§2.1.5οἶμαι δὴ πολλὰς ἔχειν εὐθύνας τοῦτον τὸν λόγον.
Indeed, I think that this argument is open to many criticisms.
πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι πολλαῖς μαρτυρίαις ἐκείνου χρησαμένου μιᾷ φησι τῇ Πατροκλέους αὐτὸν χρῆσθαι.
In the first place, because, although Eratosthenes used many testimonies, Hipparchus says that he used only one, that of Patrocles.
τίνες οὖν ἦσαν οἱ φάσκοντες τὰ μεσημβρινὰ ἄκρα τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἀνταίρειν τοῖς κατὰ Μερόην;
Who, then, were those who asserted that the southern extremities of India lie opposite the regions around Meroe?
τίνες δʼ οἱ τὸ ἀπὸ Μερόης διάστημα μέχρι τοῦ διʼ Ἀθηνῶν παραλλήλου λέγοντες;
And who were those who stated the distance from Meroe to the parallel through Athens?
τίνες δὲ πάλιν οἱ τὸ τῶν ὀρῶν πλάτος τοσοῦτον, ἢ οἱ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς Κιλικίας ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀμισὸν τὸ αὐτὸ τούτῳ λέγοντες;
And again, who were those who said the width of the mountains was so much, or those who said that the distance from Cilicia to Amisus was the same as this?
τίνες δὲ οἱ ἀπὸ Ἀμισοῦ διὰ Κόλχων καὶ τῆς Ὑρκανίας μέχρι Βακτρίων καὶ τῶν ἐπέκεινα εἰς τὴν ἑῴαν θάλατταν καθηκόντων ἐπʼ εὐθείας τε εἶναι λέγοντες καὶ ἐπʼ ἰσημερινὰς ἀνατολὰς καὶ παρὰ τὰ ὄρη ἐν δεξιᾷ ἔχοντι αὐτά;
And who were those saying that the route from Amisus through Colchis and Hyrcania as far as Bactria and the regions beyond reaching to the eastern sea is both in a straight line and towards the equinoctial sunrise, and along the mountains keeping them on the right?
ἢ πάλιν τὸ ἐπὶ τὴν δύσιν ἐπʼ εὐθείας ταύτῃ τῇ γραμμῇ, διότι ἐπὶ τὴν Προποντίδα ἐστὶ καὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον;
Or again, who said that the extension to the west in a straight line with this is so, because it leads to the Propontis and the Hellespont?
ταῦτα γὰρ ὁ Ἐρατοσθένης λαμβάνει πάντα ὡς καὶ ἐκμαρτυρούμενα ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν τοῖς τόποις γενομένων, ἐντετυχηκὼς ὑπομνήμασι πολλοῖς, ὧν εὐπόρει βιβλιοθήκην ἔχων τηλικαύτην ἡλίκην αὐτὸς Ἵππαρχός φησι.
For Eratosthenes takes all these things as testified to by those who have been to the places, having met with many memoirs, with which he was well supplied, possessing a library as large as Hipparchus himself says.
§2.1.6καὶ αὐτὴ δὲ ἡ τοῦ Πατροκλέους πίστις ἐκ πολλῶν μαρτυριῶν σύγκειται, τῶν βασιλέων τῶν πεπιστευκότων αὐτῷ τηλικαύτην ἀρχήν, τῶν ἐπακολουθησάντων αὐτῷ, τῶν ἀντιδοξούντων, ὧν αὐτὸς ὁ Ἵππαρχος κατονομάζει· οἱ γὰρ κατʼ ἐκείνων ἔλεγχοι πίστεις τῶν ὑπὸ τούτου λεγομένων εἰσίν.
And Patrocles' own credibility is established by many testimonies—those of the kings who entrusted him with so great a command, of those who accompanied him, and of those who held different opinions, whom Hipparchus himself names; for the refutations of those men are proofs of the things said by Patrocles.
οὐδὲ τοῦτο δὲ ἀπίθανον τοῦ Πατροκλέους, ὅτι φησὶ τοὺς Ἀλεξάνδρῳ συστρατεύσαντας ἐπιδρομάδην ἱστορῆσαι ἕκαστα, αὐτὸν δὲ Ἀλέξανδρον ἀκριβῶσαι, ἀναγραψάντων τὴν ὅλην χώραν τῶν ἐμπειροτάτων αὐτῷ· τὴν δʼ ἀναγραφὴν αὐτῷ δοθῆναί φησιν ὕστερον ὑπὸ Ξενοκλέους τοῦ γαζοφύλακος.
Nor is this incredible concerning Patrocles, when he says that those who campaigned with Alexander recorded each detail only in a cursory manner, but Alexander himself made it accurate, since those most experienced under him described the whole country; and he says that this description was afterwards given to him by Xenocles, the treasurer.
§2.1.7ἔτι φησὶν ὁ Ἵππαρχος ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ ὑπομνήματι αὐτὸν τὸν Ἐρατοσθένη διαβάλλειν τὴν τοῦ Πατροκλέους πίστιν ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Μεγασθένη διαφωνίας περὶ τοῦ μήκους τῆς Ἰνδικῆς τοῦ κατὰ τὸ βόρειον πλευρόν, τοῦ μὲν Μεγασθένους λέγοντος σταδίων μυρίων ἑξακισχιλίων, τοῦ δὲ Πατροκλέους χιλίοις λείπειν φαμένου· ἀπὸ γάρ τινος ἀναγραφῆς σταθμῶν ὁρμηθέντα τοῖς μὲν ἀπιστεῖν διὰ τὴν διαφωνίαν, ἐκείνῃ δὲ προσέχειν.
Furthermore, Hipparchus says in his second treatise that Eratosthenes himself discredits the reliability of Patrocles on the basis of his disagreement with Megasthenes concerning the length of the northern side of India, where Megasthenes says it is sixteen thousand stadia, while Patrocles says it falls short by a thousand; for, starting from a certain record of stages, Eratosthenes disbelieved them because of the disagreement, but paid attention to that record.
εἰ οὖν διὰ τὴν διαφωνίαν ἐνταῦθα ἄπιστος ὁ Πατροκλῆς, καίτοι παρὰ χιλίους σταδίους τῆς διαφορᾶς οὔσης, πόσῳ χρὴ μᾶλλον ἀπιστεῖν ἐν οἷς παρὰ ὀκτακισχιλίους ἡ διαφορά ἐστι, πρὸς δύο καὶ ταῦτα ἄνδρας συμφωνοῦντας ἀλλήλοις, τῶν μὲν λεγόντων τὸ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς πλάτος δισμυρίων σταδίων, τοῦ δὲ μυρίων καὶ δισχιλίων;
If, then, Patrocles is untrustworthy here on account of the disagreement, even though the difference is only a thousand stadia, how much more must we disbelieve him in cases where the difference is eight thousand, and that too against two men who agree with each other, when they say the width of India is twenty thousand stadia, while he says it is twelve thousand?
§2.1.8Ἐροῦμεν δʼ ὅτι οὐ ψιλὴν τὴν διαφωνίαν ᾐτιάσατο, ἀλλὰ συγκρίνων πρὸς τὴν ὁμολογίαν καὶ τὴν ἀξιοπιστίαν τῆς ἀναγραφῆς τῶν σταθμῶν.
But we shall say that he did not censure the mere disagreement, but compared it with the agreement and the reliability of the record of the stages.
οὐ θαυμαστὸν δὲ εἰ πιστοῦ γίνεταί τι πιστότερον, καὶ εἰ τῷ αὐτῷ ἐν ἑτέροις μὲν πιστεύομεν ἐν ἑτέροις δʼ ἀπιστοῦμεν, ὅταν παρά τινος τεθῇ τι βεβαιότερον.
And it is not surprising if something becomes more reliable than what is reliable, and if we trust the same person in some matters but distrust him in others, whenever something more certain is put forward by someone.
γελοῖόν τε τὸ τὴν παρὰ πολὺ διαφωνίαν ἀπιστοτέρους ποιεῖν νομίσαι τοὺς διαφωνοῦντας· τοὐναντίον γὰρ ἐν τῷ παρὰ μικρὸν συμβαίνειν τοῦτο μᾶλλον ἔοικε.
And it is ridiculous to think that a great disagreement makes those who disagree more untrustworthy; for, on the contrary, this seems rather to happen in the case of a small difference.
παρὰ μικρὸν γὰρ ἡ πλάνη συμβαίνει μᾶλλον οὐ τοῖς τυχοῦσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς πλέον τι τῶν ἑτέρων φρονοῦσιν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς παρὰ πολὺ ὁ μὲν τυχὼν ἁμάρτοι ἄν, ὁ δʼ ἐπιστημονικώτερος ἧττον ἂν τοῦτο πάθοι· διὸ καὶ πιστεύεται θᾶττον.
For a small error is more likely to happen not only to ordinary people, but also to those who are wiser than others; but in the case of a great difference, while an ordinary person might err, a more scientific man would be less likely to suffer this; which is why he is also more readily believed.
§2.1.9̔́απαντες μὲν τοίνυν οἱ περὶ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς γράψαντες ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ ψευδολόγοι γεγόνασι, καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν δὲ Δηίμαχος, τὰ δὲ δεύτερα λέγει Μεγασθένης, Ὀνησίκριτος δὲ καὶ Νέαρχος καὶ ἄλλοι τοιοῦτοι παραψελλίζοντες ἤδη.
Now all those who have written about India have been for the most part liars, and Deimachus beyond measure, while Megasthenes is second to him, and Onesicritus and Nearchus and other such writers already merely babble.
καὶ ἡμῖν δʼ ὑπῆρξεν ἐπὶ πλέον κατιδεῖν ταῦτα ὑπομνηματιζομένοις τὰς Ἀλεξάνδρου πράξεις· διαφερόντως δʼ ἀπιστεῖν ἄξιον Δηιμάχῳ τε καὶ Μεγασθένει.
And it was possible for us to observe these things more fully when we were writing our memoirs of the deeds of Alexander; and it is especially right to disbelieve both Deimachus and Megasthenes.
οὗτοι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ τοὺς ἐνωτοκοίτας καὶ τοὺς ἀστόμους καὶ ἄρρινας ἱστοροῦντες μονοφθάλμους τε καὶ μακροσκελεῖς καὶ ὀπισθοδακτύλους· ἀνεκαίνισαν δὲ καὶ τὴν Ὁμηρικὴν τῶν Πυγμαίων γερανομαχίαν, τρισπιθάμους εἰπόντες.
For these are the men who report the story of the people who sleep in their ears, and those without mouths, and the recruits who are noseless, and the one-eyed, the long-legged, and those with fingers turned backward; and they revived the Homeric battle of the Pygmies with the cranes, saying they are three spans tall.
οὗτοι δὲ καὶ τοὺς χρυσωρύχους μύρμηκας καὶ Πᾶνας σφηνοκεφάλους ὄφεις τε καὶ βοῦς καὶ ἐλάφους σὺν κέρασι καταπίνοντας· περὶ ὧν ἕτερος τὸν ἕτερον ἐλέγχει, ὅπερ καὶ Ἐρατοσθένης φησίν.
And these men also tell of the gold-digging ants, and wedge-headed Pans, and serpents swallowing both oxen and stags, horns and all; concerning which things they refute one another, as Eratosthenes also says.
ἐπέμφθησαν μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὰ Παλίμβοθρα, ὁ μὲν Μεγασθένης πρὸς Σανδρόκοττον ὁ δὲ Δηίμαχος πρὸς Ἀλλιτροχάδην τὸν ἐκείνου υἱὸν κατὰ πρεσβείαν· ὑπομνήματα δὲ τῆς ἀποδημίας κατέλιπον τοιαῦτα, ὑφʼ ἧς δή ποτε αἰτίας προαχθέντες.
For they were sent on embassies to Palibothra—Megasthenes to Sandrocottus, and Deimachus to Allitrochades, his son; and they left behind such memoirs of their travels, led on by whatever cause it may have been.
Πατροκλῆς δὲ ἥκιστα τοιοῦτος· καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι δὲ μάρτυρες οὐκ ἀπίθανοι, οἷς κέχρηται ὁ Ἐρατοσθένης
But Patrocles is least of all like this; and the other witnesses whom Eratosthenes has used are not untrustworthy.