FLACCUS— MATERNUS. 35 
ever, by which this knowledge was procured, no 
record is to be found, with the exception of a 
short and incidental notice by Ptolemy,* of two 
Roman expeditions. The one was made by Sep- 
timius Flaccus, who, marching directly south from 
Garama, came in three months to the country of 
the Ethiopians ; the other by Julius Maternus, 
who, on learning that the Ethiopians had attacked 
Garama, marched in four months from Leptis 
Magna to Agisymba, a country inhabited by that 
people. These two generals, therefore, crossed 
the desert ; but no details are given of their 
march, or of the region with which it terminated. 
Ptolemy even expresses some doubts as to its pos- 
sibility ; which, however, evidently arise only 
from his own imperfect knowledge as to the ex- 
tent of this part of the continent. 
* B. I. ch. 8. 
