In times past Italy was called Magna Graecia by the Greeks who occupied it, and then Saturnia, from the name of its king. Later it was also called Latium, because it was here that Saturn hid after Jupiter had pushed him from his throne. Finally it was called Italy after Italus, king of the Sicilians, who reigned there. Its territory is of greater length than width, extending from west-northwest to southeast. Enclosed by the Tyrrhenian Sea [Tyrrhenum Mare] to the south and the Adriatic Sea [Tyrrhenum Mare] to the north it is bounded in the west by the mountain range of the Alps. It is the most beautiful land in all respects, most pleasing in the fertility of its soil and the richness of its pasture. It has Lake Garda [Benacus], Lake Avernus and the Lucrine Lake [Lucrinus], the rivers Po [Eridanus] and Tiber [Tiberis], and the warm springs of Baiae [Baias]. It produces the precious stones syrtites, lyncurium, and coral, and also the serpent called boa, the wild lynx, and the birds of Diomedes. However, both Italy and Spain [Hispania] are called Hesperia because the Greeks, when they traveled to either Italy or Spain, navigated with the help of the evening star Hesperus. These are distinguished in the following manner: when you speak of Hesperia alone you refer to Italy, whereas when you add Ultima to it you refer to Spain, because it lies in the furthest reaches of the west. Tuscia (Tuscany) is a part of Italy, Umbria a part of Tuscia. Tuscia is named from its frequent use of religious rites and incense (tus). Umbria, as the histories tell, survived the rains (imber) during the time of a disastrous flood. It is located in the mountain range of the Apennines [Appenninus], in the part of Italy toward the south. Etruria, a part of Italy, is so named because its boundaries are extended up to the river bank of the Tiber. Others think that Etruria is so named from prince Etruscus. Likewise Tyrrhenia is named from Tyrrhenus, brother of Lydus who, as a result of a drawing of lots, came to Italy from Maeonia with part of his people. This is also known as Tuscia, but we ought not to say Tuscia, because we never see it in writing. Apulia [where Brindisi is located, which the Aetolians who had followed Diomedesas leader founded]. Campania [has territories that are green in winter and in summer. There the sun is mild, the temperature pleasing, and the air pure and gentle]. Gaul (Gallia) is so called from the whiteness of its people. The mountains and the chilliness of the sky keep the heat of the sun from this region, so that the whiteness of bodies does not darken in color. The Alpine ridges overlook it from the east and the Ocean limits it in the west, the rugged terrain of the Pyrenees in the south, and in the north the river Rhine and Germania. It begins with Belgica and ends with Aquitania. The region is characterized by rich and grassy soil and is well suited for animal husbandry, well watered by streams and springs, with the two great rivers Rhine and Rhone flowing through it. Belgis is a city in Gaul from which the province Belgica is named. Cisalpine Gaul is so called because it is ‘on this side of the Alps; Transalpine Gaul, that is, ‘across the Alps’, to the north. Raetia is so called because it is next to the Rhine (Rhenum). Aquitania owes its name to the transverse ‘waters’ (aqua) of the river Loire (Liger), which is the boundary of most of it, and which encloses it almost in a circle. Hispania was first named ‘Iberia’ after the river Iberus (Ebro), later ‘Hispania’ from Hispalis (Seville). This is the real Hesperia, named after Hesperus, the evening star. It is situated between Africa and Gaul, closed off by the Pyrenees mountains to the north and everywhere else shut in by the sea. It is temperate in its healthy climate, abundant in all types of produce, and very rich in its abundance of precious stones and metals. Great rivers flow through it: the Baetis (Guadalquivir), Mineus (Miño), Iberus (Ebro), and Tagus (Tajo), which carries gold, just like the Pactolus. It is composed of six provinces: the Tarraconian (Tarragona), the Cartagenian, Lusitania, Gallicia, Baetica and, across the straits in Africa, the Tingitanian (Tangiers). Furthermore there are two Spains: Inner Spain, whose area extends in the north from the Pyrenees to Cartagena; and Outer Spain, which in the south extends from Celtiberia to the straits of Cadiz. Inner and Outer are so called as if it were citra and ultra; but citra is formed as if the term were ‘around the earth’, and ultra either because it is the last (ultimus), or because after it there is not ‘any’ (ulla), that is, any other, land.