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[20] After Sicily and the straits on either side of it,
1
there are other seas, for instance, that opposite the Syrtes and the Cyrenaic,
2
the Syrtes themselves, and the sea formerly called the Ausonian, but which, as it flows into and forms part of the Sea of Sicily, is now included under the latter name. The sea opposite to the Syrtes and the Cyrenaic is called the Libyan Sea; it extends as far as the Sea of Egypt.
The Lesser Syrtes
3
is about
1600 stadia in circumference. On either side of its mouth lie the islands of Meninx
4
and Kerkina.
5
The Greater Syrtes
6
is (according to Eratosthenes) 5000 stadia in circuit, and in depth
1800, from the Hesperides
7
to Automala,
8
and the frontier which separates the Cyrenaic from the rest of Libya. According to others, its circumference is only 4000 stadia, its depth
1500 stadia, and the breadth at its mouth the same.
The Sea of Sicily washes Italy, from the Strait of Rhegium
9
to Locris,
10
and also the eastern coast of Sicily from Messene
11
to Syracuse
12
and Pachynus.
13
On the eastern side it reaches to the promontories of Crete, surrounds the greater part of Peloponnesus, and fills the Gulf of Corinth.
14
On the north it advances to the Iapygian Promontory,
15
the mouth of the Ionian Gulf,
16
the southern parts of Epirus,
17
as far as the Ambracic Gulf,
18
and the continuation of the coast which forms the Corinthian Gulf, near the Peloponnesus.
The Ionian Gulf forms part of what we now call the Adriatic.
19
Illyria forms its right side, and Italy as far as the recess where Aquileia is situated, the left.
The Adriatic stretches north and west; it is long and narrow, being in length about 6000 stadia, and its greatest breadth
1200. There are many islands situated here opposite the coasts of Illyria, such as the Absyrtides,
20
Cyrictica,
21
and the Libyrnides,
22
also Issa,
23
Tragurium,
24
the Black Corcyra,
25
and Pharos.
26
Opposite to Italy are the Islands of Diomede.
27
The Sea of Sicily is said to be 4500 stadia from Pachynus to Crete, and the same distance to Taenarus in Laconia.
28
From the extremities of Iapygia to the bottom of the Gulf of Corinth the distance is less than 3000 stadia, while from Iapygia to Libya it is more than 4000. In this sea are the Islands of Corcyra
29
and Sybota,
30
opposite the coasts of Epirus; and beyond these, opposite the Gulf of Corinth, Cephallenia,
31
Ithaca, Zacynth,
32
and the Echinades.
33
Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.
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