§2.1.23οὕτω δʼ ὁλοσχερεῖ τινι τύπῳ τὴν δευτέραν ἀποδιδοὺς σφραγῖδα πολὺ ταύτης ὁλοσχερέστερον ἀποδίδωσι τὴν τρίτην σφραγῖδα κατὰ πλείους αἰτίας.
While rendering the second seal in such a rough outline, he renders the third seal far more roughly than this one, for several reasons.
πρώτην μὲν τὴν λεχθεῖσαν, ὅτι οὐκ εὐκρινῶς ἀφώρισται ἡ ἀπὸ Κασπίων πυλῶν ἐπὶ Καρμανίαν, ἥτις κοινή ἐστι τῇ τρίτῃ πρὸς τὴν δευτέραν σφραγῖδα πλευρά·
First, the reason already mentioned, that the line from the Caspian Gates to Carmania has not been clearly defined, which is a common side for the third seal in relation to the second.
ἔπειθʼ ὅτι εἰς τὴν νότιον πλευρὰν ὁ Περσικὸς ἐμπίπτει κόλπος, ὅπερ καὶ αὐτός φησιν, ὥστʼ ἠνάγκασται τὴν ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος λαβεῖν γραμμὴν ὡς ἂν εὐθεῖάν τινα διὰ Σούσων καὶ Περσεπόλεως μέχρι τῶν ὅρων τῆς Καρμανίας καὶ τῆς Περσίδος, ᾗ δυνατὸς ἦν εὑρεῖν μεμετρημένην ὁδόν, σταδίων οὖσαν τὴν ὅλην μικρῷ πλειόνων ἢ ἐνακισχιλίων· ἣν νότιον μὲν καλεῖ πλευράν, παράλληλον δʼ οὐ λέγει τῇ βορείῳ.
Second, because the Persian Gulf breaks into the southern side, as he himself also says, so that he has been forced to take the line from Babylon, as if a certain straight line, through Susa and Persepolis as far as the boundaries of Carmania and Persis, along which he was able to find a measured road, the whole being a little more than nine thousand stadia; which line he calls the southern side, but he does not say it is parallel to the northern side.
δῆλον δʼ ὅτι οὐδʼ ὁ Εὐφράτης, ᾧ τὸ ἑσπέριον ἀφορίζει πλευρόν, σύνεγγύς ἐστιν εὐθείᾳ γραμμῇ, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν ῥυεὶς εἶτʼ ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς ἕω καὶ πάλιν πρὸς νότον μέχρι τῆς εἰς θάλατταν ἐκβολῆς.
And it is clear that not even the Euphrates, by which he defines the western side, is very close to a straight line, but having flowed from the mountains toward the south, it then turns toward the east and again toward the south until its discharge into the sea.
δηλοῖ δὲ τὸ μὴ εὐθύπορον τοῦ ποταμοῦ, φράζων τὸ σχῆμα τῆς Μεσοποταμίας, ὃ ποιοῦσι συμπίπτοντες εἰς ἓν ὅ τε Τίγρις καὶ ὁ Εὐφράτης, ὑπηρεσίῳ παραπλήσιον, ὥς φησι.
And he shows that the river does not run straight when he describes the shape of Mesopotamia, which the Tigris and the Euphrates make by coming together into one, saying that it is similar to a rowing boat.
καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ πᾶν μεμετρημένον ἔχει τὸ ἑσπέριον πλευρὸν τὸ ἀφοριζόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Εὐφράτου, ἀλλὰ φησὶ τὸ πρὸς τῇ Ἀρμενίᾳ μέρος καὶ τοῖς ἀρκτικοῖς ὄρεσι μὴ ἔχειν πόσον ἐστὶ διὰ τὸ ἀμέτρητον εἶναι.
And indeed, he does not have the western side defined by the Euphrates entirely measured, but says that he does not know how long the part near Armenia and the northern mountains is because of its being unmeasured.
διὰ δὴ ταῦτα πάντα τυπωδῶς φησιν ἀποδιδόναι τὴν τρίτην μερίδα· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὰ διαστήματά φησιν ἐκ πολλῶν συναγαγεῖν τῶν τοὺς σταθμοὺς πραγματευσαμένων, τινὰς καὶ ἀνεπιγράφους καλεῖ.
For all these reasons, then, he says that he renders the third portion in outline; for he also says that he gathered the distances from many who treated the stations, and some he even calls anonymous.
ἀγνωμονεῖν δὴ δόξειεν ἂν ὁ Ἵππαρχος πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην ὁλοσχέρειαν γεωμετρικῶς ἀντιλέγων, ἐν ᾗ χάριν εἰδέναι δεῖ τοῖς καὶ ὁπωσοῦν ἀπαγγείλασιν ἡμῖν τὴν τῶν τόπων φύσιν.
Hipparchus, therefore, would seem to be unreasonable in arguing geometrically against such roughness, in which case one ought to be grateful to those who have reported to us the nature of the places in any way whatsoever.
ὅταν δὲ δὴ μηδʼ ἐξ ὧν ἐκεῖνος λέγει λαμβάνῃ τὰς γεωμετρικὰς ὑποθέσεις ἀλλʼ ἑαυτῷ πλάσας, ἐκφανέστερον ἂν τὸ φιλότιμον καταμηνύοιτο.
But when he does not even take the geometrical assumptions from what that man says, but fabricates them for himself, his love of distinction would be demonstrated even more clearly.
§2.1.24̔ο μὲν δὴ οὕτως φησὶ τὴν τρίτην μερίδα τυπωδῶς ἀποδίδοσθαι μυρίων σταδίων ἀπὸ Κασπίων πυλῶν ἐπὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην, κατὰ μέρος δὲ διαιρῶν, ὡς ἀναγεγραμμένην εὗρε τὴν μέτρησιν οὕτω τίθησιν, ἔμπαλιν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Εὐφράτου ποιησάμενος καὶ τῆς κατὰ Θάψακον διαβάσεως αὐτοῦ.
So while he says that the third portion is rendered in outline as ten thousand stadia from the Caspian Gates to the Euphrates, yet when dividing it in detail, he places the measurement as he found it recorded, making his beginning conversely from the Euphrates and its crossing at Thapsacus.
μέχρι μὲν δὴ τοῦ Τίγριδος, ὅπου Ἀλέξανδρος διέβη, σταδίους χιλίους καὶ τετρακοσίους γράφει· ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἑξῆς τύπους διὰ Γαυγαμήλων καὶ τοῦ Λύκου καὶ Ἀρβήλων καὶ Ἐκβατάνων, ᾗ Δαρεῖος ἐκ τῶν Γαυγαμήλων ἔφυγε μέχρι Κασπίων πυλῶν, τοὺς μυρίους ἐκπληροῖ, τριακοσίοις μόνον πλεονάσας.
Indeed, as far as the Tigris, where Alexander crossed, he writes one thousand four hundred stadia; and from there to the subsequent regions through Gaugamela, the Lycus, Arbela, and Ecbatana, along which Darius fled from Gaugamela as far as the Caspian Gates, he completes the ten thousand stadia, exceeding it only by three hundred.
τὸ μὲν δὴ βόρειον πλευρὸν οὕτω καταμετρεῖ, οὐ παράλληλον τοῖς ὄρεσι θεὶς οὐδὲ τῇ διὰ στηλῶν καὶ Ἀθηνῶν καὶ Ῥόδου γραμμῇ· ἡ γὰρ Θάψακος πολὺ τῶν ὀρῶν ἀφέστηκε, συμπίπτει δὲ καὶ τὸ ὄρος καὶ ἡ ἀπὸ Θαψάκου ὁδὸς ἐπὶ τὰς Κασπίους πύλας.
Indeed, he measures the northern side in this way, without placing it parallel to the mountains, nor to the line drawn through the Pillars, Athens, and Rhodes; for Thapsacus is far distant from the mountains, and both the mountain and the road from Thapsacus meet at the Caspian Gates.
καὶ τά γε προσάρκτια μέρη τοῦ ὅρου ταῦτʼ ἐστίν.
And these indeed are the northern parts of the boundary.
§2.1.25Ἀποδοὺς δὲ τὸ βόρειον οὕτω πλευρόν
τὸ δὲ νότιον
φησί
παρὰ μὲν τὴν θάλατταν οὐκ ἔστι λαβεῖν διὰ τὸ τὸν Περσικὸν ἐμπίπτειν κόλπον, ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος δὲ διὰ Σούσων καὶ Περσεπόλεως μέχρι τῶν ὁρίων τῆς τε Περσίδος καὶ τῆς Καρμανίας σταδίους εἶναι ἐνακισχιλίους καὶ διακοσίους,
νότιον μὲν λέγων, παράλληλον δʼ οὐ λέγων τῷ βορείῳ τὸ νότιον.
And having rendered the northern side in this way, as for the southern, he says that it is not possible to take it along the sea because the Persian Gulf breaks into it, but from Babylon through Susa and Persepolis as far as the boundaries of Persis and Carmania is nine thousand two hundred stadia, calling it southern, but not saying that this southern side is parallel to the northern.
τὴν δὲ διαφωνίαν τοῦ μήκους φησὶ συμβαίνειν, τοῦ τε βορείου τεθέντος πλευροῦ καὶ τοῦ νοτίου, διὰ τὸ τὸν Εὐφράτην μέχρι τινὸς πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ῥυέντα πρὸς τὴν ἕω πολὺ ἐγκλίνειν.
And he says that the discrepancy in length between the northern side and the southern side when laid down occurs because the Euphrates, after flowing toward the south for some distance, inclines greatly toward the east.