90 
plint's natural histoey. 
[Book VI. 
which signifies most rich in herds," the Coranitae, the GEsani, 
and the Choani.^ Here were also formerly the Greek towns 
of Arethusa, Larisa, and Chalcis, which have been destroyed 
in various wars. 
^lius Gallus,^* a member of the Equestrian order, is the 
sole person who has hitherto carried the Roman arms into these 
lands, for Caius Caesar, the son^^ of Augustus, only had a dis- 
tant view of Arabia. In his expedition, Gallus destroyed the 
following towns, the names of which are not given by the 
authors who had written before his time, Negrana, Nestum, 
ISTesca, Masugum, Caminacum, Labecia, and Mariva^^ above- 
mentioned, six miles in circumference, as also Caripeta, the 
furthest point of his expedition. He brought back with him 
the following discoveries — that the IN'omades^^ live upon milk 
and the flesh of wild beasts, and that the other nations, like 
the Indians, extract a sort of wine from the palm-tree, and 
oil from sesame.^^ He says that the most numerous of these 
tribes are the Homeritse and the Minsei, that their lands are 
fruitful in palms and shrubs, and that their chief wealth is 
centred in their flocks. We also learn from the same source 
that the Cerbani and the Agraei excel in arms, but more 
particularly the Chatramotitae that the territories of the 
Carrei are the most extensive and most fertile ; but that the 
Sabaei are the richest of all in the great abundance of their 
spice-bearing groves, their mines of gold,^^ their streams for 
^3 Mentioned by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, B. v. 1. 165, et seq. 
Sillig, however, reads " Ciani." 
61 An intimate friend of the geographer Strabo. He was prefect of 
Egypt during part of the reign of Augustus, and in the years b.c. 24 and 
25. Many particulars have been given by Strabo of his expedition against 
Arabia, in which he completely failed. The heat of the sun, the badness 
of the water, and the want of the necessaries of life, destroyed the greater 
part of his army. 
65 By adoption, as previously stated. 
66 The town of the Calingii, mentioned above. 
67 Or wandering tribes. 
68 Its uses in medicine are stated at length in the last Chapter of B. xii. 
69 Another form of the name of Atramitse previously mentioned, the 
ancient inhabitants of the part of Arabia known as Hadramant, and 
settled, as is supposed, by the descendants of the Joctanite patriarch 
Hazarmaveth. 
'^^ Arabia at the present day yields no gold, and very little silver. The 
queen of Sheba is mentioned as bringing gold to Solomon, 1 Kings, x. 2, 
2 Chron. ix. i. Artemidorus and Diodorus Siculus make mention, on the 
