Polybius, Histories

Translation

Book 34 - Chapter 8

<head lang="la">IV. De Lusitania</head><w lemma="%2Apolu%2Fbios">Πολύβιος</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="%2Amegalopoli%2Fths">Μεγαλοπολίτης</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="teta%2Frth%7C">τετάρτῃ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="triakosth%3D%7C">τριακοστῇ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28istoriw%3Dn">Ἱστοριῶν</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29ibhri%2Fa%7C">Ἰβηρίᾳ</w> <w lemma="%2Alusitani%2Fas">Λυσιτανίας</w> <w lemma="xw%2Fras">χώρας</w> <w lemma="dialego%2Fmeno%2Fs">διαλεγόμενός</w> <w lemma="fhsin">φησιν</w> <w lemma="o%28%2Fti">ὅτι</w> <w lemma="ba%2Flanoi%2F">βάλανοί</w> <w lemma="ei%29si">εἰσι</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="ba%2Fqos">βάθος</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="au%29to%2Fqi">αὐτόθι</w> <w lemma="qala%2Ftth%7C">θαλάττῃ</w> <w lemma="pefuteume%2Fnai">πεφυτευμέναι</w>, <w lemma="w%28%3Dn">ὧν</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="karpo%5Cn">καρπὸν</w> <w lemma="sitoume%2Fnous">σιτουμένους</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="qu%2Fnnous">θύννους</w> <w lemma="piai%2Fnesqai">πιαίνεσθαι</w>.

<w lemma="dio%2Fper">διόπερ</w> <w lemma="ou%29k">οὐκ</w> <w lemma="a%29%5Cn">ἂν</w> <w lemma="a%28ma%2Frtoi">ἁμάρτοι</w> <w lemma="tis">τις</w> <w lemma="le%2Fgwn">λέγων</w> <w lemma="u%28%3Ds">ὗς</w> <w lemma="ei%29%3Dnai">εἶναι</w> <w lemma="qalatti%2Fous">θαλαττίους</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="qu%2Fnnous">θύννους</w>. —

<w lemma=""></w> <w lemma="%2Ale%2Fgei">Λέγει</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="%2Apolu%2Fbios">Πολύβιος</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="me%2Fxri">μέχρι</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2Alati%2Fnhs">Λατίνης</w> <w lemma="e%29kpi%2Fptein">ἐκπίπτειν</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="ba%2Flanon">βάλανον</w> <w lemma="tau%2Fthn">ταύτην</w>, <w lemma="ei%29">εἰ</w> <w lemma="mh%5C">μὴ</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fra">ἄρα</w>, <w lemma="fhsi%2F">φησί</w>, <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="h%28">ἡ</w> <w lemma="%2Asardw%5C">Σαρδὼ</w> <w lemma="fe%2Frei">φέρει</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="h%28">ἡ</w> <w lemma="plhsio%2Fxwros">πλησιόχωρος</w> <w lemma="tau%2Fth%7C">ταύτῃ</w>. — <w lemma="%2Ath%5Cn">Τὴν</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="%2Alusitani%2Fan">Λυσιτανίαν</w> —

<w lemma="xw%2Fra">χώρα</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%29sti%5Cn">ἐστὶν</w> <w lemma="au%28%2Fth">αὕτη</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="%2A%29ibhri%2Fas">Ἰβηρίας</w>, <w lemma="h%28%5Cn">ἣν</w> <w lemma="nu%3Dn">νῦν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28rwmai%3Doi">Ῥωμαῖοι</w> <w lemma="%2Aspani%2Fan">Σπανίαν</w> <w lemma="o%29noma%2Fzousi">ὀνομάζουσι</w> — <w lemma="dihgou%2Fmenos">διηγούμενος</w> <w lemma="eu%29daimoni%2Fan">εὐδαιμονίαν</w> <w lemma="%2Apolu%2Fbios">Πολύβιος</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="%2Amegalopoli%2Fths">Μεγαλοπολίτης</w> <gap /><w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="teta%2Frth%7C">τετάρτῃ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="triakosth%3D%7C">τριακοστῇ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28istoriw%3Dn">Ἱστοριῶν</w> <w lemma="fhsin">φησιν</w> <w lemma="w%28s">ὡς</w> <w lemma="au%29to%2Fqi">αὐτόθι</w> <w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="a%29e%2Fros">ἀέρος</w> <w lemma="eu%29krasi%2Fan">εὐκρασίαν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="zw%3D%7Ca">ζῷα</w> <w lemma="polu%2Fgona">πολύγονα</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="oi%28">οἱ</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fnqrwpoi">ἄνθρωποι</w>, <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="oi%28">οἱ</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="xw%2Fra%7C">χώρᾳ</w> <w lemma="karpoi%5C">καρποὶ</w> <w lemma="ou%29de%2Fpote">οὐδέποτε</w> <w lemma="fqei%2Frontai:">φθείρονται·</w>

<w lemma="r%28o%2Fda">ῥόδα</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="au%29to%2Fqi">αὐτόθι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="leuko%2Fia">λευκόια</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="a%29spa%2Fragoi">ἀσπάραγοι</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="paraplh%2Fsia">παραπλήσια</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftois">τούτοις</w> <w lemma="ou%29">οὐ</w> <w lemma="plei%3Don">πλεῖον</w> <w lemma="dialei%2Fpei">διαλείπει</w> <w lemma="mhnw%3Dn">μηνῶν</w> <w lemma="triw%3Dn">τριῶν</w>,

<w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="qala%2Fttion">θαλάττιον</w> <w lemma="o%29%2Fyon">ὄψον</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="plh%3Dqos">πλῆθος</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="xrhsto%2Fthta">χρηστότητα</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="ka%2Fllos">κάλλος</w> <w lemma="mega%2Flhn">μεγάλην</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fxei">ἔχει</w> <w lemma="diafora%5Cn">διαφορὰν</w> <w lemma="pro%5Cs">πρὸς</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="gino%2Fmenon">γινόμενον</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="kaq%27">καθ᾽</w> <w lemma="h%28ma%3Ds">ἡμᾶς</w> <w lemma="qala%2Ftth%7C">θαλάττῃ</w>.

<w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="kriqw%3Dn">κριθῶν</w> <w lemma="%2Asikeliko%5Cs">Σικελικὸς</w> <w lemma="me%2Fdimno%2Fs">μέδιμνός</w> <w lemma="e%29sti">ἐστι</w> <w lemma="draxmh%3Ds">δραχμῆς</w>, <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="purw%3Dn">πυρῶν</w> <w lemma="e%29nne%2Fa">ἐννέα</w> <w lemma="o%29bolw%3Dn">ὀβολῶν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29alecandreinw%3Dn:">Ἀλεξανδρεινῶν·</w>

<w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="oi%29%2Fnou">οἴνου</w> <w lemma="draxmh%3Ds">δραχμῆς</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="metrhth%5Cs">μετρητὴς</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Frifos">ἔριφος</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="me%2Ftrios">μέτριος</w> <w lemma="o%29bolou%3D">ὀβολοῦ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="lagw%2Fs">λαγώς</w>. <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="a%29rnw%3Dn">ἀρνῶν</w> <w lemma="triw%2Fbolon">τριώβολον</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="tetrw%2Fbolon">τετρώβολον</w> <w lemma="h%28">ἡ</w> <w lemma="timh%2F">τιμή</w>. <w lemma="u%28%3Ds">ὗς</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="pi%2Fwn">πίων</w> <w lemma="e%28kato%5Cn">ἑκατὸν</w> <w lemma="mna%3Ds">μνᾶς</w> <w lemma="a%29%2Fgwn">ἄγων</w> <w lemma="pe%2Fnte">πέντε</w> <w lemma="draxmw%3Dn">δραχμῶν</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="pro%2Fbaton">πρόβατον</w> <w lemma="duei%3Dn">δυεῖν</w>. <w lemma="ta%2Flanton">τάλαντον</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="su%2Fkwn">σύκων</w> <w lemma="triw%3Dn">τριῶν</w> <w lemma="o%29bolw%3Dn">ὀβολῶν</w>,

<w lemma="mo%2Fsxos">μόσχος</w> <w lemma="draxmw%3Dn">δραχμῶν</w> <w lemma="pe%2Fnte">πέντε</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="bou%3Ds">βοῦς</w> <w lemma="zu%2Fgimos">ζύγιμος</w> <w lemma="de%2Fka">δέκα</w>.

<w lemma="ta%5C">τὰ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="a%29gri%2Fwn">ἀγρίων</w> <w lemma="zw%2F%7Cwn">ζῴων</w> <w lemma="kre%2Fa">κρέα</w> <w lemma="sxedo%5Cn">σχεδὸν</w> <w lemma="ou%29de%5C">οὐδὲ</w> <w lemma="kathciou%3Dto">κατηξιοῦτο</w> <w lemma="timh%3Ds">τιμῆς</w>, <w lemma="a%29ll%27">ἀλλ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="e%29pido%2Fsei">ἐπιδόσει</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="xa%2Friti">χάριτι</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="a%29llagh%5Cn">ἀλλαγὴν</w> <w lemma="poiou%3Dntai">ποιοῦνται</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftwn">τούτων</w>.

<head>IV. On Lusitania</head>Polybius of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Megalopolis&groupId=745&placeId=1360">Megalopolis</a> in the Thirty-Fourth Book of his Histories, in speaking of that portion of Iberia called Lusitania, says that there are oak-trees planted deep in the sea, on the fruit of which the tunnies feed and get fat.

So that we should not be wrong in calling the tunnies sea-hogs.

Polybius says that these acorns are carried as far as <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Latium&groupId=673&placeId=1231">Latium</a> and washed up, unless indeed, he adds, <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sardinia&groupId=947&placeId=1685">Sardinia</a> too and that neighbourhood produce them.

Polybius, in the Thirty-Fourth Book of his Histories speaking of the natural wealth of Lusitania (a district of Iberia, or, as the Romans now call it, <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a>), tells us that owing to the favourable climate both men and animals are very prolific, and the land is constantly productive.

For roses, white violets, asparagus, and similar plants only cease flowering for three months, and as for the sea-fish, in quantity, excellence, and beauty it is far superior to that in our own sea.

The Sicilian medimnus of barley costs one drachma and that of wheat nine Alexandrian obols, the metreta of wine costs a drachma and a fair-sized kid or hare one obol. Lambs are three or four obols apiece, a fat pig weighing a hundred minae costs five drachmae and a sheep two. A talent's weight of figs can be had for three obols, a calf for five drachmae and a ploughing ox for ten. The flesh of wild animals is scarcely thought worth pricing, but is given away for nothing or exchanged.

Walbank Commentary

Overview

34.8.1 - 34.9.15

= Athen. vii. 302 C (8. 1–2); Strabo, iii. 2. 7, C. 145 (8. 3); Athen. viii. 330 C–331 B (8. 4–10); Strabo, iii. 1. 6, C. 139 (9. 1–2); iii. 2. 15, C. 151 (9. 3); iii. 5. 5, C. 170 (9. 4); iii. 5. 7, C. 172 (9. 5–7); iii. 2. 10, C. 147 (9. 8–11); iii. 2. 11, C. 148 (9. 12); iii. 4. 13, C. 162 (9. 13); Athen. i. 16 C (9. 14–15). Description of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a> Following the traditional scheme (above, pp. 566–7) P. probably began his account of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a> in the westLusitaniaand passed from there to the south and east. It involved him in several topics widely discussed, viz. the nature of the tides (9. 5–7), the location of the sources of tin, which led to an account of the British Isles (cf. iii. 57. 3) and more polemic against Pytheas (10. 6–7), the Spanish mines (9. 8–10 and Strabo, iii. 2. 8, C. 146), and the question of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a>' voyages (2. 1–4. 8 n.); see Pdech, LEC, 1956, 14–18. The extent to which P.'s account has survived in Strabo iii is controversial. J. Morr, Die Quellen von Strabons drittem Buch (Phil. Suppl.-B. 18. 8, 1926) thinks P.'s part in the book negligible; Pdech was at first sceptical (LEC, 1956, 15 n. 39), but has since accepted Schulten's arguments (Hermes, 1911, 596–8) that Strabo followed P. for the geography of the interior plateau and the ethnography of the Celtiberians, for the geography of Lusitania, and for his account of the mountain-tribes of the north-west. In favour of this, Pdech argues, is the fact that of Strabo's two other sources in book iii, Artemidorus dealt only with the coastal areas in his periplous (GGM, i. 516, 542), and Poseidonius stayed thirty days at <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Gades&groupId=594&placeId=1105">Gades</a> (Strabo, iii. 1. 5, C. 138), but did not penetrate the interior. Poseidonius did however use P., for there are direct parallels between Diod. v. 33. 5 and fg. 163, and between Diod. v. 33. 3 and fg. 179; and Poseidonius was the source for Diod. v. 33–38. Hence many of Strabo's references to Poseidonius record material originally in P. (cf. Pdech, Mthode, 579 n. 362). In that case, P. evidently had a fairly full description of the Mediterranean coastal plain and its cities, the Atlantic area around the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Tagus&groupId=1000&placeId=1762">Tagus</a>, Anas, and Baetis, and the central plateau (Celtiberia). However, this attribution is not certain, and Strabo iii cannot be taken as necessarily representing P.'s account. For discussion and some bold conclusions see Pdech, Mthode, 578–81.

Specifics

34.8.1 - 34.8.1

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τῆς ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ Λυσιτανίας</w>:</emph> the Lusitanians had expanded from the lands between the Douro and the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Tagus&groupId=1000&placeId=1762">Tagus</a> southwards to the Guadiana (Anas) by 153 (cf. Appian, Hisp. 57; in Strabo, iii. 3. 3, C. 152–3, the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Tagus&groupId=1000&placeId=1762">Tagus</a> is still the southern boundary). However, Athenaeus seems to be quoting inaccurately from memory when he attributes the 'oak-trees' which grow in the sea to Lusitania (cf. § 4 n.). For <milestone unit="page" n="599">[599]</milestone> Strabo, iii. 2. 7, C. 145 (from which § 3 is taken) describes how the tunny congregate near Carteia within the Pillars and then feed 'on the acorns of a very stunted oak that grows at the bottom of the sea' <w lang="el-GR">(βαλάνῳ δρυΐνῃ φυομένῃ κατὰ τῆς θαλάττης χαμαιζήλῳ τινὶ παντάπασιν</w> ), 'which produces <w lang="el-GR">ἁδρότατον καρπό?ν᾽</w>. This tree grows on the shores both inside and outside the Straits, and tunny, attracted by the acorns, evidently follow them into the Mediterranean, where the current carries them as far as <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Latium&groupId=673&placeId=1231">Latium</a> (§ 3). The identification of this oak is difficult, since no oak-trees grow in the sea (despite Theophr. HP, iv. 6. 9, <w lang="el-GR">φασὶ δέ τινες καὶ ἄλλην δρῦν εἶναι ποντίαν ἣ καὶ καρπὸ?ν φέρει, καὶ ἡ βάλανος αὐτῆς χρησίμη)</w>. P. has been thought to be referring to quercus bellota (Van Nostrand in Frank, ES, iii. 179) or to quercus coccifera, a low-growing evergreen found commonly on the European and north African shores of the Mediterranean, and so called from the Kermes insect (coccus ilicis) which lives on it, and the dried bodies of which are used to produce a red dye (cf. Steier, RE, Suppl.-B. vii, 'Kokkos', cols. 328–32); Strabo, iii. 2. 6, C. 144, mentions the large-scale export of this dye <w lang="el-GR">(κόκκος πολλή)</w> from Turdetania. But if this is meant, Strabo or P. has gone seriously wrong, for these oaks are not specially associated with the shore, nor can they have grown in the water; one would need to assume them growing on the water's edge and the acorns falling in. A more probable explanation is that Strabo is referring to what is really a kind of seaweed. Various suggestions have been made. Halydris siliquosa ('sea-oak', German 'Meereichentang') is not, however, found so far south, and that is also true of Fucus vesiculosus and several other kinds of fucus. Cystoseira fimbriata, which grows to 50–60 cm., and is found in the relevant area, is a possibility; but its vesicles (the 'acorns'?) are rare. The likeliest candidate, as my colleague G. Russell has suggested to me, is Sargassum vulgare, a seaweed with branches resembling the leaves of an oak and with many conspicuous vesicles, which might well become detached and be identified as acorns. This plant grows to a height of 20 to 70 cm.; see Gontran Hamel, Phophyces de France (Paris, 1931–9), 427, for its distribution at Banyuls, Marseilles, Antibes, Nice, Villefranche, Bastia, Algiers, Cherchell, Oran, and Tangier; G. Giaccone and others, Giornale botanico italiano, 106, 1972, 211–29, for its appearance in the Straits of Messina; and C. van den Hock and M. Donze, Blumea, 15, 1967, 78, for Morocco and the Basque coast. It is perhaps to this that Theophrastus (loc. cit.) refers; see too Pliny, Nat. hist. xiii. 137, 'in alto uero abies et quercus cubitali altitudine, ramis earum adhaerent conchae. quercu et tingui lanas tradunt, glandem etiam quasdam ferre in alto, naufragis haec deprehensa urinantibusque' (perhaps with some confusion with quercus coccifera). In Nat. hist. ix. 64 Pliny says that mullets alga uescuntur et ostreis, i.e. <milestone unit="page" n="600">[600]</milestone> molluscs adhering to seaweed; perhaps that is what the tunny were really after, for Strabo, v. 2. 8, C. 225, says that the tunny eat murex (which, according to Pliny, Nat. hist. ix. 131, lives among seaweed). See further Schulten, Geografia, ii. 366–7. For 'trees' growing in the Indian Ocean see Strabo, xvi. 4. 7, C. 770; Pliny, Nat. hist. xiii. 135 ff. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">βάλανοι</w>:</emph> used of both the 'tree' and its 'fruit'; see the previous note. Strabo, iii. 2. 7, C. 145, adds that it also grows on land, and though it has roots the size of a normal oak, it does not reach the height of a low bush. Here the reference must be to some other species of genuine tree. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὸν καρπόν</w>:</emph> Strabo, iii. 2. 7, C. 145, says the crop is heavy, and the shores both within and without the Pillars are covered with acorns; though smaller, these are found more abundantly within the Straits.

34.8.2 - 34.8.2

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ὗς . . . θαλαττίους</w>:</emph> cf. Strabo, iii. 2. 7, C. 145 (following the passage printed here as § 3), <w lang="el-GR">καὶ οἱ θύννοι δ᾽ ὅσῳ πλέον συνεγγίξουσι ταῖς Στήλαις ἔξωθεν φερόμενοι, τοσῷδ᾽ ἰσχναίνονται πλέον, τῆς τροφῆς ἐπιλειπούσης. εἶναί τε ἄρα θαλάττιον ὗν τὸ ξῷον τοῦτο. ἥδεσθαι γὰρ τῇ βαλάνῳ καί πιαίνεσθαι διαφερόντως ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς, φορᾶς τε τῆς βαλάνου γενομένης, φορὰν καὶ τῶν θύννων εἶναι</w>. Strabo, following P., seems to mean that, other food failing, the tunny grow thin as they approach the Straits, until they reach the area where they can eat the 'acorns'.

34.8.3 - 34.8.3

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">μέχρι τῆς Λατίνης κτλ</w>.:</emph> Strabo, v. 2. 8, C. 225, mentions the tunny and 'acorns' off the coast of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Etruria&groupId=582&placeId=1089">Etruria</a>, but not off <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Latium&groupId=673&placeId=1231">Latium</a>. His brief account of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Sardinia&groupId=947&placeId=1685">Sardinia</a> (v. 2. 7, C. 225) makes no mention of the supposed oak.

34.8.4 - 34.8.4

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Λυσιτανίαν</w>:</emph> the only part of Lusitania to which this description would apply is the territory of the Corii (or Cynetes), who inhabited what is now Algrave (cf. x. 7. 5 n., where in the last sentence 'farther west' should read 'farther east'). But Strabo's account of Lusitania (iii. 3. 3, C. 152 ff.) contains no such high praise of its productivity (though he calls the coastal area <w lang="el-GR">εὐδαίμων)</w>; and Athenaeus may have made the same mistake here that he appears to have made in vii. 302 c (above § 1 n.), referring to Lusitania what is really true of Turdetania. For Strabo's account of the fertility of Turdetania (probably based on P.) see iii. 2. 4, C. 142 ff. If P. also hinted that the realm of Alcinous was to be located in the part of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a> described here (cf. 9. 14 n.), that would be a further argument for Turdetania rather than Lusitania, since P. strongly opposed the hypothesis that <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Odysseus&groupId=801&placeId=1446">Odysseus</a>' journeys took him into the outer ocean (see 2. 1–4. 8 n.); but it is by no means certain that P. located Phaeacia in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Spain&groupId=983&placeId=1735">Spain</a>. For bibliography on Lusitania and its people see J. M. Blzquez, Klio, 1963, 170–1 n. 2.

34.8.5 - 34.8.5

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ῥόδα . . . καὶ λευκόϊα καὶ ἀσπά?ραγοι</w>:</emph> according to Schulten <milestone unit="page" n="601">[601]</milestone>

34.8.6 - 34.8.6

(Geografia, ii. 447–8), the only roses which flower for more than three months in Algrave today are Rosa canina (April to July) and Rosa sempervirens (April to August)information from a Portuguese friend; but speculations on this are inconclusive given probable changes in species and, perhaps, in climate. The 'white violet' is probably the gillyflower (Matthiola incana) and the asparagus Asparagus acutifolius (cf. Wagler, RE, <w lang="el-GR">ἀσττάραγος᾽</w>, ol.1713)if p. is referring to a wild variety, as seems likely (Schulten, Geografia, ii.415, 450). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τὸ . . . θαλάττιον ὄψον</w>:</emph> 'sea-fish'; for <w lang="el-GR">ὄψον</w>, 'fish', cf. Plut. Mor. 667 F, <w lang="el-GR">πολλῶν ὄντων ὄψων ἐκνενίκηκεν ὁ ἰχθὺς μόνος ἢ μάλιστά γε ὄψον καλεῖσθαι</w>; P. Cair. Zen. i. 59082 1. 17 (3rd cent.). On the fish in these parts see Strabo, iii. 2. 7, C. 145 (Turdetania); Van Nostrand in Frank, ES, iii. 181.

34.8.7 - 34.8.8

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">Σικελικὸς μέδιμνος κτλ</w>.:</emph> cf. ii. 15. 1 n. for the Sicilian medimnus (c. 51.5 litres, or nearly 1.5 bushels) and the metretes (c. 8.5 liquid gallons), and discussion of the present passage. P. is using the AtticAlexandrian standard; the Alexandrian drachma is a drachma on the Attic standard, cf. Hultsch, RE, 'drachme', col. 1618. P. here chooses the same three commodities to establish priceswheat, barley, and wineas he does for Cisalpine <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Gaul&groupId=598&placeId=1108">Gaul</a> (ii. 15. 1). The Spanish prices are considerably higher.

34.8.8 - 34.8.8

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἔριφος ὁ μέτριος</w>:</emph> 'a fair-sized kid'; cf. Strabo, iii. 3. 7, C. 155 (of the Lusitanians), <w lang="el-GR">τραγοφαγοῦσι . . . μάλιστα</w>. <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">καὶ λαγώς</w>:</emph> 'a hare'; on hares, a pest <w lang="el-GR">καθ᾽ ὅλην τὴν ᾽Ι</w>§<w lang="el-GR">βηρίαν . . . καὶ μέχρι Μασσαλίας</w> see Strabo, iii. 2. 6, C. 144 (about Turdetania). <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἑκατὸν μνᾶς ἄγων</w>:</emph> on the Attic–Euboeic standard 100 minae weighed a little over 4.30 kg., no great weight for a fat pig.

34.8.9 - 34.8.9

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τάλαντον . . . σύκων</w>:</emph> an Attic–Euboeic talent weighs a little under 26 kg.

34.8.10 - 34.8.10

<emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐν ἐπιδόσει καὶ χάριτι κτλ</w>.:</emph> 'they exchange these freely with each other as presents and marks of favour'; <w lang="el-GR">ἀλλαγή</w> implies a system of gift-exchange. Paton, 'is given away for nothing or exchanged', misses the sense: these are not two alternative methods, but one, which consists of A giving B a gift freely and B (later) returning a similar gift to A.

Polybius, Histories

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Walbank Commentary

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