Res Gestae

There are also subterranean fissures and winding passages called syringes,[*](σύριγγες, xvii. 7, 11, note.) which, it is said, those acquainted with the ancient rites, since they had fore-knowledge that a deluge was coming, and feared that the memory of the ceremonies might be destroyed, dug in the earth in many places with great labour; and on the walls of these caverns they carved many kinds of birds and beasts, and those countless forms of animals which they called hierographic writing.[*](Described in xvii. 4, 8 ff.)

Then comes Syene,[*](Modern Assouan.) where at the solstice, to which the sun extends its summer course, its rays surround all upright bodies and do not allow their shadows to extend beyond the bodies themselves.[*](That is, they cast no shadows. Macrobius, Somn. Scip. ii. 7, 15, limits this to eo die quo sol certain parter ingreditur Cancri, hora dies sexta; Strabo also limits the time to midday (xvii. 1, 48; L.C.L., viii. p. 129).) At that time if one fixes a stake upright in the earth, or looks at a man or a tree standing anywhere, he will observe that the shadows are lost in the outer circumference of the figures. The same thing is said to happen at Meroë, a part of Aethiopia lying next to the equinoctial circle, where for ninety days the shadows fall on the side opposite to ours, for which reason those who dwell there are called Antiscii.[*](From ἀντί, against, opposite, and σκιά, shadow. Ammianus means that the locality is so far south that the sun for a time casts shadows southwards; cf. Pliny, N.H. ii. 183, per eos dies xc in meridiem umbras iaci, the shadows are turned towards the south. )

But since there are many such wonders, which extend beyond the plan of my

In early times Egypt is said to have had three provinces: Egypt proper, Thebais, and Libya. To these later times have added two: Augustamnica being taken from Egypt, and Pentapolis from the dryer part of Libya.

Now Thebais has these among cities that are especially famous: Hermopolis, Coptos and Antinoü,[*](I.e. Antinoü(polis), also called Antinupolis (see xviii, 9, 1). Antinupolis was not actually founded by Hadrian, but he enbellished and renamed it.) which Hadrian founded[*](I.e. Antinoü(polis), also called Antinupolis (see xviii, 9, 1). Antinupolis was not actually founded by Hadrian, but he enbellished and renamed it.) in honour of his favourite Antinoiis; for hundred-gated Thebes[*](Cf. xvii. 4, 2.) everyone knows.

In Augustamnica is the famous city of Pelusium, which Peleus, the father of Achilles, is said to have founded, being bidden by order of the gods to purify himself in the lake which washes the walls of that city, when after the murder of his brother, Phocus by name, he was hounded by the dread forms of the furies;[*](All other writers say that Peleus was banished by his father Aeacus, and fled to Eurytus, son of Actor, who purified him; cf. Diod. Sic. iv. 72, 6.) also Cassium,[*](Also called Casium and containing a temple of Jupiter Casius. He was also worshipped in Syria; cf. 14, 4, above.) where is the tomb of Pompey the Great, and Ostracine, and Rhinocorura.

In Pentapolis-Libya is Cyrene, an ancient city, but deserted, founded by the Spartan Battus,[*](Cf. Hdt. iv. 150 ff.; Strabo, xvii. 3, 21. The founder is sometimes called Aristaeus (Just. xiii. 7, 1).) and Ptolemais, and Arsinoe, also called Teuchira, and

But in dry Libya are Paraetonion, Chaerecla, Neapolis, and a few small towns.

Egypt itself, which from the time when it was joined with the Roman empire has been governed by prefects in place of kings,[*](Because of its importance as a grain supply; cf. Suet., Jul. 35, 1; Tac., Hist. i. 11. The praefectus Aegypti ranked next to the praefectus praetorio in the equestrian cursus honorum. ) is adorned by the great cities of Athribis, Oxyrynchus, Thumis, and Memphis, to say nothing of many lesser towns.

But the crown of all cities is Alexandria, which is made famous by many splendid things, through the wisdom of its mighty founder and by the cleverness of the architect Dinocrates. The latter, when laying out its extensive and beautiful walls, for lack of lime, of which too little could at the time be found, sprinkled the whole line of its circuit with flour,[*](Cf. Strabo, xvii. 1, 6 (at end); Plutarch, Alex. 26, 5 f.) which chanced to be a sign that later the city would abound with a plentiful store of food.

There healthful breezes blow, the air is calm and mild, and as the accumulated experience of many ages has shown, there is almost no day on which the dwellers in that city do not see a cloudless sun.

Since this coast in former times, because of its treacherous and perilous approaches, involved seafarers in many dangers, Cleopatra[*](The pharos was the work of Sostrates of Cnidus, master-builder of Ptolemy Philadelphus. It was destroyed during the Alexandrine war, and rebuilt by Cleopatra.) devised a lofty tower in the harbour, which from its situation is called the

This same queen built the Heptastadium,[*](A causeway seven stadia in length; it is now, generally speaking, a mile wide, and forms a large part of the site of the modern city (Strabo, L.C.L., vol. viii. p. 27, n. 2. Cf. Strabo, xvii. 1, 6 (p. 792). This also is earlier than Cleopatra.) remarkable alike for its great size and for the incredible speed with which it was constructed, for a well-known and sufficient reason. The island of Pharos, where Proteus, as Homer relates in lofty language,[*](Odyss. iv. 400 ff.) lived with his herd of seals, lay a mile from the shore of the city, and was subject to tribute by the Rhodians.

When they had come one day to collect this tax, which was excessive, the queen, who was ever skilled in deception, under pretence of a solemn festival, took the same tax-collectors with her to the suburbs, and gave orders that the work should be completed by unremitting toil. In seven days, by building dams in the sea near the shore, the same number of stadia were won for the land; then the queen rode to the spot in a carriage drawn by horses, and laughed at the Rhodians, since it was on islands and not on the mainland that they imposed a duty.[*](The language is somewhat obscure, but the meaning is clear. The Heptastadion connected the island of Pharos with the mainland, and so took away the right of the Rhodians to tax it as an island.)

There are besides in the city temples pompous with lofty roofs, conspicuous among them the

In this were invaluable libraries, and the unanimous testimony of ancient records declares that 700,000 books, brought together by the unremitting energy of the Ptolemaic kings, were burned in the Alexandrine war, when the city was sacked under the dictator Caesar.[*](remittentem, Madvig; renitente, BG; remittente, V.)

At a distance of twelve miles from Alexandria is Canopus, which, according to the statements of ancient writers, got its name from the burial there of Menelaiis’ steersman. The place is most delightful because of its beautiful pleasure-resorts, its soft air and healthful climate, so that anyone staying in that region believes that he is living outside of this world, as oftentimes he rears the winds that murmur a welcome with sunny breath.