§3.1.5ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὕτως ἔχειν ἐγχωρεῖ καὶ δεῖ πιστεύειν· ἃ δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ χυδαίοις ὁμοίως εἴρηκεν, οὐ πάνυ.
Therefore, these things can indeed be so, and one must believe them; but as for what he has said in common with the many and the vulgar, not at all.
λέγειν γὰρ δή φησι Ποσειδώνιος τοὺς πολλοὺς μείζω δύνειν τὸν ἥλιον ἐν τῇ παρωκεανίτιδι μετὰ ψόφου παραπλησίως ὡσανεὶ σίζοντος τοῦ πελάγους κατὰ σβέσιν αὐτοῦ διὰ τὸ ἐμπίπτειν εἰς τὸν βυθόν.
For Poseidonius says that the many assert that the sun sets larger in the region adjacent to the ocean with a sound almost as if the sea were hissing at its extinguishment due to its falling into the deep.
ψεῦδος δʼ εἶναι καὶ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ παραχρῆμα νύκτα ἀκολουθεῖν μετὰ τὴν δύσιν· οὐ γὰρ παραχρῆμα, μικρὸν δʼ ὕστερον, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις πελάγεσι τοῖς μεγάλοις.
And he says that both this is a falsehood and that night immediately follows after sunset; for it does not do so immediately, but a little later, just as also in the other great seas.
ὅπου μὲν γὰρ εἰς ὄρη δύεται, πλείω τὸν μετὰ δύσιν χρόνον τῆς ἡμέρας συμβαίνειν ἐκ τοῦ παραφωτισμοῦ, ἐκεῖ δὲ πλείω μὲν οὐκ ἐπακολουθεῖν, μὴ μέντοι μηδὲ παραχρῆμα συνάπτειν τὸ σκότος, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν τοῖς μεγάλοις πεδίοις.
For where indeed it sets into the mountains, it happens that the daytime after sunset is longer because of the twilight, whereas there a longer time does not follow, yet nevertheless darkness does not join in immediately either, just as also in the great plains.
τὴν δὲ τοῦ μεγέθους φαντασίαν αὔξεσθαι μὲν ὁμοίως κατά τε τὰς δύσεις καὶ τὰς ἀνατολὰς ἐν τοῖς πελάγεσι διὰ τὸ τὰς ἀναθυμιάσεις πλείους ἐκ τῶν ὑγρῶν ἀναφέρεσθαι· διὰ δὲ τούτων ὡς διʼ ὑάλων κλωμένην τὴν ὄψιν πλατυτέρας δέχεσθαι τὰς φαντασίας, καθάπερ καὶ διὰ νέφους ξηροῦ καὶ λεπτοῦ βλέπουσαν δυόμενον ἢ ἀνατέλλοντα τὸν ἥλιον ἢ τὴν σελήνην, ἡνίκα καὶ ἐνερευθὲς φαίνεσθαι τὸ ἄστρον.
And he says that the appearance of size increases likewise both at sunsets and sunrises in the seas because more vapors are carried up from the moisture; and through these, as if through glass, the sight is refracted and receives wider appearances, just as when looking at the setting or rising sun or moon through a dry and thin cloud, at which time the star also appears reddish.
τὸ δὲ ψεῦδος ἐλέγξαι φησὶ τριάκονθʼ ἡμέρας διατρίψας ἐν Γαδείροις καὶ τηρήσας τὰς δύσεις.
And he says that he exposed the falsehood by spending thirty days in Gadeira and observing the sunsets.
ὁ δέ γε Ἀρτεμίδωρος ἑκατονταπλασίονά φησι δύεσθαι τὸν ἥλιον καὶ αὐτίκα νύκτα καταλαμβάνειν.
But Artemidorus says that the sun sets a hundred times larger and night immediately overtakes.
ὡς μὲν οὖν αὐτὸς εἶδε τοῦτο ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ ἀκρωτηρίῳ, οὐχ ὑποληπτέον προσέχοντας τῇ ἀποφάσει αὐτοῦ· ἔφη γὰρ νύκτωρ μηδένα ἐπιβαίνειν, ὥστʼ οὐδὲ δυομένου ἡλίου οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐπιβαίνοι, εἴπερ εὐθὺς ἡ νὺξ καταλαμβάνει.
Therefore, that he himself saw this at the Sacred Promontory is not to be accepted if we pay attention to his assertion; for he said that no one sets foot on it at night, so that not even when the sun is setting would anyone set foot on it, if indeed night immediately overtakes.
ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἐν ἄλλῳ τόπῳ τῆς παρωκεανίτιδος· καὶ γὰρ τὰ Γάδειρα ἐπὶ τῷ ὠκεανῷ, καὶ ὁ Ποσειδώνιος ἀντιμαρτυρεῖ καὶ ἄλλοι πλείους.
Nor indeed is it so in any other place of the region adjacent to the ocean; for Gadeira too is on the ocean, and Poseidonius and many others bear witness to the contrary.
§3.1.6τῆς δὲ συνεχοῦς τῷ ἱερῷ ἀκρωτηρίῳ παραλίας ἡ μὲν ἐστὶν ἀρχὴ τοῦ ἑσπερίου πλευροῦ τῆς Ἰβηρίας μέχρι τῆς ἐκβολῆς τοῦ Τάγου ποταμοῦ, ἡ δὲ τοῦ νοτίου μέχρι ἄλλου ποταμοῦ τοῦ Ἄνα καὶ τῆς ἐκβολῆς αὐτοῦ.
Of the coast continuous with the Sacred Promontory, one part is the beginning of the western side of Iberia as far as the mouth of the Tagus river, and the other is that of the southern side as far as the other river, the Anas, and its mouth.
φέρεται δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ἑῴων μερῶν ἑκάτερος, ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἐπʼ εὐθείας εἰς τὴν ἑσπέραν ἐκδίδωσι πολὺ μείζων ὢν θατέρου, ὁ δʼ Ἄνας πρὸς νότον ἐπιστρέφει τὴν μεσοποταμίαν ἀφορίζων, ἣν Κελτικοὶ νέμονται τὸ πλέον καὶ τῶν Λυσιτανῶν τινὲς ἐκ τῆς περαίας τοῦ Τάγου μετοικισθέντες ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἄνω μέρεσι καὶ Καρπητανοὶ καὶ Ὠρητανοὶ καὶ Ὀυεττώνων συχνοὶ νέμονται.
Each of them flows from the eastern parts, but one empties straight to the west, being much larger than the other, while the Anas turns to the south, bounding the region between the rivers, which the Celts inhabit for the most part and some of the Lusitanians who were resettled by the Romans from the other side of the Tagus; and in the upper parts many of the Carpetanians, Oretanians, and Vettones also dwell.
αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἡ χώρα μετρίως ἐστὶν εὐδαίμων, ἡ δʼ ἐφεξῆς πρὸς ἕω κειμένη καὶ νότον ὑπερβολὴν οὐκ ἀπολείπει πρὸς ἅπασαν κρινομένη τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀρετῆς χάριν καὶ τῶν ἐκ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης ἀγαθῶν.
Now this country is moderately prosperous, but the one situated next to it toward the east and south does not fall short of any limit when judged against the whole inhabited world for the sake of its excellence and the goods from both land and sea.
αὕτη δʼ ἐστὶν ἣν ὁ Βαῖτις διαρρεῖ ποταμός, ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν μερῶν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχων ἀφʼ ὧνπερ καὶ ὁ Ἄνας καὶ ὁ Τάγος, μέσος πως ἀμφοῖν τούτων ὑπάρχων κατὰ μέγεθος· παραπλησίως μέντοι τῷ Ἄνᾳ κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἐπὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν ῥυεὶς εἶτʼ ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς νότον καὶ κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐκδίδωσι τούτῳ παραλίαν.
This is the country through which the Baetis river flows, having its source from the same parts as those from which both the Anas and the Tagus flow, being somehow intermediate between both of these in size; however, having flowed toward the west at first, similarly to the Anas, it then turns to the south and empties into the same coast as this.
καλοῦσι δʼ ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ ποταμοῦ Βαιτικήν, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἐνοικούντων Τουρδητανίαν· τοὺς δʼ ἐνοικοῦντας Τουρδητανούς τε καὶ Τουρδούλους προσαγορεύουσιν, οἱ μὲν τοὺς αὐτοὺς νομίζοντες οἱ δʼ ἑτέρους· ὧν ἐστι καὶ Πολύβιος συνοίκους φήσας τοῖς Τουρδητανοῖς πρὸς ἄρκτον τοὺς Τουρδούλους· νυνὶ δʼ ἐν αὐτοῖς οὐδεὶς φαίνεται διορισμός.
And they call it Baetica after the river, and Turdetania after the inhabitants; and they address the inhabitants as Turdetanians and Turdulians, some thinking them to be the same, others different; among whom is also Polybius, who said that the Turdulians live adjacent to the Turdetanians toward the north; but now no distinction appears among them.
σοφώτατοι δʼ ἐξετάζονται τῶν Ἰβήρων οὗτοι καὶ γραμματικῇ χρῶνται καὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς μνήμης ἔχουσι συγγράμματα καὶ ποιήματα καὶ νόμους ἐμμέτρους ἑξακισχιλίων ἐπῶν, ὥς φασι· καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι δʼ Ἴβηρες χρῶνται γραμματικῇ, οὐ μιᾷ δʼ ἰδέᾳ· οὐδὲ γὰρ γλώττῃ μιᾷ.
These are considered the wisest of the Iberians and they use grammar, and have writings of ancient memory, and poems, and laws in verse of six thousand lines, as they say; and the other Iberians also use grammar, but not of one form; for neither indeed do they use one tongue.
τείνει δὲ ἡ χώρα αὕτη ἡ ἐντὸς τοῦ Ἄνα πρὸς ἕω μὲν μέχρι τῆς Ὠρητανίας, πρὸς νότον δὲ μέχρι τῆς παραλίας τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκβολῶν τοῦ Ἄνα μέχρι στηλῶν.
This country within the Anas extends toward the east as far as Oretania, and toward the south as far as the coast from the mouths of the Anas to the Pillars.
ἀνάγκη δὲ διὰ πλειόνων περὶ αὐτῆς εἰπεῖν καὶ τῶν σύνεγγυς τόπων, ὅσα συντείνει πρὸς τὸ μαθεῖν τὴν εὐφυΐαν τῶν τόπων καὶ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν.
And it is necessary to speak at greater length about it and the neighboring places, as much as contributes to learning the natural talent and the prosperity of these places.