151 
BOOK III. 
AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, 
HAYENS, MOUNTAINS, EIYERS, DISTANCES, AND PEO- 
PLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.^ 
INTEODtrCTIOK. 
Thus far have I treated of tlie position and tlie wonders .of 
the earth, of the waters, the stars, and the proportion of 
the universe and its dimensions. I shall now proceed to 
describe its individual parts ; although indeed we may with 
reason look upon the task as of an infinite nature, and one 
not to be rashly commenced upon without incurring censure. 
And yet, on the other hand, there is nothing which ought less 
to require an apology, if it is only considered how far from 
surprising it is that a mere mortal cannot be acquainted 
with everything. I shall therefore not follow any single 
author, but shall employ, in relation to each subject, such 
writers as I shall look upon as most worthy of credit. For, 
indeed, it is the characteristic of nearly all of them, that 
they display the greatest care and accuracy in the descrip- 
tion of the countries in which they respectively flourished ; 
so that by doing this, I shall neither have to blame nor con- 
tradict any one. 
The names of the diflerent places will here be simply 
given, and as briefly as possible ; the account of their cele- 
brity, and the events which have given rise thereto, being 
deferred ■*"o a more appropriate occasion; for it must be 
remembered that I am here speaking of the earth as a whole, 
and I wish to be understood as using the names without any 
reference whatever to their celebrity, and as though the 
places themselves were in their infancy, and had not as yet 
acquired any fame through great events. The name is men- 
tioned, it is true, but only as forming a part of the world 
and the system of the universe. 
The whole globe is divided into three parts, Europe, Asia, 
and Africa. Our description commences where the sun sets 
and at the Straits of Gades^ where the Atlantic ocean, bursting 
1 Now the Straits of Gribraltar. 
