§2.5.18λέγομεν δʼ ἀναλαβόντες ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ὑποτυπώσεως ὅτι ἡ καθʼ ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένη γῆ περίρρυτος οὖσα δέχεται κόλπους εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἔξω θαλάττης κατὰ τὸν ὠκεανὸν πολλούς, μεγίστους δὲ τέτταρας· ὧν ὁ μὲν βόρειος Κασπία καλεῖται θάλαττα (οἱ δʼ Ὑρκανίαν προσαγορεύουσιν), ὁ δὲ Περσικὸς καὶ Ἀράβιος ἀπὸ τῆς νοτίας ἀναχέονται θαλάττης, ὁ μὲν τῆς Κασπίας κατʼ ἀντικρὺ μάλιστα ὁ δὲ τῆς Ποντικῆς, τὸν δὲ τέταρτον, ὅσπερ πολὺ τούτους ὑπερβέβληται κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος, ἡ ἐντὸς καὶ καθʼ ἡμᾶς λεγομένη θάλαττα ἀπεργάζεται, τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας λαμβάνουσα καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὰς Ἡρακλείους στήλας πορθμοῦ, μηκυνομένη δʼ εἰς τὸ πρὸς ἕω μέρος ἐν ἄλλῳ πλάτει, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα σχιζομένη καὶ τελευτῶσα εἰς δύο κόλπους πελαγίους, τὸν μὲν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ, ὅνπερ Εὔξεινον πόντον προσαγορεύομεν, τὸν δʼ ἕτερον τὸν συγκείμενον ἔκ τε τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου πελάγους καὶ τοῦ Παμφυλίου καὶ τοῦ Ἰσσικοῦ.
Speaking by returning to our first outline, we say that our inhabited world, being surrounded by water, admits into itself many gulfs from the outer sea along the ocean, and four that are the largest; of these, the northern one is called the Caspian Sea (though some address it as the Hyrcanian), while the Persian and the Arabian gulfs pour in from the southern sea, the former lying almost directly opposite to the Caspian, and the latter opposite to the Pontic; and the fourth, which far surpasses these in size, is formed by the sea called the inner and ours, which takes its beginning from the west and the strait at the Pillars of Heracles, extending towards the east with a different breadth, and thereafter dividing and terminating in two deep-sea gulfs, the one on the left, which we call the Euxine Pontus, and the other composed of the Egyptian, Pamphylian, and Issic seas.
ἅπαντες δʼ οἱ λεχθέντες κόλποι ἀπὸ τῆς ἔξω θαλάττης στενὸν ἔχουσι τὸν εἴσπλουν, μᾶλλον μὲν ὅ τε Ἀράβιος καὶ ὁ κατὰ στήλας, ἧττον δʼ οἱ λοιποί.
All the said gulfs have a narrow entrance from the outer sea, more so the Arabian and the one at the Pillars, and less so the remaining ones.
ἡ δὲ περικλείουσα αὐτοὺς γῆ τριχῆ νενέμηται, καθάπερ εἴρηται.
And the land enclosing them is divided into three parts, as has been said.
ἡ μὲν οὖν Εὐρώπη πολυσχημονεστάτη πασῶν ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ Λιβύη τἀναντία πέπονθεν, ἡ δὲ Ἀσία μέσην πως ἀμφοῖν ἔχει τὴν διάθεσιν.
Now Europe is the most irregular in shape of all, while Libya has experienced the opposite, and Asia has its arrangement somewhere intermediate between the two.
ἅπασαι δʼ ἐκ τῆς ἐντὸς παραλίας ἔχουσι τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ τε πολυσχήμονος καὶ τοῦ μή, ἡ δʼ ἐκτὸς πλὴν τῶν λεχθέντων κόλπων ἁπλῆ καὶ χλαμυδοειδής ἐστιν, ὡς εἶπον, τὰς δʼ ἄλλας ἐν μικρῷ διαφορὰς ἐατέον· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς μεγάλοις τὸ μικρόν.
All of them have the cause of being irregular or not from the inner coast, while the outer coast, except for the said gulfs, is simple and cloak-like, as I said, and other differences in minor details must be let go; for in great matters the small is as nothing.
ἔτι δʼ ἐπεὶ κατὰ τὴν γεωγραφικὴν ἱστορίαν οὐ σχήματα μόνον ζητοῦμεν καὶ μεγέθη τόπων, ἀλλὰ καὶ σχέσεις πρὸς ἄλληλα αὐτῶν, ὥσπερ ἔφαμεν, καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸ ποικίλον ἡ ἐντὸς παραλία παρέχεται μᾶλλον ἢ ἡ ἐκτός.
Furthermore, since in geographical history we seek not only shapes and sizes of places, but also their relations to one another, as we said, here too the inner coast provides more variety than the outer.
πολὺ δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ γνώριμον καὶ τὸ εὔκρατον καὶ τὸ πόλεσι καὶ ἔθνεσιν εὐνομουμένοις συνοικούμενον μᾶλλον ἐνταῦθα ἢ ἐκεῖ.
And also, that which is well-known, temperate, and co-inhabited by well-governed cities and nations is much more present here than there.
ποθοῦμεν δὲ εἰδέναι ταῦτα, ἐν οἷς πλείους παραδίδονται πράξεις καὶ πολιτεῖαι καὶ τέχναι καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα εἰς φρόνησιν συνεργεῖ, αἵ τε χρεῖαι συνάγουσιν ἡμᾶς πρὸς ἐκεῖνα ὧν ἐν ἐφικτῷ αἱ ἐπιπλοκαὶ καὶ κοινωνίαι· ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶν ὅσα οἰκεῖται, μᾶλλον δʼ οἰκεῖται καλῶς.
And we desire to know these things where more actions, constitutions, arts, and all other things contributing to wisdom are recorded, and practical needs bring us together towards those things whose intercourse and society are within reach; and these are the places that are inhabited, or rather, well inhabited.
πρὸς ἅπαντα δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὡς ἔφην, ἡ παρʼ ἡμῖν θάλαττα πλεονέκτημα ἔχει μέγα· καὶ δὴ καὶ ἔνθεν ἀρκτέον τῆς περιηγήσεως.
For all such things, as I said, our sea has a great advantage; and indeed, from here we must begin our tour.
§2.5.19εἴρηται δὲ ὅτι ἀρχὴ τοῦδε τοῦ κόλπου ἐστὶν ὁ κατὰ τὰς στήλας πορθμός· τὸ δὲ στενώτατον τούτου περὶ ἑβδομήκοντα σταδίους λέγεται· παραπλεύσαντι δὲ τὸν στενωπὸν ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι σταδίων ὄντα διάστασιν λαμβάνουσιν αἱ ᾐόνες ἀθρόαν, ἡ δʼ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ μᾶλλον· εἶτʼ ὄψις μεγάλου φαίνεται πελάγους.
And it has been said that the beginning of this gulf is the strait at the Pillars; and the narrowest part of this is said to be about seventy stadia; and to one who has sailed past this narrow pass of one hundred and twenty stadia, the shores suddenly take a wide opening, more so the one on the left; then a view of a great sea appears.
ὁρίζεται δʼ ἐκ μὲν τοῦ δεξιοῦ πλευροῦ τῇ Λιβυκῇ παραλίᾳ μέχρι Καρχηδόνος, ἐκ δὲ θατέρου τῇ τε Ἰβηρικῇ καὶ τῇ Κελτικῇ κατὰ Νάρβωνα καὶ Μασσαλίαν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τῇ Λιγυστικῇ, τελευταίᾳ δὲ τῇ Ἰταλικῇ μέχρι τοῦ Σικελικοῦ πορθμοῦ.
And it is bounded on the right side by the Libyan coast as far as Carthage, and on the other side by the Iberian and Celtic coasts near Narbo and Massalia, and after these by the Ligurian, and finally by the Italian coast as far as the Sicilian Strait.
τὸ δʼ ἑῷον τοῦ πελάγους πλευρὸν ἡ Σικελία ἐστὶ καὶ οἱ ἑκατέρωθεν αὐτῆς πορθμοί, ὁ μὲν πρὸς τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ ἑπταστάδιος, ὁ δὲ πρὸς τῇ Καρχηδόνι χιλίων καὶ πεντακοσίων σταδίων.
And the eastern side of the sea is Sicily and the straits on either side of it, the one near Italy being seven stadia, and the one near Carthage being one thousand five hundred stadia.
ἡ δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν στηλῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ἑπταστάδιον γραμμὴ μέρος μέν ἐστι τῆς ἐπὶ Ῥόδον καὶ τὸν Ταῦρον, μέσον δέ πως τέμνει τὸ λεχθὲν πέλαγος· λέγεται δὲ σταδίων μυρίων καὶ δισχιλίων· τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τὸ μῆκος τοῦ πελάγους, πλάτος δὲ τὸ μέγιστον ὅσον πεντακισχιλίων σταδίων τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ Γαλατικοῦ κόλπου μεταξὺ Μασσαλίας καὶ Νάρβωνος ἐπὶ τὴν κατʼ ἀντικρὺ Λιβύην.
And the line from the Pillars to the seven-stadium strait is part of the line to Rhodes and the Taurus, and cuts the said sea approximately in the middle; and it is said to be twelve thousand stadia; this indeed is the length of the sea, and its greatest width is about five thousand stadia, from the Galatic gulf between Massalia and Narbo to the opposite Libya.
καλοῦσι δὲ τὸ πρὸς τῇ Λιβύῃ πᾶν μέρος τῆς θαλάττης ταύτης Λιβυκὸν πέλαγος, τὸ δὲ πρὸς τῇ κατʼ ἀντικρὺ γῇ τὸ μὲν Ἰβηρικὸν τὸ δὲ Λιγυστικὸν τὸ δὲ Σαρδόνιον, τελευταῖον δὲ μέχρι τῆς Σικελίας τὸ Τυρρηνικόν.
And they call all the part of this sea near Libya the Libyan Sea, and that near the opposite land, partly the Iberian, partly the Ligurian, partly the Sardinian, and finally, as far as Sicily, the Tyrrhenian.
νῆσοι δʼ εἰσὶν ἐν μὲν τῇ παραλίᾳ τῇ κατὰ τὸ Τυρρηνικὸν πέλαγος μέχρι τῆς Λιγυστικῆς συχναί, μέγισται δὲ Σαρδὼ καὶ Κύρνος, μετά γε τὴν Σικελίαν· αὕτη δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐστὶ μεγίστη τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀρίστη.
And islands are numerous on the coast along the Tyrrhenian Sea as far as the Ligurian, and the largest are Sardo and Cyrnos, after Sicily at least; and this latter is both the largest and best of the others in our sea.
πολὺ δὲ τούτων λειπόμεναι πελάγιαι μὲν Πανδατερία τε καὶ Ποντία, πρόσγειοι δὲ Αἰθαλία τε καὶ Πλανασία καὶ Πιθηκοῦσσα καὶ Προχύτη καὶ Καπρίαι καὶ Λευκωσία καὶ ἄλλαι τοιαῦται.
Far inferior to these, among the deep-sea islands are Pandateria and Pontia, and among the coastal ones are Aethalia, Planasia, Pithecussa, Prochyta, Capreae, Leucosia, and others of this kind.
ἐπὶ θάτερα δὲ τῆς Λιγυστικῆς αἱ πρὸ τῆς λοιπῆς ᾐόνος μέχρι στηλῶν οὐ πολλαί, ὧν εἰσιν ἥ τε Γυμνησία καὶ Ἔβυσος· οὐ πολλαὶ δʼ οὐδʼ αἱ πρὸ τῆς Λιβύης καὶ τῆς Σικελίας, ὧν εἰσι Κόσσουρά τε καὶ Αἰγίμουρος καὶ αἱ Λιπαραίων νῆσοι, ἃς Αἰόλου τινὲς προσαγορεύουσι.
And on the other side of the Ligurian, those before the rest of the coast as far as the Pillars are not many, among which are Gymnesia and Ebusus; nor are those before Libya and Sicily many, among which are Cossura, Aegimurus, and the islands of the Liparaeans, which some call the islands of Aeolus.