BOOK II. Lxxi. 178-Lxxn. 180 



night and shows itself in the second ; at Meroe it 

 appears a little in the evening at midsummer and a few 

 days before the rising of Arcturus is seen at day- 

 break. These phenomena are most clearly disclosed 

 by the voyages of those at sea, the sea sloping upward 

 in the direction of some and downward in the direc- 

 tion of others, and the stars that were hidden behind 

 the curve of the ball suddenly becoming visible as it 

 were rising out of the sea. For it is not the fact, as 

 some have said, that the world rises up at this higher 

 pole — or else these stars would be visible every where ; 

 but these stars are beUeved to be higher the nearer 

 people are to them, while they seem low to those far 

 away, and just as at present this pole seems lofty to 

 those situated on the decHvity, so when people pass 

 across to yonder downward slope of the earth tliose 

 stars rise while the ones that here were high sink, 

 which could not happen except with the conformation 

 of a ball. 



LXXII. Consequently inhabitants of the East locai 

 do not perceive evening echpses of the sun and Ziiplesf 

 moon, nor do those dwelling in the West see morning 

 echpses, while the latter see echpses at midday later 

 than we do. The victory of Alexander the Great 

 is said to have caused an echpse of the moon at 

 Arbela at 8 p.m." while the same echpse in 

 Sicily was when the moon was just rising. An 

 echpse of the sun that occurred on April 30 in the 

 consulship * of Vipstanus and Fonteius a few years 

 ago wiis visible in Campania between 1 and 2 p.m. 

 but was reported by Corbulo commanding in Armenia 

 as observed between 4 and 5 : this was because the 

 curve of the globe discloses and hides diiferent 

 phenomenafor different locahties. If the earth were 



313 



