These particulars I have thought proper to discuss thoroughly, in order to disclose the true history of the Cadmians, as I am hereby enabled to prove the great antiquity of this people; and to shew who they were, and from whence they came. It has been observed by many of the learned, that some particular race of men spread themselves abroad, and got access among numberless nations. Some have thought that they were Scythians: others, that they were Egyptians: others still, that they were from Phenicia, and Canaan. What they have said upon the subject, however they may seem to differ from one another, may in some degree be allowed. But I believe, that the true account is that which I have here given. I have endeavoured, with great pains, to sift the history to the bottom: and it is to me manifest, that they were for the most part the Auritæ, those shepherds of Egypt. This people had spread themselves over that country like a deluge: but were in time forced to retreat, and to betake themselves to other parts. In consequence of this they were dissipated over regions far remote. They were probably joined by others of their family, as well as by the Canaanites, and the Caphtorim of Palestina. They are to be met with in Persis, and Gedrosia, under the name of Oritæ. They are to be found in Bœtica upon the Atlantic under the same [1264]name. They settled in Colchis, Thrace, Phrygia, Sicily, and Hetruria; and upon the extreme parts of the Mediterranean: Diluvio ex illo tot vasta per æquora vecti.
These are the migrations, of which the antient historian [1265]Istrus wrote in a curious treatise, long since lost; which he inscribed περι των Αιγυπτιων αποικιας. We meet with a summary account of them in Diodorus Siculus, who mentions, that after the death of Isis and Osiris the Egyptians sent out many colonies, which were scattered over the face of the earth. [1266]Ὁ δε ουν Αιγυπτιοι φασι και μετα ταυτα αποικιας πλειστας εξ Αιγυπτου κατα πασαν διασπαρηναι την οικουμενην. Of these migrations there were two remarkable above the rest: the one of the sons of Chus, concerning whom I have been treating; the other of the Israelites, which was somewhat later than the former. The author above takes notice of both these occurrences, in a most valuable extract preserved by Photius; wherein he does not sufficiently distinguish the particular families of these emigrants, nor the different times of the migration: yet the account is very curious; and the history of each transaction plainly delineated. [1267]Ευθυς ουν ὁι ξενολατουμενων των αλλοεθνων ὁι επιφανεστατοι, και δραστικωτατοι συστραφεντες εξεῤῥιφησαν, ὡς τινες φασιν, εις την Ἑλλαδα, και τινας ἑτερους τοπους, εχοντες αξιολογους ἡγεμονας· ὡν ἡγουντο Δαναος, και Καδμος, των αλλων επιφανεστατοι. Ὁδε πολυς λεως εξεπεσεν εις την νυν καλουμενην Ιουδαιαν. _Upon this, as some writers tell us, the most eminent and enterprising of those foreigners, who were in Egypt, and obliged to leave the country, betook themselves to the coast of Greece, and also to other regions, having put themselves under the command of proper leaders for that purpose. Some of them were conducted by Danaus, and Cadmus, who were the most illustrious of the whole. There were beside these a large, but less noble, body of people, who retired into the province called now [1268]Judea._