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Descriptio rerum Aegyptiarum; et de Nilo, de crocodilo, de ibi, ac de pyramidibus.

[1] Strictim itaque, quoniam tempus videtur hoc flagitare, res Aegyptiacae tangantur, quarum notitiam in actibus Hadriani et Severi principum digessimus late, visa pleraque narrantes.

[2] Aegyptum gentem omnium vetustissimam, nisi quod super antiquitate certat cum Scythis, a meridiali latere Syrtes maiores et Phycus promuntorium et Borion et Garamantes nationesque varia claudunt; qua orientem e regione prospectat,¹ Elephantinen et Meroen urbes Aethiopum, et Catadupos rubrumque pelagus, et Scenitas praetenditur Arabas, quos Sarracenos nunc appellamus; septentrioni supposita,² terrarum situ cohaeret immenso, unde exordium Asia Syriarumque provinciae sumunt; a vespera Issiaco disiungitur mari, quod quidam nominavere Parthenium.

[3] Pauca itaque super benivolo omnium flumine³ Nilo (quem Aegyptum Homerus appellat), praestringi conveniet, mox ostendendis aliis, quae sunt in his regionibus admiranda.

[4] Origines fontium Nili, ut mihi quidem videri solet, sicut adhuc factum est, posterae quoque ignorabunt aetates. Verum quoniam fabulantes poetae variantesque geographi, in diversa latentem notitiam scindunt, opiniones eorum veritati confines, ut arbitror, expediam paucis.

[5] Affirmant aliqui physicorum, in subiectis septentrioni spatiis cum hiemes frigidae cuncta constringunt, magnitudines nivium congelare, easque postea vi flagrantis sideris resolutas, fluxis umoribus nubes efficere gravidas, quae in meridianam plagam Etesiis flantibus pulsae, expressaeque tepore nimio incrementa ubertim suggerere Nilo creduntur.

[6] Ex Aethiopicis imbribus, qui abundanter⁴ in tractibus illis per aestus torridos cadere memorantur, exundationes eius erigi anni temporibus asserunt alii praestitutis: quod utrumque dissonare videtur a veritate. Imbres enim apud Aethiopas aut numquam aut per intervalla temporum longa cadere memorantur.

[7] Opinio est celebrior alia, quod spirantibus Prodromis, perque dies quadraginta et quinque, Etesiarum continuis flatibus repellentibus eius meatum, velocitate cohibita, superfusis fluctibus intumescit; et reluctante spiritu controverso adulescens in maius, hinc vi reverberante ventorum, inde urgente cursu venarum perennium, progrediens in sublime, contegit⁵ omnia, et humo suppressa, per supina camporum speciem exhibet maris.

[8] Rex autem Iuba, Punicorum confisus textu librorum, a monte quodam oriri eum exponit, qui situs in Mauritania despectat oceanum, hisque indiciis hoc proditum ait, quod pisces et herbae et beluae similes per eas paludes gignuntur.

[9] Aethiopiae autem partes praetermeans Nilus nominum diversitate decussa,⁶ quae ei⁷ orbem peragranti nationes indidere complures, aestuans⁸ inundatione ditissima, ad cataractas (id est praeruptos scopulos⁹ ) venit, e quibus praecipitans, ruit potius quam fluit: unde Atos olim accolas usu aurium fragore assiduo deminuto, necessitas vertere solum ad quietiora¹⁰ coegit.

[10] Exinde lenius means, per ostia septem, quorum singula perpetuorum amnium usum et faciem praebent, nullis per Aegyptum aquis externis adiutus eiectatur. Et praeter amnis plurimos ex alveo derivatos auctore, cadentesque in suppares eis,¹¹ septem navigabiles sunt et undosi, quibus subiecta vocabula veteres indiderunt: Heracleoticus, Sebennyticus, Bolbiticus, Pathmiticus, Mendesius, Taniticus et Pelusiacus.

[11] Oriens autem inde (ut dictum est) propellitur e paludibus ad usque cataractas, insulasque efficit plures, quarum aliquae ita porrectis spatiis¹² dicuntur extentae, ut singulas aegre tertio die relinquat.

[12] Inter quas duae sunt clarae, Meroe et Delta, a triquetrae litterae forma hoc vocabulo signatius appellata. Cum autem sol per Cancri sidus coeperit vehi, augescens ad usque transitum eius in Libram,¹³ diebusque centum sublatius fluens, minuitur postea, et mitigatis ponderibus aquarum, navibus antea pervios equitabiles campos ostendit.

[13] Abunde itaque luxurians ita est noxius, ut infructuosus, si venerit parcior: gurgitum enim nimietate umectans diutius terras culturas moratur agrorum, parvitate autem minatur steriles segetes. Eumque nemo aliquando extolli cubitis altius sedecim possessor optavit. Et si inciderit moderatius, aliquotiens iactae sementes in loco prae-¹⁴ pinguis cespitis cum augmento fere septuagesimo renascuntur: solusque fluminum auras nullas exspirat.¹⁵

[14] Exuberat Aegyptus etiam pecudibus multis, inter quas terrestres sunt et aquatiles, aliaeque humi et in humoribus vivunt, unde ἀμφίβιοι nominantur. Et in aridis quidem capreoli vescuntur et bubali et spinturnicia omni deformitate ridicula, aliaque monstra quae enumerare¹⁶ non refert.

[15] Inter aquatiles autem bestias, crocodilus ubique per eos tractus abundat, exitiale quadrupes malum, assuetum elementis ambobus, lingua carens, maxillam superiorem commovens solum, ordine dentium pectinato, perniciosis morsibus quicquid contigerit pertinaciter petens, per ova edens fetus anserinis similia.

[16] Utque armatus est unguibus, si haberet etiam pollices, ad evertendas quoque naves sufficeret viribus magnis: ad cubitorum enim longitudinem octodecim¹⁷ interdum extentus, noctibus quiescens per undas, diebus humi vaporatur¹⁸ confidentia cutis, quam ita validam gerit, ut eius terga cataphracta vix tormentorum ictibus perforentur.

[17] Et saevientes semper eaedem ferae (quasi pacto foedere quodam castrensi), per septem caerimoniosos dies mitescunt, ab omni saevitia desciscentes, quibus sacerdotes Memphi natales celebrant Nili.

[18] Praeter eos autem, qui fortuita pereunt morte, alii dirumpuntur suffossis alvis¹⁹ mollibus serratis²⁰ ferarum dorsualibus cristis,²¹ quas delphinis similes nutrit fluvius ante dictus, alii exitio intereunt tali.

[19] Trochilus avicula brevis, dum escarum minutias captat, circa cubantem feram volitans blande, genasque eius irritatius titillando pervenit ad usque ipsam viciniam gutturis. Quod factum contuens enhydrus,²² ichneumonis genus, oris aditum penetrat alite praevia patefactum, et populato ventre, vitalibus dilancinatis erumpit.

[20] Audax tamen crocodilus monstrum fugacibus; ubi audacem senserit, timidissimum; et in terra acutius cernens, per quattuor menses hibernos, nullo vesci dicitur cibo.

[21] Hippopotami quoque generantur in illis partibus, ultra animalia cuncta ratione carentia sagacissimi, ad speciem equorum bifidos²³ unquis habentes, caudasque breves, quorum sollertiae duo interim ostendere documenta sufficiet.

[22] Inter arundines celsas, ut squalentes nimia densitate, haec belua cubilibus positis, otium pervigili studio circumspectat, laxataque copia, ad segetes depascendas egreditur. Cumque iam coeperit redire distenta, aversis vestigiis distinguit tramites multos, ne unius plani itineris lineas insidiatores secuti, repertum sine difficultate confodiant.

[23] Item cum aviditate nimia extuberato ventre pigrescit, super calamos recens exsectos femora convolvit et crura, ut pedibus vulneratis cruor egestus sagina²⁴ distentum faciat levem: et partes saucias caeno oblinit quam diu in cicatrices conveniant plagae.

[24] Has monstruosas antehac raritates in beluis, in aedilitate Scauri vidit Romanus populus primitus, patris illius Scauri, quem defendens Tullius imperat Sardis, ut de familia nobili ipsi quoque cum orbis terrarum auctoritate sentirent, et per aetates exinde plures saepe huc ducti, nunc inveniri nusquam possunt, ut coniectantes regionum incolae dicunt, insectantis multitudinis taedio ad Blemmyas migrasse compulsi.

[25] Inter Aegyptias alites, quarum varietas nullo comprehendi numero potest, ibis sacra est et amabilis, et innocua ideo, quod nidulis suis ad cibum suggerens ova serpentum, efficit ut rarescant mortiferae pestes absumptae.

[26] Occurrunt eaedem volucres pinnatis agminibus anguium, qui ex Arabicis emergunt paludibus, venena maligna gignentes,²⁵ mosque antequam finibus suis excedunt, proeliis superatos aeriis vorant, quas aves per rostra edere fetus accepimus.

[27] Serpentes quoque Aegyptus alit innumeras, ultra omnem perniciem saevientes: basiliscos et amphisbaenas et scytalas, et acontias et dipsadas et viperas, aliasque complures, quas omnes magnitudine et decore aspis facile supereminens, numquam sponte sua fluenta egreditur Nili.²⁶

[28] Multa in illis tractibus pretium est operae ac maxima cernere;²⁷ e quibus pauca conveniet explicari. Templa ubique molibus magnis exstructa. Pyramides²⁸ ad miracula septem provectae, quarum diuturnas surgendi difficultates scriptor²⁹ Herodotus docet, ultra omnem³⁰ altitudinem, quae humana manu³¹ confici potest, erectae sunt turres, ab imo latissimae in summitates acutissimas desinentes.

[29] Quae figura apud geometras ideo sic appellatur, quod ad ignis speciem ( τοῦ πυρὸς, ut nos dicimus) extenuatur in conum. Quarum magnitudo quoniam in celsitudinem nimiam scandens, gracilescit graciliscit paulatim, umbras quoque mechanica ratione consumit.

[30] Sunt et syringes subterranei quidam, et flexuosi secessus, quos (ut fertur) periti rituum vetustorum adventare diluvium praescii, metuentesque ne cerimoniarum oblitteraretur memoria, penitus operosis digestos fodinis per loca diversa struxerunt, et excisis parietibus volucrum ferarumque genera multa sculpserunt, et animalium³² species innumeras illas,³³ quas hierographicas litteras appellarunt.³⁴

[31] Dein Syene, in qua solstitii tempore, quo sol aestivum cursum extendit, recta omnia ambientes radii excedere ipsis corporibus umbras non sinunt. Inde si³⁵ stipitem quisquam fixerit rectum, vel hominem aut arborem viderit stantem, circa lineamentorum ipsas extremitates contemplabitur umbras absumi, sicut apud Meroen, Aethiopiae partem aequinoctiali circulo proximam, dicitur evenire, ubi per nonaginta dies umbrae nostris in³⁶ contrarium cadunt, unde Antiscios eius incolas vocant.

[32] Quae quoniam miracula multa sunt, opusculi nostri propositum excedentia, ad ingenia celsa reiciamus, pauca super provinciis narraturi.

Res Gestae. Ammianus Marcellinus. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-1940.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Perseus

Res Gestae (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).)

Translations (1)

History Perseus (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).) — 22.15 focus

[1] Accordingly, since the occasion seems to demand it, let us touch briefly on matters Egyptian, of which I discoursed at length in connection with the history of the emperors Hadrian and Severus,¹ telling for the most part what I myself had seen.

[2] The Egyptian nation is the most ancient of all, except that in antiquity it vies with the Scythians.² It is bounded on the south³ by the Greater Syrtes, the promontories Phycus and Borion, by the Garamantes⁴ and various other nations. Where it looks directly east it extends to Elephantine and Meroë, cities of the Aethiopians, to the Catadupi⁵ and the Red Sea, and to the Scenitic Arabs, whom we now call the Sercacens.⁶ On the north it forms part of the boundless tract from which Asia and the provinces of Syria take their beginning. On the west its boundary is the Issiac Sea, which some have called the Parthenian.⁷

[3] Now it will be in place to touch briefly on the most helpful of all rivers, the Nile, which Homer calls the Aegyptus,⁸ and then to describe other remarkable things to be found in those lands.

[4] The origin of the sources of the Nile (so at least I am wont to think) will be unknown also to future ages, as it has been up to the present. But, since the poets’ tales and dissenting geographers give varying accounts of this unknown subject, I shall succinctly set forth such of their views as in my opinion approach the truth.

[5] Some natural philosophers affirm that in the tracts lying beneath the north, when the cold winters freeze everything, great masses of snow are congealed; that afterwards when these are melted by the heat of the blazing sun, they form clouds filled with flowing moisture, which are then driven towards the south by the Etesian winds,⁹ and when melted by the excessive warmth, are believed to cause the rich overflow of the Nile.

[6] Others assert that it is by the Aethiopian rains, which are said to fall in abundance in those regions in the season of torrid heat, that its floods are raised at the appointed season of the year; but both these reasons seem to be out of harmony with the truth. For it is reported that in the land of the Aethiopians rains fall either not at all or at long intervals of time.

[7] Another, more widespread opinion is, that when the Prodromoi blow and after them the Etesians for forty-five consecutive days, since they drive back the course of the river and check its speed, it swells with overflowing waves; and while the contrary wind blows against it, it increases more and more, since on the one side the force of the wind hurls it back and on the other the flow of its perennial springs forces it onward; and rising high it covers everything, and hiding the ground, over the low-lying plains it has the appearance of a sea.

[8] But King Juba,¹⁰ relying upon the testimony of Punic books, thinks that the Nile rises in a mountain situated in Mauritania and looking down upon the ocean, and he says that this is proved by the fact that in those marshes¹¹ are found fishes, plants, and animals like those of the Nile.

[9] But the river, flowing through the regions of Aethiopia, and going under various names, which many nations have given it in its course over the earth, swelling with its rich flood, comes to the cataracts, which are steep rocks, from which it plunges headlong rather than flows; for which reason the Ati, who formerly lived nearby, since their hearing was impaired by the continual roar, were forced to change their abode to a quieter spot.

[10] Flowing more gently from there, through seven mouths, each of which has the appearance of an uninterrupted river, and is equally usable, it empties into the sea without being increased by any tributaries in Egypt. And besides many streams which flow from the main channel and fall into others nearly as great, seven are full of surges and navigable, and to them the ancients gave the following names: the Heracleotic, Sebennytic, Bolbitic, Pathmitic, Mendesian, Tanitic, and Pelusiac.¹²

[11] Rising, then, in the quarter which has been mentioned, it passes from the marshes¹³ as far as the cataracts and forms many islands, some of which (it is said) extend over such wide-spread spaces that the stream hardly leaves each of them behind on the third day.

[12] Of these two are famous, namely Meroë and Delta, the latter clearly so-called from the form of the triangular letter.¹⁴ But when the sun has begun to ride through the sign of the Crab, the river increases until it passes into the Balance¹⁵ ; then, flowing at high water for a hundred days, the river becomes smaller, and as the weight of its waters decreases, it shows the plains that before were navigable for boats now suitable for riders on horseback.

[13] However, too great a rise of the Nile is as harmful to the crops as too small a one is unfruitful. For if it soaks the land for too long a time with an excess of water, it delays the cultivation of the fields; but if the rise is too small, it threatens a bad harvest. No landowner has ever wished for a higher rise than sixteen cubits. But if there is a more moderate rise, seeds sown on a place where the soil is very rich sometimes return an increase of nearly seventy-fold. And it is the only river that does not raise a breeze.¹⁶

[14] Egypt abounds also in many animals, some of which are terrestrial, some aquatic; and there are others which live both on land and in the water, and hence are called amphibious. And on the dry plains roebucks feed and antelopes and spinturnicia,¹⁷ laughable for their utter ugliness, and other monsters, which it is not worth while to enumerate.

[15] Now among aquatic animals crocodiles abound everywhere in that region, a destructive four-footed monster, a curse to the land, accustomed to both elements. It has no tongue, and moves only its upper jaw; its teeth are arranged like those of a comb, and whatever it meets it persistently attacks with destructive bites. It produces its young from eggs resembling those of geese.

[16] And, if besides the claws with which it is armed it also had thumbs, its strength would be great enough to overturn even ships; for it sometimes attains a length of eighteen cubits. At night it remains quiet in the water; in the daytime it suns itself on land, trusting to its hide, which is so strong that its mail-clad back can hardly be pierced by the bolts of artillery.

[17] Now, savage as these same beasts always are, during the seven festal days on which the priests at Memphis celebrate the birthday of the Nile, as if by a kind of military truce they lay aside all their fierceness and become mild.

[18] Besides those that lose their lives through accident, some are destroyed by creatures resembling dolphins, which are found in that same river and with sawlike dorsal fins tear the crocodiles’ soft bellies; and others die in the following manner.

[19] The trochilus, a little bird, as it looks for bits of food, flutters and plays about the crocodile as it lies outstretched, and pleasantly tickling its cheeks, makes its way as far as its throat. Seeing this going on, a water rat, a kind of ichneumon, enters the opening of the crocodile’s mouth, to which the bird has shown the way, and after lacerating its belly and tearing its vitals to pieces, forces its way out.¹⁸

[20] Yet daring as this monster is towards those who run from it, when it sees that it has a daring opponent it is most timorous. It has sharper sight when on land, and during the four winter months it is said to take no food.

[21] Hippopotami also, or river-horses,¹⁹ are produced in those parts, animals sagacious beyond all unreasoning beasts, with cloven hooves like horses and short tails. Of their cunning it will suffice for the present to give two instances.

[22] This monster makes its lair amid a thick growth of high and rough reeds and with watchful care looks about for a time of quiet; when free means are offered, it goes forth to feed upon the cornfields. And when it has finally begun to return, gorged with food, it walks backward and makes several paths, for fear that hunters, following the lines of one direct course, may find and stab it without difficulty.

[23] Also, when by excessive greed it has made its belly bulge and grown sluggish, it rolls its thighs and legs on freshly cut reeds, in order that the blood flowing from its wounded feet may relieve its repletion; and it keeps the injured parts covered with mud until the raw places scab over.

[24] This monstrous and once rare kind of beast the Roman people first saw when Scaurus was aedile, the father of that Scaurus in whose defence Cicero spoke²⁰ and bade the Sardinians also to conform with the authority of the whole world in their judgement of so noble a family; and for many ages after that more hippopotami were often brought to Rome. But now they can nowhere be found, since, as the inhabitants of those regions conjecture, they were forced from weariness of the multitude that hunted them to take refuge in the land of the Blemmyae.²¹

[25] Among Egyptian birds, the variety of which is countless, the ibis is sacred, harmless, and beloved for the reason that by carrying the eggs of serpents to its nestlings for food it destroys and makes fewer those destructive pests.²²

[26] These same birds meet the winged armies of snakes which issue from the marshes of Arabia, producing deadly poisons, and before they leave their own lands vanquish them in battles in the air, and devour them. And it is said of those birds that they lay their eggs through their beaks.²³

[27] Egypt also breeds innumerable serpents, surpassing all their destructive kind in fierceness: basilisks, amphisbaenae, scytalae, acontiae, dipsades, vipers, and many others,²⁴ all of which are easily surpassed in size and beauty by the asp, which never of its own accord leaves the bed of the Nile.²⁵

[28] Many and great things there are in that land which it is worth while to see; of these it will be in place to describe a few. Everywhere temples of vast size have been erected. The Pyramids have been enrolled among the seven wonders of the world,²⁶ and of their slow and difficult construction the historian Herodotus tells us.²⁷ These are towers higher than any others which can be erected by human hands, extremely broad at the base and tapering to very pointed summits.

[29] The figure pyramid has that name among geometers because it narrows into a cone after the manner of fire, which in our language is called πῦρ; for their size, as they mount to a vast height, gradually becomes slenderer, and also they cast no shadows at all, in accordance with a principle of mechanics.²⁸

[30] There are also subterranean fissures and winding passages called syringes,²⁹ which, it is said, those acquainted with the ancient rites, since they had fore-knowledge that a deluge was coming, and feared that the memory of the ceremonies might be destroyed, dug in the earth in many places with great labour; and on the walls of these caverns they carved many kinds of birds and beasts, and those countless forms of animals which they called hierographic writing.³⁰

[31] Then comes Syene,³¹ where at the solstice, to which the sun extends its summer course, its rays surround all upright bodies and do not allow their shadows to extend beyond the bodies themselves.³² At that time if one fixes a stake upright in the earth, or looks at a man or a tree standing anywhere, he will observe that the shadows are lost in the outer circumference of the figures. The same thing is said to happen at Meroë, a part of Aethiopia lying next to the equinoctial circle, where for ninety days the shadows fall on the side opposite to ours, for which reason those who dwell there are called Antiscii.³³

[32] But since there are many such wonders, which extend beyond the plan of my little work, let me refer them to lofty minds, since I wish to tell a few things about the provinces.

Notes on the current edition

Res Gestae

1. prospectat, Her.; prospicit, V.

2. supposita, Gardt.; opposita, V.

3. omnium Nilo, add. V 2 in margin; benevolo solo, Madvig; amnium numine, Petschenig.

4. qui abundanter, Bent.; qui abundantes, G; qua ludantes, V.

5. contegit or integit, Her., Clark, c.c.; sublimem tegit, V.

6. decursa, BG; decussa, V (restored by Corn.).

7. ei, vulgo; eum, G; et VEB.

8. aestuans, vulgo; G omits; etans, V; exultans, sugg. by Novák, cf. xiv. 8, 3; xv. 11, 14.

9. id est praeruptos scopulos, regarded as a gloss by Reinesius.

10. ad quietiora, G in epist. Froben.; ad editiora, G in ed.; atque diciora, V.

11. eis, Pet.; eius, V, Clark.

12. spatiis, Bent.; agris, Pet.; porrectus aquis, V.

13. After libram V 2 adds a second eius in margin, put after diebusque by BG, deleted by W 2A.

14. loco prae-, Her.; loquore pinguis, V.

15. exspirat, Her.; inspirat, V.

16. enumerare, C. F. W. M.; dinumerare, Novák; nunc d., Her.; numerare, V, Heilm.

17. xviii. A; decem, V 2 (from ecbecem, V), WBG; sedecim, suggested by Clark.

18. vaporatur, Erfurdt, Haupt, Novák; versatur, Val.; veperatur, V 2 (from vituperatur, V.)

19. alvi, Salmasius, Lind.; alvis, E 2BG; alveis, V.

20. serratis, Gardt.; certis, V 3EBG; sertis, V.

21. cristis, Salmasius; crustis (V 2, from crussis, V).

22. enhydrus, Salmasius; hydrus hicheumonis, V.

23. bifidos unguis habentes, Clark; bifidas habentes ungulas, Lind.; unguii habentes omitted by V.

24. sagina distentum, G; inadestemtum, V.

25. maligna gignentes, Clark; malignantes, VBG; maligna manantes, Her.

26. V has lac. of 18 letters after Nili; no lac. BG.

27. ac maxima, Her.; maximum legere e, G; maximum cernere, Haupt; maxima aeger naequibus, V.

28. pyramides, add. EAG; extensive lac. suspected by Her. and Clark.

29. scriptor, V 3EBG; auctor, Her.; ruptor, V; Clark thinks antiquitatum, or something similar, has been lost.

30. omnem omnino, G; omnem nominum, V.

31. humana manu, Lind.; humanis, VBG (defended by Löfstedt).

32. inanimalium, Madvig; alis, Gardt.

33. illas, Eyssen.; multas, V.

34. V has a lac. of 19 letters; no lac. in G.

35. si, added in EG; V omits.

36. nostrils in, W 2, Lind.; nostrae in, BG; nostrae, omitting in, V.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 22.15

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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Descriptio rerum Aegyptiarum; et de Nilo, de crocodilo, de ibi, ac de pyramidibus.

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