Strabo
Geography

Book XVII

11 For Ptolemy the son of Lagus succeeded Alexander; and he in turn was succeeded by Philadelphius, and he by Euergetes, and then he by Philopator the son of Agathocleia, and then he by Epiphanes, and then he by Philometor, a son always succeeding a father; but Philometor was succeeded by a brother, the second Euergetes, who is also called Physcon, and he by the Ptolemy nicknamed Lathurus, and he by the Auletes of our own time, who was the father of Cleopatra. Now all at kings after the third Ptolemy, being corrupted by luxurious living, have administered the affairs of government badly, but worst of all the fourth, seventh, and the last, Auletes, who, apart from his general licentiousness, practised the accompaniment of choruses with the flute, and upon this he prided himself so much that he would not hesitate to celebrate contests in the royal palace, and at these contests would come forward to vie with the opposing contestants. He, however, was banished by the Alexandrians; and since he had three daughters, of whom one, the eldest, was legitimate, they proclaimed her queen; but his two sons, who were infants, were completely excluded from service at the time. When she had been established on the throne, they sent after a husband for her from Syria, a certain Cybiosactes, who had pretended that he belonged to the family of the Syrian kings. Now the queen had this man strangled to death within a few days, being unable to bear his coarseness and vulgarity; but in his place came a man who likewise had pretended that he was a son of Mithridates Eupator — I mean Archelaüs, who was son of the Archelaüs who carried on war against Sulla and afterwards was honoured by the Romans, and was grandfather of the man who was last to reign as king over the Cappadocians in our time, and was priest of Comana in Pontus. At that time he had been tarrying with Gabinius, in the hope of joining with him on an expedition against the Parthians, but without the knowledge of Gabinius he was brought by certain agents to the queen and proclaimed king. In the meantime Pompeius Magnus, having received Auletes, who had arrived at Rome, recommended him to the Senate and effected, not only his restoration, but also the death of most of the ambassadors, one hundred in number, who had undertaken the embassy against him, and among these was Dion the academic philosopher, who had been made chief ambassador. Accordingly, on being restored by Gabinius, Ptolemy slew both Archelaüs and his own daughter. But before he had added much time to his reign, he died of disease, leaving behind two sons and also two daughters, the eldest daughter being Cleopatra. Now the Alexandrians proclaimed as sovereigns both the elder of the boys and Cleopatra; but the associates of the boy caused an uprising and banished Cleopatra, and she set sail with her sister to Syria. In the meantime Pompeius Magnus had come in flight from Palaepharsalus to Pelusium and Mt. Casius. Now Pompey was treacherously slain by the king's party, but when Caesar arrived he put the lad to death, and, having summoned Cleopatra from exile, established have as queen of Aegypt; and he appointed her remaining brother to reign as king with her, although he was exceedingly young. After the death of Caesar and the battle of Philippi, Antony crossed over to Asia and held Cleopatra in such extraordinary honour that he chose her as wife and had children by her; and he undertook the battle at Actium with her and fled with her; and after this Augustus Caesar pursued them, destroyed both, and put an end to Aegypt's being ruled with drunken violence.

12 Egypt is now a Province; and it not only pays considerable tribute, but also is governed by prudent men — the praefects who are sent there from time to time. Now he who is sent has the rank of the king; and subordinate to him is the administrator of justice, who has supreme authority over most of the law-suits; and another is the official called Idiologus, who inquires into all properties that are without owners and that ought to fall to Caesar; and these are attended by freedmen of Caesar, as also by stewards, who are entrusted with affairs of more or less importance. There are also three legions of soldiers, one of which is stationed in the city and the others in the country; and apart from these there are nine Roman cohorts, three in the city, three on the borders of Aethiopia in Syenê, as a guard for that region, and three in the rest of the country. And there are also three bodies of cavalry, which likewise are assigned to the various critical points. Of the native officials in the city, one is the Interpreter, who is clad in purple, has hereditary prerogatives, and has charge of the interests of the city; and another the Recorder; and another the Chief Judge; and the fourth the Night Commander. Now these officers existed also in the time of the kings, but, since the kings were carrying on a bad government, the prosperity of the cities was also vanishing on account of the prevailing lawlessness. At any rate, Polybius, who had visited the city, is disgusted with the state of things then existing; and he says that three classes inhabited the city: first, the Aegyptian or native stock of people, who were quick-tempered and not inclined to strife; and, secondly, the mercenary class, who were severe and numerous and intractable (for by an ancient custom they would maintain foreign men-at-arms, who had been trained to rule rather than to be ruled, on account of the worthlessness of the kings); and, third, the tribe of the Alexandrians, who also were not distinctly inclined to civil life, and for the same reasons, but still they were better than those others, for even though they were a mixed people, still they were Greeks by origin and mindful of the customs common to the Greeks. But after this mass of people had also been blotted out, chiefly by Euergetes Physcon, in whose time Polybius went to Alexandria (for, being opposed by factions, Physcon more often sent the masses against the soldiers and thus caused their destruction) — such being the state of affairs in the city, Polybius says, in very truth there remained for one, in the words of the poet, merely

13 Such, then, if not worse, was the state of affairs under the later kings also; but the Romans have, to the best of their ability, I might say, set most things right, having organised the city as I have said, and having appointed throughout the country officials called Epistrategi and Nomarchs and Ethnarchs, thought worthy to superintend affairs of no great importance. Among the happy advantages of the city, the greatest is the fact that this is the only place in all Aegypt which is by nature well situated with reference to both things — both to commerce by sea, on account of the good harbours, and to commerce by land, because the river easily conveys and brings together everything into a place so situated — the greatest emporium in the inhabited world.

Now one might call these the excellent attributes of the city; and as for the revenues of Aegypt, Cicero tells about them in a certain speech, saying that a tribute of twelve thousand five hundred talents was paid annually to Auletes, the father of Cleopatra. If, then, the man who administered the kingdom in the worst and most careless way obtained so large a revenue, what should one think of the present revenues, which are managed with so much diligence, and when the commerce with the Indians and the Troglodytes has been increased to so great an extent? In earlier times, at least, not so many as twenty vessels would dare to traverse the Arabian Gulf far enough to get a peep outside the straits, but at the present time even large fleets are despatched as far as India and the extremities of Aethiopia, from which the most valuable cargoes are brought to Aegypt, and thence sent forth again to the other regions; so that double duties are collected, on both imports and exports; and on goods that cost heavily the duty is also heavy. And in fact the country has monopolies also; for Alexandria alone is not only the receptacle of goods of this kind, for the most part, but also the source of supply to the outside world. And, further, one can perceive more clearly these natural advantages if one travels round the country, visiting first of all the part of the coast which begins at Catabathmus — for Aegypt extends as far as that place, though the country next thereafter belongs to the Cyrenaeans and to the neighbouring barbarians, the Marmaridae.

14 Now the run from Catabathmus to Paraetonium, if one sails in a straight course, is nine hundred stadia. It is a city and large harbour of about forty stadia. Some call the city Paraetonium, but others Ammonia. In the interval, one comes to the village of the Aegyptians, to the promontory Aenesisphyra, and to the Tyndareian Rocks, which latter are four small islands with a harbour; then next to Drepanum, a promontory, and to Aenesippeia, an island with a harbour, and to Apis, a village, from which the distance to Paraetonium is one hundred stadia, and to the temple of Ammon, a five days' journey. The distance from Paraetonium to Alexandria is approximately one thousand three hundred stadia; and in the interval one comes first to a promontory of white earth, Leucê Actê, as it is called, and then to Phoenicus, a harbour, and to Pnigeus, a village, and then of Pedonia, an island with a harbour, and then to Antiphrae, which is at only a little distance from the sea. The whole of this country is without good wine, since the wine-jars receive more sea-water than wine; and this they call "Libyan" wine, which, as also beer, is used by most of the tribe of Alexandrians; but Antiphrae is ridiculed most. Then one comes to the harbour Derrhis, so called because of the black rock near by, which resembles a "derrhis"; and the neighbouring place is also called Zephyrium. Then to another harbour, Leucaspis and several others; and then to Cynos-Sema; and then to Taposeiris, not on the sea, which holds a great public festival. (There is also another Taposeiris on the other side of the city and quite far from it.) And near it there is a rocky place on the sea where likewise crowds of people in the prime of life assemble during every season of the year. And then one comes to Plinthinê and to the village of Nicias, and to Cherronesus, a stronghold, where we are now near Alexandria and Necropolis, a distance of seventy stadia. Lake Mareia, which extends even as far as this, has a breadth of more than one hundred and fifty stadia and a length of less than three hundred. It contains eight islands; and all the shores round it are well inhabited; and the vintages in this region are so good that the Mareotic wine is racked off with a view to ageing it.

15 The byblus was in the Aegyptian marshes and lakes, as also the Aegyptian cyamus, from which comes the ciborium; you have stalks approximately equal in height, about ten feet. But whereas the byblus is a bare stock with a tuft on top, the cyamus produces leaves and flowers in many parts, and also a fruit like our cyamus, differing only in size and taste. Accordingly, the bean-fields afford a pleasing sight, and also enjoyment to those who wish to hold feasts therein. They hold feasts in cabin-boats, in which they enter the thick of the cyami and the shade of the leaves; for the leaves are so very large that they are used both from drinking-cups and for bowls, for these even have a kind of concavity suited to this purpose; and in fact Alexandria is full of these in the work-shops, where they are used as vessels and the farms have also this as one source of their revenues — I mean the revenue from the leaves. Such, then, is the cyamus. As for the byblus, it does not grow in large quantities here (for it is not cultivated), but it grows in large quantities in the lower parts of the Delta, one kind being inferior, and the other superior, that is, the Hieratica. And here, too, certain of those who wished to enhance the revenues adopted the shrewd practice of the Judaeans, which the latter had invented in the case of the palm tree (particularly the caryotic palm) and the balsam tree; for they do not allow the byblus to grow in many places, and because of the scarcity they set a higher price on it and thus increase the revenues, though they injure the common use of the plant.

16 On the right of the Canobic Gate, as one goes out, one comes to the canal which is connected with the lake and leads to Canobus; and it is by this canal that one sails, not only to Schedia, that is, to the great river, but also to Canobus, though first to eleusis. Eleusis is a settlement near both Alexandria and Necropolis, is situated on the Canobic canal itself, and has lodging-places and commanding views for those who wish to engage in revelry, both men and women, and is a beginning, as it were, of the "Canobic" life and the shamelessness there current. On proceeding a slight distance from Eleusis, and on the right, one comes to the canal which leads up the Schedia. Schedia is four schoeni distant from Alexandria; it is a settlement of the city, and contains the station of the cabin-boats on which the praefects sail to Upper Aegypt. And at Schedia is also the station for paying duty on the goods brought down from above it and brought up from below it; and for this purpose, also, a schedia has been laid across the river, from which the place has its name. After the canal which leads to Schedia, one's next voyage, to Canobus, is parallel to that part of the coast-line which extends from Pharos to the Canobic mouth; for a narrow ribbon-like strip of land extends between the sea and the canal, and on this, after Nicopolis, lies the Little Taposeiris, as also the Zephyrium, a promontory which contains a shrine of Aphroditê Arsinoê. In ancient times, it is said, there was also a city called Thonis here, which was named after the king who received Menelaüs and Helen with hospitality. At any rate, the poet speaks of Helen's drugs as follows: "goodly drugs which Polydamna, the wife of Thon, had given her."

17 Canobus is a city situated at a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia from Alexandria, if one goes on foot, and was named after Canobus, the pilot Menelaüs, who died there. It contains the temple of Sarapis, which is honoured with great reverence and effects such cures that even the most reputable men believe in it and sleep in it — themselves on their own behalf or others for them. Some writers go on to record the cures, and others the virtues of the oracles there. But to balance all this is the crowd of revellers who go down from Alexandria by the canal to the public festivals; for every day and every night is crowded with people on the boats who play the flute and dance without restraint and with extreme licentiousness, both men and women, and also with the people of Canobus itself, who have resorts situated close to the canal and adapted to relaxation and merry-making of this kind.

18 After Canobus one comes to the Heracleium, when contains a temple of Heracles; and then to the Canobic mouth and the beginning of the Delta. The parts on the right of the Canobic canal are the Menelaïte Nome, so called from the brother of the first Ptolemy — not, by heaven, from the hero, as some writers say, among whom is also Artemidorus. After the Canobic mouth one comes to the Bolbitine mouth, and then to the Sebennytic, and to the Phatnitic, which is third in size as compared with the first two, which form the boundaries of the Delta; for not far from the vertex of the Delta the Phatnitic splits, sending a branch into the interior of the Delta. Lying close to the Phatnitic mouth is the Mendesian; and then one comes to the Tanitic, and, last of all, to the Pelusiac. There are also others in among these, pseudo-mouths as it were, which are rather insignificant. Their mouths indeed afford entrance to boats, but are adapted, not to large boats, but to tenders only, because the mouths are shallow and marshy. It is chiefly, however, the Canobic mouth that they used as an emporium, since the harbours at Alexandria were kept closed, as I have said before. After the Bolbitine mouth one comes to a low and sandy promontory which projects rather far into the sea; it is called Agnu-Ceras. And then to the Watch-tower of Perseus and the Wall of the Milesians; for in the time of Psammitichus (who lived in the time of Cyaxares the Mede) the Milesians, with thirty ships, put in at the Bolbitine mouth, and then, disembarking, fortified with a wall the above-mentioned settlement; but in time they sailed up into the Saïtic Nome, defeated the city Inaros in a naval fight, and founded Naucratis, not far above Schedia. After the Wall of the Milesians, as one proceeds towards the Sebennytic mouth, one comes to two lakes, one of which, Buticê, has its name from the city Butus, and also to the Sebennytic city, and to Saïs, the metropolis of the lower country, in which Athena is worshipped; and in her temple lies the tomb of Psammitichus. In the neighbourhood of Butus is also an Hermupolis, which is situated on an island; and in Butus there is an oracle of Leto.

19 In the interior above the Sebennytic and Phatnitic mouths lies Xoïs, both an island and a city, in the Sebennytic Nome. Here, also, are an Hermupolis and a Lycupolis, and Mendes, at which place they worship Pan and, among animals, a he-goat; and, as Pindar says, the he‑goats have intercourse with women there: "Mendes, along the crag of the sea, farthermost horn of the Nile, where the goat-mounting he-goats have intercourse with women." Near Mendes lie also a Diospolis and the lakes in its neighbourhood and Leontopolis; and then, at a greater distance, the city Busiris in the Busirite Nome, and Cynospolis. According to Eratosthenes, the expulsion of foreigners is a custom common to all barbarians, and yet the Aegyptians are condemned for this fault because of the myths which have been circulated about Busiris in connection with the Busirite Nome, since the later writers wish falsely to malign the inhospitality of this place, although, by heavens, no king or tyrant named Busiris ever existed; and, he says, the poet's words are also constantly cited — "to go to Aegypt, long and painful journey" — the want of harbours contributing very much to this opinion, as also the fact that even the harbour which Aegypt did have, the one at Pharos, gave no access, but was guarded by shepherds who were pirates and who attacked those who tried to bring ships to anchor there; and the Carthaginians likewise, he adds, used to drown in the sea any foreigners who sailed past their country to Sardo or to the Pillars, and it is for this reason that most of the stories told about the west are disbelieved; and also the Persians, he says, would treacherously guide the ambassadors over roundabout roads and through difficult regions.

20 Bordering on this Nome is the Athribite Nome and the city Athribis, and also the Prosopite Nome, in which is a City of Aphroditê. Above the Mendesian and Tanitic mouths lie a large lake and the Mendesian and Leontopolite Nomes and a City of Aphroditê and the Pharbetite Nome; and then one comes to the tanitic mouth, which some call Saïtic, and to the Tanite Nome, and to Tanis, a large city therein.

21 Between the Tanitic and Pelusiac mouths lie lakes, and large and continuous marshes which contain many villages. Pelusium itself also has marshes lying all round it, which by some are called Barathra, and muddy ponds; its settlement lies at a distance of more than twenty stadia from the sea, the wall has a circuit of twenty stadia, and it has its name for the pelos and the muddy ponds. Here, too, Aegypt is difficult to enter, I mean from the eastern regions about Phoenicia and Judaea, and from the Arabia of the Nabataeans, which is next to Aegypt; these are the regions which the road to Aegypt traverses. The country between the Nile and the Arabian Gulf is Arabia, and at its extremity is situated Pelusium; but the whole of it is desert, and impassable for an army. The isthmus between Pelusium and the recess of the gulf at Heroönpolis is one thousand stadia, but, according to Poseidonius, less than one thousand five hundred; and in addition to its being waterless and sandy, it contains a multitude of reptiles, the sand-burrowers.

22 From Schedia, as one sails towards Memphis, there are, on the right, a very large number of villages, extending as far as Lake Mareia, among which is the Village of Chabrias, as it is called; and, on the river, one comes to an Hermupolis, and then to Gynaeconpolis and the Gynaecopolite Nome, and, next in order, to Momemphis and the Momemphite Nome; but in the interval there are several canals which empty into Lake Mareotis. The Momemphitae honour Aphroditê; and a sacred cow is kept there, as is Apis in Memphis and Mneuïs in Heliupolis. Now these animals are regarded as gods, but those in the other places (for in my either a bull or cow is kept) — those others, I say, are not regarded as gods, though they are held sacred.

23 Above Momemphis are two nitre-beds, which contain very large quantities of nitre, and the Nitriote Nome. Here Sarapis is held in honour; and they are the only people in Aegypt who sacrifice a sheep. Near by, and in this Nome, is a city Menelaüs; and on the left, in the Delta, lies Naucratis, which is on the river, whereas Saïs lies at a distance of two schoeni from the river. A little above Saïs is the asylum of Osiris, in which the body of Osiris is said to lie; but many lay claim to this, and particularly the inhabitants of the Philae which is situated above Syenê and Elephantinê; for they tell the mythical story, namely, that Isis placed coffins of Osiris beneath the earth in several places (but only one of them, and that unknown to all, contained the body of Osiris), and that she did this because she wished to hide the body from Typhon, fearing that he might find it and cast it out of its tomb.

24 Now this is the full description of the country from Alexandria to the vertex of the Delta; and, according to Artemidorus, the voyage up the river is twenty-eight schoeni, that is, eight hundred and forty stadia, reckoning the schoenus as thirty stadia. When I made the voyage, however, they used different measures at different times when they gave the distances, so that even forty stadia, or still more, was the accepted measure of the schoenus, according to the place. That the measure of the schoenus among the Aegyptians in unstable is made clear by Artemidorus himself in his next statement; for from Memphis to Thebaïs each schoenus, he says, is one hundred and twenty stadia, and from Thebaïs to Syenê sixty, and, as one sails up from Pelusium to the same vertex of the Delta, the distance, he says, is twenty-five schoeni, that is, seven hundred and fifty stadia, using the same measure. The first canal, as one proceeds from Pelusium, he says, is the one which fills the Marsh-lakes, as they are called, which are two in number and lie on the left of the great river above Pelusium in Arabia; and he also speaks of other lakes and canals in the same regions outside the Delta. There is also the Sethroïte Nome by the second lake, although he counts this Nome too as one of the ten in the Delta; and two other canals meet in the same lakes.

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The Editor's Notes:

69 i.e. Ptolemy VII. Strabo here skips Ptolemy IX (Alexander I) and Ptolemy X (Alexander II), who apparently had no place in the official list of legitimate kings (cp. Letronne edition, note ad loc.).

70 Hence "Auletes" ("Flute-player").

71 according to Dio Cassius (39.13), this was Berenicê (IV). She reigned with her mother Cleopatra Tryphaena for one year (58‑57 B.C.) and then alone for one year.

72 Later, Ptolemy XII and XIII.

73 A nickname, "Salt-fish Dealer." Dio Cassius (39.57) says, "a certain Seleucus."

74 12.1.2.

75 On this Archelaüs, see 12.3.34.

76 Proconsul of Syria, 57 B.C.

77 He reigned only six months, being slain in battle by Gabinius (12.3.34).

78 So Dio Cassius (39.13).

79 The famous Cleopatra.

80 42 B.C.

81 e.g. Strabo's friend Aelius Gallus (2.5.12).

82 Juri dicendo praefectus.

83 A kind of "Special Agent," or "Procurator," of Caesar.

84 Interpres.

85 Scriba publicus.

86 Judicum praefectus.

87 Praetor nocturnus.

88 The MSS. omit the negative ("not"), without which one would naturally interpret ὀξύ as meaning "acute" rather than "quick-tempered."

89 i.e. the first class.

90 Odyssey 4.483.

91 § 12 above.

92 Strabo seems not to have known that the office of Epistrategus was in existence as far back as 181 B.C. (Victor Martin, Les Epistratiges, pp11, 173, Geneva, 1911). But in the time of the Ptolemies only the Thebaïs had an Epistrategus (l.c. p22), and, as the title indicates, he was a Military Governor. The several Epistrategi appointed by the Romans, however, were given only administrative power, being wholly deprived of military power (l.c. p57).

93 "Rulers of Nomes" (on the "Nomes," see 17.1.3).

94 Ruler of Tribes.

95 No longer extant.

96 Cp. Diodorus Siculus (17.52), who says six thousand talents.

97 i.e. in circuit.

98 i.e. apparently, as distinguished from the two other classes of people at Alexandria (see § 12 above), and not "most of the people at Alexandria," as others interpret it.

99 i.e. because of the bad wine.

100 i.e. "a hide."

101 i.e. like that mentioned in §16 below.

102 "White-shield."

103 "Bitch's Monument" (cp. Vol. III, p377).

104 The translator understands "it" to refer to the first Taposeiris, and parenthesises the preceding statement accordingly, though "it" might refer to the second (cp. §§16 and 17 below), in which case the parenthesis should end with "season of the year."

105 The later editors, except Müller-Dübner, very plausibly emend the text to read, "crowds of 'revellers' " (see critical note, and cp. §§16 and 17 below).

106 i.e. continuing from the first Taposeiris.

107 Also called "Mareotis" (§ 7 above).

108 i.e. Cherronesus.

109 i.e. drawn off from the lees, not merely once or twice, for early consumption, but time and again, with a view to ageing it into old wine of superior quality. The special name "Mareotic" indicates both the quality and the wide use of this wine.

110 The Aegyptian papyrus.

111 i.e. "bean."

112 i.e. the "seed-vessel," of which drinking-cups were made (cp. Horace, Carmina 2.7.22).

113 i.e. the kind "devoted to sacred purposes." The superior quality consisted of the middle and broadest (about 9 1/2 inches) strips of the plant; but though originally called Hieratica, it was later called Augusta in honour of Augustus (see Encyclopaedia Britannica, s.v. "Papyrus.")

114 Dr. F. Zucker (Philologus 70, N.F. 24, 1911, pp79‑105) shows that the Romans established a government monopoly of Aegyptian papyrus; but his conclusion that under the Ptolemies there was no such monopoly and that Strabo's words, "some of those who wished to enhance the revenues, etc.," mean that "a number of large proprietors misused their power, and through limiting the cultivation to their own advantage and to the injury of the public produced a rise in the price of papyrus," is vigorously opposed by Professor J. P. Mahaffy (Hermathena, 16, 1911, pp237‑41), who rightly understands Strabo to refer to "certain chancellors of the exchequer (διοικηταί) who had to meet a sudden demand by raising money as best they could." However, in a later article (Philologus 74, N.F. 28, pp184‑85) Zucker retracts his former interpretation of the passage, accepting Mahaffy's. See all Wilcken, Papyruskunde, Grundzüge I, 1, pp255‑56.

115 i.e. "connected" indirectly, by a short tributary south-west of the city.

116 i.e. the luxurious life at Canobus, which was proverbial.

117 See § 24 below.

118 i.e. "raft" or "pontoon bridge."

119 Thonis was situated at the Canobic mouth of the Nile, and in early times was the emporium of Aegypt (Diodorus Siculus 1.19); and King Thon was the warden of the Canobic mouth in the time of the Trojan war (Herodotus 1.113).

120 Odyssey 4.228.

121 Even Moses advocated this practice (16.2.35).

122 On this Menelaüs see Diodorus Siculus (20.21‑53) and Plutarch (Demetrius 15‑17).

123 The Canobic and Pelusiac.

124 i.e. to foreign imports (§ 6 above).

125 Meaning "Willow-Horn," apparently.

126 Herodotus (2.15) appears to place the watch-tower at the Canobic mouth.

127 "City of Hermes."

128 On Leto's shrine and oracle in Butus, see Herodotus 2.155.

129 "City of Lycus."

130 Frag. 201 (215), Schroeder.

131 So Herodotus (2.46), who also says that "in the Aegyptian language both the he‑goat and Pan are called 'Mendes.' "

132 "City of Zeus."

133 "Lion City."

134 "Dog's City."

135 The mythical king Busiris sacrificed all foreigners who entered Aegypt, but at last was slain by Heracles (Apollodorus 2.5.11).

136 Sardinia.

137 "Pits."

138 i.e. "mud."

139 "City of Heroes."

140 "City of Women."

141 "City of the Sun."

142 The ancients meant by "nitre" native sodium carbonate, not potassium nitrate (saltpetre), the present meaning. Pliny (31.6) mentions the various kinds and their uses.

143 So Diodorus Siculus (1.22.3).

144 This goddess was both sister and wife of Osiris.

145 Typhon came to be identified with the Aegyptian god "Set" (brother of Osiris and Isis), who murdered Osiris.

146 The others are named in §§18‑20 above. Pliny (5.9) names still more.