Citation with stable link: Philip A. Harland, 'Libyans: Eratosthenes, Artemidoros, and Strabo on peoples and customs (early first century CE),' Ethnic Relations and Migration in the Ancient World, last modified September 2, 2024, https://philipharland.com/Blog/?p=21836.
Ancient author: Eratosthenes (third century BCE), Artemidoros of Ephesos (late second century BCE), Gabinius, and others as discussed by Strabo (early first century CE), Geography 17.3.1-23 (with some omisssions) (link).
Comments: Strabo’s account of peoples in Libya (the northwestern part of the modern continent of Africa) is quite sparse on details regarding customs or lifestyles. Maurousians are the exception, with Strabo supplying further details about their way of life. Nonetheless, as he describes the journey from one place to the next, he does at least specify which peoples would be encountered. He highlights the nomadic lifestyle of several indigenous populations. He also distinguishes between so-called eastern Ethiopians (literally burnt-skinned people, from the Greek elite perspective) of his earlier account of peoples south of Egypt from so-called western Ethiopians near the Atlantic coast.
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[For Strabo’s preceding discussion of Ethiopians, go to this link].
[Libya inferior in size, power, and environment]
(17.3.1) Next let me describe Libya, which is the only part left for the completion of my geography as a whole. Now I have said a lot about this country before, but I must now comment also on other matters in so far as they may be timely, adding what has not been said before. The writers who have divided the inhabited world according to continents have divided it unequally, for the threefold division indicates a division into three equal parts [i.e. Europe, Asia, Libya]. However, Libya lacks so much in being a third part of the inhabited world that even if it were combined with Europe it would seem not to be equal to Asia. Perhaps it is even smaller than Europe
In power, Libya is much inferior because the majority of the interior and its ocean-coast is desert. It is dotted with settlements that are small, scattered, and mostly nomadic. In addition to its deserts, its being a nursery of wild animals drives out people even from land that could be inhabited. It overlaps a considerable part of the torrid zone. However, the entire coast opposite to us [i.e. southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea], I mean that between the Nile and the Pillars [Rock of Gibraltar in Spain], and particularly the part which was subject to the Carthaginians, is settled and prosperous. However, here too some parts here and there are destitute of water, such as the regions around the Syrtians, the Marmaridians, and Katabathmos. . . [omitted detailed discussion of the shape of Libya]. This, then, is my account of Libya as a whole, but I must describe it in detail, beginning with its western, or more famous, parts.
[Peoples in western Libya]
(17.3.2) In the western part of Libya dwell a people whom the Greeks call “Maurousians” and the Romans and the natives call “Maurians.” This is a large and prosperous Libyan people (ethnos), who live on the side of the strait opposite Iberia [modern Spain and Portugal]. Here also is the strait which is at the Pillars of Herakles, concerning which I have often spoken. On proceeding outside the strait at the Pillars, with Libya on the left, one comes to a mountain which the Greeks call “Atlas” and the barbarians call “Dyris.” From this mountain projects a farthermost spur, as it were, towards the west of Maurousia: the Koteis, as it is called. Near by is a small town above the sea which the barbarians call “Tinx,” though Artemidoros [of Ephesos] has given it the name “Lynx” and Eratosthenes [of Cyrene] “Lixos.” It is situated across the strait opposite Gadeira [Cadiz, Spain] at a distance of eight hundred stadium-lengths, which is about the distance of each of the two places from the strait at the Pillars. To the south of Lixos and the Koteis lies a gulf called the Emporikos (“Trading-centre”) gulf, which contains settlements of Phoenician merchants. Now the whole of the coast continuous with this gulf is indented by gulfs, but one should exclude from consideration the gulfs and the projections of land, in accordance with the triangular figure which I have suggested, and conceive rather of the continent as increasing in extent in the direction of the south and east. The mountain, which extends through the middle of Maurousia from the Koteis to the Syrtes, is inhabited, both itself and other mountains that run parallel with Maurousia, at first by the Maurousians but deep in the interior by the largest of the Libyan peoples, who are called Gaitulians.
[Assessing claims by other historians]
(17.3.3) The historians, beginning with The Circumnavigation of Ophelas [of Cyrene], have added numerous other fabrications in regard to the outside coast of Libya. These are historians I have already mentioned somewhere before [see 1.1.5; 3.2.13]. However, I am speaking about them again, asking pardon for introducing marvellous stories, if perhaps I will be forced to digress into a thing of that sort, since I am unwilling to pass over them completely in silence and in a way to cripple my history. Now they say that the Emporikos gulf has a cave which at the full tides admits the sea inside it for a distance of even seven stadium-lengths, and that in front of this gulf there is a low, level place containing an altar of Herakles, which, they say, is never inundated by the tide. This claim is this what I regard as one of their fabrications. And nearly as bad as this is the statement that on the gulfs which come next after the Emporikos gulf there were ancient settlements of Tyrians, now deserted — no fewer than three hundred cities, which were destroyed by the Pharousians and the Nigritians. These people, they say, are at a distance of a thirty day’s journey from Lynx.
(17.3.4) However, it is agreed by everyone that Maurousia is a fertile country, except a small desert part, and is supplied with both lakes and rivers. It is surpassing in the size and in the number of its trees, and is also productive of everything. . . [omitted discussion of animals].
[Western Ethiopians and marvels in their territory]
(17.3.5) Above Maurousia, on the outside sea, lies the country of the western Ethiopians, as they are called, a country for the most part poorly settled. Here too, according to Iphikrates, are found camelopards, elephants, and the rhizeis, as they are called, which are like bulls in their form, but like elephants in their manner of living and their size and their courage in fighting. And he speaks of serpents so large that even grass grows upon the back. He says that the lions attack the young of the elephants, but, after they have drawn blood, flee when the mothers approach, and that the mothers, when they see their young stained with the blood, kill them, and that the lions return to the victims and eat them. And he says that Bogos, the king of the Maurousians, when he went up against the western Ethiopians, sent down to his wife as gifts reeds like those of India, of which each joint held eight choenices, and also asparagus of similar size. . . [omitted section].
[Maurousians and commonalities with Libyans generally]
(17.3.7) Although the most of the country inhabited by the Maurousians is so fertile, even to this time most of the people persist in living a nomadic life. But nevertheless they beautify their appearance by braiding their hair, growing beards, wearing golden ornaments, and also by cleaning their teeth and paring their nails. Only rarely can you see them touch one another in walking because they are afraid that the adornment of their hair may get messed up. Their horsemen fight mostly with a javelin, using bridles made of rush, and riding bareback. But they also carry daggers. The foot-soldiers hold before them as shields the skins of elephants, and clothe themselves with the skins of lions, leopards, and bears, and sleep in them. I might almost say that these people, and the Masaisylians, who live next after them, and the Libyans in general, dress alike and are similar in all other respects, using horses that are small but swift, and so ready to obey that they are governed with a small rod. The horses wear collars made of wood or of hair, to which the rein is fastened, though some follow even without being led, like dogs. These people have small shields made of raw-hide, small spears with broad heads, wear ungirded tunics with wide borders, and, as I have said, use skins as mantles and shields.
[Pharousians and Nigretians]
The Pharousians and Nigretians who live above these people near the western Ethiopians also use bows, like the Ethiopians. They also use scythe-bearing chariots. The Pharousians mingle only rarely even with the Maurousians when passing through the desert since they carry skins of water fastened beneath the bellies of their horses. Sometimes, however, they come even to Kirta [modern Constantine, Algeria], passing through certain marshy regions and over lakes. Some of them are said to live like Troglodytes, digging homes in the earth. It is said that here too the summer rains are prevalent, but that in winter there is a drought, and that some of the barbarians in this part of the world use also the skins of snakes and fish both as wraps and as bed-covers. The Maurousians are said by some to be the Indians who came there with Herakles.
[Roman control]
Now a little before my time the kings of the house of Bogos and of Bocchos, who were friends of the Romans, possessed the country, but when these died Juba succeeded to the throne, Augustus Caesar having given him this in addition to his father’s empire. He was the son of the Juba who with Scipio waged war against the deified Caesar. Now Juba died lately, but his son Ptolemy, whose mother was the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, has succeeded to the throne.
[Assessing Eratosthenes, Artemidoros, and Gabinius as sources]
(17.3.8) Artemidoros disputes the view of Eratosthenes because the latter calls a certain city in the neighbourhood of western extremities of Maurousia “Lixus” instead of Lynx; because Eratosthenes calls “Phoenician” a very great number of destroyed cities of which no trace is to be seen; and, because, after calling the air among the western Ethiopians “salty,” he says that the air is thick and misty in the hours both of early morning and of evening. For, argues Artemidoros, how can these things be in a region that is arid and torrid?
However, Artemidoros himself gives a much worse account of the same region, for he tells a story of certain migrants, Lotophagians (“Lotus-eaters”). They roam the waterless country and feed on lotus, a kind of plant and root, from eating which they have no need of drink. They extend as far as the region above Kyene. But he says that those in that region also drink milk and eat meat, although they are in the same latitude.
Furthermore, the Roman historian Gabinius also does not abstain from telling marvellous stories about Maurousia. For example, he tells a story of a tomb of Antaeus near Lynx, and a skeleton sixty feet in length, which, he says, Sertorius exposed to view, and then covered again with earth. And he tells fabulous stories about the elephants. For example, he says that whereas the other animals flee from fire, the elephants carry on war with it and defend themselves against it, because it destroys the timber. He says that the elephants engage in battle with human beings, sending out scouts before them, and that when they see them fleeing, they flee too, and that when they receive wounds, as suppliants they hold out branches of a tree or an herb or dust.
[Masaisylians]
(17.3.9) After the land of the Maurousians, one comes to that of the Masaisylians [Masaesyli in Latin], which takes its beginning at the Molochath [modern Moulouia] river and ends at the promontory which is called Treton [modern Ebba-Ras], the boundary between the lands of the Masaisylians and the Masylians. The distance from Metagonion to Treton is six thousand stadium-lengths, though some say less. The coast has several cities and rivers and is a significant territory, but it is sufficient to mention only those of renown. At a distance of one thousand stadium-lengths from the above-mentioned boundaries is Siga, which was the royal residence of Sophax, though it is now in ruins. After Sophax the country was possessed by Masanasses, and then by Mikipsas, and then by his successors, and in my time by Juba, the father of the Juba who recently died. Zama, his royal residence, has also been laid in ruins by the Romans. After Siga, and at a distance of six hundred stadium-lengths, one comes to Theon Limen; and then to the other, insignificant, places. Now the parts deep in the interior are indeed mountainous and desert (sometimes they are interspersed with habitations and these parts are held by the Gaitulians), even as far as the Syrtes, but the parts there near the sea consist of fertile plains, many cities, rivers, and lakes. . . [omitted lengthy discussion about Artemidoros and Poseidonios on the nature of the environment and about animals and fauna in the region].
[Romans’ dealings with various peoples around Mauretania]
(17.3.12) On this coast was a city named Iol [modern Algiers, Algeria], which Juba, the father of Ptolemy, rebuilt, changing its name to Caesareia. It has a harbour, and also, in front of the harbour, a small island. Between Caesareia and Treton is a large harbour called Salda, which is now a boundary between the territories subject to Juba and the Romans.
The country has been divided in various ways, since as its occupants have been several in number and the Romans have dealt with them in different ways at different times, treating some as friends and others as enemies. The result is that different parts were taken away from, or presented to, different peoples, but not in the same way. The country towards Maurousia not only produced more revenue but was also more powerful, whereas that towards Carthage and the Masylians was both more flourishing and better built up, although it had been put in a bad plight, first, on account of the Carthaginian wars, and then on account of the war against Jugurtha. . . [omitted details about wars and political incidents].
[Masylians]
(17.3.13) Now after Treton one comes to the land of the Masylians, and to the land of the Carthaginians, which is similar to it. Kirta [modern Constantine, Algeria], the royal residence of Masanasses and his successors, is in the interior. It is very strongly fortified and has been beautifully built up in every way, particularly by Mikipsas, who not only settled a colony of Greeks in it, but also made it so great that it could send forth ten thousand cavalry and twice as many infantry. . . [omitted section].
[Carthaginians as Tyrian and Phoenician immigrants]
(17.3.14) Carthage, also, is situated on a kind of peninsula, which comprises a circuit of three hundred and sixty stadium-lengths . . . [omitted details about the city].
(17.3.15) Carthage was founded by Dido, who brought a host of people from Tyre. The colonization proved to be so fortunate an enterprise for the Phoenicians, both this at Carthage and that which extended as far as Iberia (I mean the part of Iberia outside the Pillars as well as the rest of it) that even to this day the best part of continental Europe and also the adjacent islands are occupied by Phoenicians. They also gained possession of all that part of Libya which men can live in without living a nomadic life. From this dominion they not only raised their city to be a rival of Rome, but also waged three great wars against the Romans. Their power might become clearly evident from the last war, in which they were defeated by Scipio Aemilianus and their city was utterly wiped out. . . [omitted extensive discussion of the wars.]
[Masanasses’ civilizing influence on the nomads]
. . . As for the country, the Romans proclaimed one part of it a Province, I mean the part which had been subject to the Carthaginians, and appointed as sovereign of the other part Masanasses [reigning ca. 205-148 BCE], as also his descendants, the house of Mikipsas. Masanasses was held in very high respect among the Romans because of his valour and friendship. Actually, Masanasses transformed the nomads into citizens and farmers, and taught them to be soldiers instead of bandits (lēstai). For a peculiar thing had happened in the case of these people, although they lived in a country blessed by nature, except for the fact that it abounded in wild animals, they would forbear to destroy these and thus work the land in security, and would turn against one another, abandoning the land to the wild animals. In this way it came to pass that they kept leading a wandering and migratory life, no less so than peoples who are driven by poverty and by wretched soil or climate to resort to this kind of life.
The result is that the Masaisylians have obtained this as their special designation, for they are called “Nomadians” [from which the Roman designation Numidians is derived]. Such people of necessity must lead a frugal life, being more often root-eaters than meat-eaters, and using milk and cheese for food. Be that as it may, Carthage for a long time remained desolate, about the same length of time as Corinth, but it was restored again at about the same time as Corinth by the deified Caesar, who sent as colonists Romans that wanted to go there and some soldiers. Now it is as prosperous a city as any other in Libya. . . [omitted sections with geographical and itinerary detail].
[Libo-Phoenicians and Garamantians]
(17.3.19) Above the coast-line which extends from Carthage to Kephalai and to the land of Masaisylians lies the land of the Libo-Phoenicians (Libophoinikoi), which extends to the mountainous country of the Gaitulians, where Libya begins. The land above the Gaitulians is that of the Garamantians, which lies parallel to the former and is the land from where the Carthaginian stones are brought. The Garamantians are said to be distant from the Ethiopians who live on the ocean a nine or ten days’ journey, and from Ammon fifteen.
Between the Gaitulians and our seaboard there are not only many plains, but also many mountains, large lakes, and rivers, some of which sink beneath the earth and become invisible. The inhabitants are very simple in their modes of life and in their dress. But the men have many wives and many children, and in other respects are like the nomadic Arabians. Both horses and cattle have longer necks than those of other countries. Horse-breeding is followed with such exceptional interest by the kings that the number of colts every year amounts to one hundred thousand. The sheep are brought up on milk and meats, particularly in the regions near Ethiopia. Such is my account of the interior. . . [omitted geographical details].
[Nasamonians near Cyrenaica]
(17.3.20) . . . The remainder of the coast from here on to the city Berenike [i.e. in Cyrenaica] is one thousand five hundred stadium-lengths in length. Lying inland above [i.e. south of] this stretch of coast, and extending even as far as the Altars of the Philainoi, is the country of the Nasamonians, as they are called, a Libyan people. . . [omitted geographical details and discussion of Cyrene].
(17.3.23) The country lying deep in the interior above [i.e. south of] the Syrtis and Cyrenaica, a barren and arid region, is occupied by the Libyans: first by the Nasamonians, and then by the Psyllians and certain Gaitulians, and then by the Garamantians, and, still more towards the east, by the Marmaridians, who border to a greater extent on Cyrenaea and extend as far as Ammon. . . [omitted geographical details].
[For Strabo’s subsequent discussion of Romans, go to this link].
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Source of translation: H.L. Jones, Strabo, 8 volumes, LCL (Cambridge, MA: HUP, 1917-28), public domain (passed away in 1932), adapted by Harland.