Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/212

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198
STRABO.
BOOK II.

the Garamantes, the Pharusians, and the Nigritæ.[1] Still farther north are the Gætuli. Close to the sea, and adjoining it next Egypt, and as far as the Cyrenaic, dwell the Marmaridæ.[2] Above [p 1] the Cyrenaic and the Syrtes[p 2] are the Psylli and Nasamones,[3] and certain of the Gætuli; and after them the Asbystæ[4] and Byzacii,[5] as far as Carthage. Carthage is vast. Adjoining it are the Numidæ;[6] of these people the tribes best known to us are called the Masylies and the Masæsylii. The most westerly are the Maurusians.[7] The whole land, from Carthage to the Pillars of Hercules, is fertile. Nevertheless it abounds in wild beasts no less than the interior; and it does not seem improbable that the cause why the name of Nomades,[8] or Wanderers, was bestowed on certain of these people originated in their not being able anciently to devote themselves to husbandry on account of the wild beasts. At the present day, when they are well skilled in hunting, and are besides assisted by the Romans in their rage for the spectacle of fights with beasts, they are both masters of the beasts and of husbandry. This finishes what we have to say on the continents.

34. It now remains for us to speak of the climata.[9] Of

  1. ↑ The Garamantæ inhabited the Kawan; Garama, their capital, is now named Gherma. The Pharusians and Nigritæ dwelt south of the present kingdom of Morocco.
  2. ↑ The Marmaridæ extended west from Egypt, as far as Catabathmus, near the present Cape Luco.
  3. ↑ The Psylli and Nasamones inhabited the eastern parts of the present kingdom of Tripoli, above the Greater Syrtes and the desert of Barca.
  4. ↑ The Asbystæ were a people of Libya above Cyrene, where the temple of Ammon stood; Jupiter is sometimes called on that account Asbysteus.
  5. ↑ The Byzacii occupied the southern parts of the kingdom of Tunis.
  6. ↑ Greek, Nomades, or wandering shepherds, from which the Latins formed the name Numidæ. These people inhabited Algiers.
  7. ↑ Carthage extended as far west as the promontory of Tretum, now Sebta-Ras or the Seven Heads. From thence the Masylies inhabited as far as Cape Carbon; and from thence the Masæsylii possessed the country as far as the river Molochath, now the Maluia, beyond which were the Maurusians extending to the Atlantic.
  8. ↑ Numidæ.
  9. ↑ The climata are zones parallel to the equator. The ancients generally reckoned seven climata, which in the time of Hipparchus terminated at 48° 30′ 35″, where the longest day consisted of sixteen hours. He however multiplied these divisions and extended them farther towards the poles. It is a great pity that Strabo has not noted all of them.
  1. ↑ Viz. to the south and west.
  2. ↑ The Gulfs of Sydra and Cabes.
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