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Strabo · Geography §4.1.6

The Galatic Gulf and the Rivers and Cities around Narbo

Passage 123 of 577 · Greek

Summary

Strabo details the geographical situation of the Salyes, the double structure of the Galatic Gulf, and the major rivers and cities between Narbo and Arelate, including the unique mud-mullet fishing in the Ruscino.

§4.1.6̔́αμα δʼ ἥ τε τῶν Σαλύων ὀρεινὴ πρὸς ἄρκτον ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας κλίνει μᾶλλον καὶ τῆς θαλάττης ἀφίσταται κατὰ μικρόν, καὶ ἡ παραλία παρὰ τὴν ἑσπέραν περινεύει· μικρὸν δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως τῶν Μασσαλιωτῶν προελθοῦσα ὅσον εἰς ἑκατὸν σταδίους ἐπὶ ἄκραν εὐμεγέθη πλησίον λατομιῶν τινων ἐντεῦθεν ἄρχεται κολποῦσθαι καὶ ποιεῖν τὸν Γαλατικὸν κόλπον πρὸς τὸ Ἀφροδίσιον τὸ τῆς Πυρήνης ἄκρον· καλοῦσι δʼ αὐτὸν καὶ Μασσαλιωτικόν.
At the same time, the mountainous territory of the Salyes slopes rather to the north away from the west and recedes little by little from the sea, and the coastline bends towards the west; and having advanced a little from the city of the Massaliotes, about a hundred stadia, to a sizeable promontory near some quarries, starts from there to curve in and form the Galatic Gulf towards the Aphrodision, the promontory of the Pyrenees; and they call it also the Massaliotic Gulf.
ἔστι δʼ ὁ κόλπος διπλοῦς· ἐν γὰρ τῇ αὐτῇ περιγραφῇ δύο κόλπους ἀφορίζον ἔκκειται τὸ Σήτιον ὄρος, προσλαβὸν καὶ τὴν Βλάσκωνα νῆσον πλησίον ἱδρυμένην·
And the gulf is double; for within the same outline Mount Setion projects, marking off two gulfs, having also taken in the island of Blasco situated near it.
τῶν δὲ κόλπων ὁ μὲν μείζων ἰδίως πάλιν καλεῖται Γαλατικός, εἰς ὃν ἐξερεύγεται τὸ τοῦ Ῥοδανοῦ στόμα, ὁ δʼ ἐλάττων ὁ κατὰ Νάρβωνά ἐστι μέχρι Πυρήνης.
Of these gulfs, the larger is again specifically called Galatic, into which the mouth of the Rhodanus empties, while the smaller is the one near Narbo, extending as far as the Pyrenees.
ἡ μὲν οὖν Νάρβων ὑπέρκειται τῶν τοῦ Ἄτακος ἐκβολῶν καὶ τῆς λίμνης τῆς Ναρβωνίτιδος, μέγιστον ἐμπόριον τῶν ταύτῃ, πρὸς δὲ τῷ Ῥοδανῷ πόλις ἐστὶ καὶ ἐμπόριον οὐ μικρὸν Ἀρελᾶτε· ἴσον δέ πως διέχει τὰ ἐμπόρια ταῦτα ἀλλήλων τε καὶ τῶν εἰρημένων ἄκρων, ἡ μὲν Νάρβων τοῦ Ἀφροδισίου τὸ δʼ Ἀρελᾶτε τῆς Μασσαλίας.
Narbo, then, lies above the mouths of the Atax and the Narbonitid lake, being the greatest emporium of those in this region; and near the Rhodanus is the city and no small emporium of Arelate; and these emporia are at about an equal distance from each other and from the aforementioned promontories, Narbo from the Aphrodision, and Arelate from Massalia.
ἑκατέρωθεν δὲ τῆς Νάρβωνος ἄλλοι ποταμοὶ ῥέουσιν οἱ μὲν ἐκ τῶν Κεμμένων ὀρῶν οἱ δʼ ἐκ τῆς Πυρήνης, πόλεις ἔχοντες εἰς ἃς ἀνάπλους οὐ πολύς ἐστι μικροῖς πλοίοις.
And on either side of Narbo other rivers flow, some from the Cemmenus mountains and others from the Pyrenees, having cities to which there is a short sail up for small vessels.
ἐκ μὲν τῆς Πυρήνης ὅ τε Ῥουσκίνων καὶ ὁ Ἰλίβιρρις, πόλιν ἔχων ὁμώνυμον ἑκάτερος αὐτῶν· τοῦ δὲ Ῥουσκίνωνος καὶ λίμνη πλησίον ἐστὶ καὶ χωρίον ὕφυδρον μικρὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάττης, ἁλυκίδων μεστόν, τὸ τοὺς ὀρυκτοὺς κεστρεῖς ἔχον· δύο γὰρ ἢ τρεῖς ὀρύξαντι πόδας καὶ καθέντι τριόδοντα εἰς ὕδωρ ἰλυῶδες ἔστι περιπεῖραι τὸν ἰχθὺν ἀξιόλογον τὸ μέγεθος· τρέφεται δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἰλύος καθάπερ αἱ ἐγχέλυες.
From the Pyrenees flow both the Ruscino and the Ilibirris, each of them having a city of the same name; and near the Ruscino there is both a lake and a marshy place a little above the sea, full of salt-pools, which contains the dug-up mullets; for if one digs down two or three feet and drives a trident into the muddy water, it is possible to spear the fish, which is of considerable size; and it feeds on the mud, just as eels do.
οὗτοι μὲν ἐκ τῆς Πυρήνης ῥέουσιν οἱ ποταμοὶ μεταξὺ Νάρβωνος καὶ τοῦ Ἀφροδισίου.
These rivers, then, flow from the Pyrenees between Narbo and the Aphrodision.
ἐπὶ θάτερα μέρη τῆς Νάρβωνος ἐκ τοῦ Κεμμένου φέρονται πρὸς τὴν θάλατταν, ἐξ οὗπερ καὶ ὁ Ἄταξ ὅ τε Ὄρβις καὶ ὁ Ἄραυρις.
On the other side of Narbo, they flow to the sea from the Cemmenus, from which also the Atax flows, namely, the Orbis and the Arauris.
τούτων ἐφʼ οὗ μὲν Βαίτερρα πόλις ἀσφαλὴς ἵδρυται πλησίον τῆς Νάρβωνος, ἐφʼ οὗ δὲ Ἀγάθη κτίσμα Μασσαλιωτῶν.
Of these, on the one Baeterra, a secure city, is situated near Narbo, and on the other Agathe, a foundation of the Massaliotes.

Notes

  1. p.247προελθοῦσα — An aorist active participle in the feminine singular nominative, agreeing with the subject `ἡ παραλία` ('the coastline') from the preceding sentence, modifying the main verb `ἄρχεται`.
  2. p.247ὀρύξαντι — An aorist active participle in the masculine dative singular, used as a dative of reference (expressing a conditional 'if one digs') with the impersonal verb `ἔστι` ('it is possible').
  3. p.248τούτων ἐφʼ οὗ μὲν ... ἐφʼ οὗ δὲ — `τούτων` is a genitive plural referring to the rivers just mentioned (Orbis and Arauris). The relative pronoun `οὗ` is masculine singular, agreeing with the implied noun for river (`ποταμοῦ`).

Cite this passage

Strabo, Geography §4.1.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.1.6

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