empire in the ancient times.
And there fell to him who held the power in the West the most of Libya,
extending ninety days' journey--for such is the distance from Gadira to
the boundaries of Tripolis in Libya; and in Europe he received as his
portion territory extending seventy-five days' journey--for such is the
distance from the northern[10] of the Pillars of Heracles to the Ionian
Gulf.[11] And one might add also the distance around the gulf. And the
emperor of the East received territory extending one hundred and twenty
days' journey, from the boundaries of Cyrene in Libya as far as
Epidamnus, which lies on the Ionian Gulf and is called at the present
time Dyrrachium, as well as that portion of the country about the Euxine
Sea which, as previously stated, is subject to the Romans. Now one day's
journey extends two hundred and ten stades,[12] or as far as from Athens
to Megara. Thus, then, the Roman emperors divided either continent
between them. And among the islands Britain, which is outside the
Pillars of Heracles and by far the largest of all islands, was counted,
as is natural, with the West; and inside the Pillars, Ebusa,[13] which
lies in the Mediterranean in what we may call the Propontis, just inside
the opening where the ocean enters, about seven days' journey from the
opening, and two others near it, Majorica and Minorica, as they are
called by the natives, were also assigned to the Western empire. And
each of the islands in the Sea itself fell to the share of that one of
the two emperors within whose boundaries it happened to lie.
II
Now while Honorius was holding the imperial power in the West,
barbarians took possession of his land; and I shall tell who they were
and in what manner they did so. [395-423 A.D.] There were many Gothic
nations in earlier times, just as also at the present, but the greatest
and most important of all are the Goths, Vandals, Visigoths, and
Gepaedes. In ancient times, however, they were named Sauromatae and
Melanchlaeni;[14] and there were some too who called these nations
Getic. All these, while they are distinguished from one another by their
names, as has been said, do not differ in anything else at all. For they
all have white bodies and fair hair, and are tall and handsome to look
upon, and they use the same laws and practise a common religion. For
they are all of the Arian faith, and have one language called Gothic;
and, as it seems to me, they all came originally
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