CHAPTER IV.
WHAT remains [to be described] of Iberia, is the seacoast of the Mediterranean from the Pillars to the Pyrenees,
and the whole of the inland country which lies above. The
breadth of this is irregular, its length a little above 4000
stadia. It has been remarked that the sea-coast
1 is above
2000 stadia, and they say that from Mount Calpe,
2 which is
near the Pillars, to New Carthage,
3 there are 2200 stadia.
This coast is inhabited by the Bastetani, also called the Bastuli, and in part by the Oretani. Thence
4 to the Ebro the
distance is nearly as great. This [region] is inhabited by
the Edetani. On this side the Ebro to the Pyrenees and the
Trophies of Pompey there are 1600 stadia. It is peopled by
a small portion of the Edetani, and the rest by a people named
the Indicetes, divided into four cantons.
[
2]
Commencing our particular description from Calpe,
there is [first] the mountain-chain of Bastetania and the
Oretani. This is covered with thick woods and gigantic trees,
and separates the sea-coast from the interior. In many places
it also contains gold and other mines. The first city along
the coast is Malaca,
5 which is about as far distant from
Calpe as Calpe is from Gades.
6 It is a market for the
nomade tribes from the opposite coast, and there are great
stores of salt-fish there. Some suppose it to be the same as
Mænaca, which tradition reports to be the farthest west of
the cities of the Phocæi; but this is not the case, for Mænaca,
which was situated at a greater distance from Calpe, is in ruins,
and preserves traces of having been a Grecian city, whereas
Malaca is nearer, and Phoenician in its configuration. Next
in order is the city of the Exitani,
7 from which the salted fish
8
bearing that name takes its appellation.
[
3]
After these comes Abdera,
9 founded likewise by the
Phœnicians. Above these places, in the mountains, the city
of Ulyssea
10 is shown, containing a temple to Minerva, according to the testimony of Posidonius, Artemidorus, and
Asclepiades the Myrlean,
11 a man who taught literature in
Turdetania, and published a description of the nations dwelling there. He says that in the temple of Minerva were hung
up spears and prows of vessels, monuments of the wanderings
of Ulysses. That some of those who followed Teucer in his
expedition settled among the Gallicians;
12 and that two cities
were there, the one called Hellenes,
13 the other Amphilochi;
but Amphilochus
14 having died, his followers wandered into
the interior. He adds, that it is said, that some of the
followers of Hercules, and certain also of the inhabitants of
Messene, settled in Iberia. Both he and others assert that a
portion of Cantabria was occupied by Laconians. Here is
the city named Opsicella,
15 founded by Ocela,
16 who passed
into Italy with Antenor and his children. Some believe the
account of the merchants of Gades, asserted by Artemidorus,
that in Libya there are people living above Maurusia, near
to the Western Ethiopians, named Lotophagi, because they
feed on the leaves and root of the lotus
17 without wanting to
drink; for they possess [no drink], being without water.
These people they say extend as far as the regions above
Cyrene. There are others also called Lotophagi, who inhabit
Meninx,
18 one of the islands situated opposite the Lesser
Syrtes.
19
[
4]
No one should be surprised that the poet, in his fiction
descriptive of the wanderings of Ulysses, should have located
the majority of the scenes which he narrates without the Pillars, in the Atlantic. For historical events of a similar char-
acter did actually occur near to the places, so that the other
circumstances which he feigned did not make his fiction incredible; nor [should any one be surprised] if certain persons,
putting faith in the historical accuracy and extensive knowledge of the poet, should have attempted to explain the poem
of Homer on scientific principles; a proceeding undertaken
by Crates of Mallos,
20 and some others. On the other hand,
there have been those who have treated the undertaking of
Homer so contemptuously, as not only to deny any such knowledge to the poet, as though he were a ditcher or reaper, but
have stigmatized as fools those who commented on his writings.
And not one either of the grammarians, or of those skilled in
the mathematics, has dared to undertake their defence, or to
set right any mistakes in what they have advanced, or any
thing else; although it seems to me possible both to prove
correct much that they have said, and also to set right other
points, especially where they have been misled by putting
faith in Pytheas, who was ignorant of the countries situated
along the ocean, both to the west and north. But we must
let these matters pass, as they require a particular and lengthened discussion.
[
5]
The settlement of the Grecians amongst these barbarous
nations may be regarded as the result of the division of these
latter into small tribes and sovereignties, having on account
of their moroseness no union amongst themselves, and therefore powerless against attacks from without. This moroseness is remarkably prevalent amongst the Iberians, who are
besides crafty in their manner, devoid of sincerity, insidious,
and predatory in their mode of life; they are bold in little
adventures, but never undertake any thing of magnitude,
inasmuch as they have never formed any extended power or
confederacy. If they had had but the will to assist each other,
neither could the Carthaginians by making an incursion have
so easily deprived them of the greater part of their country,
nor before them the Tyrians, then the Kelts, now called the Keltiberians and Berones, nor after these the brigand Viriathus, and Sertorius,
21 nor any others who desired power.
On this account the Romans, having carried the war into
Iberia, lost much time by reason of the number of different
sovereignties, having to conquer first one, then another; in
fact, it occupied nearly two centuries, or even longer, before
they had subdued the whole.—I return to my description.
[
6]
After Abdera
22 is New Carthage,
23 founded by Asdrubal,
who succeeded Bareas, the father of Hannibal. It is by far
the most powerful city of this country, being impregnable,
and furnished with a noble wall, harbours, and a lake, besides
the silver mines already mentioned. The places in the vicinity
have an abundance of salted fish, and it is besides the great
emporium of the sea merchandise for the interior, and likewise for the merchandise from the interior for exportation.
About midway along the coast between this city and the
Ebro, we meet with the outlet of the river Xucar,
24 and a city
bearing the same name.
25 It rises in a mountain belonging to
the chain which overlooks Malaca,
26 and the regions around
Carthage, and may be forded on foot; it is nearly parallel to
the Ebro, but not quite so far distant from Carthage as
from the Ebro. Between the Xucar and Carthage are three
small towns of the people of Marseilles, not far from the
river. Of these the best known is Hemeroscopium.
27 On the
promontory there is a temple to Diana of Ephesus, held in
great veneration. Sertorius used it as an arsenal, convenient
to the sea, both on account of its being fortified and fitted for
piratical uses, and because it is visible from a great distance
to vessels approaching. It is called Dianium,
28 from Diana.
Near to it are some fine iron-works, and two small islands,
Planesia
29 and Plumbaria,
30 with a sea-water lake lying above,
of 400 stadia in circumference. Next is the island of Hercules,
near to Carthage, and called Scombraria,
31 on account of the
mackerel taken there, from which the finest garum
32 is
made. It is distant 24 stadia from Carthage. On the
other side of the Xucar, going towards the outlet of the
Ebro, is Saguntum, founded by the Zacynthians. The de-
struction of this city by Hannibal, contrary to his treaties with
the Romans, kindled the second Punic war. Near to it are
the cities of Cherronesus,
33 Oleastrum, and Cartalia, and the
colony of Dertossa,
34 on the very passage of the Ebro. The
Ebro takes its source amongst the Cantabrians; it flows
through an extended plain towards the south, running parallel
with the Pyrenees.
[
7]
The first city between the windings of the Ebro and
the extremities of the Pyrenees, near to where the Trophies of
Pompey are erected, is Tarraco;
35 it has no harbour, but is
situated on a bay, and possessed of many other advantages.
At the present day it is as well peopled as Carthage;
36 for it is
admirably suited for the stay of the prefects,
37 and is as it were
the metropolis, not only of [the country lying] on this side
the Ebro, but also of a great part of what lies beyond. The
near vicinity of the Gymnesian Islands,
38 and Ebusus,
39 which
are all of considerable importance, are sufficient to inform one
of the felicitous position of the city. Eratosthenes tells us
that it has a road-stead, but Artemidorus contradicts this, and
affirms that it scarcely possesses an anchorage.
[
8]
The whole coast from the Pillars up to this place wants
harbours, but all the way from here to Emporium,
40 the countries of the Leëtani, the Lartolæetæ, and others, are both
furnished with excellent harbours and fertile. Emporium was
founded by the people of Marseilles, and is about 4000
41 stadia
distant from the Pyrenees, and the confines of Iberia and
Keltica. This is a very fine region, and possesses good ports.
Here also is Rhodope,
42 a small town of the Emporitæ, but
some say it was founded by the Rhodians. Both here and in
Emporium they reverence the Ephesian Diana. The cause of
this we will explain when we come to speak of Massalia.
43 in
former times the Emporitæ dwelt on a small island opposite,
now called the old city, but at the present day they inhabit
the mainland. The city is double, being divided by a wall,
for in past times some of the Indiceti dwelt close by, who,
although they had a separate polity to themselves, desired, for
the sake of safety, to be shut in by a common enclosure with
the Grecians; but at the same time that this enclosure should
be two-fold, being divided through its middle by a wall. In
time, however, they came to have but one government, a mixture of Barbarian and Grecian laws; a result which has taken
place in many other [states].
[
9]
A river
44 flows near to it, which has its sources in the
Pyrenees; its outlet forms a port for the Emporitæ, who
are skilful workers in flax. Of the interior of their country
some parts are fertile, others covered with spartum, a rush
which flourishes in marshes, and is entirely useless: they
call this the June Plain. There are some who inhabit the
Pyrenean mountains as far as the Trophies of Pompey, on the
route which leads from Italy into Ulterior Iberia,
45 and particularly into Bætica. This road runs sometimes close to the
sea, sometimes at a distance therefrom, particularly in the
western parts. From the Trophies of Pompey it leads to
Tarraco,
46 through the June Plain, the Betteres,
47 and the plain
called in the Latin tongue [the plain] of Marathon, on account
of the quantity of fennel growing there. From Tarraco [the
road runs] towards the passage of the Ebro at the city
of Dertossa;
48 from thence having traversed the city of
Saguntum,
49 and Setabis,
50 it follows a course more and more
distant from the sea, till it approaches the Plain of Spartarium, which signifies the Plain of Rushes. This is a vast arid
plain, producing the species of rush from which cords are
made, and which are exported to all parts, but particularly to
Italy.
51 Formerly the road passed on through the midst of the
plain, and [the city of] Egelastæ,
52 which was both difficult
and long, but they have now constructed a new road close to
the sea, which merely touches upon the Plain of Rushes, and
leads to the same places as the former, [viz.] Castlon,
53 and
Obulco,
54 through which runs the road to Corduba and Gades,
55
the two greatest emporia [of Iberia]. Obulco is distant about
300 stadia from Corduba. Historians report that Cæsar came
from Rome to Obulco, and to his army there, within the space
of twenty-seven days, when about to fight the battle of Munda.
56
[
10]
Such is the whole sea-coast from the Pillars to the
confines of the Iberians and Kelts. The interior of the
country lying above, and included between the mountains of
the Pyrenees and the northern side [of Iberia], as far as the
Astures, is principally divided by two mountain chains; the
one of these is parallel to the Pyrenees, and takes its commencement from the country of the Cantabri, terminating at
the Mediterranean. This is called the Idubeda.
57 The second,
springing from the middle [of this first], runs towards the
west, inclining however to the south and the sea-coast towards the Pillars. At the commencement it consists of bare
hills, but after traversing the Plain of Spartarium, falls in
with the forest lying above Carthage,
58 and the regions round
Malaca.
59 It is named Orospeda.
60 The river Ebro flows between the Pyrenees and Idubeda, and parallel to both these
mountains. It is fed by the rivers and other waters carried down
from [the mountains]. Situated on the Ebro is the city of
Cæsar Augusta,
61 and the colony of Celsa,
62 where there is a
stone bridge across the river. This country is inhabited by
many nations, the best known being that of the Jaccetani.
63
Commencing at the foot of the Pyrenees, it widens out into
the plains, and reaches to the districts around Ilerda
64 and
Osca,
65 [cities] of the Ilergetes not far distant from the Ebro.
It was in these cities, and in Calaguris,
66 a city of the Gascons,
as well as those of Tarraco
67 and Hemeroscopium,
68 situated
on the coast, that Sertorius sustained the last efforts of the
war, after being ejected from the country of the Keltiberians.
He died at Osca, and it was near to Ilerda that Afranius and
Petreius, Pompey's generals, were afterwards defeated by
divus
69 Cæsar. Ilerda is distant 160 stadia from the Ebro, which
is on its west, about 460 from Tarraco, which is on the south,
and 540 from Osca, which lies to the north.
70 Passing through
these places from Tarraco to the extremities of the Vascons
who dwell by the ocean, near Pompelon
71 and the city of
Œaso
72 situated on the ocean, the route extends 2400 stadia,
to the very frontiers of Aquitaine and Iberia. It was in the
country of the Jaccetani that Sertorius fought against Pompey, and here afterwards Sextus, Pompey's son, fought against
the generals of Cæsar. The nation of the Vascons, in which
is Pompelon, or Pompey's city, lies north of Jaccetania.
[
11]
The side of the Pyrenees next Iberia is covered with
forests containing numerous kinds of trees and evergreens,
whilst the side next Keltica is bare: in the midst [the mountains] enclose valleys admirably fitted for the habitation of
man. These are mainly possessed by the Kerretani, a people
of the Iberians. The hams they cure are excellent, fully
equal to those of the Cantabrians,
73 and they realize no inconsiderable profit to the inhabitants.
[
12]
Immediately after passing Idubeda, you enter on Keltiberia, a large and irregular country. It is for the most
part rugged, and watered by rivers, being traversed by the
Guadiana,
74 the Tagus, and many other of the rivers which
flow into the western sea, but have their sources in Keltiberia.
Of their number is the Douro, which flows by Numantia
75
and Serguntia. The Guadalquiver
76 rises in Orospeda, and after
passing through Oretania, enters Bætica. The Berones inhabit
the districts north of the Keltiberians, and are neighbours of
the Conish Cantabrians. They likewise had their origin in
the Keltic expedition. Their city is Varia,
77 situated near to
the passage of the Ebro. They are adjacent to the Bardyitæ,
now called the Bardyli.
78 To the west [of the Keltiberians]
are certain of the Astures, Gallicians, and Vaccæi, besides
Vettones and Carpetani. On the south are the Oretani, and
the other inhabitants of Orospeda, both Bastetani and Edetani,
79
and to the east is Idubeda.
[
13]
Of the four divisions into which the Keltiberians are
separated, the most powerful are the Aruaci, situated to the
east and south, near to the Carpetani and the sources of the
Tagus. Their most renowned city is Numantia. They
showed their valour in the war of twenty years, waged by
the Keltiberians against the Romans; for many armies of the
Romans, together with their generals, were destroyed; and in
the end the Numantians, besieged within their city, endured
the famine with constancy, till, reduced to a very small number, they were compelled to surrender the place. The Lusones
are also situated to the east, and likewise border on the sources
of the Tagus. Segeda and Pallantia
80 are cities of the Aru-
aci. Numantia is distant from Cæsar Augusta,
81 situated as
we have said upon the Ebro, about 800 stadia. Near to Segobriga and Bilbilis,
82 likewise cities of the Keltiberians, was
fought the battle between Metellus and Sertorius. Polybius,
describing the people and countries of the Vaccæi and Keltiberians, enumerates Segesama
83 and Intercatia amongst their
other cities. Posidonius tells us that Marcus Marcellus exacted of Keltiberia a tribute of 600 talents, which proves that
the Keltiberians were a numerous and wealthy people, notwithstanding the little fertility of their country. Polybius
narrates that Tiberius Gracchus destroyed 300 cities of the
Keltiberians. This Posidonius ridicules, and asserts that to
flatter Gracchus, Polybius described as cities the towers such
as are exhibited in the triumphal processions.
84 This is not
incredible; for both generals and historians easily fall into
this species of deception, by exaggerating their doings. Those
who assert that Iberia contained more than a thousand cities,
seem to me to have been carried away in a similar manner,
and to have denominated as cities what were merely large villages; since, from its very nature, this country is incapable of
maintaining so many cities, on account of its sterility, wildness,
and its out-of-the-way position. Nor, with the exception of
those who dwell along the shores of the Mediterranean, is any
such statement confirmed by the mode of life or actions of
the inhabitants. The inhabitants of the villages, who constitute the majority of the Iberians, are quite uncivilized.
Even the cities cannot very easily refine the manners [of
their inhabitants], as the neighbouring woods are full of
robbers, waiting only an opportunity to inflict injury on the
citizens.
[
14]
Beyond the Keltiberians to the south are the inhabit-
ants of Orospeda and the country about the Xucar,
85 the Side-
tani,
86 [who extend] as far as Carthage,
87 and the Bastetani
and Oretani, [who extend] almost as far as Malaca.
88
[
15]
All the Iberians, so to speak, were peltastæ, furnished
with light arms for the purposes of robbery, and, as we described the Lusitanians, using the javelin, the sling, and the
sword. They have some cavalry interspersed amongst the
foot-soldiers, the horses are trained to traverse the mountains,
and to sink down on their knees at the word of command, in
case of necessity. Iberia produces abundance of antelopes
and wild horses. In many places the lakes are stocked. They
have fowl, swans, and birds of similar kind, and vast numbers of bustards. Beavers are found in the rivers, but the
castor does not possess the same virtue as that from the
Euxine,
89 the drug from that place having peculiar properties of its own, as is the case in many other instances.
Thus Posidonius tells us that the Cyprian copper alone produces the cadmian stone, copperas-water, and oxide of copper.
He likewise informs us of the singular fact, that in Iberia the
crows are not black; and that the horses of Keltiberia which
are spotted, lose that colour when they pass into Ulterior
Iberia. He compares them to the Parthian horses, for indeed
they are superior to all other breeds, both in fleetness and
their ease in speedy travelling.
[
16]
Iberia produces a large quantity of roots used in dyeing. In olives, vines, figs, and every kind of similar fruit-
trees, the Iberian coast next the Mediterranean abounds, they
are likewise plentiful beyond. Of the coasts next the ocean,
that towards the north is destitute of them, on account of the
cold, and the remaining portion generally on account of the
apathy of the men, and because they do not lead a civilized
life, but pass their days in poverty, only acting on the animal
impulse, and living most corruptly. They do not attend to
ease or luxury, unless any one considers it can add to the
happiness of their lives to wash themselves and their wives in
stale urine kept in tanks, and to rinse their teeth with it, which
they say is the custom both with the Cantabrians and their
neighbours.
90 This practice, as well as that of sleeping on the
ground, is common both among the Iberians and Kelts. Some
say that the Gallicians are atheists, but that the Keltiberians,
and their neighbours to the north, [sacrifice] to a nameless
god, every full moon, at night, before their doors, the whole
family passing the night in dancing and festival. The Vet-
tones, the first time they came to a Roman camp, and saw
certain of the officers walking up and down the roads for the
mere pleasure of walking, supposed that they were mad, and
offered to show them the way to their tents. For they
thought, when not fighting, one should remain quietly seated
at ease.
91
[
17]
What Artemidorus relates concerning the adornment
of certain of their women, must likewise be attributed to their
barbarous customs. He says that they wear iron collars
having crows fixed to them which bend over the head, and fall
forward considerably over the forehead. When they wish they
draw their veil over these crows, so as to shade the whole
face: this they consider an ornament. Others wear a tympanium
92 surrounding the occiput, and fitting tight to the head
as far as the ears, turning over [and increasing] little by
little in height and breadth. Others again make bald the
front of the head, in order to display the forehead to
greater advantage. Some twist their flowing hair round a
small style, a foot high, and afterwards cover it with a black
veil. Of singularities like these many have been observed
and recorded as to all the Iberian nations in common, but
particularly those towards the north not only concerning
their bravery, but likewise their cruelty and brutal madness.
For in the war against the Cantabrians, mothers have slain
their children sooner than suffer them to be captured; and a
young boy, having obtained a sword, slew, at the command of
his father, both his parents and brothers, who had been made
prisoners and were bound, and a woman those who had been
taken together with her. A man being invited by a party of
drunken [soldiers] to their feast, threw himself into a fire.
These feelings are common both to the Keltic, Thracian, and
Scythian nations, as well as the valour not only of their men,
but likewise of their women. These till the ground,
93 and
after parturition, having put their husbands instead of themselves to bed, they wait upon them. Frequently in their
employment they wash and swathe their infants, sitting down
by some stream. Posidonius tells us that in Liguria, his host
Charmoleon, a man who came from Marseilles, related to him,
that having hired some men and women to dig his land, one
of the women was seized with the pains of labour, and going
to a little distance from where they were at work, she brought
forth, and returned immediately to her work, for fear she
might lose her pay. He observed that she was evidently
working in considerable pain, but was not aware of the
cause till towards evening, when he ascertained it, and sent
her away, having given her her wages. She then carried her
infant to a small spring, and having washed it, wrapped it up
in as good swaddling clothes as she could get, and made the
best of her way home.
[
18]
Another practice, not restricted to the Iberians alone,
is for two to mount on one horse, so that in the event of a
conflict, one may be there to fight on foot. Neither are they
the only sufferers in being tormented with vast swarms of
mice, from which pestilential diseases have frequently ensued.
This occurred to the Romans in Cantabria, so that they caused
it to be proclaimed, that whoever would catch the mice should
receive rewards according to the number taken, and [even with
this] they were scarcely preserved, as they were suffering
besides from want of corn and other necessaries, it being
difficult to get supplies of corn from Aquitaine on account of
the rugged nature of the country. It is a proof of the ferocity of the Cantabrians, that a number of them having been
taken prisoners and fixed to the cross, they chanted songs of
triumph. Instances such as these are proofs of the ferocity
of their manners. There are others which, although not showing them to be polished, are certainly not brutish. For example, amongst the Cantabrians, the men give dowries to
their wives, and the daughters are left heirs, but they procure wives for their brothers. These things indicate a degree of power in the woman, although they are no proof of
advanced civilization.
94 It is also a custom with the Iberians
to furnish themselves with a poison, which kills without pain,
and which they procure from a herb resembling parsley. This
they hold in readiness in case of misfortune, and to devote
themselves for those whose cause they have joined, thus dying
for their sake.
95
[
19]
Some, as I have said, state that this country is separated
into four divisions; others, into five. It is not easy to state
any thing precisely on these points, both on account of the
changes which the places have undergone, and by reason of their
obscurity. In well-known and notable countries both the
migrations are known, and the divisions of the land, and the
changes of their names, and every thing else of the same
kind. Such matters being the common topics with everybody, and especially with the Greeks, who are more talkative
than any other people. But in barbarous and out-of-the-way
countries, and such as are cut up into small divisions, and
lie scattered, the remembrance of such occurrences is not
nearly so certain, nor yet so full. If these countries are far
removed from the Greeks [our] ignorance is increased. For
although the Roman historians imitate the Greeks, they fall
far short of them. What they relate is taken from the Greeks,
very little being the result of their own ardour in acquiring
information. So that whenever any thing has been omitted
by the former there is not much supplied by the latter. Add
to this, that the names most celebrated are generally Grecian.
Formerly the name of Iberia was given to the whole country
between the Rhone and the isthmus formed by the two
Galatic gulfs; whereas now they make the Pyrenees its boundary, and call it indifferently Iberia or Hispania; others
have restricted Iberia to the country on this side the Ebro.
96
Still earlier it bore the name of the Igletes,
97 who inhabited
but a small district, according to Asclepiades the Myrlean.
The Romans call the whole indifferently Iberia and Hispania,
but designate one portion of it Ulterior, and the other Citerior.
However, at different periods they have divided it differently,
according to its political aspect at various times.
[
20]
At the present time some of the provinces having been
assigned to the people and senate of the Romans, and the
others to the emperor, Bætica appertains to the people, and a
prætor has been sent into the country, having under him a
quæstor and a lieutenant. Its eastern boundary has been
fixed near to Castlon.
98 The remainder belongs to the emperor, who deputes two lieutenants, a prætor, and a consul.
The prætor with a lieutenant administers justice amongst the
Lusitanians, who are situated next Bætica, and extend as far
as the outlets of the river Douro, for at the present time this
district is called Lusitania by the inhabitants. Here is [the
city of] Augusta Emerita.
99 What remains, which is [indeed]
the greater part of Iberia, is governed by the consul, who has
under him a respectable force, consisting of about three legions,
with three lieutenants, one of whom with two legions guards
the whole country north of the Douro, the inhabitants of
which formerly were styled Lusitanians, but are now called
Gallicians. The northern mountains, together with the Asturian and Cantabrian, border on these. The river Melsus
100
flows through the country of the Asturians, and at a little
distance is the city of Nougat,
101 close to an estuary formed by
the ocean, which separates the Asturians from the Cantabrians. The second lieutenant with the remaining legion
governs the adjoining district as far as the Pyrenees. The
third oversees the midland district, and governs the cities inhabited by the togati, whom we have before alluded to as
inclined to peace, and who have adopted the refined manners
and mode of life of the Italians, together with the toga. These
are the Keltiberians, and those who dwell on either side of
the Ebro, as far as the sea-coast. The consul passes the
winter in the maritime districts, mostly administering justice
either in [the city of] Carthage,
102 or Tarraco.
103 During the
summer he travels through the country, observing whatever
may need reform. There are also the procurators of the
emperor, men of the equestrian rank, who distribute the pay
to the soldiers for their maintenance.