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nations note of the north, for we know neither the Bastarnae nor the Sauromatae; note nor, in a word, any of those tribes situate above the Euxine: we are ignorant as to what distance they lie from the Atlantic, note or even whether they extend as far as that sea.
As to the southern part of Germany beyond the Elbe,
the country which adjoins the bank of that river is now occupied 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 Tyregetae; however, 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 Riphaean mountains and the
Hyperboreans have received credit; as also that which Pytheas of Marseilles has forged concerning the countries bordering on the Northern Ocean, making use of his acquaintance with astronomy and mathematics to fabricate his false
narration: let us therefore pass over them; as also what Sophocles, 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,
This is of no value to our present inquiry, but must be omitted, as Socrates has done in the Phaedrus of Plato. We
will relate only what we have learnt from ancient accounts,
and the reports made in our times.
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.
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Strabo, Geography (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Str.].