Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/466

 452 STRABO. CASAUB. 294. nations l of the north, for we know neither the Bastarnge nor the Sauromatae ; 2 nor, in a word, any of those tribes situate above the Euxine : we are ignorant as to what distance they lie from the Atlantic, 3 or even whether they extend as far as that sea. CHAPTER III. 1. As to the southern part of Germany beyond the Elbe, the country which adjoins the bank of that river is now occu- pied by the Suevi. Next lies the country of the Getae, at first narrow, its southern side extends along the Danube, and the opposite side along the mountains of the Hercynian Forest, even including part of those mountains, it then becomes broader towards the north, and extends as far as the Tyregetse ; how- ever, we are unable to declare its boundaries with accuracy ; and it is on account of our ignorance of these places that those who relate fables of the RiphaBan mountains and the Hyperboreans have received credit ; as also that which Py- theas of Marseilles has forged concerning the countries bor- dering on the Northern Ocean, making use of his acquaint- ance with astronomy and mathematics to fabricate his false narration : let us therefore pass over them ; as also what So- phocles, speaking of Orithya in one of his tragedies, says, that she, being snatched by the north wind, was carried " Over the whole ocean, to the extremities of the earth, Even to the place where night received its birth, Where the opposite side of the heavens is beheld, And where is situated the ancient garden of Phoebus." This is of no value to our present inquiry, but must be omit- ted, as Socrates has done in the Phredrus of Plato. We will relate only what we have learnt from ancient accounts, and the reports made in our times. 1 The Bastarnse and Tyregetee, mentioned in chap. i. 1, of this book, to whom, in book ii. chap. v. 30, Strabo adds also the Sauromatae. 2 The Sauromatse, or Sarmatians, living to the east of the Sea of Azoff and along the banks of the Don. 3 The term Atlantic was applied with much more latitude by Strabo and Eratosthenes than by us.