20. After Sicily and the straits on either side of it,779 there are other seas, for instance, that opposite the Syrtes and the Cyrenaic,780 the Syrtes themselves, and the sea formerly called the Ausonian, but which, as it flows into and forms part of the Sea of Sicily, is now included under the latter name. The sea opposite to the Syrtes and the Cyrenaic is called the Libyan Sea; it extends as far as the Sea of Egypt.
The Lesser Syrtes781 is about 1600 stadia in circumference. On either side of its mouth lie the islands of Meninx782 and Kerkina.783 The Greater Syrtes784 is (according to Eratosthenes) 5000 stadia in circuit, and in depth 1800, from the Hesperides 785 to Automala,786 and the frontier which separates the Cyrenaic from the rest of Libya. According to others, its circumference is only 4000 stadia, its depth 1500 stadia, and the breadth at its mouth the same.
The Sea of Sicily washes Italy, from the Strait of Rhegium787 to Locris,788 and also the eastern coast of Sicily from Messene789 to Syracuse790 and Pachynus.791 On the eastern side it reaches to the promontories of Crete, surrounds the greater part of Peloponnesus, and fills the Gulf of Corinth.792 On the north it advances to the Iapygian Promontory,793 the mouth of the Ionian Gulf,794 the southern parts of Epirus,795 as far as the Ambracic Gulf,796 and the continuation of the coast which forms the Corinthian Gulf, near the Peloponnesus.
The Ionian Gulf forms part of what we now call the Adriatic.797 Illyria forms its right side, and Italy as far as the recess where Aquileia is situated, the left.
The Adriatic stretches north and west; it is long and narrow, being in length about 6000 stadia, and its greatest breadth 1200. There are many islands situated here opposite the coasts of Illyria, such as the Absyrtides,798 Cyrictica,799 and the Libyrnides,800 also Issa,801 Tragurium,802 the Black Corcyra,803 and Pharos.804 Opposite to Italy are the Islands of Diomede.805 The Sea of Sicily is said to be 4500 stadia from Pachynus to Crete, and the same distance to Tænarus in Laconia.806 From the extremities of Iapygia to the bottom of the Gulf of Corinth the distance is less than 3000 stadia, while from Iapygia to Libya it is more than 4000. In this sea are the Islands of Corcyra807 and Sybota,808 opposite the coasts of Epirus; and beyond these, opposite the Gulf of Corinth, Cephallenia,809 Ithaca, Zacynth,810 and the Echinades.811
21. Next to the Sea of Sicily, are the Cretan, Saronic,812 and Myrtoan Seas, comprised between Crete, Argia,813 and Attica.814 Their greatest breadth, measured from Attica, is 1200 stadia, and their length not quite double the distance. Within are included the Islands of Cythera,815 Calauria,816 Ægina,817 Salamis,818 and certain of the Cyclades.819 Adjacent to these are the Ægæan Sea,820 the Gulf of Melas,821 the Hellespont,822 the Icarian and Carpathian Seas,823 as far as Rhodes, Crete, Cnidus, and the commencement of Asia. [In these seas] are the Cyclades, the Sporades, and the islands opposite Caria, Ionia, and Æolia, as far as the Troad, namely, Cos,824 Samos,825 Chios,826 Lesbos,827 and Tenedos;828 likewise on the Grecian side as far as Macedonia and the borders of Thrace, Eubœa,829 Scyros,830 Peparethus,831 Lemnos,832 Thasos,833 Imbros,834 Samothracia,835 and numerous others, of which it is our intention to speak in detail. The length of this sea is about 4000 stadia, or rather more,836 its breadth about 2000.837 It is surrounded by the coast of Asia above mentioned, and by those of Greece from Sunium838 northwards to the Thermaic Gulf839 and the Gulfs of Macedonia,840 and as far as the Thracian Chersonesus.841
22. Here too is the strait, seven stadia in length, which is between Sestos842 and Abydos,843 and through which the Ægæan and Hellespont communicate with another sea to the north, named the Propontis,844 and this again with another called the Euxine. This latter is, so to speak, a double sea, for towards its middle are two projecting promontories, one to the north, on the side of Europe, and the other opposite from the coast of Asia, which leave only a narrow passage between them, and thus form two great seas. The European promontory is named Criu-metopon;845 that of Asia, Carambis.846 They are distant from each other about 2500 stadia.847 The length of the western portion of this sea848 from Byzantium to the outlets of the Dnieper is 3800 stadia, its breadth 2000. Here is situated the Island of Leuca.849 The eastern portion is oblong and terminates in the narrow recess in which Dioscurias is situated. In length it is 5000 stadia, or rather more, and in breadth about 3000. The entire circumference of the Euxine is about 25,000 stadia. Some have compared the shape of its circumference to a Scythian bow when bent, the string representing the southern portions of the Euxine, (viz. the coast, from its mouth to the