§5.1.7αὗται μὲν οὖν πολὺ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἑλῶν ᾤκηνται, πλησίον δὲ τὸ Πατάουιον, πασῶν ἀρίστη τῶν ταύτῃ πόλεων, ἥ γε νεωστὶ λέγεται τιμήσασθαι πεντακοσίους ἱππικοὺς ἄνδρας, καὶ τὸ παλαιὸν δὲ ἔστελλε δώδεκα μυριάδας στρατιᾶς.
Now these cities are situated far above the marshes, but near them is Patavium, the finest of all the cities in these parts, which at any rate is said recently to have assessed five hundred men of equestrian rank, and in ancient times it used to send forth an army of one hundred and twenty thousand.
δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς πεμπομένης κατασκευῆς εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην κατʼ ἐμπορίαν τῶν τε ἄλλων καὶ ἐσθῆτος παντοδαπῆς τὴν εὐανδρίαν τῆς πόλεως καὶ τὴν εὐτεχνίαν.
And the quantity of manufactured goods sent to Rome for trade, both of other things and of clothing of all kinds, reveals the populousness and the skill of the city.
ἔχει δὲ θαλάττης ἀνάπλουν ποταμῷ διὰ τῶν ἑλῶν φερομένῳ σταδίων πεντήκοντα καὶ διακοσίων ἐκ λιμένος μεγάλου· καλεῖται δʼ ὁ λιμὴν Μεδόακος ὁμωνύμως τῷ ποταμῷ.
It has a passage up from the sea by a river which runs through the marshes, two hundred and fifty stadia from a large harbor; and the harbor is called Medoacus, homonymously with the river.
ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἕλεσι μεγίστη μέν ἐστι Ῥάουεννα, ξυλοπαγὴς ὅλη καὶ διάρρυτος, γεφύραις καὶ πορθμείοις ὁδευομένη.
In the marshes, Ravenna is the greatest, built entirely of wood and intersected by water, traversed by bridges and ferry-boats.
δέχεται δʼ οὐ μικρὸν τῆς θαλάττης μέρος ἐν ταῖς πλημμυρίσιν, ὥστε καὶ ὑπὸ τούτων καὶ ὑπὸ ποταμῶν ἐκκλυζόμενον τὸ βορβορῶδες πᾶν ἰᾶται τὴν δυσαερίαν.
It receives no small part of the sea during the tides, so that, since all the muddy matter is washed out both by these tides and by the rivers, it cures the bad air.
οὕτως γοῦν ὑγιεινὸν ἐξήτασται τὸ χωρίον ὥστε ἐνταῦθα τοὺς μονομάχους τρέφειν καὶ γυμνάζειν ἀπέδειξαν οἱ ἡγεμόνες.
At any rate, the place has been proved to be so healthy that the commanders have appointed to feed and train gladiators there.
ἔστι μὲν οὖν καὶ τοῦτο θαυμαστὸν τῶν ἐνθάδε τὸ ἐν ἕλει τοὺς ἀέρας ἀβλαβεῖς εἶναι, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ τῇ πρὸς Αἰγύπτῳ τοῦ θέρους ἡ λίμνη τὴν μοχθηρίαν ἀποβάλλει διὰ τὴν ἀνάβασιν τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ τὸν τῶν τελμάτων ἀφανισμόν.
Now this also is a wonderful thing about the places here, that the air in a marsh is harmless, just as also in Alexandria near Egypt in summer the lake loses its pestilential character because of the rise of the river and the disappearance of the puddles.
ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν ἄμπελον πάθος θαυμάζειν ἄξιον· φύει μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν τὰ ἕλη καὶ ποιεῖ ταχὺ καὶ πολὺν ἀποδιδοῦσαν καρπόν, φθείρεται δὲ ἐν ἔτεσι τέτταρσιν ἢ πέντε.
But also the phenomenon concerning the vine is worthy of wonder: for the marshes produce it and make it yield fruit quickly and abundantly, but it perishes in four or five years.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ τὸ Ἀλτῖνον ἐν ἕλει, παραπλήσιον ἔχον τῇ Ῥαουέννῃ τὴν θέσιν.
Altinum also is in a marsh, having a position similar to Ravenna.
μεταξὺ δὲ Βούτριον τῆς Ῥαουέννης πόλισμα καὶ ἡ Σπῖνα, νῦν μὲν κωμίον πάλαι δὲ Ἑλληνὶς πόλις ἔνδοξος.
And between them are Butrium, a town belonging to Ravenna, and Spina, now indeed a small village, but in ancient times a famous Greek city.
θησαυρὸς γοῦν ἐν Δελφοῖς Σπινητῶν δείκνυται, καὶ τἆλλα ἱστορεῖται περὶ αὐτῶν ὡς θαλασσοκρατησάντων.
At any rate, a treasury of the Spinites is shown at Delphi, and other things are recorded about them as having held the empire of the sea.
φασὶ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ ὑπάρξαι, νῦν δʼ ἐστὶν ἐν μεσογαίᾳ τὸ χωρίον περὶ ἐνενήκοντα τῆς θαλάττης σταδίους ἀπέχον.
And they say it was once on the sea, though now the place is inland, about ninety stadia distant from the sea.
καὶ ἡ Ῥάουεννα δὲ Θετταλῶν εἴρηται κτίσμα· οὐ φέροντες δὲ τὰς τῶν Τυρρηνῶν ὕβρεις ἐδέξαντο ἑκόντες τῶν Ὀμβρικῶν τινάς, οἳ καὶ νῦν ἔχουσι τὴν πόλιν, αὐτοὶ δʼ ἀπεχώρησαν ἐπʼ οἴκου.
And Ravenna too is said to be a foundation of Thessalians; but, not bearing the outrages of the Tyrrhenians, they willingly received some of the Ombri, who still hold the city, while they themselves departed for home.
αὗται μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ πλέον περιέχονται τοῖς ἕλεσιν ὥστε καὶ κλύζεσθαι.
These cities, then, are surrounded to a greater degree by the marshes, so as even to be washed by them.
§5.1.8ὀπιτέργιον δὲ καὶ ορδία καὶ Ἀτρία καὶ Ὀυικετία καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα πολισμάτια ἧττον μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἑλῶν ἐνοχλεῖται, μικροῖς δʼ ἀνάπλοις πρὸς τὴν θάλατταν συνῆπται.
But Opitergium, Ordia, Atria, Vicetia, and other such small towns are less troubled by the marshes, and are connected to the sea by small channels of ascent.
τὴν δʼ Ἀτρίαν ἐπιφανῆ γενέσθαι πόλιν φασίν, ἀφʼ ἧς καὶ τοὔνομα τῷ κόλπῳ γενέσθαι τῷ Ἀδρίᾳ μικρὰν μετάθεσιν λαβόν.
And they say Atria was once a famous city, from which also the name was given to the Adriatic Gulf, with a small change of letters.
Ἀκυληία δʼ, ἥπερ μάλιστα τῷ μυχῷ πλησιάζει, κτίσμα μέν ἐστι Ῥωμαίων ἐπιτειχισθὲν τοῖς ὑπερκειμένοις βαρβάροις, ἀναπλεῖται δὲ ὁλκάσι κατὰ τὸν Νατίσωνα ποταμὸν ἐπὶ πλείστους ἑξήκοντα σταδίους.
And Aquileia, which is nearest to the recess of the gulf, is a foundation of the Romans, built as a fortress against the barbarians who lie above, and it is sailed up by merchant vessels along the Natiso River for more than sixty stadia.
ἀνεῖται δʼ ἐμπόριον τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἴστρον τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν ἔθνεσι· κομίζουσι δʼ οὗτοι μὲν τὰ ἐκ θαλάττης, καὶ οἶνον ἐπὶ ξυλίνων πίθων ἁρμαμάξαις ἀναθέντες καὶ ἔλαιον, ἐκεῖνοι δʼ ἀνδράποδα καὶ βοσκήματα καὶ δέρματα.
And it is opened up as a trading-post for the Illyrian tribes who live around the Ister; and these bring the products of the sea, and wine loaded on wooden casks in carriages, and oil, while those bring slaves, cattle, and hides.
ἔξω δʼ ἐστὶ τῶν Ἑνετικῶν ὅρων ἡ Ἀκυληία.
But Aquileia is outside the boundaries of the Heneti.
διορίζονται δὲ ποταμῷ ῥέοντι ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀλπείων ὀρῶν, ἀνάπλουν ἔχοντι καὶ διακοσίων σταδίων ἐπὶ τοῖς χιλίοις εἰς Νωρηίαν πόλιν, περὶ ἣν Γναῖος Κάρβων συμβαλὼν Κίμβροις οὐδὲν ἔπραξεν.
And they are separated by a river flowing from the Alpine mountains, which has a passage up of one thousand two hundred stadia to the city of Noreia, near which Gnaeus Carbo, having engaged with the Cimbri, accomplished nothing.
ἔχει δὲ ὁ τόπος οὗτος χρυσιοπλύσια εὐφυῆ καὶ σιδηρουργεῖα.
And this place has rich gold-washings and iron-works.
ἐν αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ μυχῷ τοῦ Ἀδρίου καὶ ἱερὸν τοῦ Διομήδους ἐστὶν ἄξιον μνήμης, τὸ Τίμαυον· λιμένα γὰρ ἔχει καὶ ἄλσος ἐκπρεπὲς καὶ πηγὰς ἑπτὰ ποταμίου ὕδατος εὐθὺς εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ἐκπίπτοντος, πλατεῖ καὶ βαθεῖ ποταμῷ.
And in the very recess of the Adriatic is also a temple of Diomedes worthy of mention, called the Timavum; for it has a harbor and a magnificent grove, and seven sources of river-water which immediately discharge into the sea in a broad and deep river.
Πολύβιος δʼ εἴρηκε πλὴν μιᾶς τὰς ἄλλας ἁλμυροῦ ὕδατος, καὶ δὴ καὶ τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους πηγὴν καὶ μητέρα τῆς θαλάττης ὀνομάζειν τὸν τόπον.
But Polybius says that all except one are of salty water, and indeed that the natives call the place the source and mother of the sea.
Ποσειδώνιος δέ φησι ποταμὸν τὸν Τίμαυον ἐκ τῶν ὀρῶν φερόμενον καταπίπτειν εἰς βέρεθρον, εἶθʼ ὑπὸ γῆς ἐνεχθέντα περὶ ἑκατὸν καὶ τριάκοντα σταδίους ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ τὴν ἐκβολὴν ποιεῖσθαι.
And Poseidonius says that the river Timavus, flowing from the mountains, falls into a chasm, then, being carried underground about one hundred and thirty stadia, makes its outlet near the sea.