REDUCED FACSIMILE, VATICAN MS. GR. 141. XII CENTURY, FIRST PAGE OF
							AUTHOR'S PREFACE INTENDING to write the history of the Romans I have deemed it best to
					begin with the boundaries of the nations under their sway. They are as follows:
					In the ocean, the major part of those who inhabit the British Isles. Then
					entering the Mediterranean by the Pillars of Hercules and circumnavigating the
					same we find under their rule all the islands and the mainlands washed by that
					sea. The first of these on the right hand are the Mauritanians of the coast and
					various other African nations as far as Carthage. Farther inland are the nomad
					tribes whom the Romans call Numidians and their country Numidia; then other
					Africans who dwell around the Syrtes as far as Cyrene, and Cyrene itself; also
					the Marmaridæ, the Ammonii, and those who dwell by the lake Mareotis; then the
					great city founded by Alexander on the border of Egypt, and Egypt itself, as one
					sails up the Nile, as far as eastern Ethiopia; and as far as Pelusium by sea. Here turning our course we take in Palestine-Syria, and beyond it a part of
					Arabia. The Phœnicians hold the country next to Palestine on the sea, and beyond
					the Phœnician territory are Cœle-Syria, and the parts stretching from the sea as
					far inland as the river Euphrates, namely Palmyra and the sandy country round
					about, extending even to the Euphrates itself. The Cilicians come next to the
					Syrians, and their neighbors are the Cappadocians, and that part of the Armenian
					country called Lesser Armenia. Along the Euxine are other nations called by the
					common name Pontic, subject to the Roman rule. The Syrians and Cilicians border
					on the Mediterranean, the Armenians and Cappadocians extend to the Pontic
					nations and to the interior as far as Greater Armenia, which is not subject to
					the Romans in the way of tribute, but its people appoint their own kings.
					Descending from Cilicia and Cappadocia to Ionia we find the great peninsula
					bounded on the right by the Euxine, the Propontis, the Hellespont, and the
					Ægean, and on the left by the Pamphylian or Egyptian sea, for it is called by
					both names. Some of the countries embraced in it look toward the Egyptian sea,
					namely: Pamphylia and Lycia and after them Caria extending to Ionia. Others look
					toward the Euxine, the Propontis, and the Hellespont, namely: the Galatians,
					Bithynians, Mysians, and Phrygians. In the interior are the Pisidians and
					Lydians. So many nations inhabit this peninsula and all are under Roman rule. Crossing from these coasts they rule other nations around the Euixine, the
					Mysians of Europe and the Thracians who border that sea. Beyond Ionia are the
					Ægean sea, the Adriatic, the straits of Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian sea
					stretching to the Pillars of Hercules. This is the distance from Ionia to the
					ocean. Following the coast line we find the following countries subject to the
					Romans: all of Greece, Thessaly, and Macedonia, also the adjoining Thracians,
					the Illyrians, and Pannonians, and Italy itself, the longest of all, extending
					from the Adriatic and bordering the greater part of the Tyrrhenian sea as far as
					the country of the Celts (whom the Romans call Gauls), some of whom border the
					Mediterranean, others the Northern ocean, and still others dwell along the river
					Rhine; also all of Spain and Celtiberia on the Northern and Western oceans as
					far as the Pillars of Hercules. Of these I shall speak more particularly when I
					come to deal with each nation. But for the present let this suffice for the
					principal boundaries which define their empire along the sea. On the landward side the boundaries are a part of Mauritania lying against
					western Ethiopia and the remainder of Africa (having a very warm climate, or
					much infested with wild beasts) extending to eastern Ethiopia. These are the
					Roman boundaries in Africa. Those of Asia are the river Euphrates, Mount
					Caucasus, the kingdom of Greater Armenia, the Colchians who dwell along the
					Euxine sea, and the remainder of that coast. In Europe the two rivers, Rhine and
					Danube, for the most part bound the Roman empire. Of these the Rhine empties
					into the The Roman Empire at the Time of Hadrian Northern ocean and the Danube into the Euxine. On the other side of
					these rivers, however, some of the Celts beyond the Rhine are under Roman sway,
					and beyond the Danube some of the Getæ, who are called Dacians. These, with the
					nearest approach to accuracy, are the boundaries on the mainland. All the islands of the sea also, the Cyclades, Sporades, Ionian isles, Echinades,
					the Tuscan isles, the Balearic isles, and all the rest in Libyan, Ionian,
					Egyptian, Myrtoan, Sicilian, and Mediterranean waters, by whatever names called;
					also those which the Greeks by way of distinction call the great islands,
					Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes, Lesbos, Eubœa, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, and
					whatever other isle there may be, large or small--all are under Roman rule.
					Crossing the Northern ocean to Britain, a continent in itself, they took
					possession of the better and larger part, not caring for the remainder. Indeed,
					the part they do hold is not of much use to them.