Γεωγραφικα 2.1.11

2.1.11

̔́ο τε ἐξ Ἀμισοῦ πλοῦς ἐπὶ τὴν Κολχίδα ὅτι ἐστὶν ἐπὶ ἰσημερινὴν ἀνατολήν, καὶ τοῖς ἀνέμοις ἐλέγχεται καὶ ὥραις καὶ καρποῖς καὶ ταῖς ἀνατολαῖς αὐταῖς· ὡς δʼ αὕτως καὶ ἡ ἐπὶ τὴν Κασπίαν ὑπέρβασις καὶ ἡ ἐφεξῆς ὁδὸς μέχρι Βάκτρων. πολλαχοῦ γὰρ ἡ ἐνάργεια καὶ τὸ ἐκ πάντων συμφωνούμενον ὀργάνου πιστότερόν ἐστιν, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἵππαρχος τὴν ἀπὸ στηλῶν μέχρι τῆς Κιλικίας γραμμήν, ὅτι ἐστὶν ἐπʼ εὐθείας καὶ ὅτι ἐπὶ ἰσημερινὴν ἀνατολήν, οὐ πᾶσαν ὀργανικῶς καὶ γεωμετρικῶς ἔλαβεν, ἀλλʼ ὅλην τὴν ἀπὸ στηλῶν μέχρι πορθμοῦ τοῖς πλέουσιν ἐπίστευσεν. ὥστʼ οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνο εὖ λέγει τό ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἔχομεν λέγειν οὔθʼ ἡμέρας μεγίστης πρὸς τὴν βραχυτάτην λόγον οὔτε γνώμονος πρὸς σκιὰν ἐπὶ τῇ παρωρείᾳ τῇ ἀπὸ Κιλικίας μέχρι Ἰνδῶν, οὐδʼ εἰ ἐπὶ παραλλήλου γραμμῆς ἐστιν ἡ λόξωσις ἔχομεν εἰπεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐᾶν ἀδιόρθωτον, λοξὴν φυλάξαντες, ὡς οἱ ἀρχαῖοι πίνακες παρέχουσι. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν εἰπεῖν ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ ἐπέχειν, ὁ δʼ ἐπέχων οὐδετέρωσε ῥέπει, ἐᾶν δὲ κελεύων, ὡς οἱ ἀρχαῖοι, ἐκεῖσε ῥέπει. μᾶλλον δʼ ἂν τἀκόλουθον ἐφύλαττεν, εἰ συνεβούλευε μηδὲ γεωγραφεῖν ὅλως· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων ὀρῶν τὰς θέσεις, οἷον Ἄλπεων καὶ τῶν Πυρηναίων καὶ τῶν Θρᾳκίων καὶ Ἰλλυρικῶν καὶ Γερμανικῶν, οὕτως ἔχομεν εἰπεῖν. τίς δʼ ἂν ἡγήσαιτο πιστοτέρους τῶν ὑστέρων τοὺς παλαιοὺς τοσαῦτα πλημμελήσαντας περὶ τὴν πινακογραφίαν, ὅσα εὖ διαβέβληκεν Ἐρατοσθένης, ὧν οὐδενὶ ἀντείρηκεν Ἵππαρχος;

In like manner, that the voyage from Amisus to Colchis, and the route to the Caspian, and thence on to Bactra, are both due east, is proved by the winds, the seasons, the fruits, and even the sun-risings. Frequently evidence such as this, and general agreement, are more to be relied on than the measurement taken by means of instruments. Hipparchus himself was not wholly indebted to instruments and geometrical calculations for his statement that the Pillars and Cilicia lie in a direct line due east. For that part of it included between the Pillars and the Strait of Sicily he rests entirely on the assertion of sailors. It is therefore incorrect to say that, because we cannot exactly determine the duration of the longest and shortest days, nor the degree of shadow of the gnomon throughout the mountainous region between Cilicia and India, that therefore we are unable to decide whether the line traced obliquely on the ancient charts should or should not be parallel, and consequently must leave it unreformed, keeping it oblique as the ancient charts have it. For in the first place, not to determine any thing is to leave it undetermined; and to leave a thing undetermined, is neither to take one view of the matter nor the other: but to agree to leave it as the ancients have, that is to take a view of the case. It would have been more consistent with his reasoning, if he had told us to leave Geography alone altogether, since we are similarly unable to determine the position of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Thrace, Illyria, and Germany. Wherefore should we give more credit to the ancient writers than to the modern, when we call to mind the numerous errors of their charts which have been pointed out by Eratosthenes, and which Hipparchus has not attempted to defend.