Text, translated from the 1590 Latin 4 Add, 1591 German 4 Add., 1592 Latin, 1595 Latin, 1601 Latin, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612 Latin & 1624 Latin Parergon/1641 Spanish [but text in Latin] edition:
193.1. {1590L4Add{SPAIN.
193.2. This is that belligerent Spain, famous, I think, for its worthy men and brave soldiers, as Florus speaks about it. [It is] the first country of the main continent of Europe in the West, surrounded by the salt sea, except for that part only where it borders on France, from which it is separated by the Pyrenee mountains, as it were a natural wall or rampart. There are some who think that it was first called IBERIA after the river Iberus [Ebro] or, as others would have it, after a king of this country with that name {1608/1612I only{whom Plinius mentions}1609/1612I only}. Avienus thinks that it has been named as it is after Ibera, (about which you may read in Livius), a city in the province of Bætica {1608/1612I has instead{Andaluzia}1608/1612I instead}, situated on the river Iberus, [which is] different from the other [city] with the same name in Hispania Tarraconensis.
193.3. But I am more inclined to think that both this country and the river derived their name from Iberia, a country in Asia from where these people first came, and had their origin, where there is also a river called Iberus, {1606E only{as Plinius says}1606E only}. That it is also called HESPERIA, after king Hesperus, [a view which] {1601L{more modern writers, next to the great poet Vergilius}1601L}, Honorius and the imaginary Berosus, try to convince me of. But the truth will easily force any wise man to believe that it rather took its name from Hesperus, {1606E only{which in Greek means West}1606E only}, or evening star, for indeed, of all the main land of the whole world, as far as the ancients knew, Spain lies farthest to the West. And therefore Horatius calls it Hesperia ultima, The farther Hesperia, to distinguish between this and the other Hesperia, I mean Italy, which Vergilius calls Hesperia magna, {1606E only{The great Hesperia}1606E only}.
193.4. For while the Greeks have named this country [i.e. Italy] Hesperia because of its location, being indeed to the West of them, so the Italians, for the same reason, have called Spain, which lies between them and the West, by the same name. But finally it was generally by all sorts of writers, in both languages [that is, in Greek and Latin], made famous under the name of HISPANIA, and that after a certain Hispanus, unless Trogus Pompeius is in error. Whether it has at some stage been called PANNONIA, {not in 1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I in Greek lettering{Pannoonia}not in 1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I} which Stephanus writes in his book {1606E & 1608/1612I only{about cities}1606E & 1608/1612I only} {not in 1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I, in Greek lettering{Peri pooleoon [about cities]}not in 1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I}, I am unable to confirm. That it was once known under the name of PANIA seems probable from the first chapter of the third book of Plinius' {1606E only{Natural history}1606E only}, where he says that Lusa gave that name and title to that part of Spain which was called Lusitania {1606E only{(now Portugal)}1606E only} and Pan, who was once governor of that country, caused the whole [of it] to be called after his name.
193.5. Sosthenos, cited by Plutarchus in his third book of the history of Iberia, is also of this opinion, where he writes that this country after Pan was first named Pania, but later, in subsequent ages, was corruptly called SPANIA. Saint Hieronymus, in the sixty-fourth chapter of his Prophet Esaia calls it Spania, and that the Chaldæans called it Spamia (perhaps instead of Spania), is clearly stated by Benedictus Arias Montanus, {1606E only{a man worthy of eternal fame}1606E only}, in his Commentaries on Obadiah. And there are some, who in {1606E only{the 28th verse of the fifteenth chapter of}1606E only} Saint Pauls [letter] to the Romans {1606E only{for [in Greek lettering] Isania}1606E only} read [in Greek lettering] Spania, {1606E only{as you may see in the edition by Henry Steeven, and [in] the Syrian copy which Raphelengius used, although some editions by Plantin and by Albert Widmanstade have the opposite}1606E only}.
193.6. For Hispania, as one commonly finds in the printed copies of Trogus, I do find Spania in the manuscripts. And I find the same in the best and most ancient copies of Quintus Curtius, as the singularly learned Bongarsius has noted. This is the way in which the name of this country always used to be written over the last seven hundred years, as the worthy gentleman Ambrosius Moralis, a man of great credibility and a most diligent searcher of Spanish antiquities in more than one or two places in his Commentaries on the Eulogium teaches us. An ancient glossary on the poet Juvenalis says that Tagus est fluvius Spaniæ, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{that is, [the] Tagus is a river of Spain}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. In an ancient Greek lexicon written by Henricus Stephanus, [in Greek lettering:] Spanè is used for Hibera, and [in Greek lettering] Spania for Hispania.
193.7. Galenus, {1606E only{the prince of physicians}1606E only}, in the fourth chapter of his sixth book on Simples writes that there is an oil, coming from Iberia (Spain) called {1606E only{by the apothecaries}1606E only} Oleum Spanum, for Hispanum, that is, Spanish oil. In a small treatise in manuscript about the provinces belonging to the Roman empire, I found Spania {1601L{in the very same place where Schonhovius, who first published this book in print, has Hispania}1601L}. The inhabitants of this country, who to this day name it España or Spania, confirm this in writing. For España and Spania differ only in the manner they are written, not in sound or pronunciation. For the Spaniards usually put an E before any Latin word which begins with an S, and so turn it into Spanish. Examples of this you may find in our Thesaurus, under the word Iberia.
193.8. Moreover, it was once called CELTIBERIA, as Appianus and others write. This is why the people of this country were anciently called Celtiberi and Celtoscythæ, and also Igletæ, as Strabo, {1606E only{the worthy Geographer}1606E only}, has left on record. By the Jews it is called SEPHARAD, as Montanus who we just mentioned informs us, and Postellus as well. But about its name and title, let this suffice. It remains now that in a similar manner we say something about the country itself.
193.9. Dionysus Afer and Strabo say that this country has the form of an ox hide. Trogus says that it is square. Æthicus, an author of dubious reputation in my view, makes it three-cornered. In the decree of Constantinus, which Joseph Scaliger has published in [his] Ausonius, it is graced with the title of Speciosa, {1606E only{The beautiful}1606E only}. Stephanus divides it into the GREATER and the LESSER. And an ancient inscription mentions Spain the LOWER (Inferior). Learned antiquity divided it into CITERIOREM and VLTERIOREM or EXTERIOREM, {1606E only{The inner and further or outer Spain}1606E only}. Since that time, for some years three provinces were distinguished in it, called by other, different names. For what was before called Citerior was then named TARRACONENSIS; that part of the Ulterior which lies towards the West [was called] LVSITANIA and the other part towards the South BÆTICA.
193.10. Afterwards, in the time of the Roman emperors, it was divided into six shires or provinces whose names are mentioned in Sextus Rufius as follows: TARRACONENSIS, CARTHAGINENSIS, LVSITANIA, GALLICIA, BÆTICA and TRANSFRETANA, which they also called TINGITANA. Yet, the map shows that this latter part is no part of Spain itself, but a part of Africa beyond the straits {1608/1612I only{of Gibraltar}1608/1612I only}. Moreover, to these the book of Records [Notitiarum] adds INSVLAREM or Balearium, The Baleares, {1606E only{Mallorca and Menorca, and other islands in the Mediterranean sea belonging to this country}1606E only}. [1591G4Add starts here:] All of Spain, thus generally defined, was by the Romans divided into fourteen {1608/1612I has instead{twelve}1608/1612I instead} jurisdictions (conventus iuridici).
193.11. In Lusitania {1591G4Add instead{Portugal}1591G4Add instead}, as Plinius tells us, there were three, to wit EMERITENSIS {1608/1612I only{nowadays Merida}1608/1612I only}, PACENSIS and SCALABITANVS, together containing forty-five towns. In Tarraconensis or inner Spain, there were these seven: CARTHAGINENSIS {1608/1612I only{Cartagena}1608/1612I only}, TARRACONENSIS {1608/1612I only{Tarracona}1608/1812I only}, CÆSAR AVGVSTANVS {1608/1612I only{Saragozza}1608/1612I only}, CLVNIENSIS, ASTVRVS {1608/1612I only{after mount Asturus}1608/1612I only}, LVCENSIS and BRACATVS, in which there were 294 {1608/1612I has instead{144}1608/1612I only} towns. In Bætica there were these four: GADITANVS {1608/1612I only{after the isle of Cadiz}1608/1612I only}, CORDVBENSIS {1608/1612I only{after Cordoba}1608/1612I only}, ASTIGITANVS and HISPALENSIS {1608/1612I only{after Sevilla}1608/1612I only}, and in them 175 towns. Thus the whole sum of all towns in Spain is 514. And although Strabo seems to make the [total] number somewhat larger, yet he says that they are in error who say that there are more than a thousand in Spain, and that they count large villages as regular towns, and all in all he says that the country is not capable of having so many cities, because of the dryness and barrenness of the soil, and the barbarous rudeness of the people, except [for those] only [who are living] along the coast of the Mediterranean sea.
193.12. For the Spanish are mostly wild, and they dwell in villages. That Spain is populated all over may be found in Pomponius, who says that it is wonderfully filled with people. And Cicero, in one of his orations, writes that the Romans overcame them, not by multitudes, but by religion and policy. Plinius, based on Varro, tells us that they who inhabited this country first were the IBERI, PHNICIANS, PERSIANS, CELTÆ and PNI [1591G4Add instead{Cartaginenses}1591G4Add instead}. The same is also said by Appianus Alexandrinus. And I may as well add to these the ROMANS, who without question, after they had from there expelled the Pni or Carthagians, settled there and established their colonies.
193.13. And I think it will not be amiss to speak a word or two about the nature, manners and customs of the inhabitants of this country, and to add to what has been said what I find written about these matters in the writings of the best historians, for I do not doubt that this will be a matter both pleasant and pleasing for the reader. {1595L{Calpurnius Flaccus attributes to them flavam proceritatem}1595L}, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{tallness of body, but with a tawny complexion}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. Julius Firmicus says that because of the climate and the nature of heaven there, the Spaniards are impudent and proud braggarts. Yet, in the same place he adds that this foul defect has disappeared in many of them.
193.14. Florus says that the whole nation is generally unruly and will by no means allow anyone to command them or keep them under any due obedience. {1601L{Dionysus Afer calls it Nationem magnanimem, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{A courageous people}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. {not in 1608/1612I{Martialis the poet [calls them] trucem}not in 1608/1612I}, {1606E only{grim}1606E only}; Oppianus superbam}1601L}, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{proud}1606E & 1608/1612I only}; Tibullus audacem, {1606E 1608/1612I only{bold}1606E & 1608/1612I only}; Vopiscus astutam, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{wily}1606E & 1608/1612I only}; Trogus and Livius feram & bellicosam, {1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{fierce and warlike}1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I only}, and all in all very active and nimble-bodied, men of unquiet spirit, always wanting something new, and keen on change in state and commonwealth, their nature resembling that of wild animals, rather than of civil people. Vegetius {1606E only{the warrior}1606E only} says that they are lustier men of body, and much stronger than the Romans. Vergilius in his Georgics calls them Iberos impacatos, {1606E only{turbulent Spaniards}1606E only}, {1595L{because, as Servius interprets these words, they are excellent riders and great in stealing cattle, or instead}1595L}, as Junius {1608/1612I instead{Julius}1608/1612I instead} Philargyrus interprets this, they consider robbing and burglarising the best kind of life.
193.15. Their bodies are fit for all kinds of labour and hardship, and of such courage that they will risk their lives and limbs for the least reason, as Valerius Maximus and Trogus say. {not in 1591G4Add{And Silius Italicus writes about them like this: Prodiga gens animi, & properare facillima mortem, | Namque ubi transcendit florentes viribus annos, | Impatiens ævi, spernit novisse senectam, | Et fati modus in dextra est, &c}not in 1591G4Add}. {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] A desperate nation the Spaniards are, They care not for their blood, As soon as they grow up, And reach the age of men, To live to a doting old age, They scorn, as a thing not good, Therefore each man will provide the means to hasten his fate &c}1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.16. {1595L{They are so devoted and enslaved to their kings, as Servius says in his Commentaries on the fourth book of Vergilius' Georgics, cited from Salustius, that they will desire to live no longer than they [their kings] do}1595L}. To their enemies they are very cruel, but towards strangers fairly humane and kind. For travellers and foreigners that come to them are most courteously entertained, so that often they quarrel among themselves and contend for [the strangers] honour and appreciation, as Diodorus Siculus reports.
193.17. Ptolemæus writes in his Quadripartite {not in 1606E{bk.2}not in 1606E} that they are a very neat and cleanly people. This is also confirmed by Diodorus. Yet he dislikes them for this one slovenly and filthy habit, namely, that they normally are used to wash their entire bodies and their teeth with urine, considering it to be an excellent medicine, preserving the body. {1601L, not in 1608/1612I{Yes, and the same author writes that they collect and keep it in cisterns until it is stale for this purpose}1601L, not in 1608/1612I}.
193.18. Yet Strabo, the learned geographer attributes this to the Cantabri and their near neighbours only. Catullus the poet considers it as characteristic of the Celtiberi {1591G4Add only{who live near the river Ibero}1591G4Add only}. Apuleius {not in 1608/1612I{in his first Apology, written in his own defence}not in 1608/1612I}, mentions the washing of their teeth. We read in Diodorus Siculus that at their meals they eat merrily from various dishes, that they make their drink from honey, and drink all the wine they buy. Yet perhaps this is meant and to be understood [to apply] only to those who dwell on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. For Florus and Plinius write that they ordinarily used a kind of drink made ex frumento soluto, {1591G4Add & 1606E only{[that is:] of a kind of bread [made of] corn ground or beaten}1591G4Add & 1606E only} (which drink of theirs Plinius calls Cælia or Cæria) and of barley too, as Dioscorides writes {1606E only{in the 110th chapter of his second book [in Greek lettering]: Kai ti kaloume on he kourmi, skouadzo methion he en tes krithes ooi kai anti oinou premasi pollakis chroontai kephalalges oti kai kakochumon, kai tou nairou glapikon Skouadzetai he kai ouk puran toiauto poi dza hoos en ta pheros hesperon Ithephoia kai Brelania}1606E only}, that is, moreover, that kind of drink which they call Curmy, {1606E only{made also of barley, and usually drunk in some places instead of wine, [which] makes the head ache, breeds ill blood, and damages the nerves and sinews. Such kinds of drinks are also made from wheat in the Western part of Spain, and in England. So far Dioscorides.
193.19. This kind of drink is by the Welsh, to this very day, called Cwrw, by the same name with very little or nothing altered, as we have shown before, and this is what the Saxons call ale}1606E only}. Strabo says that the Lusitani or Portuguese drank beer and a kind of drink which they called Zythum, {1606E only{(also made of barley, but much different from Curmi, as the same Diodorus also says there)}1606E only} for they do not have much wine, he says. And the little amount they do have they spend on banqueting and making merry with their friends and kinsfolk. {1595L{This kind of drink, made of steeped corn, as Plinius writes in the 22nd chapter of his 14th book, will endure to be kept for a long time, and improves with age}1595L}. This was perhaps the reason why Athenæus {1606E only{in his Deipnosophiston}1606E only} regards the Spanish as one of those people who will ordinarily be drunk.
193.20. The same is also written by Plato about the Celtiberi. That they had only small quantities of wine in Strabo's time is very probable, because Vopiscus has left on record that Probus the emperor was the first who ever gave permission to the Spanish to plant vines and make wine. Trogus says that they are mean and very stingy. And even when they are very wealthy, as Athenæus says, yet they will [only] drink water, live simply, dine and sup alone, so that they will remain brave and can accomplish more. As Trogus says, on their greatest festive days they will not make any extravagant preparations or extraordinary merriment.
193.21. Dioscorides writes that they use wild rocket seed called Eruca instead of mustards seed. Plinius writes that in his time they considered acorns and mast as dainty dishes. And Strabo says that the flour they grind of them [acorns] was commonly used to bake their household bread. And Plinius says that this kind of bread was lighter than any other sort of bread, because they leavened it. The same Plinius says that they used to sleep on the bare ground. They wore a short black {1608/1612I has instead{brown}1608/1612I instead} garment, as Diodorus Siculus writes. {1595L{Isidorus in the 23rd chapter of the 19th book of his Origines mentions a certain type of garment worn by Spaniards, [called] Striges}1595L}.
193.22. They prefer to have war rather than rest and peace. When they have no enemy abroad, they will seek one at home, if one may believe Trogus {1606E only{the historiographer}1606E only}. In war not only the horsemen but also the footmen are much stronger, braver and able to endure any kind of hardship or pain than any other people whatsoever. {1595L{They begin and start their battle with songs and poetical rhymes, as the same author as well as Silius Italicus say. Ritu iam moris Iberi | Carmina pulsata fundentem barbara cetra}1595L}, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] Then, like Spaniards use to do, Instead of drums they make sounds on their shields, And sing warlike songs}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. They carry two swords. And leaning or resting on their swords, after they have defeated and disordered their enemies on horseback, they descend from their [own] horses and join their footmen.
193.23. The very same thing is told about the Celtiberi by Suidas. These swords, because of their shortness, as is clear from Livius and Polybius, were very handy and most suitable for close fights. They also have sharp points, so that during the fight they use thrusts rather than downright blows. Yet Suidas recommends the excellence of the swords used by the Celtiberi, [when he says] that their fight is fiery and determined, and that they will deal mighty strokes with two hands. Athenæus also tells that in their battles they use the weapon {1606E only{by the French}1606E only} called Gesum [sabre], explaining that the Romans used to fight with that kind of weapon, and taught the Spanish how to handle it. And they, as seems very probable on the authority of Julius Pollux, took it over from the Africans, for he calls it Gæsam Lybicam, and calls it an iron spear or partisan.
193.24. They wear head pieces made of brass. They wrap their legs in a kind of boots made of fur, as Diodorus Siculus reports. Strabo, {1606E only{the great cosmographer}1606E only} writes that in battle they use to carry a light kind of armour, shields, darts and slings. They fight, as Polybius reports, being protected by linen garments, strengthened or clad with purple edges and long coats as white as drifting snow. And although they wear solemn robes or gowns, and are dressed with many coats, which, when they go abroad, hang down to their feet, yet, as Athenæus reports, they are not a bit hindered [by these] during their fighting, {1595L{nor do they show cowardice, nor are they less valiant or courageous}1595L}. This about their armour and their clothes in war.
193.25. But this one thing, which you shall find in the 7th book of Aristotle's Politics, I think should not be omitted, namely that he records that they used to erect as many columns or pillars around their graves and sepulchres as they had killed enemies. {1595L{Nor may be forgotten what Silius Italicus writes in his 13th book, [namely] Tellure, ut perhibent, is mos antiquus, Ibera |
Exanima obscnes consumit corpora vultur, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] Inland, they say, it is an ancient custom that carrion crows and ravenous vultures should eat their prey and consume the flesh of those brave Spaniards who have departed from this world}1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.26. Ælianus says that this applies in particular to the Barcæi, and then only to those who died on the battle field or were slain in wars. But those who died in their bed of some natural illness were, as he says, burnt to ashes. Cæsar writes that they are by nature given to swimming, {1595L{and that they practice their swimming in deep and wide rivers, and that this is such a common thing among them, that no man will go into the field or camp without gear for that purpose}1595L}. In the [manuscript] fragments of Salustius I read that it was their custom, when young men were first trained to go to war, that their mothers would recite to them all the valiant deeds of their ancestors.
193.27. Trogus reports that many of them valued their weapons, and large horses which had served in battles more highly than their own lives. They also had the custom, as Strabo tells us, to prepare for themselves toxicum, that is, a kind of substance which kills a man without any grief or pain. This they made of a certain herb similar to wild celery {1595L{(apium)}1595L} that they might always have it at hand, ready if any bad luck or misfortune should happen to them. Florus says that for this purpose they extract a certain poison from the yew-tree (taxus). Plinius also speaks of this custom of theirs, but he says that they make it from the berries of the yew-tree. So much about the people in general.
193.28. Now a word or two about some of them in particular. The LVSITANI {1591G4Add & 1606E instead{or Portuguese}1591G4Add & 1606E instead} {not in 1608/1612I{are better and more valiant soldiers than the rest, but}not in 1608/1612I} have a bad reputation for robbing and thieving. They do not apply themselves to farming or tilling the ground, [but] they are notable fellows as regards scouting and ambushing, very nimble, light, and quick when retreating. As their drink they use beer {not in 1591G4Add{Zythum, as we said before}not in 1591G4Add}. Butter serves them instead of [olive] oil. Their dishes and suchlike vessels were made of wax.
193.29. Their boats were made of leather until the time of Brutus. But later they had hoys and similar cargo ships, as is clear from Strabo, who does not hesitate to compare their number and size to those of the Africans. This is also confirmed by Sidonius, in his Panegyric oration addressed to Maiorianus. {1595L{Among these people, as Plinius reports, the Carbassus, {1606E only{a kind of linen for the sails of ships}1606E only}, was first invented}1595L}. Such is the life of the Lusitani.
193.30. The CALLAICI, ASTVRES and CANTABRI, even up as far North as the VASCONES and the Pyrenee mountains lived much like the Lusitani, as reported by Varro in his book on Farming, by Dion Cassius, Josephus {1606E only{the Jew}1606E only}, and Strabo, {1606E only{the great cosmographer}1606E only}. In his work and that of Diodorus Siculus you may read other things about these people.
193.31. {not in 1591G4Add{Sextus Avenius calls the inhabitants a churlish and rough [kind of] people. Also, Gens ista dura, gens fera venatibus, | Lustrisque inhærens, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{The nation is brave and stout, All woodmen are given to hunting and rove about in the woods}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. But about the CANTABRI, hear what Silius Italicus, {1606E only{the worthy poet}1606E only}, reports in his 3rd book: Cantaber ante omnes hyemisque, æstusque, famisque, | Invictus, palmamque, ex omni ferre labore. | Mirus amor populo, cum pigra incanuit ætas | Imbelles iamdudum annos prævertere saxo. | Nec vitam sine Marte pati, quippe omnis in armis | Lucis caussa sita, & damnatum vivere paci. {1606E & 1608/1612I only{In effect this much in English/Italian: The Cantaber can endure the chilling cold of winter, the heat of parching summer, hunger, labour or any manner of toiling better than any other people from all of Spain.
193.32. It is a strange thing to see how these people find their satisfaction. As soon as they begin to advance in years and become grey-headed, and therefore no longer fit for labour or any [other] kind of service, they will bring their own lives to an end. No man desires to keep away from wars, for everyone thinks that he is born for no other purpose, and generally condemns peace and an idle life}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. Strabo calls the CELTIBEROS, togatos {1606E & 1608/1612I only{peaceful men}1606E & 1608/1612I only}, and says that they were once considered to be the wildest, most barbarous and inhuman people in all of Europe, but now it is a populous and wealthy nation.
193.33. {not in 1606E{Silius says about their battles: When they are killed in battle, their bodies will be burned}not in 1606E}. The same Strabo considers the TVRDETANOS to have been the most learned people of Spain. For they used grammar, and had certain monuments from antiquity recorded and preserved among them in writing, and their laws and statutes were written and preserved in verse, and some [in] poetic metre. The same author calls the CARPETANOS, VACCÆOS, LACETANOS and CALLAICOS nobiles gentes, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{noble and brave nations}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. But about these last ones, I can only again cite the words of that Silius mentioned before, where he speaks about them like this: Gallecia the rich sent out its men, yelling coarse songs in their native language, also stamping each foot in turn on the ground, while beating their hollow sounding shields rhythmically. Such amusement, a game for men, is of utmost importance to them. The rest is accomplished through the exertions made by women. They plant the seeds in the furrows, and till the earth with the plough. Men remain indifferent when heavy work is to be done as long as it is not related to war. The Callai women accomplish everything for her husband without taking a rest}not in 1591G4Add}.
193.34. And because he also speaks of women, hear what Trogus says about them. The women, he says, manage all the affairs at home and within doors, look after the farm and plough the ground. The men spend all their time going to war, robbing and stealing. The same is reported about them by Strabo, who adds that when [the women] deliver a child, they request their husbands to keep to bed to serve them. And while they are at work, they often wash their little ones, preparing them, put them to sleep at the bank of some brook or river. Once every year they exhibit the cloths they have spun out in the open, to be inspected by all men, and she who in the judgment of most men has laboured hardest carries away the prize and [the] greatest praise, as Stobæus, in the chapter on temperance, based on a certain Nicolaus, has left on record.
193.35. Among the Cantabri the husband gives a dowry to the wife, and the daughters are made heir of their father's lands and goods, and by them the brothers are bestowed for marriage. The fashion of their clothes and manner of dressing of these women is described by the same author, as you may read in Artimedorus. The buildings and houses in this area, as we may gather from Vitruvius, {1606E only{the famous architect}1606E only}, are made of timber, beams, straw, reed and leaves. Walls they have which they call formaceos {1606E only{or, as some read fornaceos}1606E only} for they are enclosed all around in a sort of form on both sides with two boards, stuffed rather than built with workmanship, as Plinius reports in the 14th chapter of his 35th {1606E instead{13th}1606E instead} book.
193.36. About the religion of the ancient Spaniards I find very little in any of the good authors, and what is said about this subject you shall find in Strabo, to wit that the LVSITANI {1591G4Add instead{Portuguese}1591G4Add instead} sacrificed a goat to Mars, and besides [this], that [they also sacrificed] their captives and prisoners taken in war, and their large horses. Also, that they used to guess and predict things to come by [means of] the entrails of their captives and prisoners. Also, that after the custom of the Greeks, they held certain solemn celebrations which they call Hecatombas, {1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{in which one hundred animals were sacrificed at once}1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.37. Also, [they organised] certain games, {1606E only{in the manner of [the Greek] Olympics}1606E only}{1591G4Add and later instead{nakedly}1591G4Add and later instead}. That they were not altogether unskilled in the art of prediction based on observing the entrails of sacrificed beasts, {not in 1591G4Add{by the Romans called auspicina}not in 1591G4Add} [is something] we may conclude from the saying of Lampridius, mentioned by Alexander Severus, in which he says that he was more skilled in that art than they were. In Macrobius I find that the ACCITANI worshipped and did divine honour to Mars, in their language called Necys. Some have reported that the CALLAICI had no kind of standing relation with any god. But the CELTIBERI and their near neighbours in the Northern parts worshipped a certain unknown god at night, when the moon was full, dancing and making merry before their gates, with all their families and households, all night long.
193.38. Yet it becomes clear from Livius {1591G4Add, 1595L and later instead{Plinius}1591G4Add, 1595L and later instead} that in old times, many years ago, the Saguntini {1591G4Add only{who came from an island in the Ionian sea}1591G4Add only} reverenced and worshipped Diana, brought there by people from Zacynthus, 200 years before the destruction of Troy. So far about the nation. But to tell something a little more plainly about the nature and disposition of these people, I do not think it amiss to write down from the best historians some other observations we have noted on this matter.
193.39. At the time when the VETTONES were first subjected to the command of the Romans, & noted certain captains & lieutenants straying up & down the fields for the sake of recreation, they supposed them to have gone out of their minds, and they took them home to their cottages and dwelling places. For they thought that either they [the Roman soldiers] should sit inactively at home, or else they should be fighting. This was evidence of their simplicity. {1595L{See the 5th chapter of the 2nd book of Ælianus' de varia historia}1595L}. In the wars between the Romans and the Cantabri, mothers killed their own children, lest they should fall into their enemies hands. A child, at the command of his father, with a sword killed his father, mother and brothers who were taken captive by the enemy. And again, a woman in a similar way killed her children and husband and others taken [captive] with her. One being summoned to a company of swaggering toss-pot drunkards leapt into the fire and burned himself. These [things] were evidence of their great love for liberty.
193.40. Others of this people, who [were] taken to the fields and nailed to a pillory, it is reported, sang triumphantly {1591G4Add only{to their god Apollinus}1591G4Add only} as if they had won a victory. This was evidence of their contempt of death. So much from Strabo. Those [examples] that [now] follow are taken from Trogus. In the Punic wars, the endurance of a servant was highly praised who, to revenge his masters death, under all his torments laughed heartily and [thus] with a merry countenance got the better of his cruel executioners. This is a notable example of true strength and valour. Often, several of them have been tortured to death because they would not betray those things as were told to them to be a secret, so that they esteemed fidelity and secrecy higher than their lives. Many such examples as these might on the basis of ancient authors be given here. But about the nature of these people, let these few examples suffice.
193.41. Now let us address ourselves to [the task of] saying something about the country itself and the nature of the soil. And first about its fertility. Trogus claims Spain to be far more fertile than Africa or France, being neither so much parched by the sun as that [Africa], nor tormented as much as this [France] by continuously raging winds, but moderate between those two. So that, partly because of the temperature of the air, and partly because of its moderate showers and the rain that falls here, it is most fertile for all kinds of corn and grain.
193.42. For, as Philostratus has left on record, here the temperature of the air is such as it is normally in the autumn in Attica {1606E has instead{Athens}1606E instead} {1606E only{in Greece}1606E only}. Which shows that what Solinus Polyhistor says about this country is quite true: the temperature in this area may in excellence be compared to the best country in the world, [and] it is inferior to none, either with respect to the great abundance of corn growing here, and excellence of the soil, or with respect to the number of choice vines and fruit trees, which here naturally grow by themselves, with the abundant produce they yield.
193.43. It abounds with all kinds of things that are either richly prized and greatly esteemed, or that are found to be necessary for use. Gold and silver, if you seek for it, are here to be found. {not in 1591G4Add{There is no lack of smiths here}not in 1591G4Add}. There is no better place for vines, and it excels above any other country in abundance of the best [olive] oils. No place of the soil is vacant, none barren, but altogether fruitful. Whatever place there is throughout this whole country that does not produce some kind of corn or good fruits, will be good meadow or pasture. Yes, even those places that seem to be dry and barren do produce hemp or such stuff useful for making ropes {1591G4Add only{and sails}1591G4Add only} for ships.
193.44. This is also confirmed by Pomponius Mela in these words: it is, he says, so fertile and well provided with men, horses, iron, lead, silver and gold that if there is any place at all which because of lack of water is barren and not like the rest, yet it will produce hemp, flax and a kind of shrub called spartum, {1606E only{of which they make ropes for their ships}1606E only}. Yet Strabo makes an exception for Turdetania or Btica, {1591G4Add only{the kingdom of Granada}1591G4Add only}, when he says that this place has such an abundance of both metal and corn that it is impossible to give it its due recommendations for its worthiness as it deserves. No, it is so fertile in all these commodities that, as the same Trogus reports, it yields not only sufficient [produce] for the use of the inhabitants [themselves], but on top of that will serve all of Italy and the populous city of Rome. So much in general about the nature of its soil and the commodities of this country.
193.45. But Strabo deals in somewhat greater detail with this matter. For he shows that all the provinces and shires of Spain are not equally fertile and good, and those areas which have the greatest number of mines and metal are good for little else. A great part of it also is only sparsely inhabited because of its mountains and woods, with spacious, wide, very barren fields, where there is very little good earth, or none at all. Neither does it have in all places enough water to serve it, as is the case in Carpetania or Celtiberia {1591G4Add only{near the river Ibero}1591G4Add only}, and almost all the Northern part which borders on the sea, which places are not very densely inhabited because of the cragginess of the mountains and the bleak coldness of the air. This part yields no kind of corn at all. (Maybe, Juvenalis in his 3rd Satire refers to this area, when he says Horrida vitanda est Hispania, {1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{(Rough Spain must carefully be avoided)}1591G4Add, 1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.46. Yet the outskirts of it, where it borders on the Mediterranean sea abound with olives, figs, vines and other such plants and fruit trees, although the inland areas are not altogether void and lacking these commodities either. {not in 1591G4Add{So that I may with good reason apply here the saying of Silius Italicus, an author so often mentioned and cited by me, [when he says]: Nec Cereri terra indocilis, nec inhospita Baccho, | Nullaque Palladia sese magis arbore tollit}not in 1591G4Add}. {1606E & 1608/1612I only{Ceres here has taught her trade, God Bacchus here was lodging. For choicest oils and figs as good, This country may well boast and brag}1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.47. In Lusitania {1591G4Add instead{Portugal}1591G4Add instead}, especially that part [of it] which lies between the rivers Tagus and Artabri, has a very good soil both for corn and grass. Moreover, it yields great plenty of gold and silver, and such things. Athenæus, in the 8th book {1606E only{of his Deipnosophiston}1606E only} confirms the same. Also, all that part of the country that lies in the South, as Plinius testifies, is very good, to wit, all that [part] which they call Btica {1591G4Add instead{Granada}1591G4Add instead} is more populous, better manured, [has] a richer soil, [and is] more fertile and pleasant than any other region of all of Spain.
193.48. In this province the grass is so wonderfully plentiful that unless the cattle is released [from it] and sometimes is brought home from the pasture and prevented from [further] feeding, they will burst, as Trogus reports. But not only the land, but also the sea which beats upon the coast {not in 1591G4Add{of this [part called] Turdetania}not in 1591G4Add} is fertile as well. For it is wonderfully provided with all kinds of oysters, shellfish and purples {1606E only{(a kind of shellfish used to make that colour)}1606E only}, and even tuna fish, which are very profitable for those who will labour to catch them.
193.49. {1595L{And next to that, they also salt much of them, and preserve them pickled}1595L}. So far about the upper surface of the earth. Now let us speak a word or two about the admirable, rich metals of the country, which lie under the surface of it. That Spain is all over richly provided with gold, silver, iron, lead, white and black {1606E instead{red}1606E instead}, is jointly stated by Plinius and Strabo. The Holy Script, in the 1st book, 8th chapter {1606E instead{8th chapter of the 3rd book}1606E instead} of the Maccabees, mentions the great plenty of gold and silver found here. This is also confirmed by Josephus in the 16th chapter of his 2nd book on the Jewish war. But it yields the greatest amounts in the most dry and barren mountains, on which nothing else will grow and thrive. Yet, because of the gold, they are explored and made to yield [their treasures] as I say with Plinius. Such are the mountains which enclose Bastetania and Oretania, in which Strabo says that there are some veins of gold ore.
193.50. The same author writes that in Mount Argent [silver], not far from Castalone near Ilipa and both the Sisapoes, there is a vein of silver. Polybius says that this vein runs along the city of Babyla. Within the borders of Melessa, where the city of Oringis is located, Livius writes that the inhabitants find a lot of silver. Near the river Tagus also in the mountains, there are mines of metals. At Cotinæ you find both copper and gold, as the same Strabo states. The province of Gallecia, (this is what Trogus says), is wonderfully full of copper and lead. It is also very rich in gold, so that sometimes even the plough turns up some nuggets of gold ore. Plinius affirms that the same Gallecia, Asturia and Lusitania {1591G4Add instead{Portugal}1591G4Add instead) are similarly productive in all kinds of metals. Strabo has left on record that among the sparks of gold ore found here, some have been found to weigh more than half a pound. Diodorus Siculus reports the same on the authority of Phalereus, who says that some of those who here dig into the mines every three days find as much in weight as an Euboean talent, {1591G4Add only{that is a worth of 600 crowns}1591G4Add only}, {1606E instead only{which in troy weight amounts to more than 36 pounds}1606E only}{1608/1612I instead{amounting to 600 scudi}1608/1612I instead}.
193.51. Stephanus mentions the city of Ibilla, where he says there are mines both with silver and gold. But the greatest silver mine is near New Carthago, distant from the city about 20 furlongs {1591G4Add additionally, 1608/1612I instead{about two and a half miles}1591G4Add additionally, 1608/1612I instead}, where 40,000 men are employed and set to work, and every day throughout the year the people from Rome, as Strabo says, received from here 25,000 drams {1591G4Add only{or quintils}1591G4Add only} of silver. Thus, the same author writes that Asturia, Galicia and Portugal yearly yielded 20,000 pounds of silver. The same author writes that there was a silver pit called Bebelus, where Hannibal found 300 pounds of silver daily. That this pit was near the Pyrenee mountains {1591G4Add only{which separate Hispania from Gallia}1591G4Add only} one may perhaps guess on account of the fact that the Aquitani {1591G4Add instead{Gascogners}1591G4Add instead} fetch their water from here. The great abundance of silver which comes from the Pyrenee mountains, by accident set on fire (a story you shall find in Strabo and Diodorus Siculus), was such that the Phnicians, when they transported it from there, when there was more left than their ships could carry, they [decided to] attach it to their anchors instead of lead, or, as Aristotles thinks, at Tartessus {1591G4Add only{in Btica}1591G4Add only} made anchors of it.
193.52. It is observed by Strabo that the Turdetani {1591G4Add & 1606E instead{Gallicians}1591G4Add & 1606E instead} made their cribs [of silver] {1595L{(Præsepia}1595L}, yet the learned Causabonus prefers that the Greek word in this place should be read as Lacunaria, {1591G4Add & 1606E only{a rafter or main beam in a house)}1591G4Add & 1606E}, and their hogsheads of silver, as Strabo says. Yes, and that certain rivers in this country yield some sparks of gold among which the Tagus {1606E only{in Lusitania}1606E only} was one, there are no old writers but those who constantly confirm this to be the truth. For which reason the poets in former times have highly recommended Spain in this respect, namely Juvenalis and Statius, as also Silius Italicus in the verse}1591G4Add ends here} Hic certant Pactole tibi Diurasque Tagusque, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{Rich Pactolus may now yield to Duria and Tago stout}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. The great abundance of metals which this country yielded may also be proved by the many triumphs of the Romans and by the marvellous quantities of gold and silver which they took with them and transported from here, which you can read about in Livius, an important witness, of great credibility, {1595L{in various different places}1595L} {1606E only{in his Decades}1606E only}, where by way of example I do not think it amiss to produce here one or two: Marcus Helvius, he says, brought from here to the exchequer at one time unwrought silver, 14,732 pounds in weight. Of coined silver, bearing the stamp of a waggon drawn by two horses, 17,023 [in number].
193.53. Of Huesca silver (Oscense argentum) 120,438. Cneius Cornelius Lentulus brought from here 1515 pounds of gold, 20,000 {1606E instead{1000}1606E instead}[pounds of] rough silver, 34,550 silver coins, {1606E only{and [so many] denarij, [that] in our moneys value [they were worth] nearly 1728 pounds sterling}1606E only}. The same is reported by Marcus Portius Cato, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, Quintus Minutius, Lucius Stertinius, Tiberius Gracchus, Caius Calpurnius, Lucius Quintius Crispinus, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, Albinus and others. {not in 1608/1612I{Let anyone who likes read [them] to admire the wonderful amounts of metals of this country}not in 1608/1612I}. On which subject Antonius Augustus might well say that Spain in those times was for the Romans similar to what America are now to the Spaniards. But, lest I become too tedious, I will address myself now to speak of other matters which are in Spain to be found in great abundance, namely horses, dogs, rabbits, pearls, and various other such things.
193.54. {1595L{That there are a great many rabbits in Spain is reported by}1595L}{1601L{Strabo, Plinius and Ælianus. The same is confirmed in this verse by}1601L}{1595L{the worthy poet Catullus: Cuniculosæ Celtiberiæ fili, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{My son, bred in rabbit home Spain}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. {1595L{The same is confirmed by the coin of Hadrianus, emperor of Rome, on which this little beast has been stamped as a symbol of this country}1595L} [see below at the end of this text; coin displayed here in 1624L Parergon]. The wool also of this country (I mean the black wool), is more highly esteemed than that of the Coraxici, {1606E only{the inhabitants of mount Taurus)}1606E only}. Then flax (of which most excellent nets are made, as Gratius reports), then Spartum, {1606E only{a kind of shrub like a broom, of which they make their ropes,}1606E only}, coccum, {1606E only{a grain used for dying [things] scarlet}1606E only}, pitch, honey, wax, salt dug from the earth, (Sal fossile), alume, borax (Chrysocolla), glass, vermillion of no less value than sinople (Sinopica terra), purple (purpurissimum), and other colours, crystal, loadstone, glass stone, (lapis specularis) vitrum obsidianum, the ceraunij and hyacinthi, certain pearls and precious stones, are highly recommended by Plinius, Strabo, Varro, Diodorus, Florus [and] Trogus; Dioscorides writes that Spain yields red ochre, cadmium, schistus and sory. Pausanias in his Arcadia says that in Spain cinoper (cinnabaris) is commonly found in the same mines that also have gold.
193.55. Theophrastes informs us that the cork tree grows plentifully in the Pyrenee mountains, as Pausanias says in his Arcadicia. The cork tree occurs a lot in the Pyrenees, says Theophrastes. Gellius on the basis of the oration of Varro wonderfully praises the mast of Spain. Heliodorus mentions the Spanish amethyst. The [so-called] nar of the Corritani, {1606E only{a kind of fish called perna by the Romans}1606E only}, is by Strabo preferred above those of the Cantabri {1608/1612I only{and Prosciutti}1608/1612I only}. Gellius recommends the lampreys caught near Tartessus. About the marvellously fat swine of this country Varro in the 22nd chapter of his 2nd book of farming tells a strange tale, namely that their skin hangs over their mouth for one foot and three fingers. Oppianus and Julius Pollux {1608/1612I instead{Strabo}1608/1612I instead} greatly recommend the hounds of Spain. So does Nemesianus: Quorum proles de sanguine manat Ibero, those whelps [young dogs] the huntsman praises most that are of Spanish pedigree.
193.56. The same Varro and Oppianus, as well as Strabo {1606E only{the great cosmographer}1606E only}, highly praise the wild horses of this country. I think that Olympius Nemesianus spoke [about them] in his verses that follow: Quin etiam gens ampla iacet trans ardua Calpes |Culmina cornipedum latè fcunda proborum &c. | {not in 1624LParergon/1641S{Aut inconcusso glomerat vestigia dorso, | Aut molli pacata celer trahit esseda collo}not in 1624LParergon/1641S}. {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] A mighty nation dwells beyond the stately tops of Calpe high, which store of horses good does breed, esteemed throughout the world so wide, some pace it well and amble fine, they never botch nor shake at all, some draw in plough or cart as well, and run uphill as swift as [the] wind}1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.57. Also Silius Italicus, an author often cited in this history, reports the same in these verses of his: Martius hic sonipes campos hinnitibus implet, | Hinc iuga cornipedes euecti bellica captant, [that is:] The warlike steed with mighty noise does fill the champion fields. {1601L, next sentence in 1606E{And the same, elsewhere, says: Hic paruus sonipes, nec Marti notus, at idem |Aut inconcusso glomerat vestigia dorso, | Aut molli pacata celer trahit esseda collo}1601L, next sentence in 1606E} This small horse, unknown to Mars, yet undeterred it runs with signs on its back. And runs uphill, as swift as the wind. Martialis also speaks of them like this: Hic breuis ad numerum rapidos qui colligit ungues, | Venit ab armiferis gentibus Astur equus. {1606E only{[that is:] This little horse that trods so fine, and treads the measures round, did come from warlike Astures, it was bred on Spanish ground}1606E only}. It is perhaps of this kind [of horse] that Gratius speaks like this: Non tamen Hispano Martem tentare minacem | Ausim. {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] I dare not for my life serve in a field on top of the weak-limbed Spanish tits}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. Perhaps this is that kind of horse which Plinius calls Thieldones and Asturcones, nags, hobbies or gennets, very small of bone and stature, which when travelling do not have an ordinary pace, as do other horses, but by gathering up their feet around, amble gently, {1595L{which Plautus calls tollutim incedere, it assumes a gallop}1595L}. Seneca in his Epistles calls them Asturcones & mannos tollutares, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] Ambling nags or gennets}1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.58. Aurelius Symmachius has a long discussion about the coach horses (equi curules or quadrigales) which are bred here, and are praised far and near for their extraordinary swiftness. He calls this country equini pecoris divitem, rich in multitude of good horses. Silius Italicus, {1606E{the worthy poet}1606E}, says that these horses are so swift that they will outrun the wind. About mares that get to be with foals from the wind, (near the main sea around Lisbon or, as Silius writes, among the Vettones) on mount Sintra, (Tagrus) as Varro says, or at Cabo St. Vincente (mons sacer) as Columella would have it, many men have written many things, and perhaps more than is true. All generally attribute this to the nature and quality of the West wind in those parts.
193.59. Varro and Columella claim that the colts or foals bred by these means do not live for more than three years. Yet Silius says that they will live well until they are seven years old. Columella says that it is a thing that every man knows to be true. Varro takes it to be an incredible matter, yet very true, and all in all he states that mares do conceive here by means of the winds, as hens do in our part of the world, whose eggs by him are called Hypenemia {1595L{or Subventanea}1595L}, [and] by Plinius Zephyria, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{that is, wind-eggs}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. Aristoteles in the 5th and 6th book of his history of living creatures speaks of these eggs. And although Julius Solinus and St. Augustinus in his book de civitate Dei write that the same happens to the mares in Cappadocia, {1595L{and [though] Homerus would make the world believe that the North winds bring foals to the mares of Erichthonius, and [though] I am not ignorant [about the fact] that Ælianus in the 27th {1606 instead{25th}1606E instead} chapter of his 7th book de Animalibus says that even the winds make mares more fertile}1595L}, yet, I prefer to think with Trogus [on my side] that this was a result of the marvellous swiftness of the mares and the swiftness of the stallions which is such, that there is in this respect good reason to consider the young to have been begotten by the wind.
193.60. About these [matters], our Silius Italicus, himself a native Spaniard, writes like this: Et venerem occultam genitali concipit aura, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] By secret means they do conceive, The wind does make them big}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. And perhaps Vergilius in the following verses referred to this story: The mares stand on high cliffs, their heads turned to the West, receiving gentle gusts of wind and often, without the assistance of their husbands, they become pregnant of this wind, a miracle to tell. [Vergilius continues this in his Georgics book 3, verses 273-275: They take refuge over the rocks, through deep valleys, not to where you come from, East wind, nor to where the sun rises, but towards the north and north-west, or to that place where the black South wind was born, and saddens the sky with icy rain]. Besides these, there are also some other miracles and strange things to be seen and observed in Spain. In Cadima (ager Carrinensis or Catinensis, as some copies have it) there are two springs of which one swallows everything that is cast into it, whereas the other casts them out. In the same province there is another [spring] which makes all the fishes that are in it seem as if they were of a golden colour. Yet, once out of the water, they do in no respect differ from those of other waters.
193.61. In Cantabria the three Tamarick fountains {1606E only{(fontes Tamarici Plinius calls them, standing at a distance of 8 feet from one another}1606E only}, are ordinarily 12 times dry, {1595L, not in 1603L, 1609/1612L/S & 1624LParergon/1641S{and sometimes [even] 20 times}not in 1603L}. They are so clean that you can hardly discern whether there was water in them or not}1595L, not in 1609/1612L/S & 1624LParergon/1641S}. Yet, there is another large fountain close by these that runs continually. So far for Plinius. Suetonius in Galba says that a thunderbolt struck a lake in Cantabria and that there were 12 hatchets (secures) found there.
193.62. {1595L{In Spain there is a river which at first sight in no way differs from other waters. But if you listen just a little while, you shall hear the water make a fine, whistling noise. For as soon as ever so little a gust of wind shall move the pools or deeper places, the water will resound melodiously like a musical instrument. The wind strikes it in the same manner as a quill, and the water functions as a lute, as Achilles Statius writes in his first book on Arms}1595L}{1606E & 1608/1612I instead{on Love}1606E & 1608/1612I instead}.
193.63. Within the borders of Gallecia there is a mountain called Mons Sacer {1606E only{(Pico Sagro, the Spaniards call it to this very day)}1606E only} for which it was forbidden to dig in it or strike it with any iron tool, but if at any time by a striking thunderbolt its ground was broken, which in these countries is an ordinary thing to happen, the gold which by that means shall be discovered, is gathered by those who come to it as if it were a special gift and favour of God, as Trogus reports {1606E only{in the 44th book of his History}1606E only}.
193.64. Strabo writes that in Lusitania {1606E only{(now Portugal)}1606E only} a kind of salt is found which is of a purple colour. Sidonius in Oresius claims that there is another kind of salt, dug from the mountains of Tarracona which is sweet and of a pleasant taste. {1595L{Among the Spanish mountains, close to Iberi, Gellius, based on Varro, describes a large mountain consisting of pure salt. However much you take from it, so much will wax and grow again on it within a short while}1595L}.
193.65. Lucianus in his Vows refers to Spanish pickle or salt fish. Plinius writes that on the sea coast of Cantabria there is a very steep hill consisting of nothing but clean iron. Those who fall ill in Cadiz (Gades), as Philostratus reports, cannot die, [and] their souls cannot depart from them as long as the tide drowns or overflows the country. And so much so far about old Spain, (as Latinus Pacatus says) terris omnibus terra feliciore, cui excolendæ atque adèo ditandæ impensius quam cæteris gentibus supremus ille fabricator indulsit, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{that is, this land for excellence of its soil excels above all countries in the whole world. For its trimmings and furnishings, and consequently for its enrichment, almighty God, creator of all, bestowed more time and care than he normally did for other countries}1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.66. I intend to finish and end its description with that recommendation with which Plinius concludes his Natural history: Ab Italia, exceptis Indiæ fabulosis, proxime quidem dixerim Hispaniam, quocumque ambitur mari, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{that is, next after Italy, always excepting those fabulous stories about India, I give Spain my recommendations, particularly for those parts which border on the sea}1606E & 1608/1612I only}.
193.67. Outside the limits of the main land or continent of Spain, there is a part of this country called INSVLARIS or BALEARIVM, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{that is, the Spanish isles, or, the Baleares}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. For this part of Spain consists altogether of islands. The names of those which lie in the ocean or main sea are the following: GADES {1606E & 1608/1612I only{(now Cadiz)}1606E only}, IVNONIS insula, GERYONIS monumentum, {1606E only{(St. Pedro, a small island between Cadiz and the main land)}1606E only}, LONDOBRIS {1606E only{over against Portugal, now known by the name of Barlinguas}1606E only}, CORTICATA, AVNIOS, DEORVM insulæ, {1606E only{perhaps those they now call islas de Baiona}1606E only}, and the legendary CASSITERIDES in this area.
193.68. {1606E only{For these islands are indeed those that our seamen call the Sorlings, belonging to the crown of England, as we have shown before}1606E only}. In the Mediterranean sea there are the following [islands]: the two BALEARES, the greater and lesser {1606E only{MALLORCA and MENORCA}1606E only}, the two PITYVSÆ, to wit EBVSVS, {1606E only{(now Yuica, or, as some call it Ibiza)}1606E only} and OPHIVSA, SCOMBRARIA {1606E only{(Cabo di Palos)}1606E only}, COLVBRARIA {1606E only{(Moncolobrer)}1606E only}, CAPRARIA {1606E only{(Cabrera)}1606E only}, TIQVADRA {1606E only{(Coneiera)}1606E only}, PLVMBARIA, PLANESIA and MÆNARIA, all of them, except only the Baleares and Gades, small islands and of no importance. Gades was much renowned and famous long ago because of the fables of Hercules and Geryon, {1606E only{pretended by poets to have occurred here}1606E only}, and also because of that long lived king Arganthonius {1606E only{who was 300 years old before he died, who once kept his court here}1606E only}.
193.69. The Baleares were much talked about {1606E only{because their islanders were considered good sling soldiers, very experienced and skilful with that weapon which was called funda by the Romans. But they were especially talked about}1606E only} because of the great famine and scarcity that was caused there by its rabbits, of which there was once on this island such an incredible plentiful abundance, that the country people were forced to ask Augustus Cæsar for military aid and troops of men to help destroy them, [and to] prevent them from breeding and spreading any further. Plinius compares the wines {1606E has instead{winds}1606E instead} of these islands with the best that are made of Italian grapes.
193.70. I do truly believe that Servius, in the seventh book of Vergilius' Æneids was wrong, when he wrote that Geryon ruled as king of the Baleares and the Pityusæ. For all other writers state that he reigned and kept his court at Gades. In defence of Servius I can only adduce the saying by Trogus: In parte Hispaniæ quæ ex insulis constat, regnum penes Geryonem fuit, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{that is, in a part of Spain which consists altogether of islands, Geryon swayed the sceptre and ruled as a sovereign king}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. But that he said this about Gades, and the islands not far from the main sea, is sufficiently proved and argued because he ascribes wonderful pasturage and fruitfulness to them, which in no way is the case for the Baleares.
193.71. {1595L{But his own words may perhaps please you better, therefore listen, as he speaks like this: Bocchoris, non Geryonis, regnum Baleares fuerunt. {1606E only{usque ad euersionem Phrygum cuniculis animalibus quondam copiosæ. In capite Bæticæ, ubi extremis est NOTI ORBIS terminus, insula à septingentis passibus separatur, quam Tyrij à rubro profecti mari, ERYTHRAEAM, Pni sua lingua GADIR, id est, sepem nominarunt. In hac Geryonem habitasse plurimis monumentis probatur, tametsi quidam putent Herculem boves ex alia insula abduxisse, quæ Lusitaniam contuetur. Praeter aurem has dictas insulas, classicis auctoribus notas, alias habet Sextus Rufus Avienus, his nominibus, The Baleares where Bocchoris, until his overthrow by the Phrygians, reigned and held his court, were once terribly full of rabbits. At the entrance and head of Boetica, which is the outmost bound of the KNOWN WORLD, there is an island about seventy passes distant from the main land. The Tyrians, having come from the Red Sea, called this [island] ERYTHRÆA, or red island. But the Poeni and Carthagenians in their language named it GADIR, that is, the hedge. Here Geryon once lived, as monuments and antiquities strongly prove, although some think that Hercules carried his oxen from another island, which lies over against Lusitania. So far Solinus.
193.72. Observe here that [in Hebrew lettering] gimel-dalet-resh Gader in the ancient language of the Jews, and [open space in the text, presumably intended for Arabic Lettering] Giadir, in the modern language of the Arabs conquering afar, means a hedge, enclosure, or fence}1606E only}. {1595L{Besides the islands just named, known to the ancients and best writers, Sextus Rufus Avienus mentions these other names: Oestrymnides, Achale, Poëtanion, Agonida, Cartare, Strongile, & Lunæ. These, because no one else knew them, he may have added because of a remark by Plinius, who says that there are some twenty of them in the shallow sea. And what about adding Cromyusa and Melussa mentioned by Stephanus}1595L} {1606E only{from Hecatæus' cosmography?}1606E only}.
193.73. About TRANSFRETANA or TINGITANA Hispania, {1606E only{that other part, I mean, of Spain, beyond the straits called Tingitani}1606E only} (because it only belonged to Spain in name and use, not in deed or right, so for what it is, thus Pomponius Mela writes about it: Regio ignobilis, & vix quidquam illustre fortita, paruis opidis habitatur, parua flumina emittit, solo quam viris melior, & segnitiæ gentis obscura, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] A base country, with hardly anything good in it worth speaking of. It has no famous cities, but only small ragged towns and villages. The rivers which run through it are very small, and not navigable. Yet its soil is better than its men. For the slothfulness and cowardice of its people has made this country even more obscure}1606E & 1608/1612I only}. I will speak no more about it in this place}1591L4Add, 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I 1609/1612L/S & 1624LParergon/1641S end here}.
[In the editions 1595L, 1601L, 1603L, 1608/1612I and 1609/1612L/S, below the final text, and in 1624 Latin Parergon/1641S in the text as indicated, we see a a woodcut showing two sides of a coin. The right side depicts emperor Hadrianus, the left side has a reclining figure holding produce from the land, and in the lower left a rabbit, symbol of Spain, see text § 54 and §69.].