§6.2.1ἔστι δʼ ἡ Σικελία τρίγωνος τῷ σχήματι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Τρινακρία μὲν πρότερον, Θρινακία δʼ ὕστερον προσηγορεύθη μετονομασθεῖσα εὐφωνότερον.
Sicily is triangular in shape, and for this reason it was formerly called Trinacria, and later Thrinacia, its name being changed to be more euphonious.
τὸ δὲ σχῆμα διορίζουσι τρεῖς ἄκραι, Πελωριὰς μὲν ἡ πρὸς τὴν Καῖνυν καὶ τὴν στυλίδα τὴν Ῥηγίνων ποιοῦσα τὸν πορθμόν, Πάχυνος δὲ ἡ ἐκκειμένη πρὸς ἕω καὶ τῷ Σικελικῷ κλυζομένη πελάγει, βλέπουσα πρὸς τὴν Πελοπόννησον καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ Κρήτης πόρον· τρίτη δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ προσεχὴς τῇ Λιβύῃ βλέπουσα πρὸς ταύτην ἅμα καὶ τὴν χειμερινὴν δύσιν, Λιλύβαιον.
The shape is defined by three capes: Pelorias, which forms the strait opposite Caenys and the column of the Rhegians; Pachynus, which projects toward the east and is washed by the Sicilian Sea, looking toward the Peloponnese and the passage to Crete; and the third is Lilybaeum, which is adjacent to Libya and looks toward it as well as toward the winter sunset.
τῶν δὲ πλευρῶν, ἃς ἀφορίζουσιν αἱ τρεῖς ἄκραι, δύο μέν εἰσι κοῖλαι μετρίως, ἡ δὲ τρίτη κυρτή, ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ Λιλυβαίου καθήκουσα πρὸς τὴν Πελωριάδα, ἥπερ μεγίστη ἐστί, σταδίων χιλίων καὶ ἑπτακοσίων, ὡς Ποσειδώνιος εἴρηκε προσθεὶς καὶ εἴκοσι.
Of the sides which the three capes define, two are moderately concave, while the third is convex—namely, the one extending from Lilybaeum to Pelorias, which is the largest, being, as Poseidonius has said, seventeen hundred and twenty stadia.
τῶν δʼ ἄλλων ἡ ἐπὶ Πάχυνον ἀπὸ τοῦ Λιλυβαίου μείζων τῆς ἑτέρας· ἐλαχίστη δὲ ἡ τῷ πορθμῷ καὶ τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ προσεχής, ἡ ἀπὸ τῆς Πελωριάδος ἐπὶ τὸν Πάχυνον, σταδίων ὅσον χιλίων καὶ ἑκατὸν καὶ τριάκοντα.
Of the others, the one from Lilybaeum to Pachynus is larger than the other; and the smallest is the one adjacent to the strait and to Italy, from Pelorias to Pachynus, being about eleven hundred and thirty stadia.
τὸν δὲ περίπλουν ὁ Ποσειδώνιος σταδίων τετταρακοσίων ἐπὶ τοῖς τετρακισχιλίοις ἀποφαίνει.
Poseidonius declares the circumnavigation to be forty-four hundred stadia.
ἐν δὲ τῇ χωρογραφίᾳ μείζω λέγεται τὰ διαστήματα κατὰ μέρος διῃρημένα μιλιασμῷ· ἐκ μὲν Πελωριάδος εἰς Μύλας εἴκοσι πέντε· τοσαῦτα δὲ καὶ ἐκ Μυλῶν εἰς Τυνδαρίδα· εἶτα εἰς Ἀγάθυρνον τριάκοντα καὶ τὰ ἴσα εἰς Ἄλαισαν καὶ πάλιν ἴσα εἰς Κεφαλοίδιον· ταῦτα μὲν πολίχνια· εἰς δʼ Ἱμέραν ποταμὸν δεκαοκτὼ διὰ μέσης ῥέοντα τῆς Σικελίας· εἶτʼ εἰς Πάνορμον τριάκοντα πέντε· δύο δὲ καὶ τριάκοντα εἰς τὸ τῶν Αἰγεσταίων ἐμπόριον· λοιπὰ δὲ εἰς Λιλύβαιον τριάκοντα ὀκτώ.
But in the Chorographia, the distances, divided individually in miles, are said to be greater: from Pelorias to Mylae, twenty-five miles; and the same from Mylae to Tyndaris; then thirty to Agathyrnus, and the equal distance to Alaesa, and again the equal distance to Cephaloedium, which are small towns; to the river Himeras, which flows through the middle of Sicily, eighteen miles; then to Panormus, thirty-five; and thirty-two to the trading station of the Aegestans; and the remaining thirty-eight to Lilybaeum.
ἐντεῦθεν δὲ κάμψαντι ἐπὶ τὸ συνεχὲς πλευρὸν εἰς μὲν τὸ Ἡράκλειον ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ Ἀκραγαντίνων ἐμπόριον εἴκοσι, καὶ ἄλλα εἴκοσιν εἰς Καμάριναν· εἶτʼ ἐπὶ Πάχυνον πεντήκοντα.
From there, to one turning along the adjacent side, it is seventy-five miles to Heracleium, twenty to the trading station of the Acragantines, and another twenty to Camarina; then fifty to Pachynus.
ἔνθεν πάλιν κατὰ τὸ τρίτον πλευρὸν εἰς μὲν Συρακούσσας τριάκοντα ἕξ, εἰς δὲ Κατάνην ἑξήκοντα· εἶτʼ εἰς Ταυρομένιον τριάκοντα τρία· εἶτʼ εἰς Μεσσήνην τριάκοντα.
From there again along the third side, it is thirty-six miles to Syracuse, sixty to Catana; then thirty-three to Tauromenium; then thirty to Messene.
πεζῇ δὲ ἐκ μὲν Παχύνου εἰς Πελωριάδα ἑκατὸν ἑξήκοντα ὀκτώ, ἐκ δὲ Μεσσήνης εἰς Λιλύβαιον τῇ Ὀυαλερίᾳ ὁδῷ τριάκοντα πέντε.
On foot, from Pachynus to Pelorias is one hundred and sixty-eight miles, and from Messene to Lilybaeum by the Via Valeria is thirty-five miles.
ἔνιοι δʼ ἁπλούστερον εἰρήκασιν, ὥσπερ Ἔφορος, τὸν περίπλουν ἡμερῶν καὶ νυκτῶν πέντε.
Some have spoken more simply, as Ephorus did, saying that the circumnavigation is five days and nights.
Ποσειδώνιος δὲ τοῖς κλίμασιν ἀφορίζων τὴν νῆσον πρὸς ἄρκτον μὲν τὴν Πελωριάδα, πρὸς νότον δὲ Λιλύβαιον, πρὸς ἕω δὲ τὸν Πάχυνον τίθησιν.
Poseidonius, defining the island by the astronomical quarters, places Pelorias toward the north, Lilybaeum toward the south, and Pachynus toward the east.
ἀνάγκη δέ, τῶν κλιμάτων ἐν παραλληλογράμμῳ σχήματι διαστελλομένων, τὰ ἐγγραφόμενα τρίγωνα καὶ μάλιστα ὅσα σκαληνὰ καὶ ὧν οὐδεμία πλευρὰ τῶν τοῦ παραλληλογράμμου ἐφαρμόττει, ἀναρμόστως ἔχειν πρὸς τὰ κλίματα διὰ τὴν λόξωσιν.
But since the quarters are marked out in a parallelogrammatic shape, it is necessary that inscribed triangles, and especially those that are scalene and of which no side coincides with those of the parallelogram, should be poorly adapted to the quarters because of their slant.
ὅμως δʼ οὖν ἐν τοῖς τῆς Σικελίας τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ πρὸς νότον κειμένης ἡ Πελωριὰς ἀρκτικωτάτη λέγοιτʼ ἂν καλῶς τῶν τριῶν γωνιῶν, ὥσθʼ ἡ ἐπιζευγνυμένη ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τὸν Πάχυνον, ἐκκεῖσθαι πρὸς ἕω ἔφαμεν, ἅμα πρὸς ἄρκτον βλέπουσα ποιήσει τὴν πλευρὰν τὴν πρὸς τὸν πορθμόν.
Nevertheless, since Sicily lies to the south of Italy, Pelorias may well be called the most northerly of the three corners, so that the line drawn from it to Pachynus, which we said projects toward the east, will form the side facing the strait while looking at the same time toward the north.
δεῖ δʼ ἐπιστροφὴν μικρὰν λαμβάνειν ἐπὶ χειμερινὰς ἀνατολάς· οὕτω γὰρ ἡ ᾐὼν παρακλίνει προϊοῦσιν ἀπὸ τῆς Κατάνης ἐπὶ τὰς Συρακούσσας καὶ τὸν Πάχυνον.
But one must make a small turn toward the winter sunrise; for the shore inclines in this way as one proceeds from Catana to Syracuse and Pachynus.
δίαρμα δʼ ἐστὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ Παχύνου πρὸς τὸ στόμα τοῦ Ἀλφειοῦ στάδιοι τετρακισχίλιοι.
The passage across from Pachynus to the mouth of the Alpheus is four thousand stadia.
Ἀρτεμίδωρος δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Παχύνου φήσας ἐπὶ Ταίναρον εἶναι τετρακισχιλίους καὶ ἑξακοσίους, ἀπὸ δʼ Ἀλφειοῦ ἐπὶ Παμισὸν χιλίους ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα, παρασχεῖν ἂν δοκεῖ μοι λόγον μὴ οὐχ ὁμολογούμενα λέγῃ τῷ φήσαντι τετρακισχιλίους εἶναι τοὺς ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀλφειὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Παχύνου.
Artemidorus, having said that from Pachynus to Taenarum is forty-six hundred stadia, and from the Alpheus to the Pamisus is eleven hundred and thirty, seems to me to provide reason to doubt that he is saying things consistent with the one who says that it is four thousand stadia from Pachynus to the Alpheus.
ἡ δʼ ἀπὸ Παχύνου πρὸς Λιλύβαιον (ἑσπεριώτερον δὲ τῆς Πελωριάδος ἐστὶν) ἱκανῶς ἂν καὐτὴ λοξοῖτο ἀπὸ τοῦ μεσημβρινοῦ σημείου πρὸς τὴν ἑσπέραν, βλέποι δὲ ἂν ἅμα πρός τε τὴν ἕω καὶ πρὸς τὸν νότον, τῇ μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σικελικοῦ πελάγους κλυζομένη, τῇ δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ Λιβυκοῦ τοῦ πρὸς τὰς Σύρτεις διήκοντος ἀπὸ τῆς Καρχηδονίας.
The side from Pachynus to Lilybaeum (which is more westerly than Pelorias) would itself also slant sufficiently from the meridian point toward the west, and would look at once toward both the east and the south, being washed on one side by the Sicilian Sea, and on the other by the Libyan Sea which extends from Carthage to the Syrtes.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ Λιλυβαίου τοὐλάχιστον δίαρμα ἐπὶ Λιβύην χίλιοι καὶ πεντακόσιοι περὶ Καρχηδόνα· καθʼ ὃ δὴ λέγεταί τις τῶν ὀξυδορκούντων ἀπό τινος σκοπῆς ἀπαγγέλλειν τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἀναγομένων ἐκ Καρχηδόνος σκαφῶν τοῖς ἐν Λιλυβαίῳ.
The shortest passage across from Lilybaeum to Libya, in the direction of Carthage, is fifteen hundred stadia; where indeed it is said that one of the sharp-sighted people used to report the number of ships putting out from Carthage from a certain lookout to those in Lilybaeum.
ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Λιλυβαίου τὴν ἐπὶ Πελωριάδα πλευρὰν ἀνάγκη λοξοῦσθαι πρὸς ἕω καὶ βλέπειν πρὸς τὸ μεταξὺ τῆς ἑσπέρας καὶ τῆς ἄρκτου, πρὸς ἄρκτον μὲν ἔχουσαν τὴν Ἰταλίαν πρὸς δύσιν δὲ τὸ Τυρρηνικὸν πέλαγος καὶ τὰς Αἰόλου νήσους.
From Lilybaeum, the side toward Pelorias must necessarily slant toward the east and look toward the direction between the west and the north, having Italy to the north and the Tyrrhenian Sea and the islands of Aeolus to the west.