Geographiae informatio

Agathemerus

Agathemerus, creator; Diller, Aubrey (1903-1985), editor and translator.

The winds blow: from equinoctial sunrise apeliotes, from equinoctial sunset zephyros from midday notos, from the bear aparctias,

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from summer solstice (sunrise) kaikias, and next, from equinoctial sunrise apeliotes, and from winter sunrise euros, and in the west, from winter sunset lips, and next again, from equinoctial sunset zephyros from summer sunset argestes or Olympias also called Iapyx, then notos and aparctias blowing opposite each other; so there are eight.

But Timosthenes, who wrote the circumnavigations, says there are twelve, adding boreas between aparctias and kaikias, phoinix also called euronotos between euros and notos, leuconotos or libonotos between notos and lips, thrascias or kirkios (as called by the local people) between aparctias and argestes. He says nations dwell on the borders of the earth, towards apeliotes Bactrians, towards euros Indians, towards phoinix the Red Sea and Aethiopia, towards notos Aethiopia beyond Egypt, towards leuconotos Garamantes beyond the Syrtes, towards lips western Aethiopians beyond Moors, towards zephyos the Pillars and the beginnings of Libya and Europe, towards argestes Iberia, now Hispania, towards thrascias Celts and their neighbors, towards aparctias Scythians beyond Thrace, towards borras Pontus Maeotis Sarmatians, towards kaikias the Caspian Sea and Sacae.

The Great Syrtis is 5000 stades, the Little Syrtis 1600 stades. The mouth of the Adriatic, which some call the Ionian Sea, has a passage of 700 stades from the tip of Iapygia to the Ceraunian mountains in Epirus.

After the Aegean Sea comes the Hellespont ending at Abydus and Sestus, then the Propontis ending at Chalcedon and Byzantium, where the narrows are from which the Pontus begins, then Lake Maeotis. Again, from the beginning of Europe and Libya the Iberian Sea from the Pillars to Mt Pyrene, the Ligurian as far as the borders of Etruria, the Sardinian beyond Sardinia bending down towards Libya, the Tuscan ending as far as Sicily and beginning from the capes of Liguria, then the Libyan, then the Cretan and Sicilian and Ionian and Adriatic and the one opening out of the Sicilian sea, which they call the gulf of Corinth or Halcyon sea. The Saronic sea enclosed by Sunium and Scyllaeum, then the Myrtoan and Icarian, in which are the Cyclades, then the Carpathian and Pamphylian and Egyptian. Beyond the Icarian spreads the Aegean.

The coast of Europe from the outlet of the Tanais River to the Pillars of Hercules is 69709 stades, of Libya from Tingis to the Canobic mouth is 29252 stades, of Asia from Canobus to the Tanais River, with the gulfs, is

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40111 stades; altogether, the coast of our earth, with the gulfs, is 139072 stades, including Lake Maeotis, of which the perimeter is 9000 stades and the mouth at the Cimmerian Bosporus is stades.