Text, translated from the 1595 Latin, 1597 German 5th Add., 1601 Latin, 1602 German, 1603 Latin, 1606 English, 1608/1612 Italian, 1609/1612 Spanish/Latin & 1624 Latin Parergon/1641 Spanish [but text in Latin] editions:
210.1. {1595L5Add{MAGNA GRÆCIA {1597G5Add, 1602G & 1606E only{Or GREAT GREECE}1597G5Add, 1602G & 1606E only}
210.2. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{I think there is no man regularly occupying himself with geography who doubts that a large part, if not all}not in 1597G5Add, & 1602G} the true and ancient [country of] Italy together with all [of] Sicily was once called by the name of GREAT GREECE. For the Greeks possessed in former times, as Trogus writes, not only a part but {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{almost}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} all of Italy. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{Listen what Plinius {1606E only{in the fifth chapter of his third book}1606E only} says about it: the Greeks, a nation very apt at recommending themselves, have given their judgment in that they have named a great part of it Great Greece}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. This is what the words of Festus refer to: Italy was called Great Greece because the Siculi {1597G5Add, 1602G & 1608/1612I only{or Sicilians}1597G5Add, 1602G & 1608/1612I only} lived there for some time, or because many great cities in it were built by the Greeks.
210.3. Servius in his Commentaries on the first book of Vergilius' Æneids writes like this: Italy was called {not in 1597G5Add, 1602G & 1606E{[in Greek lettering]Megale Hellas}not in 1597G5Add, 1602G & 1606E}, {1597G5Add, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{Great Greece}1597G5Add, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only} because all its cities, from Tarento {1606E only{(Tarentum)}1606E only} all the way to Cumæ were first founded by the Greeks. {1601L, not in 1602G{And therefore it was not altogether unfitting that Plautus in his Menechmis called it Græcia exotica}1601L, not in 1602G}, {1606E only{outlandish Greece}1606E only}. Seneca {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{in his Consolation}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} speaks of it like this: All that side of Italy which has its coast with the Neather sea {1606E only{(Mar Tosco)}1606E only} was called Great Greece. That Campania {1606E only{(Terra di lavoro)}1606E only} was possessed by the Greeks is plainly confirmed by Plinius.
210.4. Maximus Tyrius in his 16th {1597G5Add & 1602G have instead{22nd}1597G5Add & 1602G instead}{1601L and later have instead{26th}1601L & later instead} Oration describes Avernus lacus, {1606E only{the lake of Tipergola in Campania}1606E only} to be within the circumference of Great Greece. And that these authors speak the truth is particularly shown by Trogus in the 20th book {1606E only{of his history}1606E only} {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{in these words: The Tusci who dwell along the coast of the Neather Sea came from Lydia. Also, the Venetians {1606E only{(Veneti)}1606E only} whom we now see to have established themselves near the upper sea {1606E only{(Golfo di Venetia, the Adriatic sea)}1606E only}. [Also the people from] Troy, when it was taken and sacked, [were] sent to this place under the command of Antenor. Moreover, the city of Adria {1606E only{(Atri)}1606E only} which first gave its name to the Adriatic sea, a near neighbour to the Illyrian sea, is a city built by the Greeks.
210.5. Diomedes, after the overthrow of Troy, built the city of Arpi, {1606E only{(Sarpi or Monte St. Angelo, a city in Apulia)}1606E only}, being himself and his company carried to it by violence of storm. And Pisæ in Liguria {1606E only{(Pisa in Riviera di Genoa)}1606E only} was first established by the Greeks. As also the Tarquinij {1606E{(Tarquene)}1606E} in Tuscany came from the Thessalians and Spinambrians, and Perusini {1606E only{(Perugia)}1606E only} from the Achaians. What shall I say of the city of Cære {1606E only{(Cervetere)}1606E only}? What of the Latini? who seem to have had their origins in Æneas.
210.6. Now [taking] the Falisci, Nolani [and] Abelani, are they not generally considered to be the same, since their colonies derived from the Chalcidenses {1606E only{of Lesser Asia}1606E only}? What shall I say about the whole shire of Campania? [What] about the Brutij and [the] Sabini? [What] about the Samnites {not in 1608/1612I{and [the] Tarentini}1608/1612I}? Have we not often heard that they came from Lacedæmonia and were commonly called Spurij {1608/1612I only{and bastards}1608/1612I}? It is reported that Philoctetes built the city of the Thurini {1606E only{(Terra nova)}1606E only} where to this day {not in 1606E{in the temple of Apollo}not in 1606E} his tomb is to be seen, as also the arrows of Hercules, which were the bane of Troy.
210.7. The Metapontini {1606E only{(Torre di Mare)}1606E only} [people] also still preserve, in the temple of Minerva the tools with which Epeus (from whom they are descended) made the Trojan horse whereby the city was betrayed. After which all this part of Italy was called GREAT GREECE. So far for {1606E only{Iustinus [quoting] from}1606E only} Trogus Pompeius. In this way we conclude that the pleasant poet {1606E only{Ovidius}1606E only} in the fourth book of his Fastorum spoke only the truth when he said: Italia nam tellus Græcia Maior erat [Italy was once Greater Greece], {1606E only{For Greater Grecia was the name of that land which is now called Italy, and so on, as follows in the same place}1606E only}. This is almost the same as what you heard from Trogus}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}.
210.8. About this Great Greece I can only add that which I have observed in disagreement with the opinion which some very learned men of our time have expressed about it, namely, that even Sicilia, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{as Strabo states in his sixth book}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, was included under the name of Great Greece. So this Great Greece now and then [was] also understood [to include] the name of Sicilia. For a proof of this, see these authorities: Saint Hieronymus {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{says that Rhegium Iulium Brutiorum {1606E only{(Reggio in Calabria the Lower)}1606E only} is a city of Sicilia}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. Ælianus and Suidas say the same {not in 1597G5Add{about Tarentum in Calabria}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}.
210.9. The sixth council of Constantinople, held in the time of Constantine the Great, says the same {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{about Baiæ in Campania}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. Stephanus {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{describes Sinuessa, a town in Campania, Caulonia {1606E only{(Castro veto)}1606E only} about the Locri, Lagaria about the Thurini, and Mataurus about the Brutij}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. And Eusthatius does the same {not in 1606E{for the rivers}not in 1606E} of Sicilia, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{[such as] Crathis {1606E only{(Gratti)}1606E only}, a river of the Bruti {1606E has instead{in Calabria}1606E}. The scholar Theocrites [does the same for] Neæthus, a river of the Crotoniatæ}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, {1606E only{a people of Umbria}1606E only}. The same for Livius, {1606E only{born in Italy, a man of singular judgment}1606E only}, and more ancient than those [just mentioned, who has] Siculas urbes in Campania, {1597G5Add, 1602G & 1606E only{cities of Sicilia in Campania}1597G5Add, 1602G & 1606E only}.
210.10. Yes, Plinius has left recorded that Togata Gallia, the most Western province of Italy before the time that the Gauls came here, was possessed by the Siculi {not in 1606E{and that they founded Ancona}not in 1606E}. Thucydides writes that the Siculi, being expelled by the Opici, a people of Campania, took possession of this island. And if we do not believe Servius, then we cannot ignore Halicarnassæus, a writer of good credit, who has written the same thing, namely that the Siculi, a people born and bred in Italy, were the first of all nations whatsoever to inhabit and possess the Roman soil. {1601L, not in 1602G{Finally, it is stated by Strabo in the fifth book of his Geography, based on Antiochus, that this province called Great Greece was inhabited by the Siculi}1601L, not in 1602G}.
210.11. So far about ancient Great Greece or, if you are pleased to call it by that name, about Sicilia. All of which we have not depicted on this map, but only the outer part of it, on which, next to Calabria, Apulia, the Brutij and the Locri, there is [also] Great Greece, properly called like that by Ptolemæus, Livius, Polybius Athenæus and Valerius Maximus. And [it is] thought that [this was the case], as Strabo writes in his sixth book, and Cicero in the second book of his Orations, because Pythagoras the Greek philosopher dwelt in these quarters at one time. Or, as Synesius writes in his oration de Dono, because it always maintained and brought forth scholarly and military men.
210.12. Yet, I rather rely on the judgment of Athenæus, who writes that it was called the way it was because of the infinite number of Greeks who usually dwelt in this province. And I have shown before that Festus and Trogus share this opinion. These countries just named are by Halicarnasseus included under the name of EAST ITALY. Plinius calls them the forehead of Italy which, as Mela says, is divided into two horns, called two promontories, {1606E only{nesses, capes or forelands}1606E} in the fragments of Salustius, namely Brutium, {1606E only{(Capo di Sparto vento or Capo de Larme)}1606E only} and Salentinium {1606E only{(now by some called Capo de St. Maria, by others St. Maria de fin terre, and Capo de Leuca, also Stalat)}1606E only}. In the second book of Strabos Epitome they are called {not in 1597G5Add, 1602G & 1606E{[in Greek lettering] coryphai, tops, and are named}not in 1597G5Add, 1602G & 1606E} Leucopetra and Iapygium (for these are synonyms with Bruttium and Salentium). And Paulus Diaconus calls them horns too, this the left horn, that the right.
210.13. For Salentium we read Lacinium in Plinius, but whether this is a mistake of the writers [mentioned before] or an error of the author [is something] we leave to the more learned to judge, {1606E only{[for] I determine nothing}1606E only}. The same Plinius compares the form of this piece [of land] to [that of] the Amazonian shield, that is, to a half moon, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{as Servius explains in that verse from the first book of Vergilius' Æneides Ducit Amazonidum lunatis agmina peltis [he carried an Amazonian shield, shaped as a half moon]}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. There is in this area the wood Sila {1597G5Add, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only{(La Sila)}1597G5Add, 1602G, 1606E & 1608/1612I only} which Salustius, Vergilius and Vibius refer to. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{Strabo writes that it is seven hundred furlongs in length}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} {1608/1612I only{or 87 miles}1608/1612I only}, full of excellent tall trees, and well provided with good water.
210.14. Cassiodorus in the twelfth book of his Variarum to Anastasius highly recommends the cheese produced in this area. From here [also] comes Calabrian tar (pix Brutia) to which Dioscorides refers {1606E only{in the 98th chapter of his first book De medica materia}1606E only}. Plinius {1606E only{in the seventh chapter of his 24th book of the history of nature}1606E only} confirms that it is especially famous for the trimming and stopping of wine vessels. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{I would think that these woods in the Liber Notitiarum {1606E instead{book of Remembrance}1606E instead} are called Carminianensis sylva, or perhaps Carmeiana in the book De Limitibus}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}.
210.15. The Cassiodorus just mentioned in his eighth book and last epistle}not in 1608/1612I} describes the territories of Consilinum {1606E only{(Stylo)}1606E only} a city in this area, Marcilianum suburbium which he calls the native place of Saint Cyprianus about which (if I may devote a word to this) nothing is said (which indeed is strange) in the lives of the fathers, or martyrologies of the saints, or in any other author, as far as I remember. Nor, which is even more strange, in any of those writers who, like Gabriel Barrius and Prosper Parisius, have specifically named and written about the various saints from this area.
210.16. But of the nature, situation, proper qualities and antiquities of this province I will not speak another word, because that is most exactly and learnedly done by two men both born here, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{who therefore knew it well before I began to set pen to paper to draw this map of mine}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. I mean Gabriel Barrius in his book entitled Calabria {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{where he so elaborately and informatively sketched Great Greece, Brutium and the area possessed long ago by the Locri}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} that even those readers who will hardly be satisfied with such stories [of mine] may here undoubtedly satisfy their curiosity. And [the other is] Antonius Galatæus, who has drawn up his Iapygia (which is in fact ancient Calabria) so that the reader will not only be left cunning as regards his knowledge of this country, but also has improved his understanding and has been instructed about the rules of good learning and philosophy.
210.17. In his [writings] there is also a description of the city of Gallipoli. About Tarentum, a city in this area, Iohannes Iuvenis has published an informative treatise. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{About the Diomedes isles, belonging to this country we have gathered these few lines which [now] follow}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}.
210.18. DIOMEDES ISLES, {1606E only{Now, ISOLE DE TRIMITE}1606E only}.
210.19. Plinius describes two islands with this name, and the same number is mentioned by Strabo, who says that one is inhabited, the other waste and deserted. Ptolemæus records as many as five, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{all called DIOMEDES ISLANDS}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, and this day there are so many called by various different names that even rocks and all [that] seem accounted for. Whether every one of these [islands] were known to the ancients by various names or not, I do not know. Festus, Stephanus and others properly call one of these Insula Diomedea, {1606E{Diomedes isle}1606E}, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{like among the Britannica insulæ the British Isles, one is properly called Britannia, Britain}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}.
210.20. One of them Tacitus calls TRIMERVS {1606E only{(or perhaps Trimetus, for otherwise I do not see from where that name Trimite which refers to the largest of them all, and after that [name] the rest, should come)}1606E only}. Plinius calls another of them TEVTRIA. The rest, for all I know, the ancients left unnamed. As regards Electris and Febra, which Servius mentions {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{in the 11th book of Vergilius' Æneids}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} or Sebria and Aletrides, about which Pomponius Sabinus speaks in the same place, I very willingly confess that I have not found them being referred to by any ancient writer. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{They are located in the Adriatic sea, not far from the coast of Puglia, opposite {1606E only{Monte de St. Angelo Mons Garganus or}1606E only} Promontorium Garganum.
210.21. [It is] not within proximity or sight of Tarentino {1606E only{(Tarentum), a city in Apulia}1606E only} [put], very erroneously, at the same place [where] Servius claims it to be}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. The name was derived {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{as all Latin and Greek writers testify}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} from Diomedes, the king of Ætolia {1606E only{(Nicetas calls it Artinia)}1606E only} who they report, after the surprise [taking] of Troy, was driven and [later] buried here, not being able to return to his own nation. His temple, monument or tomb remained on the largest island, properly called Diomedea {1606E only{(St. Maria di Trinite)}1606E only} {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{and [it is said] that the plane tree was first brought here to [provide] shade for Diomedes tomb}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, according to Plinius {1606E only{in the first chapter of his twelfth book of the History of Nature}1606E only}.
210.22. Augustus banished and sent his niece {1597G5Add & 1602G have instead{daughter}1597G5Add & 1602Ginstead} Iulia to Trimerus, [who was,] as Tacitus writes, convicted of adultery, to which he adds that she endured that punishment of exile for a period of twenty years. In Platina, in his life of Hadrianus the first, I read that Paulus Diaconicus was once condemned by Charles the Great to go there. About Diomedes birds, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{(which Iuba calls Catarractæ, Aristoteles [calls them] Charadrij, other Greeks Erodij}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, {1606E only{a kind of cormorant or ravenous sea fowl}1606E only}) proper to these islands (for they are only to be seen in this place in all the world, if we may believe the old writers), {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{read Ovidius' fourteenth {1606E has instead{thirteenth}1606E} book of his Metamorphosis, where he speaks of them as follows:
210.23. Si volucrum quæ sit dubiarum forma requiris, | Vt non cignorum, sic albis proxima cygnis}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, {1606E & 1608/1612I only{[that is:] The doubtful forms of birds most strange, if that you seek to know, They be no swans yet white they be, as white as any snow}1606E & 1608/1612I}. They are not unlike storks is what Suidas says. Aristoteles {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{in his Admiranda}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} calls them enormous and huge birds with very long and big bills. Plinius {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{and Solinus}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} write that they resemble the Fulica, a kind of coot, with teeth of a white colour, and eyes that sparkle in a flashing manner. There are some who think them to be herons. {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{Robert Constantinus says that}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G} the country people of this island now call them Artenæ, and that they make a noise like the crying of young children. Also, that the fat and grease of them is an excellent remedy against diseases arising from cold causes.
210.24. Blondus writes that he gathered from some of the inhabitants of these isles that these fowls, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{still retaining the name of the Diomedean birds}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, are of the size of a goose. They are supposed to be very harmless birds, yet of no use to them nor to the church priests. They who want to know more about these birds {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G {as also about the metamorphosis and transmutation of Diomedes' companions into these fowls, or about their nature and qualities, about their kindness towards the Greeks (honest men, Strabo calls them), and their animosity towards strangers (wicked men, as Strabo calls them), and about [their] purification of the temple}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, and about other fables attributed to them, let them turn to the {not in 1606E{mendacious}not in 1606E} authors named above, to whom whoever wants to may add that which Ælianus has written in the first chapter of his first book {not in 1606E{About Animals}not in 1606E}. St. Augustinus in the 16th chapter of his 18th book De civitate Dei, Antigonius, Antonius Liberalis, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{Lycophron and his commentator Isacius}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}, {not in 1606E{as well as Philenus}not in 1606E}.
210.25. At this day these islands are under the command of the kingdom of Naples & are all generally called by the single name Tremitanæ, {1606E only{the islands de Trimite}1606E only}, and every [single] one by a specific and proper name by itself, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{as you may read in our geographical treasury}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. They are now deserted and void of inhabitants, except where there was once the temple of Diomedes, where there is now a monastery, commonly called Santa Maria de Tremiti, {not in 1597G5Add & 1602G{which belongs to regular canons, which Eugenius the fourth, pope of Rome enlarged and endowed with great revenues, as Blondus records.
210.26. These, as Zacharias Lillius {1608/1612I only{from Venice}1608/1612I only} reports, go to church so diligently, hear divine service so devoutly, and relieve those who by storm and tempest are driven to that place so charitably, that they are not only very famous and highly esteemed by those that dwell around them, but also by all sailors who pass that way}not in 1597G5Add & 1602G}. Leander Albertis says that these islands breed most excellent horses}1595L5Add, 1595L, 1597G5Add, 1601L, 1602G, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612S/L & 1624LParergon/1641S end here}.