§7.3.1τὸ δὲ νότιον μέρος τῆς Γερμανίας τὸ πέραν τοῦ Ἄλβιος τὸ μὲν συνεχὲς ἀκμὴν ὑπὸ τῶν Σοήβων κατέχεται·
As for the southern part of Germany beyond the Albis, the part contiguous to it is still occupied by the Suevi.
εἶτʼ εὐθὺς ἡ τῶν Γετῶν συνάπτει γῆ, κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν στενή, παρατεταμένη τῷ Ἴστρῳ κατὰ τὸ νότιον μέρος, κατὰ δὲ τοὐναντίον τῇ παρωρείᾳ τοῦ Ἑρκυνίου δρυμοῦ, μέρος τι τῶν ὀρῶν καὶ αὐτὴ κατέχουσα, εἶτα πλατύνεται πρὸς τὰς ἄρκτους μέχρι Τυρεγετῶν· τοὺς δὲ ἀκριβεῖς ὅρους οὐκ ἔχομεν φράζειν.
Then immediately the land of the Getae borders on it, at first narrow, stretching along the Ister on its southern part, and on the opposite side along the mountain-range of the Hercynian Forest, itself also occupying a part of the mountains, and then it widens toward the north as far as the Tyregetae; but we are unable to state the precise boundaries.
διὰ δὲ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῶν τόπων τούτων οἱ τὰ Ῥιπαῖα ὄρη καὶ τοὺς Ὑπερβορείους μυθοποιοῦντες λόγου ἠξίωνται, καὶ ἃ Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης κατεψεύσατο ταῦτα τῆς παρωκεανίτιδος, προσχήματι χρώμενος τῇ περὶ τὰ οὐράνια καὶ τὰ μαθηματικὰ ἱστορίᾳ.
And because of the ignorance of these regions, those who mythologize about the Rhipaean Mountains and the Hyperboreans have been deemed worthy of credit, as also the falsehoods which Pytheas of Massalia told concerning the ocean-coast, using his investigation of celestial and mathematical matters as a pretext.
ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἐάσθωσαν· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἴ τινα Σοφοκλῆς τραγῳδεῖ περὶ τῆς Ὠρειθυίας λέγων ὡς ἀναρπαγεῖσα ὑπὸ Βορέου κομισθείη
"
ὑπέρ τε πόντον πάντʼ ἐπʼ ἔσχατα χθονὸς
νυκτός τε πηγὰς οὐρανοῦ τʼ ἀναπτυχάς,
Φοίβου παλαιὸν κῆπον,
"
οὐδὲν ἂν εἴη πρὸς τὰ νῦν, ἀλλʼ ἐατέον, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῷ Φαίδρῳ ὁ Σωκράτης.
So let those men be dismissed; for not even if Sophocles writes tragically about Oreithyia, saying that having been carried off by Boreas she was borne "over the whole sea to the ends of the earth, and to the sources of night and the unfoldings of heaven, the ancient garden of Phoebus," would it be of any relevance to the present matters, but it must be dismissed, just as Socrates also does in the Phaedrus.
ἃ δὲ ἔκ τε τῆς παλαιᾶς ἱστορίας καὶ τῆς νῦν παρειλήφαμεν, ταῦτα λέγωμεν.
But let us speak of those things which we have received from both ancient history and the present.
§7.3.2οἱ τοίνυν Ἕλληνες τοὺς Γέτας Θρᾷκας ὑπελάμβανον· ᾤκουν δʼ ἐφʼ ἑκάτερα τοῦ Ἴστρου καὶ οὗτοι καὶ οἱ Μυσοὶ Θρᾷκες ὄντες καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οὓς νῦν Μοισοὺς καλοῦσιν, ἀφʼ ὧν ὡρμήθησαν καὶ οἱ νῦν μεταξὺ Λυδῶν καὶ Φρυγῶν καὶ Τρώων οἰκοῦντες Μυσοί.
The Greeks, then, considered the Getae to be Thracians; and they dwelt on both sides of the Ister, both these and the Mysians, who were themselves Thracians and whom they now call Moesians, from whom also set out the Mysians who now dwell between the Lydians, Phrygians, and Trojans.
καὶ αὐτοὶ δʼ οἱ Φρύγες Βρίγες εἰσί, Θρᾴκιόν τι ἔθνος, καθάπερ καὶ Μυγδόνες καὶ Βέβρυκες καὶ Μαιδοβιθυνοὶ καὶ Βιθυνοὶ καὶ Θυνοὶ, δοκῶ δὲ καὶ τοὺς Μαριανδυνούς.
And the Phrygians themselves are Brigians, a Thracian tribe, just as are also the Mygdonians, Bebrycians, Medobithynians, Bithynians, and Thynians, and I think also the Mariandynians.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν τελέως ἐκλελοίπασι πάντες τὴν Εὐρώπην, οἱ δὲ Μυσοὶ συνέμειναν.
These, then, have all completely abandoned Europe, but the Mysians remained.
καὶ Ὅμηρον δʼ ὀρθῶς εἰκάζειν μοι δοκεῖ Ποσειδώνιος τοὺς ἐν τῇ Εὐρώπῃ Μυσοὺς κατονομάζειν (λέγω δὲ τοὺς ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ) ὅταν φῇ
"
αὐτὸς δὲ πάλιν τρέπεν ὄσσε φαεινώ,
νόσφιν ἐφʼ ἱπποπόλων Θρῃκῶν καθορώμενος αἶαν
Μυσῶν τʼ ἀγχεμάχων. "
ἐπεὶ εἴ γε τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Μυσοὺς δέχοιτό τις, ἀπηρτημένος ἂν εἴη ὁ λόγος.
And Poseidonius seems to me to conjecture correctly that Homer names the Mysians in Europe (I mean those in Thrace) when he says: "But he turned back his shining eyes, looking away towards the land of the horse-tending Thracians and the close-fighting Mysians." For if one were to understand the Mysians in Asia, the passage would be disconnected.
τὸ γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν Τρώων τρέψαντα τὴν ὅρασιν ἐπὶ τὴν Θρᾳκῶν γῆν συγκαταλέγειν ταύτῃ τὴν τῶν Μυσῶν, τῶν οὐ νόσφιν ὄντων ἀλλʼ ὁμόρων τῇ Τρῳάδι καὶ ὄπισθεν αὐτῆς ἱδρυμένων καὶ ἑκατέρωθεν, διειργομένων δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Θρᾴκης πλατεῖ Ἑλλησπόντῳ, συγχέοντος ἂν εἴη τὰς ἠπείρους καὶ ἅμα τῆς φράσεως οὐκ ἀκούοντος.
For to turn one's gaze away from the Trojans to the land of the Thracians, and to include with it that of the Mysians—who are not far off but border on the Troad and are situated behind it and on either side, and are separated from Thrace by the wide Hellespont—would be the act of one who confuses the continents and at the same time does not understand the phrasing.
τὸ γὰρ πάλιν τρέπεν μάλιστα μέν ἐστιν εἰς τοὐπίσω· ὁ δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν Τρώων μεταφέρων τὴν ὄψιν ἐπὶ τοὺς μὴ ὄπισθεν αὐτῶν ἢ ἐκ πλαγίων ὄντας προσωτέρω μὲν μεταφέρει, εἰς τοὐπίσω δʼ οὐ πάνυ.
For "turned back" is especially "to the rear"; and he who shifts his sight from the Trojans to those who are not behind them or to their side shifts it further forward indeed, but not back at all.
καὶ τὸ ἐπιφερόμενον δʼ αὐτοῦ τούτου μαρτύριον, ὅτι τοὺς ἱππημολγοὺς καὶ γαλακτοφάγους καὶ ἀβίους συνῆψεν αὐτοῖς, οἵπερ εἰσὶν οἱ ἁμάξοικοι Σκύθαι καὶ Σαρμάται.
And what follows is also proof of this very thing, because he connected with them those who milk mares, feed on milk, and are Abii, who are indeed the wagon-dwelling Scythians and Sarmatians.
καὶ γὰρ νῦν ἀναμέμικται ταῦτα τὰ ἔθνη τοῖς Θρᾳξὶ καὶ τὰ Βασταρνικά, μᾶλλον μὲν τοῖς ἐκτὸς Ἴστρου, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐντός.
For indeed even now these Thracian tribes are mixed with them, as well as the Bastarnic tribes, more so with those outside the Ister, but also with those inside.
τούτοις δὲ καὶ τὰ Κελτικά, οἵ τε Βόιοι καὶ Σκορδίσκοι καὶ Ταυρίσκοι.
And with these also the Celtic tribes, the Boii, Scordisci, and Taurisci.
τοὺς δὲ Σκορδίσκους ἔνιοι Σκορδίστας καλοῦσι· καὶ τοὺς Ταυρίσκους δὲ Τευρίσκους καὶ Ταυρίστας φασί.
And some call the Scordisci "Scordistae"; and they say that the Taurisci are also called "Teuristi" and "Tauristae".
§7.3.3λέγει δὲ τοὺς Μυσοὺς ὁ Ποσειδώνιος καὶ ἐμψύχων ἀπέχεσθαι κατʼ εὐσέβειαν, διὰ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ θρεμμάτων· μέλιτι δὲ χρῆσθαι καὶ γάλακτι καὶ τυρῷ ζῶντας καθʼ ἡσυχίαν, διὰ δὲ τοῦτο καλεῖσθαι θεοσεβεῖς τε καὶ καπνοβάτας·
And Poseidonius says that the Mysians, out of piety, abstain from living things, and therefore also from domestic animals; and that they use honey, milk, and cheese, living in quiet, and for this reason they are called "god-fearing" and "kapnobatae".
εἶναι δέ τινας τῶν Θρᾳκῶν οἳ χωρὶς γυναικὸς ζῶσιν, οὓς κτίστας καλεῖσθαι, ἀνιερῶσθαί τε διὰ τιμὴν καὶ μετὰ ἀδείας ζῆν· τούτους δὴ συλλήβδην ἅπαντας τὸν ποιητὴν εἰπεῖν ἀγαυοὺς ἱππημολγοὺς γλακτοφάγους ἀβίους τε, δικαιοτάτους ἀνθρώπους. ἀβίους δὲ προσαγορεύειν μάλιστα ὅτι χωρὶς γυναικῶν, ἡγούμενον ἡμιτελῆ τινα βίον τὸν χῆρον, καθάπερ καὶ τὸν οἶκον ἡμιτελῆ τὸν Πρωτεσιλάου διότι χῆρος·
And that there are some of the Thracians who live without women, who are called "ktistae", and are consecrated out of honor and live in safety; and that the Poet collectively calls all of these "noble mare-milkers, milk-feeders, and Abii, most just of men." And that he calls them "Abii" chiefly because they are without women, since he considers the life of a widower to be half-complete, just as he considers the house of Protesilaus to be "half-complete" because it was widowed.
ἀγχεμάχους δὲ τοὺς Μυσούς, ὅτι ἀπόρθητοι, καθὰ οἱ ἀγαθοὶ πολεμισταί· δεῖν δὲ ἐν τῷ τρισκαιδεκάτῳ γράφειν ἀντὶ τοῦ Μυσῶν τʼ ἀγχεμάχων Μοισῶν τʼ ἀγχεμάχων.
And that he calls the Mysians "close-fighting" because they are unconquered, just like good warriors; and that in the thirteenth book of the Iliad one should read, instead of "and of the close-fighting Mysians," "and of the close-fighting Moesians."