t, a little beyond the mouths of the
Baetis,[122] which flows into the Atlantic Sea,[123] and has given name
to those parts of Iberia which lie about it. There he fell in with
some sailors, who had returned from a voyage to the Atlantic[124]
Islands, which are two in number, separated by a very narrow channel,
and ten thousand stadia from the coast of Libya, and are called the
islands of the Happy. These islands have only moderate rains, but
generally they enjoy gentle breezes, which bring dews; they have a
rich and fertile soil, adapted for arable cultivation and planting;
they also produce fruit spontaneously, sufficient in quantity and
quality to maintain, without labour and trouble, a population at their
ease. The air of the island is agreeable, owing to the temperature of
the seasons, and the slightness of the changes; for the winds which
blow from our part of the world from the north and east, owing to the
great distance, fall upon a boundless space, and are dispersed and
fail before they reach these islands; but the winds which blow round
them from the ocean, the south and west, bring soft rains at
intervals, from the sea, but in general they gently cool the island
with moist clear weather, and nourish the plants; so that a firm
persuasion has reached the barbarians that here are the Elysian Plains
and the abode of the Happy which Homer[125] has celebrated in song.

IX. Sertorius, hearing this description, was seized with a strong
desire to dwell in the islands, and to live in quiet, free from
tyranny and never-ending wars. The Cilicians, who did not want peace
and leisure, but wealth and spoil, observing this inclination, sailed
off to Africa, to restore Ascalis, the son of Iphtha, to the Moorish
kingdom.[126] Sertorius, however, did not despond, but he determined
to help those who were fighting against Ascalis, in order that his
companions, by getting some renewal of hope and opportunity for other
deeds, might not disperse through their difficulties. The Moors were
well pleased at his arrival, and Sertorius setting himself to work
defeated Ascalis, and besieged him. Sulla sent Paccianus to help
Ascalis, but Sertorius engaging him with his forces killed Paccianus,
and after his victory brought over the army and took Tigennis, to
which Ascalis and his brother had fled. It is here that the Libyans
say Antaeus[127] is buried. Sertorius dug into the mound, as he did not
believe what the barbarians said, so enormous