2.

At present we are to speak first of Crete.

According to Eudoxus, it is situated in the Ægæan sea, but he ought not to have described its situation in that manner, but have said, that it lies between Cyrenaica and the part of Greece comprehended between Sunium and Laconia,753 extending in length in the direction from west to east, and parallel to these countries;754 that it is washed on the north by the Ægæan and Cretan seas, and on the south by the African, which joins the Ægyptian sea.

The western extremity of the island is near Phalasarna;755 its breadth is about 200 stadia, and divided into two promontories; of which the southern is called Criu-Metopon, (or Ram’s head,) and that on the north, Cimarus.756 The eastern promontory is Samonium,757 which does not stretch much further towards the east than Sunium.758