§3.5.3αὗται μὲν οὖν ἐντὸς στηλῶν τῶν Ἡρακλείων καλουμένων.
These, then, are within the so-called Pillars of Heracles.
πρὸς αὐταῖς δὲ δύο νησίδια, ὧν θάτερον Ἥρας νῆσον ὀνομάζουσι· καὶ δή τινες καὶ ταύτας στήλας καλοῦσιν.
And close to them are two small islands, of which they call one the Island of Hera; and indeed some also call these the Pillars.
ἔξω δὲ στηλῶν τὰ Γάδειρα, περὶ ὧν τοσοῦτον μόνον εἰρήκαμεν ὅτι τῆς Κάλπης διέχει περὶ ἑπτακοσίους καὶ πεντήκοντα σταδίους, τῆς δὲ ἐκβολῆς τοῦ Βαίτιδος πλησίον ἵδρυται· πλείους δʼ εἰσὶ λόγοι περὶ αὐτῆς.
Outside the Pillars is Gadeira, concerning which we have said only this much, that it is distant from Calpe about seven hundred and fifty stadia, and is situated near the mouth of the Baetis; but there are more accounts concerning it.
οὗτοι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ ἄνδρες οἱ τὰ πλεῖστα καὶ μέγιστα ναυκλήρια στέλλοντες εἴς τε τὴν καθʼ ἡμᾶς θάλατταν καὶ τὴν ἐκτός, οὔτε μεγάλην οἰκοῦντες νῆσον οὔτε τῆς περαίας νεμόμενοι πολλὴν οὔτʼ ἄλλων εὐποροῦντες νήσων, ἀλλὰ πλέον οἰκοῦντες τὴν θάλατταν, ὀλίγοι δʼ οἰκουροῦντες ἢ ἐν Ῥώμῃ διατρίβοντες.
For these are the men who dispatch the most and largest merchant fleets both to our sea and to the outer sea, although they neither inhabit a large island, nor possess much of the opposite coast, nor are well-off in other islands, but live mostly on the sea, while only a few stay at home or spend time in Rome.
ἐπεὶ πλήθει γε οὐδεμιᾶς ἂν ἀπολείπεσθαι δόξειε τῶν ἔξω Ῥώμης πόλεων· ἤκουσα γοῦν ἐν μιᾷ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς τιμήσεων πεντακοσίους ἄνδρας τιμηθέντας ἱππικοὺς Γαδιτανούς, ὅσους οὐδένας οὐδὲ τῶν Ἰταλιωτῶν πλὴν τῶν Παταουίνων.
Indeed, in population it would seem to fall short of none of the cities outside Rome; at any rate, I heard that in one of the censuses of our time five hundred Gadeiran men were assessed as members of the equestrian order, a number as large as none even of the Italiotes except the Patavians.
τοσοῦτοι δʼ ὄντες νῆσον ἔχουσιν οὐ πολὺ μείζονα τῶν ἑκατὸν σταδίων τὸ μῆκος, πλάτος δʼ ἔσθʼ ὅπου καὶ σταδιαῖον.
Though they are so many, they possess an island not much larger than one hundred stadia in length, and in breadth in some places only a stadium.
πόλιν δὲ κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ᾤκουν παντάπασι μικράν, προσέκτισε δʼ αὐτοῖς Βάλβος Γαδιτανὸς ὁ θριαμβεύσας ἄλλην ἣν νέαν καλοῦσι, τὴν δʼ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν Διδύμην, οὐ πλειόνων εἴκοσι σταδίων οὖσαν τὴν περίμετρον, οὐδὲ ταύτην στενοχωρουμένην· ὀλίγοι γὰρ οἰκουροῦσιν ἐν αὐτῇ διὰ τὸ πάντας θαλαττεύειν τὸ πλέον, τοὺς δὲ καὶ τὴν περαίαν οἰκεῖν, καὶ μάλιστα τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς προκειμένης νησῖδος διὰ τὴν εὐφυΐαν, ἣν ὥσπερ ἀντίπολιν πεποιήκασι τῇ Διδύμῃ χαίροντες τῷ τόπῳ.
At first they inhabited a city that was altogether small, but Balbus the Gadeiran, who celebrated a triumph, built in addition for them another city which they call New, and the city composed of both they call Didyme, which is not more than twenty stadia in circumference, and not even this is crowded; for few stay at home in it because they all spend most of their time at sea, while others also inhabit the opposite coast, and especially the coast on the small island lying off it because of its natural advantages, which island, because they delight in the place, they have made into a sort of rival city to Didyme.
ὀλίγοι δὲ κατὰ σύγκρισιν καὶ ταύτην οἰκοῦσι καὶ τὸ ἐπίνειον, ὃ κατεσκεύασεν αὐτοῖς Βάλβος ἐν τῇ περαίᾳ τῆς ἠπείρου.
And comparatively few inhabit both this and the naval station which Balbus constructed for them on the opposite mainland.
κεῖται δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἑσπερίων τῆς νήσου μερῶν ἡ πόλις, προσεχὲς δʼ αὐτῇ τελευταῖόν ἐστι τὸ Κρόνιον πρὸς τῇ νησῖδι· τὸ δʼ Ἡράκλειον ἐπὶ θάτερα τέτραπται τὰ πρὸς ἕω, καθʼ ὃ δὴ μάλιστα τῇ ἠπείρῳ τυγχάνει συνάπτουσα ἡ νῆσος ὅσον σταδιαῖον πορθμὸν ἀπολείπουσα.
The city is situated on the western parts of the island, and adjacent to it, at the very end, is the Kronion near the islet; while the Herakleion is turned towards the other side, the eastern, at which point indeed the island happens to be closest to the mainland, leaving a strait of about a stadium.
καὶ λέγουσι μὲν διέχειν τῆς πόλεως δώδεκα μίλια τὸ ἱερόν, ἴσον ποιοῦντες τὸν τῶν ἄθλων καὶ τὸν τῶν μιλίων ἀριθμόν· ἔστι δὲ μεῖζον καὶ σχεδόν τι τοσοῦτον ὅσον ἐστὶ τὸ τοῦ μήκους τῆς νήσου· μῆκος δʼ ἐστὶ τῆς νήσου τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς δύσεως ἐπὶ τὴν ἀνατολήν.
And they say that the temple is twelve miles distant from the city, making the number of the miles equal to that of the labors; but it is greater, and is almost as much as the length of the island; and the length of the island is that from west to east.
§3.5.4Ἐρύθειαν δὲ τὰ Γάδειρα ἔοικε λέγειν ὁ Φερεκύδης, ἐν ᾗ τὰ περὶ τὸν Γηρυόνην μυθεύουσιν, ἄλλοι δὲ τὴν παραβεβλημένην ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει νῆσον πορθμῷ σταδιαίῳ διειργομένην, τὸ εὔβοτον ὁρῶντες, ὅτι τῶν νεμομένων αὐτόθι προβάτων τὸ γάλα ὀρὸν οὐ ποιεῖ.
Pherecydes seems to identify Gadeira with Erytheia, where they locate the myths concerning Geryon, but others identify with it the island lying alongside this city, separated from it by a strait of a stadium, looking to its excellent pasturage, because the milk of the sheep pasturing there yields no whey.
τυροποιοῦσί τε πολλῷ ὕδατι μίξαντες διὰ τὴν πιότητα, ἐν πεντήκοντά τε ἡμέραις πνίγεται τὸ ζῷον, εἰ μή τις ἀποσχάζοι τι τοῦ αἵματος.
And they make cheese by mixing it with much water because of its richness; and in fifty days the animal is choked unless one lets some of its blood.
ξηρὰ δέ ἐστιν ἣν νέμονται βοτάνην, ἀλλὰ πιαίνει σφόδρα· τεκμαίρονται δʼ ἐκ τού πεπλάσθαι τὸν μῦθον τὸν περὶ τὰ βουκόλια τοῦ Γηρυόνου· κοινῇ μέντοι συνῴκισται πᾶς ὁ αἰγιαλός.
Though the grass they pasture on is dry, it fattens them exceedingly; and from this they infer that the myth concerning the herds of Geryon was fashioned; however, the entire coast has been settled in common.