Γεωγραφικα 2.1.16

2.1.16

τίνʼ οὖν τοιαύτην εὕροις εὐδαιμονίαν περὶ Βορυσθένη καὶ τὴν Κελτικὴν τὴν παρωκεανῖτιν; ὅπου μηδὲ φύεται ἄμπελος ἢ μὴ τελεσφορεῖ· ἐν δὲ τοῖς νοτιωτέροις τούτων καὶ ἐπιθαλαττιδίοις καὶ τοῖς κατὰ Βόσπορον τελεσφορεῖ, ἐν μικροκαρπίᾳ δέ, καὶ τοῦ χειμῶνος κατορύττεται. οἱ δὲ πάγοι παρʼ αὐτοῖς τοιοῦτοί τινές εἰσιν ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τῆς λίμνης τῆς Μαιώτιδος, ὥστʼ ἐν χωρίῳ, ἐν ᾧ χειμῶνος ὁ τοῦ Μιθριδάτου στρατηγὸς ἐνίκησε τοὺς βαρβάρους ἱππομαχῶν ἐπὶ τῷ πάγῳ, τοὺς αὐτοὺς καταναυμαχῆσαι θέρους, λυθέντος τοῦ πάγου. ὁ δʼ Ἐρατοσθένης καὶ τοὐπίγραμμα προφέρεται τὸ ἐν τῷ Ἀσκληπιείῳ τῷ Παντικαπαιέων ἐπὶ τῇ ῥαγείσῃ χαλκῇ ὑδρίᾳ διὰ τὸν πάγον εἴ τις ἄρʼ ἀνθρώπων μὴ πείθεται οἷα παρʼ ἡμῖν γίγνεται, εἰς τήνδε γνώτω ἰδὼν ὑδρίαν· ἣν οὐχ ὡς ἀνάθημα θεοῦ καλόν, ἀλλʼ ἐπίδειγμα χειμῶνος μεγάλου θῆχʼ ἱερεὺς Στρατίος. ὅπου οὖν οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐν Βοσπόρῳ συγκριτέον τὰ ἐν τοῖς διαριθμηθεῖσι τόποις, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐν Ἀμισῷ καὶ Σινώπῃ (καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνων εὐκρατοτέρους ἂν εἴποι τις), σχολῇ γʼ ἂν παραβάλλοιντο τοῖς κατὰ Βορυσθένη καὶ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις Κελτοῖς. μόλις γὰρ ἂν ταυτοκλινεῖς εἶεν τοῖς κατʼ Ἀμισὸν καὶ Σινώπην καὶ Βυζάντιον καὶ Μασσαλίαν, οἳ τοῦ Βορυσθένους καὶ τῶν Κελτῶν ὡμολόγηνται νοτιώτεροι σταδίοις τρισχιλίοις καὶ ἑπτακοσίοις.

Can one find any fertility to compare with this near to the Dnieper, or that part of Keltica next the ocean, where the vine either does not grow at all, or attains no maturity. However, in the more southerly portions of these districts, close to the sea, and those next the Bosphorus, the vine brings its fruit to maturity, although the grapes are exceedingly small, and the vines are covered up all the winter. And in the parts near the mouth of the Palus Maeotis, the frost is so strong that a general of Mithridates defeated the barbarians here in a cavalry engagement during the winter, and on the very same spot in a naval fight in summer, when the ice was thawed. Eratosthenes furnishes us with the following inscription, which he found in the temple of Aesculapius at Panticapaeeon, on a brazen vase which had been broken by the frost:—
If any one doubts the intensity of our winter’s cold, let him believe when he sees this vase. The priest Stratius placed it here, not because he considered it a worthy offering to the god, but as a proof of the severity of our winter.
Since therefore the provinces we have just enumerated [are so superior in climate, that they] cannot be compared with the countries surrounding the Bosphorus, nor even the regions of Amisus and Sinope, (for every one will admit that they are much superior to these latter,) it would be idle to compare them with the districts near the Borysthenes and the north of Keltica; for we have shown that their temperature is not so low as Amisus, Sinope, Byzantium, and Marseilles, which are universally acknowledged to be 3700 stadia south of the Dnieper and Keltica.