Naturalis historia 6.88

6.88

iidem narravere latus insulae quod praetenderetur Indiae X??? stadiorum esse ab oriente hiberno; ultra monies Hemodos Seras quoque ab ipsis aspici, notos etiam commercio; patrem Rachiae commeasse eo; advenis ibi feras occursare, ipsos vero excedere hominum magnitudinem, rutilis comis, caeruleis oculis, oris sono truci, nullo commercio linguae. cetera eadem quae nostri negotiatores: fluminis ulteriore ripa merces positas iuxta venalia tolli ab iis, si placeat permutatio, non aliter odio iustiore luxuriae quam si perducta mens illuc usque cogitet, quid et quo petatur et quare.

and they declared that in their country the moon can only be seen above the horizon from the eighth to its sixteenth day. They also stated that Canopus, a large bright star, gives light to them by night. But what surprised them more than anything, was that the shadow of their bodies was thrown towards our hemisphere and not theirs, and that the sun arose on the left hand and set on the right, and not in the opposite direction. They also informed us that the side of their island which lies opposite to India is ten thousand stadia in length, and runs in a south-easterly direction—that beyond the Emodian Mountains they look towards the Serve, whose acquaintance they had also made in the pursuits of commerce; that the father of Rachias had frequently visited their country, and that the Seræ always came to meet them on their arrival. These people, they said, exceeded the ordinary human height, had flaxen hair, and blue eyes, and made an uncouth sort of noise by way of talking, having no language of their own for the pur- pose of communicating their thoughts. The rest of their information was of a similar nature to that communicated by our merchants. It was to the effect that the merchandize on sale was left by them upon the opposite bank of a river on their coast, and it was then removed by the natives, if they thought proper to deal on terms of exchange.

On no grounds ought luxury with greater reason to be detested by us, than if we only transport our thoughts to these scenes, and then reflect, what are its demands, to what distant spots it sends in order to satisfy them, and for how mean and how unworthy an end! But yet Taprobane even, isolated as it is by nature from the rest of the world, is not exempt from our vices. Gold and silver are held in esteem even there. They have a marble which resembles tortoise-shell in appearance; this, as well as their pearls and precious stones, is highly valued; all our luxuries in fact, those even of the most exquisite nature, are there carried to the very highest pitch. They asserted that their wealth is much greater than ours, but admitted that we know better than they how to obtain real enjoyment from opulence. In this island no slavery exists; they do not prolong their sleep to day-break, nor indeed during any part of the day; their buildings are only of a moderate height from the ground; the price of corn is always the same; they have no courts of law and no litigation. Hercules is the deity whom they worship; SABTUL and their king is chosen by the people, an aged man always, distinguished for his mild and clement disposition, and without children. If after he has been elected king, he happens to become the father of children, his abdication is the consequence; this is done that there may be no danger of the sovereign power becoming hereditary.