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from Tiga to the Canopic mouth 29,252 stades, and of Asia from Canopus to the Tanais river, the coastal voyage including the gulfs is 40,111 stades. Altogether the coastline with the gulfs of our inhabited world is 130,972 stades.

24 Concerning the earth and the things from it The earth is one of the four elements, dry and cold and heavy and motionless, brought into being from non-being by God on the first day. For, it says, "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth." No man has been able to tell of its seat and foundation; for some say that it is established and fixed upon the waters, as the divine David says: "To him who established the earth upon the waters," while others say upon the air. And another says: "He who established the earth upon nothing." And again the God-inspired David, as from the person of the Creator: "I," he says, "made firm its pillars," calling its cohesive power "pillars." And "he founded it upon the seas" shows that the nature of water is poured around the earth on all sides. Whether, therefore, we grant that it is established on itself, or on air, or on water, or on nothing, we must not depart from the pious conception, but confess that all things are held together and sustained by the power of the Creator. In the beginning, then, as scripture says, it was covered by waters and was unformed, that is, unadorned. But when God commanded, the receptacles for the waters came into being, and then the mountains arose, and by the divine command it received its proper adornment, beautified with all kinds of grasses and plants, in which the divine command placed a power for growth and nourishment and germination, that is, for generating their like. And at the Creator's command, it brought forth also all kinds of species of animals, of reptiles and beasts and cattle. All things, indeed, for the timely use of man, but of these, some were for food, such as stags, sheep, gazelles and the like; others for service, such as camels, oxen, horses, asses and the like; and others for delight, such as monkeys; and of the birds, jays and parrots and the like; and of the plants and herbs, some are fruit-bearing and edible, others are fragrant and flowery, given to us for delight, such as the rose and the like, and others for the healing of diseases. For there is no animal nor plant in which the Creator has not placed some energy useful for the needs of men; for He who knows all things before their creation, knowing that man would transgress in his free will and be delivered to corruption, created all things for his timely use, both those in the firmament and those on the earth and those in the waters. Before the transgression, therefore, all things were subject to man; for God appointed him ruler of all things on the earth and in the waters. And the serpent was familiar to man, approaching him more than the others and conversing with delightful movements. Whence through it the author of evil, the devil, introduced the most wicked suggestion to our first parents. And the earth of its own accord brought forth fruits for the need of the animals subject to him, and there was neither rain on the earth nor winter. But after the transgression, when "he was compared to the senseless beasts and was like them," having made the irrational desire to rule over the rational mind within himself, and having become disobedient to the Master's command, the subject creation rose up against the ruler ordained by the Creator, to work in sweat the ground from which he was taken. But even now the use of wild beasts is not useless, inspiring fear and leading to the knowledge and invocation of God who made them. And the thorn also sprang up from the earth after the transgression according to the Lord's sentence, after which the thorn was also joined to the enjoyment of the rose, leading us to a remembrance of the transgression for which the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles for us. That these things are so must be believed from the fact that even to this day their continuation is effected by the

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ἀπὸ Τίγας ἕως στόματος Κανωβικοῦ στάδια β&, θσνβʹ, τῆς δὲ Ἀσίας ἀπὸ Κανώβου ἕως Τανάιδος ποταμοῦ μετὰ τῶν κόλπων ὁ παράπλους στάδια δ&, ριαʹ. Ὁμοῦ παράλιος σὺν κόλποις τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης στάδια ι&γ&, θοβʹ.

24 Περὶ γῆς καὶ τῶν ἐξ αὐτῆσ Ἡ γῆ ἓν τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων ἐστὶ ξηρόν τε

καὶ ψυχρὸν καὶ βαρὺ καὶ ἀκίνητον, ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι τῇ πρώτῃ ἡμέρᾳ παρηγμένον. «Ἐν ἀρχῇ» γάρ, φησίν, «ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν». Ἧς τὴν ἕδραν καὶ τὴν βάσιν οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων εἰπεῖν δεδύνηται· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ ὑδάτων φασὶν ἡδράσθαι καὶ πεπῆχθαι αὐτήν, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεῖος ∆αυίδ· «Τῷ στερεώσαντι τὴν γῆν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων», οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀέρος. Ἄλλος δέ φησιν· «Ὁ ἑδράσας τὴν γῆν ἐπ' οὐδενός». Καὶ πάλιν ὁ θεηγόρος ∆αυὶδ ὡς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ δημιουργοῦ· «Ἐγώ», φησίν, «ἐστερέωσα τοὺς στύλους αὐτῆς», τὴν συνεκτικὴν αὐτῆς δύναμιν στύλους ὀνομάσας. Τὸ δὲ «ἐπὶ θαλασσῶν ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτὴν» δηλοῖ τὸ πανταχόθεν περικεχύσθαι τῇ γῇ τὴν τοῦ ὕδατος φύσιν. Κἂν οὖν ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς, κἂν ἐπὶ ἀέρος, κἂν ἐπὶ ὑδάτων, κἂν ἐπ' οὐδενὸς δῶμεν ἡδράσθαι αὐτήν, χρὴ μὴ ἀφίστασθαι τῆς εὐσεβοῦς ἐννοίας, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὁμοῦ συγκρατεῖσθαι, ὁμολογεῖν καὶ συνέχεσθαι τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ κτίσαντος. Ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν οὖν, καθώς φησιν ἡ γραφή, ὑπὸ ὑδάτων ἐκεκάλυπτο καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος ἤτοι ἀκόσμητος ἦν. Τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ προστάξαντος τὰ τῶν ὑδάτων δοχεῖα γεγόνασι, καὶ τότε τὰ ὄρη ὑπῆρξαν, τῷ τε θείῳ προστάγματι τὸν οἰκεῖον ἀπειλήφει κόσμον παντοδαπέσι χλόαις καὶ φυτοῖς ὡραϊσθεῖσα, οἷς τὸ θεῖον ἐνέθηκε πρόσταγμα δύναμιν αὐξητικήν τε καὶ θρεπτικὴν καὶ σπερματικὴν ἤτοι ὁμοίου γεννητικήν. Ἐξήγαγε δὲ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ κελεύσαντος καὶ παντοῖα γένη ζῴων ἑρπετῶν τε καὶ θηρίων καὶ κτηνῶν. Πάντα μὲν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὔκαιρον χρῆσιν, ἀλλὰ τούτων τὰ μὲν πρὸς βρῶσιν οἷον ἐλάφους, πρόβατα, δορκάδας καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, τὰ δὲ πρὸς διακονίαν οἷον καμήλους, βόας, ἵππους, ὄνους καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τέρψιν οἷον πιθήκους· καὶ τῶν ὀρνέων κίσσας τε καὶ ψιττακοὺς καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ τῶν φυτῶν δὲ καὶ βοτανῶν τὰ μὲν κάρπιμα καὶ ἐδώδιμα, τὰ δὲ εὐώδη καὶ ἀνθηρὰ πρὸς τέρψιν ἡμῖν δεδομένα οἷον τὸ ῥόδον καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, τὰ δὲ πρὸς νοσημάτων ἴασιν. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ οὐδὲν ζῷον οὐδὲ φυτόν, ἐν ᾧ οὐκ ἐνέργειάν τινα τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων χρείᾳ χρησιμεύουσαν ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐναπέθετο· ὁ γὰρ τὰ πάντα πρὶν γενέσεως αὐτῶν ἐπιστάμενος εἰδώς, ὡς μέλλει ἐν αὐτεξουσίῳ παραβάσει ὁ ἄνθρωπος γενέσθαι καὶ τῇ φθορᾷ παραδίδοσθαι, πάντα πρὸς εὔκαιρον χρῆσιν αὐτοῦ, τά τε ἐν τῷ στερεώματι ἔν τε τῇ γῇ καὶ τὰ ἐν ὕδασιν ἔκτισε. Πρὸ μὲν οὖν τῆς παραβάσεως, πάντα ὑποχείρια τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἦν· ἄρχοντα γὰρ αὐτὸν κατέστησεν ὁ θεὸς πάντων τῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὕδασι. Καὶ ὁ ὄφις δὲ συνήθης τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἦν μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων αὐτῷ προσερχόμενος καὶ τερπνοῖς προσομιλῶν τοῖς κινήμασιν. Ὅθεν δι' αὐτοῦ τὴν κακίστην ὁ ἀρχέκακος διάβολος ὑποθήκην τοῖς προπάτορσιν εἰσηγήσατο. Καὶ ἡ γῆ δὲ αὐτομάτη τοὺς καρποὺς ἔφερε πρὸς χρείαν τῶν ὑποχειρίων αὐτῷ ζῴων, καὶ οὔτε ὄμβρος ἦν τῇ γῇ οὔτε χειμών. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν παράβασιν, ἡνίκα «παρασυνεβλήθη τοῖς κτήνεσι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις καὶ ὡμοιώθη αὐτοῖς», ἄρχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν ἄλογον ἐπιθυμίαν τοῦ λογικοῦ νοῦ παρασκευάσας, παρήκοος τῆς τοῦ δεσπότου ἐντολῆς γενόμενος, ἐπανέστη τῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ χειροτονηθέντι ἄρχοντι ἡ ὑποχείριος κτίσις, ἐν ἱδρῶτι ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν, ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθη. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ νῦν ἄχρηστος ἡ τῶν θηρίων χρῆσις ἐκφοβοῦσα καὶ πρὸς ἐπίγνωσιν καὶ ἐπίκλησιν τοῦ πεποιηκότος φέρουσα θεοῦ. Καὶ ἡ ἄκανθα δὲ μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν ἐξεφύη τῆς γῆς κατὰ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου ἀπόφασιν, μεθ' ἣν συνεζεύχθη καὶ τῇ ἀπολαύσει τοῦ ῥόδου ἡ ἄκανθα εἰς ὑπόμνησιν τῆς παραβάσεως ἡμᾶς ἄγουσα, δι' ἣν ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἡ γῆ ἀνατέλλειν ἡμῖν κατεδικάσθη. Ὅτι μὲν ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει, πιστευτέον ἐκ τοῦ καὶ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν τὴν τούτων διαμονὴν ἐνεργεῖν τὸν