selected from De Chorographia Book II

Pomponius Mela opens Book II from the northern Black Sea: the Rhipaean mountains, Arimaspians, Essedones, Sauromatae, Amaxobii, Taurica, the Borysthenes, Geloni, Neuri, sword-offerings to Mars, and the rivers and peoples of European Scythia.

The translation below gives that European Scythia chapter, the following Thracian and straits route, and Mela's Maeotian and Pontic island notices, so that the Scythian material can be read in its Black Sea frame rather than as an isolated ethnographic clipping.

The English is a Good Works Translation from the Latin passages printed below.

Translation

Book II.1 -- European Scythia

The boundary and position of Asia, where it slopes toward our sea and toward the Tanais, have already been described. Returning by that same river into the Maeotian lake, Europe is on the right hand; to those sailing in, it had lain on the left.

In Europe the land nearest the Riphaean mountains, for those mountains too belong here, is made impassable by continually falling snow, so that it does not even admit the sight of those who try to look beyond. After this comes a country with very rich soil, yet uninhabitable, because griffins, a fierce and stubborn kind of beast, love wonderfully the gold dug from deep in the earth, guard it wonderfully, and are hostile to those who touch it.

The first human beings are the Scythians, and among the Scythians those said to have one eye each, the Arimaspians. From them the Essedones extend as far as Maeotis. The river Buces cuts through the bend of Maeotis. The Agathyrsi and Sauromatae stand around it; because they have wagons for dwellings, they are called Amaxobii. Then a slanting tract runs out toward the Bosporus and is enclosed by Pontus and Maeotis.

The parts sloping toward the lake are held by the Satarchae. Toward the Bosporus stand the Cimmerian towns: Myrmecion, Panticapaeum, Theodosia, and Hermisium. Toward the Euxine Sea are the Taurians. Above them a gulf, full of harbors and therefore called Calos Limen, the Fair Harbor, is enclosed by two promontories. One is called Criu Metopon, lying opposite and answering to the Carambis which I mentioned in Asia; the other is Parthenion. Beside it is the city Chersonesus, said, if the story is believed, to have been founded by Diana, and famous above all for a nymphaean cave in its citadel, sacred to the nymphs.

Then the sea presses against the shore and, following the retreating coast until it is within five thousand paces of Maeotis, almost makes an island of the land held by the Satarchae and Taurians. The country between the lake and the gulf is called Taphrae; the gulf is Carcinites. In it is the city Carcine, touched by two rivers, the Gerrhos and Ypacares, which pour out through one mouth but come from different springs and descend from different regions. The Gerrhos runs between the Basilidae and the Nomads; the Ypacares unfolds through the Nomads.

Next come forests, the greatest these lands bear, and the Panticapes, which separates the Nomads from the Georgi. Then the land stretches far out, attached to the shore by a narrow root; afterward it rises gradually and moderately into a broad body, and, drawing its long sides together as if into a point, is laid down in the shape of a sword. It is remembered that Achilles, when he entered the Pontic sea with a hostile fleet, celebrated victory there in a contest of games, and, when there was rest from arms, exercised himself and his men by running. For this reason the place is called the Racecourse of Achilles.

Then the Borysthenes washes the people who bear its name. Among the rivers of Scythia it is the most pleasant: while the others are muddy, it runs very clear, gentler than the rest and excellent to drink. It nourishes very rich pastures and great fish, which have both the best flavor and no bones. It comes from far away, born from unknown springs, and holds its channel for a journey of forty days; for all that distance it is navigable, and it goes out beside Borysthenida and Olbia, Greek towns.

The Hypanis encloses the Callippidae. It rises from a great marsh, which the inhabitants call its mother, and for a long time it runs as it was born. At last, not far from the sea, it receives from a little spring, named Exampaeus, waters so bitter that from there onward the river too flows unlike itself and is no longer sweet. The Asiaces, next after it, comes down between the Callippidae and the Asiacae. The Tyra separates these from the Histrici. It rises among the Neuri, and where it goes out it touches a town of its own name.

But the river which separates the Scythian peoples from those who follow rises from open springs in Germany under a name different from the one it has at its end. For a long time, through the vast lands of great nations, it is the Danube. Then, when the neighboring peoples call it otherwise, it becomes the Hister; after receiving several rivers, already immense and, among those that fall into our sea, smaller only than the Nile, it flows out through as many mouths as the Nile, though three are slight and the rest navigable.

The characters and customs of the nations differ. The Essedones celebrate the funerals of their parents cheerfully, with victims and a festive gathering of relatives. They cut up the bodies themselves, mix them with the entrails of slaughtered cattle, and consume them in a feast. When they have carefully polished the heads, they bind them with gold and use them as cups. Among them these are the final duties of piety.

The Agathyrsi paint their faces and limbs, more or less according to the rank of each man's ancestors. All have the same markings, and in such a way that they cannot be washed away. The Satarchae know nothing of gold and silver, those greatest plagues, and carry on trade by exchange of goods. Because the fierce winter is almost constant, they sink their dwellings into the ground and live in caves or dug-out places. Their whole bodies are covered with trousers, and their faces too are clothed except where they see.

The Tauri, remembered especially because of the coming of Iphigenia and Orestes, are savage in their ways and have the savage reputation of slaughtering strangers as victims. The Basilidae begin their lineage from Hercules and Echidna; they have royal customs, and their only weapons are arrows. The wandering Nomads follow pasture for their herds, and remain in a fixed seat only as long as those herds endure. The Georgi cultivate and work the fields. The Asiacae do not know what theft is, and therefore neither guard their own property nor touch what belongs to others.

Among the people who live farther inland the rite is harsher and the land less cultivated. They love wars and slaughters, and it is their custom in battle to drink the blood of the first man they have killed, straight from the wounds. The more men anyone has killed, the more distinguished he is held among them; to have no share in killing is counted among the greatest disgraces. Even treaties are not bloodless. Those who make agreements wound themselves, mingle the blood they have drawn out, and taste it. This they think the surest pledge of enduring faith. At banquets the happiest and most frequent subject is how many each has killed, and those who have reported the most drink deeply from two cups at once. Among jesting men this is the chief honor. Just as the Essedones polish the heads of their parents into cups, these men do so with the heads of their bitterest enemies.

Among the Anthropophagi even the meals themselves are prepared from human flesh. The Geloni cover their horses and themselves with the skins of enemies: the horses with skins from the rest of the body, themselves with skins from the heads. The Melanchlaeni wear black clothing and take their name from it. Among the Neuri there is a fixed time for each person when, if they wish, they are changed into wolves and then back again into what they had been. Mars is god of all. In place of images they dedicate swords and belts to him, and they strike human beings as victims.

The lands stretch widely, and because the rivers mostly overflow their banks they are everywhere fertile for pasture. In some places they are so sterile for everything else that the inhabitants, lacking wood, feed their fires with bones.

Book II.2 -- Thrace, the Pontic Shore, and the Straits

Next to these lies Thrace. It is carried inward from the front of the Pontic side as far as Illyria; where it forms its flanks, it touches the Hister and the sea. The region is not cheerful in climate or soil, and, except where it is nearer the sea, is barren, cold, and very grudging toward whatever is sown. Almost nowhere does it support fruit trees, though it bears vines more often. Yet even their fruit it does not ripen and mellow unless cultivators ward off the cold by setting foliage before them. It nourishes men more generously, though not for beauty, since they too have a rough and uncomely habit of body; but for ferocity and number, being very fertile in many and very fierce men.

It sends few rivers into the sea, but very famous ones: the Hebrus, the Nestus, and the Strymon. Inland it raises the mountains Haemus, Rhodope, and Orbelus, celebrated in the rites of Father Liber and the gatherings of the Maenads, with Orpheus as the first initiator. Among them Haemus rises to such height that from its summit it shows both the Euxine and the Adriatic.

One nation, the Thracians, inhabits the land, endowed with different names and different customs. Some are fierce and most ready for death, especially the Getae. Different beliefs bring this about. Some think the souls of the dead will return; others, even if they do not return, think they are not extinguished but pass to happier places; others think they do die, but that this is better than living. Therefore among some peoples births are mourned and newborn children are lamented, but funerals, on the other hand, are joyful and are celebrated with singing and play as if they were sacred rites.

Nor is the spirit of the women sluggish. They count it a splendid vow to be killed over the bodies of their dead husbands and buried with them. Because several women are married at once to individual men, each strives with great rivalry for the honor of being judged worthy of this. It is granted to custom, and it is especially joyful when they contend to win in this matter. Other women mourn with their voices and carry the dead out with very bitter lamentations. Those who wish to console them bring arms and wealth to the pyres, and say they are ready, if it were allowed into their hands, either to bargain or to fight with the dead man's fate; where there is room for neither battle nor money, the suitors remain for their mistresses. Girls about to marry are not handed over to husbands by their parents, but are either leased openly to be married or sold. Whether one or the other happens depends on appearance and character. The honorable and beautiful have a price; for the rest, a payment is sought from those who will take them. Among some people the use of wine is unknown; yet when they feast, after certain seeds have been thrown over the fires around which they sit, an exhilaration like drunkenness comes from the smell.

On the shores, nearest the Hister, is Histropolis, then Callatis, founded by Milesians, then Tomi, the port Caria, and the promontory Tiristis. Those who have sailed past it are received by the other angle of Pontus, opposite the Phasian angle and similar to it, except that it is broader. Here once stood Bizone, destroyed by an earthquake. There is the port Crunos, and the cities Dionysopolis, Odessos, Mesembria, Anchialos, and, in the deepest bay, where Pontus ends the other bend of itself in an angle, great Apollonia. After this the coast is straight, except that about the middle it runs out into a promontory called Thynias and is set against shores curved opposite one another; it bears the cities Halmydessus, Philias, and Phinopolis. Thus far extends Pontus.

Then comes the Bosporus and the Propontis: on the Bosporus, Byzantium; on the Propontis, Selymbria, Perinthus, and the lands of the Bithynians; and the rivers that flow between them, Erginos and Atyras. Then comes the part of Thrace once ruled by Rhesus, and Bisanthe of the Samians, and Cypsela, once great. After this is the place which the Greeks call the Long Wall, and Lysimachia, sitting at the root of a great almost-island.

The land that follows is nowhere broad, and here it runs out at its narrowest between the Hellespont and the Aegean. Its narrows are called the Isthmus, its front Mastusia, and the whole Chersonesus, memorable for many things. In it is the river Aegos, famous for the wreck of the Athenian fleet. There too is Sestos opposite Abydos, renowned for the love of Leander. There is also the region where the army of the Persians dared to join with bridges lands divided by a space of sea, a strange and enormous deed, crossing on foot from Asia into Greece over waters not sailed. There are the bones of Protesilaus, consecrated by a shrine. There is the harbor Coelos, marked by the destruction of the Laconian fleet when Athenians and Lacedaemonians decided the issue in a naval battle. There is Cynos Sema, the tomb of Hecuba, named either from the shape of the dog into which she is said to have been changed, or from the fortune into which she had fallen. There are Madytus and Eleus, which ends the Hellespont.

Immediately the Aegean sea strikes a shore long and vast, and carries the lands, drawn back from here to the promontory called Sunium, around in a great and gentle circuit. For those who trace that tract and have passed Mastusia, one must enter a gulf which washes the other side of the Chersonesus and is enclosed by a ridge shaped like a valley. From the river it receives, it is called Melas. It embraces two cities, Alopeconnesus and Cardia, set on the other shore of the Isthmus. Aenus is remarkable, founded by the refugee Aeneas. Around the Hebrus are the Cicones; across the same river is Doriscus, where Xerxes is said to have measured his forces by space because he could not number them. Then comes the promontory Serrhion, and Zone, where even the woods are said to have followed Orpheus as he sang. Then the river Sthenos, and Maroneia beside its banks.

The farther region produced Diomedes, who used to throw strangers to be devoured by his monstrous horses and was himself thrown to the same horses by Hercules. The tower called Diomedes' remains as the sign of the tale, and the city which his sister named from herself, Abdera; but Abdera is more worth remembering because it produced Democritus the natural philosopher than because it was founded in this way. Beyond flows the Nestus. Between it and the Strymon are the cities Philippi, Apollonia, and Amphipolis; between the Strymon and Athos are the Calarnaean tower, the harbor Capru Limen, the city Acanthus, and Echinia; between Athos and Pallene are Cleona and Olynthus. The Strymon, as we said, is a river born far away and slender. It is made broader from time to time by foreign waters, and, after forming a lake not far from the sea, bursts out in a channel larger than the one by which it came.

Mount Athos is so high that it is believed to rise even above the place from which rains fall. The belief gains credit because the ash on the altars which it carries on its summit is not washed away, but remains in whatever heap it was left. Yet Athos does not run into the sea as a promontory like other mountains; rather, the whole mountain advances with its whole long back into the sea. Where it clings to the continent, Xerxes, as he marched against the Greeks, cut through it and sailed through it; the navigable strait is still passable. Small Pelasgian colonies hold its lower parts. On the top was the town Acrothoon, where, they say, the life of the inhabitants was half again as long as in other lands.

Pallene goes entirely into the deep, beginning from a narrow enough base, but with soil so open that it provides seat and field for five cities. There is Potidaea, and where it spreads more widely Mende and Scione must be named: the former founded by Eretrians, the latter by Achaeans returning from captured Troy.

Book II.7.1-3 -- Maeotian, Pontic, and Bosporan Islands

Gades, the island that meets those who leave the strait, warns me to speak of islands before the discourse moves on, as I promised at the beginning, to the shores of Ocean and the circuit of the lands. There are few islands in Maeotis, for from there it seems most convenient to begin; and not all of them are inhabited, since they do not even produce pasture in abundance. For this reason those who live there use the flesh of great fish dried in the sun and pounded down almost into powder in place of grain.

There are also few islands in Pontus. Leuce, set opposite the mouth of the Borysthenes, is quite small and is also called Achillea because Achilles is buried there. Not far from Colchis is Aria, consecrated to Mars; as the tales report, it produced birds which, with great disaster to those who came there, hurled their feathers like missiles. Six islands lie among the mouths of the Hister; among them Peuce is the best known and the largest. Thynias, nearest the borders of the Mariandyni, has a city which, because Bithynians inhabit it, they call Bithynis.

Opposite the Thracian Bosporus are two small islands, separated by a small space, once believed and called to clash together; they are called the Cyaneae and the Symplegades.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was made from selected Latin passages of Pomponius Mela, De Chorographia, Book II. The selected passages are Book II.1, Book II.2, and Book II.7.1-3.

The English translation is independently derived from the Latin. No modern English translation was used as the base text.

Compiled for the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Latin

## CAP. I. Scythia Europaea.

Asiae in Nostrum mare Tanainque vergentis quem dixi finis ac situs est, ac per eundem amnem in Maeotida remeantibus ad dexteram Europa est, modo sinistro latere innavigantium adposita. in ea Riphaeis montibus proxuma, - et huc enim pertinent -, cadentes adsidue nives adeo invia efficiunt, ut ultra ne visum quidem intendentium admittant. deinde est regio ditis admodum soli, inhabitabilis tamen, quia grypi, saevum et pertinax ferarum genus, aurum terra penitus egestum mire amant mireque custodiunt, et sunt infesti attingentibus.

[ 2 ] hominum primi sunt Scythae Scytharumque quis singuli oculi esse dicuntur Arimaspoe, ab eis Essedones usque ad Maeotida. huius flexum Buces amnis secat. Agathyrsi et Sauromatae ambiunt; quia pro sedibus plaustra habent dicti Amaxobioe. obliqua tunc ad Bosphorum plaga excurrens Ponto ac Maeotide includitur.

[ 3 ] in Paludem vergentia Satarchae tenent, in Bosphorum Cimmerica oppida Murmecion, Panticapaeon, Theodosia, Hermisium, in Euxinum mare Taurici. super eos sinus portuosus et ideo Calos limen appellatus promunturiis duobus includitur. alterum Criu metopon vocant, Carambico quod in Asia diximus par et adversum, Parthenion alterum. oppidum adiacet Cherronesus, a Diana, si creditur, conditum, et nymphaeo specu quod in arce eius nymphis sacratum est maxime inlustre.

[ 4 ] subit tum ripam mare, et donec quinque milium passuum spatio absit a Maeotide, refugientia usque subsequens litora, quod Satarchae et Taurici tenent paene insulam reddit. quod inter Paludem et sinum est Taphrae nominantur, sinus Carcinites. in eo urbs est Carcine, quam duo flumina Gerrhos et Ypacares uno ostio effluentia adtingunt, verum diversis fontibus et aliunde delapsa. nam Gerrhos inter Basilidas et Nomadas, Ypacares per Nomadas evolvitur.

[ 5 ] silvae deinde sunt quas maximas hae terrae ferunt, et Panticapes qui Nomadas Georgosque disterminat. terra tum longe distenta excedens tenui radice litori adnectitur, post spatiosa modice paulatim se ipsa fastigat, et quasi in mucronem longa colligens latera facie positi ensis adiecta est. Achilles infesta classe mare Ponticum ingressus ibi ludicro certamine celebrasse victoriam, et cum ab armis quies erat se ac suos cursu exercitavisse memoratur. ideo dicta est Dromos Achilleos.

[ 6 ] tum Borysthenes gentem sui nominis adluit, inter Scythiae amnes amoenissimus turbidis aliis liquidissimus defluit, placidior quam ceteri potarique pulcherrimus. alit laetissima pabula magnosque pisces, quibus et optimus sapor et nulla ossa sunt. longe venit ignotisque ortus e fontibus quadraginta dierum iter alveo stringit, tantoque spatio navigabilis secundum Borysthenidam et Olbian, Graeca oppida, egreditur.

[ 7 ] Callippidas Hypanis includit. ex grandi palude oritur, quam matrem eius accolae appellant, et diu qualis natus est defluit. tandem non longe a mari ex parvo fonte, cui Exampaeo cognomen est, adeo amaras aquas accipit, ut ipse quoque iam sui dissimilis et non dulcis hinc defluat. Asiaces proximus inter Callippidas Asiacasque descendit. hos ab Histricis Tyra separat; surgit in Neuris, qua exit sui nominis oppidum adtingit.

[ 8 ] at ille qui Scythiae populos a sequentibus dirimit, apertis in Germania fontibus, alio quam desinit nomine exoritur. nam per immania magnarum gentium diu Danuvius est, deinde aliter eum adpellantibus accolis fit Hister, acceptisque aliquot amnibus, ingens iam et eorum qui in Nostrum mare decidunt tantum Nilo minor, totidem quot ille ostiis, sed tribus tenuibus, reliquis navigabilibus effluit.

[ 9 ] ingenia cultusque gentium differunt. Essedones funera parentium laeti et victimis ac festo coetu familiarium celebrant. corpora ipsa laniata et caesis pecorum visceribus inmixta epulando consumunt. capita ubi fabre expolivere, auro vincta pro poculis gerunt. haec sunt apud eos ipsos pietatis ultima officia.

[ 10 ] Agathyrsi ora artusque pingunt, ut quique maioribus praestant, ita magis aut minus: ceterum isdem omnes notis et sic ut ablui nequeant. Satarchae auri argentique, maximarum pestium, ignari vice rerum commercia exercent, atque ob saeva hiemis admodum adsiduae, demersis in humum sedibus, specus aut suffossa habitant, totum bracati corpus, et nisi qua vident etiam ora vestiti.

[ 11 ] Tauri Iphigeniae et Orestis adventu maxime memorati immanes sunt moribus, immanemque famam habent solere pro victimis advenas caedere. Basilidis ab Hercule et Echidna generis principia sunt, mores regii, arma tantum sagittae. vagi Nomades pecorum pabula secuntur, atque ut illa [pecorum] durant ita diu stata sede agunt. colunt Georgi exercentque agros. Asiacae furari quid sit ignorant, ideoque nec sua custodiunt nec aliena contingunt.

[ 12 ] interius habitantium ritus asperior et incultior regio est. bella caedesque amant, mosque est bellantibus cruorem eius quem primum interemerunt ipsis ex vulneribus ebibere. ut quisque plures interem [er]it, ita apud eos habetur eximius; ceterum expertem esse caedis inter opprobria vel maximum. ne foedera quidem incruenta sunt; sauciant se qui paciscuntur, exemptumque sanguinem ubi permiscuere degustant. id putant mansurae fidei pignus certissimum. inter epulas quot quisque interfecerit referre laetissima et frequentissima mentio, binisque poculis qui plurimos rettulere perpotant. is inter iocantis honos praecipuus est. pocula ut Essedones parentium, ita inimicissimorum capitibus expoliunt.

[ 13 ] apud Anthropophagos ipsae etiam epulae visceribus humanis apparantur. Geloni hostium cutibus equos seque velant, illos reliqui corporis, se capitum. Melanchlaenis atra vestis et ex ea nomen, Neuris statum singulis tempus est, quo si velint in lupos, iterumque in eos qui fuere mutentur. Mars omnium deus; ei pro simulacris enses et cinctoria dedicant, hominesque pro victumis feriunt.

[ 14 ] terrae late patent, et ob excedentia ripas suas plerumque flumina nusquam non ad pabula fertiles, alicubi usque eo steriles ad cetera, ut qui habitant lignorum egentes ignes ossibus alant.

## CAP. II. THRACIA.

His Thracia proxima est, eaque a Pontici lateris fronte usque in Illyrios penitus inmissa, qua latera agit Histro pelagoque contingitur. regio nec caelo laeta nec solo, et nisi qua mari propior est, infecunda, frigida, eorumque quae seruntur maligne admodum patiens, raro usquam pomiferam arborem, vitem frequentius tolerat: sed nec eius quidem fructus maturat ac mitigat, nisi ubi frigora obiectu frondium cultores arcuere. viros benignius alit, non ad speciem tamen, nam et illis asper atque indecens corporum habitus est, ceterum ad ferociam et numerum, ut multi immitesque sunt maxime ferax.

[ 2 ] paucos amnis qui in pelagus evadunt, verum celeberrimos Hebrum et Neston et Strymona emittit. montes interior adtollit Haemon et Rhodopen et Orbelon, sacris Liberi patris et coetu Maenadum, Orpheo primum initiante, celebratos. e quis Haemos in tantum altitudinis abit, ut Euxinum et Hadrian ex summo vertice ostendat.

[ 3 ] una gens Thraces habitant, aliis aliisque praediti et nominibus et moribus. quidam feri sunt et paratissimi ad mortem, Getae utique. id varia opinio perficit; alii redituras putant animas obeuntium, alii etsi non redeant non extingui tamen, sed ad beatiora transire, alii emori quidem, sed id melius esse quam vivere. itaque lugentur apud quosdam puerperia natique deflentur, funera contra festa sunt, et veluti sacra cantu lusuque celebrantur.

[ 4 ] ne feminis quidem segnis animus est. super mortuorum virorum corpora interfici simulque sepeliri votum eximium habent, et quia plures simul singulis nuptae sunt, cuius id sit decus apud iudicaturos magno certamine adfectant. moribus datur estque maxime laetum, cum in hoc contenditur vincere. maerent aliae vocibus, et cum acerbissimis planctibus efferunt. at quibus consolari eas animus est, arma opesque ad rogos deferunt, paratique, ut dictitant, cum fato iacentis, si detur in manus, vel pacisci vel decernere, ubi nec pugnae nec pecuniae locus sit, †manentque dominas proci†. nupturae virgines non a parentibus viris traduntur, sed publice aut locantur ducendae aut veneunt. utrum fiat ex specie et moribus causa est. probae formosaeque in pretio sunt, ceteras qui habeant mercede quaeruntur. vini usus quibusdam ignotus est: epulantibus tamen ubi super ignes quos circumsident quaedam semina ingesta sunt, similis ebrietati hilaritas ex nidore contingit.

[ 5 ] in litoribus Histro est proxima Histropolis, deinde a Milesiis deducta Callatis, tum Tomoe et portus Caria et Tiristis promunturium, quod praetervectos alter Ponti angulus accipit, adversus Phasiaco et nisi amplior foret similis. fuit hic Bizone, motu terrae intercidit. est portus Crunos, urbes Dionysopolis, Odessos, Messembria, Anchialos, et intimo in sinu, atque ubi Pontus alterum sui flexum angulo finit, magna Apollonia. recta dehinc ora, nisi quod media ferme in promunturium quod Thynian vocant exit, et incurvis contra se litoribus obtenditur, urbesque sustinet Halmydeson et Philias et Phinopolim. hactenus Pontus.

[ 6 ] deinde est Bosphorus et Propontis, in Bosphoro Byzantion, in Propontide Selymbria, Perinthos, Bytinis; amnesque qui interfluunt Erginos et Atyras. tum Rhesso regnata quondam pars Thraciae, et Bisanthe Samiorum, et ingens aliquando Cypsela. post locus quem Grai Macron tichos adpellant, et in radice magnae paene insulae sedens Lysimachia.

[ 7 ] terra quae sequitur nusquam lata atque hic artissima inter Hellespontum Aegaeumque procurrit. angustias Isthmon, frontem eius Mastusiam, totam Chersonessum adpellant ob multa memorabilem. est in ea flumen Aegos, naufragio classis Atticae insigne; est et Abydo obiacens Sestos, Leandri amore pernobile; est et regio in qua Persarum exercitus divisas spatio pelagoque terras ausus pontibus iungere, mirum atque ingens facinus, ex Asia in Graeciam pedes et non navigata maria transgressus est; sunt Protesilai ossa consecrata delubro; est et portus Coelos, Atheniensibus et Lacedaemoniis navali acie decernentibus Laconicae classis signatus excidio; est Cynos sema, tumulus Hecubae, sive ex figura canis in quam conversa traditur, sive ex fortuna in quam deciderat, humili nomine accepto; est Madytos, est Eleus quae finit Hellespontum.

[ 8 ] Aegaeum statim pelagus vaste longum litus inpellit, summotasque terras hinc ad promunturium quod Sunium vocatur magno ambitu mollique circumagit. eius tractum legentibus praevectisque Mastusiam sinus intrandus est qui alterum Chersonesi latus adluens iugo facie vallis includitur, et ex fluvio quem accipit Melas dictus duas urbes amplectitur, Alopeconensum et in altero Isthmi litore sitam Cardiam. eximia est Aenos ab Aenea profugo condita. circa Hebrum Cicones, trans eundem Doriscos, ubi Xerxen copias suas quia numero non poterat spatio mensum ferunt. dein promunturium Serrhion, et quo canentem Orphea secuta narrantur etiam nemora Zone. tum Sthenos fluvius, et ripis eius adiacens Maronia.

[ 9 ] regio ulterior Diomeden tulit, inmanibus equis mandendos solitum obiectare advenas et iisdem ab Hercule obiectum. turris quam Diomedis vocant signum fabulae remanet, et urbs quam soror eius suo nomine nominavit Abdere; sed ea magis id memorandum habet, quod Democritum physicum tulit, quam quod ita condita est. ultra Nestos fluit, interque eum et Strymona urbes sunt Philippi, Apollonia, Amphipolis; inter Strymona et Athon turris Calarnaea et portus Capru limen, urbs Acanthos et Echinia; inter Athon et Pallenen Cleona et Olynthos. Strymon, sicut diximus, amnis est longeque ortus et tenuis. alienis subinde aquis fit amplior, et ubi non longe a mari lacum fecit, maiore quam venerat alveo erumpit.

[ 10 ] Atho mons adeo altus est, ut credatur altius etiam quam unde imbres cadunt surgere. capit opinio fidem, quia de aris quas in vertice sustinet non abluitur cinis, sed quo relinquitur aggere manet. ceterum non promunturio ut alii, verum totus et toto longoque dorso procedit in pelagus. qua continenti adhaeret a Xerxe in Graios tendente perfossus transnavigatusque est - adhuc freto navigabili pervius. ima eius tenent parvae Pelasgorum coloniae. in summo fuit oppidum Acrothoon, in quo, ut ferunt, dimidio longior quam in aliis terris aetas habitantium erat.

[ 11 ] Pallene soli tam patentis, ut quinque urbium sedes sit atque ager, tota in altum abit, angusta satis unde incipit. ibi est Potidaea, at ubi latius patet, Mende Scioneque referendae, illa ab Eretriis, haec ab Achivis capto Ilio remeantibus posita.

## CAP. VII. Mediterranei maris insulae.

Gades insula quae egressis fretum obvia est, admonet ante reliquas dicere quam in oceani litora terrarumque circuitum, ut initio promisimus, oratio excedat. paucae sunt in Maeotide, inde enim videtur commodissimum incipere; neque omnes tamen incoluntur, nam ne pabula quidem large ferunt. hac re habitantibus caro magnorum piscium sole siccata et in pollinem usque contusa pro farre est.

[ 2 ] paucae et in Ponto, Leuce Borysthenis ostio obiecta, parva admodum, et quod ibi Achilles situs est Achillea cognomine. non longe a Colchis Aria quae Marti consecrata, ut fabulis traditur, tulit aves cum summa clade advenientium pinnas quasi tela iaculatas. sex sunt inter Histri ostia: ex his Peuce notissima et maxima. Thynias, Mariandynorum finibus proxuma, urbem habet, quam quia Bithyni incolunt Bithynida adpellant.

[ 3 ] contra Thracium Bosphorum duae parvae parvoque distantes spatio et aliquando creditae dictaeque concurrere et Cyaneae vocantur et Symplegades.

Source Colophon

The Latin source body was extracted from the local Pomponius Mela Book II source file and copied for this translation pass at Tulku/Tools/scythian/sources/expansion_bench_2026-05-11/pomponius_mela_book2_northern_route_latin_source_manual73.txt.

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