Chapter 239

445“Quod mortis genus a terræ meritis et benignitate valde abhorret.” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 367.

446“Terra, inquit, sola est, e quatuor naturæ partibus sive elementis, adversus quam ingrati simus.” Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 368.

447“Est ironiæ formula. Quid, ait, feras et serpentes et venena terræ exprobramus, quæ ne ad tuendam quidem illam satis valent?” Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 369.

448“ossa vel insepulta cum tempore tellus occultat, deprimentia pondere suo mollitam pluviis humum.” Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 370.

449“figura prima.” I may refer to the second chapter of this book, where the author remarked upon the form of the earth as perfect in all its parts, and especially adapted for its supposed position in the centre of the universe.

450“... si capita linearum comprehendantur ambitu;” the meaning of this passage would appear to be: if the extremities of the lines drawn from the centre of the earth to the different parts of the surface were connected together, the result of the whole would be a sphere. I must, however, remark, that Hardouin interprets it in a somewhat different manner; “Si per extremitates linearum ductarum a centro adsummosquosque vertices montium circulus exigatur.” Lemaire, i. 370.

451“... immensum ejus globum in formam orbis assidua circa eam mundi volubilitate cogente.” As Hardouin remarks, the wordmundusis here used in the sense ofcœlum. Lemaire, i. 371.

452As our author admits of the existence of antipodes, and expressly states that the earth is a perfect sphere, we may conclude that the resemblance to the cone of the pine is to be taken in a very general sense. How far the ancients entertained correct opinions respecting the globular figure of the earth, or rather, at what period this opinion became generally admitted, it is perhaps not easy to ascertain. The lines in the Georgics, i. 242, 243, which may be supposed to express the popular opinion in the time of Virgil, certainly do not convey the idea of a sphere capable of being inhabited in all its parts:Hic vertex nobis semper sublimis; at illumSub pedibus Styx atra videt, manesque profundi.

Hic vertex nobis semper sublimis; at illumSub pedibus Styx atra videt, manesque profundi.

Hic vertex nobis semper sublimis; at illum

Sub pedibus Styx atra videt, manesque profundi.

453“spiritus vis mundo inclusi.”

454“... Alpium vertices, longo tractu, nec breviore quinquaginta millibus passuum assurgere.” To avoid the apparent improbability of the author conceiving of the Alps as 50 miles high, the commentators have, according to their usual custom, exercised their ingenuity in altering the text. See Poinsinet, i. 206, 207, and Lemaire, i. 373. But the expression does not imply that he conceived them as 50 miles in perpendicular height, but that there is a continuous ascent of 50 miles to get to the summit. This explanation of the passage is adopted by Alexandre; Lemaire,ut supra. For what is known of Dicæarchus I may refer to Hardouin, Index Auctorum, in Lemaire, i. 181.

455“coactam in verticem aquarum quoque figuram.”

456“aquarum nempe convexitas.” Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 374.

457“Quam quæ ad extremum mare a primis aquis.” I profess myself altogether unable to follow the author’s mode of reasoning in this paragraph, or to throw any light upon it. He would appear to be arguing in favour of the actual flatness of the surface of the ocean, whereas his previous remarks prove its convexity.

458Alexandre remarks on this passage, “Nempe quod remotissimos etiam fontes alat oceanus. Sed omittit Plinius vaporationis intermedia ope hoc fieri.” Lemaire, i. 376. Aristotle has written at considerable length on the origin of springs, in his Meteor. i. 13. p. 543et seq.He argues against the opinion of those who suppose that the water of springs is entirely derived from evaporation. Seneca’s account of the origin of springs is found in his Nat. Quæst. iii. 1.

459The voyage which is here alluded to was probably that performed by Drusus; it is mentioned by Dio, lib. iv., Suetonius, Claud. § 1, Vel. Paterculus, ii. 106, and by Tacitus, Germ. § 34.

460What is here spoken of we may presume to have been that part of the German Ocean which lies to the N.W. of Denmark; the term Scythian was applied by the ancients in so very general a way, as not to afford any indication of the exact district so designated.

461“Sub eodem sidere;” “which lies under the same star.”

462The ancients conceived the Caspian to be a gulf, connected with the northern ocean. Our author gives an account of it, vi. 15.

463That is, of the Caspian Sea.

464The remarks which our author makes upon the Palus Mæotis, in the different parts of his work, ii. 112 and vi. 7, appear so inconsistent with each other, that we must suppose he indiscriminately borrowed them from various writers, without comparing their accounts, or endeavouring to reconcile them to each other. Such inaccuracies may be thought almost to justify the censure of Alexandre, who styles our author, “indiligens plane veri et falsi compilator, et ubi dissentiunt auctores, nunquam aut raro sibi constans.” Lemaire, i. 378.

465The son of Agrippa, whom Augustus adopted. Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 378.

466See Beloe’s Herodotus, ii. 393, 394, for an account of the voyage round Africa that was performed by the Phœnicians, who were sent to explore those parts by Necho king of Egypt.

467It is generally supposed that C. Nepos lived in the century previous to the Christian æra. Ptolemy Lathyrus commenced his reignU.C.627 orB.C.117, and reigned for 36 years. The references made to C. Nepos are not found in any of his works now extant.

468We have previously referred to Eudoxus, note382, p. 78.

469We have a brief account of Antipater in Hardouin’s Index Auctorum; Lemaire, i. 162.

470We are informed by Alexandre that this was in the year of the City 691, the same year in which Cicero was consul; see note in Lemaire, i. 379.

471It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the account here given must be incorrect; the reader who may be disposed to learn the opinions of the commentators on this point, may consult the notes in Poinsinet and Lemairein loco.

472Dividuo globo; “Eoas partes a vespertinis dividente oceano.” Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 380.

473“Jam primum in dimidio computari videtur.”

474“Cœlum;” the rigour of the climate.

475The division of the globe into five zones is referred to by Virgil, Geor. i. 233-239, and by Ovid, Met. i. 45, 46.

476“... interna maria allatrat, ...”

477This is considerably more than the distance in the present day. The Isthmus of Suez appears, according to the statement of the most accurate geographers, to be about 70 miles in breadth.

478Hæ tot portiones terræ, as Alexandre correctly remarks, “ironice dictum. Quam paucæ enim supersunt!” Lemaire, i. 383.

479“Mundi punctus.” This expression, we may presume, was taken from Seneca; “Hoc est illud punctum, quod inter tot gentes ferro et igni dividitur.” Nat. Quæst. i. præf. p. 681.

480Nostro solo adfodimus; “addimus, adjungimus, annectimus, ut una fossione aretur.” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 383.

481“Mundi totius.”

482“Æquinoctii paribus horis.”

483Dioptra. “Græceδιόπτρα, instrumentum est geometricum,un quart de cercle, quo apparentes rerum inter se distantiæ anguli apertura dijudicantur.” Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 384.

484This title does not correspond with the contents of the chapter.

485“Tropici duo, cum æquinoctiali circulo;” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 384.

486The Troglodytice of the ancients may be considered as nearly corresponding to the modern Abyssinia and Nubia.

487This remark is incorrect, as far as respects nearly the whole of Egypt; see the remarks of Marcus, in Ajasson, ii. 245.

488This is a star of the first magnitude in the southern constellation of Argo; we have a similar statement in Manilius, i. 216, 217.

489The commentators suppose that the star or constellation here referred to cannot be the same with what bears this name on the modern celestial atlas; vide Hardouinin loco, also Marc. in Ajasson,ut supra. The constellation of Berenice’s hair forms the subject of Catullus’s 67th poem.

490In Troglodytice and in Egypt.

491The first watch of the night was from 6P.M.to 9; the second from 9 to midnight.

492According to Columella, xi. 2. 369, this was 9 Calend. Mart., corresponding to the 21st of February.

493“In alia adverso, in alia prono mari.” I have adopted the opinion of Alexandre, who explains the terms “adverso” and “prono,” “ascendenti ad polum,” and “ad austrum devexo;” a similar sense is given to the passage by Poinsinet and Ajasson, in their translations.

494“Anfractu pilæ.” See Manilius, i. 206et seq.for a similar mode of expression.

495“Aut;” as Poinsinet remarks, “autest ici pouralioqui;” and he quotes another passage from our author, xix. 3, where the word is employed in a similar manner.

496We may presume that the author meant to convey the idea, that the eclipses which are visible in any one country are not so in those which are situated under a different meridian. The terms “vespertinos,” “matutinos,” and “meridianos,” refer not to the time of the day, but to the situation of the eclipse, whether recurring in the western, eastern, or southern parts of the heavens.

497Brewster, in the art. “Chronology,” p. 415, mentions this eclipse as having taken place Sept. 21st,U.C.331, eleven days before the battle of Arbela; while, in the same art. p. 423, the battle is said to have taken place on Oct. 2nd, eleven days after a total eclipse of the moon.

498It took place on the 30th of April, in the year of the City 811,A.D.59; see Brewster,ubi supra. It is simply mentioned by Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 12, as having occurred among other prodigies which took place at this period.

499We have an account of Corbulo’s expedition to Armenia in Dion Cassius, lx. 19-24, but there is no mention of the eclipse or of any peculiar celestial phænomenon.

500The terms employed in the original are “oppositu” and “ambitu.” Alexandre’s explanation of the first is, “quum globi terraquei crassitudo interposita solis arcet radios;” and of the second, “quum nostra hujus globi pars a sole ambitur.” Lemaire, i. 389.

501One of these towers is mentioned by Livy, xxxiii. 48; it is said to have been situated between Acholla and Thapsus, on the sea-coast.

502Hardouin, according to his usual custom, employs all his learning and ingenuity to give a plausible explanation of this passage. Alexandre, as it must be confessed, with but too much reason, remarks, “Frustra desudavit Harduinus ut sanum aliquem sensum ex illis Plinii deliramentis excuteret.” He correctly refers the interval of time, which was said to occur between these signals, not to any astronomical cause, but to the necessary delay which took place in the transmission of them. He concludes, “Sed ad cursum solis hoc referre, dementiæ est. Nam ut tanta horarum differentia intersit, si moram omnem in speculandis ac transmittendis signis sustuleris, necesse erit observatores illos ultimos 135 gradibus, id est, sesquidimidio hemisphærio, a primis distare furribus. Recte igitur incredibilem Plinii credulitatem ludibrio vertit Baylius in Dictionario suo.” Lemaire, i. 389.

503The distance, as here stated, is about 150 miles, which he is said to have performed in nine hours, but that the same distance, in returning, required fifteen hours. We have here, as on the former occasion, a note of Hardouin’s to elucidate the statement of the author. On this Alexandre observes, “Optime; sed in tam parva locorum distantia, Elidis et Sicyonis horologia vix quinque unius horæ sexagesimis differre poterant; quare eunti ac redeunti ne discrimen quidem quadrantis horæ intererat. Ineptos igitur auctores sequitur hoc quoque loco Plinius.” Lemaire, i. 390, 391.

504“Vincunt spatia nocturnæ navigationis.” This expression would appear to imply, that the author conceived some physical difficulty in sailing during the night, and so it seems to be understood by Alexandre; vide not.in loco.

505“Vasa horoscopica.” “Vasa horoscopica appellat horologia in plano descripta, horizonti ad libellam respondentia. Vasa dicuntur, quod area in qua lineæ ducebantur, labri interdum instar et conchæ erat, cujus in margine describebantur horæ. Horoscopa, abὥραetσκοπέω, hoc est, ab inspiciendis horis.” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 391.

506These distances are respectively about 38 and 62 miles.

507We are not to expect any great accuracy in these estimates, and we accordingly find, that our author, when referring to the subject in his 6th book, ch. 39, makes the shadow at Ancona1⁄35greater than the gnomon, while, in Venetia, which is more northerly, he says, as in the present chapter, that the shadow and the gnomon are equal in length. See the remarks of M. Alexandre in Lemaire,ut supra.

508This would be about 625 miles. Strabo, ii. 114, and Lucan, ii. 587, give the same distance, which is probably nearly correct. Syene is, however, a little to the north of the tropic.

509This remark is not correct, as no part of this river is between the tropics. For an account of Onesicritus see Lemaire, i. 203, 204.

510“In meridiem umbras jaci.” M. Ajasson translates this passage, “les ombres tombent pendant quatre-vingt-dix jours sur le point central du méridien.” ii. 165. But I conceive that Holland’s version is more correct, “for 90 days’ space all the shadows are cast into the south.” i. 36. The remarks of M. Alexandre are to the same effect; “... ut bis solem in zenitho haberet (Ptolemais), Maii mensis et Augusti initio; interea vero, solem e septemtrione haberet.” Lemaire, i. 393.

511About 625 miles.

512These days correspond to the 8th of May and the 4th of August respectively.

513There is considerable uncertainty respecting the identity of this mountain; our author refers to it in a subsequent part of his work, where it is said to be in the country of the Monedes and Suari; vi. 22. See the note of Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 394.

514Our author, in a subsequent part of his work, vi. 23, describes the island of Patale as situated near the mouth of the Indus; he again refers to it, xii. 25. His account of the position of the sun does not, however, apply to this place.

515If we may suppose this to have been actually the case, we might calculate the time of the year when Alexander visited this place and the length of his stay.

516We may presume, that our author means to say no more than that, in those places, they are occasionally invisible; literally the observation would not apply to any part of India.

517ἄσκια, shadowless.

518If this really were the case, it could have no relation to the astronomical position of the country.

519“In contrarium,” contrary to what takes place at other times,i. e.towards the south. This observation is not applicable to the whole of this country, as its northern and southern parts differ from each other by seven or eight degrees of latitude. For an account of Eratosthenes see Lemaire, i. 186.

520“Hora duodecim in partes, ut as in totidem uncias dividebatur. Octonas igitur partes horæ antiquæ, sive bessem, ut Martianus vocat, nobis probe repræsentant horarum nostratium 40 sexagesimæ, quas minutas vocamus.” Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 396.

521For a notice of Pytheas see Lemaire, i. 210. He was a geographer and historian who lived in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus; but his veracity does not appear to have been highly estimated by his contemporaries.

522The Thule of Pliny has been generally supposed to be the Shetland Isles. What is here asserted respecting the length of the day, as well as its distance from Britain, would indeed apply much more correctly to Iceland than to Shetland; but we have no evidence that Iceland was known to the ancients. Our author refers to the length of the day in Thule in two subsequent parts of his work, iv. 30 and vi. 36.

523Supposed to be Colchester in Essex; while the Mona of Pliny appears to have been Anglesea. It is not easy to conceive why the author measured the distance of Mona from Camelodunum.

524Chap.6of this book.

525aσκιὰ, umbra, andθηράω, sector. It has been a subject for discussion by the commentators, how far this instrument of Anaximenes is entitled to the appellation of a dial, whether it was intended to mark the hours, or to serve for some other astronomical purpose. See Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 398, 399. It has been correctly remarked by Brotier, that we have an account of a much more ancient dial in the 2nd book of Kings, xx. 9, 11.

526A. Gellius, iii. 3, informs us, that the question concerning the commencement of the day was one of the topics discussed by Varro, in his book “Rerum Humanarum:” this work is lost. We learn from the notes of Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 399, that there are certain countries in which all these various modes of computation are still practised; the last-mentioned is the one commonly employed in Europe.

527It has been supposed, that in this passage the author intended to say no more than that the nights are shorter at the summer solstice than at the other parts of the year; see Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 399, 400. But to this, I conceive, it may be objected, that the words “inter ortus solis” can scarcely apply to the period while the sun is below the horizon, and that the solstices generally would seem to be opposed to the equinoxes generally. Also the words “obliquior” and “rectior” would appear to have some farther reference than merely to the length of time during which the sun is above or below the horizon.

528“Vibrato;” the same term is applied by Turnus to the hair of Æneas; Æn. xii. 100.

529“Mobilitate hebetes;” it is not easy to see the connexion between these two circumstances.

530There is a passage in Galen, De Temperamentis, iii. 6, which may appear to sanction the opinion of our author; “Siccos esse, quibus macra sunt crura; humidos, quibus crassa.”

531The latter part of the remark is correct, but the number of ferocious animals is also greater in the warmer regions; there is, in fact, a greater variety in all the productions of nature in the warmer districts of the globe, except in those particular spots where animal or vegetable life is counteracted by some local circumstances, as in many parts of Asia and Africa by the want of water.

532“Sensus liquidus;” Alexandre explains this expression, “judicium sanum, mens intelligendo apta.” Lemaire, i. 401.

533Saturn, Jupiter and Mars: see the8thchapter of this book.

534“Vel quando meant cum Sole in conjunctione cum eo, vel quando cum eo conveniunt in aspectu, maxime vero in quadrato, qui fit, quum distant a Sole quarta mundi sive cœli parte.” Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 401.

535“Ut urbem et tecta custodirent.” This anecdote is referred to by Cicero, who employs the words “ut urbem et tecta linquerent.” De Divin. i. 112.

536This anecdote is also referred to by Cicero, de Div. ii.

537It has been observed that earthquakes, as well as other great convulsions of nature, are preceded by calms; it has also been observed that birds and animals generally exhibit certain presentiments of the event, by something peculiar in their motions or proceedings; this circumstance is mentioned by Aristotle, Meteor. ii. 8, and by Seneca, Nat. Quæst. vi. 12.

538It is scarcely necessary to remark, that this supposed resemblance or analogy is entirely without foundation. The phænomena of earthquakes are described by Aristotle, De Mundo, cap. 4, and Meteor. ii. 7 and 8; also by Seneca in various parts of the 6th book of his Quæst. Nat.

539On this subject we shall find much curious matter in Aristotle’s Treatise de Mundo, cap. 4.

540Poinsinet enters into a long detail of some of the most remarkable earthquakes that have occurred, from the age of Pliny to the period when he wrote, about fifty years ago; i. 249. 2.

541See Aristotle, Meteor. ii. 8.

542See Aristotle, Meteor. ii. 8, and Seneca, Nat. Quæst. vi. 13.

543“Fervente;” “Fremitum aquæ ferventis imitante.” Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 404.

544The reader will scarcely require to be informed, that many of the remarks in the latter part of this chapter are incorrect. Our author has principally followed Aristotle, whose treatise on meteorology, although abounding in curious details, is perhaps one of the least correct of his works.

545This observation is taken from Aristotle, Meteor. ii. 8.

546Phænomena of this kind have been frequently noticed, and are not difficult of explanation.

547“In iisdem;” “Iidem, inquit, putei inclusum terra spiritum libero meatu emittentes, terræ motus avertunt.” Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 406.

548“Quæ pendent.” M. Ajasson translates this passage, “qui sont comme suspendues.” Hardouin’s explanation is, “Structis fornice cameris imposita ædificia intelligit; quod genus camerarum spiramenta plerumque habet non pauca, quibus exeat ad libertatem aer.” Lemaire, i. 407.

549Many of these circumstances are referred to by Seneca, Nat. Quæst. vi. 30. On the superior security of brick buildings, M. Alexandre remarks, “Muri e lateribus facti difficilius quam cæteri dehiscunt, unde fit ut in urbibus muniendis id constructionum genus plerumque præferatur. Ex antiquæ Italiæ palatiis templisve nihil fere præter immensas laterum moles hodie superest.”

550These remarks upon the different kinds of shocks are probably taken from Aristotle, Meteor. ii. 8.

551This observation is also in Aristotle, ii. 8.

552In the year of the city 663;A.C.90.

553In the year of the city 821;A.D.68.

554The continuation of Aufidius Bassus’ history; our author refers to it in the first book.

555We have no authentic accounts of this mutual change of place between two portions of land, nor can we conceive of any cause capable of effecting it. Our author mentions this circumstance again in book xvii. ch. 38.

556See Aristotle, Meteor. ii. 8.

557“Eodem videlicet spiritu infusi (maris) ac terræ residentis sinu recepti.”

558U.C.770;A.D.17. We have an account of this event in Strabo, xii. 57; in Tacitus, Ann. ii. 47; and in the Universal History, xiv. 129, 130. We are informed by Hardouin, that coins are still in existence which were struck to commemorate the liberality of the emperor on the occasion, inscribed “civitatibus Asiæ restitutis.” Lemaire, i. 410.

559U.C.537;A.C.217.

560This circumstance is mentioned by Livy, xxii. 5, and by Floras, ii. 6.

561“Præsagiis, inquit, quam ipsa clade, sæviores sunt terræ motus.” Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 410.

562This phænomenon is distinctly referred to by Seneca, Nat. Quæst. vi. 21. It presents us with one of those cases, where the scientific deductions of the moderns have been anticipated by the speculations of the ancients.

563Odyss. iv. 354-357; see also Arist. Meteor. i. 14; Lucan, x. 509-511; Seneca, Nat. Quæst. vi. 26; Herodotus, ii. 4, 5; and Strabo, i. 59.

564These form, at this day, the Monte Circello, which, it is remarked, rises up like an island, out of the Pontine marshes. It seems, however, difficult to conceive how any action of the sea could have formed these marshes.

565See Strabo, i. 58.

566ii. 5.et alibi.

567The plain in which this river flows, forming the windings from which it derives its name, appears to have been originally an inlet of the sea, which was gradually filled up with alluvial matter.

568“Paria secum faciente natura.” This appears to have been a colloquial or idiomatic expression among the Romans. See Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 412.

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