Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 10.4.3

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[3] Sosicrates, who, according to Apollodorus, had an exact knowledge of this island, determines its length (not?)¹ to exceed 2300 stadia, and its breadth (about 300),² so that according to Sosicrates the circuit of the island is not more than 5000 stadia, but Artemidorus makes it 4100. Hieronymus says, that its length is 2000 stadia, and its breadth irregular, and that the circuit would exceed the number of stadia assigned by Artemidorus. Throughout one-third of its length, (beginning from the western parts, the island is of a tolerable width).³ Then there is an isthmus of about 100 stadia, on the northern shore of which is a settlement, called Amphimalla;⁴ on the southern shore is Phoenix,⁵ belonging to the Lampeis.

The greatest breadth is in the middle of the island.

Here again the shores approach, and form an isthmus narrower than the former, of about 60 stadia in extent, reckoning from Minoa,⁶ in the district of the Lyctii,⁷ to Therapytna,⁸ and the African sea. The city is on the bay. The shores then terminate in a pointed promontory, the Samonium, looking towards Aegypt and the islands of the Rhodians.⁹

Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.

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Current edition Perseus

Geography (English) (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 1-3. Hamilton, Hans Claude, translator; Falconer, William, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854-1857.)

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 10.4.3 focus

[3] μέγεθος δὲ Σωσικράτης μέν, ὅν φησιν ἀκριβοῦν Ἀπολλόδωρος τὰ περὶ τὴν νῆσον, ἀφορίζεται μήκει μὲν πλειόνων ἢ δισχιλίων σταδίων καὶ τριακοσίων, πλάτει δὲ ὑπὸ τὸ μέγεθος, ὥσθʼ ὁ κύκλος κατὰ τοῦτον γίνοιτʼ ἂν πλέον ἢ πεντακισχίλιοι στάδιοι· Ἀρτεμίδωρος δὲ τετρακισχιλίους καὶ ἑκατόν φησιν. Ἱερώνυμος δὲ μῆκος δισχιλίων φήσας τὸ δὲ πλάτος ἀνώμαλον, πλειόνων ἂν εἴη λέγων τὸν κύκλον ἢ ὅσων Ἀρτεμίδωρος. κατὰ δὲ τὸ τρίτον μέρος τοῦ μήκους. . τὸ δὲ ἔνθεν ἰσθμός ἐστιν ὡς ἑκατὸν σταδίων ἔχων κατοικίαν πρὸς μὲν τῇ βορείῳ θαλάττῃ Ἀμφίμαλλαν, πρὸς δὲ τῇ νοτίῳ Φοίνικα τὸν Λαμπέων· πλατυτάτη δὲ κατὰ τὸ μέσον ἐστί, πάλιν δʼ ἐντεῦθεν εἰς στενώτερον τοῦ προτέρου συμπίπτουσιν ἰσθμὸν αἱ ᾐόνες περὶ ἑξήκοντα σταδίων, τὸν ἀπὸ Μινῴας τῆς Λυττίων εἰς Ἱεράπυτναν καὶ τὸ Λιβυκὸν πέλαγος· ἐν κόλπῳ δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ πόλις. εἶτα πρόεισιν εἰς ὀξὺ ἀκρωτήριον τὸ Σαμώνιον ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον νεῦον καὶ τὰς Ῥοδίων νήσους.

Translations (1)

Geography (Books 6-14) Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).) — 10.4.3 focus

[3] As for its size, Sosicrates, whose account of the island, according to Apollodorus, is exact, defines it as follows: In length, more than two thousand three hundred stadia, and in breadth, . . . ,¹ so that its circuit, according to him, would amount to more than five thousand stadia; but Artemidorus says it is four thousand one hundred. Hieronymus² says that its length is two thousand stadia and its breadth irregular, and therefore might mean that the circuit is greater than Artemidorus says. For about a third of its length . . . ;³ and then comes an isthmus of about one hundred stadia, which, on the northern sea, has a settlement called Amphimalla, and, on the southern, Phoenix, belonging to the Lampians. The island is broadest near the middle. And from here the shores again converge to an isthmus narrower than the former, about sixty stadia in width, which extends from Minoa, city of the Lyctians, to Hierapytna and the Libyan Sea; the city is situated on the gulf. Then the island projects into a sharp promontory, Samonium, which slopes in the direction of Aegypt and the islands of the Rhodians.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Not in the text of Kramer. Casaubon’s conjecture.

2. The words of the text are, πλάτει δὲ ὑπὸ τὸ μέγεθος, which Meineke translates, Its width is not in proportion to its length. Kramer says that the preposition ὑπὸ suggests the omission of the words τετοͅκοσίων or τριακοσίων που, and that the words τ. μ. are probably introduced from the margin, and are otherwise inadmissible.

3. It is impossible to say what words should fill up the hiatus in the text, but probably something to this effect, ἀπὸ τῶν ἑσπερἰων μερῶν ἀρξαμένις ν̔ νῆσος πλατεῖά ἐστι. Kramer. Groskurd proposes ἡ νῆσος αίθνιδίως στενοχωρεῖ the island suddenly narrows.

4. On the bay of Armiro.

5. Castel Franco. Acts of Apostles, xxvii. 12.

6. Porto Trano. At the bottom of the bay of Mirabel.

7. Near Lytto.

8. Girapetra.

9. By the islands of the Rhodians are meant Caso, Nisari, Scarpanto, etc.

Strabo Geography 10.4.3

Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator)

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