§2.5.20μετὰ δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν καὶ τοὺς ἑκατέρωθεν πορθμοὺς ἄλλα πελάγη συνάπτει, τό τε πρὸ τῶν Σύρτεων καὶ τῆς Κυρηναίας καὶ αὐταὶ αἱ Σύρτεις καὶ τὸ Αὐσόνιον μὲν πάλαι νῦν δὲ καλούμενον Σικελικόν, σύρρουν ἐκείνῳ καὶ συνεχές.
After Sicily and the straits on either side, other seas connect, namely, the one before the Syrtes and Cyrenaica, and the Syrtes themselves, and the sea formerly called Ausonian but now called Sicilian, which is confluent and continuous with that one.
τὸ μὲν οὖν πρὸ τῶν Σύρτεων καὶ τῆς Κυρηναίας καλεῖται Λιβυκόν, τελευτᾷ δʼ εἰς τὸ Αἰγύπτιον πέλαγος.
Now the sea before the Syrtes and Cyrenaica is called Libyan, and it terminates in the Egyptian Sea.
τῶν δὲ Σύρτεων ἡ μὲν ἐλάττων ἐστὶν ὅσον χιλίων καὶ ἑξακοσίων σταδίων τὴν περίμετρον· πρόκεινται δʼ ἐφʼ ἑκάτερα τοῦ στόματος νῆσοι Μῆνίγξ τε καὶ Κέρκινα· τῆς δὲ μεγάλης Σύρτεώς φησιν Ἐρατοσθένης τὸν κύκλον εἶναι πεντακισχιλίων, τὸ δὲ βάθος χιλίων ὀκτακοσίων ἀφʼ Ἑσπερίδων εἰς Αὐτόμαλα καὶ τὸ τῆς Κυρηναίας μεθόριον πρὸς τὴν ἄλλην τὴν ταύτῃ Λιβύην· ἄλλοι δὲ τὸν περίπλουν τετρακισχιλίων σταδίων εἶπον, τὸ δὲ βάθος χιλίων πεντακοσίων, ὅσον καὶ τὸ πλάτος τοῦ στόματος.
Of the Syrtes, the smaller is about one thousand six hundred stadia in circumference; and before each side of its mouth lie the islands of Meninx and Cercina; as for the larger Syrtis, Eratosthenes says its circuit is five thousand stadia, and its depth is one thousand eight hundred from Hesperides to Automala and the boundary of Cyrenaica with the other Libya in that region; but others say its circumnavigation is four thousand stadia, and its depth is one thousand five hundred, which is the same as the width of its mouth.
τὸ δὲ Σικελικὸν πέλαγος πρὸ τῆς Σικελίας ἐστὶ καὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἐπὶ τὸ πρὸς ἕω μέρος καὶ ἔτι τοῦ μεταξὺ πόρου τῆς τε Ῥηγίνης μέχρι Λοκρῶν, καὶ τῆς Μεσσηνίας μέχρι Συρακουσσῶν καὶ Παχύνου.
The Sicilian Sea lies before Sicily and Italy on the eastern side, and further in the passage between the territory of Rhegion as far as Locri, and that of Messene as far as Syracuse and Pachynus.
αὔξεται δʼ ἐπὶ μὲν τὸ πρὸς ἕω μέρος μέχρι τῶν ἄκρων τῆς Κρήτης, καὶ τὴν Πελοπόννησον δὲ περικλύζει τὴν πλείστην, καὶ πληροῖ τὸν Κορινθιακὸν καλούμενον κόλπον· πρὸς ἄρκτους δὲ ἐπί τε ἄκραν Ἰαπυγίαν καὶ τὸ στόμα τοῦ Ἰονίου κόλπου καὶ τῆς Ἠπείρου τὰ νότια μέρη μέχρι τοῦ Ἀμβρακικοῦ κόλπου καὶ τῆς συνεχοῦς παραλίας τῆς ποιούσης τὸν Κορινθιακὸν κόλπον πρὸς τὴν Πελοπόννησον.
It increases on the eastern side as far as the promontories of Crete, and washes most of the Peloponnese, and fills the gulf called Corinthian; towards the north, it extends to Cape Iapygia, the mouth of the Ionian Gulf, and the southern parts of Epirus as far as the Ambracian Gulf and the continuous coast which forms the Corinthian Gulf towards the Peloponnese.
ὁ δʼ Ἰόνιος κόλπος μέρος ἐστὶ τοῦ νῦν Ἀδρίου λεγομένου· τούτου δὲ τὴν μὲν ἐν δεξιᾷ πλευρὰν ἡ Ἰλλυρὶς ποιεῖ, τὴν δʼ εὐώνυμον ἡ Ἰταλία μέχρι τοῦ μυχοῦ τοῦ κατὰ Ἀκυληίαν.
The Ionian Gulf is a part of what is now called the Adriatic; of this, the right side is formed by Illyria, and the left side by Italy as far as the innermost recess near Aquileia.
ἔστι δὲ πρὸς ἄρκτον ἅμα καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἑσπέραν ἀνέχων στενὸς καὶ μακρός, μῆκος μὲν ὅσον ἑξακισχιλίων σταδίων, πλάτος δὲ τὸ μέγιστον διακοσίων ἐπὶ τοῖς χιλίοις.
It extends towards both the north and the west, being narrow and long, its length being about six thousand stadia, and its greatest width one thousand two hundred.
νῆσοι δέ εἰσιν ἐνταῦθα συχναὶ μὲν αἱ πρὸ τῆς Ἰλλυρίδος, αἵ τε Ἀψυρτίδες καὶ Κυρικτικὴ καὶ Λιβυρνίδες, ἔτι δʼ Ἴσσα καὶ Τραγούριον καὶ ἡ Μέλαινα Κόρκυρα καὶ Φάρος, πρὸ τῆς Ἰταλίας δὲ αἱ Διομήδειοι.
Islands are numerous here before Illyria, namely the Apsyrtides, Cyrictice, and Liburnides, and also Issa, Tragurium, Melaina Corcyra, and Pharos, and before Italy, the Diomedeae.
τοῦ Σικελικοῦ δὲ τὸ ἐπὶ Κρήτην ἀπὸ Παχύνου τετρακισχιλίων καὶ πεντακοσίων σταδίων φασί· τοσοῦτον δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ Ταίναρον τῆς Λακωνικῆς· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ ἄκρας Ἰαπυγίας ἐπὶ τὸν μυχὸν τοῦ Κορινθιακοῦ κόλπου τῶν μὲν τρισχιλίων ἐστὶν ἔλαττον, τὸ δʼ ἀπὸ Ἰαπυγίας εἰς τὴν Λιβύην πλέον τῶν τετρακισχιλίων ἐστί.
They say that the distance of the Sicilian Sea from Pachynus to Crete is four thousand five hundred stadia; and the distance to Taenarum in Laconia is the same; and that from Cape Iapygia to the innermost recess of the Corinthian Gulf is less than three thousand, while that from Iapygia to Libya is more than four thousand.
νῆσοι δʼ εἰσὶν ἐνταῦθα ἥ τε Κόρκυρα καὶ Σύβοτα πρὸ τῆς Ἠπειρώτιδος, καὶ ἐφεξῆς πρὸ τοῦ Κορινθιακοῦ κόλπου Κεφαλληνία καὶ Ἰθάκη καὶ Ζάκυνθος καὶ Ἐχινάδες.
Islands here are Corcyra and Sybota before the Epirus coast, and successively before the Corinthian Gulf, Cephallenia, Ithaca, Zacynthus, and the Echinades.
§2.5.21τῷ δὲ Σικελικῷ συνάπτει τὸ Κρητικὸν πέλαγος καὶ τὸ Σαρωνικὸν καὶ τὸ Μυρτῷον, ὃ μεταξὺ τῆς Κρήτης ἐστὶ καὶ τῆς Ἀργείας καὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, πλάτος ἔχον τὸ μέγιστον τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ὅσον χιλίων καὶ διακοσίων σταδίων, μῆκος δʼ ἔλαττον ἢ διπλάσιον.
To the Sicilian Sea connect the Cretan Sea, the Saronic Gulf, and the Myrtoan Sea, which is between Crete, the Argive territory, and Attica, having its greatest width from Attica about one thousand two hundred stadia, and its length less than double.
ἐν τούτῳ δὲ νῆσοι Κύθηρά τε καὶ Καλαυρία καὶ αἱ περὶ Αἴγιναν καὶ Σαλαμῖνα καὶ τῶν Κυκλάδων τινές.
In this sea are the islands of Cythera, Calauria, and those around Aegina and Salamis, and some of the Cyclades.
τὸ δὲ συνεχὲς τὸ Αἰγαῖόν ἐστιν ἤδη σὺν τῷ Μέλανι κόλπῳ καὶ τῷ Ἑλλησπόντῳ, καὶ τὸ Ἰκάριον καὶ Καρπάθιον μέχρι τῆς Ῥόδου καὶ Κρήτης καὶ τῶν πρώτων μερῶν τῆς Ἀσίας αἵ τε Κυκλάδες νῆσοι εἰσὶ καὶ αἱ Σποράδες καὶ αἱ προκείμεναι τῆς Καρίας καὶ Ἰωνίας καὶ Αἰολίδος μέχρι τῆς Τρῳάδος, λέγω δὲ Κῶ καὶ Σάμον καὶ Χίον καὶ Λέσβον καὶ Τένεδον· ὡς δʼ αὕτως αἱ προκείμεναι τῆς Ἑλλάδος μέχρι τῆς Μακεδονίας καὶ τῆς ὁμόρου Θρᾴκης Εὔβοιά τε καὶ Σκῦρος καὶ Πεπάρηθος καὶ Λῆμνος καὶ Θάσος καὶ Ἴμβρος καὶ Σαμοθρᾴκη καὶ ἄλλαι πλείους, περὶ ὧν ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἕκαστα δηλώσομεν.
The next continuous part is already the Aegean Sea with the Melas Gulf and the Hellespont, and the Icarian and Carpathian seas as far as Rhodes, Crete, and the first parts of Asia; and there are the Cyclades islands, the Sporades, and those lying before Caria, Ionia, and Aeolis as far as Troas, namely Cos, Samos, Chios, Lesbos, and Tenedos; likewise those lying before Greece as far as Macedonia and the neighboring Thrace, namely Euboea, Scyros, Peparethos, Lemnos, Thasos, Imbros, Samothrace, and several others, about which we shall make clear in the detailed accounts.
ἔστι δὲ τὸ μῆκος τῆς θαλάττης ταύτης περὶ τετρακισχιλίους ἢ μικρῷ πλείους, τὸ δὲ πλάτος περὶ δισχιλίους.
The length of this sea is about four thousand stadia or slightly more, and its width is about two thousand.
περιέχεται δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν λεχθέντων μερῶν τῆς Ἀσίας καὶ τῆς ἀπὸ Σουνίου μέχρι Θερμαίου κόλπου πρὸς ἄρκτον ἐχούσης τὸν πλοῦν παραλίας καὶ τῶν Μακεδονικῶν κόλπων μέχρι τῆς Θρᾳκίας χερρονήσου.
It is enclosed by the said parts of Asia, and by the coast from Sunium to the Thermaic Gulf which has its sailing course directed to the north, and by the Macedonian gulfs as far as the Thracian Chersonese.