§3.1.1Ἀποδεδωκόσι δʼ ἡμῖν τὸν πρῶτον τύπον τῆς γεωγραφίας οἰκεῖός ἐστιν ὁ ἐφεξῆς λόγος περὶ τῶν καθʼ ἕκαστα·
Now that we have rendered the first outline of geography, the succeeding discussion concerning individual regions is appropriate.
καὶ γὰρ ὑπεσχόμεθα οὕτως καὶ δοκεῖ μέχρι νῦν ὀρθῶς ἡ πραγματεία μεμερίσθαι.
For indeed we promised to do so, and up to now our treatise seems to have been correctly divided.
ἀρκτέον δὲ πάλιν ἀπὸ τῆς Εὐρώπης καὶ τῶν μερῶν αὐτῆς τούτων ἀφʼ ὧνπερ καὶ πρότερον κατὰ τὰς αὐτὰς αἰτίας.
And we must begin again from Europe and from those of its parts from which we also did before, and for the same reasons.
§3.1.2πρῶτον δὲ μέρος αὐτῆς ἐστι τὸ ἑσπέριον, ὡς ἔφαμεν, ἡ Ἰβηρία.
And its first part is the western one, as we said, namely Iberia.
ταύτης δὴ τὸ μὲν πλέον οἰκεῖται φαύλως· ὄρη γὰρ καὶ δρυμοὺς καὶ πεδία λεπτὴν ἔχοντα γῆν οὐδὲ ταύτην ὁμαλῶς εὔυδρον οἰκοῦσι τὴν πολλήν·
Indeed, the greater part of this is poorly inhabited; for they inhabit the greater part of the mountains, forests, and plains that have thin soil, and even this is not uniformly well-watered.
ἡ δὲ πρόσβορρος ψυχρά τέ ἐστι τελέως πρὸς τῇ τραχύτητι καὶ παρωκεανῖτις, προσειληφυῖα τὸ ἄμικτον κἀνεπίπλεκτον τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὥσθʼ ὑπερβάλλει τῇ μοχθηρίᾳ τῆς οἰκήσεως.
The northern part is completely cold in addition to its ruggedness, and is adjacent to the ocean, having in addition the characteristic of being unmixed and uninvolved with others, so that it surpasses in the wretchedness of its habitation.
ταῦτα μὲν δὴ τὰ μέρη τοιαῦτα, ἡ δὲ νότιος πᾶσα εὐδαίμων σχεδόν τι καὶ διαφερόντως ἡ ἔξω στηλῶν· ἔσται δὲ δῆλον ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἕκαστα ὑπογράψασιν ἡμῖν πρότερον τό τε σχῆμα καὶ τὸ μέγεθος.
These parts, then, are of such a character, but the southern part is almost entirely prosperous, and outstandingly so the part outside the Pillars; and this will be clear as we first sketch its shape and size before entering into the details.
§3.1.3ἔοικε γὰρ βύρσῃ τεταμένῃ κατὰ μῆκος μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω τὰ πρόσθια ἐχούσῃ μέρη πρὸς τῇ ἕῳ, κατὰ πλάτος δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρκτων πρὸς νότον.
For it resembles a hide stretched out in length from west to east, having its front parts toward the east, and in width from north to south.
ἔχει δὲ σταδίων ἑξακισχιλίων ὁμοῦ τὸ μῆκος, πλάτος δὲ πεντακισχιλίων τὸ μέγιστον, ἔστι δʼ ὅπου πολὺ ἔλαττον τῶν τρισχιλίων καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς τῇ Πυρήνῃ τῇ ποιούσῃ τὴν ἑῴαν πλευράν· ὄρος γὰρ διηνεκὲς ἀπὸ νότου πρὸς βορρᾶν τεταμένον ὁρίζει τὴν Κελτικὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰβηρίας.
It has a length of about six thousand stades, and a maximum width of five thousand, but in some places much less than three thousand, and especially near the Pyrenees which form the eastern side; for a continuous mountain range stretched from south to north divides Celtica from Iberia.
οὔσης δὲ καὶ τῆς Κελτικῆς ἀνωμάλου τὸ πλάτος καὶ τῆς Ἰβηρίας, τὸ στενώτατον τοῦ πλάτους ἑκατέρας ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμετέρας θαλάττης ἐπὶ τὸν ὠκεανόν ἐστι τὸ τῇ Πυρήνῃ πλησιάζον μάλιστα ἐφʼ ἑκάτερον αὐτῆς τὸ μέρος καὶ ποιοῦν κόλπους τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ ὠκεανῷ τοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ καθʼ ἡμᾶς θαλάττῃ· μείζους δὲ τοὺς Κελτικούς, οὓς δὴ καὶ Γαλατικοὺς καλοῦσι, στενώτερον τὸν ἰσθμὸν ποιοῦντας παρὰ τὸν Ἰβηρικόν.
Since both Celtica and Iberia are of uneven width, the narrowest part of the width of each from our sea to the ocean is that which is closest to the Pyrenees on each side of it, forming gulfs, some on the ocean and others on our sea; and the Celtic gulfs, which they also call Galatic, are larger, making the isthmus narrower than the Iberian one.
καὶ δὴ τὸ μὲν ἑῷον πλευρὸν τῆς Ἰβηρίας ἡ Πυρήνη ποιεῖ, τὸ δὲ νότιον ἥ τε καθʼ ἡμᾶς θάλαττα ἀπὸ τῆς Πυρήνης μέχρι στηλῶν καὶ ἡ ἐκτὸς τὸ ἑξῆς μέχρι τοῦ ἱεροῦ καλουμένου ἀκρωτηρίου· τρίτον ἐστὶ τὸ ἑσπέριον πλευρὸν παράλληλόν πως τῇ Πυρήνῃ, τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἀκρωτηρίου μέχρι τῆς πρὸς Ἀρτάβροις ἄκρας ἣν καλοῦσι Νέριον· τέταρτον δὲ τὸ ἐνθένδε μέχρι τῶν βορείων ἄκρων τῆς Πυρήνης.
And indeed the eastern side of Iberia is ¦p.185 formed by the Pyrenees, and the southern side by our sea from the Pyrenees to the Pillars, and the outer sea next in order as far as the promontory called Sacred; the third is the western side, running somewhat parallel to the Pyrenees, from the Sacred Promontory to the cape near the Artabri which they call Nerium; and the fourth is the side from there to the northern peaks of the Pyrenees.
§3.1.4Ἀναλαβόντες δὲ λέγωμεν τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστα ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἀκρωτηρίου ἀρξάμενοι.
Resuming our narrative, let us speak of the details, beginning from the Sacred Promontory.
τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ δυτικώτατον οὐ τῆς Εὐρώπης μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης σημεῖον.
This is the westernmost point, not only of Europe, but also of the entire inhabited world.
περατοῦται μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν δυεῖν ἠπείρων ἡ οἰκουμένη πρὸς δύσιν, τοῖς τε τῆς Εὐρώπης ἄκροις καὶ τοῖς πρώτοις τῆς Λιβύης, ὧν τὰ μὲν Ἴβηρες ἔχουσι τὰ δὲ Μαυρούσιοι.
For the inhabited world is bounded to the west by the two continents, by the extremities of Europe and the first parts of Libya, of which the Iberians hold the former and the Maurusians the latter.
προὔχει δὲ τὰ Ἰβηρικὰ ὅσον χιλίοις καὶ πεντακοσίοις σταδίοις κατὰ τὸ λεχθὲν ἀκρωτήριον.
And the Iberian side projects by about one thousand five hundred stades at the aforementioned promontory.
καὶ δὴ καὶ τὴν προσεχῆ τούτῳ χώραν τῇ Λατίνῃ φωνῇ καλοῦσι Κούνεον, σφῆνα σημαίνειν βουλόμενοι.
And indeed, they call the territory adjacent to this in the Latin tongue "Cuneus", wishing to signify a wedge.
αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ἄκρον καὶ προπεπτωκὸς εἰς τὴν θάλατταν Ἀρτεμίδωρος εἰκάζει πλοίῳ, γενόμενος, φησίν, ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, προσλαμβάνειν δὲ τῷ σχήματι νησίδια τρία, τὸ μὲν ἐμβόλου τάξιν ἔχον τὰ δὲ ἐπωτίδων, ὑφόρμους ἔχοντα μετρίους.
Artemidorus, who says he has been in the place, compares the cape itself, which projects into the sea, to a ship, and says that its shape is completed by three small islands, one having the position of a beak and the others of catheads, providing moderate anchorages.
Ἡρακλέους δʼ οὔθʼ ἱερὸν ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσθαι (ψεύσασθαι δὲ τοῦτο Ἔφορον) οὔτε βωμόν, οὐδʼ ἄλλου τῶν θεῶν, ἀλλὰ λίθους συγκεῖσθαι τρεῖς ἢ τέτταρας κατὰ πολλοὺς τόπους, οὓς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀφικνουμένων στρέφεσθαι κατά τι πάτριον καὶ μεταφέρεσθαι σπονδοποιησαμένων· θύειν δʼ οὐκ εἶναι νόμιμον, οὐδὲ νύκτωρ ἐπιβαίνειν τοῦ τόπου, θεοὺς φασκόντων κατέχειν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ τότε χρόνῳ, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐπὶ θέαν ἥκοντας ἐν κώμῃ πλησίον νυκτερεύειν, εἶτʼ ἐπιβάλλειν ἡμέρας ὕδωρ ἐπιφερομένους διὰ τὴν ἀνυδρίαν.
And he says that neither a temple of Heracles is shown here (and that Ephorus lied about this) nor an altar, nor of any other of the gods, but that three or four stones are piled up in many places, which are turned and moved by those who arrive, after they have made libations according to some ancestral custom; and that it is not lawful to sacrifice, nor to set foot on the place at night, since they claim that the gods occupy it at that time, but those who come for the sight spend the night in a neighboring village, and then set foot on it by day, carrying water with them because of the lack of water.