Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

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  CHAP. 111. (107.)

  WONDERS OF FIRE ALONE.

  But since this one element is of so prolific a nature as to produce itself, and to increase from the smallest spark, what must we suppose will be the effect of all those funeral piles of the earth ? What must be the nature of that thing, which, in all parts of the world, supplies this most greedy voracity without destroying itself? To these fires must be added those innumerable stars and the great sun itself. There are also the fires made by men, those which are innate in certain kinds of stones, those produced by the friction of wood, and those in the clouds, which give rise to lightning. It really exceeds all other wonders, that one single day should pass in which everything is not consumed, especially when we reflect, that concave mirrors placed opposite to the sun’s rays produce flame more readily than any other kind of fire; and that numerous small but natural fires abound everywhere. In Nymphæum there issues from a rock a fire which is kindled by rain; it also issues from the waters of the Scantia. This indeed is a feeble flame, since it passes off, remaining only a short time on any body to which it is applied: an ash tree, which overshadows this fiery spring, remains always green. In the territory of Mutina fire issues from the ground on the days that are consecrated to Vulcan. It is stated by some authors, that if a burning body falls on the fields below Aricia, the ground is set on fire; and that the stones in the territory of the Sabines and of the Sidicini, if they be oiled, burn with flame. In Egnatia, a town of Salentinum, there is a sacred stone, upon which, when wood is placed, flame immediately bursts forth. In the altar of Juno Lacinia, which is in the open air, the ashes remain unmoved, although the winds may be blowing from all quarters.

  It appears also that there are sudden fires both in waters and even in the human body; that the whole of Lake Thrasymenus was on fire; that when Servius Tullius, while a child, was sleeping, flame darted out from his head; and Valerius Antias informs us, that the same flame appeared about L. Marcius, when he was pronouncing the funeral oration over the Scipios, who were killed in Spain; and exhorting the soldiers to avenge their death. I shall presently mention more facts of this nature, and in a more distinct manner; in this place these wonders are mixed up with other subjects. But my mind, having carried me beyond the mere interpretation of nature, is anxious to lead, as it were by the hand, the thoughts of my readers over the whole globe.

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  CHAP. 112. (108.)

  THE DIMENSIONS OF THE EARTH.

  Our part of the earth, of which I propose to give an account, floating as it were in the ocean which surrounds it (as I have mentioned above), stretches out to the greatest extent from east to west, viz. from India to the Pillars consecrated to Hercules at Gades, being a distance of 8568 miles, according to the statement of Artemidorus, or ac- cording to that of Isidorus, 9818 miles. Artemidorus adds to this 491 miles, from Gades, going round by the Sacred Promontory, to the promontory of Artabrum, which is the most projecting part of Spain.

  This measurement may be taken in two directions. From the Ganges, at its mouth, where it discharges itself into the Eastern ocean, passing through India and Parthyene, to Myriandrus, a city of Syria, in the bay of Issus, is a distance of 5215 miles. Thence, going directly by sea, by the island of Cyprus, Patara in Lycia, Rhodes, and Astypalæa, islands in the Carpathian sea, by Tænarum in Laconia, Lilybæum in Sicily and Calaris in Sardinia, is 2103 miles. Thence to Gades is 1250 miles, making the whole distance from the Eastern ocean 8568 miles.

  The other way, which is more certain, is chiefly by land. From the Ganges to the Euphrates is 5169 miles; thence to Mazaca, a town in Cappadocia, is 319 miles; thence, through Phrygia and Caria, to Ephesus is 415 miles; from Ephesus, across the Ægean sea to Delos, is 200 miles; to the Isthmus is 212 1/2 miles; thence, first by land and afterwards by the sea of Lechæum and the gulf of Corinth, to Patræ in Peloponnesus, 90 miles; to the promontory of Leucate 87 1/2 miles; as much more to Corcyra; to the Acroceraunian mountains 132 1/2, to Brundisium 87 1/2, and to Rome 360 miles. To the Alps, at the village of Scingomagum, is 519 miles; through Gaul to Illiberis at the Pyrenees, 927; to the ocean and the coast of Spain, 331 miles; across the passage of Gades 7 1/2 miles; which distances, according to the estimate of Artemidorus, make altogether 8945 miles.

  The breadth of the earth, from south to north, is commonly supposed to be about one-half only of its length, viz. 4490 miles; hence it is evident how much the heat has stolen from it on one side and the cold on the other: for I do not suppose that the land is actually wanting, or that the earth has not the form of a globe; but that, on each side, the uninhabitable parts have not been discovered. This measure then extends from the coast of the Æthiopian ocean, the most distant part which is habitable, to Meroë, 1000 miles; thence to Alexandria 1250; to Rhodes 562; to Cnidos 87 1/2; to Cos 25; to Samos 100; to Chios 94; to Mitylene 65; to Tenedos 44; to the promontory of Sigæum 12 1/2; to the entrance of the Euxine 312 1/2; to the promontory of Carambis 350; to the entrance of the Palus Mæotis 312 1/2; and to the mouth of the Tanais 275 miles, which distance, if we went by sea, might be shortened 89 miles. Beyond the Tanais the most diligent authors have not been able to obtain any accurate measurement. Artemidorus supposes that everything beyond is undiscovered, since he confesses that, about the Tanais, the tribes of the Sarmatæ dwell, who extend towards the north pole. Isidorus adds 1250 miles, as the distance to Thule; but this is mere conjecture. For my part, I believe that the boundaries of Sarmatia really extend to as great a distance as that mentioned above: for if it were not very extensive, how could it contain the innumerable tribes that are always changing their residence ? And indeed I consider the uninhabitable portion of the world to be still greater; for it is well known that there are innu- merable islands lying off the coast of Germany, which have been only lately discovered.

  The above is all that I consider worth relating about the length and the breadth of the earth. But Eratosthenes, a man who was peculiarly well skilled in all the more subtle parts of learning, and in this above everything else, and a person whom I perceive to be approved by every one, has stated the whole of this circuit to be 252,000 stadia, which, according to the Roman estimate, makes 31,500 miles. The attempt is presumptuous, but it is supported by such subtle arguments that we cannot refuse our assent. Hipparchus, whom we must admire, both for the ability with which he controverts Eratosthenes, as well as for his diligence in everything else, has added to the above number not much less than 25,000 stadia.

  (109.) Dionysodorus is certainly less worthy of confidence; but I cannot omit this most remarkable instance of Grecian vanity. He was a native of Melos, and was celebrated for his knowledge of geometry; he died of old age in his native country. His female relations, who inherited his property, attended his funeral, and when they had for several successive days performed the usual rites, they are said to have found in his tomb an epistle written in his own name to those left above; it stated that he had descended from his tomb to the lowest part of the earth, and that it was a distance of 42,000 stadia. There were not wanting certain geometricians, who interpreted this epistle as if it had been sent from the middle of the globe, the point which is at the greatest distance from the surface, and which must necessarily be the centre of the sphere. Hence the estimate has been made that it is 252,000 stadia in circumference.

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  CHAP. 113.

  THE HARMONICAL PROPORTION OF THE UNIVERSE.

  That harmonical proportion, which compels nature to be always consistent with itself, obliges us to add to the above measure, 12,000 stadia; and this makes the earth one ninety-sixth part of the whole universe.

  Summary. — The facts, statements, and observations contained in this Book amount in number to 417.

  Roman Authors Quoted. — M. Varro, Sulpicius Gallus, Titus Cæsar the Emperor, Q. Tubero, Tullius Tiro, L. Piso, T. Livius, Cornelius Nepos, Sebosus, Cælius Antipater, Fabianus, Antias, Mu
cianus, Cæcina, who wrote on the Etruscan discipline, Tarquitius, who did the same, Julius Aquila, who also did the same, and Sergius.

  Foreign Authors Quoted. — Plato, Hipparchus, Timæus, Sosigenes, Petosiris, Necepsos, the Pythago- rean Philosophers, Posidonius, Anaximander, Epigenes the philosopher who wrote on Gnomonics, Euclid, Coeranus the philosopher, Eudoxus, Democritus, Critodemus, Thrasyllus, Serapion, Dicæarchus, Archimedes, Onesi- critus, Eratosthenes, Pytheas, Herodotus, Aristotle, Ctesias, Artemidorus of Ephesus, Isidorus of Charax, and Theopompus.

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  BOOK III. AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.

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  INTRODUCTION.

  Thus far have I treated of the position and the wonders of the earth, of the waters, the stars, and the proportion of the universe and its dimensions. I shall now proceed to describe its individual parts; although indeed we may with reason look upon the task as of an infinite nature, and one not to be rashly commenced upon without incurring censure. And yet, on the other hand, there is nothing which ought less to require an apology, if it is only considered how far from surprising it is that a mere mortal cannot be acquainted with everything. I shall therefore not follow any single author, but shall employ, in relation to each subject, such writers as I shall look upon as most worthy of credit. For, indeed, it is the characteristic of nearly all of them, that they display the greatest care and accuracy in the description of the countries in which they respectively flourished; so that by doing this, I shall neither have to blame nor contradict any one.

  The names of the different places will here be simply given, and as briefly as possible; the account of their celebrity, and the events which have given rise thereto, being deferred to a more appropriate occasion; for it must be remembered that I am here speaking of the earth as a whole, and I wish to be understood as using the names without any reference whatever to their celebrity, and as though the places themselves were in their infancy, and had not as yet acquired any fame through great events. The name is men- tioned, it is true, but only as forming a part of the world and the system of the universe.

  The whole globe is divided into three parts, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Our description commences where the sun sets and at the Straits of Gades, where the Atlantic ocean, bursting in, is poured forth into the inland seas. As it makes its entrance from that side, Africa is on the right hand and Europe on the left; Asia lies between them; the boundaries being the rivers Tanais and Nile. The Straits of the ocean, of which I have just spoken, extend fifteen miles in length and five in breadth, measured from the village of Mellaria in Spain to the Album Promontorium or White Promontory in Africa, as we learn from Turranius Gracilis, who was born in that vicinity. Titus Livius and Cornelius Nepos however have stated the breadth, where it is least, to be seven miles, and where greatest, ten; from so small a mouth as this does so immense an expanse of water open upon us! Nor is our astonishment diminished by the fact of its being of great depth; for, instead of that, there are numerous breakers and shoals, white with foam, to strike the mariner with alarm. From this circumstance it is, that many have called this spot the threshold of The Inland Sea.

  At the narrowest part of the Straits, there are mountains placed to form barriers to the entrance on either side, Abyla in Africa, and Calpe in Europe, the boundaries formerly of the labours of Hercules. Hence it is that the inhabitants have called them the Columns of that god; they also believe that they were dug through by him; upon which the sea, which was before excluded, gained admission, and so changed the face of nature.

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  CHAP. 1. (1.)

  THE BOUNDARIES AND GULFS OF EUROPE FIRST SET FORTH IN A GENERAL WAY.

  I shall first then speak of Europe, the foster-mother of that people which has conquered all other nations, and itself by far the most beauteous portion of the earth. Indeed, many persons have, not without reason, considered it, not as a third part only of the earth, but as equal to all the rest, looking upon the whole of our globe as divided into two parts only, by a line drawn from the river Tanais to the Straits of Gades. The ocean, after pouring the waters of the Atlantic through the inlet which I have here described, and, in its eager progress, overwhelming all the lands which have had to dread its approach, skirts with its winding course the shores of those parts which offer a more effectual resistance, hollowing out the coast of Europe especially into numerous bays, among which there are four Gulfs that are more particularly remarkable. The first of these begins at Calpe, which I have previously mentioned, the most distant mountain of Spain; and bends, describing an immense curve, as far as Locri and the Promontory of Bruttium.

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  CHAP. 2.

  OF SPAIN GENERALLY.

  The first land situate upon this Gulf is that which is called the Farther Spain or Bætica; next to which, beginning at the frontier town of Urgi, is the Nearer, or Tarraconensian Spain, extending as far as the chain of the Pyrenees. The Farther Spain is divided lengthwise into two provinces, Lusitania and Bætica, the former stretching along the northern side of the latter, and being divided from it by the river Ana. The source of this river is in the district of Laminium, in the Nearer Spain. It first spreads out into a number of small lakes, and then again contracts itself into a narrow channel, or entirely disappears under ground, and after frequently disappearing and again coming to light, finally dis- charges itself into the Atlantic Ocean. Tarraconensian Spain lies on one side, contiguous to the Pyrenees, running down- wards along the sides of that chain, and, stretching across from the Iberian Sea to the Gallic ocean, is separated from Bætica and Lusitania by Mount Solorius, the chains of the Oretani and the Carpetani, and that of the Astures.

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  CHAP. 3.

  OF BÆTICA.

  Bætica, so called from the river which divides it in the middle, excels all the other provinces in the richness of its cultivation and the peculiar fertility and beauty of its vegetation.

  It consists of four jurisdictions, those of Gades, of Corduba, of Astigi, and of Hispali. The total number of its towns is 175; of these nine are colonies, and eight muni- cipal towns; twenty-nine have been long since presented with the old Latin rights; six are free towns, three federate, and 120 tributary.

  In this district, the things that more especially deserve notice, or are more easily explained in the Latin tongue, are the following, beginning at the river Ana, along the line of the seashore; the town of Onoba, surnamed Æstuaria; the rivers Luxia and Urium, flowing through this territory between the Ana and the Bætis; the Marian Mountains; the river Bætis; the coast of Corum, with its winding bay; opposite to which is Gades, of which we shall have occasion to speak among the islands. Next comes the Promontory of Juno, and the port of Bæsippo; the towns of Bœlo and Mellaria, at which latter begin the Straits of the Atlantic; Carteia, called by the Greeks Tartessos; and the mountain of Calpe.

  Along the coast of the inland sea is the town of Barbesula with its river; also Salduba; the town of Suel; and then Malaca, with its river, one of the federate towns. Next to this comes Mænoba, with its river; then Sexifirmum, surnamed Julium; Selambina; Abdera; and Murci, which is at the boundary of Bætica. M. Agrippa supposed that all this coast was peopled by colonists of Punic origin. Beyond the Anas, and facing the Atlantic, is the country of the Bastuli and the Turditani. M. Varro informs us, that the Iberians, the Persians, the Phœnicians, the Celts, and the Carthaginians spread themselves over the whole of Spain; that the name “Lusitania” is derived from the games (lusus) of Father Bacchus, or the fury (lyssa) of his frantic attendants, and that Pan was the governor of the whole of it. But the traditions respecting Hercules and Pyrene, as well as Saturn, I conceive to be fabulous in the highest degree.