Text, one version only, translated from the 1579/1580L2Add, 1579 Latin (AB), 1580/1589 German, 1581 French, 1584 Latin, 1587 French, 1588 Spanish, 1592 Latin, 1595 Latin, 1598 French, 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1602 Spanish, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612 Latin and 1609/1612/1641 Spanish editions. Translation of the text occurring in the 1608/1612I edition only by M. de Boer, University of Utrecht, is gratefully acknowledged.
151.1. {1579L(AB), 1581F, 1584L, 1587F, 1588S & 1598F only{[no title]}1579L(AB), 1581F, 1584L, 1587F, 1588S & 1598F only}{1580/1589G, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1609/1612/1641S instead{Another Map of HUNGARY.}1580/1589G, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1609/1612/1641S instead}{1580/1589G & 1602G only{By Johannes Sambucus. | To the benevolent reader}1580/1589G & 1602G only} (1579/1580L2Add & 1579L(A)instead{To the reader}1579/1580L2Add & 1579L(A) instead}.
151.2. {1579/1580L2Add{This second description of Hungary, more exact and true [than the first one] as the famous learned man Johannes Sambucus, a native of this country wants us to believe (for every man, as Plinus in his natural history most truly states, describes the nature and situation of that country best where he himself was born) we have thought it good in this place to add to the previous one, in spite of what we set out to do when we promised to publish only one map for each country.
151.3. But because I think that neither of them by itself is sufficiently authoritative to reflect the treasures of this excellent country, I have thought that I better include both [maps] in this Theatre of ours. He that shall compare one to the other shall often find large differences in the location of places, and [in] the turnings and windings of its streams and rivers, but yet there is no reason why any person should now condemn the authors for lack of diligence in describing it.
151.4. But let him judge it like Strabo most truly judges history, for he does not think that history has to be rejected when they that have published about it do not altogether agree in the description of places, when the truth in all of history is often by such disagreement[s] more clearly demonstrated. Let therefore the studious reader {1606E only{and student of geography, for whose benefit we do whatever we possibly can}1606E only}, look at one and the other at his [own] discretion, noting that we need to do what we can [do], not what we would like [to do]}1579/1580L2Add, 1579L(AB), 1580/1589G, 1581F, 1584L, 1587F, 1588S, 1592L, 1595L, 1598F, 1601L, 1602G, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1609/1612L & 1609/1612/1641S end here}.
151.5. {1608/1612I only{To what Ortelius writes in the previous discourse on map sheet 107 about Hungary as published by Lazius, I, Filippo Pigafetta would like to add that the mistakes which have been made in them do not go unnoticed, as concerns the location of Zagreb, the isle of Segestica, the mouth of the river Colapri or Culpa, the location where Old Siscia flourished, and where you now find Sisac, a mighty stronghold of the chapter of the canons of Zagreb: all of them places which are located close to each other, but which have been to such an extent displaced towards the front or the back that the entire region, of renown in Roman history, has been distorted.
151.6. Although he [Ortelius] pictures the city of Zagreb in the valley on the banks of the river Sava, which city in fact is located on two hills at a distance of perhaps three miles, yet he places precisely there the isle of Segestica, shaped by that river, and he even attaches the city of Zagreb to it, which is not entirely in line with its borders as indicated by old writers concerning the isle of Segestica. Moreover, he [Ortelius] indicates that the mouth of the river Colapi flows closer to this island than the river Sava does, although it is located 40 miles to the South. And finally, he places the stronghold Sisac at a distance of more than 40 miles from the river mouth just mentioned, where the river Colapi empties into the river Sava, although it can be seen in the corner where the two rivers join each other.
151.7. As concerns Segestica, we know from the ancients that it was a large island, containing a town of significance, about which Plinius says in the 25th chapter of the 3rd book: Next, there are important rivers, namely the river Colapi, which empties into the river Sava at Siscia, and by means of two streams forms an island called Segestica. And in the 4th book of Strabo [we find]: Segestica is a city touched by the river Sava, conveniently located for the war [they wage] with Dacia. And in his 7th book: Segestica is a city situated in Pannonia where many navigable rivers join each other, and a fortress for war with the Dacians; and somewhat further he continues: near Segestica we also find Siscia & Sirmio. Thus, it becomes evident that Segestica is an island, but not in the middle of the river Sava, as it has been drawn on the map, where it has been attached to Zagreb. Appianus describes it in Illyricum, and tells how Augustus waged war against this city, and equipped it as a stockpile for weapons and victuals.
151.8. Now [let us discuss] the present state of this region. As I have seen it, it looks like this: If, standing in Zagreb, you turn your eyes to the South, and traverse for three miles the fertile plain, you meet the river Sava, which can be crossed via two boats which have been linked to each other, and you reach the land of Duropolia, as its inhabitants call it. This may have been called Metubarris by Plinius in the text just mentioned, which is larger than the other rising up from the rivers, which is entirely wrong, because the river Danube forms many of those, particularly the four which are all close to each other,[namely] Comar, and [the isles of] Giavarino, Vacia, & Buda which are considerably larger.
151.9. But this island in the river Sava, with respect to these [other islands] is fairly small, overgrown with thick woods, and entirely deserted. Duropolia is a flat region, and abounding with a marvellous abundance of corn and grapes, with some small hills, and it has as its borders in the West the Lapodian Alps above Segna and Carso, and of the subsequent [Alps] those of Carnia, which extend further to the North; on the South side there is the river Colapi, in the East the joining of the rivers Sava and Colapi, and in the North the river Sava just mentioned. In this Duropolia there still remains the location of former island and city of Segestica, for if one goes from the place where the river Sava can be crossed along that island for a while, and then turns to the left, one will arrive after ten miles at Cucovina, the mansion of Mr.Giovanni Drascovicchi, Lord of Croatia & Schiavonia, the highest representative [of the king] and supreme judge.
151.10. Here, many springs originate next to one another in the plain, occupying quite some space, joining each other to form a stream, and uniting themselves form the river Odra, which after a short course to the right empties into the river Colapi, five miles before this river empties into the river Sava. And to the left, these springs form another brook, which also empties into the river Sava, touching the ruins and foundations of a city along the river Sava, which by the local population is called Zizia, a corrupted expression used to denote ancient Segestica.
151.11. Thus the isle of Segestica is enclosed by the rivers Odra, Colapi, Sava & Zizia, as confirmed by the canons of Zagreb, who say that Segestica derives its name from the Segetes, which in Latin refers to corn before it is being harvested, something for which this land is very fertile. Hence, Strabo in his 4th book correctly observes that this island is located in a plain, and in book 7 he says that it is located where many rivers join each other; and Bonfinius is wrong where he says that Segestica was once located at that place where you now find the village of Sossed, at a distance of about four miles from Zagreb towards the West, situated on a high hill between the river Sava and the river Crapina, which empties its waters into the Sava here.
151.12. On the left bank of the river Colapi, a mile before it empties into the river Sava, there are the ancient ruins of the Roman settlement Siscia, on the main road to Italy, as Antoninus observes in his Travels, spaciously surrounded by walls, where there was a bridge of limestone over the river Colapi, where you still find in the ground a large sewer, or to say it in Latin, a Cloaca, which guides the water and refuse into the river. Here they were just threshing corn when I reached this place, which reminded me of the saying Vbi Troia fuit, ibi Seges est [in fact: Iam Seges est ubi Troia fuit, Ovidius Heroides Bk. 1, Ch. 1, line 53]. that is, Where once was Troy, now the corn is rustling. The fortress of Sisac,which has a circumference of 400 of my strides, with three towers, is not far from the corner formed by the two rivers. It has now been occupied by the canons of Zagreb to defend it against the Turks, 40 miles from here, and this happens in that area where in winter boats are used to get around because of the overflowing of the rivers. These waters do not harm the land that is sown, and it seems like a lake which covers the land of the canons just mentioned.
151.13. [in smaller, cursive font:] The Greek text in the 7th book of Strabo we just mentioned, when discussing Segestica, is totally corrupt, for it says thatthe Sava here empties into the Drava: but I read, using the [Greek] letter D instead of Drabon, the river Danubion, which is correct, and I refuse to believe that this very competent writer believed that the Sava empties into the Drava; particularly since he is well informed with location of the other rivers in the region. But the next text is even more corrupted, which begins with [in Greek lettering] ho de eis ton Noaron, and the rest, up to Skordiskous. This is to say: and this to the Noaro near Segestica: from there onwards, the river Noara, receiving the waters of the river Colapi descending from mount Albio of the Iapodi, swells and empties into the Danube at the Scordisci. This is all false, for the river Noara is not located between the rivers Drava and Colapi, and the river Colapi does not empty into the river Noara, but into the river Sava, and both rivers in their turn empty into the Danube. And the river Noara should not be mixed up with the river Sava, as Ortelius does in his Thesaurus.
151.14. This is the state of affairs. and concerning the river Sava in the North, to the right of the isle of Segestica, there is the river Grasniza, as it is called in Slavonic, and Chernitz in German; and it seems to me that with the name Grasniza what is meant is the river Noara, and that therefore the text should be amended to ho de Noaros eis ton Sauon kata ten Segesiken. Enteuthen ho de Sauos plethos, and what follows, so that its meaning is clarified and comes closer to the truth. For this river, namely the river Corcora, which divides Naupontos, nowadays Ljubliana, empties into the river Sava. And the river Noara, that is to say Grasnica, empties into the Sava as well. Thus, the river Sava, grown with the influx of the waters of the Noara as well as those of the Colapi, empties into the Donau there where the Scordisci live. And this has been remarked with the appropriate respect, and with the benevolence of the censor, or the wise-nosed critic, and for the Sindico, for whom it is clear that if my guesswork does not please him, he must provide better ideas, and erit mihi magnus Apollo [in fact et eris mihi magnus Apollo, Vergilius Eclogs bk. 3, 104] that is, he will for me be a greater Apollo [than I am].
151.15. And now that I have arrived at this point, it may be granted to me, by chance, to quote another text by the same author, totally corrupted, and less well understood, or neglected by those who with excellent studiousness have made annotations on them. They should be forgiven, for this piece of text is no nourishment for grammarians. In the 4th book, where he discusses the origin of the river Po and the altitude of Mount Visio [now Monvisio] from which it issues, he want us to believe that this mountain ridge is one hundred stadia straight up, which is more than 12 miles, an unfitting measure, if not an impossible one, such a man unworthy. Therefore, one must subsequently correct the [Greek] word hekaton [100], and replace it by Dekaton [10] with a small emendation of one character only; this must be done on the authority of Aristoteles himself, who affirms that no mountain range exists [there] which meanders at an altitude of one mile, and these ten stadia correspond with one mile and one eighth on top of that, and this is said additionally for the benefit of those who take pleasure in these matters}1608/1612I only which ends here}.