Text, translated from the 1584 Latin 3rd Add., 1584 German 3rd Add., 1584 Latin, 1585 French 3rd Add., 1587 French, 1592 Latin, 1595 Latin, 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612 Spanish/Latin & 1624 Latin Parergon/1641 Spanish [but with Latin text] editions:
217.1. {1584L3Add{CRETA, {1606E{now CANDY}1606E}{1608/1612I instead{or CANDIA}1608/1612I instead}.
217.2. Although there may be many things which make this island famous and much talked about {1606E only{among historians and poets}1606E only}, such as the coming of Europa, the lovers Pasiphaë and Ariadne, the {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{cruelty and disaster of the}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G} Minotaurus, the labyrinth and flight of Dædalus, the position and death of Talus {1592L{(who, as Agatharcides reports, circumnavigated it thrice in one day)}1592L}, still, there is nothing that made it more renowned than the birth, education and tomb of Jupiter. Yet it was also much honoured by being the birthplace {not in 1585F3Add & 1587F{(if we may believe Diodorus Siculus)}not in 1585F3Add & 1587F} of many other gods, such as Pluto, Bacchus, Pallas and Dictynna, according to some the same as Diana, so that one might be justified in calling this island THE CRADLE OF THE GODS.
217.3. Moreover, they say that within the limits of Gnosia {1606E only{(Cinosa)}1606E only} near the river Therene, the marriage between Jupiter and Juno was celebrated. The history of Minos, the legislator, and Radamanthus, the severe judge, has made it more talked about than any other isle in this ocean. That it is very full of mountains and woods, and also has various fertile valleys and excellent plains is sufficiently described by Strabo. Solinus claims it to be a country well provided with wild goats. {1595L{Also, he claims that the sheep, (especially near Gortyna) are red, and have four horns}1595L}.
217.4. Plinius calls this island the native soil of the cypress tree for wherever one goes, or wherever one shall choose to set his feet, especially around mount Ida, {1606E only{(Psiloriti)}1606E only} and those [hills] called the white hills, {1595L{except if the soil is planted with other trees}1595L}, this tree [cypress] grows of its own accord naturally, and not only in specifically prepared soil, but everywhere {1624LParegon/1641S{even on mountain ridges with eternal snow}1624LParergon/1641S}. {1595L{Cornelius Celsus speaks of Aristolochia Cretica}1595L}. That there are no owls here, or any [other] harmful creatures, except for the phalangium {1584G3Add & 1602G have instead{a long-legged spider}1584G3Add & 1602G instead}, {1585F3Add & 1587F only{the Italians call it Tarantula}1585F3Add & 1587F only}{1606E & 1608/1612I only{a kind of dangerous spider}1606E & 1608/1612I only}, is jointly reported by Plutarchus, Plinius, Solinus, Ælianus and Antigonus.
217.5. {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{Ammianus Marcellinus in his 30th book recommends the dogs of this island as excellent hunters. {1595L{Julius Pollux in the fifth book {1606E only{of his Deipnosophiston}1606E only} divides [these dogs] into two kinds, [viz.] the Parippi {1606E only{(light-footed and friendly)}1606E only}{1624Lparergon/1641S instead{which will continue ferocious fights day and night and which may sleep among the wild animals to resume the fight at day break}1624LParergon/1641S} and the Diaponi}1595L} {1606E only{(Toyler with their young ones), that is, one sort excels in swiftness of its feet, the other in their painstakingly certain way of hunting}1606E} (1624LParergon/1641S instead{which run along the horses, but not in front of them, and neither get lost in the rear}1624LParergon/1641S}. Pausanias, Livius, Ælianus, Xenophon and Ctesias recommend the inhabitants and people of this isle as [being] the best archers. Plutarchus says that they are a warlike people, and very lascivious.
217.6. Athenæus confirms that they may be great wine drinkers, and accomplished dancers. {1592L{Plutarchus also calls them deceitful, ravenous and covetous}1592L}. St. Paul {1606E only{in his Epistle to Titus, chapter 1 verse 9}1606E only} calls them, {1606E only{on the authority of Epimenides, a poet of their nation}1606E only}, habitual liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies. {1595L{Yet, Plato writes in his Laws {1624LParergon/1641S{in book 1}1624LParergon/1641S} that they have greater regard for the meaning and true understanding of matters than for words}1595L}. Diodorus Siculus reports that the isle was first inhabited by the Eteocretæ, a people born and bred here (indigenæ), whose king he calls Creta. Yet Solinus calls this king the king of Cureta, and after him the island was called CRETA.
217.7. But if we may believe Dosiades, cited by Plinius, it derived its name from Creta, a nymph with that name. It was also called CVRETIS after the Cureti, {1606E only{an important tribe that once inhabited it}1606E only}. This is confirmed by Plinius and Solinus. Also, they confirm that it was before that [time] called ÆRIA, [but] also MACAROS, {1606E only{blessed}1606E only}, and MACARONESOS, {1606E only{the blessed isle}1606E only}, because of the temperature of the air. {not in 1585F3Add & 1587F{Stephanus calls it IDÆA and CHTHONIA. Also TELCHIONIA after its inhabitants the Telchines, as Gyraldus states}not in 1585F3Add & 1587F}. Also HECATOMPOLIS, after the one hundred cities which it had in former times, as Plinius, Solinus and Strabo report on the authority of Homerus, who says {1592L{(confirmed by Plato)}1592L} that it had only ninety [cities].
217.8. Yet I, in this map of mine, have gathered from authors in both languages [i.e. Greek and Latin], a hundred different city names, and more, many of which, because I do not know their situation and location, I have set apart by themselves, as I have done for some other places mentioned here by some authors. Among the larger islands of the midland sea this [one], as Eusthatius claims, takes the fourth place. In Strabo, Diodorus, {1592L only{Heraclides}1592L only} {1601, not in 1608/1612I{in his Politijs}1601L, not in 1608/1612I}{1606E instead{in his Commonwealth}1606E instead}, and Athenæus {1606E only{in his Deipnosophiston}1606E only} (besides others), you may read many things about this island.
217.9. SARDINIA, {1606E only{Now SARDEGNA}1606E only}.
217.10. Of those seven islands of the Midland sea more famous and memorable than the rest in terms of size, some are [ranked], as Eusthatius writes, which makes this the third. They who like to describe countries by their form and shape like to compare this to the print of a man's foot, for which reason it was once called ICHNVSA and SANDALIOTIS. By the Greeks it was called SARDON after Sardon, the son of Hercules. By the Romans it was called SARDINIA. This [island], {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{according to Pausanias {not in 1585F3Add & 1587F{in his Phocica}not in 1584G3Add, 1585F3Add, 1587F & 1602G}, may be compared to those islands which either in size or excellence of soil, are most highly recommended.
217.11. {1601L, not in 1608/1612I{Polybius says that for its size, multitude of inhabitants and all kinds of excellent fruits, it takes the prize over other islands in this sea}1601L, not in 1608/1612I}. Ælianus calls it the best nurse for cattle. Strabo claims it has the best soil for corn, {1595L{for which reason Florus calls it Annoniæ pignus, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{an instrument for all kinds of provisions}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. Prudentius writes that a navy which should bring to Italy the [entire] store of grain of Sardinia would make all the granaries in Rome burst. Salvanius calls this island Vitalem urbis Romæ venam}1595L}, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{the vital artery representing the life blood of the city of Rome}.
217.12. {1601L{Sidonius in Panegyricus Maioranus says that it produces a lot of silver}1601L}. It is an island very rich and fertile in silver {1585F3Add & 1587F instead{gold}1585F3Add & 1587F instead}, as Pomponius writes. He also says that its soil is much better than its air, and while it is very fruitful, it is also mostly pestilent and unhealthy, which is confirmed by Strabo, where he says that in summer time it is very dangerous for one's health, especially in those places where it is most fertile. To these discomforts {1624LParergon/1641S{according to Solinus}1624LParergon/1641S} the herb Sardonia may also be added which, {1606E only{according to Dioscorides in the fourteenth chapter of his sixth book}1606E only}, if eaten, will {1606E only{trouble the brain, take away a man's memory, will}1606E only} cause him to yawn and then to die laughingly.
217.13. There is also the Solifuga {1585F3Add & 1587F only{so to speak enemy of the sun}1585F3Add & 1587F only}{1606E only{(as Plinius calls it, or Solipungia, as Festus [says])}1606E only}, a little creature, much resembling a spider, which shall cause pestilence for whoever chances to sit on it. {not in 1585F3Add & 1587F{[Then] the Musmo, a beast resembling a ram, which according to Plinius is indigenous to Corsica, but by Strabo attributed to this isle, which also seems to be supported by Ælianus in the 34th chapter of his sixteenth book De Animalibus}not in 1585F3Add & 1587F}. {1592L{Suidas days that here they produce the best and finest purples}1592L}.
217.14. {1595L{Nonnius Marcellus, {not in 1608/1612I{in his book De genere vestimentorum}not in 1608/1612I}, on the authority of Varro recommends the Sardinian tapestry (unless there is an error in the copy, and instead of Sardineæ there should have been written Sardianis, from Sardis, a city in Asia, which I prefer to consider as true and more probable, for we may read about the Sardian tapestry in Athenæus and others)}1595L}. Claudianus at the end of his treatise De bello Gildonico most elaborately describes Calaris, {1606E only{(Calari or Caglire)}1606E only}, the main city of this island {1592L instead{describes this island, and so does Silius Italicus in his 12th book}1592L instead}. Strabo claims the depth of the Sardonian sea here to be 1000 ells.
217.15. Other typical things of this island may be found in Pausanias, Solinus, Eusthatius, {1601L{Claudianus just mentioned}1601L} and others. {1595L{This island is by Justinianus in his Codex listed among the isles of Africa}1595L}.
217.16. CORSICA.
217.17. This island was by the Greeks called CYRNVS, [and] by the Romans CORSICA after Corsa, a certain woman of that name, as Eusthatius thinks, or rather after the tops of the mountains, as Dionysius has written. For, as Strabo says, it is rough and very uneven, [and] in many places unpassable and hardly inhabitable. {1595L{There is no island more woody, says Dionysius. Theophrastus in his History of Plants, book 5, informs us that the Romans in former times from those woods for ships at once cut down such an amazing amount of timber that they made a raft of it that was propelled by 50 sails}1595L}. Some think that Ovidius called it Therapne.
217.18. {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{The commentator of Callimachus says that in his time it was named TYROS. Let he believe it who likes to}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G}. Plinius, {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{on the authority of Diodorus}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G}, writes that it is very full of buxus trees, and that the honey here is bitter. {1592L{Also, that it has an abundance of foxes, rabbits and wild fowl. But as for oxen, goats, wolves, hares and stags, it produces none at all, as Polybius writes in his 12th book}1592L}. {1601L{Procopius, in his third book about the wars of the Goths says that it breeds horses, but so small that they are not much bigger than sheep. Also apes, if we may believe him, very much like a man in shape and proportions.
217.19. Livius, in the 40th book of his History has published that there was here such a marvellous abundance of honey that Marcus Penarius, a prætor, once transported in one load from there 100,000 pounds [of it]}1601L}. {not in 1608/1612I{In size, of all the islands of the midland sea, it takes the third position}not in 1608/1612I}. That the islanders are more savage and than wild beasts and live by robbing and throat-cutting is [something] we can read in Strabo. That the Corsicans live very long is written by Eusthatius, and before him Athenæus said the same.
217.20. Martianus Capella informs us about 33 cities which this island had sometime in the past, and the map will show that I, on the authority of Roman and Greek writers, have collected the names of many more. The student of geography, if he likes, may find a more elaborate description of this island in the 5th {1585F3Add & 1587F has instead{3rd}1585F3Add & 1587F instead} book of Diodorus Siculus. {1592L{Seneca also, in his Consolation for Albinus, {1601L{and in his verses as well}1601L}, describes it [too]}1592L}{1624LParergon/1641S{to his mother Helvia and in the verses about his exile}1624LParergon/1641S}.
217.21. The ISLANDS of the IONIAN SEA {1585F3Add & 1587F instead{of the Adriatic sea or Gulf of Venice}1585F3Add & 1587F instead}.
217.22. The islands in the Ionian sea of greater importance are these: Corcyra, Cephalenia, Zacynthus, Ithaca, Leucadia and the Echinades {1585F3Add & 1587F only{which we now call Corfu, Cephalenie, Zante, Compare, S. Maure, & Cuzolari}1585F3Add & 1587F only} about which we offer the following separate remarks: CORCYRA {1606E only{(now called Corfu)}1606E only}, the native ground of Alcinous, {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{as Dionysius says}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G}, was [once] called CERCYRA, as also since a long time by various other names as PHÆACIA, SCHERIA, DREPANVM, CERAVNIA, ARGOS, MACRIS, and, as some think, CASSIOPE, as you may see in greater detail in our Geographical Treasury. This island once rose to such a great strength and power, as Eusthatius writes, that it subdued many other islands and cities, and brought them under their command. Also, that its ships were so numerous that this island by itself equipped and furnished sixty ships in the Persian war. Yet, later it became so desolate that this saying arose: Cercyra est libera, caca ubi volueris, {1584G3Add, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{Corfu is empty now, wherever you shit}1584G3Add, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only}. There is another Corcyra, different from this one, in the Hadriatic sea, also called Melæna, {1608/1612I only{that is, the black one}1608/1612I only}.
217.23. CEPHALENIA is also called MELÆNA, SAMOS or TAPHOS, and also DVLICHIVM, {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{as some people have written, according to Strabo}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G}. Eusthatius and Tzetzes have written that it was once inhabited by four different peoples, namely by the Pronij, Samij, Palenses and Cranij. To these Livius adds the Nesiotæ. On this island, {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{if one may trust Ælianus}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G}, the goats do not drink [anything] for a period of altogether six months. {1606E only{See [also] the text on Zacynthus that follows}1606E only}. In Antigonus we read that a certain river runs through the middle of it, on one side of which there are a great many grasshoppers, whereas on the other side there are none.
217.24. ZACYNTHVS {1606E only{(now Zante, or, as Erythræus says, formerly Hierusalem)}1606E only}, was in old times called HYRIA, or CASSIOPA, [and] the poet {1584G3Add & 1602G only{Vergilius}1584G3Add & 1602G only} calls it Nemorosa, {1584G3Add, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] woody}1584G3Add, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only}. These islanders, says Athenæus, are no good [as] soldiers. He thinks the reason for this to be that they are very wealthy, and have such plenty of everything that they focus on nothing else but their ease and pleasure.
217.25. The Phalangium {1584G3Add & 1602G have instead{long-legged spider}1584G3Add & 1602G instead}, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{a kind of spider}1606E & 1608/1612I only}, is here more dangerous and hurtful to mankind than in any other place in the world, {not in 1608/1612I{as Ælianus says}not in 1608/1612I}. As long as the {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{Etesiæ}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G} winds {1585F3Add, 1587F & 1606E only{(East winds which usually arise in the dog days)}1585F3Add, 1587F & 1606E only} blow, the goats stand yawning and gaping with their noses raised towards the North, and are so satisfied with it, that they do not look for water or ever care to drink, {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{as Antigonus has left on record.
217.26. Plutarchus says {not in 1585F3Add & 1587F{in his Naturales}not in 1585F3Add & 1587F}{1592L & later instead{Animantium}1592L & later instead} that on this island there is a cave usually called Cranium}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G}. {1592L{It has a spring, very full of fish, from which great quantities of pitch are taken, if we may believe Ctesias}1592L}. {1595L{Also, frater Desiderius Lignamineus Patavinus writes that he found the following epitaph of Cicero here: M. TULLI. CICERO. HAVE. {1606E only{God be with you, good Cicero}1606E only}, which he said happened in the year 1544.
217.27. Adamus Tefellenius Lovaniensis in his Journal (a manuscript copy which Mr. Hadrianus Marselarius lent to me to read) writes that on this island in the year of Christ 1550 he handled the bones of Cicero, and read on his tomb this epitaph: Ille oratorum princeps, & gloria linguæ Romanæ, iacet hac, cum coniuge Tullius, urna: Tullius ille inquam, de se, qui scripserat olim, O fortunatam natam me consule Romam}1595L}, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] The learned Tullius, who for his fine tongue in Rome never had a peer, With loving wife in clay way below lie both buried here. That Tully great, I mean, who about himself once said proudly: Now Rome, you are really blessed since I sway your sceptre}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. {1608/1612I only{I, Filippo Pigafetta, adds to this, leaving aside the discussion about the epitaphs of Cicero, who did not die on this island, that I did see the grave of Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, famous physician, and the first one who with true Latin words and and with figures as the first of modern scholars could represent the anatomy of the human body, as can be seen in his admirable books. When he returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he died here, after years of fame. In memory of him, a sign was attached above the porch of the church of Saint Franciscus in golden letters, on bacl velvet. This sign was removed later by the Turks in 1571; thus, this island has been ennobled equally with the bones of such a celebrated person}1608/1612I only}.
217.28. ITHACA, which in former times was also called NERITIA, after Neritus, a mountain, if I am not wrong, {1606E only{is now commonly by the Italians called Valle di Compare, and as Porcaccius says, Teachi, after the Turks, [or] as the learned Lewnclawe writes, Phiachi}1606E only}. Moreover, in {1606E only{the tenth book of}1606E only} Strabo's Geography I find that there is here a city called Ithaca, which Plutarchus {1606E only{in his Greek Questions}1606E only} calls Alalcomene, {1601L, not in 1608/1612I & 1624LParergon/1641S{but Stephanus [calls it] Alcomenæ}1601L, not in 1608/1612I & 1624LParergon/1641S}.
217.29. {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{Athenæus writes that}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G} it has many harbours, but all in all is very mountainous, rough and craggy, so that it will not easily, [or] without great and infinite labour and toil, yield any small or average profit to the farmers, {not in 1584G3Add & 1602G{as Plutarchus tells us}not in 1584G3Add & 1602G}. {1601L{In Porphyry, I read in the writings of Artimedorus that this island, from Panormus, a harbour in Cephalina, extends Eastwards, and has a circumference of 85 furlongs {1608/1612I has instead{11 miles}1608/1612I instead}. It is very narrow, but high. On it you find, as the same author claims, as does Homerus, a cave of the nymphs}1601L}. {1592L{We read in Antigonius that it breeds no hares at all}1592L}. {1624LParergon/1641S{Aristoteles truly says that those that were brought here sent from elsewhere could not continue to live, but when they returned, as soon as they entered the island from the sea, died}1624LParergon/1641S}. If it had not been the native soil and country where Ulysses was born, no mention at all referring to it would have remained in any records of ancient writers.
217.30. LEVCAS or LEVCADIA {1606E only{(now St. Maura)}1606E only}, although Plinius claims it to be only a peninsula, yet Mela calls it simply an island. Strabo tells us that it was made into an island and was severed from the mainland, yet afterwards by the force and violence of the winds was joined to the mainland again. In the very high promontory of this isle, Ælianus describes the temple of Apollo Ælius, from where they used yearly to push someone or other down [the cliffs] into the sea headlong, to appease in this manner the wrath of their Gods, as Strabo has left on record.
217.31. [The] ECHINADES {1606E only{(called Echidnæ by Seneca in his Troas and by Euripides in his Iphegenia in Aulide, but Stephanus calls them Echinæ)}1606E only} are called like that after the great multitude of Echini, {1584G3Add, 1585F3Add, 1587F, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{hedgehogs} which very much infest this island}1584G3Add, 1585F3Add, 1587F, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only}. Apollodorus calls [these islands] STROPHADES, {1606E only{[but] now they are known by the name of Cozzulari. They are, as Ovidius writes in the eighth book of his Metamorphosis, five in number}1606E only}. These were also once part of the mainland, as Pausanias writes {not in 1585F3Add & 1587F{in his Arcadia}not in 1585F3Add & 1587F}. Their form and shape is often altered and changed by the ebb and flow (if I may use these terms) of the mud in the river Achelous {1606E only{(Aspri or Pachicolamo)}1606E only} at the mouth of which they are located, as Strabo tries to make us believe.
217.32. {not in 1585F3Add & 1587F{Near these are Taphiæ and Acutæ}not in 1585F3Add & 1587F}, {1606E only{also called Thoæ}1606E only}. Plutarchus {not in 1585F3Add & 1587F{in his treatise on the ceasing of oracles}not in 1585F3Add & 1587F} tells a story (or rather a fable if you like) worth reading about the death of Pan, which gives information about these islands}1584L3Add, 1584G3Add, 1584L, 1585F3Add, 1587F, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S end here}.