HALIEUTICA, III. 529-545 



The Swordfish " also men deceive by deadly hooks. 

 But the doom of the Swordfish is not such as that 

 of the Grey Mullet nor Hke that of other fishes. 

 For the fishermen do not put bait upon their hooks, 

 but the hook hangs from the line naked and without 

 deceit, furnished ^\ith two recurved barbs, while 

 some three palms above it they tie a soft white 

 fish, fastening it skilfully by the tip of its mouth. 

 When the furious Swordfish comes, straightwav he 

 rends the body of the fish ^^ith his fierce sword, and 

 as the fish is rent, its members slip down from the 

 fastening and are entangled right about the barbs 

 of the hook. But the fish perceives not the crooked 

 guile but swallows the grievous bait and is caught 

 and hauled up by the might of the man. 



Many are the devices which fishers contrive 

 against the Swordfish, and those above all who fish 

 the Tyrrhenian ^ tract of sea and about the holy city 

 of MassaHa '^ and in the region of the Celts."* For 

 there, wondrous and not at all Uk^ fishes, range 



fWrfvirrl ypdifxiv, iv Si rtp irapovTL [Strabo's date is c. 63 b.c- 

 23 A.D.] Kttt Tom yvupiftwrcLTOvs 'Pufiaiijjv ■KeirtiKev avTi ttjs els 

 'Adrivas airo5r}fi,ias fKficre (f>otTS.v (pL\ofxa0e7i ; Tacitus, ^qr. -t 

 statira parv-ulus sedera ac maoristram studiorum Massiliara 

 habuit, locum Graeca comitate et provincial! parsimonia 

 mixtum et bene compositum ; id. Ann. iv. 44 (L. Antonium) 

 seposuit Augustus in civitatem Massiliensem, ubi specie 

 studiorum nomen exilii tegeretur. This on the whole seems 

 more likely than that the reference is to the foundation of 

 Massalia under the direct guidance of 'Apre^j 'E</)£<n'a (Diana 

 of the Ephesians) whose temple was a conspicuous feature 

 of the city 'Strabo 179). Cf. Aminian. Marc. xv. 9. 7. 



"* i.e., the Gauls of Gallia Narbonensis, in which MassaUa 

 was situated. The reference is to the Mare Gallicum : Plin. 

 iii. 74 TO ra\aTi.Kbi/ KaXoufievoi' {irfXayos) ; A. I)e mundo 

 393 a 27. Cf. Dion. P. 74 raXdrTj? poos, hda re yaia | 

 MewffttXtT; Terayvarai, iiriffTpopov 5pixov exovffa. 



391 



