Rufius Festus Avienus — Ora Maritima

Primary-source dossier

The excerpts below are reproduced from the Ictis Anthology — a working paper produced during research for the project. Some of the results were spun off into New Perspectives on the Ictis of Pytheas of Massalia.

Lines 80-171¹:

The circle of the broad earth is widely spread,

And, on the other hand, waves surround the earth.

But where, from the Ocean itself, the deep sea penetrates amid the rock,

Such that here the current of our sea

Extends far, there is the Atlantic gulf.

Here is the city of Gadir², previously called Tartessus;

Here are the pillars of unyielding Hercules,

Abila and Calpe. Calpe is on the left of the land I have spoken of;

Abila is next to Africa³. They make a harsh noise,

And here rises the crest of the overshadowing ridge.

A more ancient age called it Oestrymnis⁴,

And the lofty bulk of the rocky outcrops

All turns towards the warm south wind⁵.

But beneath the top of this peak,

The Oestrymnian gulf⁶ gapes open for its inhabitants,

In which the Oestrymnian islands spring up⁷,

Lying over a wide area and rich in deposits

Of tin and lead.⁸ Great is the energy of the people here,

Proud their character, pragmatic their skill.

All things are connected to affairs of business⁹.

They cleave the tempestuous sea,

And the current of the Ocean abounding in monsters, with woven boats¹⁰.

Indeed, these people do not know how to fashion keels with pine and maple.

They do not, as is usual, shape their boats from fir,

But, in a miraculous thing, they always fit out

Vessels from hides stitched together,

And often travel through the immense sea in a skin.

Then from here it is two days’ journey by boat to the Holy island¹¹ –

So the ancients called it.

This island lies as an expanse of ground amid the waves,

And the people of the Hierni cultivate it all over.

The island of the Albiones also lies nearby¹².

It was the habit of the Tartessians¹³

To do business among the furthest parts of the Oestrymnides¹⁴.

The colonists from Carthage¹⁵ and the ordinary people, bearing on through

The pillars of Hercules, used to come down to these seas,

Which Himilco of Carthage declared –

As he reports he himself proved by sailing all the way –

Could scarcely be crossed in four months¹⁶.

This is so because no breezes drive the ship,

And the sluggish water of the inert sea stands still.

He adds this comment too: among the currents,

There is a lot of seaweed, and often, in the manner of a bush,

It checks a ship. He says that nonetheless here

The surface of the sea does not extend to a great depth,

And the seabed is scarcely covered with a little water¹⁷.

Here and there sea creatures meet, and sea monsters

Swim amid the slow ships sluggishly crawling along.

If anyone were to dare to launch a cutter into the waves

From the Oestrymnian islands, where the air is frozen¹⁸

In the northern sky, he would come upon the land of the Ligurians¹⁹,

Devoid of inhabitants. For the fields have been empty

For a long time because of a band of Celts²⁰ and frequent battles,

And the Ligures were driven out, as fortune often drives out others,

And came to those places, which they possess amid plenty of bristling bushes.

In these places, there is roundabout abundant rough stone,

Rugged cliffs and mountains threatening the sky. And this tribe, which

In fact avoided contact, for some time now led its life amid the narrow confines of the rocks²¹

Far from the waves. For they were afraid of the sea,

On account of the danger they had experienced in ancient times.

Later, since freedom from care fortified their boldness, peace and an untroubled life

Coaxed them to be led down from their high dwelling-places

And to come down to the areas now by the sea.

Then, after those places which we have set out above,

The great bay of the open sea extends up to Ophiussa²².

Then, from the shore of this place to the inshore sea,

where the sea wends itself amid the land²³

(as I have said before), and which they call the sea of the Sardi²⁴,

Is a journey of seven days for a traveller on foot.²⁵

Ophiussa extends its side to a distance

As much as you hear the island of Pelops lies

In the land of the Greeks. Ophiussa²⁶ was first called Oestrymnis,

Since the Oestrymni inhabited the places and the fields.²⁷

Some time later a serpent forced the inhabitants to flee

And imposed on the empty land its name.

From there the ridge of Venus extends into the swells,

And the sea barks round two islands,

Which are inhospitable on account of the meanness of the land.

Then the promontory of Aryium²⁸ rises up in the harsh north.

The journey from here by ship

To the Pillars of powerful Hercules is five days²⁹.

After that there is a sea isle

Abounding in grass and sacred to Saturn.

But there is such great natural force in the island

That if anyone approaches it by sailing,

Soon the sea in the region of the island is stirred up,

The island itself is shaken and all the sea

Leaps up, beginning to quake deeply.

But the rest of the sea is still like a pond.

From here the promontory of Ophiussa rises up to the air.

From the ridge of Aryium to this place is a journey of two days³⁰.

Lines 172-261:

But the bay which opens up over some distance from here

Does not pass by easily navigable with one wind:

You can reach the middle with the west wind

Carrying you, but the remainder of the bay requires the south wind.

Then from there, if anyone makes for the shore

Of the Tartessians on foot, he would come

To the end of the journey on just about the fourth day.

If anyone directed his path to our sea and the port of Malaca,

It is a journey of five days.

Then the Cempsican ridge looms large. Beneath it in turn lies the

Island of Achale, named by its inhabitants.

There is scarcely any credibility in the tale, because it is a miracle,

But repeated assertion sufficiently supports it:

They say in the bounds of this island,

There is nothing equal in appearance to the rest of the swell.

It is certain that everywhere there is brightness in the waves

Like the sheen of glass, and through the depth of the sea

There is a bluish appearance.

But the ancients relate that there the sea

Is always thick with foul mud and dirt,

Like streams abounding in sediment.

The Cempsi and the Sefes inhabit the steep hills

In the country of Ophiussa. Nearby to these

Striving Ligus and the offspring of the Draganes

Located their home beneath the very snowy north wind.

Then, Poetanion is an island on the border of the Sefes,

And an accessible port. After that, the peoples of the Cynetes

Lie next to the Cempsi. Then the ridge of the Cynetes,

Looming on high where the starlight sets, the furthest ridge

Of fertile Europe, faces towards the sea filled with ocean monsters.

There the river Ana runs through the Cynetes,

And cleaves the land. The bay opens up

And hollow land stretches out to the south.

From the river I have told you about, twin streams

Suddenly separate themselves and push on

Their slow courses through the dense water of the bay mentioned above.

This is of course because all the sea here is thick with mud.

Here the crest of two islands rises up high.

The smaller lacks a name.

Enduring tradition calls the other Agonis.

The rough rock bristles with cliffs

And is Saturn’s sacred isle. The sea is struck against it and foams up.

The rocky shore stretches out over a wide area.

Here, shaggy she-goats and many a billy-goat belonging to the natives

Wander constantly among the turf’s thickets.

They also grow long and thick hairs,

Suited to military use and to sailors’ clothing.

From here to the river I spoke about is a journey of one day.

Here too the tribe of the Cynetes have their border.

The Tartessian region borders this,

And the river Tartessus flows through the country.

From there extends the ridge dedicated to the west wind.

In fact, the summit of the peak is called Zephyris.

The tops of the peak rise high from the ridge.

Its great elevation reaches to the air, and something like

A mist sitting on top of it always covers its overcast crest.

From that point, all the country greatly abounds in grassy soil.

These inhabitants have slopes that are always cloudy.

The upper air is denser, and the day more humid;

There is lots of dew, as though it were night.

No breezes blow through, as is usual; no breath of wind

Shakes the air upwards. An inert mist sits on the land

And the earth is wet over a wide area.

If anyone were to set out from the peak of Zephyris by ship

And be carried towards the current of our sea,

He would immediately be borne along by the breezes of the west wind.

Then there is a ridge, sacred to the goddess of the lower world,

And a sumptuous sanctuary in a concealed hollow

And a dark adyton. There is a great marsh roundabout,

Called Erebea. In fact, the city of Herbi

Is said to have stood in these parts in an ancient era,

This city, annihilated by the storms of battle,

Left its reputation and its name to the salty ground.

But from there the Hiberus river flows, and it makes

The region fertile with its water. Many people say

That the Hiberi are named for this³¹,

And not from that river which

Glides past the restless Vascones.

For whatever part of this people lies

West of this river, they call the people Hiberian.

The eastern part in turn contains the Tartessians

And Cilbiceni. After that is the island Cartare:

The Cempsi held it for a long time:

There is sufficient faith concurring to support this.

Afterwards, since they were driven out because of

War with their neighbours, they set out in search

Of different places. From there, mount Cassius rises:

The Greek tongue formerly called tin “cassiterum” because of it³².