Kitap 2
5.12
The entrance of a Roman army into Arabia Felix under the command of my friend and companion Aelius Gallus,Prefect of Egypt in the reign of Augustus. This expedition into Arabia completely failed, through the treachery of the guide, a Roman named Syllaeus. A long account of it is given by Strabo in the 16th book. It would be extremely interesting. says Professor Schmitz, to trace this expedition of Aelius Gallus into Arabia, but our knowledge of that country is as yet too scanty to enable us to identify the route as described by Strabo, who derived most of his information about Arabia from his friend Aelius Gallus. and the traffic of the Alexandrian merchants whose vessels pass up the Nile and Arabian GulfRed Sea. to India, have rendered us much better acquainted with these countries than our predecessors were. I was with Gallus at the time he was prefect of Egypt, and accompanied him as far as Syene and the frontiers of Ethiopia, and I found that about one hundred and twenty ships sail from Myos-hormosMyos-hormos, Mouse’s Harbour, a sea-port of Egypt on the coast of the Red Sea. Arrian says that it was one of the most celebrated ports on this sea. It was chosen by Ptolemy Philadelphus for the convenience of commerce, in preference to Arsinoe or Suez, on account of the difficulty of navigating the western extremity of the gulf. It was called also Aphroditis Portus, or the Port of Venus. Its modern name is Suffangeel-Bahri, or Sponge of the Sea. Lemspriere. to India, although, in the time of the Ptolemies, scarcely any one would venture on this voyage and the commerce with the Indies.
