---
title: "Seven Books of History against the Pagans"
author: "Paulus Orosius"
translator: "S. Alexander Laurent (AI-assisted, 2026)"
title_ru: "История против язычников"
title_fr: "Histoires contre les païens"
title_de: "Sieben Bücher Geschichte gegen die Heiden"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Church Fathers"
section: 4 of 177
url: https://scriptura.si/works/orosius-historiae/4/
cite: "Paulus Orosius, tr. S. Alexander Laurent (AI-assisted, 2026), Seven Books of History against the Pagans, section 4. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/orosius-historiae/4/"
---

# Seven Books of History against the Pagans

*Paulus Orosius, tr. S. Alexander Laurent (AI-assisted, 2026)*

Russian: История против язычников · French: Histoires contre les païens · German: Sieben Bücher Geschichte gegen die Heiden

Augustine's pupil tells the whole of world history to prove that the Christian times are not the worst.

## 4. Book 1 · Chapter 2 · 2 of 3

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/orosius-historiae/4/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/orosius-historiae/4/#p-N

[¶0] Last of all, between the Eoae and the Passyadrae, is Mount Imavus, where the river Chrysorhoas and the promontory of Samara are received by the Eastern Ocean.

> Latin: 46 ultimus autem inter Eoas et Passyadras mons Imauus, ubi flumen Chrysorhoas et promunturium Samara orientali excipiuntur oceano.

[¶1] Thus from Mount Imavus — that is, from the foot of the Caucasus and the right-hand part of the east, where the Serican Ocean stretches — to the Boreum promontory and the river Boreum, and from there as far as the Scythian Sea in the north, to the Caspian Sea in the west, and to the long ridge of the Caucasus in the south, there are forty-two peoples of Hyrcanians and Scythians, wandering far and wide because of the barren expanse of the land.

> Latin: 47 igitur a monte Imauo, hoc est ab imo Caucaso et dextra orientis parte qua oceanus Sericus tenditur, usque ad promunturium Boreum et flumen Boreum, inde tenus Scythico mari quod est a septentrione, usque ad mare Caspium quod est ab occasu, et usque ad extentum Caucasi iugum quod est ad meridiem, Hyrcanorum et Scytharum gentes sunt XLII, propter terrarum infecundam diffusionem late oberrantes.

[¶2] The Caspian Sea rises from the Ocean in the north-east; both its shores near the Ocean are held to be deserted and uncultivated land. From there it stretches southward through long narrows until, widening out over great spaces, it ends at the foot of the Caucasus range.

> Latin: 48 Mare Caspium sub Aquilonis plaga ab oceano oritur, cuius utraque circa oceanum litora et loca deserta incultaque habentur. inde meridiem uersus per longas angustias tenditur, donec per magna spatia dilatatum Caucasi montis radicibus terminetur.

*Note: Like most geographers after Alexander, Orosius takes the Caspian for a gulf of the northern Ocean; Herodotus had already known that it is an enclosed sea.*

[¶3] So from the Caspian Sea, on the east, along the shore of the northern Ocean to the river Tanais and the Maeotic marshes, on the west, and along the coast of the Cimmerian Sea, on the south-west, to the head and gates of the Caucasus, on the south, there are thirty-four peoples.

> Latin: 49 itaque a mari Caspio quod est ad orientem, per oram oceani septentrionalis usque ad Tanaim fluuium et Maeotidas paludes quae sunt ad occasum, per litus Cimmerici maris quod est ab Africo, usque ad caput et portas Caucasi quae sunt ad meridiem, gentes sunt XXXIIII.

[¶4] But in general the nearer region is called Albania, and the farther, below the Caspian Sea and mountain, the land of the Amazons.

> Latin: 50 sed generaliter regio proxima Albania, ulterior sub mari et monte Caspio Amazonum nominatur.

[¶5] The boundaries of Asia have been set out as briefly as possible. Now I shall range with my pen over Europe, so far as is granted to human knowledge.

> Latin: 51 Expliciti sunt quam breuissime fines Asiae. nunc Europam in quantum cognitioni hominis conceditur stilo peruagabor.

[¶6] It begins from the Riphaean mountains, the river Tanais and the Maeotic marshes, which lie to the east, and runs along the shore of the northern Ocean to Gallia Belgica and the river Rhine, which lies to the west, and then, coming down, to the Danube, which they also call the Hister, which lies to the south and, flowing eastward, is received by the Pontus.

> Latin: 52 Incipit a montibus Riphaeis ac flumine Tanai Maeotidisque paludibus quae sunt ad orientem, per litus septentrionalis oceani usque ad Galliam Belgicam et flumen Rhenum quod est ab occasu descendens, deinde usque ad Danuuium quem et Histrum uocant, qui est a meridie et ad orientem directus Ponto accipitur.

[¶7] On the east is Alania, in the middle Dacia, where Gothia also lies, then Germany, the greatest part of which the Suebi hold. In all of these there are fifty-four peoples.

> Latin: 53 ab oriente Alania est, in medio Dacia ubi et Gothia, deinde Germania est ubi plurimam partem Suebi tenent. quorum omnium sunt gentes LIIII.

[¶8] Now I shall set out everything that the Danube shuts off from the barbarian lands, down to Our Sea.

> Latin: 54 Nunc quidquid Danuuius a barbarico ad mare Nostrum secludit expediam.

[¶9] Moesia has on the east the mouths of the river Danube, on the south-east Thrace, on the south Macedonia, on the south-west Dalmatia, on the west Histria, on the north-west Pannonia, and on the north the Danube.

> Latin: 55 Moesia ab oriente habet ostia fluminis Danuuii, ab euro Thraciam, a meridie Macedoniam, ab Africo Dalmatiam, ab occasu Histriam, a circio Pannoniam, a septentrione Danuuium.

[¶10] Thrace has on the east the gulf of the Propontis and the city of Constantinople, formerly called Byzantium; on the north part of Dalmatia and a gulf of the Euxine Sea; on the west and south-west Macedonia; on the south the Aegean Sea.

> Latin: 56 Thracia habet ab oriente Propontidis sinum et ciuitatem Constantinopolim quae Byzantium prius dicta est, a septentrione partem Dalmatiae et sinum Euxini ponti, ab occasu et Africo Macedoniam, a meridie Aegaeum mare.

[¶11] Macedonia has on the east the Aegean Sea, on the north-east Thrace, on the south-east Euboea and the Macedonian Gulf, on the south Achaea, towards the west wind the Acroceraunian mountains at the narrows of the Adriatic Gulf — mountains which face Apulia and Brundisium — on the west Dalmatia, on the north-west Dardania, and on the north Moesia.

> Latin: 57 Macedonia habet ab oriente Aegaeum mare, a borea Thraciam, ab euro Euboeam et Macedonicum sinum, a meridie Achaiam, a fauonio montes Acrocerauniae in angustiis Hadriatici sinus, qui montes sunt contra Apuliam atque Brundisium, ab occasu Dalmatiam, a circio Dardaniam, a septentrione Moesiam.

[¶12] Achaea is almost entirely surrounded by sea: on the east it has the Myrtoan Sea, on the south-east the Cretan Sea, on the south the Ionian Sea, on the south-west and west the islands of Cephallenia and Cassiope, on the north the Corinthian Gulf, and on the north-east a narrow ridge of land by which it is joined to Macedonia, or rather to Attica. This place is called the Isthmus; there stands Corinth, which has not far off in Attica, to the north-east, the city of Athens.

> Latin: 58 Achaia undique propemodum cincta est mari; nam ab oriente habet Myrtoum mare, ab euro mare Creticum, a meridie Ionium mare, ab Africo et occasu Cephaleniam et Cassiopam insulas, a septentrione sinum Corinthium, ab aquilone angustum terrae dorsum, quo Macedoniae coniungitur uel potius Atticae; qui locus Isthmos uocatur, ubi est Corinthus, habens in Attica ad boream non longe Athenas ciuitatem.

[¶13] Dalmatia has on the east Macedonia, on the north-east Dardania, on the north Moesia, on the west Histria, the Liburnian Gulf and the Liburnian islands, and on the south the Adriatic Gulf.

> Latin: 59 Dalmatia habet ab oriente Macedoniam, ab aquilone Dardaniam, a septentrione Moesiam, ab occasu Histriam et sinum Liburnicum et insulas Liburnicas, a meridie Hadriaticum sinum.

[¶14] Pannonia, Noricum and Raetia have on the east Moesia, on the south Histria, on the south-west the Pennine Alps, on the west Gallia Belgica, on the north-west the source of the Danube and the frontier which separates Germany from Gaul between the Danube and Gaul, and on the north the Danube and Germany.

> Latin: 60 Pannonia Noricus et Raetia habent ab oriente Moesiam, a meridie Histriam, ab Africo Alpes Poeninas, ab occasu Galliam Belgicam, a circio Danuuii fontem et limitem qui Germaniam a Gallia inter Danuuium Galliamque secernit, a septentrione Danuuium et Germaniam.

[¶15] Italy lies stretched from north-west to south-east, having the Tyrrhenian Sea on the south-west and the Adriatic Gulf on the north-east. The part of it which it shares with the mainland and which adjoins it is barred by the ramparts of the Alps,

> Latin: 61 Italiae situs a circio in eurum tenditur, habens ab Africo Tyrrhenum mare, a borea Hadriaticum sinum; cuius ea pars, qua continenti terrae communis et contigua est, Alpium obicibus obstruitur.

[¶16] which, rising from the Gallic Sea above the Ligurian Gulf, shut off first the territory of the Narbonenses, then Gaul and Raetia, until they come to rest at the Liburnian Gulf.

> Latin: 62 quae a Gallico mari super Ligusticum sinum exsurgentes, primum Narbonensium fines, deinde Galliam Raetiamque secludunt, donec in sinu Liburnico defigantur.

[¶17] Gallia Belgica has on the east the frontier of the river Rhine and Germany, on the south-east the Pennine Alps, on the south the province of Narbonensis, on the west the province of Lugdunensis, on the north-west the British Ocean, and on the north the island of Britain.

> Latin: 63 Gallia Belgica habet ab oriente limitem fluminis Rheni et Germaniam, ab euro Alpes Poeninas, a meridie prouinciam Narbonensem, ab occasu prouinciam Lugdunensem, a circio oceanum Britannicum, a septentrione Britanniam insulam.

[¶18] Gallia Lugdunensis, drawn out lengthwise and bending round in a narrow strip, half-encircles the province of Aquitania.

> Latin: 64 Gallia Lugdunensis, ducta per longum et per angustum inflexa, Aquitanicam prouinciam semicingit.

[¶19] It has on the east Belgica, and on the south part of the province of Narbonensis, where the city of Arles lies and the river Rhône is received by the Gallic Sea.

> Latin: 65 haec ab oriente habet Belgicam, a meridie partem prouinciae Narbonensis, qua Arelas ciuitas sita est et mari Gallico Rhodani flumen accipitur.

[¶20] The province of Narbonensis, a part of the Gallic provinces, has on the east the Cottian Alps, on the west Spain, on the north-west Aquitania, on the north Lugdunensis, on the north-east Gallia Belgica, and on the south the Gallic Sea, which lies between Sardinia and the Balearic Islands; and before it, where the river Rhône flows out into the sea, it has the Stoechades islands.

> Latin: 66 Narbonensis Provincia, pars Galliarum, habet ab oriente Alpes Cottias, ab occidente Hispaniam, a circio Aquitanicam, a septentrione Lugdunensem, ab aquilone Belgicam Galliam, meridie mare Gallicum quod est inter Sardiniam et insulas Baleares, habens in fronte, qua Rhodanus fluuius in mare exit, insulas Stoechadas.

[¶21] The province of Aquitania is bent into a circle by the slanting course of the river Loire, which for the most part is its boundary.

> Latin: 67 Aquitanica Provincia obliquo cursu Ligeris fluminis, qui ex plurima parte terminus eius est, in orbem agitur.

[¶22] On the north-west it touches the Ocean which is called the Aquitanian Gulf, on the west the Spanish provinces, on the north and east Lugdunensis, and on the south-east and south the province of Narbonensis.

> Latin: 68 haec a circio oceanum qui Aquitanicus sinus dicitur, ab occasu Hispanias habet, a septentrione et oriente Lugdunensem, ab euro et meridie Narbonensem prouinciam contingit.

[¶23] Spain as a whole is triangular in shape, and the Ocean and the Tyrrhenian Sea flowing round it make it almost an island.

> Latin: 69 Hispania uniuersa terrarum situ trigona est et circumfusione oceani Tyrrhenique pelagi paene insula efficitur.

[¶24] Its first angle, facing east, hemmed in on the right by the province of Aquitania and on the left by the Balearic Sea, fits into the territory of the Narbonenses.

> Latin: 70 huius angulus prior, spectans ad orientem, a dextris Aquitanica prouincia, a sinistris Balearico mari coartatus, Narbonensium finibus inseritur.

[¶25] The second angle points north-west, where Brigantia, a city of Gallaecia, raises a very tall lighthouse, one of the few works worth recording, as a watchtower looking towards Britain.

> Latin: 71 secundus angulus circium intendit; ubi Brigantia Gallaeciae ciuitas sita altissimam pharum et inter pauca memorandi operis ad speculam Britanniae erigit.

*Note: Brigantia is A Coruña in Galicia; its Roman lighthouse, the Tower of Hercules, still stands.*

[¶26] Its third angle is where the islands of Cadiz, facing south-west, look out across an inlet of the Ocean towards Mount Atlas.

> Latin: 72 tertius angulus eius est, qua Gades insulae, intentae in Africum, Athlantem montem interiecto sinu oceani prospiciunt.

[¶27] Hither Spain, beginning in the east, is drawn out by the Pyrenees along its northern side as far as the Cantabrians and Asturians, and from there through the Vaccaei and Oretani, whom it has on the west, it is bounded by Cartagena, which lies on the shore of Our Sea.

> Latin: 73 Hispaniam citeriorem ab oriente incipientem Pyrenaei saltus a parte septentrionis usque ad Cantabros Asturesque deducit atque inde per Vaccaeos et Oretanos, quos ab occasu habet, posita in Nostri maris litore Carthago determinat.

*Note: Latin Carthago: here New Carthage, modern Cartagena, not Carthage in Africa.*

[¶28] Further Spain has on the east the Vaccaei, Celtiberians and Oretani, on the north the Ocean, on the west the Ocean, and on the south the strait of the Ocean at Cadiz, through which Our Sea, called the Tyrrhenian, flows in.

> Latin: 74 Hispania ulterior habet ab oriente Vaccaeos, Celtiberos et Oretanos, a septentrione oceanum, ab occasu oceanum, a meridie Gaditanum oceani fretum; unde mare Nostrum, quod Tyrrhenum uocatur, inmittitur.

[¶29] And since the Ocean has islands, called Britain and Hibernia, which lie on the far side of Gaul, facing towards Spain, they will be briefly described.

> Latin: 75 Et quoniam oceanus habet insulas, quas Britanniam et Hiberniam uocant, quae in auersa Galliarum parte ad prospectum Hispaniae sitae sunt, breuiter explicabuntur.

[¶30] Britain, an island of the Ocean, stretches lengthwise to the north; on the south it has Gaul. For those crossing over, its nearest shore is opened by a city called Rutupiae Harbour; from there it looks across to the Menapii and Batavi, who lie not far from the Morini to the south.

> Latin: 76 Britannia oceani insula per longum in boream extenditur; a meridie Gallias habet. cuius proximum litus transmeantibus ciuitas aperit, quae dicitur Rutupi portus; unde haud procul a Morinis in austro positos Menapos Batauosque prospectat.

*Note: Rutupiae is Richborough in Kent, the usual Roman port for the crossing from Gaul.*

[¶31] This island is eight hundred miles long and two hundred miles wide.

> Latin: 77 haec insula habet in longo milia passuum DCCC, in lato milia CC.

[¶32] Behind it, where it lies open to the boundless Ocean, it has the Orkney Islands, of which twenty are deserted and thirteen inhabited.

> Latin: 78 A tergo autem, unde oceano infinito patet, Orcadas insulas habet, quarum XX desertae sunt, XIII coluntur.

[¶33] Then there is the island of Thule, which, separated from the rest by a boundless distance and lying north-west in the middle of the Ocean, is known to scarcely a few.

> Latin: 79 Deinde insula Thyle, quae per infinitum a ceteris separata, circium uersus medio sita oceani, uix paucis nota habetur.

[¶34] The island of Hibernia, lying between Britain and Spain, stretches over a longer distance from south-west to north-east.

> Latin: 80 Hibernia insula inter Britanniam et Hispaniam sita longiore ab Africo in boream spatio porrigitur.

[¶35] Its nearer parts, facing the Cantabrian Ocean, look across a wide interval far off to Brigantia, the city of Gallaecia, which faces it from the south-west towards the north-west — especially from that promontory where the mouth of the river Scena is, and where the Velabri and Luceni dwell. This island is nearer to Britain and narrower in extent of land, but more profitable for the mildness of its climate and soil; it is inhabited by the peoples of the Scots.

> Latin: 81 huius partes priores intentae Cantabrico oceano Brigantiam Gallaeciae ciuitatem ab Africo sibi in circium occurrentem spatioso interuallo procul spectant, ab eo praecipue promunturio, ubi Scenae fluminis ostium est et Velabri Lucenique consistunt. haec propior Britanniae, spatio terrarum angustior, sed caeli solique temperie magis utilis, a Scottorum gentibus colitur.

*Note: The Scots (Scotti) of Orosius’s day are the Irish; the name passed to Scotland only after Irish settlers crossed to Argyll.*

[¶36] Next to it, too, is the island of Mevania, itself of no small extent and with good soil; it is likewise inhabited by the peoples of the Scots. These are the boundaries of all Europe.

> Latin: 82 Huic etiam Mevania insula proxima est et ipsa spatio non parua, solo commoda. aeque a Scottorum gentibus habitatur. Hi sunt fines totius Europae.

*Note: Mevania is probably the Isle of Man.*

[¶37] When our ancestors described Africa, as I said, as to be counted the third part of the world, they followed not the measurements of extent but the principles of division.

> Latin: 83 Africam ut dixi cum tertiam orbis partem maiores nostri accipiendam descripserint, non spatiorum mensuras sed diuisionum rationes secuti sunt.

[¶38] For this Great Sea, which rises from the Ocean in the west and inclines more towards the south, has made the territory of Africa, squeezed between itself and the Ocean, narrower.

> Latin: 84 mare hoc siquidem Magnum, quod ab occasu ex oceano oritur, in meridiem magis uergens angustiorem inter se et oceanum coartatae Africae limitem fecit.

[¶39] Hence some too, recognising that though it is equal in length it is much narrower, thought it shameless to call it a third part, and preferred instead to assign Africa to Europe and call it a portion of the second.

> Latin: 85 unde etiam aliqui quamuis eam longitudine parem tamen multo angustiorem intellegentes, inuerecundum arbitrati tertiam uocare partem sed potius in Europam Africam deputantes, hoc est secundae portionem appellare maluerunt.

[¶40] Moreover, far more land in Africa lies uncultivated and unknown because of the heat of the sun than in Europe because of the severity of the cold — for almost all things that live or grow approach the extreme of cold with more patience and endurance than the extreme of heat. This, surely, is the reason why Africa seems smaller in every respect, in extent and in peoples: by its nature it has less space, and through the harshness of its climate more desert. Its description by provinces and peoples is as follows:

> Latin: 86 praeterea cum multo amplius terrae in Africa ardore solis quam in Europa rigore frigoris incultum atque incognitum sit - quippe cum omnia paene animantia uel germinantia patientius et tolerabilius ad summum frigoris quam ad summum caloris accedant - ea scilicet causa est, Africam per omnia situ et populis minorem uideri: quia et natura sui minus habeat spatii et caeli inclementia plus deserti. cuius descriptio per prouincias et gentes haec est:

[¶41] Libya Cyrenaica and the Pentapolis comes first in the part of Africa after Egypt.

> Latin: 87 Libya Cyrenaica et Pentapolis post Aegyptum in parte Africae prima est.

[¶42] It begins at the city of Paraetonium and the Catabathmos mountains, and from there extends along the sea as far as the Altars of the Philaeni. Behind it, as far as the southern Ocean, it has the peoples of the Libyo-Ethiopians and the Garamantes.

> Latin: 88 haec incipit a ciuitate Parethonio et montibus Catabathmon, inde secundo mari usque ad aras Philaenorum extenditur. post se habet usque ad oceanum meridianum gentes Libyoaethiopum et Garamantum.

[¶43] It has on the east Egypt, on the north the Libyan Sea, on the west the Greater Syrtis and the Troglodytes — opposite whom lies the island of Calypso — and on the south the Ethiopian Ocean.

> Latin: 89 huic est ab oriente Aegyptus, a septentrione mare Libycum, ab occasu Syrtes maiores et Trogodytae - contra quos insula Calypso est -, a meridie Aethiopicus oceanus.

[¶44] The province of Tripolitania, which is also called Subventana or the region of the Arzuges, where the city of Leptis Magna is — although the Arzuges are generally so called along the whole long frontier of Africa — has on the east the Altars of the Philaeni between the Greater Syrtis and the Troglodytes, on the north the Sicilian, or rather the Adriatic, Sea and the Lesser Syrtis, on the west Byzacium as far as the Salt Lake, and on the south the barbarian Gaetulians, Nathabres and Garamantes, reaching as far as the Ethiopian Ocean.

> Latin: 90 Tripolitana prouincia, quae et Subuentana uel regio Arzugum dicitur, ubi Leptis Magna ciuitas est, quamuis Arzuges per longum Africae limitem generaliter uocentur, habet ab oriente aras Philaenorum inter Syrtes maiores et Trogodytas, a septentrione mare Siculum uel potius Hadriaticum et Syrtes minores, ab occasu Byzacium usque ad lacum Salinarum, a meridie barbaros Gaetulos Nathabres et Garamantas usque ad oceanum Aethiopicum pertingentes.

*Note: In late antique usage the “Adriatic” extended south to the sea between Sicily, Greece, Crete and Africa; hence Orosius’s Adriatic off Libya and Sicily (1.2.97, 1.2.100).*