§8.2.1ἔστι τοίνυν ἡ Πελοπόννησος ἐοικυῖα φύλλῳ πλατάνου τὸ σχῆμα, ἴση σχεδόν τι κατὰ μῆκος καὶ κατὰ πλάτος ὅσον χιλίων καὶ τετρακοσίων σταδίων, τὸ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω, τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ Χελωνάτα διʼ Ὀλυμπίας καὶ τῆς Μεγαλοπολίτιδος ἐπὶ Ἰσθμόν·
The Peloponnesus, then, is like a plane-tree leaf in its shape, being nearly equal in length and in breadth, about one thousand four hundred stadia: the one from west to east, which is that from Chelonatas through Olympia and the territory of Megalopolis to the Isthmus; the other from south to north, which is that from Maleae through Arcadia to Aegium.
τὸ δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ νότου πρὸς τὴν ἄρκτον, ὅ ἐστι τὸ ἀπὸ Μαλεῶν διʼ Ἀρκαδίας εἰς Αἴγιον· ἡ δὲ περίμετρος μὴ κατακολπίζοντι τετρακισχιλίων σταδίων, ὡς Πολύβιος· Ἀρτεμίδωρος δὲ καὶ τετρακοσίους προστίθησι· κατακολπίζοντι δὲ πλείους τῶν ἑξακοσίων ἐπὶ τοῖς πεντακισχιλίοις.
Its circumference is four thousand stadia for one who does not follow the gulfs, as Polybius says, and Artemidorus adds four hundred more; but for one who follows the gulfs, it is more than five thousand six hundred.
ὁ δʼ Ἰσθμὸς κατὰ τὸν δίολκον, διʼ οὗ τὰ πορθμεῖα ὑπερνεωλκοῦσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἑτέρας εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν θάλατταν, εἴρηται ὅτι τετταράκοντα σταδίων ἐστίν.
And as for the Isthmus, at the diolcos, through which they haul the boats across from one sea to the other, it has been stated that it is forty stadia wide.
§8.2.2ἔχουσι δὲ τῆς χερρονήσου ταύτης τὸ μὲν ἑσπέριον μέρος Ἠλεῖοι καὶ Μεσσήνιοι, κλυζόμενοι τῷ Σικελικῷ πελάγει· προσλαμβάνουσι δὲ καὶ τῆς ἑκατέρωθεν παραλίας, ἡ μὲν Ἠλεία πρὸς ἄρκτον ἐπιστρέφουσα καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ Κορινθιακοῦ κόλπου μέχρι ἄκρας Ἀράξου, καθʼ ἣν ἀντίπορθμός ἐστιν ἥ τε Ἀκαρνανία καὶ αἱ προκείμεναι νῆσοι, Ζάκυνθος καὶ Κεφαλληνία καὶ Ἰθάκη καὶ Ἐχινάδες, ὧν ἐστι καὶ τὸ Δουλίχιον· τῆς δὲ Μεσσηνίας τὸ πλέον ἀνεῳγμένον πρὸς νότον καὶ τὸ Λιβυκὸν πέλαγος μέχρι τῶν καλουμένων Θυρίδων πλησίον Ταινάρου.
The western part of this peninsula is held by the Eleians and Messenians, washed by the Sicilian Sea; and they also take in a part of the coast on either side: the Eleian territory turning towards the north and containing the beginning of the Corinthian Gulf as far as Cape Araxus, opposite to which lie Acarnania and the islands situated in front of it, namely Zacynthus, Cephallenia, Ithaca, and the Echinades, to which Dulichium belongs; while the greater part of Messenia is open towards the south and the Libyan Sea as far as the place called Thyrides near Taenarum.
ἑξῆς δὲ μετὰ μὲν τὴν Ἠλείαν ἐστὶ τὸ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἔθνος πρὸς ἄρκτους βλέπον καὶ τῷ Κορινθιακῷ κόλπῳ παρατεῖνον, τελευτᾷ δʼ εἰς τὴν Σικυωνίαν· ἐντεῦθεν δὲ Σικυὼν καὶ Κόρινθος ἐκδέχεται μέχρι τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ·
Next after Eleia is the nation of the Achaeans, looking towards the north and stretching along the Corinthian Gulf, ending at Sicyonia; and from there Sicyon and Corinth succeed as far as the Isthmus.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν Μεσσηνίαν ἡ Λακωνικὴ καὶ ἡ Ἀργεία, μέχρι τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ καὶ αὕτη.
And after Messenia come Laconica and Argia, the latter also extending as far as the Isthmus.
κόλποι δʼ εἰσὶν ἐνταῦθα ὅ τε Μεσσηνιακὸς καὶ ὁ Λακωνικὸς καὶ τρίτος ὁ Ἀργολικός, τέταρτος δʼ ὁ Ἑρμιονικὸς καὶ Σαρωνικός (οἱ δὲ Σαλαμινιακὸν καλοῦσιν), ὧν τοὺς μὲν ἡ Λιβυκὴ τοὺς δʼ ἡ Κρητικὴ θάλαττα πληροῖ καὶ τὸ Μυρτῷον πέλαγος· τινὲς δὲ καὶ τὸν Σαρωνικὸν πόρον πέλαγος ὀνομάζουσι.
The gulfs here are the Messenian, the Laconian, and thirdly the Argolic, and fourthly the Hermionic and the Saronic (which some call the Salaminian), of which some are filled by the Libyan Sea, others by the Cretan Sea and the Myrtoan Gulf; and some also call the Saronic Strait a sea.
μέση δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ Ἀρκαδία πᾶσιν ἐπικειμένη καὶ γειτνιῶσα τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔθνεσιν.
In the middle lies Arcadia, situated above all the others and bordering upon all the other nations.
§8.2.3ὁ δὲ Κορινθιακὸς κόλπος ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκβολῶν τοῦ Εὐήνου (τινὲς δέ φασιν τοῦ Ἀχελώου τοῦ ὁρίζοντος Ἀκαρνᾶνας καὶ τοὺς Αἰτωλοὺς) καὶ τοῦ Ἀράξου.
The Corinthian Gulf begins from the mouths of the Evenus (though some say of the Achelous, which bounds the Acarnanians and the Aetolians) and from Cape Araxus.
ἐνταῦθα γὰρ πρῶτον ἀξιόλογον συναγωγὴν λαμβάνουσι πρὸς ἀλλήλας αἱ ἑκατέρωθεν ἀκταί· προϊοῦσαι δὲ πλέον τελέως συμπίπτουσι κατὰ τὸ Ῥίον καὶ τὸ Ἀντίρριον, ὅσον δὴ πέντε σταδίων ἀπολείπουσαι πορθμόν.
For there, for the first time, the coasts on either side draw remarkably close to each other; and as they advance further, they completely meet at Rhium and Antirrhium, leaving a strait of only about five stadia.
ἔστι δὲ τὸ μὲν Ῥίον τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἁλιτενὴς ἄκρα, δρεπανοειδῆ τινα ἐπιστροφὴν εἰς τὸ ἐντὸς ἔχουσα· καὶ δὴ καὶ καλεῖται Δρέπανον· κεῖται δὲ μεταξὺ Πατρῶν καὶ Αἰγίου Ποσειδῶνος ἱερὸν ἔχουσα·
Rhium, belonging to the Achaeans, is a low-lying cape, having a sickle-like curvature inwards; and indeed it is also called Drepanum; it lies between Patrae and Aegium, containing a temple of Poseidon.
τὸ δʼ Ἀντίρριον ἐν μεθορίοις τῆς Αἰτωλίας καὶ τῆς Λοκρίδος ἵδρυται, καλοῦσι δὲ Μολύκριον Ῥίον.
Antirrhium is situated on the borders of Aetolia and Locris, and they call it the Molycrian Rhium.
εἶτʼ ἐντεῦθεν διίσταται πάλιν ἡ παραλία μετρίως ἑκατέρωθεν, προελθοῦσα δʼ εἰς τὸν Κρισαῖον κόλπον ἐνταῦθα τελευτᾷ, κλειομένη τοῖς προσεσπερίοις τῆς Βοιωτίας καὶ τῆς Μεγαρικῆς τέρμοσιν.
Then, from there, the coastline on either side recedes again moderately, and advancing into the Crisaean Gulf, ends there, being closed by the western boundaries of Boeotia and the Megarid.
ἔχει δὲ τὴν περίμετρον ὁ Κορινθιακὸς κόλπος ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ Εὐήνου μέχρι Ἀράξου σταδίων δισχιλίων διακοσίων τριάκοντα· εἰ δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀχελώου, πλεονάζοι ἂν ἑκατόν που σταδίοις.
The Corinthian Gulf has a circumference of two thousand two hundred and thirty stadia from the Evenus to Araxus; and if from the Achelous, it would be more by about one hundred stadia.
ἀπὸ μέντοι Ἀχελώου ἐπὶ τὸν Εὔηνον Ἀκαρνᾶνές εἰσιν, εἶθʼ ἑξῆς ἐπὶ τὸ Ἀντίρριον Αἰτωλοί, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν μέχρι Ἰσθμοῦ Φωκέων ἐστὶ καὶ Βοιωτῶν καὶ τῆς Μεγαρίδος, στάδιοι χίλιοι ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι δυεῖν δέοντες· ἡ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀντιρρίου μέχρι Ἰσθμοῦ θάλαττα Ἀλκυονὶς καλεῖται, μέρος οὖσα τοῦ Κρισαίου κόλπου·
However, from the Achelous to the Evenus dwell the Acarnanians, and next, as far as Antirrhium, the Aetolians, and the remaining part as far as the Isthmus belongs to the Phocians, Boeotians, and the Megarid, being two short of one thousand one hundred and twenty stadia; and the sea from Antirrhium as far as the Isthmus is called Alcyonis, being a part of the Crisaean Gulf.
ἀ Ἰσθμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἄραξον τριάκοντα ἐπὶ τοῖς.
And from the Isthmus to Araxus, it is thirty in addition to [...].
ὡς μὲν δὴ τύπῳ εἰπεῖν τοιαύτη τις καὶ τοσαύτη ἡ τῆς Πελοποννήσου θέσις καὶ τῆς ἀντιπόρθμου γῆς μέχρι τοῦ μυχοῦ, τοιοῦτος δὲ καὶ ὁ μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν κόλπος.
To speak in outline, then, such and so great is the situation of the Peloponnesus and of the land opposite it as far as the innermost recess, and such is also the gulf between them.
εἶτα καθʼ ἕκαστα ἐροῦμεν, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἠλείας ποιησάμενοι.
Next we shall speak of each part, making our beginning from Eleia.