The Tuscan books inform us, that there are nine Gods who discharge

thunder-storms, that there are eleven different kinds of them, and that

three of them are darted out by Jupiter. Of these the Romans retained

only two, ascribing the diurnal kind to Jupiter, and the nocturnal

to Summanus[401]; this latter kind being more rare, in consequence

of the heavens being colder, as was mentioned above. The Etrurians

also suppose, that those which are named Infernal burst out of the

ground; they are produced in the winter and are particularly fierce and

direful, as all things are which proceed from the earth, and are not

generated by or proceeding from the stars, but from a cause which is

near at hand, and of a more disorderly nature. As a proof of this it

is said, that all those which proceed from the higher regions strike

obliquely, while those which are termed terrestrial strike in a direct

line. And because these fall from matter which is nearer to us, they

are supposed to proceed from the earth, since they leave no traces of a

rebound; this being the effect of a stroke coming not from below, but

from an opposite quarter. Those who have searched into the subject

more minutely suppose, that these come from the planet Saturn, as

those that are of a burning nature do from Mars. In this way it was

that Volsinium, the most opulent town of the Tuscans, was entirely

consumed by lightning[402]. The first of these strokes that a man

receives, after he has come into possession of any property, is termed

_Familiar_[403], and is supposed to prognosticate the events of the

whole of his life. But it is not generally supposed that they predict

events of a private nature for a longer space than ten years, unless

they happen at the time of a first marriage or a birth-day; nor that

public predictions extend beyond thirty years[404], unless with respect

to the founding of colonies[405].

CHAP. 54. (53.)—OF CONJURING UP THUNDER.

It is related in our Annals, that by certain sacred rites and

imprecations, thunder-storms may be compelled or invoked[406]. There

is an old report in Etruria, that thunder was invoked when the city of

Volsinium had its territory laid waste by a monster named Volta[407].

Thunder was also invoked by King Porsenna. And L. Piso[408], a very

respectable author, states in the first book of his Annals, that this

had been frequently done before his time by Numa, and that Tullus

Hostilius, imitating him, but not having properly performed the

ceremonies, was struck with the lightning[409]. We have also groves,

and altars, and sacred places, and, among the titles of Jupiter, as

Stator, Tonans, and Feretrius, we have a Jupiter Elicius[410]. The

opinions entertained on this point are very various, and depend much

on the dispositions of different individuals. To believe that we can

command nature is the mark of a bold mind, nor is it less the mark of a

feeble one to reject her kindness[411]. Our knowledge has been so far

useful to us in the interpretation of thunder, that it enables us to

predict what is to happen on a certain day, and we learn either that

our fortune is to be entirely changed, or it discloses events which

are concealed from us; as is proved by an infinite number of examples,

public and private. Wherefore let these things remain, according to

the order of nature, to some persons certain, to others doubtful, by

some approved, by others condemned. I must not, however, omit the other

circumstances connected with them which deserve to be related.

CHAP. 55. (54.)—GENERAL LAWS OF LIGHTNING.

It is certain that the lightning is seen before the thunder is heard,

although they both take place at the same time. Nor is this wonderful,

since light has a greater velocity than sound. Nature so regulates it,

that the stroke and the sound coincide[412]; the sound is, however,

produced by the discharge of the thunder, not by its stroke. But the

air is impelled quicker than the lightning[413], on which account it

is that everything is shaken and blown up before it is struck, and that

a person is never injured when he has seen the lightning and heard the

thunder. Thunder on the left hand is supposed to be lucky, because

the east is on the left side of the heavens[414]. We do not regard so

much the mode in which it comes to us, as that in which it leaves us,

whether the fire rebounds after the stroke, or whether the current of

air returns when the operation is concluded and the fire is consumed.

In relation to this object the Etrurians have divided the heavens into

sixteen parts[415]. The first great division is from north to east; the

second to the south; the third to the west, and the fourth occupies

what remains from west to north. Each of these has been subdivided

into four parts, of which the eight on the east have been called the

left, and those on the west the right divisions. Those which extend

from the west to the north have been considered the most unpropitious.

It becomes therefore very important to ascertain from what quarter the

thunder proceeds, and in what direction it falls. It is considered a

very favourable omen when it returns into the eastern divisions. But

it prognosticates the greatest felicity when the thunder proceeds from

the first-mentioned part of the heavens and falls back into it; it was

an omen of this kind which, as we have heard, was given to Sylla, the

Dictator. The remaining quarters of the heavens are less propitious,

and also less to be dreaded. There are some kinds of thunder which it

is not thought right to speak of, or even to listen to, unless when

they have been disclosed to the master of a family or to a parent.

But the futility of this observation was detected when the temple of

Juno was struck at Rome, during the consulship of Scaurus, he who was

afterwards the Prince of the Senate[416].

It lightens without thunder more frequently in the night than in the

day[417]. Man is the only animal that is not always killed by it, all

other animals being killed instantly, nature having granted to him

this mark of distinction, while so many other animals excel him in

strength. All animals fall down on the opposite side to that which

has been struck; man, unless he be thrown down on the parts that are

struck, does not expire. Those who are struck directly from above sink

down immediately. When a man is struck while he is awake, he is found

with his eyes closed; when asleep, with them open. It is not considered

proper that a man killed in this way should be burnt on the funeral

pile; our religion enjoins us to bury the body in the earth[418]. No

animal is consumed by lightning unless after having been previously

killed. The parts of the animal that have been wounded by lightning are

colder than the rest of the body.

CHAP. 56. (55.)—OBJECTS WHICH ARE NEVER STRUCK.

Among the productions of the earth, thunder never strikes the

laurel[419], nor does it descend more than five feet into the earth.

Those, therefore, who are timid consider the deepest caves as the most

safe; or tents made of the skins of the animal called the sea-calf,

since this is the only marine animal which is never struck[420];

as is the case, among birds, with the eagle; on this account it is

represented as the bearer of this weapon[421]. In Italy, between

Terracina and the temple of Feronia, the people have left off building

towers in time of war, every one of them having been destroyed by

thunderbolts.

CHAP. 57. (56.)—SHOWERS OF MILK, BLOOD, FLESH, IRON, WOOL, AND BAKED

TILES[422].

Besides these, we learn from certain monuments, that from the lower

part of the atmosphere[423] it rained milk and blood, in the consulship

of M’ Acilius and C. Porcius, and frequently at other times[424]. This

was the case with respect to flesh, in the consulship of P. Volumnius

and Servius Sulpicius, and it is said, that what was not devoured

by the birds did not become putrid. It also rained iron among the

Lucanians, the year before Crassus was slain by the Parthians, as

well as all the Lucanian soldiers, of whom there was a great number

in this army. The substance which fell had very much the appearance

of sponge[425]; the augurs warned the people against wounds that

might come from above. In the consulship of L. Paulus and C. Marcellus

it rained wool, round the castle of Carissanum, near which place,

a year after, T. Annius Milo was killed. It is recorded, among the

transactions of that year, that when he was pleading his own cause,

there was a shower of baked tiles.

CHAP. 58. (57.)—RATTLING OF ARMS AND THE SOUND OF TRUMPETS HEARD IN THE

SKY.

We have heard, that during the war with the Cimbri, the rattling of

arms and the sound of trumpets were heard through the sky, and that the

same thing has frequently happened before and since[426]. Also, that in

the third consulship of Marius, armies were seen in the heavens by the

Amerini and the Tudertes, encountering each other, as if from the east

and west, and that those from the east were repelled[427]. It is not at

all wonderful for the heavens themselves to be in flames[428], and it

has been more frequently observed when the clouds have taken up a great

deal of fire.

CHAP. 59. (58.)—OF STONES THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM THE CLOUDS[429]. THE

OPINION OF ANAXAGORAS RESPECTING THEM.

The Greeks boast that Anaxagoras[430], the Clazomenian, in the second

year of the 78th Olympiad, from his knowledge of what relates to the

heavens, had predicted, that at a certain time, a stone would fall

from the sun[431]. And the thing accordingly happened, in the daytime,

in a part of Thrace, at the river Ægos. The stone is now to be seen, a

waggon-load in size and of a burnt appearance; there was also a comet

shining in the night at that time[432]. But to believe that this had

been predicted would be to admit that the divining powers of Anaxagoras

were still more wonderful, and that our knowledge of the nature of

things, and indeed every thing else, would be thrown into confusion,

were we to suppose either that the sun is itself composed of stone,

or that there was even a stone in it; yet there can be no doubt that

stones have frequently fallen from the atmosphere. There is a stone,

a small one indeed, at this time, in the Gymnasium of Abydos, which

on this account is held in veneration, and which the same Anaxagoras

predicted would fall in the middle of the earth. There is another at

Cassandria, formerly called Potidæa[433], which from this circumstance

was built in that place. I have myself seen one in the country of the

Vocontii[434], which had been brought from the fields only a short time

before.

CHAP. 60. (59.)—THE RAINBOW.

What we name Rainbows frequently occur,

and are not considered either wonderful or ominous; for they do not

predict, with certainty, either rain or fair weather. It is obvious,

that the rays of the sun, being projected upon a hollow cloud, the

light is thrown back to the sun and is refracted[435], and that the

variety of colours is produced by a mixture of clouds, air, and

fire[436]. The rainbow is certainly never produced except in the

part opposite to the sun, nor even in any other form except that of

a semicircle. Nor are they ever formed at night, although Aristotle

asserts that they are sometimes seen at that time; he acknowledges,

however, that it can only be on the 14th day of the moon[437]. They are

seen in the winter the most frequently, when the days are shortening,

after the autumnal equinox[438]. They are not seen when the days

increase again, after the vernal equinox, nor on the longest days,

about the summer solstice, but frequently at the winter solstice, when

the days are the shortest. When the sun is low they are high, and when

the sun is high they are low; they are smaller when in the east or

west, but are spread out wider; in the south they are small, but of a

greater span. In the summer they are not seen at noon, but after the

autumnal equinox at any hour: there are never more than two seen at

once.

CHAP. 61.—THE NATURE OF HAIL, SNOW, HOAR, MIST, DEW; THE FORMS OF

CLOUDS.

I do not find that there is any doubt entertained respecting the

following points. (60.) Hail is produced by frozen rain, and snow by

the same fluid less firmly concreted, and hoar by frozen dew[439].

During the winter snow falls, but not hail; hail itself falls more

frequently during the day than the night, and is more quickly melted

than snow. There are no mists either in the summer or during the

greatest cold of winter. There is neither dew nor hoar formed during

great heat or winds, nor unless the night be serene. Fluids are

diminished in bulk by being frozen, and, when the ice is melted, we do

not obtain the same quantity of fluid as at first[440].

(61.) The clouds are varied in their colour and figure according as the

fire which they contain is in excess or is absorbed by them.

CHAP. 62. (62.)—THE PECULIARITIES OF THE WEATHER IN DIFFERENT PLACES.

There are, moreover, certain peculiarities in certain places. In Africa

dew falls during the night in summer. In Italy, at Locri, and at the

Lake Velinum, there is never a day in which a rainbow is not seen[441].

At Rhodes and at Syracuse the sky is never so covered with clouds, but

that the sun is visible at one time or another; these things, however,

will be better detailed in their proper place. So far respecting the

air.

CHAP. 63. (63.)—NATURE OF THE EARTH.

Next comes the earth, on which alone of all parts of nature we have

bestowed the name that implies maternal veneration. It is appropriated

to man as the heavens are to God. She receives us at our birth,

nourishes us when born, and ever afterwards supports us; lastly,

embracing us in her bosom when we are rejected by the rest of nature,

she then covers us with especial tenderness; rendered sacred to us,

inasmuch as she renders us sacred, bearing our monuments and titles,

continuing our names, and extending our memory, in opposition to the

shortness of life. In our anger we imprecate her on those who are now

no more[442], as if we were ignorant that she is the only being who can

never be angry with man. The water passes into showers, is concreted

into hail, swells into rivers, is precipitated in torrents; the air is

condensed into clouds, rages in squalls; but the earth, kind, mild, and

indulgent as she is, and always ministering to the wants of mortals,

how many things do we compel her to produce spontaneously! What odours

and flowers, nutritive juices, forms and colours! With what good faith

does she render back all that has been entrusted to her! It is the

vital spirit which must bear the blame of producing noxious animals;

for the earth is constrained to receive the seeds of them, and to

support them when they are produced. The fault lies in the evil nature

which generates them. The earth will no longer harbour a serpent after

it has attacked any one[443], and thus she even demands punishment in

the name of those who are indifferent about it themselves[444]. She

pours forth a profusion of medicinal plants, and is always producing

something for the use of man. We may even suppose, that it is out

of compassion to us that she has ordained certain substances to be

poisonous, in order that when we are weary of life, hunger, a mode of

death the most foreign to the kind disposition of the earth[445], might

not consume us by a slow decay, that precipices might not lacerate

our mangled bodies, that the unseemly punishment of the halter may

not torture us, by stopping the breath of one who seeks his own

destruction, or that we may not seek our death in the ocean, and become

food for our graves, or that our bodies may not be gashed by steel. On

this account it is that nature has produced a substance which is very

easily taken, and by which life is extinguished, the body remaining

undefiled and retaining all its blood, and only causing a degree of

thirst. And when it is destroyed by this means, neither bird nor beast

will touch the body, but he who has perished by his own hands is

reserved for the earth.

But it must be acknowledged, that everything which the earth has

produced, as a remedy for our evils, we have converted into the poison

of our lives. For do we not use iron, which we cannot do without, for

this purpose? But although this cause of mischief has been produced,

we ought not to complain; we ought not to be ungrateful to this one

part of nature[446]. How many luxuries and how many insults does she

not bear for us! She is cast into the sea, and, in order that we may

introduce seas into her bosom, she is washed away by the waves. She

is continually tortured for her iron, her timber, stone, fire, corn,

and is even much more subservient to our luxuries than to our mere

support. What indeed she endures on her surface might be tolerated,

but we penetrate also into her bowels, digging out the veins of gold

and silver, and the ores of copper and lead; we also search for gems

and certain small pebbles, driving our trenches to a great depth. We

tear out her entrails in order to extract the gems with which we may

load our fingers. How many hands are worn down that one little joint

may be ornamented! If the infernal regions really existed, certainly

these burrows of avarice and luxury would have penetrated into them.

And truly we wonder that this same earth should have produced anything

noxious! But, I suppose, the savage beasts protect her and keep off

our sacrilegious hands[447]. For do we not dig among serpents and

handle poisonous plants along with those veins of gold? But the Goddess

shows herself more propitious to us, inasmuch as all this wealth ends

in crimes, slaughter, and war, and that, while we drench her with

our blood, we cover her with unburied bones; and being covered with

these and her anger being thus appeased, she conceals the crimes of

mortals[448]. I consider the ignorance of her nature as one of the evil

effects of an ungrateful mind.

CHAP. 64. (64.)—OF THE FORM OF THE EARTH.

Every one agrees that it has the most perfect figure[449]. We always

speak of the ball of the earth, and we admit it to be a globe bounded

by the poles. It has not indeed the form of an absolute sphere, from

the number of lofty mountains and flat plains; but if the termination

of the lines be bounded by a curve[450], this would compose a perfect

sphere. And this we learn from arguments drawn from the nature of

things, although not from the same considerations which we made use

of with respect to the heavens. For in these the hollow convexity

everywhere bends on itself, and leans upon the earth as its centre.

Whereas the earth rises up solid and dense, like something that

swells up and is protruded outwards. The heavens bend towards the

centre, while the earth goes from the centre, the continual rolling

of the heavens about it forcing its immense globe into the form of a

sphere[451].

CHAP. 65. (65.)—WHETHER THERE BE ANTIPODES?

On this point there is a great contest between the learned and the

vulgar. We maintain, that there are men dispersed over every part of

the earth, that they stand with their feet turned towards each other,

that the vault of the heavens appears alike to all of them, and that

they, all of them, appear to tread equally on the middle of the earth.

If any one should ask, why those situated opposite to us do not fall,

we directly ask in return, whether those on the opposite side do not

wonder that we do not fall. But I may make a remark, that will appear

plausible even to the most unlearned, that if the earth were of the

figure of an unequal globe, like the seed of a pine[452], still it may

be inhabited in every part.

But of how little moment is this, when we have another miracle rising

up to our notice! The earth itself is pendent and does not fall with

us; it is doubtful whether this be from the force of the spirit which

is contained in the universe[453], or whether it would fall, did not

nature resist, by allowing of no place where it might fall. For as the

seat of fire is nowhere but in fire, nor of water except in water, nor

of air except in air, so there is no situation for the earth except in

itself, everything else repelling it. It is indeed wonderful that it

should form a globe, when there is so much flat surface of the sea and

of the plains. And this was the opinion of Dicæarchus, a peculiarly

learned man, who measured the heights of mountains, under the direction

of the kings, and estimated Pelion, which was the highest, at 1250

paces perpendicular, and considered this as not affecting the round

figure of the globe. But this appears to me to be doubtful, as I well

know that the summits of some of the Alps rise up by a long space of

not less than 50,000 paces[454]. But what the vulgar most strenuously

contend against is, to be compelled to believe that the water is

forced into a rounded figure[455]; yet there is nothing more obvious

to the sight among the phænomena of nature. For we see everywhere,

that drops, when they hang down, assume the form of small globes, and

when they are covered with dust, or have the down of leaves spread

over them, they are observed to be completely round; and when a cup

is filled, the liquid swells up in the middle. But on account of the

subtile nature of the fluid and its inherent softness, the fact is more

easily ascertained by our reason than by our sight. And it is even more

wonderful, that if a very little fluid only be added to a cup when

it is full, the superfluous quantity runs over, whereas the contrary

happens if we add a solid body, even as much as would weigh 20 denarii.

The reason of this is, that what is dropt in raises up the fluid at the

top, while what is poured on it slides off from the projecting surface.

It is from the same cause[456] that the land is not visible from the

body of a ship when it may be seen from the mast; and that when a

vessel is receding, if any bright object be fixed to the mast, it seems

gradually to descend and finally to become invisible. And the ocean,

which we admit to be without limits, if it had any other figure, could

it cohere and exist without falling, there being no external margin

to contain it? And the same wonder still recurs, how is it that the

extreme parts of the sea, although it be in the form of a globe, do not

fall down? In opposition to which doctrine, the Greeks, to their great

joy and glory, were the first to teach us, by their subtile geometry,

that this could not happen, even if the seas were flat, and of the

figure which they appear to be. For since water always runs from a

higher to a lower level, and this is admitted to be essential to it,

no one ever doubted that the water would accumulate on any shore, as

much as its slope would allow it. It is also certain, that the lower

anything is, so much the nearer is it to the centre, and that all the

lines which are drawn from this point to the water which is the nearest

to it, are shorter than those which reach from the beginning of the

sea to its extreme parts[457]. Hence it follows, that all the water,

from every part, tends towards the centre, and, because it has this

tendency, does not fall.

CHAP. 66.—HOW THE WATER IS CONNECTED WITH THE EARTH. OF THE NAVIGATION

OF THE SEA AND THE RIVERS.

We must believe, that the great artist, Nature, has so arranged it,

that as the arid and dry earth cannot subsist by itself and without

moisture, nor, on the other hand, can the water subsist unless it be

supported by the earth, they are connected by a mutual union. The

earth opens her harbours, while the water pervades the whole earth,

within, without, and above; its veins running in all directions, like

connecting links, and bursting out on even the highest ridges; where,

forced up by the air, and pressed out by the weight of the earth, it

shoots forth as from a pipe, and is so far from being in danger of

falling, that it bounds up to the highest and most lofty places. Hence

the reason is obvious, why the seas are not increased by the daily

accession of so many rivers[458].

(66.) The earth has, therefore, the whole of its globe girt, on every

side, by the sea flowing round it. And this is not a point to be

investigated by arguments, but what has been ascertained by experience.

CHAP. 67. (67.)—WHETHER THE OCEAN SURROUNDS THE EARTH.

The whole of the western ocean is now navigated, from Gades and the

Pillars of Hercules, round Spain and Gaul. The greater part of the

northern ocean has also been navigated, under the auspices of the

Emperor Augustus, his fleet having been carried round Germany to

the promontory of the Cimbri[459]; from which spot they descried an

immense sea, or became acquainted with it by report, which extends to

the country of the Scythians, and the districts that are chilled by

excessive moisture[460]. On this account it is not at all probable,

that the ocean should be deficient in a region where moisture so much

abounds. In like manner, towards the east, from the Indian sea, all

that part which lies in the same latitude[461], and which bends round

towards the Caspian[462], has been explored by the Macedonian arms,

in the reigns of Seleucus and Antiochus, who wished it to be named

after themselves, the Seleucian or Antiochian Sea. About the Caspian,

too, many parts of the shores of the ocean have been explored, so that

nearly the whole of the north has been sailed over in one direction or

another. Nor can our argument be much affected by the point that has

been so much discussed, respecting the Palus Mæotis, whether it be a

bay of the same ocean[463], as is, I understand, the opinion of some

persons, or whether it be the overflowing of a narrow channel connected

with a different ocean[464]. On the other side of Gades, proceeding

from the same western point, a great part of the southern ocean,

along Mauritania, has now been navigated. Indeed the greater part of

this region, as well as of the east, as far as the Arabian Gulf, was

surveyed in consequence of Alexander’s victories. When Caius Cæsar,

the son of Augustus[465], had the conduct of affairs in that country,

it is said that they found the remains of Spanish vessels which had

been wrecked there. While the power of Carthage was at its height,

Hanno published an account of a voyage which he made from Gades to the

extremity of Arabia[466]; Himilco was also sent, about the same time,

to explore the remote parts of Europe. Besides, we learn from Corn.

Nepos, that one Eudoxus, a contemporary of his[467], when he was flying

from king Lathyrus, set out from the Arabian Gulf, and was carried as

far as Gades[468]. And long before him, Cælius Antipater[469] informs

us, that he had seen a person who had sailed from Spain to Æthiopia

for the purposes of trade. The same Cornelius Nepos, when speaking

of the northern circumnavigation, tells us that Q. Metellus Celer,

the colleague of L. Afranius in the consulship, but then a proconsul

in Gaul[470], had a present made to him by the king of the Suevi, of

certain Indians, who sailing from India for the purpose of commerce,

had been driven by tempests into Germany[471]. Thus it appears, that

the seas which flow completely round the globe, and divide it, as it

were, into two parts[472], exclude us from one part of it, as there is

no way open to it on either side. And as the contemplation of these

things is adapted to detect the vanity of mortals, it seems incumbent

on me to display, and lay open to our eyes, the whole of it, whatever

it be, in which there is nothing which can satisfy the desires of

certain individuals.

CHAP. 68. (68.)—WHAT PART OF THE EARTH IS INHABITED.

In the first place, then, it appears, that this should be estimated at

half the globe[473], as if no portion of this half was encroached upon

by the ocean. But surrounding as it does the whole of the land, pouring

out and receiving all the other waters, furnishing whatever goes to the

clouds, and feeding the stars themselves, so numerous and of such great

size as they are, what a great space must we not suppose it to occupy!

This vast mass must fill up and occupy an infinite extent. To this we

must add that portion of the remainder which the heavens[474] take from

us. For the globe is divided into five parts[475], termed zones, and

all that portion is subject to severe cold and perpetual frost which is

under the two extremities, about each of the poles, the nearer of which

is called the north, and the opposite the south, pole. In all these

regions there is perpetual darkness, and, in consequence of the aspect

of the milder stars being turned from them, the light is malignant, and

only like the whiteness which is produced by hoar frost. The middle of

the earth, over which is the orbit of the sun, is parched and burned

by the flame, and is consumed by being so near the heat. There are

only two of the zones which are temperate, those which lie between

the torrid and the frigid zones, and these are separated from each

other, in consequence of the scorching heat of the heavenly bodies. It

appears, therefore, that the heavens take from us three parts of the

earth; how much the ocean steals is uncertain.

And with respect to the part which is left us, I do not know whether

that is not even in greater danger. This same ocean, insinuating

itself, as I have described it, into a number of bays, approaches with

its roaring[476] so near to the inland seas, that the Arabian Gulf is

no more than 115 miles from the Egyptian Sea[477], and the Caspian

only 375 miles from the Euxine. It also insinuates itself into the

numerous seas by which it separates Africa, Europe, and Asia; hence how

much space must it occupy? We must also take into account the extent

of all the rivers and the marshes, and we must add the lakes and the

pools. There are also the mountains, raised up to the heavens, with

their precipitous fronts; we must also subtract the forests and the

craggy valleys, the wildernesses, and the places, which, from various

causes, are desert. The vast quantity which remains of the earth[478],

or rather, as many persons have considered it, this speck of a

world[479] (for the earth is no more in regard to the universe), this

is the object, the seat of our glory—here we bear our honours, here we

exercise our power, here we covet wealth, here we mortals create our

disturbances, here we continually carry on our wars, aye, civil wars,

even, and unpeople the earth by mutual slaughter. And not to dwell on

public feuds, entered into by nations against each other, here it is

that we drive away our neighbours, and enclose the land thus seized

upon within our own fence[480]; and yet the man who has most extended

his boundary, and has expelled the inhabitants for ever so great a

distance, after all, what mighty portion of the earth is he master of?

And even when his avarice has been the most completely satisfied, what

part of it can he take with him into the grave?

CHAP. 69. (69.)—THAT THE EARTH IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD.

It is evident from undoubted arguments, that the earth is in the middle

of the universe[481], but it is the most clearly proved by the equality

of the days and the nights at the equinox[482]. It is demonstrated by

the quadrant[483], which affords the most decisive confirmation of the

fact, that unless the earth was in the middle, the days and nights

could not be equal; for, at the time of the equinox, the rising and

setting of the sun are seen on the same line, and the rising of the

sun, at the summer solstice, is on the same line with its setting at

the winter solstice; but this could not happen if the earth was not

situated in the centre.

CHAP. 70. (70.)—OF THE OBLIQUITY OF THE ZONES[484].

The three circles[485], which are connected with the above-mentioned

zones, distinguish the inequalities of the seasons; these are, the

solstitial circle, which proceeds from the part of the Zodiac the

highest to us and approaching the nearest to the district of the north;

on the other side, the brumal, which is towards the south pole; and the

equinoctial, which traverses the middle of the Zodiac.

CHAP. 71.—OF THE INEQUALITY OF CLIMATES.

The cause of the other things which are worthy of our admiration

depends on the figure of the earth itself, which, together with all its

waters, is proved, by the same arguments, to be a globe. This certainly

is the cause why the stars of the northern portion of the heavens

never set to us, and why, on the other hand, those in the south never

rise, and again, why the latter can never be seen by the former, the

globe of the earth rising up and concealing them. The Northern Wain

is never seen in Troglodytice[486], nor in Egypt, which borders on

it[487]; nor can we, in Italy, see the star Canopus[488], or Berenice’s

Hair[489]; nor what, under the Emperor Augustus, was named Cæsar’s

Throne, although they are, there[490], very brilliant stars. The curved

form of the earth is so obvious, rising up like a ridge, that Canopus

appears to a spectator at Alexandria to rise above the horizon almost

the quarter of a sign; the same star at Rhodes appears, as it were, to

graze along the earth, while in Pontus it is not seen at all; where the

Northern Wain appears considerably elevated. This same constellation

cannot be seen at Rhodes, and still less at Alexandria. In Arabia, in

the month of November, it is concealed during the first watch of the

night, but may be seen during the second[491]; in Meroë it is seen,

for a short time, in the evening, at the solstice, and it is visible

at day-break, for a few days before the rising of Arcturus[492].

These facts have been principally ascertained by the expeditions of

navigators; the sea appearing more elevated or depressed in certain

parts[493]; the stars suddenly coming into view, and, as it were,

emerging from the water, after having been concealed by the bulging out

of the globe[494]. But the heavens do not, as some suppose, rise higher

at one pole, otherwise[495] its stars would be seen from all parts

of the world; they indeed are supposed to be higher by those who are

nearest to them, but the stars are sunk below the horizon to those who

are more remote. As this pole appears to be elevated to those who are

beneath it; so, when we have passed along the convexity of the earth,

those stars rise up, which appear elevated to the inhabitants of those

other districts; all this, however, could not happen unless the earth

had the shape of a globe.

CHAP. 72.—IN WHAT PLACES ECLIPSES ARE INVISIBLE, AND WHY THIS IS THE

CASE.

Hence it is that the inhabitants of the east do not see those eclipses

of the sun or of the moon which occur in the evening, nor the

inhabitants of the west those in the morning, while such as take place

at noon are more frequently visible[496]. We are told, that at the time

of the famous victory of Alexander the Great, at Arbela[497], the moon

was eclipsed at the second hour of the night, while, in Sicily, the

moon was rising at the same hour. The eclipse of the sun which occurred

the day before the calends of May, in the consulship of Vipstanus

and Fonteius[498], not many years ago, was seen in Campania between

the seventh and eighth hour of the day; the general Corbulo informs

us, that it was seen in Armenia, between the eleventh and twelfth

hour[499]; thus the curve of the globe both reveals and conceals

different objects from the inhabitants of its different parts. If the

earth had been flat, everything would have been seen at the same time,

from every part of it, and the nights would not have been unequal;

while the equal intervals of twelve hours, which are now observed only

in the middle of the earth, would in that case have been the same

everywhere.

CHAP. 73. (71.)—WHAT REGULATES THE DAYLIGHT ON THE EARTH.

Hence it is that there is not any one night and day the same, in all

parts of the earth, at the same time; the intervention of the globe

producing night, and its turning round producing day[500]. This is

known by various observations. In Africa and in Spain it is made

evident by the Towers of Hannibal[501], and in Asia by the beacons,

which, in consequence of their dread of pirates, the people erected

for their protection; for it has been frequently observed, that the

signals, which were lighted at the sixth hour of the day, were seen at

the third hour of the night by those who were the most remote[502].

Philonides, a courier of the above-mentioned Alexander, went from

Sicyon to Elis, a distance of 1200 stadia, in nine hours, while he

seldom returned until the third hour of the night, although the road

was down-hill[503]. The reason is, that, in going, he followed the

course of the sun, while on his return, in the opposite direction, he

met the sun and left it behind him. For the same reason it is, that

those who sail to the west, even on the shortest day, compensate for

the difficulty of sailing in the night and go farther[504], because

they sail in the same direction with the sun.

CHAP. 74. (72.)—REMARKS ON DIALS, AS CONNECTED WITH THIS SUBJECT.

The same dial-plates[505] cannot be used in all places, the shadow of

the sun being sensibly different at distances of 300, or at most of

500 stadia[506]. Hence the shadow of the dial-pin, which is termed the

gnomon, at noon and at the summer solstice, in Egypt, is a little more

than half the length of the gnomon itself. At the city of Rome it is

only 1/9 less than the gnomon, at Ancona not more than 1/35 less, while

in the part of Italy which is called Venetia, at the same hour, the

shadow is equal to the length of the gnomon[507].

CHAP. 75. (73.)—WHEN AND WHERE THERE ARE NO SHADOWS.

It is likewise said, that in the town of Syene, which is 5000 stadia

south of Alexandria[508], there is no shadow at noon, on the day of

the solstice; and that a well, which was sunk for the purpose of the

experiment, is illuminated by the sun in every part. Hence it appears

that the sun, in this place, is vertical, and Onesicritus informs us

that this is the case, about the same time, in India, at the river

Hypasis[509]. It is well known, that at Berenice, a city of the

Troglodytæ, and 4820 stadia beyond that city, in the same country,

at the town of Ptolemais, which was built on the Red Sea, when the

elephant was first hunted, this same thing takes place for forty-five

days before the solstice and for an equal length of time after it,

and that during these ninety days the shadows are turned towards the

south[510]. Again, at Meroë, an island in the Nile and the metropolis

of the Æthiopians, which is 5000 stadia[511] from Syene, there are no

shadows at two periods of the year, viz. when the sun is in the 18th

degree of Taurus and in the 14th of Leo[512]. The Oretes, a people of

India, have a mountain named Maleus[513], near which the shadows in

summer fall towards the south and in winter towards the north. The

seven stars of the Great Bear are visible there for fifteen nights

only. In India also, in the celebrated sea-port Patale[514], the

sun rises to the right hand and the shadows fall towards the south.

While Alexander was staying there it was observed, that the seven

northern stars were seen only during the early part of the night[515].

Onesicritus, one of his generals, informs us in his work, that in those

places in India where there are no shadows, the seven stars are not

visible[516]; these places, he says, are called “Ascia[517],” and the

people there do not reckon the time by hours[518].

CHAP. 76. (74.)—-WHERE THIS TAKES PLACE TWICE IN THE YEAR AND WHERE THE

SHADOWS FALL IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS.

Eratosthenes informs us, that in the whole of Troglodytice, for

twice forty-five days in the year, the shadows fall in the contrary

direction[519].

CHAP. 77. (75.)—WHERE THE DAYS ARE THE LONGEST AND WHERE THE SHORTEST.

Hence it follows, that in consequence of the daylight increasing

in various degrees, in Meroë the longest day consists of twelve

æquinoctial hours and eight parts of an hour[520], at Alexandria of

fourteen hours, in Italy of fifteen, in Britain of seventeen; where

the degree of light, which exists in the night, very clearly proves,

what the reason of the thing also obliges us to believe, that, during

the solstitial period, as the sun approaches to the pole of the world,

and his orbit is contracted, the parts of the earth that lie below him

have a day of six months long, and a night of equal length when he is

removed to the south pole. Pytheas, of Marseilles[521], informs us,

that this is the case in the island of Thule[522], which is six days’

sail from the north of Britain. Some persons also affirm that this is

the case in Mona, which is about 200 miles from Camelodunum[523], a

town of Britain.

CHAP. 78. (76.)—OF THE FIRST DIAL.

Anaximenes the Milesian, the disciple of Anaximander, of whom I have

spoken above[524], discovered the theory of shadows and what is called

the art of dialling, and he was the first who exhibited at Lacedæmon

the dial which they call sciothericon[525].

CHAP. 79. (77.)—OF THE MODE IN WHICH THE DAYS ARE COMPUTED.

The days have been computed by different people in different ways. The

Babylonians reckoned from one sunrise to the next; the Athenians from

one sunset to the next; the Umbrians from noon to noon; the multitude,

universally, from light to darkness; the Roman priests and those who

presided over the civil day, also the Egyptians and Hipparchus, from

midnight to midnight[526]. It appears that the interval from one

sunrise to the next is less near the solstices than near the equinoxes,

because the position of the zodiac is more oblique about its middle

part, and more straight near the solstice[527].

CHAP. 80. (78.)—OF THE DIFFERENCE OF NATIONS AS DEPENDING ON THE NATURE

OF THE WORLD.

To these circumstances we must add those that are connected with

certain celestial causes. There can be no doubt, that the Æthiopians

are scorched by their vicinity to the sun’s heat, and they are

born, like persons who have been burned, with the beard and hair

frizzled[528]; while, in the opposite and frozen parts of the earth,

there are nations with white skins and long light hair. The latter are

savage from the inclemency of the climate, while the former are dull

from its variableness[529]. We learn, from the form of the legs, that

in the one, the fluids, like vapour, are forced into the upper parts

of the body, while in the other, being a gross humour, it is drawn

downwards into the lower parts[530]. In the cold regions savage beasts

are produced, and in the others, various forms of animals, and many

kinds of birds[531]. In both situations the body grows tall, in the one

case by the force of fire, and in the other by the nutritive moisture.

In the middle of the earth there is a salutary mixture of the two, a

tract fruitful in all things, the habits of the body holding a mean

between the two, with a proper tempering of colours; the manners of

the people are gentle, the intellect clear[532], the genius fertile

and capable of comprehending every part of nature. They have formed

empires, which has never been done by the remote nations; yet these

latter have never been subjected by the former, being severed from

them and remaining solitary, from the effect produced on them by their

savage nature.

CHAP. 81. (79.)—OF EARTHQUAKES.

According to the doctrine of the Babylonians, earthquakes and clefts of

the earth, and occurrences of this kind, are supposed to be produced

by the influence of the stars, especially of the three to which they

ascribe thunder[533]; and to be caused by the stars moving with the

sun, or being in conjunction with it, and, more particularly, when

they are in the quartile aspect[534]. If we are to credit the report,

a most admirable and immortal spirit, as it were of a divine nature,

should be ascribed to Anaximander the Milesian, who, they say, warned

the Lacedæmonians to beware of their city and their houses[535]. For

he predicted that an earthquake was at hand, when both the whole of

their city was destroyed and a large portion of Mount Taygetus, which

projected in the form of a ship, was broken off, and added farther

ruin to the previous destruction. Another prediction is ascribed to

Pherecydes, the master of Pythagoras, and this was divine; by a draught

of water from a well, he foresaw and predicted that there would be an

earthquake in that place[536]. And if these things be true, how nearly

do these individuals approach to the Deity, even during their lifetime!

But I leave every one to judge of these matters as he pleases. I

certainly conceive the winds to be the cause of earthquakes; for the

earth never trembles except when the sea is quite calm, and when the

heavens are so tranquil that the birds cannot maintain their flight,

all the air which should support them being withdrawn[537]; nor does

it ever happen until after great winds, the gust being pent up, as

it were, in the fissures and concealed hollows. For the trembling of

the earth resembles thunder in the clouds; nor does the yawning of

the earth differ from the bursting of the lightning; the enclosed air

struggling and striving to escape[538].

CHAP. 82. (80.)—OF CLEFTS OF THE EARTH.

The earth is shaken in various ways, and wonderful effects are

produced[539]; in one place the walls of cities being thrown down, and

in others swallowed up by a deep cleft[540]; sometimes great masses

of earth are heaped up, and rivers forced out, sometimes even flame

and hot springs[541], and at others the course of rivers is turned.

A terrible noise precedes and accompanies the shock[542]; sometimes

a murmuring, like the lowing of cattle, or like human voices, or the

clashing of arms. This depends on the substance which receives the

sound, and the shape of the caverns or crevices through which it

issues; it being more shrill from a narrow opening, more hoarse from

one that is curved, producing a loud reverberation from hard bodies,

a sound like a boiling fluid[543] from moist substances, fluctuating

in stagnant water, and roaring when forced against solid bodies. There

is, therefore, often the sound without any motion. Nor is it a simple

motion, but one that is tremulous and vibratory. The cleft sometimes

remains, displaying what it has swallowed up; sometimes concealing it,

the mouth being closed and the soil being brought over it, so that no

vestige is left; the city being, as it were, devoured, and the tract

of country engulfed. Maritime districts are more especially subject to

shocks. Nor are mountainous tracts exempt from them; I have found, by

my inquiries, that the Alps and the Apennines are frequently shaken.

The shocks happen more frequently in the autumn and in the spring, as

is the case also with thunder. There are seldom shocks in Gaul and in

Egypt; in the latter it depends on the prevalence of summer, in the

former, of winter. They also happen more frequently in the night than

in the day. The greatest shocks are in the morning and the evening; but

they often take place at day-break, and sometimes at noon. They also

take place during eclipses of the sun and of the moon, because at that

time storms are lulled. They are most frequent when great heat succeeds

to showers, or showers succeed to great heat[544].

CHAP. 83. (81.)—SIGNS OF AN APPROACHING EARTHQUAKE.

There is no doubt that earthquakes are felt by persons on shipboard, as

they are struck by a sudden motion of the waves, without these being

raised by any gust of wind. And things that are in the vessels shake as

they do in houses, and give notice by their creaking; also the birds,

when they settle upon the vessels, are not without their alarms. There

is also a sign in the heavens; for, when a shock is near at hand,

either in the daytime or a little after sunset, a cloud is stretched

out in the clear sky, like a long thin line[545]. The water in wells is

also more turbid than usual, and it emits a disagreeable odour[546].

CHAP. 84. (82.)—PRESERVATIVES AGAINST FUTURE EARTHQUAKES.

These same places[547], however, afford protection, and this is also

the case where there is a number of caverns, for they give vent to the

confined vapour, a circumstance which has been remarked in certain

towns, which have been less shaken where they have been excavated by

many sewers. And, in the same town, those parts that are excavated[548]

are safer than the other parts, as is understood to be the case at

Naples in Italy, the part of it which is solid being more liable to

injury. Arched buildings are also the most safe, also the angles of

walls, the shocks counteracting each other; walls made of brick also

suffer less from the shocks[549]. There is also a great difference in

the nature of the motions[550], where various motions are experienced.

It is the safest when it vibrates and causes a creaking in the

building, and where it swells and rises upwards, and settles with

an alternate motion. It is also harmless when the buildings coming

together butt against each other in opposite directions, for the

motions counteract each other. A movement like the rolling of waves is

dangerous, or when the motion is impelled in one direction. The tremors

cease when the vapour bursts out[551]; but if they do not soon cease,

they continue for forty days; generally, indeed, for a longer time:

some have lasted even for one or two years.

CHAP. 85. (83.)—PRODIGIES OF THE EARTH WHICH HAVE OCCURRED ONCE ONLY.

A great prodigy of the earth, which never happened more than once, I

have found mentioned in the books of the Etruscan ceremonies, as having

taken place in the district of Mutina, during the consulship of Lucius

Martius and Sextus Julius[552]. Two mountains rushed together, falling

upon each other with a very loud crash, and then receding; while in

the daytime flame and smoke issued from them; a great crowd of Roman

knights, and families of people, and travellers on the Æmilian way,

being spectators of it. All the farm-houses were thrown down by the

shock, and a great number of animals that were in them were killed;

it was in the year before the Social war; and I am in doubt whether

this event or the civil commotions were more fatal to the territory of

Italy. The prodigy which happened in our own age was no less wonderful;

in the last year of the emperor Nero[553], as I have related in my

history of his times[554], when certain fields and olive grounds in the

district of Marrucinum, belonging to Vectius Marcellus, a Roman knight,

the steward of Nero, changed places with each other[555], although the

public highway was interposed.

CHAP. 86. (84.)—WONDERFUL CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING EARTHQUAKES.

Inundations of the sea take place at the same time with

earthquakes[556]; the water being impregnated with the same

spirit[557], and received into the bosom of the earth which subsides.

The greatest earthquake which has occurred in our memory was in the

reign of Tiberius[558], by which twelve cities of Asia were laid

prostrate in one night. They occurred the most frequently during

the Punic war, when we had accounts brought to Rome of fifty-seven

earthquakes in the space of a single year. It was during this year[559]

that the Carthaginians and the Romans, who were fighting at the lake

Thrasimenus, were neither of them sensible of a very great shock during

the battle[560]. Nor is it an evil merely consisting in the danger

which is produced by the motion; it is an equal or a greater evil when

it is considered as a prodigy[561]. The city of Rome never experienced

a shock, which was not the forerunner of some great calamity.

CHAP. 87. (85.)—IN WHAT PLACES THE SEA HAS RECEDED.

The same cause produces an increase of the land; the vapour, when it

cannot burst out forcibly lifting up the surface[562]. For the land is

not merely produced by what is brought down the rivers, as the islands

called Echinades are formed by the river Achelous, and the greater

part of Egypt by the Nile, where, according to Homer, it was a day and

a night’s journey from the main land to the island of Pharos[563];

but, in some cases, by the receding of the sea, as, according to

the same author, was the case with the Circæan isles[564]. The same

thing also happened in the harbour of Ambracia, for a space of 10,000

paces, and was also said to have taken place for 5000 at the Piræus of

Athens[565], and likewise at Ephesus, where formerly the sea washed the

walls of the temple of Diana. Indeed, if we may believe Herodotus[566],

the sea came beyond Memphis, as far as the mountains of Æthiopia, and

also from the plains of Arabia. The sea also surrounded Ilium and the

whole of Teuthrania, and covered the plain through which the Mæander

flows[567].

CHAP. 88. (86.)—THE MODE IN WHICH ISLANDS RISE UP.

Land is sometimes formed in a different manner, rising suddenly out of

the sea, as if nature was compensating the earth for its losses[568],

restoring in one place what she had swallowed up in another.

CHAP. 89. (87.)—WHAT ISLANDS HAVE BEEN FORMED, AND AT WHAT PERIODS.

Delos and Rhodes[569], islands which have now been long famous, are

recorded to have risen up in this way. More lately there have been some

smaller islands formed; Anapha, which is beyond Melos; Nea, between

Lemnos and the Hellespont; Halone, between Lebedos and Teos; Thera[570]

and Therasia, among the Cyclades, in the fourth year of the 135th

Olympiad[571]. And among the same islands, 130 years afterwards, Hiera,

also called Automate[572], made its appearance; also Thia, at the

distance of two stadia from the former, 110 years afterwards, in our

own times, when M. Junius Silanus and L. Balbus were consuls, on the

8th of the ides of July[573].

(88.) Opposite to us, and near to Italy, among the Æolian isles, an

island emerged from the sea; and likewise one near Crete, 2500 paces

in extent, and with warm springs in it; another made its appearance in

the third year of the 163rd Olympiad[574], in the Tuscan gulf, burning

with a violent explosion. There is a tradition too that a great number

of fishes were floating about the spot, and that those who employed

them for food immediately expired. It is said that the Pithecusan isles

rose up, in the same way, in the bay of Campania, and that, shortly

afterwards, the mountain Epopos, from which flame had suddenly burst

forth, was reduced to the level of the neighbouring plain. In the

same island, it is said, that a town was sunk in the sea; that in

consequence of another shock, a lake burst out, and that, by a third,

Prochytas was formed into an island, the neighbouring mountains being

rolled away from it.

CHAP 90.—LANDS WHICH HAVE BEEN SEPARATED BY THE SEA.

In the ordinary course of things islands are also formed by this means.

The sea has torn Sicily from Italy[575], Cyprus from Syria, Eubœa

from Bœotia[576], Atalante and Macris[577] from Eubœa, Besbycus from

Bithynia, and Leucosia from the promontory of the Sirens.

CHAP. 91. (89.)—ISLANDS WHICH HAVE BEEN UNITED TO THE MAIN LAND.

Again, islands are taken from the sea and added to the main land;

Antissa[578] to Lesbos, Zephyrium to Halicarnassus, Æthusa to Myndus,

Dromiscus and Perne to Miletus, Narthecusa to the promontory of

Parthenium. Hybanda, which was formerly an island of Ionia, is now 200

stadia distant from the sea. Syries is now become a part of Ephesus,

and, in the same neighbourhood, Derasidas and Sophonia form part of

Magnesia; while Epidaurus and Oricum are no longer islands[579].

CHAP. 92. (90.)—LANDS WHICH HAVE BEEN TOTALLY CHANGED INTO SEAS.

The sea has totally carried off certain lands, and first of all, if

we are to believe Plato[580], for an immense space where the Atlantic

ocean is now extended. More lately we see what has been produced by

our inland sea; Acarnania has been overwhelmed by the Ambracian gulf,

Achaia by the Corinthian, Europe and Asia by the Propontis and Pontus.

And besides these, the sea has rent asunder Leucas, Antirrhium, the

Hellespont, and the two Bosphori[581].

CHAP. 93. (91.)—LANDS WHICH HAVE BEEN SWALLOWED UP.

And not to speak of bays and gulfs, the earth feeds on itself; it has

devoured the very high mountain of Cybotus, with the town of Curites;

also Sipylus in Magnesia[582], and formerly, in the same place, a very

celebrated city, which was called Tantalis; also the land belonging to

the cities Galanis and Gamales in Phœnicia, together with the cities

themselves; also Phegium, the most lofty ridge in Æthiopia[583]. Nor

are the shores of the sea more to be depended upon.

CHAP. 94. (92.)—CITIES WHICH HAVE BEEN ABSORBED BY THE SEA.

The sea near the Palus Mæotis has carried away Pyrrha and Antissa,

also Elice and Bura[584] in the gulf of Corinth, traces of which

places are visible in the ocean. From the island Cea it has seized on

30,000 paces, which were suddenly torn off, with many persons on them.

In Sicily also the half of the city of Tyndaris, and all the part of

Italy which is wanting[585]; in like manner it carried off Eleusina in

Bœotia[586].

CHAP. 95. (93.)—OF VENTS[587] IN THE EARTH.

But let us say no more of earthquakes and of whatever may be regarded

as the sepulchres of cities[588]; let us rather speak of the wonders of

the earth than of the crimes of nature. But, by Hercules! the history

of the heavens themselves would not be more difficult to relate:—the

abundance of metals, so various, so rich, so prolific, rising up[589]

during so many ages; when, throughout all the world, so much is,

every day, destroyed by fire, by waste, by shipwreck, by wars, and

by frauds; and while so much is consumed by luxury and by such a

number of people:—the figures on gems, so multiplied in their forms;

the variously-coloured spots on certain stones, and the whiteness of

others, excluding everything except light:—the virtues of medicinal

springs, and the perpetual fires bursting out in so many places, for

so many ages:—the exhalation of deadly vapours, either emitted from

caverns[590], or from certain unhealthy districts; some of them fatal

to birds alone, as at Soracte, a district near the city[591]; others

to all animals, except to man[592], while others are so to man also,

as in the country of Sinuessa and Puteoli. They are generally called

vents, and, by some persons, Charon’s sewers, from their exhaling a

deadly vapour. Also at Amsanctum, in the country of the Hirpini, at the

temple of Mephitis[593], there is a place which kills all those who

enter it. And the same takes place at Hierapolis in Asia[594], where

no one can enter with safety, except the priest of the great Mother of

the Gods. In other places there are prophetic caves, where those who

are intoxicated with the vapour which rises from them predict future

events[595], as at the most noble of all oracles, Delphi. In which

cases, what mortal is there who can assign any other cause, than the

divine power of nature, which is everywhere diffused, and thus bursts

forth in various places?

CHAP. 96. (94.)—OF CERTAIN LANDS WHICH ARE ALWAYS SHAKING, AND OF

FLOATING ISLANDS.

There are certain lands which shake when any one passes over them[596];

as in the territory of the Gabii, not far from the city of Rome, there

are about 200 acres which shake when cavalry passes over it: the same

thing takes place at Reate.

(95.) There are certain islands which are always floating[597], as in

the territory of the Cæcubum[598], and of the above-mentioned Reate,

of Mutina, and of Statonia. In the lake of Vadimonis and the waters of

Cutiliæ there is a dark wood, which is never seen in the same place for

a day and a night together. In Lydia, the islands named Calaminæ are

not only driven about by the wind, but may be even pushed at pleasure

from place to place, by poles: many citizens saved themselves by this

means in the Mithridatic war. There are some small islands in the

Nymphæus, called the Dancers[599], because, when choruses are sung,

they are moved by the motions of those who beat time. In the great

Italian lake of Tarquinii, there are two islands with groves on them,

which are driven about by the wind, so as at one time to exhibit the

figure of a triangle and at another of a circle; but they never form a

square[600].

CHAP. 97. (96.)—PLACES IN WHICH IT NEVER RAINS.

There is at Paphos a celebrated temple of Venus, in a certain court of

which it never rains; also at Nea, a town of Troas, in the spot which

surrounds the statue of Minerva: in this place also the remains of

animals that are sacrificed never putrefy[601].

CHAP. 98.—THE WONDERS OF VARIOUS COUNTRIES COLLECTED TOGETHER.

Near Harpasa, a town of Asia, there stands a terrific rock, which may

be moved by a single finger; but if it be pushed by the force of the

whole body, it resists[602]. In the Tauric peninsula, in the state of

the Parasini, there is a kind of earth which cures all wounds[603].

About Assos, in Troas, a stone is found, by which all bodies are

consumed; it is called Sarcophagus[604]. There are two mountains near

the river Indus; the nature of one is to attract iron, of the other to

repel it: hence, if there be nails in the shoes, the feet cannot be

drawn off the one, or set down on the other[605]. It has been noticed,

that at Locris and Crotona, there has never been a pestilence, nor have

they ever suffered from an earthquake; in Lycia there are always forty

calm days before an earthquake. In the territory of Argyripa the corn

which is sown never springs up. At the altars of Mucius, in the country

of the Veii, and about Tusculum, and in the Cimmerian Forest, there are

places in which things that are pushed into the ground cannot be pulled

out again. The hay which is grown in Crustuminium is noxious on the

spot, but elsewhere it is wholesome[606].

CHAP. 99. (97.)—CONCERNING THE CAUSE OF THE FLOWING AND EBBING OF THE

SEA.

Much has been said about the nature of waters; but the most wonderful

circumstance is the alternate flowing and ebbing of the tides, which

exists, indeed, under various forms, but is caused by the sun and the

moon. The tide flows twice and ebbs twice between each two risings

of the moon, always in the space of twenty-four hours. First, the

moon rising with the stars[607] swells out the tide, and after some

time, having gained the summit of the heavens, she declines from the

meridian and sets, and the tide subsides. Again, after she has set, and

moves in the heavens under the earth, as she approaches the meridian

on the opposite side, the tide flows in; after which it recedes

until she again rises to us. But the tide of the next day is never

at the same time with that of the preceding; as if the planet was in

attendance[608], greedily drinking up the sea, and continually rising

in a different place from what she did the day before. The intervals

are, however, equal, being always of six hours; not indeed in respect

of any particular day or night or place[609], but equinoctial hours,

and therefore they are unequal as estimated by the length of common

hours, since a greater number of them[610] fall on some certain days or

nights, and they are never equal everywhere except at the equinox. This

is a great, most clear, and even divine proof of the dullness of those,

who deny that the stars go below the earth and rise up again, and that

nature presents the same face in the same states of their rising and

setting[611]; for the course of the stars is equally obvious in the one

case as in the other, producing the same effect as when it is manifest

to the sight.

There is a difference in the tides, depending on the moon, of a

complicated nature, and, first, as to the period of seven days. For the

tides are of moderate height from the new moon to the first quarter;

from this time they increase, and are the highest at the full: they

then decrease. On the seventh day they are equal to what they were at

the first quarter, and they again increase from the time that she is

at first quarter on the other side. At her conjunction with the sun

they are equally high as at the full. When the moon is in the northern

hemisphere, and recedes further from the earth, the tides are lower

than when, going towards the south, she exercises her influence at a

less distance[612]. After an interval of eight years, and the hundredth

revolution of the moon, the periods and the heights of the tides return

into the same order as at first, this planet always acting upon them;

and all these effects are likewise increased by the annual changes of

the sun[613], the tides rising up higher at the equinoxes, and more so

at the autumnal than at the vernal; while they are lower[614] about the

winter solstice, and still more so at the summer solstice; not indeed

precisely at the points of time which I have mentioned, but a few days

after[615]; for example, not exactly at the full nor at the new moon,

but after them; and not immediately when the moon becomes visible or

invisible, or has advanced to the middle of her course, but generally

about two hours later than the equinoctial hours[616]; the effect of

what is going on in the heavens being felt after a short interval; as

we observe with respect to lightning, thunder, and thunderbolts.

But the tides of the ocean cover greater spaces and produce greater

inundations than the tides of the other seas; whether it be that the

whole of the universe taken together is more full of life than its

individual parts, or that the large open space feels more sensibly the

power of the planet, as it moves freely about, than when restrained

within narrow bounds. On which account neither lakes nor rivers are

moved in the same manner. Pytheas[617] of Massilia informs us, that in

Britain the tide rises 80 cubits[618]. Inland seas are enclosed as in a

harbour, but, in some parts of them, there is a more free space which

obeys the influence[619]. Among many other examples, the force of the

tide will carry us in three days from Italy to Utica, when the sea is

tranquil and there is no impulse from the sails[620]. But these motions

are more felt about the shores than in the deep parts of the seas, as

in the body the extremities of the veins feel the pulse, which is the

vital spirit, more than the other parts[621]. And in most estuaries,

on account of the unequal rising of the stars in each tract, the tides

differ from each other, but this respects the period, not the nature of

them; as is the case in the Syrtes.

CHAP. 100.—WHERE THE TIDES RISE AND FALL IN AN UNUSUAL MANNER.

There are, however, some tides which are of a peculiar nature, as in

the Tauromenian Euripus[622], where the ebb and flow is more frequent

than in other places, and in Eubœa, where it takes place seven times

during the day and the night. The tides intermit three times during

each month, being the 7th, 8th and 9th day of the moon[623]. At Gades,

which is very near the temple of Hercules, there is a spring enclosed

like a well, which sometimes rises and falls with the ocean, and, at

other times, in both respects contrary to it. In the same place there

is another well, which always agrees with the ocean. On the shores of

the Bætis[624], there is a town where the wells become lower when the

tide rises, and fill again when it ebbs; while at other times they

remain stationary. The same thing occurs in one well in the town of

Hispalis[625], while there is nothing peculiar in the other wells. The

Euxine always flows into the Propontis, the water never flowing back

into the Euxine[626].

CHAP. 101. (98.)—WONDERS OF THE SEA.

All seas are purified at the full moon[627]; some also at stated

periods. At Messina and Mylæ a refuse matter, like dung[628], is cast

up on the shore, whence originated the story of the oxen of the Sun

having had their stable at that place. To what has been said above (not

to omit anything with which I am acquainted) Aristotle adds, that no

animal dies except when the tide is ebbing. The observation has been

often made on the ocean of Gaul; but it has only been found true with

respect to man[629].

CHAP. 102. (99.)—THE POWER OF THE MOON OVER THE LAND AND THE SEA.

Hence we may certainly conjecture, that the moon is not unjustly

regarded as the star of our life[630]. This it is that replenishes the

earth[631]; when she approaches it, she fills all bodies, while, when

she recedes, she empties them. From this cause it is that shell-fish

grow with her increase[632], and that those animals which are without

blood more particularly experience her influence; also, that the blood

of man is increased or diminished in proportion to the quantity of

her light; also that the leaves and vegetables generally, as I shall

describe in the proper place[633], feel her influence, her power

penetrating all things.

CHAP. 103. (100.)—THE POWER OF THE SUN.

Fluids are dried up by the heat of the sun; we have therefore regarded

it as a masculine star, burning up and absorbing everything[634].

CHAP. 104.—WHY THE SEA IS SALT.

Hence it is that the widely-diffused sea is impregnated with the

flavour of salt, in consequence of what is sweet and mild being

evaporated from it, which the force of fire easily accomplishes;

while all the more acrid and thick matter is left behind; on which

account the water of the sea is less salt at some depth than at the

surface. And this is a more true cause of the acrid flavour, than that

the sea is the continued perspiration of the land[635], or that the

greater part of the dry vapour is mixed with it, or that the nature of

the earth is such that it impregnates the waters, and, as it were,

medicates them[636]. Among the prodigies which have occurred, there is

one which happened when Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, was expelled

from his kingdom; that, for the space of one day, the water in the

harbour became sweet.

(101.) The moon, on the contrary, is said to be a feminine and delicate

planet, and also nocturnal; also that it resolves humours and draws

them out, but does not carry them off. It is manifest that the carcases

of wild beasts are rendered putrid by its beams, that, during sleep, it

draws up the accumulated torpor into the head, that it melts ice, and

relaxes all things by its moistening spirit[637]. Thus the changes of

nature compensate each other, and are always adequate to their destined

purpose; some of them congealing the elements of the stars and others

dissolving them. The moon is said to be fed by fresh, and the sun by

salt water.

CHAP. 105. (102.)—WHERE THE SEA IS THE DEEPEST.

Fabianus[638] informs us that the greatest depth of the sea is 15

stadia[639]. We learn from others, that in the Euxine, opposite to the

nation of the Coraxi, at what is called the Depths of the Euxine[640],

about 300 stadia[641] from the main land, the sea is immensely deep, no

bottom having been found.

CHAP. 106. (103.)—THE WONDERS OF FOUNTAINS AND RIVERS.

It is very remarkable that fresh water should burst out close to

the sea, as from pipes. But there is no end to the wonders that are

connected with the nature of waters. Fresh water floats on sea water,

no doubt from its being lighter; and therefore sea water, which is of

a heavier nature[642], supports better what floats upon it. And, in

some places, different kinds of fresh water float upon each other; as

that of the river which falls into the Fucinus; that of the Addua into

the Larius; of the Ticinus into the Verbanus; of the Mincius into the

Benacus; of the Ollius into the Sevinus; and of the Rhone into the

Leman lake[643] (this last being beyond the Alps, the others in Italy):

all which rivers passing through the lakes for many miles, generally

carry off no more water than they bring with them. The same thing is

said to occur in the Orontes, a river of Syria, and in many others.

Some rivers, from a real hatred of the sea, pass under it, as does

Arethusa, a fountain of Syracuse, in which the substances are found

that are thrown into the Alpheus; which, after flowing by Olympia, is

discharged into the sea, on the shore of the Peloponnesus[644]. The

Lycus in Asia[645], the Erasinus in Argolis, and the Tigris[646] in

Mesopotamia, sink into the earth and burst out again. Substances which

are thrown into the fountain of Æsculapius at Athens[647] are cast up

at the fountain of Phalerum. The river which sinks into the ground

in the plain of Atinum[648] comes up again at the distance of twenty

miles, and the Timavus does the same in Aquileia[649].

In the lake Asphaltites, in Judæa, which produces bitumen, no substance

will sink, nor in the lake Arethusa[650], in the Greater Armenia: in

this lake, although it contains nitre, fish are found. In the country

of the Salentini, near the town of Manduria, there is a lake[651] full

to the brim, the waters of which are never diminished by what is taken

out of it, nor increased by what is added. Wood, which is thrown into

the river of the Cicones[652], or into the lake Velinus in Picenum,

becomes coated with a stony crust, while in the Surius, a river of

Colchis, the whole substance becomes as hard as stone. In the same

manner, in the Silarus[653], beyond Surrentum, not only twigs which

are immersed in it, but likewise leaves are petrified; the water at the

same time being proper for drinking. In the stream which runs from the

marsh of Reate[654] there is a rock, which continues to increase in

size, and in the Red Sea olive-trees and green shrubs are produced[655].

There are many springs which are remarkable for their warmth. This

is the case even among the ridges of the Alps[656], and in the sea

itself, between Italy and Ænaria, as in the bay of Baiæ, and in the

Liris and many other rivers[657]. There are many places in which fresh

water may be procured from the sea, as at the Chelidonian Isles, and

at Arados, and in the ocean at Gades. Green plants are produced in

the warm springs of Padua, frogs in those of Pisa, and fish in those

of Vetulonia in Etruria, which is not far from the sea. In Casinas

there is a cold river called Scatebra, which in summer is more full

of water[658]. In this, as in the river Stymphalis, in Arcadia, small

water-mice are produced. The fountain of Jupiter in Dodona, although

it is as cold as ice, and extinguishes torches that are plunged into

it, yet, if they be brought near it, it kindles them again[659].

This spring always becomes dry at noon, from which circumstance it

is called Ἀναπαυόμενον[660]: it then increases and becomes full at

midnight, after which it again visibly decreases. In Illyricum there is

a cold spring, over which if garments are spread they take fire. The

pool of Jupiter Ammon, which is cold during the day, is warm during

the night[661]. In the country of the Troglodytæ[662], what they call

the Fountain of the Sun, about noon is fresh and very cold; it then

gradually grows warm, and, at midnight, becomes hot and saline[663].

In the middle of the day, during summer, the source of the Po, as if

reposing itself, is always dry[664]. In the island of Tenedos there

is a spring, which, after the summer solstice, is full of water, from

the third hour of the night to the sixth[665]. The fountain Inopus, in

the island of Delos, decreases and increases in the same manner as the

Nile, and also at the same periods[666]. There is a small island in the

sea, opposite to the river Timavus, containing warm springs, which

increase and decrease at the same time with the tides of the sea[667].

In the territory of Pitinum, on the other side of the Apennines, the

river Novanus, which during the solstice is quite a torrent, is dry in

the winter[668].

In Faliscum, all the water which the oxen drink turns them white; in

Bœotia, the river Melas turns the sheep black; the Cephissus, which

flows out of a lake of the same name, turns them white[669]; again,

the Peneus turns them black, and the Xanthus, near Ilium, makes them

red, whence the river derives its name[670]. In Pontus, the river

Astaces waters certain plains, where the mares give black milk, which

the people use in diet. In Reate there is a spring called Neminia,

which rises up sometimes in one place and sometimes in another, and in

this way indicates a change in the produce of the earth[671]. There

is a spring in the harbour of Brundisium that yields water which

never becomes putrid at sea. The water of the Lyncestis, which is

said to be acidulous, intoxicates like wine[672]; this is the case

also in Paphlagonia[673] and in the territory of Calenum[674]. In the

island of Andros, at the temple of Father Bacchus, we are assured by

Mucianus, who was thrice consul, that there is a spring, which, on the

nones of January, always has the flavour of wine; it is called Διὸς

Θεοδοσία[675]. Near Nonacris, in Arcadia, the Styx[676], which is not

unlike it either in odour or in colour, instantly destroys those who

drink it. Also in Librosus, a hill in the country of the Tauri, there

are three springs which inevitably produce death, but without pain.

In the territory of the Carrinenses in Spain[677], two springs burst

out close together, the one of which absorbs everything, the other

throws them out. In the same country there is another spring, which

gives to all the fish the appearance of gold, although, when out of

the water, they do not differ in any respect from other fish. In the

territory of Como, near the Larian lake, there is a copious spring,

which always swells up and subsides again every hour[678]. In the

island of Cydonea[679], before Lesbos, there is a warm fountain, which

flows only during the spring season. The lake Sinnaus[680], in Asia, is

impregnated with wormwood, which grows about it. At Colophon, in the

cave of the Clarian Apollo, there is a pool, by the drinking of which a

power is acquired of uttering wonderful oracles; but the lives of those

who drink of it are shortened[681]. In our own times, during the last

years of Nero’s life, we have seen rivers flowing backwards, as I have

stated in my history of his times[682].

And indeed who can be mistaken as to the fact, that all springs are

colder in summer than in winter[683], as well as these other wonderful

operations of nature; that copper and lead sink when in a mass, but

float when spread out[684]; and of things that are equally heavy, some

will sink to the bottom, while others will remain on the surface[685];

that heavy bodies are more easily moved in water[686]; that a stone

from Scyros, although very large, will float, while the same, when

broken into small pieces, sinks[687]; that the body of an animal,

newly deprived of life, sinks, but that, when it is swelled out, it

floats[688]; that empty vessels are drawn out of the water with no more

ease than those that are full[689]; that rain-water is more useful for

salt-pits than other kinds of water[690]; that salt cannot be made,

unless it is mixed with fresh water[691]; that salt water freezes

with more difficulty[692], and is more readily heated[693]; that the

sea is warmer in winter[694] and more salt in the autumn[695]; that

everything is soothed by oil, and that this is the reason why divers

send out small quantities of it from their mouths, because it smoothes

any part which is rough[696] and transmits the light to them; that

snow never falls in the deep part of the sea[697]; that although water

generally has a tendency downwards, fountains rise up[698], and that

this is the case even at the foot of Ætna[699], burning as it does, so

as to force out the sand like a ball of flame to the distance of 150

miles?

CHAP. 107.—THE WONDERS OF FIRE AND WATER UNITED.

And now I must give an account of some of the wonders of fire, which

is the fourth element of nature; but first those produced by means of

water.

CHAP. 108. (104.)—OF MALTHA.

In Samosata, a city of Commagene[700], there is a pool which discharges

an inflammable mud, called Maltha[701]. It adheres to every solid

body which it touches, and moreover, when touched, it follows you,

if you attempt to escape from it. By means of it the people defended

their walls against Lucullus, and the soldiers were burned in their

armour[702]. It is even set on fire in water. We learn by experience

that it can be extinguished only by earth.

CHAP. 109. (105.)—OF NAPHTHA.

Naphtha is a substance of a similar nature[703] (it is so called about

Babylon, and in the territory of the Astaceni, in Parthia[704]),

flowing like liquid bitumen. It has a great affinity to fire, which

instantly darts on it wherever it is seen[705]. It is said, that

in this way it was that Medea burned Jason’s mistress; her crown

having taken fire, when she approached the altar for the purpose of

sacrificing[706].

CHAP. 110. (106.)—PLACES WHICH ARE ALWAYS BURNING.

Among the wonders of mountains there is Ætna, which always burns in

the night[707], and for so long a period has always had materials for

combustion, being in the winter buried in snow, and having the ashes

which it has ejected covered with frost. Nor is it in this mountain

alone that nature rages, threatening to consume the earth[708]; in

Phaselis, the mountain Chimæra burns, and indeed with a continual

flame, day and night[709]. Ctesias of Cnidos informs us, that this

fire is kindled by water, while it is extinguished by earth and by

hay[710]. In the same country of Lycia, the mountains of Hephæstius,

when touched with a flaming torch[711], burn so violently, that even

the stones in the river and the sand burn, while actually in the water:

this fire is also increased by rain. If a person makes furrows in the

ground with a stick which has been kindled at this fire, it is said

that a stream of flame will follow it. The summit of Cophantus, in

Bactria[712], burns during the night; and this is the case in Media and

at Sittacene[713], on the borders of Persia; likewise in Susa, at the

White Tower, from fifteen apertures[714], the greatest of which also

burns in the daytime. The plain of Babylon throws up flame from a place

like a fish-pond[715], an acre in extent. Near Hesperium, a mountain

of the Æthiopians[716], the fields shine in the night-time like stars;

the same thing takes place in the territory of the Megalopolitani.

This fire, however, is internal[717], mild, and not burning the foliage

of a dense wood which is over it[718]. There is also the crater of

Nymphæum[719], which is always burning, in the neighbourhood of a

cold fountain, and which, according to Theopompus, presages direful

calamities to the inhabitants of Apollonia[720]. It is increased by

rain[721], and it throws out bitumen, which, becoming mixed with the

fountain, renders it unfit to be tasted; it is, at other times, the

weakest of all the bitumens. But what are these compared to other

wonders? Hiera, one of the Æolian isles, in the middle of the sea, near

Italy, together with the sea itself, during the Social war, burned

for several days[722], until expiation was made, by a deputation from

the senate. There is a hill in Æthiopia called Θεῶν ὄχημα[723], which

burns with the greatest violence, throwing out flame that consumes

everything, like the sun[724]. In so many places, and with so many

fires, does nature burn the earth!

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[725]? 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[726], those which are innate in

certain kinds of stones, those produced by the friction of wood[727],

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[728].

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[729]. In the

territory of Mutina fire issues from the ground on the days that are

consecrated to Vulcan[730]. It is stated by some authors, that if a

burning body falls on the fields below Aricia[731], the ground is set

on fire; and that the stones in the territory of the Sabines and of

the Sidicini[732], if they be oiled, burn with flame. In Egnatia[733],

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[734], 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[735];

that when Servius Tullius, while a child, was sleeping, flame darted

out from his head[736]; 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.

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[737]), 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[738], according to the statement of

Artemidorus[739], or according to that of Isidorus[740], 9818 miles.

Artemidorus adds to this 491 miles, from Gades, going round by the

Sacred Promontory, to the promontory of Artabrum[741], 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[742], a city of Syria, in

the bay of Issus, is a distance of 5215 miles[743]. 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

Glades is 1250 miles, making the whole distance from the Eastern ocean

8568 miles[744].

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[745], 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[746]; 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[747];

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 innumerable islands lying off the

coast of Germany[748], which have been only lately discovered.

The above is all that I consider worth relating about the length and

the breadth of the earth[749]. But Eratosthenes[750], 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[751],

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[752]; 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.

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[753], Sulpicius Gallus[754], Titus

Cæsar[755] the Emperor, Q. Tubero[756], Tullius Tiro[757], L.

Piso[758], T. Livius[759], Cornelius Nepos[760], Sebosus[761],

Cælius Antipater[762], Fabianus[763], Antias[764], Mucianus[765],

Cæcina[766], who wrote on the Etruscan discipline, Tarquitius[767],

who did the same, Julius Aquila[768], who also did the same, and

Sergius[769].

FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Plato[770], Hipparchus[771], Timæus[772],

Sosigenes[773], Petosiris[774], Necepsos[775], the Pythagorean[776]

Philosophers, Posidonius[777], Anaximander[778], Epigenes[779]

the philosopher who wrote on Gnomonics, Euclid[780], Cœranus[781]

the philosopher, Eudoxus[782], Democritus[783], Critodemus[784],

Thrasyllus[785], Serapion[786], Dicæarchus[787], Archimedes[788],

Onesicritus[789], Eratosthenes[790], Pytheas[791], Herodotus[792],

Aristotle[793], Ctesias[794], Artemidorus[795] of Ephesus,

Isidorus[796] of Charax, and Theopompus[797].