[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Greek](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr) › [Roman Imperial (31 BCE – 330 CE)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman) › [Γεωγραφικα](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo) › 15.1 # Γεωγραφικα 15.1 Γεωγραφικά 15.1 - **Language:** Ancient Greek ### [15.1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.1) τὰ περιλειπόμενα τῆς Ἀσίας ἐστὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς τοῦ Ταύρου, πλὴν Κιλικίας καὶ Παμφυλίας καὶ Λυκίας, τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς μέχρι Νείλου μεταξὺ τοῦ Ταύρου καὶ τῆς ἔξω θαλάττης τῆς νοτίου κείμενα. μετὰ δὲ τὴν Ἀσίαν ἡ Λιβύη ἐστί, περὶ ἧς ἐροῦμεν ὕστερον, νῦν δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἀρκτέον· πρώτη γὰρ ἔκκειται πρὸς ταῖς ἀνατολαῖς καὶ μεγίστη. > THE parts of Asia which remain to be described are those without the Taurus, except Cilicia, Pamphylia, and Lycia; extending from India to the Nile, and situated between the Taurus and the exterior Southern Sea. > Next to Asia is Africa, which I shall describe hereafter. At present I shall begin from India, the first and the largest country situated towards the east. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.2) δεῖ δʼ εὐγνωμόνως ἀκούειν περὶ αὐτῆς· καὶ γὰρ ἀπωτάτω ἐστί, καὶ οὐ πολλοὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων κατώπτευσαν αὐτήν· οἱ δὲ καὶ ἰδόντες μέρη τινὰ εἶδον, τὰ δὲ πλείω λέγουσιν ἐξ ἀκοῆς· καὶ ἃ εἶδον δὲ ἐν παρόδῳ στρατιωτικῇ καὶ δρόμῳ κατέμαθον· διόπερ οὐδὲ τὰ αὐτὰ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐξαγγέλλουσι, καὶ ταῦτα συγγράψαντες ὡς ἂν πεφροντισμένως ἐξητασμένα, τινὲς δʼ αὐτῶν καὶ συστρατεύσαντες ἀλλήλοις καὶ συνεπιδημήσαντες, καθάπερ οἱ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ συγκαταστρεψάμενοι τὴν Ἀσίαν· ἀλλʼ ἕκαστος ἑκάστῳ τἀναντία λέγει πολλάκις. ὅπου δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ὁραθέντων οὕτω διαφέρονται, τί δεῖ νομίζειν περὶ τῶν ἐξ ἀκοῆς; > The reader must receive the account of this country with indulgence, for it lies at a very great distance, and few persons of our nation have seen it; those also who have visited it have seen only some portions of it; the greater part of what they relate is from report, and even what they saw, they became acquainted with during their passage through the country with an army, and in great haste. For this reason they do not agree in their accounts of the same things, although they write about them as if they had examined them with the greatest care and attention. Some of these writers were fellow-soldiers and fellow-travellers, as those who belonged to the army which, under the command of Alexander, conquered Asia; yet they frequently contradict each other. If, then, they differ so much respecting things which they had seen, what must we think of what they relate from report? > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.3) καὶ μὴν οὐδʼ οἱ πολλοῖς χρόνοις ὕστερον συγγράψαντές τι περὶ τούτων, οὐδʼ οἱ νῦν πλέοντες ἐκεῖσε, ἀποφαίνονταί τι ἀκριβές. Ἀπολλόδωρος γοῦν ὁ τὰ Παρθικὰ ποιήσας, μεμνημένος καὶ τῶν τὴν Βακτριανὴν ἀποστησάντων Ἑλλήνων παρὰ τῶν Συριακῶν βασιλέων τῶν ἀπὸ Σελεύκου τοῦ Νικάτορος, φησὶ μὲν αὐτοὺς αὐξηθέντας ἐπιθέσθαι καὶ τῇ Ἰνδικῇ· οὐδὲν δὲ προσανακαλύπτει \* τῶν πρότερον ἐγνωσμένων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐναντιολογεῖ πλείω τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἐκείνους ἢ Μακεδόνας καταστρέψασθαι λέγων· Εὐκρατίδαν γοῦν πόλεις χιλίας ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ ἔχειν· ἐκεῖνοι δέ γε αὐτὰ τὰ μεταξὺ ἔθνη τοῦ τε Ὑδάσπου καὶ τοῦ Ὑπάνιος τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐννέα, πόλεις τε σχεῖν πεντακισχιλίας, ὧν μηδεμίαν εἶναι Κῶ τῆς Μεροπίδος ἐλάττω· ταύτην δὲ πᾶσαν τὴν χώραν καταστρεψάμενον Ἀλέξανδρον παραδοῦναι Πώρῳ. > Nor do the writers who, many ages since Alexander’s time, have given an account of these countries, nor even those who at present make voyages thither, afford any precise information. > Apollodorus, for instance, author of the Parthian History, when he mentions the Greeks who occasioned the revolt of Bactriana from the Syrian kings, who were the successors of Seleucus Nicator, says, that when they became powerful they invaded India. He adds no discoveries to what was previously known, and even asserts, in contradiction to others, that the Bactrians had subjected to their dominion a larger portion of India than the Macedonians; for Eucratidas (one of these kings) had a thousand cities subject to his authority. But other writers affirm that the Macedonians conquered nine nations situated between the Hydaspes and the Hypanis, and obtained possession of five hundred cities, not one of which was less than Cos Meropis, and that Alexander, after having conquered all this country, delivered it up to Porus. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.4) καὶ οἱ νῦν δὲ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου πλέοντες ἐμπορικοὶ τῷ Νείλῳ καὶ τῷ Ἀραβίῳ κόλπῳ μέχρι τῆς Ἰνδικῆς σπάνιοι μὲν καὶ περιπεπλεύκασι μέχρι τοῦ Γάγγου, καὶ οὗτοι δʼ ἰδιῶται καὶ οὐδὲν πρὸς ἱστορίαν τῶν τόπων χρήσιμοι. κἀκεῖθεν δὲ ἀφʼ ἑνὸς τόπου καὶ παρʼ ἑνὸς βασιλέως, Πανδίονος κατʼ ἄλλους Πώρου, ἧκεν ὡς Καίσαρα τὸν Σεβαστὸν δῶρα καὶ πρεσβεῖα καὶ ὁ κατακαύσας ἑαυτὸν Ἀθήνησι σοφιστὴς Ἰνδός, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ Κάλανος Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τὴν τοιαύτην θέαν ἐπιδειξάμενος. > Very few of the merchants who now sail from Egypt by the Nile and the Arabian Gulf to India have proceeded as far as the Ganges; and, being ignorant persons, were not qualified to give an account of places they have visited. From one place in India, and from one king, namely, Pandion, or, according to others, Porus, presents and embassies were sent to Augustus Caesar. With the ambassadors came the Indian Gymno-Sophist, who committed himself to the flames at Athens, like Calanus, who exhibited the same spectacle in the presence of Alexander. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.5) εἰ τοίνυν ταῦτʼ ἀφείς τις τὴν πρὸ τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου στρατείας ἐπιβλέποι μνήμην, πολὺ ἂν εὕροι τούτων τυφλότερα. Ἀλέξανδρον μὲν οὖν πιστεύειν τοῖς τοιούτοις εἰκός, τετυφωμένον ταῖς τοσαύταις εὐτυχίαις. φησὶ γοῦν Νέαρχος φιλονεικῆσαι αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς Γεδρωσίας ἀγαγεῖν τὴν στρατιάν, πεπυσμένον διότι καὶ Σεμίραμις ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ Ἰνδοὺς καὶ Κῦρος· ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν ἀνέστρεψε φεύγουσα μετὰ εἴκοσιν ἀνθρώπων, ἐκεῖνος δὲ μεθʼ ἑπτά· ὡς σεμνὸν τὸ ἐκείνων τοσαῦτα παθόντων αὐτὸν καὶ στρατόπεδον διασῶσαι μετὰ νίκης διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐθνῶν τε καὶ τόπων. > If, then, we set aside these stories, and direct our attention to accounts of the country prior to the expedition of Alexander, we shall find them still more obscure. It is probable that Alexander, elated by his extraordinary good fortune, believed these accounts. > According to Nearchus, Alexander was ambitious of conducting his army through Gedrosia, when he heard that Semiramis and Cyrus had undertaken expeditions against India (through this country), although both had abandoned the enterprise, the former escaping with twenty, and Cyrus with seven men only. For he considered that it would be a glorious achievement for him to lead a conquering army safe through the same nations and countries where Semiramis and Cyrus had suffered such disasters. Alexander, therefore, believed these stories. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.6) Ἐκεῖνος μὲν δὴ ἐπίστευσεν· ἡμῖν δὲ τίς ἂν δικαία γένοιτο πίστις περὶ τῶν Ἰνδικῶν ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης στρατείας τοῦ Κύρου ἢ τῆς Σεμιράμιδος; συναποφαίνεται δέ πως καὶ Μεγασθένης τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ κελεύων ἀπιστεῖν ταῖς ἀρχαίαις περὶ Ἰνδῶν ἱστορίαις· οὔτε γὰρ παρʼ Ἰνδῶν ἔξω σταλῆναί ποτε στρατιάν, οὔτʼ ἐπελθεῖν ἔξωθεν καὶ κρατῆσαι πλὴν τῆς μεθʼ Ἡρακλέους καὶ Διονύσου καὶ τῆς νῦν μετὰ Μακεδόνων. καίτοι Σέσωστριν μὲν τὸν Αἰγύπτιον καὶ Τεάρκωνα τὸν Αἰθίοπα ἕως Εὐρώπης προελθεῖν, Ναβοκοδρόσορον δὲ τὸν παρὰ Χαλδαίοις εὐδοκιμήσαντα Ἡρακλέους μᾶλλον καὶ ἕως Στηλῶν ἐλάσαι. μέχρι μὲν δὴ δεῦρο καὶ Τεάρκωνα ἀφικέσθαι, ἐκεῖνον δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῆς Ἰβηρίας εἰς τὴν Θρᾴκην καὶ τὸν Πόντον ἀγαγεῖν τὴν στρατιάν· Ἰδάνθυρσον δὲ τὸν Σκύθην ἐπιδραμεῖν τῆς Ἀσίας μέχρι Αἰγύπτου· τῆς δὲ Ἰνδικῆς μηδένα τούτων ἅψασθαι· καὶ Σεμίραμιν δʼ ἀποθανεῖν πρὸ τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως· Πέρσας δὲ μισθοφόρους μὲν ἐκ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς μεταπέμψασθαι Ὑδράκας, ἐκεῖ δὲ μὴ στρατεῦσαι, ἀλλʼ ἐγγὺς ἐλθεῖν μόνον ἡνίκα Κῦρος ἤλαυνεν ἐπὶ Μασσαγέτας. > But how can we place any just confidence in the accounts of India derived from such expeditions as those of Cyrus and Semiramis? Megasthenes concurs in this opinion; he advises persons not to credit the ancient histories of India, for, except the expeditions of Hercules, of Bacchus, and the later invasion of Alexander, no army was ever sent out of their country by the Indians, nor did any foreign enemy ever invade or conquer it. Sesostris the Egyptian (he says), and Tearco the Ethiopian, advanced as far as Europe; and Nabocodrosor, who was more celebrated among the Chaldaeans than Hercules among the Greeks, penetrated even as far as the Pillars, which Tearco also reached; Sesostris conducted an army from Iberia to Thrace and Pontus; Idanthyrsus the Scythian overran Asia as far as Egypt; but not one of these persons proceeded as far as India, and Semiramis died before her intended enterprise was undertaken. The Persians had sent for the Hydraces from India, a body of mercenary troops; but they did not lead an army into that country, and only approached it when Cyrus was marching against the Massagetae. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.7) καὶ τὰ περὶ Ἡρακλέους δὲ καὶ Διονύσου Μεγασθένης μὲν μετʼ ὀλίγων πιστὰ ἡγεῖται, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων οἱ πλείους, ὧν ἐστι καὶ Ἐρατοσθένης, ἄπιστα καὶ μυθώδη, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ταῖς Βάκχαις ταῖς Εὐριπίδου Διόνυσος τοιαῦτα νεανιεύεται λιπὼν δὲ Λυδῶν τὰς πολυχρύσους γύας Φρυγῶν τε Περσῶν θʼ ἡλιοβλήτους πλάκας Βάκτριά τε τείχη τήν τε δύσχειμον χθόνα Μήδων ἐπῆλθον Ἀραβίαν τʼ εὐδαίμονα Ἀσίαν τε πᾶσαν. παρὰ Σοφοκλεῖ δέ τίς ἐστι τὴν Νῦσαν καθυμνῶν ὡς τὸ Διονύσῳ καθιερωμένον ὄρος ὅθεν κατεῖδον τὴν βεβακχιωμένην βροτοῖσι κλεινὴν Νῦσαν, ἣν ὁ βούκερως Ἴακχος \* αὐτῷ μαῖαν ἡδίστην νέμει, ὅπου τίς ὄρνις οὐχὶ κλαγγάνει; καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς περὶ Λυκούργου τοῦ Ἠδωνοῦ φησιν οὕτως ὅς ποτε μαινομένοιο Διωνύσοιο τιθήνας σεῦε κατʼ ἠγάθεον Νυσήιον. τοιαῦτα μὲν τὰ περὶ Διονύσου. περὶ δὲ Ἡρακλέους οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τἀναντία μόνον μέχρι τῶν ἑσπερίων περάτων ἱστοροῦσιν, οἱ δʼ ἐφʼ ἑκάτερα. > Megasthenes, and a few others, think the stories respecting Hercules and Bacchus to be credible, but the majority of writers, among whom is Eratosthenes, regard them as incredible and fabulous, like the Grecian stories. Dionysus, in the Bacchae of Euripides, makes this boasting speech: But now from Lydia’s field, > With gold abounding, from the Phrygian realm > And that of Persia scorch’d by torrid suns, > Pressing through Bactrian gates, the frozen land > Of Media, and through Araby the Blest, > With Asia’s wide extended continent— > In Sophocles, also, a person is introduced speaking the praises of Nysa, as being a mountain sacred to Bacchus: ‘whence I beheld the famed Nysa, the resort of the Bacchanalian bands, which the horned Iacchus makes his most pleasant and beloved retreat, where no bird’s clang is heard,” and so on. \[He is called also Merotraphes.\] > Homer also mentions Lycurgus the Edonian in these words, who formerly pursued the nurses of the infuriate Bacchus along the sacred mountain Nysa. > So much respecting Bacchus. But with regard to Hercules, some persons say, that he penetrated to the opposite extremities on the west only, while others maintain that he also advanced to those of the east. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.8](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.8) Ἐκ δὲ τῶν τοιούτων Νυσαίους δή τινας ἔθνος προσωνόμασαν καὶ πόλιν παρʼ αὐτοῖς Νῦσαν Διονύσου κτίσμα, καὶ ὄρος τὸ ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως Μηρόν, αἰτιασάμενοι καὶ τὸν αὐτόθι κισσὸν καὶ ἄμπελον, οὐδὲ ταύτην τελεσίκαρπον· ἀπορρεῖ γὰρ ὁ βότρυς πρὶν περκάσαι διὰ τοὺς ὄμβρους τοὺς ἄδην· Διονύσου δʼ ἀπογόνους τοὺς Συδράκας ἀπὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου τῆς παρʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ τῶν πολυτελῶν ἐξόδων, βακχικῶς τάς τε ἐκστρατείας ποιουμένων τῶν βασιλέων καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἐξόδους μετὰ τυμπανισμοῦ καὶ εὐανθοῦς στολῆς· ὅπερ ἐπιπολάζει καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἰνδοῖς. Ἄορνον δέ τινα πέτραν, ἧς τὰς ῥίζας ὁ Ἰνδὸς ὑπορρεῖ πλησίον τῶν πηγῶν, Ἀλεξάνδρου κατὰ μίαν προσβολὴν ἑλόντος, σεμνύνοντες ἔφασαν τὸν Ἡρακλέα τρὶς μὲν προσβαλεῖν τῇ πέτρᾳ ταύτῃ τρὶς δʼ ἀποκρουσθῆναι. τῶν δὲ κοινωνησάντων αὐτῷ τῆς στρατείας ἀπογόνους εἶναι τοὺς Σίβας, σύμβολα τοῦ γένους σώζοντας τό τε δορὰς ἀμπέχεσθαι, καθάπερ τὸν Ἡρακλέα, καὶ τὸ σκυταληφορεῖν καὶ ἐπικεκαῦσθαι βουσὶ καὶ ἡμιόνοις ῥόπαλον. βεβαιοῦνται δὲ τὸν μῦθον τοῦτον καὶ ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὸν Καύκασον καὶ τὸν Προμηθέα· καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα μετενηνόχασιν ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου δεῦρο ἀπὸ μικρᾶς προφάσεως, ἰδόντες σπήλαιον ἐν τοῖς Παροπαμισάδαις ἱερόν· τοῦτο γὰρ ἀνεδείξαντο Προμηθέως δεσμωτήριον, καὶ δεῦρο ἀφιγμένον τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἐπὶ τὴν ἐλευθέρωσιν τοῦ Προμηθέως, καὶ τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν Καύκασον ὃν Ἕλληνες Προμηθέως δεσμωτήριον ἀπέφηναν. > From such stories as those related above, they gave the name of Nysaeans to some imaginary nation, and called their city Nysa, founded by Bacchus; a mountain above the city they called Meron, alleging as a reason for imposing these names that the ivy and vine grow there, although the latter does not perfect its fruit; for the bunches of grapes, in consequence of excessive rains, drop off before they arrive at maturity. > They say, also, that the Sydracae (Oxydracae) are descendants of Bacchus, because the vine grows in their country, and because their kings display great pomp in setting out on their warlike expeditions, after the Bacchie manner; whenever they appear in public, it is with beating of drums, and are dressed in flowered robes, which is the common custom among the other Indians. When Alexander took, on the first assault, Aornos, a fortress on a rock, the foot of which is washed by the Indus near its source, his flatterers exaggerated this act, and said that Hercules thrice assailed this rock and was thrice repulsed. > They pretended that the Sibae were descended from the people who accompanied Hercules in his expedition, and that they retained badges of their descent; that they wore skins like Hercules, and carried clubs, and branded with the mark of a club their oxen and mules. They confirm this fable with stories about Caucasus and Prometheus, for they transferred hither from Pontus these tales, on the slight pretence that they had seen a sacred cave among the Paropamisadae. This they alleged was the prison of Prometheus, that Hercules came hither to release Prometheus, and that this mountain was the Caucasus, to which the Greeks represent Prometheus as having been bound. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.9](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.9) ̔́οτι δʼ ἐστὶ πλάσματα ταῦτα τῶν κολακευόντων Ἀλέξανδρον πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὁμολογεῖν ἀλλήλοις τοὺς συγγραφέας δῆλον, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν λέγειν τοὺς δὲ μηδʼ ἁπλῶς μεμνῆσθαι· οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς τὰ οὕτως ἔνδοξα καὶ τύφου πλήρη μὴ πεπύσθαι, ἢ πεπύσθαι μὲν μὴ ἄξια δὲ μνήμης ὑπολαβεῖν, καὶ ταῦτα τοὺς πιστοτάτους αὐτῶν· ἔπειτα ἐκ τοῦ μηδὲ τοὺς μεταξύ, διʼ ὧν ἐχρῆν τὴν ἐς Ἰνδοὺς ἄφιξιν γενέσθαι τοῖς περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα, μηδὲν ἔχειν τεκμήριον δεικνύναι τῆς ἐκείνων ὁδοῦ διὰ τῆς σφετέρας γῆς. καὶ ἡ τοῦ Ἡρακλέους δὲ στολὴ ἡ τοιαύτη πολὺ νεωτέρα τῆς Τρωικῆς μνήμης ἐστί, πλάσμα τῶν τὴν Ἡράκλειαν ποιησάντων, εἴτε Πείσανδρος ἦν εἴτʼ ἄλλος τις· τὰ δʼ ἀρχαῖα ξόανα οὐχ οὕτω διεσκεύασται. > That these are the inventions of the flatterers of Alexander is evident, first, because the writers do not agree with one another, some of whom speak of these things; others make no mention of them whatever. For it is not probable, that actions so illustrious, and calculated to foster pride and vanity, should be unknown, or if known, that they should not be thought worthy of record, especially by writers of the greatest credit. > Besides, the intervening people, through whose country the armies of Bacchus and Hercules must have marched in their way to India, do not exhibit any proofs of their passage through the country. The kind of dress, too, of Hercules is much more recent than the memorials of Troy, an invention of those who composed the Heracleia (or exploits of Hercules,) whether it were Peisander or some one else who composed it. But the ancient wooden statues do not represent Hercules in that attire. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.10](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.10) ̔ως ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις οὖν ἀποδέχεσθαι δεῖ πᾶν τὸ ἐγγυτάτω πίστεως. ἐποιησάμεθα δʼ ἡμεῖς καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις λόγοις τοῖς περὶ γεωγραφίας δίαιταν ἣν δυνατὸν ἦν περὶ τούτων, καὶ νῦν ἐκείνοις τε ἐξ ἑτοίμου χρησόμεθα καὶ ἕτερα προσθήσομεν, ὅσων ἂν δεῖν δόξῃ πρὸς τὴν σαφήνειαν. μάλιστα δʼ ἐκ τῆς διαίτης ἐδόκει τῆς τότε πιστότατα εἶναι τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἐρατοσθένους ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ τῶν γεωγραφικῶν ἐκτεθέντα κεφαλαιωδῶς περὶ τῆς τότε νομιζομένης Ἰνδικῆς, ἡνίκα Ἀλέξανδρος ἐπῆλθε· καὶ ἦν ὁ Ἰνδὸς ὅριον ταύτης τε καὶ τῆς Ἀριανῆς ἣν ἐφεξῆς πρὸς τῇ ἑσπέρᾳ κειμένην Πέρσαι κατεῖχον· ὕστερον γὰρ δὴ καὶ τῆς Ἀριανῆς πολλὴν ἔσχον οἱ Ἰνδοὶ λαβόντες παρὰ τῶν Μακεδόνων. ἔστι δὲ τοιαῦτα ἃ λέγει ὁ Ἐρατοσθένης. > Under such circumstances, therefore, we must receive everything that approaches nearest to probability. I have already discussed this subject to the extent of my ability at the beginning of this work; I shall now assume those opinions as clearly proved, and shall add whatever may seem to be required for the sake of perspicuity. > It appeared from the former discussion, that in the summary given by Eratosthenes, in the third book of his Geography, is contained the most credible account of the country considered as India at the time of its invasion by Alexander. > At that period the Indus was the boundary of India and of Ariana, situated towards the west, and in the possession of the Persians, for afterwards the Indians occupied a larger portion of Ariana, which they had received from the Macedonians. > The account of Eratosthenes is as follows:— > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.11](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.11) τὴν Ἰνδικὴν περιώρικεν ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν ἄρκτων τοῦ Ταύρου τὰ ἔσχατα ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀριανῆς μέχρι τῆς ἑῴας θαλάττης, ἅπερ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι κατὰ μέρος Παροπάμισόν τε καὶ Ἠμωδὸν καὶ Ἴμαον καὶ ἄλλα ὀνομάζουσι, Μακεδόνες δὲ Καύκασον· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἑσπέρας ὁ Ἰνδὸς ποταμός· τὸ δὲ νότιον καὶ τὸ προσεῷον πλευρόν, πολὺ μείζω τῶν ἑτέρων ὄντα, προπέπτωκεν εἰς τὸ Ἀτλαντικὸν πέλαγος, καὶ γίνεται ῥομβοειδὲς τὸ τῆς χώρας σχῆμα τῶν μειζόνων πλευρῶν ἑκατέρου πλεονεκτοῦντος παρὰ τὸ ἀπεναντίον πλευρὸν καὶ τρισχιλίοις σταδίοις, ὅσων ἐστὶ τὸ κοινὸν ἄκρον τῆς τε ἑωθινῆς παραλίας καὶ τῆς μεσημβρινῆς, ἔξω προπεπτωκὸς ἐξ ἴσης ἐφʼ ἑκάτερον παρὰ τὴν ἄλλην ᾐόνα. τῆς μὲν οὖν ἑσπερίου πλευρᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν Καυκασίων ὀρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν νότιον θάλατταν στάδιοι μάλιστα λέγονται μύριοι τρισχίλιοι παρὰ τὸν Ἰνδὸν ποταμὸν μέχρι τῶν ἐκβολῶν αὐτοῦ, ὥστʼ ἀπεναντίον ἡ ἑωθινὴ προσλαβοῦσα τοὺς τῆς ἄκρας τρισχιλίους ἔσται μυρίων καὶ ἑξακισχιλίων σταδίων. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν πλάτος τῆς χώρας τό τʼ ἐλάχιστον καὶ τὸ μέγιστον. μῆκος δὲ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω· τούτου δὲ τὸ μὲν μέχρι Παλιβόθρων ἔχοι τις ἂν βεβαιοτέρως εἰπεῖν· καταμεμέτρηται γὰρ σχοινίοις καὶ ἔστιν ὁδὸς βασιλικὴ σταδίων μυρίων· τὰ δʼ ἐπέκεινα στοχασμῷ λαμβάνεται διὰ τῶν ἀνάπλων τῶν ἐκ θαλάττης διὰ τοῦ Γάγγου ποταμοῦ μέχρι Παλιβόθρων· εἴη δʼ ἄν τι σταδίων ἑξακισχιλίων. ἔσται δὲ τὸ πᾶν ᾗ βραχύτατον μυρίων ἑξακισχιλίων, ὡς ἔκ τε τῆς ἀναγραφῆς τῶν σταθμῶν τῆς πεπιστευμένης μάλιστα λαβεῖν Ἐρατοσθένης φησί, καὶ ὁ Μεγασθένης οὕτω συναποφαίνεται, Πατροκλῆς δὲ χιλίοις ἔλαττον φησί. τούτῳ δὴ πάλιν τῷ διαστήματι προστεθὲν τὸ τῆς ἄκρας διάστημα τὸ προπῖπτον ἐπὶ πλέον πρὸς τὰς ἀνατολάς, οἱ τρισχίλιοι στάδιοι ποιήσουσι τὸ μέγιστον μῆκος· ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκβολῶν τοῦ Ἰνδοῦ ποταμοῦ παρὰ τὴν ἑξῆς ᾐόνα μέχρι τῆς λεχθείσης ἄκρας καὶ τῶν ἀνατολικῶν αὐτῆς τερμόνων· οἰκοῦσι δʼ ἐνταῦθα οἱ Κωνιακοὶ καλούμενοι. > The boundaries of India, on the north, from Ariana to the Eastern Sea, are the extremities of Taurus, to the several parts of which the natives give, besides others, the names of Paropamisus, Emodus, and Imaus, but the Macedonians call them Caucasus; on the west, the river Indus; the southern and eastern sides, which are much larger than the others, project towards the Atlantic Sea, and the figure of the country becomes rhomboïdal, each of the greater sides exceeding the opposite by 3000 stadia; and this is the extent of the extremity, common to the eastern and southern coast, and which projects beyond the rest of that coast equally on the east and south. > The western side, from the Caucasian mountains to the Southern Sea, is estimated at 13,000 stadia, along the river Indus to its mouth; wherefore the eastern side opposite, with the addition of the 3000 stadia of the promontory, will be 16,000 stadia in extent. This is both the smallest and greatest breadth of India. The length is reckoned from west to east. The part of this extending (from the Indus) as far as Palibothra we may describe more confidently; for it has been measured by Schoeni, and is a royal road of 10,000 stadia. The extent of the parts beyond depends upon conjecture derived from the ascent of vessels from the sea by the Ganges to Palibothra. This may be estimated at 6000 stadia. > The whole, on the shortest computation, will amount to 16,000 stadia, according to Eratosthenes, who says that he took it from the register of the Stathmi (or the several stages from place to place), which was received as authentic, and Megasthenes agrees with him. But Patrocles says, that the sum of the whole is less by 1000 stadia. If again we add to this distance the extent of the extremity which advances far towards the east, the greatest length of India will be 3000 stadia; this length is reckoned from the mouths of the river Indus along the coast, in a line with the mouths to the abovementioned extremity and its eastern limits. Here the people called Coniaci live. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.12](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.12) Ἐκ δὲ τούτων πάρεστιν ὁρᾶν ὅσον διαφέρουσιν αἱ τῶν ἄλλων ἀποφάσεις, Κτησίου μὲν οὐκ ἐλάττω τῆς ἄλλης Ἀσίας τὴν Ἰνδικὴν λέγοντος, Ὀνησικρίτου δὲ τρίτον μέρος τῆς οἰκουμένης, Νεάρχου δὲ μηνῶν ὁδὸν τεττάρων τὴν διὰ τοῦ πεδίου, Μεγασθένους δὲ καὶ Δηιμάχου μετριασάντων μᾶλλον· ὑπὲρ γὰρ δισμυρίους τιθέασι σταδίους τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς νοτίου θαλάττης ἐπὶ τὸν Καύκασον, Δηίμαχος δʼ ὑπὲρ τοὺς τρισμυρίους κατʼ ἐνίους τόπους· πρὸς οὓς ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις λόγοις εἴρηται, νῦν δὲ τοσοῦτον εἰπεῖν ἱκανόν, ὅτι καὶ ταῦτα συνηγορεῖ τοῖς αἰτουμένοις συγγνώμην, ἐάν τι περὶ τῶν Ἰνδικῶν λέγοντες μὴ διισχυρίζωνται. > From what has been said, we may perceive how the opinions of the other writers differ from one another. Ctesias says that India is not less than the rest of Asia; Onesicritus regards it as the third part of the habitable world; Nearchus says that it is a march of four months through the plain only. The computations of Megasthenes and Deïmachus are more moderate, for they estimate the distance from the Southern Sea to Caucasus at above 20,000 stadia. Deïmachus says that in some places it exceeds 30,000 stadia. > We have replied to these writers in the early part of this work. At present it is sufficient to say that these opinions are in favour of the writers who, in describing India, solicit indulgence if they do not advance anything with confidence. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.13](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.13) ̔́απασα δʼ ἐστὶ κατάρρυτος ποταμοῖς ἡ Ἰνδική, τοῖς μὲν εἰς δύο τοὺς μεγίστους συρρηγνυμένοις τόν τε Ἰνδὸν καὶ τὸν Γάγγην, τοῖς δὲ κατʼ ἴδια στόματα ἐκδιδοῦσιν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν· ἅπαντες δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Καυκάσου τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχουσι καὶ φέρονται μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν τὸ πρῶτον, εἶθʼ οἱ μὲν μένουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς φορᾶς καὶ μάλιστα οἱ εἰς τὸν Ἰνδὸν συμβάλλοντες, οἱ δʼ ἐπιστρέφονται πρὸς ἕω, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ Γάγγης ποταμός. οὗτος μὲν οὖν καταβὰς ἐκ τῆς ὀρεινῆς, ἐπειδὰν ἅψηται τῶν πεδίων ἐπιστρέψας πρὸς ἕω καὶ ῥυεὶς παρὰ τὰ Παλίβοθρα μεγίστην πόλιν πρόεισιν ἐπὶ τὴν ταύτῃ θάλατταν καὶ μίαν ἐκβολὴν ποιεῖται, μέγιστος ὢν τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ποταμῶν· ὁ δὲ Ἰνδὸς δυσὶ στόμασιν εἰς τὴν μεσημβρινὴν ἐκπίπτει θάλατταν, ἐμπεριλαμβάνων τὴν Παταληνὴν καλουμένην χώραν παραπλησίαν τῷ κατʼ Αἴγυπτον Δέλτα. ἐκ δὲ τῆς ἀναθυμιάσεως τῶν τοσούτων ποταμῶν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐτησίων, ὡς Ἐρατοσθένης φησί, βρέχεται τοῖς θερινοῖς ὄμβροις ἡ Ἰνδική, καὶ λιμνάζει τὰ πεδία· ἐν μὲν οὖν τούτοις τοῖς ὄμβροις λίνον σπείρεται καὶ κέγχρος, πρὸς τούτοις σήσαμον ὄρυζα βόσμορον· τοῖς δὲ χειμερινοῖς καιροῖς πυροὶ κριθαὶ ὄσπρια καὶ ἄλλοι καρποὶ ἐδώδιμοι, ὧν ἡμεῖς ἄπειροι. σχεδὸν δέ τι τοῖς ἐν Αἰθιοπίᾳ καὶ κατʼ Αἴγυπτον τὰ αὐτὰ φύεται καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰνδικῇ, καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς πλὴν ἵππου ποταμίου τὰ ἄλλα φέρουσι καὶ οἱ Ἰνδικοί· Ὀνησίκριτος δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἵππους γίνεσθαί φησι. τῶν δʼ ἀνθρώπων οἱ μὲν μεσημβρινοὶ τοῖς Αἰθίοψίν εἰσιν ὅμοιοι κατὰ τὴν χροιάν, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ὄψιν καὶ τὴν τρίχωσιν τοῖς ἄλλοις (οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐλοτριχοῦσι διὰ τὴν ὑγρότητα τοῦ ἀέρος), οἱ δὲ βόρειοι τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις. > The whole of India is watered by rivers, some of which empty themselves into the two largest, the Indus and the Ganges; others discharge themselves into the sea by their own mouths. But all of them have their sources in the Caucasus. At their commencement their course is towards the south; some of them continue to flow in the same direction, particularly those which unite with the Indus; others turn to the east, as the Ganges. This, the largest of the Indian rivers, descends from the mountainous country, and when it reaches the plains, turns to the east, then flowing past Palibothra, a very large city, proceeds onwards to the sea in that quarter, and discharges its waters by a single mouth. The Indus falls into the Southern Sea, and empties itself by two mouths, encompassing the country called Patalene, which resembles the Delta of Egypt. > By the exhalation of vapours from such vast rivers, and by the Etesian winds, India, as Eratosthenes affirms, is watered by summer rains, and the plains are overflowed. During the rainy season flax, millet, sesamum, rice, and bosmorum are sowed; and in the winter season, wheat, barley, pulse, and other esculent fruits of the earth with which we are not acquainted. Nearly the same animals are bred in India as in Ethiopia and Egypt, and the rivers of India produce all the animals of those countries, except the hippopotamus, although Onesicritus asserts that even this animal is found in them. > The inhabitants of the south resemble the Ethiopians in colour, but their countenances and hair are like those of other people. Their hair does not curl, on account of the humidity of the atmosphere. The inhabitants of the north resemble the Egyptians. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.14](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.14) τὴν δὲ Ταπροβάνην πελαγίαν εἶναί φασι νῆσον ἀπέχουσαν τῶν νοτιωτάτων τῆς Ἰνδικῆς τῶν κατὰ τοὺς Κωνιακοὺς πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ἡμερῶν ἑπτὰ πλοῦν, μῆκος μὲν ὡς πεντακισχιλίων σταδίων ἐπὶ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν· ἔχειν δὲ καὶ ἐλέφαντας. > Taprobane is said to be an island, lying out at sea, distant from the most southerly parts of India, which are opposite the Coniaci, seven days’ sail towards the south. Its length is about 8000 stadia in the direction of Ethiopia. It produces elephants. > This is the account of Eratosthenes. The accounts of other writers, in addition to this, whenever they convey exact information, will contribute to form the description (of India). > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.15](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.15) τοιαῦται μὲν αἱ τοῦ Ἐρατοσθένους ἀποφάσεις. προστεθεῖσαι δὲ καὶ αἱ τῶν ἄλλων, εἴ πού τι προσακριβοῦσιν, εἰδοποιήσουσι τὴν γραφήν. οἷον περὶ τῆς Ταπροβάνης Ὀνησίκριτός φησι μέγεθος μὲν εἶναι πεντακισχιλίων σταδίων, οὐ διορίσας μῆκος οὐδὲ πλάτος, διέχειν δὲ τῆς ἠπείρου πλοῦν ἡμερῶν εἴκοσιν· ἀλλὰ κακοπλοεῖν τὰς ναῦς, φαύλως μὲν ἱστιοπεποιημένας κατεσκευασμένας δὲ ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἐγκοιλίων μητρῶν χωρίς. εἶναι δὲ καὶ ἄλλας νήσους αὐτῆς μεταξὺ καὶ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς, νοτιωτάτην δʼ ἐκείνην. κήτη δʼ ἀμφίβια περὶ αὐτὴν γίνεσθαι, τὰ μὲν βουσὶ τὰ δʼ ἵπποις τὰ δʼ ἄλλοις χερσαίοις ἐοικότα. > Onesicritus, for example, says of Taprobane, that its magnitude is 5000 stadia, without distinction of length or breadth, and that it is distant twenty days’ sail from the continent, but that it was a voyage performed with difficulty and danger by vessels with sails ill constructed, and built with prows at each end, but without holds and keels; that there are other islands between this and India, but that Taprobane lies farthest to the south; that there are found in the sea, about the island, animals of the cetaceous kind, in form like oxen, horses, and other land-animals. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.16](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.16) Νέαρχος δὲ περὶ τῆς ἐκ τῶν ποταμῶν ἐπιχοῆς παραδείγματα φέρει τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὅτι καὶ τὸ Ἕρμου καὶ Καΰστρου πεδίον καὶ Μαιάνδρου καὶ Καΐκου παραπλησίως εἴρηται διὰ τὴν ἐπιφορουμένην τοῖς πεδίοις χοῦν αὔξειν αὐτά, μᾶλλον δὲ γεννᾶν, ἐκ τῶν ὀρῶν καταφερομένην, ὅση εὔγεως καὶ μαλακή· καταφέρειν δὲ τοὺς ποταμούς, ὥστε τούτων ὡς ἂν γεννήματα ὑπάρχειν τὰ πεδία· καὶ εὖ λέγεσθαι ὅτι τούτων ἐστι τὰ πεδία. τοῦτο δὲ ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡροδότου λεχθέντι ἐπὶ τοῦ Νείλου καὶ τῆς ἐπʼ αὐτῷ γῆς ὅτι ἐκείνου δῶρόν ἐστι· διὰ τοῦτο δʼ ὀρθῶς καὶ ὁμώνυμον τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ φησὶ λεχθῆναι τὸν Νεῖλον ὁ Νέαρχος. > Nearchus, speaking of the accretion of earth formed by the rivers, adduces these instances. The plains of Hermes, Caÿster, Maeander, and Caïcus have these names, because they have been formed by the soil which has been carried over the plains by the rivers; or rather they were produced by the fine and soft soil brought down from the mountains; whence the plains are, as it were, the offspring of the rivers, and it is rightly said, that the plains belong to the rivers. What is said by Herodotus of the Nile, and of the land about it, may be applied to this country, namely, that it is the gift of the Nile. Hence Nearchus thinks that the Nile had properly the synonym of Egypt. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.17](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.17) Ἀριστόβουλος δὲ μόνα καὶ ὕεσθαι καὶ νίφεσθαι τὰ ὄρη καὶ τὰς ὑπωρείας φησί, τὰ πεδία δὲ καὶ ὄμβρων ὁμοίως ἀπηλλάχθαι καὶ νιφετῶν, ἐπικλύζεσθαι δὲ μόνον κατὰ τὰς ἀναβάσεις τῶν ποταμῶν· νίφεσθαι μὲν οὖν τὰ ὄρη κατὰ χειμῶνα, τοῦ δὲ ἔαρος ἀρχομένου καὶ τοὺς ὄμβρους ἐνάρχεσθαι καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ μᾶλλον λαμβάνειν ἐπίδοσιν· τοῖς δʼ ἐτησίαις καὶ ἀδιαλείπτως νύκτωρ καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἐκχεῖσθαι καὶ λάβρους ἕως ἐπιτολῆς ἀρκτούρου· ἔκ τε δὴ τῶν χιόνων καὶ τῶν ὑετῶν πληρουμένους ποτίζειν τὰ πεδία. κατανοηθῆναι δὲ ταῦτα καὶ ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων φησίν, ὡρμηκότων μὲν εἰς τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ἀπὸ Παροπαμισαδῶν, μετὰ δὲ δυσμὰς πληιάδων, καὶ διατριψάντων κατὰ τὴν ὀρεινὴν ἔν τε τῇ Ὑπασίων καὶ τῇ Ἀσσακανοῦ γῇ τὸν χειμῶνα, τοῦ δʼ ἔαρος ἀρχομένου καταβεβηκότων εἰς τὰ πεδία καὶ πόλιν Τάξιλα εὐμεγέθη, ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ Ὑδάσπην καὶ τὴν Πώρου χώραν· τοῦ μὲν οὖν χειμῶνος ὕδωρ οὐκ ἰδεῖν ἀλλὰ χιόνας μόνον· ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ταξίλοις πρῶτον ὑσθῆναι, καὶ ἐπειδὴ καταβᾶσιν ἐπὶ τὸν Ὑδάσπην καὶ νικήσασι Πῶρον ὁδὸς ἦν ἐπὶ τὸν Ὕπανιν πρὸς ἕω κἀκεῖθεν ἐπὶ τὸν Ὑδάσπην πάλιν, ὕεσθαι συνεχῶς καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς ἐτησίαις, ἐπιτείλαντος δὲ ἀρκτούρου γενέσθαι παῦλαν· διατρίψαντας δὲ περὶ τὴν ναυπηγίαν ἐπὶ τῷ Ὑδάσπῃ καὶ πλεῖν ἀρξαμένους πρὸ δύσεως πληιάδος οὐ πολλαῖς ἡμέραις, καὶ τὸ φθινόπωρον πᾶν καὶ τὸν χειμῶνα καὶ τὸ ἐπιὸν ἔαρ καὶ θέρος ἐν τῷ κατάπλῳ πραγματευθέντας ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὴν Παταληνὴν περὶ κυνὸς ἐπιτολήν· δέκα μὲν δὴ τοῦ κατάπλου γενέσθαι μῆνας, οὐδαμοῦ δʼ ὑετῶν αἰσθέσθαι οὐδʼ ὅτε ἐπήκμασαν οἱ ἐτησίαι, τῶν δὲ ποταμῶν πληρουμένων τὰ πεδία κλύζεσθαι· τὴν δὲ θάλατταν ἄπλουν εἶναι τῶν ἀνέμων ἀντιπνεόντων, ἀπογαίας δὲ μηδεμιᾶς πνοῆς ἐκδεξαμένης. > Aristobulus, however, says, that rain and snow fall only on the mountains and the country immediately below them, and that the plains experience neither one nor the other, but are overflowed only by the rise of the waters of the rivers; that the mountains are covered with snow in the winter; that the rains set in at the commencement of spring, and continue to increase; that at the time of the blowing of the Etesian winds they pour down impetuously, without intermission, night and day till the rising of Arcturus, and that the rivers, filled by the melting of the snow and by the rains, irrigate the flat grounds. > These things, he says, were observed by himself and by others on their journey into India from the Paropamisadae. This was after the setting of the Pleiades, and during their stay in the mountainous country in the territory of the Hypasii, and in that of Assacanus during the winter. At the beginning of spring they descended into the plains to a large city called Taxila, thence they proceeded to the Hydaspes and the country of Porus. During the winter they saw no rain, but only snow. The first rain which fell was at Taxila. After their descent to the Hydaspes and the conquest of Porus, their progress was eastwards to the Hypanis, and thence again to the Hydaspes. At this time it rained continually, and particularly during the blowing of the Etesian winds, but at the rising of Arcturus the rains ceased. They remained at the Hydaspes while the ships were constructing, and began their voyage not many days before the setting of the Pleiades, and were occupied during the whole autumn, winter, and the ensuing spring and summer, in sailing down the river, and arrived at Patalene about the rising of the Dog-Star; during the passage down the river, which lasted ten months, they did not experience rain at any place, not even when the Etesian winds were at their height, when the rivers were full and the plains overflowed; the sea could not be navigated on account of the blowing of contrary winds, but no land breezes succeeded. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.18](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.18) τοῦτο μὲν οὖν αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ Νέαρχος λέγει, περὶ δὲ τῶν θερινῶν ὄμβρων οὐχ ὁμολογεῖ, ἀλλά φησιν ὕεσθαι τὰ πεδία θέρους, χειμῶνος δʼ ἄνομβρα εἶναι. λέγουσι δʼ ἀμφότεροι καὶ τὰς ἀναβάσεις τῶν ποταμῶν. ὁ μέν γε Νέαρχος τοῦ Ἀκεσίνου πλησίον στρατοπεδεύοντάς φησιν ἀναγκασθῆναι μεταλαβεῖν τόπον ἄλλον ὑπερδέξιον κατὰ τὴν ἀνάβασιν, γενέσθαι δὲ τοῦτο κατὰ θερινὰς τροπάς. ὁ δʼ Ἀριστόβουλος καὶ μέτρα τῆς ἀναβάσεως ἐκτίθεται τετταράκοντα πήχεις, ὧν τοὺς μὲν εἴκοσιν ὑπὲρ τὸ προϋπάρχον βάθος πληροῦν μέχρι χείλους τὸ ῥεῖθρον, τοῖς δʼ εἴκοσιν ὑπέρχυσιν εἶναι εἰς τὰ πεδία. ὁμολογοῦσι δὲ καὶ διότι συμβαίνει νησίζειν τὰς πόλεις ἐπάνω χωμάτων ἱδρυμένας, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ Αἰθιοπίᾳ· μετὰ δὲ ἀρκτοῦρον παύεσθαι τὴν πλήμμυραν ἀποβαίνοντος τοῦ ὕδατος· ἔτι δʼ ἡμίψυκτον σπείρεσθαι τὴν γῆν ὑπὸ τοῦ τυχόντος ὀρύκτου χαραχθεῖσαν, καὶ ὅμως φύεσθαι τὸν καρπὸν τέλειον καὶ καλόν. τὴν δʼ ὄρυζάν φησιν ὁ Ἀριστόβουλος ἑστάναι ἐν ὕδατι κλειστῷ, πρασιὰς δʼ εἶναι τὰς ἐχούσας αὐτήν· ὕψος δὲ τοῦ φυτοῦ τετράπηχυ πολύσταχύ τε καὶ πολύκαρπον· θερίζεσθαι δὲ περὶ δύσιν πληιάδος καὶ πτίσσεσθαι ὡς τὰς ζειάς· φύεσθαι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Βακτριανῇ καὶ Βαβυλωνίᾳ καὶ Σουσίδι· καὶ ἡ κάτω δὲ Συρία φύει. Μέγιλλος δὲ τὴν ὄρυζαν σπείρεσθαι μὲν πρὸ τῶν ὄμβρων φησίν, ἀρδείας δὲ καὶ φυτείας δεῖσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν κλειστῶν ποτιζομένην ὑδάτων. περὶ δὲ τοῦ βοσμόρου φησὶν Ὀνησίκριτος διότι σῖτός ἐστι μικρότερος τοῦ πυροῦ, γεννᾶται δʼ ἐν ταῖς μεσοποταμίαις, φρύγεται δʼ ἐπὰν ἀλοηθῇ, προομνύντων μὴ ἀποίσειν ἄπυρον ἐκ τῆς ἅλω τοῦ μὴ ἐξάγεσθαι σπέρμα. > Nearchus gives the same account, but does not agree with Aristobulus respecting the rains in summer, but says that the plains are watered by rain in the summer, and that they are without rain in winter. Both writers, however, speak of the rise of the rivers. Nearchus says, that the men encamped upon the Acesines were obliged to change their situation for another more elevated, and that this was at the time of the rise of the river, and of the summer solstice. > Aristobulus gives even the measure of the height to which the river rises, namely, forty cubits, of which twenty would fill the channel beyond its previous depth up to the margin, and the other twenty are the measure of the water when it overflows the plains. > They agree also in saying that the cities placed upon mounds become islands, as in Egypt and Ethiopia, and that the inundation ceases after the rising of Arcturus, when the waters recede. They add, that the ground when half dried is sowed, after having been prepared by the commonest labourer, yet the plant comes to perfection, and the produce is good. The rice, according to Aristobulus, stands in water in an enclosure. It is sowed in beds. The plant is four cubits in height, with many ears, and yields a large produce. The harvest is about the time of the setting of the Pleiades, and the grain is beaten out like barley. It grows in Bactriana, Babylonia, Susis, and in the Lower Syria. Megillus says that it is sowed before the rains, but does not require irrigation or transplantation, being supplied with water from tanks. > The bosmorum, according to Onesicritus, is a kind of corn smaller than wheat, and grows in places situated between rivers. After it is threshed out, it is roasted; the threshers being previously bound by an oath not to carry it away unroasted from the threshing floor; a precaution to prevent the exportation of the seed. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.19](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.19) τὴν δʼ ὁμοιότητα τῆς χώρας ταύτης πρός τε τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν καὶ πάλιν τὴν ἐναντιότητα παραθεὶς ὁ Ἀριστόβουλος, διότι τῷ Νείλῳ μὲν ἐκ τῶν νοτίων ὄμβρων ἐστὶν ἡ πλήρωσις τοῖς Ἰνδικοῖς δὲ ποταμοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρκτικῶν, ζητεῖ πῶς οἱ μεταξὺ τόποι οὐ κατομβροῦνται· οὔτε γὰρ ἡ Θηβαῒς μέχρι Συήνης καὶ τῶν ἐγγὺς Μερόης οὔτε τῆς Ἰνδικῆς τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς Παταληνῆς μέχρι τοῦ Ὑδάσπου· τὴν δʼ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα τὰ μέρη χώραν ἐν ᾗ καὶ ὄμβροι καὶ νιφετοί, παραπλησίως ἔφη γεωργεῖσθαι τῇ ἄλλῃ τῇ ἔξω τῆς Ἰνδικῆς χώρᾳ· ποτίζεσθαι γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ὄμβρων καὶ χιόνων. εἰκὸς δʼ οἷς εἴρηκεν οὗτος καὶ εὔσειστον εἶναι τὴν γῆν, χαυνουμένην ὑπὸ τῆς πολλῆς ὑγρασίας καὶ ἐκρήγματα λαμβάνουσαν ὥστε καὶ ῥεῖθρα ποταμῶν ἀλλάττεσθαι. πεμφθεὶς γοῦν ἐπί τινα χρείαν ἰδεῖν φησιν ἐρημωθεῖσαν χώραν πλειόνων ἢ χιλίων πόλεων σὺν κώμαις, ἐκλιπόντος τοῦ Ἰνδοῦ τὸ οἰκεῖον ῥεῖθρον ἐκτραπομένου δʼ εἰς τὸ ἕτερον ἐν ἀριστερᾷ κοιλότερον πολύ, καὶ οἷον καταρράξαντος, ὡς τὴν ἀπολειφθεῖσαν ἐν δεξιᾷ χώραν μηκέτι ποτίζεσθαι ταῖς ὑπερχύσεσι, μετεωροτέραν οὖσαν οὐ τοῦ ῥείθρου τοῦ καινοῦ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ὑπερχύσεων. > Aristobulus, when comparing the circumstances in which this country resembles, and those in which it differs from, Egypt and Ethiopia, and observing that the swelling of the Nile is occasioned by rains in the south, and of the Indian rivers by rains from the north, inquires why the intermediate places have no rain; for it does not rain in the Thebais as far as Syene, nor at the places near Meroe, nor in the parts of India from Patalene to the Hydaspes. But the country situated above these parts, in which both rain and snow occur, is cultivated by the husbandman in the same manner as the country without India; for the rain and the snow supply the ground with moisture. > It is probable from what he relates that the country is subject to shocks of earthquakes, that the ground is loose and hollow by excess of moisture, and easily splits into fissures, whence even the course of rivers is altered. > He says that when he was despatched upon some business into the country, he saw a tract of land deserted, which contained more than a thousand cities with their dependent villages; the Indus, having left its proper channel, was diverted into another, on the left hand, much deeper, and precipitated itself into it like a cataract, so that it no longer watered the country by the (usual) inundation on the right hand, from which it had receded, and this was elevated above the level, not only of the new channel of the river, but above that of the (new) inundation. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.20](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.20) ταῖς δὲ τῶν ποταμῶν πληρώσεσι καὶ τῷ τοὺς ἀπογαίους μὴ πνεῖν ὁμολογεῖ καὶ τὸ λεχθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ὀνησικρίτου· τεναγώδη γάρ φησιν εἶναι τὴν παραλίαν καὶ μάλιστα κατὰ τὰ στόματα τῶν ποταμῶν, διά τε τὴν χοῦν καὶ τὰς πλημμυρίδας καὶ τὴν τῶν πελαγίων ἀνέμων ἐπικράτειαν. Μεγασθένης δὲ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἐπισημαίνεται τῷ δίκαρπον εἶναι καὶ δίφορον· καθάπερ καὶ Ἐρατοσθένης ἔφη, τὸν μὲν εἰπὼν σπόρον χειμερινὸν τὸν δὲ θερινόν, καὶ ὄμβρον ὁμοίως· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔτος εὑρίσκεσθαί φησι πρὸς ἀμφοτέρους καιροὺς ἄνομβρον· ὥστʼ εὐετηρίαν ἐκ τούτου συμβαίνειν ἀφόρου μηδέποτε τῆς γῆς οὔσης· τούς τε ξυλίνους καρποὺς γεννᾶσθαι πολλοὺς καὶ τὰς ῥίζας τῶν φυτῶν καὶ μάλιστα τῶν μεγάλων καλάμων, γλυκείας καὶ φύσει καὶ ἑψήσει χλιαινομένου τοῦ ὕδατος τοῖς ἡλίοις τοῦ τʼ ἐκπίπτοντος ἐκ Διὸς καὶ τοῦ ποταμίου. τρόπον δή τινα λέγειν βούλεται διότι ἡ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις λεγομένη πέψις καὶ καρπῶν καὶ χυμῶν παρʼ ἐκείνοις ἕψησίς ἐστι, καὶ κατεργάζεται τοσοῦτον εἰς εὐστομίαν ὅσον καὶ ἡ διὰ πυρός· διὸ καὶ τοὺς κλάδους φησὶν εὐκαμπεῖς εἶναι τῶν δένδρων ἐξ ὧν οἱ τροχοί· ἐκ δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς αἰτίας ἐνίοις καὶ ἐπανθεῖν ἔριον. ἐκ τούτου δὲ Νέαρχός φησι τὰς εὐητρίους ὑφαίνεσθαι σινδόνας, τοὺς δὲ Μακεδόνας ἀντὶ κναφάλλων αὐτοῖς χρῆσθαι καὶ τοῖς σάγμασι σάγης· τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ Σηρικὰ ἔκ τινων φλοιῶν ξαινομένης βύσσου. εἴρηκε δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν καλάμων ὅτι ποιοῦσι μέλι μελισσῶν μὴ οὐσῶν· καὶ γὰρ δένδρον εἶναι καρποφόρον, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ καρποῦ συντίθεσθαι μέλι, τοὺς δὲ φαγόντας ὠμοῦ τοῦ καρποῦ μεθύειν. > The account of Onesicritus confirms the facts of the rising of the rivers and of the absence of land breezes. He says that the sea-shore is swampy, particularly near the mouths of rivers, on account of the mud, tides, and the force of the winds blowing from the sea. > Megasthenes also indicates the fertility of India by the circumstance of the soil producing fruits and grain twice a year. Eratosthenes relates the same facts, for he speaks of a winter and a summer sowing, and of the rain at the same seasons. For there is no year, according to him, which is without rain at both those periods, whence ensues great abundance, the ground never failing to bear crops. > An abundance of fruit is produced by trees; and the roots of plants, particularly of large reeds, possess a sweetness, which they have by nature and by coction; for the water, both from rains and rivers, is warmed by the sun’s rays. The meaning of Eratosthenes seems to be this, that what among other nations is called the ripening of fruits and juices, is called among these coction, and which contributes as much to produce an agreeable flavour as the coction by fire. To this is attributed the flexibility of the branches of trees, from which wheels of carriages are made, and to the same cause is imputed the growth upon some trees of wool. Nearchus says that their fine clothes were made of this wool, and that the Macedonians used it for mattresses and the stuffing of saddles. The Serica also are of a similar kind, and are made of dry byssus, which is obtained from some sort of bark of plants. He says that reeds yield honey, although there are no bees, and that there is a tree from the fruit of which honey is procured, but that the fruit eaten fresh causes intoxication. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.21](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.21) πολλὰ γὰρ δὴ δένδρα παράδοξα ἡ Ἰνδικὴ τρέφει, ὧν ἐστι καὶ τὸ κάτω νεύοντας ἔχον τοὺς κλάδους τὰ δὲ φύλλα ἀσπίδος οὐκ ἐλάττω. Ὀνησίκριτος δὲ καὶ περιεργότερον τὰ ἐν τῇ Μουσικανοῦ διεξιών, ἅ φησι νοτιώτατα εἶναι τῆς Ἰνδικῆς, διηγεῖται μεγάλα δένδρα τινά, ὧν τοὺς κλάδους αὐξηθέντας ἐπὶ πήχεις καὶ δώδεκα, ἔπειτα τὴν λοιπὴν αὔξησιν καταφερῆ λαμβάνειν ὡς ἂν κατακαμπτομένους, ἕως ἂν ἅψωνται τῆς γῆς· ἔπειτα κατὰ γῆς διαδοθέντας ῥιζοῦσθαι ὁμοίως ταῖς κατώρυξιν, εἶτʼ ἀναδοθέντας στελεχοῦσθαι· ἐξ οὗ πάλιν ὁμοίως τῇ αὐξήσει κατακαμφθέντας ἄλλην κατώρυγα ποιεῖν, εἶτʼ ἄλλην, καὶ οὕτως ἐφεξῆς, ὥστʼ ἀφʼ ἑνὸς δένδρου σκιάδιον γίνεσθαι μακρὸν πολυστύλῳ σκηνῇ ὅμοιον. λέγει δὲ καὶ μεγέθη δένδρων ὥστε πέντε ἀνθρώποις δυσπερίληπτα εἶναι τὰ στελέχη. κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀκεσίνην καὶ τὴν συμβολὴν τὴν πρὸς Ὑάρωτιν καὶ Ἀριστόβουλος εἴρηκε περὶ τῶν κατακαμπτομένους ἐχόντων τοὺς κλάδους καὶ περὶ τοῦ μεγέθους ὥσθʼ ὑφʼ ἑνὶ δένδρῳ μεσημβρίζειν σκιαζομένους ἱππέας πεντήκοντα· οὗτος δὲ τετρακοσίους. λέγει δὲ ὁ Ἀριστόβουλος καὶ ἄλλο δένδρον οὐ μέγα, λοποὺς ἔχον ὡς ὁ κύαμος δεκαδακτύλους τὸ μῆκος πλήρεις μέλιτος, τοὺς δὲ φαγόντας οὐ ῥᾳδίως σώζεσθαι. ἅπαντας δʼ ὑπερβέβληνται περὶ τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν δένδρων οἱ φήσαντες ἑωρᾶσθαι πέραν τοῦ Ὑαρώτιδος τῶν δένδρων οἱ φήσαντες ταῖς μεσημβρίαις πενταστάδιον. καὶ τῶν ἐριοφόρων δένδρων φησὶν οὗτος τὸ ἄνθος ἔχειν πυρῆνα· ἐξαιρεθέντος δὲ τούτου ξαίνεσθαι τὸ λοιπὸν ὁμοίως ταῖς ἐρέαις. > India produces many singular trees. There is one whose branches incline downwards, and whose leaves are not less in size than a shield. Onesicritus, describing minutely the country of Musicanus, which he says is the most southerly part of India, relates, that there are some large trees the branches of which extend to the length even of twelve cubits. They then grow downwards, as though bent (by force), till they touch the earth, where they penetrate and take root like layers. They next shoot upwards and form a trunk. They again grow as we have described, bending downwards, and implanting one layer after another, and in the above order, so that one tree forms a long shady roof, like a tent, supported by many pillars. In speaking of the size of the trees, he says their trunks could scarcely be clasped by five men. > Aristobulus also, where he mentions the Acesines, and its confluence with the Hyarotis, speaks of trees with their boughs bent downwards and of a size that fifty, but, according to Onesicritus, four hundred horsemen might take shelter at mid-day beneath the shade of a single tree. > Aristobulus mentions another tree, not large, bearing great pods, like the bean, ten fingers in length, full of honey, and says that those who eat it do not easily escape with life. But the accounts of all these writers about the size of the trees have been exceeded by those who assert that there has been seen, beyond the Hyarotis, a tree which casts a shade at noon of five stadia. > Aristobulus says of the wool-bearing trees, that the flower pod contains a kernel, which is taken out, and the remainder is combed like wool. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.22](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.22) Ἐν δὲ τῇ Μουσικανοῦ καὶ σῖτον αὐτοφυῆ λέγει πυρῷ παραπλήσιον καὶ ἄμπελον, ὥστʼ οἰνοφορεῖν τῶν ἄλλων ἄοινον λεγόντων τὴν Ἰνδικήν· ὥστε μηδʼ αὐλὸν εἶναι κατὰ τὸν Ἀνάχαρσιν μηδʼ ἄλλο τῶν μουσικῶν ὀργάνων μηδὲν πλὴν κυμβάλων καὶ τυμπάνων καὶ κροτάλων ἃ τοὺς θαυματοποιοὺς κεκτῆσθαι. καὶ πολυφάρμακον δὲ καὶ πολύρριζον τῶν τε σωτηρίων καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων, ὥσπερ καὶ πολυχρώματον, καὶ οὗτος εἴρηκε καὶ ἄλλοι γε· προστίθησι δʼ οὗτος ὅτι καὶ νόμος εἴη τὸν ἀνευρόντα τι τῶν ὀλεθρίων, ἐὰν μὴ προσανεύρῃ καὶ τὸ ἄκος αὐτοῦ, θανατοῦσθαι· ἀνευρόντα δὲ τιμῆς τυγχάνειν παρὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν. ἔχειν δὲ καὶ κιννάμωμον καὶ νάρδον καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀρώματα τὴν νότιον γῆν τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ὁμοίως ὥσπερ τὴν Ἀραβίαν καὶ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν ἔχουσάν τι ἐμφερὰς ἐκείναις κατὰ τοὺς ἡλίους· διαφέρειν δὲ τῷ πλεονασμῷ τῶν ὑδάτων ὥστʼ ἔνικμον εἶναι τὸν ἀέρα καὶ τροφιμώτερον παρὰ τοῦτο καὶ γόνιμον μᾶλλον, ὡς δʼ αὕτως καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, ᾗ δὴ καὶ μείζω τά τε χερσαῖα τῶν ζῴων καὶ τὰ καθʼ ὕδατος τὰ ἐν Ἰνδοῖς τῶν παρʼ ἄλλοις εὑρίσκεσθαι. καὶ τὸν Νεῖλον δʼ εἶναι γόνιμον μᾶλλον ἑτέρων καὶ μεγαλοφυῆ γεννᾶν καὶ τἆλλα καὶ τὰ ἀμφίβια, τάς τε γυναῖκας ἔσθʼ ὅτε καὶ τετράδυμα τίκτειν τὰς Αἰγυπτίας· Ἀριστοτέλης δέ τινα καὶ ἑπτάδυμα ἱστορεῖ τετοκέναι, καὶ αὐτὸς πολύγονον καλῶν τὸν Νεῖλον καὶ τρόφιμον διὰ τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἡλίων μετρίαν ἕψησιν αὐτὸ καταλειπόντων τὸ τρόφιμον τὸ δὲ περιττὸν ἐκθυμιώντων. > In the country of Musicanus there grows, he says, spontaneously grain resembling wheat, and a vine that produces wine, whereas other authors affirm that there is no wine in India. Hence, according to Anacharsis, they had no pipes, nor any musical instruments, except cymbals, drums, and crotala, which were used by jugglers. > Both Aristobulus and other writers relate that India produces many medicinal plants and roots, both of a salutary and noxious quality, and plants yielding a variety of colours. He adds, that, by a law, any person discovering a deadly substance is punished with death unless he also discover an antidote; in case he discovers an antidote, he is rewarded by the king. > Southern India, like Arabia and Ethiopia, produces cinnamon, nard, and other aromatics. It resembles these countries as regards the effect of the sun’s rays, but it surpasses them in having a copious supply of water, whence the atmosphere is humid, and on this account more conducive to fertility and fecundity; and this applies to the earth and to the water, hence those animals which inhabit both one and the other are of a larger size than are found in other countries. The Nile contributes to fecundity more than other rivers, and among other animals of large bulk, produces the amphibious kind. The Egyptian women also sometimes have four children at a birth, and Aristotle says that one woman had seven children at one birth. He calls the Nile most fecundating and nutritive, on account of the moderate coction effected by the sun’s rays, which leave behind the nutritious part of substances, and evaporate that which is superfluous. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.23](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.23) ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς αἰτίας καὶ τοῦτο συμβαίνειν εἰκὸς ὅπερ φησὶν οὗτος, ὅτι τῷ ἡμίσει πυρὶ ἕψει τὸ τοῦ Νείλου ὕδωρ ἢ τὰ ἄλλα. ὅσῳ δέ γε φησὶ τὸ μὲν τοῦ Νείλου ὕδωρ διʼ εὐθείας ἔπεισι πολλὴν χώραν καὶ στενὴν καὶ μεταβάλλει πολλὰ κλίματα καὶ πολλοὺς ἀέρας, τὰ δʼ Ἰνδικὰ ῥεύματα ἐς πεδία ἀναχεῖται μείζω καὶ πλατύτερα ἐνδιατρίβοντα πολὺν χρόνον τοῖς αὐτοῖς κλίμασι, τοσῷδε ἐκεῖνα τούτου τροφιμώτερα, διότι καὶ τὰ κήτη μείζω τε καὶ πλείω· καὶ ἐκ τῶν νεφῶν δὲ ἑφθὸν ἤδη χεῖσθαι τὸ ὕδωρ. > It is perhaps owing to this cause that the water of the Nile boils, as he says, with one half of the heat which other water requires. In proportion however, he says, as the water of the Nile traverses in a straight line, a long and narrow tract of country, passing through a variety of climates and of atmosphere, while the Indian rivers are poured forth into wider and more extensive plains, their course being delayed a long time in the same climate, in the same degree the waters of India are more nutritious than those of the Nile; they produce larger animals of the cetaceous kind, and in greater number (than the Nile), and the water which descends from the clouds has already undergone the process of coction. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo ### [15.1.24](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1.24) τοῦτο δʼ οἱ μὲν περὶ Ἀριστόβουλον οὐκ ἂν συγχωροῖεν οἱ φάσκοντες μὴ ὕεσθαι τὰ πεδία. Ὀνησικρίτῳ δὲ δοκεῖ τόδε τὸ ὕδωρ αἴτιον εἶναι τῶν ἐν τοῖς ζῴοις ἰδιωμάτων, καὶ φέρει σημεῖον τὸ καὶ τὰς χρόας τῶν πινόντων βοσκημάτων ξενικῶν ἀλλάττεσθαι πρὸς τὸ ἐπιχώριον. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν εὖ, οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τοῦ μέλανας εἶναι καὶ οὐλότριχας τοὺς Αἰθίοπας ἐν ψιλοῖς τοῖς ὕδασι τὴν αἰτίαν τιθέναι, μέμφεσθαι δὲ τὸν Θεοδέκτην εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν ἥλιον ἀναφέροντα τὸ αἴτιον, ὅς φησιν οὕτως οἷς ἀγχιτέρμων ἥλιος διφρηλατῶν σκοτεινὸν ἄνθος ἐξέχρωσε λιγνύος εἰς σώματʼ ἀνδρῶν, καὶ συνέστρεψεν κόμας μορφαῖς ἀναυξήτοισι συντήξας πυρός. ἔχοι δʼ ἄν τινα λόγον· φησὶ γὰρ μήτε ἐγγυτέρω τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον ἢ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον κατὰ κάθετον εἶναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπικαίεσθαι πλέον, ὥστʼ οὐκ εὖ λέγεσθαι ἀγχιτέρμονα αὐτοῖς τὸν ἥλιον ἴσον πάντων διέχοντα· μήτε τὸ θάλπος εἶναι τοῦ τοιούτου πάθους αἴτιον· μηδὲ γὰρ τοῖς ἐν γαστρί, ὧν οὐχ ἅπτεται ἥλιος. βελτίους δὲ οἱ τὸν ἥλιον αἰτιώμενοι καὶ τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐπίκαυσιν κατʼ ἐπίλειψιν σφοδρὰν τῆς ἐπιπολῆς ἰκμάδος· καθʼ ὃ καὶ τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς μὴ οὐλοτριχεῖν φαμεν, μηδʼ οὕτως ἀπεφεισμένως ἐπικεκαῦσθαι τὴν χρόαν, ὅτι ὑγροῦ κοινωνοῦσιν ἀέρος. ἐν δὲ τῇ γαστρὶ ἤδη κατὰ σπερματικὴν διάδοσιν τοιαῦτα γίνεται οἷα τὰ γεννῶντα· καὶ γὰρ πάθη συγγενικὰ οὕτω λέγεται καὶ ἄλλαι ὁμοιότητες. καὶ τὸ πάντων δʼ ἴσον ἀπέχειν τὸν ἥλιον πρὸς αἴσθησιν λέγεται, οὐ πρὸς λόγον· καὶ πρὸς αἴσθησιν, οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἀλλʼ ὥς φαμεν σημείου λόγον ἔχειν τὴν γῆν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου σφαῖραν· ἐπεὶ πρός γε τὴν τοιαύτην αἴσθησιν καθʼ ἣν θάλπους ἀντιλαμβανόμεθα, ἐγγύθεν μὲν μᾶλλον πόρρωθεν δὲ ἧττον, οὐκ ἴσον· οὕτω δʼ ἀγχιτέρμων ὁ ἥλιος λέγεται τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν, οὐχ ὡς Ὀνησικρίτῳ δέδοκται. > This would not be admitted by the followers of Aristobulus, who say that the plains are not watered by rain. Onesicritus, however, thinks that rain-water is the cause of the peculiar properties of animals, and alleges in proof, that the colour of foreign herds which drink of it is changed to that of the native animals. > This is a just remark; but it is not proper to attribute to the power of the water merely the cause of the black complexion and the woolly hair of the Ethiopians, and yet he censures Theodectes, who refers these peculiarities to the effects of the sun, in these words, Near these approaching with his radiant car, > The sun their skins with dusky tint doth dye, > And sooty hue; and with unvarying forms > Of fire, crisps their tufted hair. > There may be reason in this, for he says that the sun does not approach nearer to the Ethiopians than to other nations, but shines more perpendicularly, and that on this account the heat is greater; indeed, it cannot be correctly said that the sun approaches near to the Ethiopians, for he is at an equal distance from all nations. Nor is the heat the cause of the black complexion, particularly of children in the womb, who are out of the reach of the sun. Their opinion is to be preferred, who attribute these effects to the sun and to intense solar heat, causing a great deficiency of moisture on the surface of the skin. Hence we say it is that the Indians have not woolly hair, nor is their colour so intensely dark, because they live in a humid atmosphere. > With respect to children in the womb, they resemble their parents (in colour) according to a seminal disposition and constitution, on the same principle that hereditary diseases, and other likenesses, are explained. > The equal distance of the sun from all nations (according to Onesicritus) is an argument addressed to the senses, and not to reason. But it is not an argument addressed to the senses generally, but in the meaning that the earth bears the proportion of a point to the sun, for we may understand such a meaning of an argument addressed to the senses, by which we estimate heat to be more or less, as it is near or at a distance, in which cases it is not the same; and in this meaning, not in that of Onesicritus, the sun is said to be near the Ethiopians. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo _First 24 of 74 passages. [Read on](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1)_ ## Translations (2) - [The Geography of Strabo](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo~en-hamilton-falconer.15.1.1) — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, English - [Ancient India as Described in Classical Literature (Strabo, book 15)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo~en-mccrindle.15.1.1) — John Watson McCrindle 1901, English ## Linked texts (14) - [Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.kautilya) — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit - [Mānava Dharmaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.manu) — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit - [Bauddha](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) - [Ἱστορίαι / Παραδόξων ἐθῶν συναγωγή](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.nicolaus) — Νικόλαος ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ancient Greek - [Age of the Nandas and Mauryas](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.sastri-1952.c9.s24.22) — K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, English - [Social and Rural Economy of Northern India, cir. 600 B.C.–200 A.D.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.economy.bose-1942.v1.c21.169) — Atindranath Bose, English - [Chandragupta Maurya and His Times](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.mookerji-1943.c14.12) — Radhakumud Mookerji, English - [The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.filliozat-1949.c14.36) — Jean Filliozat, English - [Trade and Trade Routes in Ancient India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.economy.chandra-1977.c9.85) — Moti Chandra, English - [Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religion and Institutions](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.muir-1868.v5.c38.2) — John Muir, English - [The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c18.81) — Vincent A. Smith & S. M. Edwardes, English - [A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.literature.muller-1859.c6.29) — F. Max Müller, English - [India as Known to Pāṇini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.agrawala-1953.c11.s3.11) — V. S. Agrawala, English - [The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography.cunningham-1871.c5.s1.t11.37) — Alexander Cunningham, English --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.15.1) · Pramāṇa