[1] Sicily is triangular in shape; and for this reason it was at first called “ Trinacria ,” though later the name was changed to the more euphonious “Thrinacis.” Its shape is defined by three capes: Pelorias, which with Caenys and Columna Rheginorum forms the strait, and Pachynus, which lies out towards the east and is washed by the Sicilian Sea, thus facing towards the Peloponnesus and the sea-passage to Crete , and, third, Lilybaeum , the cape that is next to Libya , thus facing at the same time towards Libya and the winter sunset. ¹ As for the sides which are marked off by the three capes, two of them are moderately concave, whereas the third, the one that reaches from Lilybaeum to Pelorias, is convex; and this last is the longest, being one thousand seven hundred stadia in length, as Poseidonius states, though he adds twenty stadia more. Of the other two sides, the one from Lilybaeum to Pachynus is longer than the other, and the one next to the strait and Italy , from Pelorias to Pachynus, is shortest, being about one thousand one hundred and thirty stadia long. And the distance round the island by sea, as declared by Poseidonius, is four thousand stadia. But in the Chorography the distances given are longer, marked off in sections and given in miles: from Pelorias to Mylae , twenty-five miles; the same from Mylae to Tyndaris ; then to Agathyrnum thirty, and the same to Alaesa , and again the same to Cephaloedium , these being small towns; and eighteen to the River Himera, ² which flows through the middle of Sicily ; then to Panormus thirty-five, and thirty-two to the Emporium of the Aegestes, ³ and the rest of the way, to Lilybaeum , thirty-eight. Thence, on doubling Lilybaeum , to the adjacent side, to the Heracleium seventy-five miles, and to the Emporium of the Acragantini ⁴ twenty, and another twenty ⁵ to Camarina; and then to Pachynus fifty. Thence again along the third side: to Syracuse thirty-six, and to Catana sixty; then to Tauromenium thirty-three; and then to Messene thirty. ⁶ On foot, however, the distance from Pachynus to Pelorias is one hundred and sixty-eight miles, and from Messene to Lilybaeum by the Valerian Way two hundred and thirty-five. But some writers have spoken in a more general way, as, for example, Ephorus: “At any rate, the voyage round the island takes five days and nights.” Further, Poseidonius, in marking off the boundaries of the island by means of the “climata,” ⁷ puts Pelorias towards the north, Lilybaeum towards the south, and Pachynus towards the east. But since the “climata” are each divided off into parallelograms, necessarily the triangles that are inscribed (particularly those which are scalene and of which no side fits on any one of the sides of the parallelogram) cannot, because of their slant, be fitted to the “climata.” ⁸ However this may be, one might fairly say, in the case of the “climata” of Sicily , which is situated south of Italy , that Pelorias is the most northerly of the three corners; and therefore the side that joins Pelorias to Pachynus will lie out ⁹ towards the east, thus facing towards the north, and also will form the side that is on the strait. But this side must take a slight turn toward the winter sunrise, ¹⁰ for the shore bends aside in this direction as one proceeds from Catana to Syracuse and Pachynus. Now the distance from Pachynus across to the mouth of the Alpheius ¹¹ is four thousand stadia; but when Artemidorus says that it is four thousand six hundred stadia from Pachynus to Taenarum ¹² and one thousand one hundred and thirty from the Alpheius to the Pamisus, he seems to me to afford us reason for suspecting that his statement is not in agreement with that of the man who says that the distance to the Alpheius from Pachynus is four thousand stadia. Again, the side that extends from Pachynus to Lilybaeum , which is considerably farther west than Pelorias, should itself also be made to slant considerably from its southernmost point ¹³ towards the west, and should face at the same time towards the east and towards the south, ¹⁴ one part being washed by the Sicilian Sea and the other by the Libyan Sea that reaches from Carthaginia to the Syrtes. The shortest passage from Lilybaeum across to Libya in neighborhood of Carthage is one thousand five hundred stadia; ¹⁵ and on this passage, it is said, some man of sharp vision, from a look-out, used to report to the men in Lilybaeum the number of ships that were putting to sea from Carthage . ¹⁶ Again, the side that extends from Lilybaeum to Pelorias necessarily slants towards the east, and faces towards the region that is between the west and the north, ¹⁷ having Italy on the north and on the west the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Islands of Aeolus.

[2] The cities along the side that forms the Strait are, first, Messene , and then Tauromenium , Catana , and Syracuse ; but those that were between Catana and Syracuse have disappeared—Naxus ¹⁸ and Megara ; ¹⁹ and on this coast are the outlets of the Symaethus and all rivers that flow down from Aetna and have good harbors at their mouths; and here too is the promontory of Xiphonia. According to Ephorus these were the earliest Greek cities to be founded in Sicily , that is, in the tenth generation after the Trojan war; for before that time men were so afraid of the bands of Tyrrhenian pirates and the savagery of the barbarians in this region that they would not so much as sail thither for trafficking; but though Theocles, the Athenian, borne out of his course by the winds to Sicily , clearly perceived both the weakness of the peoples and the excellence of the soil, yet, when he went back, he could not persuade the Athenians, and hence took as partners a considerable number of Euboean Chalcidians and some Ionians and also some Dorians (most of whom were Megarians) and made the voyage; so the Chalcidians founded Naxus, whereas the Dorians founded Megara , which in earlier times had been called Hybla. The cities no longer exist, it is true, but the name of Hybla still endures, because of the excellence of the Hyblaean honey.

[3] As for the cities that still endure along the aforementioned side: Messene is situated in a gulf of Pelorias, which bends considerably towards the east and forms an armpit, so to speak; but though the distance across to Messene from Rhegium is only sixty stadia, it is much less from Columna. Messene was founded by the Messenians of the Peloponnesus, who named it after themselves, changing its name; for formerly it was called Zancle , on account of the crookedness of the coast (anything crooked was called “zanclion”), ²⁰ having been founded formerly by the Naxians who lived near Catana . But the Mamertini, a tribe of the Campani, joined the colony later on. Now the Romans used it as a base of operations for their Sicilian war against the Carthaginians; and afterwards Pompeius Sextus,when at war with Augustus Caesar, kept his fleet together there, and when ejected from the island also made his escape thence. And in the ship-channel, only a short distance off the city, is to be seem Charybdis, ²¹ a monstrous deep, into which the ships are easily drawn by the refluent currents of the strait and plunged prow-foremost along with a mighty eddying of the whirlpool; and when the ships are gulped down and broken to pieces, the wreckage is swept along to the Tauromenian shore, which, from this occurrence, is called Copria. ²² The Mamertini prevailed to such an extent among the Messenii that they got control of the city; and the people are by all called mamertini rather than Messenii; and further, since the country is exceedingly productive of wine, the wine is called, not Messenian, but Mamertine, and it rivals the best of the Italian wines. The city is fairly populous, though Catana is still more so, and in fact has received Romans as inhabitants; but Tauromenium is less populous than either. Catana , moreover, was founded by the same Naxians, whereas Tauromenium was founded by the Zanclaeans of Hybla; but Catana lost its original inhabitants when Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse , established a different set of colonists there and called it Aetna instead of Catana . ²³ And Pindar too calls him the founder of Aetna when he say: “Attend to what I say to thee, O Father, whose name is that of the holy sacrifices, ²⁴ founder of Aetna .” But at the death of Hiero ²⁵ the Catanaeans came back, ejected the inhabitants, and demolished the tomb of the tyrant. ²⁶ And the Aetnaeans, on withdrawing, took up their abode in a hilly district of Aetna called Innesa, and called the place, which is eighty stadia from Catana , Aetna , and declared Hiero its founder. Now the city of Aetna is situated in the interior about over Catana , and shares most in the devastation caused by the action of the craters; ²⁷ in fact the streams of lava rush down very nearly as far as the territory of Catana ; and here is the scene of the act of filial piety, so often recounted, of Amphinomus and Anapias, who lifted their parents on their shoulders and saved them from the doom that was rushing upon them. According to Poseidonius, when the mountain is in action, the fields of the Catanaeans are covered with ash-dust to a great depth. Now although the ash is an affliction at the time, it benefits the country in later times, for it renders it fertile and suited to the vine, the rest of the country not being equally productive of good wine; further, the roots produced by the fields that have been covered with ash-dust make the sheep so fat, it is said, that they choke; and this is why blood is drawn from their ears every four or five days ²⁸ —a thing of which I have spoken before ²⁹ as occurring near Erytheia. But when the lava changes to a solid, it turns the surface of the earth into stone to a considerable depth, so that quarrying is necessary on the part of any who wish to uncover the original surface; for when the mass of rock in the craters melts and then is thrown up, the liquid that is poured out over the top is black mud and flows down the mountain, and then, solidifying, becomes millstone, keeping the same color it had when in a liquid state. And ash is also produced when the stones are burnt, as from wood; therefore, just as wood-ashes nourish rue, so the ashes of Aetna , it is reasonable to suppose, have some quality that is peculiarly suited to the vine.

[4] Syracuse was founded by Archias, who sailed from Corinth about the same time that Naxus and Megara were colonized. It is said that Archias went to Delphi at the same time as Myscellus, and when they were consulting the oracle, the god asked them whether they chose wealth or health; now Archias chose wealth, and Myscellus ³⁰ health; accordingly, the god granted to the former to found Syracuse , and to the latter Croton . And it actually came to pass that the Crotoniates took up their abode in a city that was exceedingly healthful, as I have related, ³¹ and that Syracuse fell into such exceptional wealth that the name of the Syracusans was spread abroad in a proverb applied to the excessively extravagant—”the tithe of the Syracusans would not be sufficient for them.” And when Archias, the story continues, was on his voyage to Sicily , he left Chersicrates, of the race of the Heracleidae, with a part of the expedition to help colonize what is now called Corcyra , but was formerly called Scheria ; Chersicrates, however, ejected the Liburnians, who held possession of the island, and colonized it with new settlers, whereas Archias landed at Zephyrium , ³² found that some Dorians who had quit the company of the founders of Megara and were on their way back home had arrived there from Sicily , took them up and in common with them founded Syracuse . And the city grew, both on account of the fertility of the soil and on account of the natural excellence of its harbors. Furthermore, the men of Syracuse proved to have the gift of leadership, with the result that when the Syracusans were ruled by tyrants they lorded it over the rest, and when set free themselves they set free those who were oppressed by the barbarians. As for these barbarians, some were native inhabitants, whereas others came over from the mainland. The Greeks would permit none of them to lay hold of the seaboard, but were not strong enough to keep them altogether away from the interior; indeed, to this day the Siceli, the Sicani, the Morgetes, and certain others have continued to live in the island, among whom there used to be Iberians, who, according to Ephorus, were said to be the first barbarian settlers of Sicily . Morgantium, it is reasonable to suppose, was settled by the Morgetes; it used to be a city, but now it does not exist. When the Carthaginians came over they did not cease to abuse both these people and the Greeks, but the Syracusans nevertheless held out. But the Romans later on ejected the Carthaginians and took Syracuse by siege. And in our own time, because Pompeius abused, not only the other cities, but Syracuse in particular, Augustus Caesar sent a colony and restored a considerable part of the old settlement; for in olden times it was a city of five towns, ³³ with a wall of one hundred and eighty stadia. Now it was not at all necessary to fill out the whole of this circuit, but it was necessary, he thought, to build up in a better way only the part that was settled—the part adjacent to the Island of Ortygia which had a sufficient circuit to make a notable city. Ortygia is connected with the mainland, near which it lies, by a bridge, and has the fountain of Arethusa, which sends forth a river that empties immediately into the sea.

People tell the mythical story that the river Arethusa is the Alpheius, which latter, they say, rises in the Peloponnesus , flows underground through the sea as far as Arethusa, and then empties thence once more into the sea. And the kind of evidence they adduce is as follows: a certain cup, they think, was thrown out into the river at Olympia and was discharged into the fountain; and again, the fountain was discolored as the result of the sacrifices of oxen at Olympia . Pindar follows these reports when he says: “O resting-place ³⁴ august of Alpheius, Ortygia, ³⁵ scion of famous Syracuse .” And in agreement with Pindar Timaeus the historian also declares the same thing. Now if the Alpheius fell into a pit before joining the sea, there would be some plausibility in the view that the stream extends underground from Olympia as far as Sicily , thereby preserving its potable water unmixed with the sea; but since the mouth of the river empties into the sea in full view, and since near this mouth, on the transit, there is no mouth ³⁶ visible that swallows up the stream of the river (though even so the water could not remain fresh; yet it might, the greater part of it at least, if it sank into the underground channel), ³⁷ the thing is absolutely impossible. For the water of Arethusa bears testimony against it, since it is potable; and that the stream of the river should hold together through so long a transit without being diffused with the seawater, that is, until it falls into the fancied underground passage, is utterly mythical. Indeed, we can scarcely believe this in the case of the Rhodanus, although its stream does hold together when it passes through a lake, ³⁸ keeping its course visible; in this case, however, the distance is short and the lake does not rise in waves, whereas in case of the sea in question, where there are prodigious storms and surging waves, the tale is foreign to all plausibility. And the citing of the story of the cup only magnifies the falsehood, for a cup does not of itself readily follow the current of any stream, to say nothing of a stream that flows so great a distance and through such passages.

Now there are many rivers in many parts of the world that flow underground, but not for such a distance; and even if this is possible, the stories aforesaid, at least, are impossible, and those concerning the river Inachus are like a myth: “For it flows from the heights of Pindus,” says Sophocles, “and from Lacmus, ³⁹ from the land of the Perrhaebians, into the lands of the Amphilochians and Acarnanians, and mingles with the waters of Acheloüs,” and, a little below, he adds, “whence it cleaves the waves to Argos and comes to the people of Lyrceium.” Marvellous tales of this sort are stretched still further by those who make the Inopus cross over from the Nile to Delos . And Zoïlus ⁴⁰ the rhetorician says in his Eulogy of the Tenedians that the Alpheius rises in Tenedos—the man who finds fault with Homer as a writer of myths! And Ibycus says that the Asopus in Sicyon rises in Phrygia . But the statement of Hecataeus is better, when he says that the lnachus among the Amphilochians, which flows from Lacmus, as does also the Aeas, is different from the river of Argos , and that it was named by Amphilochus, the man who called the city Argos Amphilochicum. ⁴¹ Now Hecataeus says that this river does empty into the Acheloüs, but that the Aeas ⁴² flows towards the west into Apollonia .

On either side of the island of Ortygia is a large harbor; the larger of the two is eighty stadia in circuit. Caesar restored this city and also Catana ; and so, in the same way, Centoripa, because it contributed much to the overthrow of Pompeius. Centoripa lies above Catana , bordering on the Aetnaean mountains, and on the Symaethus River, which flows into the territory of Catana .

[5] Of the remaining sides of Sicily , that which extends from Pachynus to Lilybaeum has been utterly deserted, although it preserves traces of the old settlements, among which was Camarina, a colony of the Syracusans; Acragas , however, which belongs to the Geloans, and its seaport, and also Lilybaeum still endure. For since this region was most exposed to attack on the part of Carthaginia, most of it was ruined by the long wars that arose one after another. The last and longest side is not populous either, but still it is fairly well peopled; in fact, Alaesa , Tyndaris , the Emporium of the Aegestes, and Cephaloedis ⁴³ are all cities, and Panormus has also a Roman settlement. Aegestaea was founded, it is said, by those who crossed over with Philoctetes to the territory of Croton , as I have stated in my account of Italy ; ⁴⁴ they were sent to Sicily by him along with Aegestes the Trojan.

[6] In the interior is Enna , where is the temple of Demeter, with only a few inhabitants; it is situated on a hill, and is wholly surrounded by broad plateaus that are tillable. It suffered most at the hands of Eunus ⁴⁵ and his runaway slaves, who were besieged there and only with difficulty were dislodged by the Romans. The inhabitants of Catana and Tauromenium and also several other peoples suffered this same fate.

Eryx , a lofty hill, ⁴⁶ is also inhabited. It has a temple of Aphrodite that is held in exceptional honor, and in early times was full of female temple-slaves, who had been dedicated in fulfillment of vows not only by the people of Sicily but also by many people from abroad; but at the present time, just as the settlement itself, ⁴⁷ so the temple is in want of men, and the multitude of temple-slaves has disappeared. In Rome , also, there is a reproduction of this goddess, I mean the temple before the Colline Gate ⁴⁸ which is called that of Venus Erycina and is remarkable for its shrine and surrounding colonnade.

But the rest of the settlements ⁴⁹ as well as most of the interior have come into the possession of shepherds; for I do not know of any settled population still living in either Himera, or Gela , or Callipolis or Selinus or Euboea or several other places. Of these cities Himera was founded by the Zanclaeans of Mylae , Callipolis by the Naxians, Selinus by the Megarians of the Sicilian Megara, and Euboea by the Leontines. ⁵⁰ Many of the barbarian cities, also, have been wiped out; for example Camici , ⁵¹ the royal residence of Cocalus, ⁵² at which Minos is said to have been murdered by treachery. The Romans, therefore, taking notice that the country was deserted, took possession of the mountains and most of the plains and then gave them over to horseherds, cowherds, and shepherds; and by these herdsmen the island was many times put in great danger, because, although at first they only turned to brigandage in a sporadic way, later they both assembled in great numbers and plundered the settlements, as, for example, when Eunus and his men took possession of Enna . And recently, in my own time, a certain Selurus, called the “son of Aetna ,” was sent up to Rome because he had put himself at the head of an army and for a long time had overrun the regions round about Aetna with frequent raids; I saw him torn to pieces by wild beasts at an appointed combat of gladiators in the Forum; for he was placed on a lofty scaffold, as though on Aetna , and the scaffold was made suddenly to break up and collapse, and he himself was carried down with it into cages of wildbeasts—fragile cages that had been prepared beneath the scaffold for that purpose.

[7] As for the fertility of the country, why should I speak of it, since it is on the lips of all men, who declare that it is no whit inferior to that of Italy ? And in the matter of grain, honey, saffron, and certain other products, one might call it even superior. There is, furthermore, its propinquity; for the island is a part of Italy , as it were, and readily and without great labor supplies Rome with everything it has, as though from the fields of Italy . And in fact it is called the storehouse of Rome , for everything it produces is brought hither except a few things that are consumed at home, and not the fruits only, but also cattle, hides, wool, and the like. Poseidonius says that Syracuse and Eryx are each situated like an acropolis by the sea, whereas Enna lies midway between the two above the encircling plains.

The whole of the territory of Leontini, also, which likewise belonged to the Naxians of Sicily , has been devastated; for although they always shared with the Syracusans in their misfortunes, it was not always so with their good fortunes. ⁵³

[8] Near Centoripa is the town of Aetna , which was mentioned a little above, whose people entertain and conduct those who ascend the mountain; for the mountain-summit begins here. The upper districts are bare and ash-like and full of snow during the winter, whereas the lower are divided up by forests and plantations of every sort. The topmost parts of the mountain appear to undergo many changes because of the way the fire distributes itself, for at one time the fire concentrates in one crater, but at another time divides, while at one time the mountain sends forth lava, at another, flames and fiery smoke, and at still other times it also emits red-hot masses; and the inevitable result of these disturbances is that not only the underground passages, but also the orifices, sometimes rather numerous, which appear on the surface of the mountain all round, undergo changes at the same time. Be this as it may, those who recently made the ascent gave me the following account: They found at the top a level plain, about twenty stadia in circuit, enclosed by a rim of ashes the height of a house-wall, so that any who wished to proceed into the plain had to leap down from the wall; they saw in the center of the plain a mound ⁵⁴ of the color of ashes, in this respect being like the surface of the plain as seen from above, and above the mound a perpendicular cloud rising straight up to a height of about two hundred feet, motionless (for it was a windless day) and resembling smoke; and two of the men had the hardihood to proceed into the plain, but because the sand they were walking on got hotter and deeper, they turned back, and so were unable to tell those who were observing from a distance anything more than what was already apparent. But they believed, from such a view as they had, that many of the current stories are mythical, and particularly those which some tell about Empedocles, that he leaped down into the crater and left behind, as a trace of the fate he suffered, one of the brazen sandals which he wore; for it was found, they say, a short distance outside the rim of the crater, as though it had been thrown up by the force of the fire. Indeed, the place is neither to be approached nor to be seen, according to my informants; and further, they surmised that nothing could be thrown down into it either, owing to the contrary blasts of the winds arising from the depths, and also owing to the heat, which, it is reasonable to suppose, meets one long before one comes near the mouth of the crater; but even if something should be thrown down into it, it would be destroyed before it could be thrown up in anything like the shape it had when first received; and although it is not unreasonable to assume that at times the blasts of the fire die down when at times the fuel is deficient, yet surely this would not last long enough to make possible the approach of man against so great a force. Aetna dominates more especially the seaboard in the region of the Strait and the territory of Catana , but also that in the region of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Liparaean Islands. Now although by night a brilliant light shines from the summit, by day it is covered with smoke and haze.

[9] Over against Aetna rise the Nebrodes Mountains, ⁵⁵ which, though lower than Aetna , exceed it considerably in breadth. The whole island is hollow down beneath the ground, and full of streams and of fire, as is the case with the Tyrrhenian Sea , as far as the Cumaean country, as I have said before. ⁵⁶ At all events, the island has at many places springs of hot waters which spout up, of which those of Selinus and those of Himera are brackish, whereas those of Aegesta are potable. Near Acragas are lakes which, though they have the taste of seawater, are different in nature; for even people who cannot swim do not sink, but float on the surface like wood. The territory of the Palici has craters ⁵⁷ that spout up water in a dome-like jet and receive it back again into the same recess. The cavern near Mataurus ⁵⁸ contains an immense gallery through which a river flows invisible for a considerable distance, and then emerges to the surface, as is the case with the Orontes in Syria , ⁵⁹ which sinks into the chasm (called Charybdis) between Apameia and Antiocheia and rises again forty stadia away. Similar, too, are the cases both of the Tigris ⁶⁰ in Mesopotamia and of the Nile in Libya , only a short distance from their sources. And the water in the territory of Stymphalus ⁶¹ first flows underground for two hundred stadia and then issues forth in Argeia as the Erasinus River; and again, the water near the Arcadian Asea is first forced below the surface and then, much later, emerges as both the Eurotas and the Alpheius; and hence the belief in a certain fabulous utterance, that if two wreaths be dedicated separately to each of the two rivers and thrown into the common stream, each will reappear, in accordance with the dedication, in the appropriate river. And I have already mentioned what is told about the Timavus River. ⁶²

[10] Phenomena akin both to these and to those in Sicily are to be seen about the Liparaean Islands and Lipara itself. The islands are seven in number, but the largest is Lipara (a colony of the Cnidians), which, Thermessa excepted, lies nearest to Sicily . It was formerly called Meligunis; and it not only commanded a fleet, but for a long time resisted the incursions of the Tyrrheni, for it held in obedience all the Liparaean Islands, as they are now called, though by some they are called the Islands of Aeolus. Furthermore, it often adorned the temple of Apollo at Delphi with dedications from the first fruits of victory. It has also a fruitful soil, and a mine of styptic earth ⁶³ that brings in revenues, ⁶⁴ and hot springs, and fire blasts. Between Lipara and Sicily is Thermessa, which is now called Hiera of Hephaestus; ⁶⁵ the whole island is rocky, desert, and fiery, and it has three fire blasts, rising from three openings which one might call craters. From the largest the flames carry up also red-hot masses, which have already choked up a considerable part of the Strait. From observation it has been believed that the flames, both here and on Aetna , are stimulated along with the winds and that when the winds cease the flames cease too. And this is not unreasonable, for the winds are begotten by the evaporations of the sea and after they have taken their beginning are fed thereby; and therefore it is not permissible for any who have any sort of insight into such matters to marvel if the fire too is kindled by a cognate fuel or disturbance. According to Polybius, one of the three craters has partially fallen in, whereas the others remain whole; and the largest has a circular rim five stadia in circuit, but it gradually contracts to a diameter of fifty feet; and the altitude of this crater above the level of the sea is a stadium, so that the crater is visible on windless days. ⁶⁶ But if all this is to be believed, perhaps one should also believe the mythical story about Empedocles. ⁶⁷ Now if the south wind is about to blow, Polybius continues, a cloud-like mist pours down all round the island, so that not even Sicily is visible in the distance; and when the north wind is about to blow, pure flames rise aloft from the aforesaid crater and louder rumblings are sent forth; but the west wind holds a middle position, so to speak, between the two; but though the two other craters are like the first in kind, they fall short in the violence of their spoutings; accordingly, both the difference in the rumblings, and the place whence the spoutings and the flames and the fiery smoke begin, signify beforehand the wind that is going to blow again three days afterward; ⁶⁸ at all events, certain of the men in Liparae, when the weather made sailing impossible, predicted, he says, the wind that was to blow, and they were not mistaken; from this fact, then, it is clear that that saying of the Poet which is regarded as most mythical of all was not idly spoken, but that he hinted at the truth when he called Aeolus “steward of the winds.” ⁶⁹ However, I have already discussed these matters sufficiently. ⁷⁰ It is the close attention of the Poet to vivid description, one might call it, . . . for both ⁷¹ are equally present in rhetorical composition and vivid description; at any rate, pleasure is common to both. But I shall return to the topic which follows that at which I digressed.

[11] Of Lipara , then, and Thermessa I have already spoken. As for Strongyle, ⁷² it is so called from its shape, and it too is fiery; it falls short in the violence of its flame, but excels in the brightness of its light; and this is where Aeolus lived, it is said. The fourth island is Didyme, ⁷³ and it too is named after its shape. Of the remaining islands, Ericussa ⁷⁴ and Phoenicussa ⁷⁵ have been so called from their plants, and are given over to pasturage of flocks. The seventh is Euonymus, ⁷⁶ which is farthest out in the high sea and is desert; it is so named because it is more to the left than the others, to those who sail from Lipara to Sicily . ⁷⁷ Again, many times flames have been observed running over the surface of the sea round about the islands when some passage had been opened up from the cavities down in the depths of the earth and the fire had forced its way to the outside. Poseidonius says that within his own recollection, ⁷⁸ one morning at daybreak about the time of the summer solstice, the sea between Hiera and Euonymus was seen raised to an enormous height, and by a sustained blast remained puffed up for a considerable time, and then subsided; and when those who had the hardihood to sail up to it saw dead fish driven by the current, and some of the men were stricken ill because of the heat and stench, they took flight; one of the boats, however, approaching more closely, lost some of its occupants and barely escaped to Lipara with the rest, who would at times become senseless like epileptics, and then afterwards would recur to their proper reasoning faculties; and many days later mud was seen forming on the surface of the sea, and in many places flames, smoke, and murky fire broke forth, but later the scum hardened and became as hard as mill-stone; and the governor of Sicily , Titus Flaminius, ⁷⁹ reported the event to the Senate, and the Senate sent a deputation to offer propitiatory sacrifices, both in the islet ⁸⁰ and in Liparae, to the gods both of the underworld and of the Sea. Now, according to the Chorographer, ⁸¹ the distance from Ericodes to Phoenicodes ⁸² is ten miles, and thence to Didyme thirty, and thence to the northern part of Lipara twenty-nine, and thence to Sicily nineteen, but from Strongyle sixteen. Off Pachynus lie Melita , ⁸³ whence come the little dogs called Melitaean, and Gaudos, both eighty-eight miles distant from the Cape. Cossura ⁸⁴ lies off Lilybaeum , and off Aspis, ⁸⁵ a Carthaginian city whose Latin name is Clupea; it lies midway between the two, and is the aforesaid distance ⁸⁶ from either. Aegimurus, ⁸⁷ also, and other small islands lie off Sicily and Libya . So much for the islands.

[1] SICILY is triangular in form, and on this account was at first called Trinacria, but afterwards the name was softened and it was changed into Thrinacia. ¹ Three low headlands bound the figure: Pelorias is the name of that towards Caenys and the Columna Rheginorum which forms the strait; Pachynus ² is that which stretches towards the east, and is washed by the Sea of Sicily, looking towards the Peloponnesus and in the direction of the passage to Crete; the third is Lilybaeum, ³ and is next to Africa, looking towards that region and the setting of the sun in winter. ⁴ Of the sides which these three headlands bound, two are somewhat concave, while the third is slightly convex, it runs from Lilybaeum to Pelorias, and is the longest, being, as Posidonius has said, 1700 stadia adding further twenty. Of the others, that extending to Pachynus from Lilybaeum is the longer, while the shortest faces the Strait and Italy, extending from Pelorias to Pachynus, being about 1120 or 1130 stadia. Posidonius shows that the circumference is 4400 stadia, but in the Chorography the distances are declared to exceed the above numbers, being severally reckoned in miles. Thus from Cape Pelorias to Mylae, ⁵ 25 miles; from Mylae to Tyndaris, ⁶ 25; thence to Agathyrnum, ⁷ 30; from Agathyrnum to Alaesa, ⁸ 30; from Alaesa to Cephaloedium, ⁹ 30; these are but insignificant places; from Cephaloedium to the river Himera, ¹⁰ which runs through the midst of Sicily, 18; from thence to Panormus, ¹¹ 35; [thence] to the Emporium ¹² of the Aegestani, 32; leaving to Lilybaeum ¹³ a distance of 38; thence having doubled the Cape and coasting the adjacent side to Heracleum, ¹⁴ 75; and to the Emporium ¹⁵ of the Agrigentini, 20; and to ¹⁶ Camarina, ¹⁷ another 20; then to Pachynus, 50; thence again along the third side to Syracuse, 36; ¹⁸ from Syracuse to Catana, 60; then to Tauromenium, ¹⁹ 33; thence to Messana, 30. ²⁰ Thus on foot ²¹ from Pachynus to Pelorias we have 168 [miles], and from Messana ²² to [Cape] Lilybeum, on the Via Valeria, ²³ we have 235 ²⁴ [miles]. Some have estimated the circuit in a more simple way, as Ephorus, who says that the compass of the island by sea takes five days and nights. Posidonius attempts to determine the situation of the island by climata, ²⁵ and places Pelorias to the north, Lilybaeum to the south, and Pachynus to the east. We however consider that of necessity all climata are set out in the manner of a parallelogram, but that districts portrayed as triangles, and especially such triangles as are scalene, ²⁶ and whereof no one side lies parallel to a side of the parallelogram, cannot in any way be assimilated to climata on account of their obliquity. However, we must allow, that in treating of Sicily, Pelorias, which lies to the south of Italy, may well be called the most northern of the three angles, so that we say that the line which joins it ²⁷ to Pachynus faces the east but looks towards the north. ²⁸ Now this line [of coast] will make the side next the Strait [of Messina], and it must have a slight inclination towards the winter sunrise; ²⁹ for thus the shore slightly changes its direction as you travel from Catana towards Syracuse and Pachynus. Now the transit from Pachynus to the mouth of the Alpheus ³⁰ is 4000 stadia. But when Artemidorus says that from Pachynus to Taenarum ³¹ it is 4600, and from the Alpheus to the Pamisus is 1130 stadia, ³² he appears to me to lie open to the objection of having given distances which do not accord with the 4000 stadia from Pachynus to the Alpheus. The line run from Pachynus to Lilybaeum (which is much to the west of Pelorias) is considerably diverged from the south towards the west, having at the same time an aspect looking towards the east and towards the south. ³³ On one side it is washed by the sea of Sicily, and on the other by the Libyan Sea, extending from Carthage to the Syrtes. The shortest run is 1500 stadia from Lilybaeum to the coast of Africa about Carthage; and, according to report, a certain very sharp-sighted person, ³⁴ placed on a watch-tower, announced to the Carthaginians besieged in Lilybaeum the number of the ships which were leaving Carthage. And from Lilybaeum to Pelorias the side must necessarily incline towards the east, and look in a direction towards the west and north, having Italy to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea with the islands of Aeolus to the west. ³⁵

[2] The cities situated on the side which forms the Strait are, first Messana, then Tauromenium, ³⁶ Catana, and Syracuse; between Catana and Syracuse were the ruined cities Naxos ³⁷ and Megara, ³⁸ situated where the rivers descending from Aetna fall into the sea, and afford good accommodation for shipping. Here is also the promontory of Xiphonia. They say that Ephorus founded these first cities of the Greeks in Sicily in the tenth generation from the Trojan war. For those who preceded him were so terrified by the piratical customs of the Tyrrheni, and the ferocity of the savages of the neighbourhood, that they did not even venture to resort thither for the purposes of commerce. Theocles the Athenian, however, having been driven to Sicily by storms, observed both the weakness of the inhabitants and the excellence of the soil. On his return home, he was unable to persuade the Athenians to make any attempt, but he collected a numerous band of Chalcidians in Euboea, with some Ionians and Dorians, whereof the most part were Megarenses, and sailed. The Chalcidians founded Naxos, and the Dorians Megara, which was at first called Hybla. These cities no longer exist, but the name of Hybla survives on account of the Hyblaean honey.

[3] The first of the cities which at present remain on the aforesaid side is Messana, built at the head of the gulf of Pelorias, which is curved very considerably towards the east, and forms a bay. The passage across to Rhegium ³⁹ is 60 stadia, but the distance to the Columna Rheginorum is much less. It was from a colony of the Messenians of the Peloponnesus that it was named Messana, having been originally called Zanole, on account of the great inequality of the coast (for anything irregular was termed ξάγκλιον. ⁴⁰ It was originally founded by the people of Naxos near Catana. Afterwards the Mamertini, a tribe of Campanians, took possession of it. ⁴¹ The Romans, in the war in Sicily against the Carthaginians, used it as an arsenal. ⁴² Still more recently, ⁴³ Sextus Pompeius assembled his fleet in it, to contend against Augustus Caesar; and when he relinquished the island, he took ship from thence. ⁴⁴ Charybdis ⁴⁵ is pointed out at a short distance from the city in the Strait, an immense gulf, into which the back currents of the Strait frequently impel ships, carrying them down with a whirl and the violence of the eddy. When they are swallowed down and shattered, the wrecks are cast by the stream on the shore of Tauromenia, ⁴⁶ which they call, on account of this kind of accumulation, the dunghill. ⁴⁷ So greatly have the Mamertini prevailed over the Messenians, that they have by degrees wrested the city from them. The inhabitants generally are rather called Mamertini than Messenians. The district abounds in wine, which we do not call Messenian, but Mamertinian: it vies with the best produced in Italy. ⁴⁸ The city is well peopled, but Catana is more populous, which has been colonized by the Romans. ⁴⁹ Tauromenium is less populous than either. Catana was founded by people from Naxos, and Tauromenium by the Zanclaens of Hybla, ⁵⁰ but Catana was deprived of its original inhabitants when Hiero, the tyrant of Syracuse, introduced others, and called it by the name of Aetna instead of Catana. It is of this that Pindar says he was the founder, when he sings, But on the death of Hiero, ⁵² the Catanaeans returned and expelled the new inhabitants, and demolished the mausoleum of the tyrant. The Aetnaeans, compelled to retire, ⁵³ established themselves on a hilly district of Aetna, called Innesa, ⁵⁴ and called the place Aetna. It is distant from Catana about 80 stadia. They still acknowledged Hiero as their founder.

Aetna lies the highest of any part of Catana, and participates the most in the inconveniences occasioned by the mouths of the volcano, for the streams of lava flowing down in Catanaea ⁵⁵ pass through it first. It was here that Amphinomus and Anapias set the example of filial piety so greatly celebrated, for they, seizing their parents, carried them on their shoulders ⁵⁶ to a place of safety from the impending ruin; for whenever, as Posidonius relates, there is an eruption of the mountain the fields of the Catanaeans are buried to a great depth. However, after the burning ashes have occasioned a temporary damage, they fertilize the country for future seasons, and render the soil good for the vine and very strong for other produce, the neighbouring districts not being equally adapted to the produce of wine. They say that the roots which the districts covered with these ashes produce, are so good for fattening sheep, that they are sometimes suffocated, wherefore they bleed them in the ear every four or five days, ⁵⁷ in the same way as we have related a like practice at Erythia. When the stream of lava cools ⁵⁸ it covers the surface of the earth with stone to a considerable depth, so that those who wish to uncover the original surface are obliged to hew away the stone as in a quarry. For the stone is liquefied in the craters and then thrown up. That which is cast forth from the top is like a black moist clay and flows down the hill-sides, then congealing it becomes mill-stone, preserving the same colour it had while fluid. The ashes of the stones which are burnt are like what would be produced by wood, and as rue thrives on wood ashes, so there is probably some quality in the ashes of Aetna which is appropriate to the vine.

[4] Archaism, sailing from Corinth, founded Syracuse about the same period ⁵⁹ that Naxos and Megara were built. They say that Myscellus and Archias having repaired to Delphi at the same time to consult the oracle, the god demanded whether they would choose wealth or health, when Archias preferred wealth and Myscellus health, upon which the oracle assigned Syracuse to the former to found, and Crotona to the latter. And certainly, in like manner as it fell out that the Crotoniatae should inhabit a state so notable for salubrity as we have described, ⁶⁰ so such great riches have accrued to the Syracusans that their name has been embodied in the proverb applied to those who have too great wealth, viz. that they have not yet attained to a tithe of the riches of the Syracusans. While Archias was on his voyage to Sicily, he left Chersicrates, a chief of the race of the Heracleidae, ⁶¹ with a part of the expedition to settle the island now called Corcyra, ⁶² but anciently called Scheria, and he, having expelled the Liburni who possessed it, established his colony in the island. Archias, pursuing his route, met with certain Dorians at Zephyrium, ⁶³ come from Sicily, and who had quitted the company of those who had founded Megara; these he took with him, and in conjunction with them founded Syracuse. The city flourished on account of the fertility ⁶⁴ of the country and the convenience of the harbours, the citizens became great rulers; while under tyrants themselves, they domineered over the other states [of Sicily], and when freed from despotism, they set at liberty such as had been enslaved by the barbarians: of these barbarians some were the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, while others had come across from the continent. The Greeks suffered none of the barbarians to approach the shore, although they were not able to expel them entirely from the interior, for the Siculi, Sicani, ⁶⁵ Morgetes, and some others, ⁶⁶ still inhabit the island to the present day, amongst whom also were the Iberians, who, as Ephorus relates, were the first of the barbarians that are considered to have been settlers in Sicily. It seems probable that Morgantium ⁶⁷ was founded by the Morgetes. Formerly it was a city, but now it is not. When the Carthaginians ⁶⁸ endeavoured to gain possession of the island they continually harassed both the Greeks and the barbarians, but the Syracusans withstood them; at a later period the Romans expelled the Carthaginians and took Syracuse after a long siege. ⁶⁹ And [Sextus] Pompeius, having destroyed Syracuse in the same way as he had done by the other cities, ⁷⁰ Augustus Caesar in our own times sent thither a colony, and to a great extent restored it to its former importance, for anciently it consisted of five towns ⁷¹ enclosed by a wall of 180 ⁷² stadia, but there being no great need that it should fill this extensive circle, he thought it expedient to fortify in a better way the thickly inhabited portion lying next the island of Ortygia, the circumference of which by itself equals that of an important city. Ortygia is connected to the mainland by a bridge, and [boasts of] the fountain Arethusa, which springs in such abundance as to form a river at once, and flows into the sea. They say that it is the river Alpheus ⁷³ which rises in the Peloponnesus, and that it flows through the land beneath the sea ⁷⁴ to the place where the Arethusa rises and flows into the sea. Some such proofs as these are given in .upport of the fact. A certain chalice having fallen into the river at Olympia was cast up by the springs of Arethusa; the fountain too is troubled by the sacrifices of oxen at Olympia. And Pindar, following such reports, thus sings, Timaeus ⁷⁷ the historian advances these accounts in like manner with Pindar. Undoubtedly if before reaching the sea the Alpheus were to fall into some chasm, ⁷⁸ there would be a probability that it continued its course from thence to Sicily, preserving its potable water unmixed with the sea; but since the mouth of the river manifestly falls into the sea, and there does not appear any opening in the bed of the sea there, which would be capable of imbibing the waters of the river, (although even if there were they could not remain perfectly fresh, still it might be possible to retain much of the character of fresh water, if they were presently to be swallowed down into a passage running below the earth which forms the bed of the sea,) it is altogether impossible; and this the water of Arethusa clearly proves, being perfectly fit for beverage; but that the flow of the river should remain compact through so long a course, not mixing with the sea until it should fall into the fancied channel, is entirely visionary; for we can scarcely credit it of the Rhone, the body of the waters of which remains compact during its passage through the lake, and preserves a visible course, but in that instance both the distance is short and the lake is not agitated by waves like the sea, but in this case of the Alpheus, ⁷⁹ where there are great storms and the waters are tossed with violence, the supposition is by no means worthy of attention. The fable of the chalice being carried over is likewise a mere fabrication, for it is not calculated for transfer, nor is it by any means probable it should be washed away so far, nor yet by such difficult passages. Many rivers, however, and in many parts of the world, flow beneath the earth, but none for so great a distance.—Still, although there may be no impossibility in this circumstance, yet the above-mentioned accounts are altogether impossible, and almost as absurd as the fable related of the Inachus: this river, as Sophocles ⁸⁰ feigns, and further on [he says], Those who would have the river Inopus to be a branch of the Nile flowing to Delos, exaggerate this kind of marvel to the utmost. Zoïlus the rhetorician, in his Eulogium of the people of Tenedos, says that the river Alpheus flows from Tenedos: yet this is the man who blames Homer for fabulous writing. Ibycus also says that the Asopus, a river of Sicyon, ⁸⁴ flows from Phrygia. Hecataeus is more rational, who says that the Inachus of the Amphilochi, which flows from Mount Lacmus, from whence also the Aeas ⁸⁵ descends, was distinct from the river of like name in Argolis, and was so named after Amphilochus, from whom likewise the city of Argos was denominated Amphilochian. He says further, that this river falls into the Achelous, and that the Aeas flows to Apollonia ⁸⁶ towards the west. On each side of the island there is an extensive harbour; the extent of the larger one is 80 ⁸⁷ stadia. [Augustus] Caesar has not only restored this city, but Catana, and likewise Centoripa, ⁸⁸ which had contributed much towards the overthrow of [Sextus] Pompey. Centoripa is situated above Catana and confines with the mountains of Aetna and the river Giaretta, ⁸⁹ which flows into Catanvaea.

[5] One of the remaining sides, that stretching from Pachynus to Lilybaeum, is entirely deserted; still it preserves a few traces of the ancient inhabitants, one of whose cities was Camarina. ⁹⁰ Acragas, ⁹¹ which was a colony of the Geloi, ⁹² together with its port and Lilybaeum, ⁹³ still exist. In fact, these regions, lying opposite to Carthage, have been wasted by the great and protracted wars which have been waged. The remaining and greatest side, although it is by no means densely peopled, is well occupied, for Alaesa, ⁹⁴ Tyndaris, ⁹⁵ the emporium ⁹⁶ of the Aegestani and Cephaloedium, ⁹⁷ are respectable towns. Panormus has received a Roman colony: they say that Aegesta ⁹⁸ was founded by the Greeks who passed over, as we have related when speaking of Italy, with Philoctetes to the Crotoniatis, and were by him sent to Sicily with Aegestus ⁹⁹ the Trojan.

[6] In the interior of the island a few inhabitants possess Enna, ¹⁰⁰ in which there is a temple of Ceres; ¹⁰¹ it is situated on a hill, and surrounded by spacious table-lands well adapted for tillage. The fugitive slaves, who placed themselves under the leading of Eunus, ¹⁰² and sustained in this city a long siege, scarcely being reduced by the Romans, occasioned much damage to the city. The Catanaei, Tauromenitae, and many others, suffered, much in like manner. † Eryx, ¹⁰³ a very lofty mountain, is also inhabited. It possesses a temple of Venus, which is very much esteemed; in former times it was well filled with women sacred to the goddess, whom the inhabitants of Sicily, and also many others, offered in accomplishment of their vows; but now, both is the neighbourhood much thinner of inhabitants, and the temple not near so well supplied with priestesses and female attendants. ¹⁰⁴ There is also an establishment of this goddess at Rome called the temple of Venus Erycina, just before the Colline Gate; in addition to the temple it has a portico well worthy of notice. † The other settlement and most of the interior have been left to the shepherds for pasturage; for we do not know that Himera is yet inhabited, ¹⁰⁵ or Gela, ¹⁰⁶ or Callipolis, or Selinus, or Euboea, or many other places; of these the Zanclaei of Myloe ¹⁰⁷ founded Himera, ¹⁰⁸ the people of Naxos, Callipolis, ¹⁰⁹ the Megaraeans of Sicily, ¹¹⁰ Selinus, ¹¹¹ and the Leontini ¹¹² Euboea. ¹¹³ Many too of the cities of the aboriginal inhabitants ¹¹⁴ have been destroyed, as Camici, the kingdom of Cocalus, at whose house Minos is reported to have been treacherously cut off. The Romans therefore, considering the deserted condition of the country, and having got possession both of the hills and the most part of the plains, have given them over to horse-breeders, herdsmen, and shepherds, by whom the island has frequently been brought into great perils. First of all the shepherds, taking to pillage here and there in different places, and afterwards assembling in numbers and forcibly taking settlements; for instance, as those under the command of Eunus ¹¹⁵ seized upon Enna. ¹¹⁶ And quite recently, during the time that we were at Rome, a certain Selurus, called the son of Aetna, was sent up to that city. He had been the captain of a band of robbers, and had for a long time infested the country round Aetna, committing frequent depredations. We saw him torn to pieces by wild beasts in the forum after a contest of gladiators: he had been set upon a platform fashioned to represent Mount Aetna, which being suddenly unfastened and falling, he was precipitated amongst certain cages of wild beasts, which had also been slightly constructed under the platform for the occasion.

[7] The fertility of the country is so generally extolled by every one, as nothing inferior to Italy, that there is a question as to what we should say of it. Indeed, for wheat, honey, saffron, and some other commodities, it even surpasses that country. In addition to this, its proximity renders the island like a part of Italy itself, so that it supplies the Roman market with produce both commodiously and without trouble. Indeed they call it the granary of Rome, for all the produce of the island is carried thither, except a few things required for home consumption. It consists not only of the fruits of the earth, but of cattle, skins, wool, and the like. Posidonius says that Syracuse and Eryx are situated on the sea like two citadels, and that Enna in the midst, between Syracuse and Eryx, commands the surrounding plains. † The ¹¹⁷ whole territory of the Leontini, which was possessed by the people of Naxos settled in Sicily, suffered much, for they always shared in the misfortunes of Syracuse, but not always in its prosperity. †

[8] Near to Centoripa is the town we have a little before mentioned, Aetna, which serves as a place for travellers about to ascend Mount Aetna, to halt and refresh themselves for the expedition. For here commences the region in which is situated the summit of the mountain. The districts above are barren and covered with ashes, which are surmounted by the snows in winter: all below it however is filled with woods and plantations of all kinds. It seems that the summits of the mountain take many changes by the ravages of the fire, which sometimes is brought together into one crater, and at another is divided; at one time again it heaves forth streams of lava, and at another flames and thick smoke: at other times again ejecting red-hot masses of fire-stone. In such violent commotions as these the subterraneous passages must necessarily undergo a corresponding change, and at times the orifices on the surface around be considerably increased. Some who have very recently ascended the mountain, reported ¹¹⁸ to us, that they found at the top an even plain of about 20 stadia in circumference, enclosed by an overhanging ridge of ashes about the height of a wall, so that those who are desirous of proceeding further are obliged to leap down into the plain. They noticed in the midst of it a mound; it was ash-coloured, as was likewise the plain in appearance. Above the mound a column of cloud reared itself in a perpendicular line to the height of 200 stadia, and remained motionless (there being no air stirring at the time); it resembled smoke. Two of the party resolutely attempted to proceed further across this plain, but, finding the sand very hot and sinking very deep in it, they turned back, without however being able to make any more particular observations, as to what we have described, than those who beheld from a greater distance. They were, however, of opinion, from the observations they were able to make, that much exaggeration pervades the accounts we have of the volcano, and especially the tale about Empedocles, that he leaped into the crater, and left as a vestige of his folly one of the brazen sandals which he wore, it being found outside at a short distance from the lip of the crater, with the appearance of having been cast up by the violence of the flame; for neither is the place approachable nor even visible, nor yet was it likely that any thing could be cast in thither, on account of the contrary current of the vapours and other matters cast up from the lower parts of the mountain, and also on account of the overpowering excess of heat, which would most likely meet any one long before approaching the mouth of the crater; and if eventually any thing should be cast down, it would be totally decomposed before it were cast up again, what manner of form so ever it might have had at first. And again, although it is not unreasonable to suppose that the force of the vapour and fire is occasionally slackened for want of a continual supply of fuel, still we are not to conclude that it is ever possible for a man to approach it in the presence of so great an opposing power. Aetna more especially commands the shore along the Strait and Catana, but it also overlooks the sea that washes Tyrrhenia and the Lipari Islands. By night a glowing light appears on its summit, but in the day-time it is enveloped with smoke and thick darkness.

[9] The Nebrodes mountains ¹¹⁹ take their rise opposite ¹²⁰ to Aetna; they are not so lofty as Aetna, but extend over a much greater surface. The whole island is hollow under ground, and full of rivers and fire like the bed of the Tyrrhenian Sea, ¹²¹ as far as Cumaea, as we before described ¹²² For there are hot springs in many places in the island, some of which are saline, as those named Selinuntia ¹²³ and the springs at Himera, while those at Aegesta ¹²⁴ are fresh. Near to Acragas ¹²⁵ there are certain lakes, ¹²⁶ the waters of which taste like the sea, but their properties are very different, for if those who do not know how to swim plunge into them, they are not covered over by them, but float on the surface like pieces of wood.

The Palici ¹²⁷ possess craters which cast up water in a jet, having the appearance of a dome, and then receive it back again into the same place it rose from. The cavern near Mataurum ¹²⁸ has within it a considerable channel, with a river flowing through it under ground for a long distance, and afterwards emerging to the surface as does the El-Asi ¹²⁹ in Syria, which, after descending into the chasm between Apameia and Antioch, which they call Charybdis, rises again to the surface at the distance of about 40 stadia. Much the same circumstances are remarked of the Tigris ¹³⁰ in Mesopotamia, and the Nile in Africa, ¹³¹ a little before ¹³² its most notorious springs. The water in the neighbourhood of the city of Stymphalus, having passed under ground about 200 stadia, gives rise to the river Erasinus ¹³³ in Argia; ¹³⁴ and again, the waters which are ingulfed with a low roaring sound near Asea ¹³⁵ in Arcadia, after a long course, spring forth with such copiousness as to form the Eurotas and the Alpheus, ¹³⁶ whence has arisen a fable extensively credited, that if a certain charm is uttered over each of two crowns on their being cast into the stream where the two rivers flow in a common channel, each crown will make its appearance in its respective river according to the charm. As for what we might add with reference to the Timao, ¹³⁷ it has already been particularized.

[10] Phenomena, similar to these, and such as take place throughout Sicily, ¹³⁸ are witnessed in the Lipari Islands, and especially in Lipari itself.—These islands are seven in number, the chief of which is Lipari, a colony of the Cnidians. ¹³⁹ It is nearest to Sicily after Thermessa. ¹⁴⁰ It was originally named Meligunis. It was possessed of a fleet, and for a considerable time repelled the incursions of the Tyrrheni. ¹⁴¹ The islands now called Liparaean were subject to it, some call them the islands of Aeolus. The citizens were so successful as to make frequent offerings of the spoils taken in war to the temple of Apollo at Delphi. ¹⁴² It possesses a fertile soil, ¹⁴³ and mines ¹⁴⁴ of alum easy to be wrought, hot springs, ¹⁴⁵ and craters. [Thermessa] is, as it were, situated between this and Sicily; it is now designated as Hiera, or sacred to Vulcan; it is entirely rocky, and desert, and volcanic. In it are three craters, and the flames which issue from the largest are accompanied with burning masses of lava, which have already obstructed a considerable portion of the strait [between Thermessa and the island Lipari]; repeated observations have led to the belief that the flames of the volcanos, both in this island and at Mount Aetna, are stimulated by the winds ¹⁴⁶ as they rise; and when the winds are lulled, the flames also subside; nor is this without reason, for if the winds are both originally produced and kept up by the vapours arising from the sea, those who witness these phenomena will not be surprised, if the fire should be excited in some such way, by the like aliment and circumstances. Polybius tells us that one of the three craters of the island has partly fallen down, while the larger of the two that remain has a lip, the circumference of which is five stadia, and the diameter nearly 50 feet, ¹⁴⁷ and its elevation about a stadium from the level of the sea, which may be seen at the base in calm weather; but if we are to credit this, we may as well attend to what has been reported concerning Empedocles. [Polybius] also says, that when the south wind is to blow, a thick cloud lies stretched round the island, so that one cannot see even as far as Sicily in the distance; but when there is to be a north wind, the clear flames ascend to a great height above the said crater, and great rumblings are heard; while for the west wind effects are produced about half way between these two. The other craters are similarly affected, but their exhalations are not so violent. Indeed, it is possible to foretell what wind will blow three days beforehand, from the degree of intensity of the rumbling, and also from the part whence the exhalations, flames, and smoky blazes issue. It is said indeed that some of the inhabitants of the Lipari Islands, at times when there has been so great a calm that no ship could sail out of port, have predieted what wind would blow, and have not been mistaken. From hence indeed that which seems to be the most fabulous invention of the poet, appears not to have been written without some foundation, and he appears to have merely used an allegorical style, while guided by the truth, when he says that Aeolus is the steward of the winds; ¹⁴⁸ however, we have formerly said enough as to this. ¹⁴⁹ We will now return to the point whence we digressed.

[11] We have noticed the islands of Lipari and Thermessa. As for Strongyle, ¹⁵⁰ it takes its name from its form. ¹⁵¹ Like the other two, it is subigneous, but is deficient in the force of the flames which are emitted, while their brightness is greater. It is here they say that Aeolus resided. ¹⁵² The fourth is Didyma; this island also is named from its form. ¹⁵³ Of the others, [the fifth and sixth] are Ericussa ¹⁵⁴ and phoenicussa; ¹⁵⁵ they are called from the plants which they produce, and are given up to pasture. The seventh [island] is called Euonymus; ¹⁵⁶ it is the farthest in the sea and barren. It is called Euonymus because it lies the most to the left when you sail from the island of Lipari to Sicily, ¹⁵⁷ and many times flames of fire have been seen to rise to the surface, and play upon the sea round the islands: these flames rush with violence from the cavities at the bottom of the sea, ¹⁵⁸ and force for themselves a passage to the open air. Posidonius says, that at a time so recent as to be almost within his recollection, about the summer solstice and at break of day, between Hiera and Euonymus, the sea was observed to be suddenly raised aloft, and to abide some time raised in a compact mass and then to subside. Some ventured to approach that part in their ships; they observed the fish dead and driven by the current, but being distressed by the heat and foul smell, were compelled to turn back. One of the boats which had approached nearest lost some of her crew, and was scarcely able to reach Lipari with the rest, and they had fits like an epileptic person, at one time fainting and giddy, and at another returning to their senses; and many days afterwards a mud or clay was observed rising in the sea, and in many parts the flames issued, and smoke and smoky blazes; afterwards it congealed and became a rock like mill-stones. Titus Flaminius, ¹⁵⁹ who then commanded in Sicily, despatched to the senate [of Rome] a fill account of the phenomenon; the senate sent and offered sacrifices to the infernal and marine divinities both in the little island [which had thus been formed] and the Lipari Islands. Now the chorographer reckons that from Ericodes to Phoenicodes are 10 miles, from thence to Didyma 30, from thence to the northernmost point ¹⁶⁰ of Lipari 29, and from thence to Sicily 19, while from Strongyle are 16. ¹⁶¹ Melita ¹⁶² lies before ¹⁶³ Pachynus; from thence come the little dogs called Maltese; ¹⁶⁴ so does also Gaudus, ¹⁶⁵ both of them are situated about 88 miles distant from that promontory. Cossura ¹⁶⁶ is situated before Cape Lilybaesum, and opposite the Carthaginian city Aspis, which they call [in Latin] Clypea, it is situated in the midst of the space which lies between those two places, and is distant from each the number of miles last given. ¹⁶⁷ Aegimurus also and other little islands lie off Sicily and Africa. So much for the islands.