Byzacium, Zeugis and Numidia. Zeugis, however, we find was formerly the general name not of a single judicial district but of the whole province.
91 Byzacium Zeugis et Numidia. Zeugis autem prius non unius conuentus, sed totius prouinciae generale nomen fuisse inuenimus.
Byzacium, then, where the city of Hadrumetum is; Zeugis, where Great Carthage is; and Numidia, where the cities of Hippo Regius and Rusicade are, have on the east the Lesser Syrtis and the Salt Lake, on the north Our Sea, which faces the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, on the west Mauretania Sitifensis, and on the south the Uzara mountains and behind them the peoples of the Ethiopians, who roam as far as the Ethiopian Ocean.
92 Byzacium ergo ubi Hadrumetus ciuitas, Zeugis ubi Carthago Magna, Numidia ubi Hippos regius et Rusiccada ciuitates sunt, habent ab oriente Syrtes minores et lacum Salinarum, a septentrione mare Nostrum quod spectat ad Siciliam et Sardiniam insulas, ab occasu Mauretaniam Sitifensem, a meridie montes Uzarae et post eos Aethiopum gentes peruagantes usque ad oceanum Aethiopicum.
Mauretania Sitifensis and Caesariensis has on the east Numidia, on the north Our Sea, on the west the river Malva, and on the south Mount Astrixis, which divides the living earth from the sands that stretch as far as the Ocean, over which the Gangine Ethiopians wander.
93 Sitifensis et Caesariensis Mauretania habet ab oriente Numidiam, a septentrione mare Nostrum, ab occasu flumen Maluam, a meridie montem Astrixim, qui diuidit inter uiuam terram et harenas iacentes usque oceanum, in quibus oberrant Gangines Aethiopes.
Mauretania Tingitana is the last of Africa. It has on the east the river Malva; on the north Our Sea as far as the strait of Cadiz, which is narrowed between the two facing promontories of Abenna and Calpe; on the west Mount Atlas and the Atlantic Ocean; towards the south-west Mount Hesperus; and on the south the peoples of the Autololes, whom they now call Galaules, reaching to the Hesperian Ocean.
94 Tingitana Mauretania ultima est Africae. haec habet ab oriente flumen Maluam, a septentrione mare Nostrum usque ad fretum Gaditanum quod inter Abennae et Calpes duo contraria sibi promunturia coartatur, ab occidente Athlantem montem et oceanum Athlanticum, sub Africo Hesperium montem, a meridie gentes Autololum, quas nunc Galaules uocant, usque ad oceanum Hesperium contingentes.
This is the boundary of all Africa. Now I shall measure out the positions, names and extents of the islands that lie in Our Sea.
95 Hic est uniuersae terminus Africae. nunc insularum, quae in Nostro mari sunt, loca nomina et spatia dimetiar.
The island of Cyprus is bounded on the east by the Syrian Sea, which they call the Gulf of Issus, on the west by the Pamphylian Sea, on the north by the Cilician Strait, and on the south by the sea of Syria and Phoenicia. It is 175 miles long and 125 miles wide.
96 Insula Cypros ab oriente mari Syrio, quem Issicum sinum uocant, ab occidente mari Pamphylico, a septentrione Aulone Cilicio, a meridie Syriae et Phoenices pelago cingitur. cuius spatium in longo tenet milia passuum CLXXV, in lato milia passuum CXXV.
The island of Crete is bounded on the east by the Carpathian Sea, on the west and north by the Cretan Sea, and on the south by the Libyan Sea, which they also call the Adriatic. It is 172 miles long and 50 wide.
97 Insula Creta finitur ab oriente Carpathio mari, ab occasu et septentrione mari Cretico, a meridie mari Libyco, quod et Hadriaticum uocant. habet in longo milia passuum CLXXII, in lato L.
The Cyclades islands — of which the first on the east is Rhodes, on the north Tenedos, on the south Carpathos, on the west Cythera — are bounded on the east by the shores of Asia, on the west by the Icarian Sea, on the north by the Aegean Sea, and on the south by the Carpathian Sea. The Cyclades number fifty-four in all. They extend five hundred miles from north to south and two hundred from east to west.1
98 Insulae Cyclades - quarum est ab oriente prima Rhodos, a septentrione Tenedos, a meridie Carpathos, ab occasu Cythera - ab oriente finiuntur litoribus Asiae, ab occidente mari Icario, a septentrione mari Aegaeo, a meridie mari Carpathio. sunt autem omnes Cyclades numero LIIII. hae tenent a septentrione in meridiem milia passuum D, ab oriente in occasum milia CC.
1Orosius uses “Cyclades” loosely for the islands of the Aegean as a whole; Rhodes, Tenedos, Carpathos and Cythera are not Cyclades in the usual sense.
The island of Sicily has three promontories: the first, called Pelorus, looks to the north-east, and the city of Messana is nearest to it; the second, called Pachynus, below which lies the city of Syracuse, faces south-south-east; the third, called Lilybaeum, where a city of the same name also lies, points west.
99 Sicilia insula tria habet promunturia, unum quod dicitur Pelorum et aspicit ad aquilonem, cui Messana ciuitas proxima est; secundum quod dicitur Pachynum, sub quo ciuitas Syracusana, respicit ad euronotum; tertium quod appellatur Lilybaeum, ubi et ciuitas eiusdem nominis sita est, dirigitur in occasum.
From Pelorus to Pachynus it is 159 miles, from Pachynus to Lilybaeum 187. It is bounded on the east by the Adriatic Sea and on the south by the African Sea, which lies opposite the Subventani and the Lesser Syrtis; on the west and north it has the Tyrrhenian Sea, and from the north-east round to the east the Adriatic strait, which divides the Tauromenitani of Sicily from the Bruttii of Italy.
100 haec habet a Peloro in Pachynum milia passuum CLVIIII, a Pachyno in Lilybaeum CLXXXVII. haec ab oriente cingitur mari Hadriatico, a meridie mari Africo quod; est contra Subuentanos et Syrtes minores, ab occidente et septentrione habet mare Tyrrhenum, a borea usque subsolanum fretum Hadriaticum quod diuidit Tauromenitanos Siciliae et Bruttios Italiae.
The islands of Sardinia and Corsica are divided by a small strait, that is, of twenty miles. Of these, Sardinia has the Caralitani on the south, facing Numidia, and facing the island of Corsica, that is, towards the north, it has the Ulbienses.
101 Sardinia et Corsica insulae paruo fretu hoc est milium XX diuiduntur. ex quibus Sardinia habet a meridie contra Numidiam Caralitanos, contra Corsicam insulam hoc est septentrionem uersus habet Ulbienses.
It is 230 miles long and 80 wide. It has on the east and north-east the Tyrrhenian Sea, which faces the harbour of the city of Rome, on the west the Sardinian Sea, on the south-west the Balearic Islands, lying far off, on the south the Numidian Gulf, and on the north, as I said, Corsica.
102 cuius in longo spatium tenet milia passuum CCXXX, in lato milia LXXX. haec habet ab oriente et borea Tyrrhenicum mare quod spectat ad portum urbis Romae, ab occasu mare Sardum, ab Africo insulas Baleares longe positas, a meridie Numidicum sinum, a septentrione ut dixi Corsicam.
The island of Corsica is jagged with many promontories. It has on the east the Tyrrhenian Sea and the harbour of the City, on the south Sardinia, on the west the Balearic Islands, and on the north-west and north the Ligurian Gulf. It is 160 miles long and 26 wide.
103 Corsica Insula multis promunturiis angulosa est. haec habet ab oriente Tyrrhenicum mare et portum Urbis, a meridie Sardiniam, ab occasu insulas Baleares, a circio et septentrione Ligusticum sinum. tenet autem in longo milia passuum CLX, in lato milia XXVI.
The Balearic Islands are two, the greater and the lesser, each with two towns. The greater faces Tarragona, a city of Spain, the lesser Barcelona, towards the north. Below the greater lies the island of Ebusus. Beyond this, they look out on the east to Sardinia, on the north-east to the Gallic Sea, on the south and south-west to the Mauretanian Sea, and on the west to the Iberian Sea.
104 Insulae Baleares duae sunt, maior et minor, quibus insunt bina oppida, maior Tarraconam Hispaniae ciuitatem, minor Barcilonam septentrionem uersus contra se habent. maiori subiacet insula Ebusos. deinde ab oriente Sardiniam, ab aquilone mare Gallicum, a meridie et Africo Mauretanicum pelagus, ab occasu Hibericum pelagus spectant.
These are the islands set throughout the whole Great Sea from the Hellespont to the Ocean, which are held the more famous for their cultivation and renown.
105 Hae sunt insulae ab Hellesponto usque ad oceanum per totum Magnum pelagus constitutae, quae et cultu et memoria magis celebres habentur.
I have surveyed briefly, as best I could, the provinces and islands of the whole world. Now, so far as I am able, I shall set forth the local miseries of the individual peoples: how they have arisen unceasingly from the beginning, and in what way they arose for each.
106 Percensui breuiter ut potui prouincias et insulas orbis uniuersi. nunc locales gentium singularum miserias, sicut ab initio incessabiliter exstiterunt et qualiter quibusque exortae sunt, in quantum suffecero proferam.