“It happened, as men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of the Elohim (בני האלהים) [literally, the sons of the eminent or mighty ones] saw the daughters of man (בנות האדם) that they were fair; then they took for wives among them all whom they loved.... There were giants (נפלים) on the earth in those days, and also after that the sons of the Elohim went in unto the daughters of man and they bare children to them, the same became heroes (גברים) who were of old, men of name (אנשי שם).”[14]
“‘Toward the sea, in the middle of the island, was a plain,’ the priest continued, ‘which was very attractive and fertile. About fifty stadia from the centre of the plain was a mountain with sloping sides.[15] On this dwelt one of those men begotten from the ground in the beginning (κατὰ ἀρχὰς ἐκ γῆς ἀνδρῶν γεγονότων), Euenor by name.[16] He lived there, with his wife, Leucippe. They had an only daughter named Cleito. When this girl reached womanhood, her father and mother being dead, Poseidon fell in love with her and made her his wife. He encircled the hill on which she lived with alternate girdles of land and water, greater and less, making two of land and three of water, each uniformly distant from the centre of the island, in order to render her habitation inaccessible to men, for at that time ships and sea-faring were unknown. Also by his divine power he beautifully adorned the centre of the island, causing two fountains to shoot upward from beneath the earth, one of cold and the other of hot water, and making all kinds of food to grow abundantly on the earth. He begat and raised ten male children, twins, and divided the Atlantic island into ten parts. He gave to the first-born of the eldest twins, his mother’s habitation and the land surrounding it, this being the largest and the best. He appointed him king over the other children, making the latter princes, and giving to each the control of many people and extensive domains. He likewise gave names to all of his offspring; to the eldest, the king, the name of Atlas, in honor of whom both the island and the ocean were called Atlantic.[17] To the twin born after him (who received for his portion the extreme part of the island toward the Pillars of Hercules as far as the region now called in that country Gadeirica), he gave the appellation, which we Greeks call Eumelus, but the people of that country Gadeira.[18] He called the first of the second-born twins, Ampheres, the second Eudæmon; of the third pair, he called the first-born Mnesis, and the second, Autochthon; of the fourth pair, the first Elasippus, and the younger Mestor; and of the fifth pair, to the first was given the name of Azaës, and to the last, Diaprepes.
“‘For many generations these and their descendants were the rulers and the inhabitants of the islands in the ocean, and, as it has been said, they extended their authority over all the country as far as Egypt and Tyrrhenia. By far the most distinguished was the race of Atlas; and the eldest king belonging to it always handed down in succession the government to his eldest son. All these kings in turn possessed immense wealth, such as was never known to belong to royalty or will be likely hereafter. They were provided with all things which, in a city or elsewhere, are worth having. Large revenues were received by them from foreign countries under their rule, but the greatest resources came from the island. First were such ores as are dug in mines in a crude condition, or need to be smelted, particularly the metal orichalcum,[19] which is now known only by name, but formerly was of great value. This was dug from the earth in many parts of the island, being prized above all the metals then known, except gold. The island also produced an abundance of wood for building purposes, and furnished food for wild and tame animals. Vast numbers of elephants were on the island, for there was abundant subsistence for all animals which feed in marshes and along lakes, on mountains and plains, and likewise for this animal, which by nature is the largest and most voracious of all.[20] And whatever fragrant plants the earth produces, whether roots, or grasses, or woods, or exuding gums, or flowers, or fruits, grew there and were developed to perfection. The island besides produced such cultivated fruits and dry edible fruits as we use for food and call vegetables; also the fruits which trees bear and are used for drinks, meats, and ointments; and those also which have a hard shell, used in sport and pleasure, that are collected with trouble, together with dainty fruits for dessert, which provoke the appetite or please the sick;—all these that once-existing and tropic island, sacred and delightful, produced in surprising and infinite quantities. Obtaining all these from the soil, the inhabitants employed themselves in building temples, royal palaces, harbors, and wharves in all parts of the country, constructing them as follows:
“‘First of all, the people residing in and about that ancient metropolis bridged over those girdles of water, making a causeway to and from the royal palace. In this place, which had been the residence of the gods and their ancestors, they, at the beginning, erected the palace; and each [king] in turn, receiving it from his predecessor, and further embellishing the ornamental parts, continually surpassed the one before him, until they made the building very attractive to the sight, on account of its size and the beauty of its elaborations. They dug a canal, beginning at the sea, three plethra[21] broad, a hundred feet deep, and fifty stadia in length, to the outermost girdle, and thus made a channel to it from the sea as into a harbor, by enlarging its mouth sufficiently to admit the largest vessels. Besides this, they separated by aqueducts the girdles of land which separated those of water, so that a trireme[22] could be taken from one girdle of water to another, arching the girdles of land to allow a water-way beneath them; for the banks of the girdles of land rose to a height considerably above the water. And the greatest of these girdles into which the sea flowed was three stadia in width, and the girdle of land next to it was of the same width. The second girdle of water was two stadia in width and the second girdle of land the same. The last girdle of water, environing the centre of the island, was only one stadium wide, and the island, on which the king’s palace stood, had a diameter of five stadia. This island, as well as the girdles of land, and the bridge (which was a plethron in width), they inclosed on the sides with stone walls, erecting towers and gates at intervals on the aqueducts where the water passed through [the girdles of land]. The stone for the walls they quarried within the limits of the island, both in the centre, and inside and outside the girdles; one kind of it was white, a second black, a third red; and by thus quarrying they made at the same time openings which served for two docks, having likewise a covering of rock. Of the buildings, some were of plain structure, while others they built of a composite style of architecture, using the different kinds of stone as pleased them most, thus realizing a pleasure becoming their natures. And they covered the whole circuit of the wall round the extreme outer girdle with bronze, applying it as they would plaster. The next wall inside of it they covered with melted tin, and the wall round the citadel with orichalcum that has a fiery resplendence.
“‘Further, the royal palace within the citadel was constructed in the following manner: In the centre of it a temple was erected, difficult of access, sacred to Cleito and Poseidon, surrounded by an inclosure of gold; for on this spot they begat and raised the race of the ten kings, and where also their descendants, making annual collections from all the ten allotments, offered seasonable sacrifices to each one.
“‘The temple of Poseidon was a stadium in length, three plethra in breadth, and of a proportionate height, having a somewhat barbaric appearance. All the outside of the temple, except the pinnacles, they lined with silver, but the pinnacles they covered with gold. Respecting the interior, the ceiling was wholly of ivory, variegated with gold and orichalcum, and all the other parts, the walls, the pillars, and the pavements, they covered with orichalcum. They also placed in the temple golden statues. The one of the god stood in a chariot driving with reins six-winged horses. It was of such size that the head of the god touched the ceiling, and surrounding the statue were a hundred nereids on dolphins; for the people of that day thought that this was their number. The temple also contained many other statues dedicated to private persons. On the outside of the temple golden images were also placed of all the men and women that were descended from the ten kings, and many other large statues, both of kings and of private people, both from the metropolis and from the foreign countries over which the kings had dominion. There was also an altar, in size and elaboration corresponding to these ornaments; and there were palaces also whose grandeur was in keeping with the greatness of the empire and also with the splendor of the temple.
“‘They had fountains from cold and hot springs of which there were many, the water being suited in every way to their use on account of its sweetness and purity. Around these springs they made their residences and well-watered plantations, together with their reservoirs, some open to the heavens, but the others, for use in winter, roofed over for warm baths. The kings’ bathing-houses and those of private persons were separated, as well as those of the women. There were others for horses and other draught cattle, each provided with the requisite means of cleanliness. The stream flowing from these they conducted to the grove of Poseidon, where there were all kinds of trees reaching a wonderful height on account of the fertility of the soil, and then led it away by aqueducts to the outer girdles of water. There they also erected a large number of temples, dedicated to many different gods, and many gardens and gymnasia, one for men, and others separately for horses, on the two girdles of land. To test the speed of the horses there was a race-course in the middle of the largest girdle of land, a stadium in width, that extended around its entire circumference. Around it on all sides were barracks for the household troops, corresponding to their number. To the more faithful of these troops quarters were assigned on the smaller girdle of land closer to the citadel, while those who excelled all the others in loyalty had quarters given them within the citadel, near the residences of the kings. The docks were filled with triremes and the equipments for triremes; and the triremes were all adequately provided with them. These were the arrangements for the protection of the palace of the kings. On crossing the three outer harbors one found a wall which extended entirely around the island, beginning at the sea, everywhere fifty stadia distant from the greatest girdle and harbor, and inclosed the entrance to the canal and the entrance to the sea. The whole of this part of the girdle of land was covered with many and densely-built dwellings. The canal and the largest harbor were filled with vessels and traders, coming from all parts, and these, on account of their number, made a babel of voices, a commotion, and a din all through the day and the night.
“‘We have now related from memory a description of the city and its ancient habitations; now we must attempt to describe the nature of the other parts of the country and the employment of the people. First, then, the whole region was said to be exceedingly high and precipitous toward the sea, and the plain, encircling the city, surrounded by mountains sloping down to the sea, being level and smooth, extended in one direction three thousand stadia, and the central part, from the sea, more than two thousand stadia. And this part of the island extended toward the south, in an opposite direction from the north. The mountains around it were, at that time, also celebrated, exceeding in number, size, and attractiveness all those of the present day; having on them many hamlets together with villages, as well as rivers, lakes, and marshes, furnishing ample supplies of food for all cattle, both tame and wild; with timber of different kinds and in great quantity for every special purpose. The plain, by nature, being as described, was improved in the following way by many kings through a long course of time: It was almost square in extent, generally straight and oblong, and where it terminated they bounded it by digging a canal around it. Concerning the depth, breadth, and length of which for a public work, besides other concomitant undertakings, we can scarcely believe what was said, still we must tell what we learned. The canal was excavated to the depth of a plethrum, and the breadth was a stadium in every part, the entire excavation round the plain being ten thousand stadia in length. This canal, receiving the water of the streams coming from the mountains, conducted it all around the plain and near to the city, and finally to the sea. From above, likewise, straight canals were cut about a hundred feet broad along the plain, back into the canal near the sea; distant from one another about one hundred stadia; and it was by these canals that timber from the mountains was brought to the city, and on which the rest of the shipping trade was done; transverse canals of communication being cut into the others and toward the city. Their harvest they gathered twice in a year; in winter availing themselves of the rains, and in summer irrigating the land from the canals.