Iug. 78.1Id oppidum ab Sīdōniīs conditum est, quōs accēpimus profugōs ob discordiās cīvīlīs nāvibus in eōs locōs vēnisse, cēterum situm inter duās Syrtīs, quibus nōmen ex rē inditum.That town was founded by Sidonians, who, we are told, came to those parts by ship as exiles because of civil discord; it is situated between the two Syrtes, which take their name from their nature. Iug. 78.2Nam duo sunt sinūs prope in extrēmā Āfricā, inparēs magnitūdine, parī nātūrā;For there are two gulfs near the far end of Africa, unequal in size but alike in character; Iug. 78.2quōrum proxuma terrae praealta sunt, cētera utī fors tulit alta alia, alia vadōsa.the parts of them nearest the land are very deep, the rest, as chance has determined, deep in some places, shallow in others. Iug. 78.3Nam ubi mare magnum esse et saevīre ventīs coepit, līmum harēnamque et saxa ingentia flūctūs trahunt: ita faciēs locōrum cum ventīs simul mūtātur.For when the sea has begun to swell and rage with the winds, the waves drag mud and sand and huge rocks along: thus the appearance of the places changes along with the winds.
Iug. 78.4Syrtēs ab tractū nōminātae.The Syrtes are named from this dragging. Iug. 78.4Eius cīvitātis lingua modo convorsa cōnūbiō Numidārum, lēgum cultusque plēraque Sīdōnica;The language of that community has been altered only through intermarriage with the Numidians; most of its laws and customs are Sidonian; Iug. 78.4quae eō facilius retinēbant, quod procul ab imperiō rēgis aetātem agēbant.and these they kept the more easily because they spent their lives far from the king's rule. Iug. 78.5Inter illōs et frequentem Numidiam multī vāstīque locī erant.Between them and the populous part of Numidia lay many desolate regions.