§5.12.1ὅσοι δὲ ἀνθρώπων τὰ διὰ τοῦ στόματος ἐς τὸ ἐκτὸς ἐλέφασιν ἐξίσχοντα ὀδόντας τῶν θηρίων εἶναι καὶ οὐ κέρατα ἥγηνται, τούτοις ἔστιν ἀπιδεῖν μὲν ἐς τὰς ἄλκας, τὸ ἐν Κελτικῇ θηρίον, ἀπιδεῖν δὲ ἐς τοὺς Αἰθιοπικοὺς ταύρους· ἄλκαι μὲν γὰρ κέρατα ἐπὶ ταῖς ὀφρύσιν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἄρρενες, τὸ δὲ θῆλυ οὐ φύει τὸ παράπαν· οἱ δὲ Αἰθιοπικοὶ ταῦροι τὰ κέρατα φύουσιν ἐπὶ τῇ ῥινί.
Those of mankind who have supposed that the things protruding through the mouth outwards in elephants are teeth of the beasts and not horns, may look to the elks, the beast in the Celtic land, and look to the Ethiopian bulls; for male elks have horns upon their brows, while the female does not grow them at all, and the Ethiopian bulls grow their horns upon their nose.
τίς ἂν οὖν ποιήσαιτο ἔτι ἐν μεγάλῳ θαύματι διὰ στόματος ζῴῳ κέρατα ἐκφῦναι;
Who, then, would still hold it in great wonder that horns should grow out through the mouth in an animal?
§5.12.2πάρεστι δὲ ἀναδιδάσκεσθαι καὶ τοῖσδε ἔτι· κέρατα γὰρ κατὰ ἐτῶν περίοδον ἀπογίνεται καὶ αὖθις ἐκβλαστάνει ζῴοις, καὶ τοῦτο ἔλαφοί τε καὶ δορκάδες, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐλέφαντες πεπόνθασιν.
And it is possible to be further instructed by these things as well: for horns, according to the cycle of years, are shed and sprout again for animals, and this is what deer and antelopes, and likewise elephants, experience.
ὀδοὺς δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτῳ δεύτερα παρέσται ζῴῳ τῶν γε ἤδη τελείων·
But there is no animal, at least of those already full-grown, for whom teeth will appear a second time.
εἰ δὲ ὀδόντες τὰ διὰ στόματος ἐξίσχοντα καὶ μὴ κέρατα ἦσαν, πῶς ἂν καὶ ἀνεφύοντο αὖθις;
If, indeed, the things protruding through the mouth were teeth and not horns, how could they grow again?
οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ εἴκειν πυρὶ ἔχουσιν ὀδόντες φύσιν· κέρατα δὲ καὶ βοῶν καὶ ἐλεφάντων ἐς ὁμαλές τε ἐκ περιφεροῦς καὶ ἐς ἄλλα ὑπὸ πυρὸς ἄγεται σχήματα.
Furthermore, teeth do not have a nature to yield to fire, but the horns of both cattle and elephants are brought by fire from a round shape into a flat one and into other shapes.
ποταμίοις γε μὴν ἵπποις καὶ ὑσὶν ἡ κάτωθεν γένυς τοὺς χαυλιόδοντας φέρει, κέρατα δὲ ἀναφυόμενα οὐχ ὁρῶμεν ἐκ γενύων·
On the other hand, in river-horses and boars, the lower jaw carries the tusks, but we do not see horns growing out from jaws.
§5.12.3ἐλέφαντι οὖν τὰ κέρατα ἴστω τις διὰ κροτάφων κατερχόμενα ἄνωθεν καὶ οὕτως ἐς τὸ ἐκτὸς ἐπιστρέφοντα.
Let one know, therefore, that in the elephant the horns come down from above through the temples and thus turn outwards.
τοῦτο οὐκ ἀκοὴν γράφω, θεασάμενος δὲ ἐλέφαντος ἐν γῇ τῇ Καμπανῶν κρανίον ἐν Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερῷ· σταδίους δὲ ὡς τριάκοντα ἀπέχει μάλιστα Καπύης τὸ ἱερόν, αὕτη δὲ ἡ μητρόπολίς ἐστιν ἡ Καπύη τῶν Καμπανῶν.
I write this not from hearsay, but having myself beheld an elephant's skull in the land of the Campanians in a sanctuary of Artemis; the sanctuary is distant about thirty stades at most from Capua, and this Capua is the mother-city of the Campanians.
ὁ μὲν δὴ ἐλέφας παρὰ τὰ λοιπὰ ζῷα διάφορον καὶ τὴν ἔκφυσιν παρέχεται τῶν κεράτων, ὥσπερ γε καὶ τὸ μέγεθός ἐστιν αὐτῷ καὶ εἶδος οὐδὲν ἐοικότα ἑτέρῳ θηρίῳ· φιλότιμοι δὲ ἐς τὰ μάλιστά μοι καὶ ἐς θεῶν τιμὴν οὐ φειδωλοὶ χρημάτων γενέσθαι δοκοῦσιν οἱ Ἕλληνες, οἷς γε παρὰ Ἰνδῶν ἤγετο καὶ ἐξ Αἰθιοπίας ἐλέφας ἐς ποίησιν ἀγαλμάτων.
The elephant, indeed, presents a difference from other animals in the growth of its horns, just as its size and appearance are in no way like any other beast; and the Greeks seem to me to have been extremely ambitious and not sparing of money for the honor of the gods, since for them ivory was brought from the Indians and from Ethiopia for the making of statues.
§5.12.4ἐν δὲ Ὀλυμπίᾳ παραπέτασμα ἐρεοῦν κεκοσμημένον ὑφάσμασιν Ἀσσυρίοις καὶ βαφῇ πορφύρας τῆς Φοινίκων ἀνέθηκεν Ἀντίοχος, οὗ δὴ καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ θεάτρου τοῦ Ἀθήνῃσιν ἡ αἰγὶς ἡ χρυσῆ καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ἡ Γοργώ ἐστιν ἀναθήματα.
In Olympia, a woollen curtain decorated with Assyrian weavings and Phoenician purple dye was dedicated by Antiochus, by whom also the golden aegis above the theater at Athens and the Gorgon upon it are dedications.
τοῦτο οὐκ ἐς τὸ ἄνω τὸ παραπέτασμα πρὸς τὸν ὄροφον ὥσπερ γε ἐν Ἀρτέμιδος τῆς Ἐφεσίας ἀνέλκουσι, καλῳδίοις δὲ ἐπιχαλῶντες καθιᾶσιν ἐς τὸ ἔδαφος.
They do not draw this curtain upwards to the roof, as they do in the temple of Artemis of Ephesus, but lowering it with cords, they let it down to the floor.
§5.12.5ἀναθήματα δὲ ὁπόσα ἔνδον ἢ ἐν τῷ προνάῳ κεῖται, θρόνος ἐστὶν Ἀριμνήστου βασιλεύσαντος ἐν Τυρσηνοῖς, ὃς πρῶτος βαρβάρων ἀναθήματι τὸν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ Δία ἐδωρήσατο, καὶ ἵπποι Κυνίσκας χαλκοῖ, σημεῖα Ὀλυμπικῆς νίκης· οὗτοι μέγεθος μὲν ἀποδέουσιν ἵππων, ἑστήκασι δὲ ἐν τῷ προνάῳ τοῖς ἐσιοῦσιν ἐν δεξιᾷ.
As for all the dedications that lie inside or in the pronaos, there is the throne of Arimnestus, who ruled among the Tyrsenians and was the first of the foreigners to present a dedication to the Zeus at Olympia, and the bronze horses of Cynisca, tokens of an Olympic victory; these fall short of the size of horses, and they stand in the pronaos on the right of those entering.
κεῖται δὲ καὶ τρίπους ἐπίχαλκος, ἐφʼ οὗ πρὶν ἢ τὴν τράπεζαν ποιηθῆναι προετίθεντο τοῖς νικῶσιν οἱ στέφανοι.
There lies also a bronze-plated tripod, upon which, before the table was made, the crowns were set out for the victors.
§5.12.6βασιλέων δὲ ἀνδριάντας, Ἀδριανοῦ μὲν αἱ ἐς τὸ Ἀχαϊκὸν τελοῦσαι πόλεις ἀνέθεσαν Παρίου λίθου, Τραϊανοῦ δὲ οἱ πάντες Ἕλληνες.
Of the statues of emperors, those of Hadrian were dedicated by the cities contributing to the Achaean league, made of Parian marble, and that of Trajan by all the Greeks.
οὗτος προσεκτήσατο ὁ βασιλεὺς Γέτας τοὺς ὑπὲρ Θρᾴκης Ὀσρόῃ τε τῷ ἀπογόνῳ τῷ Ἀρσάκου καὶ Πάρθοις ἐπολέμησεν· ὁπόσα δὲ ἐς ἔργων ἔχει οἱ κατασκευήν, ἀξιολογώτατά ἐστι λουτρὰ ἐπώνυμα αὐτοῦ καὶ θέατρον μέγα κυκλοτερὲς πανταχόθεν καὶ οἰκοδόμημα ἐς ἵππων δρόμους προῆκον καὶ ἐς δύο σταδίων μῆκος, καὶ ἡ Ῥωμαίων ἀγορὰ κόσμου τε ἕνεκα τοῦ λοιποῦ θέας ἀξία καὶ μάλιστα ἐς τὸν ὄροφον χαλκοῦ πεποιημένον.
This emperor annexed the Getae who live beyond Thrace, and made war against Osroes, the descendant of Arsaces, and the Parthians; and of all the works that have their construction by him, the most noteworthy are the baths named after him, a great theater circular on all sides, a building for horse races extending to a length of two stades, and the Roman forum, which is worth seeing both for its other decoration and especially for its ceiling made of bronze.
§5.12.7αἱ δὲ εἰκόνες αἱ τοῖς κατασκευάσμασι τοῖς περιφερέσιν ἐγκείμεναι, ἡ μὲν τοῦ ἠλέκτρου βασιλέως Ῥωμαίων ἐστὶν Αὐγούστου, ἡ δὲ τοῦ ἐλέφαντος βασιλέως Νικομήδους ἐλέγετο εἶναι Βιθυνῶν.
As for the portraits placed in the circular buildings, that of amber is of the Roman emperor Augustus, while that of ivory was said to be of Nicomedes, king of the Bithynians.
ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ καὶ τῇ μεγίστῃ τῶν ἐν Βιθυνίᾳ πόλεων μετεβλήθη τὸ ὄνομα, Ἀστακῷ τὰ πρὸ τούτου καλουμένῃ· τὰ δὲ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτῇ Ζυποίτης ἐγένετο οἰκιστής, Θρᾷξ γένος εἰκάζοντί γε ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀνόματος.
From him also the name of the greatest of the cities in Bithynia was changed, which before this was called Astacus; but from the beginning, Zypoetes was its founder, a Thracian by race, as one might guess from the name.
τὸ δὲ ἤλεκτρον τοῦτο οὗ τῷ Αὐγούστῳ πεποίηνται τὴν εἰκόνα, ὅσον μὲν αὐτόματον ἐν τοῦ Ἠριδανοῦ ταῖς ψάμμοις εὑρίσκεται, σπανίζεται τὰ μάλιστα καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ τίμιον πολλῶν ἐστιν ἕνεκα· τὸ δὲ ἄλλο ἤλεκτρον ἀναμεμιγμένος ἐστὶν ἀργύρῳ χρυσός.
This amber, of which the portrait of Augustus is made, as much as is found naturally in the sands of the Eridanus is extremely scarce and precious to man for many reasons; but the other amber is gold mixed with silver.
§5.12.8ἐν δὲ τῷ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ ναῷ Νέρωνος ἀναθήματα τρεῖς μὲν ἐς κοτίνου φύλλα στέφανοι, τέταρτος δὲ ἐς δρυός ἐστι μεμιμημένος· κεῖνται δὲ αὐτόθι καὶ ἀσπίδες χαλκαῖ πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι, τοῖς ὁπλιτεύουσιν εἶναι φορήματα ἐς τὸν δρόμον.
In the temple at Olympia, the dedications of Nero are three crowns made to imitate wild olive leaves, and a fourth is made in imitation of oak; there lie there also twenty-five bronze shields, which are carried by those competing in the race of the heavy-armed men.
στῆλαι δὲ ἄλλαι τε ἑστήκασι καὶ ἡ πρὸς Ἀθηναίους καὶ Ἀργείους τε καὶ Μαντινέας ἔχουσα ὅρκον παρὰ Ἠλείων ἐς συμμαχίαν ἐτῶν ἑκατόν.
Other stelae also stand there, and the one containing the oath of the Eleans for a hundred-year alliance with the Athenians, Argives, and Mantineans.