§2.5.34λοιπὸν εἰπεῖν περὶ τῶν κλιμάτων, ὅπερ καὶ αὐτὸ ἔχει καθολικὴν ὑποτύπωσιν, ὁρμηθεῖσιν ἐκ τῶν γραμμῶν ἐκείνων, ἃ στοιχεῖα ἐκαλέσαμεν, λέγω δὲ τῆς τε τὸ μῆκος ἀφοριζούσης τὸ μέγιστον καὶ τῆς τὸ πλάτος, μάλιστα δὲ τῆς τὸ πλάτος.
It remains to speak of the bands of latitude, which itself also presents a general sketch, starting from those lines which we called elements—I mean the line defining the greatest length and the one defining the width, and especially the one defining the width.
τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἀστρονομικοῖς ἐπὶ πλέον τοῦτο ποιητέον, καθάπερ Ἵππαρχος ἐποίησεν.
Now, this must be done to a greater extent by astronomers, just as Hipparchus did.
ἀνέγραψε γάρ, ὡς αὐτός φησι, τὰς γινομένας ἐν τοῖς οὐρανίοις διαφορὰς καθʼ ἕκαστον τῆς γῆς τόπον τῶν ἐν τῷ καθʼ ἡμᾶς τεταρτημορίῳ τεταγμένων, λέγω δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰσημερινοῦ μέχρι τοῦ βορείου πόλου.
For he recorded, as he himself says, the differences that occur in the celestial phenomena for each place on the earth among those situated in our quarter, by which I mean the places from the equator to the north pole.
τοῖς δὲ γεωγραφοῦσιν οὔτε τῶν ἔξω τῆς καθʼ ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης φροντιστέον, οὔτʼ ἐν αὐτοῖς τῆς οἰκουμένης μέρεσι τὰς τοιαύτας καὶ τοσαύτας διαφορὰς παραδεκτέον τῷ πολιτικῷ· περισκελεῖς γάρ εἰσιν.
But those who write on geography must neither care for the things outside our inhabited world, nor, within the parts of the inhabited world itself, must such and so many differences be admitted for the statesman; for they are too rigid.
ἀλλʼ ἀρκεῖ τὰς σημειώδεις καὶ ἁπλουστέρας ἐκθέσθαι τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λεχθεισῶν, ὑποθεμένοις, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος, εἶναι τὸ μέγεθος τῆς γῆς σταδίων εἴκοσι πέντε μυριάδων καὶ δισχιλίων, ὡς καὶ Ἐρατοσθένης ἀποδίδωσιν· οὐ μεγάλη γὰρ παρὰ τοῦτʼ ἔσται διαφορὰ πρὸς τὰ φαινόμενα ἐν τοῖς μεταξὺ τῶν οἰκήσεων διαστήμασιν.
Rather, it is enough to set forth the notable and simpler of those differences mentioned by him, assuming, just as he did, that the size of the earth is 252,000 stades, as Eratosthenes also estimates; for there will be no great difference in relation to the phenomena in the intervals between the habitations on this account.
εἰ δή τις εἰς τριακόσια ἑξήκοντα τμήματα τέμοι τὸν μέγιστον τῆς γῆς κύκλον, ἔσται ἑπτακοσίων σταδίων ἕκαστον τῶν τμημάτων· τούτῳ δὴ χρῆται μέτρῳ πρὸς τὰ διαστήματα ἐν τῷ λεχθέντι διὰ Μερόης μεσημβρινῷ λαμβάνεσθαι μέλλοντα.
If, then, one should divide the greatest circle of the earth into 360 parts, each of the parts will be 700 stades; he indeed uses this measure for the distances that are to be taken on the said meridian through Meroe.
ἐκεῖνος μὲν δὴ ἄρχεται ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷ ἰσημερινῷ οἰκούντων, καὶ λοιπὸν ἀεὶ διʼ ἑπτακοσίων σταδίων τὰς ἐφεξῆς οἰκήσεις ἐπιὼν κατὰ τὸν λεχθέντα μεσημβρινὸν πειρᾶται λέγειν τὰ παρʼ ἑκάστοις φαινόμενα· ἡμῖν δʼ οὐκ ἐντεῦθεν ἀρκτέον.
He, indeed, begins with those who inhabit the equator, and then, continually going through the successive habitations at intervals of 700 stades along the said meridian, attempts to state the phenomena for each; but we must not begin from there.
καὶ γὰρ εἰ οἰκήσιμα ταῦτά ἐστιν, ὥσπερ οἴονταί τινες, ἰδία γέ τις οἰκουμένη αὕτη ἐστί, διὰ μέσης τῆς ἀοικήτου διὰ καῦμα στενὴ τεταμένη, οὐκ οὖσα μέρος τῆς καθʼ ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης· ὁ δὲ γεωγράφος ἐπισκοπεῖ ταύτην μόνην τὴν καθʼ ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένην.
For even if these parts are habitable, as some think, this is a certain separate inhabited world, stretched out as a narrow strip through the middle of the uninhabitable region because of the heat, not being a part of our inhabited world; and the geographer surveys this, our inhabited world, alone.
αὕτη δʼ ἀφορίζεται πέρασι νοτίῳ μὲν τῷ διὰ τῆς Κινναμωμοφόρου παραλλήλῳ, βορείῳ δὲ τῷ διὰ Ἰέρνης· οὔτε δὲ τὰς τοσαύτας οἰκήσεις ἐπιτέον ὅσας ὑπαγορεύει τὸ λεχθὲν μεταξὺ διάστημα, οὔτε πάντα τὰ φαινόμενα θετέον, μεμνημένοις τοῦ γεωγραφικοῦ σχήματος.
And this is bounded by limits: on the south by the parallel through the Cinnamon-producing country, and on the north by the one through Ierne; and we must neither go over as many habitations as the said interval between them dictates, nor must we set down all the phenomena, keeping in mind the character of geography.
ἀρκτέον δʼ, ὥσπερ Ἵππαρχος, ἀπὸ τῶν νοτίων μερῶν.
But we must begin, just as Hipparchus did, from the southern parts.
§2.5.35φησὶ δὴ τοῖς οἰκοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ διὰ τῆς Κινναμωμοφόρου παραλλήλῳ, ὃς ἀπέχει τῆς Μερόης τρισχιλίους σταδίους πρὸς νότον, τούτου δʼ ὁ ἰσημερινὸς ὀκτακισχιλίους καὶ ὀκτακοσίους, εἶναι τὴν οἴκησιν ἐγγυτάτω μέσην τοῦ τε ἰσημερινοῦ καὶ τοῦ θερινοῦ τροπικοῦ τοῦ κατὰ Συήνην· ἀπέχειν γὰρ τὴν Συήνην πεντακισχιλίους τῆς Μερόης· παρὰ δὲ τούτοις πρώτοις τὴν μικρὰν ἄρκτον ὅλην ἐν τῷ ἀρκτικῷ περιέχεσθαι καὶ ἀεὶ φαίνεσθαι· τὸν γὰρ ἐπʼ ἄκρας τῆς οὐρᾶς λαμπρὸν ἀστέρα, νοτιώτατον ὄντα, ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ ἱδρῦσθαι τοῦ ἀρκτικοῦ κύκλου ὥστʼ ἐφάπτεσθαι τοῦ ὁρίζοντος.
Now he says that for those who inhabit the parallel through the Cinnamon-producing country—which is 3,000 stades south of Meroe, and the equator is 8,800 stades south of this—their habitation is very nearly midway between the equator and the summer tropic at Syene; for Syene is 5,000 stades distant from Meroe; and that among these people first, the Little Bear is entirely contained within the arctic circle and is always visible; for the bright star at the tip of the tail, being the southernmost, is situated on the arctic circle itself, so as to touch the horizon.
τῷ δὲ λεχθέντι μεσημβρινῷ παράλληλός πως παράκειται ἕωθεν ὁ Ἀράβιος κόλπος· τούτου δʼ ἔκβασις εἰς τὸ ἔξω πέλαγος ἡ Κινναμωμοφόρος ἐστίν, ἐφʼ ἧς ἡ τῶν ἐλεφάντων γέγονε θήρα τὸ παλαιόν.
And to the said meridian, the Arabian Gulf lies adjacent, being in a way parallel to it on the east; and the exit of this gulf into the outer sea is the Cinnamon-producing country, where the hunting of elephants used to take place in ancient times.
ἐκπίπτει δʼ ὁ παράλληλος οὗτος τῇ μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς νοτιωτέρους μικρὸν τῆς Ταπροβάνης ἢ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐσχάτους οἰκοῦντας, τῇ δʼ ἐπὶ τὰ νοτιώτατα τῆς Λιβύης.
And this parallel runs on the one side to those who live a little to the south of Taprobane, or to the ultimate inhabitants, and on the other side to the southernmost parts of Libya.
§2.5.36τοῖς δὲ κατὰ Μερόην καὶ Πτολεμαΐδα τὴν ἐν τῇ Τρωγλοδυτικῇ ἡ μεγίστη ἡμέρα ὡρῶν ἰσημερινῶν ἐστι τρισκαίδεκα· ἔστι δʼ αὕτη ἡ οἴκησις μέση πως τοῦ τε ἰσημερινοῦ καὶ τοῦ διʼ Ἀλεξανδρείας παρὰ χιλίους καὶ ὀκτακοσίους τοὺς πλεονάζοντας πρὸς τῷ ἰσημερινῷ· διήκει δʼ ὁ διὰ Μερόης παράλληλος τῇ μὲν διʼ ἀγνωρίστων μερῶν, τῇ δὲ διὰ τῶν ἄκρων τῆς Ἰνδικῆς.
And for those at Meroe and Ptolemais in the Troglodyte country, the longest day is thirteen equinoctial hours; and this habitation is in a way midway between the equator and the parallel through Alexandria, except for the 1,800 stades which are in excess on the side of the equator; and the parallel through Meroe extends on the one side through unknown parts, and on the other through the extremities of India.
ἐν δὲ Συήνῃ καὶ Βερενίκῃ τῇ ἐν τῷ Ἀραβίῳ κόλπῳ καὶ τῇ Τρωγλοδυτικῇ κατὰ θερινὰς τροπὰς ὁ ἥλιος κατὰ κορυφῆς γίνεται, ἡ δὲ μακροτάτη ἡμέρα ὡρῶν ἰσημερινῶν ἐστι τρισκαίδεκα καὶ ἡμιωρίου, ἐν δὲ τῷ ἀρκτικῷ φαίνεται καὶ ἡ μεγάλη ἄρκτος ὅλη σχεδόν τι πλὴν τῶν σκελῶν καὶ τοῦ ἄκρου τῆς οὐρᾶς καὶ ἑνὸς τῶν ἐν τῷ πλινθίῳ ἀστέρων.
And at Syene and Berenice in the Arabian Gulf and the Troglodyte country, at the summer solstice, the sun is directly overhead, and the longest day is thirteen and a half equinoctial hours, and in the arctic circle, the Great Bear also is visible almost entire, except for the legs, the tip of the tail, and one of the stars in the bowl.
ὁ δὲ διὰ Συήνης παράλληλος τῇ μὲν διὰ τῆς τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων τῶν κατὰ τὴν Γεδρωσίαν καὶ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς διήκει, τῇ δὲ διὰ τῶν νοτιωτέρων Κυρήνης πεντακισχιλίοις σταδίοις παρὰ μικρόν.
And the parallel through Syene extends on the one side through the country of the Ichthyophagi along Gedrosia, and through India, and on the other side through the regions south of Cyrene by almost 5,000 stades.