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Indeed, beyond the borders of Pa1.19.8 lestine, Saracens possess the land, who have been settled in the 1.19.9 palm-grove from of old. The palm-grove is in the interior, extending over a great country, where absolutely nothing else grows except for palm trees 1.19.10 alone. Abocharabus, the ruler of the Saracens there, presented this palm-grove to the Emperor Justinian, and the emperor appointed him phylarch of the Saracens in Pales1.19.11 tine. And he kept the land unravaged for the entire time, since Abocharabus always seemed to be both formidable to the barbarians he ruled and no less so to his enemies, and 1.19.12 exceptionally energetic. In name, therefore, the emperor possesses the palm-grove, but it is in no way possible for him to have a share of the 1.19.13 lands there. For in between lies a land completely desolate of people and absolutely waterless, extending for a ten days' journey, and the palm-grove itself is in no way worthy of any account, but Abocharabus gave only the name of a gift, and the emperor, knowing this well, accepted it. So the situation concerning the palm-grove 1.19.14 is something like this. Next to these people, other Saracens hold the coast, who are called Maddeni, 1.19.15 being subjects of the Homeritae. These Homeritae are settled in the country beyond, by the shore of the sea. And beyond them, they say many other nations are settled, as far as the man-eating Saracens. 1.19.16 After whom, indeed, are the tribes of the Indians. But concerning these things, let each man speak as he may wish. 1.19.17 Directly opposite the Homeritae, on the mainland across, live the Aethiopians, who are called Axomitae, because their royal seat is in the city of Axomis. And 1.19.18 the sea which is in between, when a moderately favorable wind blows, takes five days and nights to 1.19.19 cross. For here they are accustomed to sail by night also, since there is no reef anywhere; this sea is called by some the Red Sea. For the waters outside this, as one sails out as far as the shore and the city of Aela, 1.19.20 have been named the Arabian Gulf. For the country from here to the borders of the city of Gaza was in ancient times called Arabia, since the king of the Arabs also had his royal seat in the city of Petrae in earlier times. 1.19.21 Now the harbor of the Homeritae, from which they are accustomed to set sail to the Aethiopians, is called Boulikas. 1.19.22 And having crossed this sea they always put in at the harbor of the Adoulitae. The city of Adoulis is twenty stades distant from the harbor; for by so much is it prevented from being on the sea, and it is a twelve days' journey from the city of Axomis. 1.19.23 However, all the boats that are in both India and on this sea are not constructed in the same manner as other ships. For they are not coated with pitch or anything else, nor indeed are the planks fastened to one another with iron nails driven through, but they are bound together with certain cords. 1.19.24 And the reason is not, as many suppose, that there are certain rocks there that draw iron to themselves (and here is a proof: for the Roman ships sailing from Aela into this sea, although fastened with much iron, never have had such a thing happen to them), but that neither the Indians nor the Aethiopians have iron or anything else suitable for these 1.19.25 things. Nor, indeed, are they able to buy any of these things from the Romans, 1.19.26 since it is explicitly forbidden to all by law. For death is the penalty for anyone who is caught. So the situation concerning the so-called Red Sea and the land which is on either side of it is something like this. 1.19.27 From the city of Axomis to the Egyptian borders of the Roman empire, where the city called Elephantine is inhabited, is a thirty days' journey for a well-girt 1.19.28 man. Here many other nations are settled, both the Blemmyes and the Nobatae, most populous tribes. But the Blemmyes inhabit the middle of this country, while the Nobatae hold the regions about the river Nile. But previously these were not the furthest limits of the Roman empire, but it extended beyond for about seven more days' 1.19.29 journey; but when the Roman emperor Diocletian

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μὲν ὅρους τοὺς Πα1.19.8 λαιστίνης ὑπερβάντι Σαρακηνοὶ ἔχουσιν, οἳ ἐν τῷ 1.19.9 φοινικῶνι ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἵδρυνται. ἔστι δὲ ὁ φοινικὼν ἐν τῇ μεσογείᾳ ἐς χώραν κατατείνων πολλὴν, ἔνθα δὴ ἄλλο τὸ παράπαν οὐδὲν ὅτι μὴ φοίνικες φύονται 1.19.10 μόνοι. τούτῳ τῷ φοινικῶνι βασιλέα Ἰουστινιανὸν Ἀβοχάραβος ἐδωρήσατο, ὁ τῶν ἐκείνῃ Σαρακηνῶν ἄρχων, καὶ αὐτὸν βασιλεὺς φύλαρχον τῶν ἐν Παλαι1.19.11 στίνῃ Σαρακηνῶν κατεστήσατο. ἀδῄωτόν τε τὴν χώραν διεφύλαξε τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον, ἐπεὶ τοῖς τε ἀρχομένοις βαρβάροις καὶ οὐδέν τι ἧσσον τοῖς πολεμίοις φοβερός τε ἀεὶ Ἀβοχάραβος ἔδοξεν εἶναι καὶ 1.19.12 διαφερόντως δραστήριος. τῷ μὲν οὖν λόγῳ τὸν φοινικῶνα βασιλεὺς ἔχει, μετεῖναι δὲ αὐτῷ τῶν ταύτῃ 1.19.13 χωρίων οὐδ' ὁπωστιοῦν δυνατά ἐστι. γῆ τε γὰρ ἀνθρώπων παντελῶς ἔρημος καὶ ἀτεχνῶς ἄνυδρος ἐν μέσῳ οὖσα ἐς δέκα ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν διήκει, καὶ αὐτὸς λόγου ὁτουοῦν ἄξιος ὁ φοινικὼν οὐδαμῆ ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ὄνομα δώρου ὅ τε Ἀβοχάραβος ἔδωκε μόνον καὶ βασιλεὺς εὖ εἰδὼς ἔλαβε. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ τῷ φοινικῶνι 1.19.14 ταύτῃ πη ἔχει. τούτων δὲ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἄλλοι Σαρακηνοὶ ἐχόμενοι τὴν ἀκτὴν ἔχουσιν, οἳ δὴ Μαδδηνοὶ 1.19.15 καλοῦνται, Ὁμηριτῶν κατήκοοι ὄντες. οἱ δὲ Ὁμηρῖται οὗτοι ἐν χώρᾳ τῇ ἐπέκεινα ᾤκηνται πρὸς τῇ τῆς θαλάσσης ἠϊόνι. ὑπέρ τε αὐτοὺς ἄλλα ἔθνη πολλὰ μέχρι ἐς τοὺς ἀνθρωποφάγους Σαρακηνοὺς ἱδρῦσθαί φασι. 1.19.16 μεθ' οὓς δὴ τὰ γένη τῶν Ἰνδῶν ἐστιν. ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν πέρι λεγέτω ἕκαστος ὥς πη αὐτῷ βουλομένῳ ἐστίν. 1.19.17 Ὁμηριτῶν δὲ καταντικρὺ μάλιστα ἐν τῇ ἀντιπέρας ἠπείρῳ Αἰθίοπες οἰκοῦσιν, οἳ Αὐξωμῖται ἐπικαλοῦνται, ὅτι δὴ αὐτοῖς τὰ βασίλειά ἐστιν ἐν πόλει Αὐξώμιδι. καὶ 1.19.18 θάλασσα, ἣ ἐν μέσῳ ἐστὶν, ἀνέμου μετρίως ἐπιφόρου ἐπιπεσόντος ἐς πέντε ἡμερῶν τε καὶ νυκτῶν διάπλουν 1.19.19 διήκει. ταύτῃ γὰρ καὶ νύκτωρ ναυτίλλεσθαι νενομίκασιν, ἐπεὶ βράχος ἐνταῦθα οὐδαμῆ ἐστιν· αὕτη πρὸς ἐνίων ἡ θάλασσα Ἐρυθρὰ κέκληται. τὰ γὰρ ταύτης ἐκτὸς ἐκπλέοντι ἄχρι ἐς τὴν ἠϊόνα καὶ Αἰλὰν πόλιν 1.19.20 Ἀραβικὸς ὠνόμασται κόλπος. χώρα γὰρ ἡ ἐνθένδε ἄχρι τῶν Γάζης πόλεως ὁρίων Ἀραβία τὸ παλαιὸν ὠνομάζετο, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ βασίλεια ἐν τοῖς ἄνω χρόνοις ἐν Πέτραις τῇ πόλει ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων βασιλεὺς εἶχεν. 1.19.21 ὁ μὲν οὖν τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν ὅρμος, ἐξ οὗ ἀπαίροντες εἰώθασιν ἐς Αἰθίοπας πλεῖν, Βουλικὰς ὀνομάζεται. 1.19.22 διαπλεύσαντες δὲ ἀεὶ τὸ πέλαγος τοῦτο καταίρουσιν ἐς τῶν Ἀδουλιτῶν τὸν λιμένα. Ἄδουλις δὲ ἡ πόλις τοῦ μὲν λιμένος μέτρῳ εἴκοσι σταδίων διέχει· τοσούτῳ γὰρ διείργεται τὸ μὴ ἐπιθαλάσσιος εἶναι, πόλεως δὲ Αὐξώμιδος ὁδῷ ἡμερῶν δώδεκα. 1.19.23 Πλοῖα μέντοι ὅσα ἔν τε Ἰνδοῖς καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἐστὶν, οὐ τρόπῳ τῷ αὐτῷ ᾧπερ αἱ ἄλλαι νῆες πεποίηνται. οὐδὲ γὰρ πίσσῃ οὐδὲ ἄλλῳ ὁτῳοῦν χρίονται, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ σιδήρῳ διαμπερὲς ἰόντι ἐς ἀλλήλας αἱ σανίδες ξυμπεπήγασιν, ἀλλὰ βρόχοις τισὶ ξυνδέδενται. 1.19.24 αἴτιον δὲ οὐχ ὅπερ οἱ πολλοὶ οἴονται, πέτραι τινὲς ἐνταῦθα οὖσαι καὶ τὸν σίδηρον ἐφ' ἑαυτὰς ἕλκουσαι (τεκμήριον δέ· ταῖς γὰρ Ῥωμαίων ναυσὶν ἐξ Αἰλᾶ πλεούσαις ἐς θάλασσαν τήνδε, καίπερ σιδήρῳ πολλῷ ἡρμοσμέναις, οὔποτε τοιοῦτον ξυνηνέχθη παθεῖν), ἀλλ' ὅτι οὔτε σίδηρον οὔτε ἄλλο τι τῶν ἐς ταῦτα 1.19.25 ἐπιτηδείων Ἰνδοὶ ἢ Αἰθίοπες ἔχουσιν. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ πρὸς Ῥωμαίων ὠνεῖσθαι τούτων τι οἷοί τέ εἰσιν, 1.19.26 νόμῳ ἅπασι διαρρήδην ἀπειρημένον. θάνατος γὰρ τῷ ἁλόντι ἡ ζημία ἐστί. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ τῇ Ἐρυθρᾷ καλουμένῃ θαλάσσῃ καὶ χώρᾳ ἣ αὐτῆς ἐφ' ἑκάτερά ἐστι ταύτῃ πη ἔχει. 1.19.27 Ἐκ δὲ Αὐξώμιδος πόλεως ἐς τὰ ἐπ' Αἰγύπτου ὅρια τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς, οὗ δὴ πόλις ἡ Ἐλεφαντίνη καλουμένη οἰκεῖται, τριάκοντα ὁδὸς ἡμερῶν ἐστιν εὐζώνῳ 1.19.28 ἀνδρί. ἐνταῦθα ἔθνη ἄλλα τε πολλὰ ἵδρυται καὶ Βλέμυές τε καὶ Νοβάται, πολυανθρωπότατα γένη. ἀλλὰ Βλέμυες μὲν ταύτης δὴ τῆς χώρας ἐς τὰ μέσα ᾤκηνται, Νοβάται δὲ τὰ ἀμφὶ Νεῖλον ποταμὸν ἔχουσι. πρότερον δὲ οὐ ταῦτα ἐγεγόνει τὰ ἔσχατα τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς, ἀλλ' ἐπέκεινα ὅσον ἑπτὰ ἑτέρων ἐπίπροσθεν ὁδὸν ἡμε1.19.29 ρῶν· ἡνίκα δὲ ὁ Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτωρ ∆ιοκλητιανὸς