρ εὐίππου πατρίδος ἡμετέρης. κεῖται δὲ τὸ τῶν Κυρηναίων ἐπίνειον κατὰ τὸ ἑσπέριον τῆς Κρήτης ἄκρον, τὸ τοῦ Κριοῦ μέτωπον, ἐν διάρματι χιλίων σταδίων· ὁ δὲ πλοῦς λευκονότῳ.
And it is a foundation of the Theræans, colonists from a Laconian island which in ancient times they also called Calliste, as Callimachus also says: 'Calliste once, but later named Thera, mother of my horse-famed fatherland.' The seaport of the Cyrenaeans lies opposite the western promontory of Crete, Criu Metopon, at a sea distance of one thousand stadia; and the voyage is made with the Leuconotus.
λέγεται δὲ ἡ Κυρήνη κτίσμα Βάττου·
And Cyrene is said to be a foundation of Battus, whom Callimachus claims as his own ancestor.
πρόγονον δὲ τοῦτον ἑαυτοῦ φάσκει Καλλίμαχος· ηὐξήθη δὲ διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τῆς χώρας·
And it grew prosperous because of the fertility of the country.
καὶ γὰρ ἱπποτρόφος ἐστὶν ἀρίστη καὶ καλλίκαρπος, καὶ πολλοὺς ἄνδρας ἀξιολόγους ἔσχε καὶ δυναμένους ἐλευθερίας ἀξιολόγως προΐστασθαι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ὑπερκειμένους βαρβάρους ἰσχυρῶς ἀντέχειν.
For it is excellent for horse-rearing and highly fruitful, and it has had many remarkable men who were capable of defending their liberty in a worthy manner and of strongly resisting the barbarians who lay above them.
τὸ μὲν οὖν παλαιὸν αὐτόνομος ἦν ἡ πόλις· εἶτα οἱ τὴν Αἴγυπτον κατασχόντες Μακεδόνες αὐξηθέντες ἐπέθεντο αὐτοῖς, ἀρξάντων τῶν περὶ Θίβρωνα τῶν ἀνελόντων τὸν Ἅρπαλον.
In ancient times, then, the city was autonomous; but afterwards the Macedonians who had possessed themselves of Egypt, having increased in power, attacked them, the movement having been started by Thibron and his followers, who had put Harpalus to death.
βασιλευθέντες δὲ χρόνους τινὰς εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἐξουσίαν ἦλθον, καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ἐπαρχία τῇ Κρήτῃ συνεζευγμένη·
And having been ruled by kings for some time, they came under the power of the Romans, and now it is a province united with Crete.
τῆς δὲ Κυρήνης ἐστὶ περιπόλια ἥ τε Ἀπολλωνία καὶ ἡ Βάρκη καὶ ἡ Ταύχειρα καὶ Βερενίκη καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πολίχνια τὰ πλησίον.
And the surrounding towns belonging to Cyrene are Apollonia, Barke, Taucheira, Berenice, and the other small towns nearby.