Paradoxographus Florentinus

1 There is a spring in Potniae near Thebes from which horses, if they drink, go mad, as Isigonus relates in the second book of his Incredible Things.

2 There is a spring in Clazomenae which makes the fleece of flocks that drink from it coloured, as the aforementioned Isigonus records.

3 There is a spring in India which throws divers back onto the land as if from a mechanism, as Ctesias recounts.

4 In Crete there is a channel of water which those crossing while it rains make their crossing without getting wet, for as long as they are in the channel.

5 Among the Persians they say that a spring of olive oil appeared to Alexander which filled up of its own accord.

6 They say that there is a system of water in Cilicia, in which birds and dumb animals that have drowned, if immersed, come back to life. 

7 On the road to Syracuse there is a spring which is neither large nor contains much water; but when a crowd comes to the place and noise rises up, it provides an unstinting supply of water, as Aristotle says.

8 There is a spring in Palice which flings its water up to a height of six cubits, giving the impression that it is about to drench the area lying beneath it; but  nothing overflows at all. At this spring, the locals swear oaths about the greatest matters, as Isigonus says in Book 2 of his Incredible Things.

9 Around Scotussa in Thessaly there is a little spring that heals all wounds, even in dumb beasts. Into this, if one throws a piece of wood which is split but not too shattered, it is restored – the water is that viscous, as Isigonus says.

10 In Lousi in Arcadia, Aristotle says there is a spring in which land mice are generated, and that they dive and lead their lives in it.

11 Isigonus says that there is a spring among the Athamanians, the water of which is cold; but over it, the heat is so great that if one were to place firewood above it, it would instantly catch fire.

12 At Cleitor, the same author says there is a spring from which, if anyone drinks, they cannot bear the smell of wine.

13 The same writer says that in Italy, in the countryside of Reate, there is a spring called Mente like the aforementioned.

14 Likewise, there is a spring near Cosa into which if one puts a jar full of wine, so that it overflows the rim, it instantly becomes more pungent than any vinegar, as the same author relates.

15 Theopompus gives an account of a spring in Cinchrops in Thrace, from which those who have washed die at once. 

16 Hellanicus says that there is a spring at Sipylus near Magnesia, from which those who drink have their stomachs turned to stone.

17 Ctesias records a spring in Ethiopia whose colour is similar to that of cinnabar: those who drink from it lose their mind, so that they confess even to things done in secret.

18 In Arabia there is a spring of Isis which, when a vessel of wine is thrown into it, is mixed and becomes well-mixed for drinking, as Amometus says.

19 Aristotle says that there is a spring of Ammon, of which the water becomes hot at midday and midnight, although it is by nature extremely cold. 

20 Theopompus says there is a stream in Lyncestis which is sharp to taste and that those who drink from it becpme inebriated as though from wine.

21 In the city of Sycamina there is a lake, from which those washing themselves with the water or drinking from it lose their hair, while the hooves of the dumb animals fall off, as Isigonus relates.

22 Heracleides of Pontus says that there is a lake among the Sauromatians into which the birds flying about it fall.

23 Herodotus gives an account of a spring among the long-living Ethiopians, from which those who wash themselves are anointed with oil.

24 They say that there is a spring at Cleitor in Arcadia, from which those drinking hate wine; the following epigram is engraved above it:

Countryman, if at midday thirst oppresses you

as you come to the limits of Cleitor with your flocks,

Draw a draught from the spring: and by the water-

nymphs stand your whole herd of goats.

But do not cast it on your skin in washing, lest after you go 

even the whiff of pleasurable drink bring distress on you/ 

Flee my grape-hating spring, in which Melampus,

**having cleansed the daughters of Proetus from terrible

madness, secretly hid all the purificatory materials;** when from Argos

they came to the mountains of rugged Arcadia.

** These lines are taken from Greene’s translation, reading Προιτίδας and ἔκρυψεν, in the interests of making sense of the text.

25 Ariston the peripatetic philosopher says that there is a spring of water in Cius, from which those who drink become insensible in their souls; and there is on this the following inscription:

It is a pleasant fount of cold drink which this

spring casts up; but the one who drinks it is as stone in his wits.

26 In Susa in Persia they say there is a water which makes the front teeth of those who drink it fall out instantly; on this, too, the following epigram is written:

You see these terrible waters, stranger, from which it

is possible for men to wash with their hands and remain unharmed:

but if you cast the bright water into your hollow stomach,

touching only with the tip of your long lip,

on the same day your teeth—sawyers of your meal—fall on the

ground, orphaning the seats of the jaw.

27 In Alliphanus in Italy there is a deep little well, of which the water can be seen; but if someone lets down no matter how long a rope, it does not touch the water but is prevented by something divine, as Isigonus says.

28 Avernus is a lake in Italy near Cumae: when the leaves or twigs of the surrounding trees fall into it, they vanish as they are submerged immediately. 

29 Aristotle relates that at Carthage there is a spring softer than olive oil; but if someone impure approaches, it vanishes.

30 Near Gela in Sicily there is a lake called Silla, very small in size, which flings those who wash in it out onto the dry land as if from an engine, as Aristotle says.

31 Alongside the river Eridanus there is a lake near the Electrides islands which has hot water, but an offensive odour, from which no animal tastes.

32 They say that the army of Xerxes drank the lake called Cystirum at Abdera dry.

33 Hieronymus related that there is a bitter lake in the region of the Nabataeans in Arabia, in which there is neither fish nor any other aquatic creature; but slabs of asphalt are raised from it by the locals.

34 Pythermus says that if someone throws a cup into the eddies of the river Strymon, it is to be found in the pool near Apollonia.

35 †Phaethon† says that the river in the Bosporus is so cold that no living thing can withstand its coldness.

36 Near Tarracina in Italy Isigonus says that there is a lake called the Amyclaean and beside it a deserted city, the inhabitants of which were deprived of their city because of the number of water-snakes.

37[1] In Italy, in the lake called Benacus – which is one hundred stades in perimeter – there is an inhabited island thickly planted with cultivated trees, which floats and changes direction as it is borne along by the breezes. [2] The same thing happens in another lake in Italy called the Cutilian.

38 There is also a smallish lake called the Pond of Vadimon in Italy, likewise having many islands which are moved about by every gust.

39[1] The lake by Sardis, called Coloë, produces a very large amount of fish, but it too has deceptively static islands, for they float and move about with the blowing of the winds. [2] It feeds such a superabundance of aquatic birds that they are salted.

40 They say that the water at Susiana is Medea’s and that it is poisoned with caustic drugs; it flows from a spring and is guarded by the locals. It has the following power: when a fire is displayed at a distance, animals or objects which are anointed or wetted with it draw the fire to themselves and are instantly set alight. It is called naphtha. However, when it is brought out of the area it loses its power, as Isigonos relates.

41[1] In Italy there is a lake called Sabatus in which, whenever the water becomes limpid, there appear in its depths many foundation-stones and temples and a host of statues: the locals say that the city that was once there was swallowed up. [2] The same thing is spoken of, too, about Lake Ciminus in Italy, that there had formerly been a city on the site and that it had suddenly been swallowed up.

42 There is in Macedonia a lake called Lychnitis, which they sail across for the purpose of enquiry: for on peering down into its depths they see lavish dining rooms and an unstinting host of silver vessels of astounding size, and of gold platters and drinking vessels and of all of the furniture aimed at luxury in kingly wealth.

43 In Lydia there is a lake called †Tala† which is sacred to the nymphs, that carries a crowd of reeds and, in the midst of them, one that the locals address as “king”. They propitiate it by holding annual sacrifices and festivals: when these have been completed, whenever a concordant sound is raised on the shore, all of the reeds dance and the king, dancing with them, comes to the shore. The locals send it off after crowning it with fillets and praying that in the coming year, too, it will come to them as a sign of prosperity, as Isigonus relates in Book 2 of his Incredible Things.