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For all, even to my time, were sick with the religion of polytheism. Here from of old were situated shrines dedicated to Ammon and to Alexander the Macedonian. To these the natives were sacrificing even down to the reign of Justinian. And they also had a great multitude of those called temple-servants. But now this emperor, not only providing security for the bodies of his subjects, but also making it his care to save their souls, took thought for the people dwelling here in every way. For he deigned in no way to neglect their other interests especially, and he taught them the doctrine of piety, having made them Christians, households and all, and transforming their defiled ancestral customs. And for them he built a church of the Mother of God, to be a safeguard for the cities of both salvation and the truth concerning the faith. So these things were in this wise. But the city of Boreion, which is adjacent to the barbarian Maurousii, has not been subject to tribute up to the present time; nor have any tribute-collectors or tax-collectors ever come to it, since men have existed. And the Jews had dwelt from of old very near them; where there was also an ancient temple of theirs, which they revered and greatly marvelled at, which Solomon built, as they say, when he was king of the Hebrew nation. But Emperor Justinian, having brought it about that all of them changed their ancestral customs and became Christians, transformed this temple into the form of a church. 6.3.1 After these are the so-called Greater Syrtes. And of what form these are, and for what reason they have received this name, I shall explain. 6.3.2 There is a certain shore projecting here; and being broken by the inflow of the sea, and disappearing in the surf, it seems to depart, and retreating upon itself to go back; 6.3.3 and it is turned into a very long crescent-shaped gulf. And the passage at the beginning of the side extends for four hundred stades; but the perimeter of the crescent-shape extends for a journey of six days. 6.3.4 For here the sea, being pressed within the mainland, makes the gulf. 6.3.5 And whenever a ship, forced by wind or wave, gets inside the passage beyond the beginning of the crescent, it is impossible for it to return from there, but for the rest it is like being dragged, and is clearly always being pulled forward. 6.3.6 And from this, I think, on account of the fate of the ships, the men of old named the place Syrtes. 6.3.7 Moreover, it is not possible for vessels to swim through to the shore. For submerged rocks, distributed over most of the gulf, do not allow it to be navigable here, but they destroy the ships in the shallows. 6.3.8 Only in small boats are the sailors of these ships able to save themselves, if it so happens, making their way through the passages with danger. 6.3.9 Here are the boundaries of the so-called Tripolis. And barbarian Maurousii dwell here, a Phoenician people. 6.3.10 Here too is a city, Cidamê by name. And here dwell Maurousii who have from of old been in treaty with the Romans; all of whom, persuaded by the Emperor Justinian, have voluntarily attached themselves to the dogma of the Christians. 6.3.11 And these Maurousii are now called Pacati, since they always have treaties with the Romans. For they call peace "pacem" in the Latin tongue. 6.3.12 And Tripolis is distant from Pentapolis by a twenty days' journey for an unencumbered man. 6.4.1 Next after this comes the city of Leptimagna, which was great and populous in ancient times, but later became for the most part desolate, its many parts buried by a mass of sand through neglect. 6.4.2 And the emperor of our time built its circuit-wall from the foundations, not so large, however, as it was formerly, but much smaller, so that the city would not again be precarious because of its size, and easy for enemies to capture, and exposed to the sand. 6.4.3 But now he has left the part of the city which was buried in the same state it was in, covered by sand piled up into hills,

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θρησκείαν γὰρ πάντες καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ τὴν τῆς πολυ6.2.16 θεΐας ἐνόσουν. ἐνταῦθα ἐκ παλαιοῦ τῷ τε Ἄμμωνι καὶ 6.2.17 Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τῷ Μακεδόνι ἀνέκειτο ἕδη. οἷς δὴ καὶ ἐσφαγιάζοντο μέχρι ἐς τὴν Ἰουστινιανοῦ βασιλείαν οἱ ἐπι6.2.18 χώριοι. ἦν δὲ καὶ ὅμιλος αὐτοῖς τῶν ἱεροδούλων καλουμένων πολύς. νῦν δὲ δὴ ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος οὐχ ὅσον ἐς τὰ σώματα τοῖς κατηκόοις ἐκποριζόμενος τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς διασώσασθαι ἐν ἐπιμελείᾳ ποιούμενος, καὶ τῶν ταύτῃ ᾠκημένων ἀνθρώπων κατὰ πάντα 6.2.19 προὐνόησε τρόπον. τά τε γὰρ ἄλλα διαφερόντως αὐτῶν ἐπιμελεῖσθαι οὐδαμῇ ἀπηξίωσε καὶ τὴν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐδίδαξε δόξαν Χριστιανοὺς πανοικεσίᾳ πεποιημένος καὶ μεταπορευόμενος λελυμασμένα σφίσι τὰ πάτρια ἤθη. 6.2.20 οἷς δὴ καὶ νεὼν τῆς θεοτόκου ἐδείματο, φυλακτήριον ταῖς πόλεσι τῆς τε σωτηρίας καὶ τῆς ἀμφὶ τῇ δόξῃ ἀληθείας ἐσόμενον. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τῇδέ πη ἔσχε. 6.2.21 Βόρειον δὲ ἡ πόλις Μαυρουσίοις γειτνιῶσα βαρβάροις φόρου ὑποτελὴς οὐ γεγένηται ἐς τόδε τοῦ χρόνου· οὐδέ τινες πώποτε δασμολόγοι ἢ φορολόγοι ἐς αὐτὴν 6.2.22 ἵκοντο, ἐξ οὗ γεγόνασιν ἄνθρωποι. οἱ δὲ Ἰουδαῖοι ᾤκηντο ἐκ παλαιοῦ αὐτῶν ἄγχιστα· οὗ δὴ καὶ νεὼς ἦν ἀρχαῖος αὐτοῖς, ὅνπερ ἐσέβοντό τε καὶ ἐτεθήπεσαν μάλιστα, δειμαμένου τοῦτο Σολομῶνος, ὥσπερ φασί, βασι6.2.23 λεύοντος Ἑβραίων τοῦ ἔθνους. ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὺς ἅπαντας Ἰουστινιανὸς βασιλεὺς μεταγνῶναί τε τὰ πάτρια ἤθη, καὶ Χριστιανοὺς γεγονέναι διαπραξάμενος, τοῦτον δὴ τὸν νεὼν ἐς ἐκκλησίας μεθηρμόσατο σχῆμα. 6.3.1 Μετὰ τούτους αἱ Σύρτεις εἰσὶν αἱ μεγάλαι ὠνομασμέναι. ἐφ' οὗ δέ εἰσι σχήματος αὗται, καὶ ὅτου δὴ ἕνεκα τούτου μεταλαγχάνουσι τοῦ ὀνόματος, ἐγὼ δηλώσω. 6.3.2 προβέβληταί τις ἐνταῦθα ἠϊών· σχιζομένη δὲ αὐτὴ τῇ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐπιρροῇ, τῷ τε ῥοθίῳ ἀφανιζομένη, ἀποβαίνειν δοκεῖ, καὶ ἐφ' ἑαυτὴν ὑποχωροῦσα ὀπίσω ἰέναι· 6.3.3 ἐς κόλπον δὲ μηνοειδῆ ἐπὶ μακρότατον τέτραπται. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀρχομένης πλευρᾶς διάπλους ἐς τετρακοσίους διήκει σταδίους· τοῦ δὲ μηνοειδοῦς τὸ περίμετρον ἐς ἡμε6.3.4 ρῶν ἓξ ὁδὸν κατατείνει. ταύτης γὰρ ἡ θάλασσα πεπιε6.3.5 σμένη τῆς ἠπείρου ἐντὸς τὸν κόλπον ποιεῖται. ἐπειδάν τε ναῦς ἀνέμῳ ἢ κλύδωνι βιαζομένη τοῦ διάπλου ἐντὸς ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηνοειδοῦς τὴν ἀρχὴν γένηται, τὸ ἐνθένδε αὐτῇ ἐπανιέναι ἀμήχανά ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ συρομένῃ τὸ λοιπὸν 6.3.6 ἔοικε, καὶ διαφανῶς ἐπίπροσθεν ἀεὶ ἑλκομένῃ. καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, οἶμαι, τὸν χῶρον οἱ πάλαι ἄνθρωποι τοῦ πάθους 6.3.7 τῶν νεῶν ἕνεκα Σύρτεις ὠνόμασαν. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ διανεῦσαι τοῖς πλοίοις ἄχρι ἐς τὴν ἠϊόνα δυνατὰ γεγένηται. πέτραι γὰρ ὕφαλοι διακεκληρωμέναι τὰ πλεῖστα τοῦ κόλπου πλώϊμα οὐ ξυγχωροῦσιν ἐνταῦθα εἶναι, ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς 6.3.8 βράχεσι τὰς ναῦς διαχρῶνται. μόνοις δὲ τοῖς λέμβοις οἱ πλωτῆρες τούτων δὴ τῶν νηῶν οἷοί τέ εἰσι διασώζεσθαι, ἂν οὕτω τύχοι, μετὰ κινδύνων τὰς διεξόδους ποιούμενοι. 6.3.9 Τριπόλεως τῇδε τῆς καλουμένης τὰ ὅριά ἐστι. Μαυρούσιοί τε βάρβαροι ἐνταῦθα οἰκοῦσι, Φοινικικὸν ἔθνος. 6.3.10 οὗ δὴ καὶ πόλις ἐστὶ Κιδαμὴ ὄνομα. ἐνταῦθά τε Μαυρούσιοι ᾤκηνται Ῥωμαίων ἔνσπονδοι ἐκ παλαιοῦ ὄντες· οἵπερ ἅπαντες πεισθέντες Ἰουστινιανῷ βασιλεῖ, δόγματι 6.3.11 τῷ Χριστιανῶν ἐθελούσιοι προσεχώρησαν. Πακᾶτοι δὲ οὗτοι τανῦν οἱ Μαυρούσιοι ἐπικαλοῦνται, ἐπεὶ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἀεὶ σπονδὰς ἔχουσι. πάκεν γὰρ τὴν εἰρήνην 6.3.12 τῇ Λατίνων καλοῦσι φωνῇ. Πενταπόλεως δὲ Τρίπολις ἡμερῶν διέχει ὁδῷ εἴκοσιν εὐζώνῳ ἀνδρί. 6.4.1 Πόλις ἐνθένδε ἡ Λεπτιμάγνα ἐκδέχεται, μεγάλη μὲν καὶ πολυάνθρωπος τὸ παλαιὸν οὖσα, ἔρημος δὲ χρόνῳ ὕστερον γεγενημένη ἐκ τοῦ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον, ψάμμου 6.4.2 τε πλήθει τὰ πολλὰ τῷ ἀπημελῆσθαι καταχωσθεῖσα. καὶ ταύτης δὲ τὸν περίβολον ἐκ τῶν θεμελίων ὁ καθ' ἡμᾶς ᾠκοδομήσατο βασιλεύς, οὐ τοσοῦτον μέντοι, ὅσος τὸ πρότερον ἦν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πολὺ ἥσσονα, ὡς μὴ τῷ μεγέθει σφαλερὰ καὶ αὖθις ἡ πόλις εἴη, καὶ πολεμίοις μὲν ἁλωτή, 6.4.3 ψάμμῳ δὲ πρόχειρος. νῦν δὲ δὴ τῆς πόλεως τὸ μὲν καταχωσθὲν ἐφ' οὗπερ ἦν σχήματος εἴασεν οὕτω δὴ ψάμμῳ ἐς λόφους συνειλεγμένῃ κεκαλυμμένον,