Chapter VI: Book VI (1)

AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST, OR FORMERLY EXISTED.

CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE EUXINE AND THE MARYANDINI.

The Euxine[1] Sea, which in former times had the name of Axenus,[2] from the savage and inhospitable character of the nations living on its borders, by a peculiar whim of nature, which is continually giving way before the greedy inroads of the sea, lies between Europe and Asia. It was not enough for the ocean to have surrounded the earth, and then deprived us of a considerable portion of it, thus rendering still greater its uninhabitable proportion; it was not enough for it to have forced a passage through the mountains, to have torn away Calpe from Africa, and to have swallowed up a much larger space than it left untouched; it was not enough for it to have poured its tide into the Propontis through the Hellespont, after swallowing up still more of the dry land—for beyond the Bosporus, as well, it opens with its insatiate appetite upon another space of immense extent, until the Mæotian lakes[3] unite their ravening waters with it as it ranges far and wide.

That all this has taken place in spite, as it were, of the earth, is manifested by the existence of so many straits and such numbers of narrow passages formed against the will of nature—that of the Hellespont,[4] being only eight hundred and seventy-five paces in width, while at the two Bospori[5] the passage across may be effected by oxen[6] swimming, a fact from which they have both derived their name. And then besides,[7] although they are thus severed, there are certain points on which these coasts stand in the relation of brotherhood towards each other—the singing of birds and the barking of dogs on the one side can be heard on the other, and an intercourse can be maintained between these two worlds by the medium even of the human voice,[8] if the winds should not happen to carry away the sound thereof.

The length of the borders of the Euxine from the Bosporus to the Lake Mæotis has been reckoned by some writers at fourteen hundred and thirty-eight miles; Eratosthenes, however, says that it is one hundred less. According to Agrippa, the distance from Chalcedon to the Phasis is one thousand miles, and from that river to the Cimmerian Bosporus three hundred and sixty. We will here give in a general form the distances as they have been ascertained in our own times; for our arms have even penetrated to the very mouth of the Cimmerian Straits.

After passing the mouth of the Bosporus we come to the river Rhebas,[9] by some writers called the Rhesus. We next come to Psillis,[10] the port of Calpas,[11] and the Sagaris,[12] a famous river, which rises in Phrygia and receives the waters of other rivers of vast magnitude, among which are the Tembrogius[13] and the Gallus,[14] the last of which is by many called the Sangarius. After leaving the Sagaris the Gulf of the Mariandyni[15] begins, and we come to the town of Heraclea,[16] on the river Lycus;[17] this place is distant from the mouth of the Euxine two hundred miles. The sea-port of Acone[18] comes next, which has a fearful notoriety for its aconite or wolf’s-bane, a deadly poison, and then the cavern of Acherusia,[19] the rivers Pædopides, Callichorus, and Sonautes, the town of Tium,[20] distant from Heraclea thirty-eight miles, and the river Billis.

CHAP. 2. (2.)—PAPHLAGONIA.

Beyond this river begins the nation of Paphlagonia,[21] by some writers called Pylæmenia;[22] it is closed in behind by the country of Galatia. In it are Mastya,[23] a town founded by the Milesians, and then Cromna,[24] at which spot Cornelius Nepos also places the Heneti,[25] from whom he would have us believe that the Veneti of Italy, who have a similar name, are descended. The city also of Sesamon, now called Amastris,[26] Mount Cytorus,[27] distant sixty-three miles from Tium, the towns of Cimolis[28] and Stephane,[29] and the river Parthenius.[30] The promontory of Carambis,[31] which extends a great distance into the sea, is distant from the mouth of the Euxine three hundred and twenty-five miles, or, according to some writers, three hundred and fifty, being the same distance from the Cimmerian Bosporus, or, as some persons think, only three hundred and twelve miles. There was formerly also a town of the same name, and another near it called Armene; we now find there the colony of Sinope,[32] distant from Mount Cytorus one hundred and sixty-four miles. We then come to the river Evarchus,[33] and after that a people of the Cappadocians, the towns of Gaziura[34] and Gazelum,[35] the river Halys,[36] which runs from the foot of Mount Taurus through Cataonia and Cappadocia, the towns of Gangre[37] and Carusa,[38] the free town of Amisus,[39] distant from Sinope one hundred and thirty miles, and a gulf of the same name, of such vast extent[40] as to make Asia assume the form of a peninsula, the isthmus of which is only some two hundred[41] miles in breadth, or a little more, across to the gulf of Issus in Cilicia. In all this district there are, it is said, only three races that can rightly be termed Greeks, the Dorians, the Ionians, and the Æolians, all the rest being of barbarian origin.[42] To Amisus was joined the town of Eupatoria,[43] founded by Mithridates: after his defeat they were both included under the name of Pompeiopolis.

CHAP. 3. (3.)—CAPPADOCIA.

Cappadocia[44] has in the interior Archelais,[45] a colony founded by Claudius Cæsar, and past which the river Halys flows; also the towns of Comana,[46] watered by the Sarus, Neocæsarea,[47] by the Lycus,[48] and Amasia,[49] in the region of Gazacene, washed by the Iris. In Colopene it has Sebastia and Sebastopolis;[50] these are insignificant places, but still equal in importance to those just mentioned. In its remaining districts there is Melita,[51] founded by Semiramis, and not far from the Euphrates, Diocæsarea,[52] Tyana,[53] Castabala,[54] Magnopolis,[55] Zela,[56] and at the foot of Mount Argæus[57] Mazaca, now called Cæsarea.[58] That part of Cappadocia which lies stretched out before the Greater Armenia is called Melitene, before Commagene Cataonia, before Phrygia Garsauritis, Sargarausene,[59] and Cammanene, before Galatia Morimene, where their territories are divided by the river Cappadox,[60] from which this people have taken their name; they were formerly known as the Leucosyri.[61] From Neocæsarea above mentioned, the lesser Armenia is separated by the river Lycus. In the interior also there is the famous river Ceraunus,[62] and on the coast beyond the town of Amisus, the town and river of Chadisia,[63] and the town of Lycastum,[64] after which the region of Themiscyra[65] begins.

CHAP. 4.—THE REGION OF THEMISCYRA, AND THE NATIONS THEREIN.

The river Iris brings down to the sea the waters of the Lycus. In the interior is the city of Ziela,[66] famous for the defeat of Triarius[67] and the victory of C. Cæsar.[68] Upon the coast there is the river Thermodon, which rises at the fortified place called Phanarœa,[69] and flows past the foot of Mount Amazonius.[70] There was formerly a town of the same name as the river, and five others in all, Amazonium, Themiscyra, Sotira, Amasia, and Comana,[71] now only a Manteium. (4.) We find here the nations of the Genetæ,[72] the Chalybes,[73] the town of Cotyorum,[74] the nations of the Tibareni and the Mossyni, who make marks upon their bodies,[75] the people called Macrocephali,[76] the town of Cerasus,[77] the port of Chordule, the nations called the Bechires[78] and the Buzeri, the river Melas,[79] the people called the Macrones, and Sidene with its river Sidenus,[80] by which the town of Polemonium[81] is washed, at a distance from Amisus of one hundred and twenty miles. We next come to the rivers Iasonius[82] and Melanthius,[83] and, at a distance of eighty miles from Amisus, the town of Pharnacea,[84] the fortress and river of Tripolis;[85] the fortress and river of Philocalia, the fortress of Liviopolis, but not upon a river, and, at a distance of one hundred miles from Pharnacea, the free city of Trapezus,[86] shut in by a mountain of vast size. Beyond this town is the nation of the Armenochalybes[87] and the Greater Armenia, at a distance of thirty miles. On the coast, before Trapezus, flows the river Pyxites, and beyond it is the nation of the Sanni[88] Heniochi. Next comes the river Absarus,[89] with a fortress of the same name at its mouth, distant from Trapezus one hundred and forty miles.

At the back of the mountains of this district is Iberia, while on the coast are the Heniochi, the Ampreutæ,[90] the Lazi, the rivers Acampsis,[91] Isis,[92] Mogrus, and Bathys,[93] the nations of the Colchi, the town of Matium,[94] the river Heracleum and the promontory of the same name,[95] and the Phasis,[96] the most celebrated river of Pontus. This river rises among the Moschi, and is navigable for the largest vessels a distance of thirty-eight miles and a half, and for small ones very much higher up; it is crossed by one hundred and twenty bridges. It formerly had many cities of note on its banks, the more famous of which were Tyndaris, Circæum, Cygnus, and Phasis[97] at its mouth. But the most celebrated of them all was Æa, fifteen miles[98] distant from the sea, where the Hippos and the Cyaneos,[99] rivers of vast size, flow into it from opposite directions. At the present day its only place of note is Surium, which derives its name from the river which flows at that spot into the Phasis, and up to which place the Phasis is navigable for large vessels, as we have already[100] mentioned. It receives also some other rivers, wonderful for their number and magnitude, and among them the Glaucus.[101] At the mouth of the Phasis, at a distance of seventy miles from Absarus, are some islands, which, however, have no name. After passing this, we come to another river, the Charieis,[102] and the nation of the Salæ, by the ancients called Phthirophagi,[103] as also Suani.[104] The river Chobus[105] flows from the Caucasus through the country of the Suani. The river Rhoas comes next, then the region of Ecrectice, the rivers Singames,[106] Tarsuras,[107] Astelephus,[108] Chrysorrhoas, the nation of the Absilæ, the castle of Sebastopolis,[109] one hundred miles distant from Phasis, the nation of the Sannigæ, the town of Cygnus,[110] and the river and town of Penius.[111] We then come to the tribes of the Heniochi,[112] who are distinguished by numerous names.

CHAP. 5. (5.)—THE REGION OF COLICA, THE NATIONS OF THE ACHÆI, AND OTHER NATIONS IN THE SAME PARTS.

Below this lies the region of Pontus known as Colica,[113] in which the mountain chain of Caucasus bends away towards the Riphæan mountains, as we have previously[114] mentioned; one side running down towards the Euxine and the Lake Mæotis, the other towards the Caspian and the Hyrcanian sea. The remaining portion of these shores is peopled by savage nations, the Melanchlæni,[115] and the Coraxi, who formerly dwelt in Dioscurias,[116] near the river Anthemus, now deserted, but once a famous city; so much so, indeed, that we learn from Timosthenes, that three hundred nations, all of different languages, were in the habit of resorting to it, and in later times we had there one hundred and thirty interpreters for the purpose of transacting business. There are some authors who are of opinion that this place was built by Amphitus and Telchius, the charioteers[117] of Castor and Pollux, from whom it is generally understood that the nation of the Heniochi sprang. After passing Dioscurias we come to the town of Heracleium,[118] seventy miles distant from Sebastopolis, and then the Achæi,[119] the Mardi,[120] and the Cercetæ,[121] and, behind them, the Cerri and the Cephalotomi.[122] In the innermost part[123] of this district there was Pityus,[124] a city of very considerable opulence, but destroyed by the Heniochi: behind it are the Epageritæ, a people of Sarmatian origin, dwelling upon the range of the Caucasus, and beyond them, the Sauromatæ. It was with these people that Mithridates[125] took refuge in the reign of the Emperor Claudius: and from him we learn that the Thalli[126] join up to them, a people who border on the eastern side upon the mouth[127] of the Caspian sea: he tells us also that at the reflux the channel is dry there. Upon the coast of the Euxine, near the country of the Cercetæ, is the river Icarusa,[128] with the town and river of Hierus, distant from Heracleium one hundred and thirty-six miles. Next to this, is the promontory of Cruni, after passing which, we find the Toretæ upon a lofty ridge of mountains. The city of Sindos[129] is distant from Hierus sixty-seven miles and a half; after passing which, we come to the river Setheries. (6.) From thence to the entrance of the Cimmerian Bosporus the distance is eighty-eight miles and a half.

CHAP. 6.—THE CIMMERIAN BOSPORUS.

The length of the peninsula[130] which projects between the Euxine and Lake Mæotis, is not more than sixty-seven miles and a half, and the width across never less than two jugera:[131] it has the name of Eion.[132] The shores of the Bosporus then take a curve both on the side of Europe and of Asia, thus forming the Mæotis. The towns at the entrance of the Bosporus are, first Hermonassa,[133] next Cepi,[134] founded by the Milesians, and then Stratoclia and Phanagoria,[135] and the almost deserted town of Apaturos,[136] and, at the extremity of the mouth, Cimmerium,[137] which was formerly called Cerberion. (7.) We then come to Lake Mæotis, which has been already mentioned[138] in the description of Europe.

CHAP. 7.—LAKE MÆOTIS AND THE ADJOINING NATIONS.

After passing Cimmerium, the coast[139] is inhabited by the Mæotici, the Vali, the Serbi,[140] the Arrechi, the Zingi, and the Psessi. We then come to the river Tanais,[141] which discharges itself into the sea by two mouths, and the banks of which are inhabited by the Sarmatæ, the descendants of the Medi, it is said, a people divided into numerous tribes. The first of these are the Sauromatæ Gynæcocratumeni,[142] the husbands of the Amazons. Next to them are the Ævazæ,[143] the Coitæ,[144] the Cicimeni, the Messeniani, the Costobocci, the Choatræ, the Zigæ,[145] the Dandarii, the Thyssagetæ, and the Iyrcæ,[146] as far as certain rugged deserts and densely wooded vallies, beyond which again are the Arimphæi,[147] who extend as far as the Riphæan Mountains.[148] The Scythians call the river Tanais by the name of Silis, and the Mæotis the Temarunda, meaning the “mother of the sea.” There is[149] a city also at the mouth of the Tanais. The neighbouring country was inhabited first by the Carians, then by the Clazomenii and Mæones, and after them by the Panticapenses.[150]

There are some writers who state that there are the following nations dwelling around the Mæotis, as far as the Ceraunian mountains;[151] at a short distance from the shore, the Napitæ, and beyond them, the Essedones, who join up to the Colchians, and dwell upon the summits of the mountains: after these again, the Camacæ, the Orani, the Autacæ, the Mazacasi, the Cantiocæ, the Agamathæ, the Pici, the Rimosoli, the Acascomarci, and, upon the ridges of the Caucasus, the Itacalæ, the Imadochi, the Rami, the Anclacæ, the Tydii, the Carastasei, and the Anthiandæ. The river Lagoüs runs from the Cathæan[152] mountains, and into it flows the Opharus. Upon it are the tribes of the Cauthadæ, and the Opharitæ. Next to these are the rivers Menotharus and Imityes, which flow from the Cissian mountains, among the peoples called the Acdei, the Carnæ, the Oscardei, the Accisi, the Gabri, the Gogari, and, around the source of the Imityes, the Imityi, and the Apatræi. Some writers say that the Auchetæ, the Athernei, and the Asampatæ, Scythian tribes, have made inroads upon this territory, and have destroyed the Tanaitæ and the Inapæi to a man. Others again represent the Ocharius as running through the Cantici and the Sapæi, and the Tanais as passing through the territories of the Sarcharcei, the Herticei, the Spondolici, the Synhietæ, the Anasi, the Issi, the Catetæ, the Tagoræ, the Caroni, the Neripi, the Agandei, the Mandarei, the Satarchei, and the Spalei.

CHAP. 8. (8.)—THE SITUATION OF CAPPADOCIA.

We have now gone over the coast which borders upon the Inner[153] Sea, and have enumerated the various nations that dwell thereon; let us now turn to those vast tracts of land which lie further in the interior. I do not deny that in my description I shall differ very materially from the ancient writers, but still it is one that has been compiled with the most anxious research, from a full examination into the events which have transpired of late in these countries under the command of Domitius Corbulo,[154] and from information received either from kings who have been sent thence to Rome, as suppliants for our mercy, or else the sons of kings who have visited us in the character of hostages.

We will begin then with the nation of the Cappadocians.

Of all the countries of Pontus, this[155] extends the greatest distance into the interior.[156] On the left[157] it leaves behind the Lesser and the Greater Armenia, as well as Commagene, and on the right all the nations of the province of Asia which we have previously described. Spreading over numerous peoples, it rises rapidly in elevation in an easterly direction towards the range of Taurus. Then passing Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Cilicia, it advances above the district of Antiochia, the portion of it known as Cataonia extending as far as Cyrrhestica, which forms part of that district. The length of Asia[158] here is twelve hundred and fifty miles, its breadth six hundred and forty.[159]

CHAP. 9. (9.)—THE LESSER AND THE GREATER ARMENIA.

Greater Armenia,[160] beginning at the mountains known as the Paryadres,[161] is separated, as we have already stated,[162] from Cappadocia by the river Euphrates, and, where that river turns off[163] in its course, from Mesopotamia, by the no less famous river Tigris. Both of these rivers take their rise in Armenia, which also forms the commencement of Mesopotamia, a tract of country which lies between these streams; the intervening space between them being occupied by the Arabian Orei.[164] It thus extends its frontier as far as Adiabene, at which point it is stopped short by a chain of mountains which takes a cross direction; whereupon the province extends in width to the left, crossing the course of the Araxes,[165] as far as the river Cyrus;[166] while in length it reaches as far as the Lesser Armenia,[167] from which it is separated by the river Absarus, which flows into the Euxine, and by the mountains known as the Paryadres, in which the Absarus takes its rise.

CHAP. 10.—THE RIVERS CYRUS AND ARAXES.

The river Cyrus[168] takes its rise in the mountains of the Heniochi, by some writers called the Coraxici; the Araxes rises in the same mountains as the river Euphrates, at a distance from it of six miles only;[169] and after being increased by the waters of the Usis, falls itself, as many authors have supposed, into the Cyrus, by which it is carried into the Caspian Sea.

The more famous towns in Lesser Armenia are Cæsarea,[170] Aza,[171] and Nicopolis;[172] in the Greater Arsamosata,[173] which lies near the Euphrates, Carcathiocerta[174] upon the Tigris, Tigranocerta[175] which stands on an elevated site, and, on a plain adjoining the river Araxes, Artaxata.[176] According to Aufidius, the circumference of the whole of Armenia is five thousand miles, while Claudius Cæsar makes the length, from Dascusa[177] to the borders of the Caspian Sea, thirteen[178] hundred miles, and the breadth, from Tigranocerta to Iberia,[179] half that distance. It is a well-known fact, that this country is divided into prefectures, called “Strategies,” some of which singly formed a kingdom in former times; they are one hundred and twenty in number, with barbarous and uncouth names.[180] On the east, it is bounded, though not immediately, by the Ceraunian Mountains and the district of Adiabene. The space that intervenes is occupied by the Sopheni, beyond whom is the chain of mountains,[181] and then beyond them the inhabitants of Adiabene. Dwelling in the valleys adjoining to Armenia are the Menobardi and the Moscheni. The Tigris and inaccessible mountains surround Adiabene. To the left[182] of it is the territory of the Medi, and in the distance is seen the Caspian Sea; which, as we shall state in the proper place, receives its waters from the ocean,[183] and is wholly surrounded by the Caucasian Mountains. The inhabitants upon the confines of Armenia shall now be treated of.

CHAP. 11. (10.)—ALBANIA, IBERIA, AND THE ADJOINING NATIONS.

The whole plain which extends away from the river Cyrus is inhabited by the nation of the Albani,[184] and, after them,[185] by that of the Iberi,[186] who are separated from them by the river Alazon,[187] which flows into the Cyrus from the Caucasian chain. The chief cities are Cabalaca,[188] in Albania, Harmastis,[189] near a river[190] of Iberia, and Neoris; there is the region also of Thasie, and that of Triare, extending as far as the mountains known as the Paryadres. Beyond these[191] are the deserts of Colchios, on the side of which that looks towards the Ceraunian Mountains dwell the Armenochalybes;[192] and there is the country of the Moschi, extending to the river Iberus, which flows into the Cyrus; below them are the Sacassani, and after them the Macrones, upon the river Absarus. Such is the manner in which the plains and low country are parcelled out. Again, after passing the confines of Albania, the wild tribes of the Silvi inhabit the face of the mountains, below them those of the Lubieni, and after them the Diduri and the Sodii.

CHAP. 12. (11.)—THE PASSES OF THE CAUCASUS.

After passing the last, we come to the Gates of Caucasus,[193] by many persons most erroneously called the Caspian Passes; a vast work of nature, which has suddenly wrenched asunder in this place a chain of mountains. At this spot are gates barred up with beams shod with iron, while beneath the middle there runs a stream which emits a most fetid odour; on this side of it is a rock, defended by a fortress, the name of which is Cumania,[194] erected for the purpose of preventing the passage of the innumerable tribes that lie beyond. Here, then, we may see the habitable world severed into two parts by a pair of gates; they are just opposite to Harmastis, a town of the Iberi.

Beyond the Gates of Caucasus, in the Gordyæan Mountains, the Valli and the Suani, uncivilized tribes, are found; still, however, they work the mines of gold there. Beyond these nations, and extending as far away as Pontus, are numerous nations of the Heniochi, and, after them, of the Achæi. Such is the present state of one of the most famous tracts upon the face of the earth.

Some writers have stated that the distance between the Euxine and the Caspian Sea is not more than three hundred and seventy-five miles; Cornelius Nepos makes it only two hundred and fifty. Within such straits is Asia pent up in this second instance[195] by the agency of the sea! Claudius Cæsar has informed us that from the Cimmerian Bosporus to the Caspian Sea is a distance of only one hundred and fifty[196] miles, and that Nicator Seleucus[197] contemplated cutting through this isthmus just at the time when he was slain by Ptolemy Ceraunus. It is a well-known fact that the distance from the Gates of Caucasus to the shores of the Euxine is two hundred miles.

CHAP. 13. (12.)—THE ISLANDS OF THE EUXINE.

The islands of the Euxine are the Planctæ or Cyaneæ,[198] otherwise called Symplegades, and Apollonia, surnamed Thynias,[199] to distinguish it from the island of that name[200] in Europe; it is four miles in circumference, and one mile distant from the mainland. Opposite to Pharnacea[201] is Chalceritis, to which the Greeks have given the name of Aria,[202] and consecrated it to Mars; here, they say, there were birds that used to attack strangers with blows of their wings.

CHAP. 14. (13.)—NATIONS IN THE VICINITY OF THE SCYTHIAN OCEAN.

Having now stated all that bears reference to the interior of Asia, let us cross in imagination the Riphæan[203] Mountains, and traverse the shores of the ocean to the right. On three sides does this ocean wash the coasts of Asia, as the Scythian Ocean on the north, the Eastern Ocean on the east, and the Indian Ocean on the south; and it is again divided into various names, derived from the numerous gulfs which it forms, and the nations which dwell upon its shores. A great part of Asia, however, which lies exposed to the north, through the noxious effects of those freezing climates, consists of nothing but vast deserts. From the extreme north north-east to the point[204] where the sun rises in the summer, it is the country of the Scythians. Still further than them, and beyond[205] the point where north north-east begins, some writers have placed the Hyperborei, who are said, indeed, by the majority to be a people of Europe.[206] After passing this point,[207] the first place that is known is Lytarmis,[208] a promontory of Celtica, and next to it the river Carambucis,[209] where the chain of the Riphæan Mountains terminates, and with it the extreme rigour of the climate; here, too, we have heard of a certain people being situate, called the Arimphæi,[210] a race not much unlike the Hyperborei.[211] Their habitations are the groves, and the berries their diet; long hair is held to be disgraceful by the women as well as the men, and they are mild in their manners. Hence it is that they are reported to be a sacred[212] race, and are never molested even by the savage tribes which border upon them, and not only they, but such other persons as well as may have fled to them for refuge. Beyond these we come straight to the Scythians, the Cimmerii, the Cisianthi, the Georgi, and a nation of Amazons.[213] These last extend to the Caspian and Hyrcanian Sea.[214]

CHAP. 15.—THE CASPIAN AND HYRCANIAN SEA.

Bursting through, this sea makes a passage from the Scythian Ocean into the back of Asia,[215] receiving various names from the nations which dwell upon its banks, the two most famous of which are the Caspian and the Hyrcanian races. Clitarchus is of opinion that the Caspian Sea is not less in area than the Euxine. Eratosthenes gives the measure of it on the south-east, along the coast of Cadusia[216] and Albania, as five thousand four hundred stadia; thence, through the territories of the Anariaci, the Amardi, and the Hyrcani, to the mouth of the river Zonus he makes four thousand eight hundred stadia, and thence to the mouth of the Jaxartes[217] two thousand four hundred; which makes in all a distance of one thousand five hundred and seventy-five miles. Artemidorus, however, makes this sum smaller by twenty-five miles. Agrippa bounds the Caspian Sea and the nations around it, including Armenia, on the east by the Ocean of the Seres,[218] on the west by the chain of the Caucasus, on the south by that of Taurus, and on the north by the Scythian Ocean; and he states it, so far as its extent is known, to be four hundred and eighty miles in length, and two hundred and ninety in breadth. There are not wanting, however, some authors who state that its whole circumference, from the Straits,[219] is two thousand five hundred miles.

Its waters make their way into this sea by a very narrow mouth,[220] but of considerable length; and where it begins to enlarge, it curves obliquely with horns in the form of a crescent, just as though it would make a descent from its mouth into Lake Mæotis, resembling a sickle in shape, as M. Varro says. The first[221] of its gulfs is called the Scythian Gulf; it is inhabited on both sides, by the Scythians, who hold communication with each other across the Straits,[222] the Nomades being on one side, together with the Sauromatæ, divided into tribes with numerous names, and on the other, the Abzoæ, who are also divided into an equal number. At the entrance, on the right hand side,[223] dwell the Udini, a Scythian tribe, at the very angle of the mouth. Then along[224] the coast there are the Albani, the descendants of Jason, it is said; that part of the sea which lies in front of them, bears the name of ‘Albanian.’ This nation, which lies along the Caucasian chain, comes down, as we have previously stated,[225] as far as the river Cyrus, which forms the boundary of Armenia and Iberia. Above the maritime coast of Albania and the nation of the Udini, the Sarmatæ, the Utidorsi, and the Aroteres stretch along its shores, and in their rear the Sauromatian Amazons, already spoken of.[226]

The rivers which run through Albania in their course to the sea are the Casius[227] and the Albanus,[228] and then the Cambyses,[229] which rises in the Caucasian mountains, and next to it the Cyrus, rising in those of the Coraxici, as already mentioned.[230] Agrippa states that the whole of this coast, inaccessible from rocks of an immense height, is four hundred and twenty-five miles in length, beginning from the river Casius. After we pass the mouth of the Cyrus, it begins to be called the ‘Caspian Sea;’ the Caspii being a people who dwell upon its shores.

In this place it may be as well to correct an error into which many persons have fallen, and even those who lately took part with Corbulo in the Armenian war. The Gates of Iberia, which we have mentioned[231] as the Caucasian, they have spoken of as being called the ‘Caspian,’ and the coloured plans which have been sent from those parts to Rome have that name written upon them. The menaced expedition, too, that was contemplated by the Emperor Nero, was said to be designed to extend as far as the Caspian Gates, whereas it was really intended for those which lead through Iberia into the territory of the Sarmatæ; there being hardly any possibility of approach to the Caspian Sea, by reason of the close juxtaposition of the mountains there. There are, however, other Caspian Gates, which join up to the Caspian tribes; but these can only be distinguished from a perusal of the narrative of those who took part in the expedition of Alexander the Great.

CHAP. 16.—ADIABENE.

The kingdom of the Persians, by which we now understand that of Parthia, is elevated upon the Caucasian chain between two seas, the Persian and the Hyrcanian. To the Greater Armenia, which in the front slopes towards Commagene, is joined Sophene, which lies upon the descent[232] on both sides thereof, and next to it is Adiabene, the most advanced frontier of Assyria; a part of which is Arbelitis,[233] where Alexander conquered Darius, and which joins up to Syria. The whole of this country was called Mygdonia by the Macedonians, on account of the resemblance it bore to Mygdonia[234] in Europe. Its cities are Alexandria,[235] and Antiochia, also called Nisibis;[236] this last place is distant from Artaxata seven hundred and fifty miles. There was also in former times Ninus,[237] a most renowned city, on the banks of the Tigris, with an aspect towards the west. Adjoining the other front of Greater Armenia, which runs down towards the Caspian Sea, we find Atropatene,[238] which is separated from Otene, a region of Armenia, by the river Araxes; Gazæ[239] is its chief city, distant from Artaxata four hundred and fifty miles, and the same from Ecbatana in Media, to which country Atropatene belongs.

CHAP. 17. (14.)—MEDIA AND THE CASPIAN GATES.

Ecbatana,[240] the capital of Media, was built[241] by king Seleucus, at a distance from Great Seleucia of seven hundred and fifty miles, and twenty miles from the Caspian Gates. The remaining towns of the Medians are Phazaca, Aganzaga, and Apamea,[242] surnamed Rhagiane. The reason of these passes receiving the name of “Gates,” is the same that has been stated above.[243] The chain of mountains is suddenly broken by a passage of such extreme narrowness that, for a distance of eight miles, a single chariot can barely find room to move along: the whole of this pass has been formed by artificial means. Both on the right hand and the left are overhanging rocks, which look as though they had been exposed to the action of fire; and there is a tract of country, quite destitute of water, twenty-eight miles in extent. This narrow pass, too, is rendered still more difficult by a liquid salt which oozes from the rocks, and uniting in a single stream, makes its way along the pass. Besides this, it is frequented by such multitudes of serpents, that the passage is quite impracticable except in winter.

(15.) Joining up to Adiabene are the people formerly known as the ‘Carduchi,’ now the Cordueni,[244] in front of whom the river Tigris flows: and next to them are the Pratitæ, entitled the _Par Odon_,[245] who hold possession of the Caspian Gates.[246] On the other side[247] of these gates we come to the deserts[248] of Parthia and the mountain chain of Cithenus; and after that, the most pleasant locality of all Parthia, Choara[249] by name. Here were two cities of the Parthians, built in former times for their protection against the people of Media, Calliope,[250] and Issatis, the last of which stood formerly[251] on a rock. Hecatompylos,[252] the capital of Parthia, is distant from the Caspian Gates one hundred and thirty-three miles. In such an effectual manner is the kingdom of Parthia shut out by these passes. After leaving these gates we find the nation of the Caspii, extending as far as the shores of the Caspian, a race which has given its name to these gates as well as to the sea: on the left there is a mountainous district. Turning back[253] from this nation to the river Cyrus, the distance is said to be two hundred and twenty miles; but if we go from that river as far down as the Caspian Gates, the distance is seven hundred[254] miles. In the itineraries of Alexander the Great these gates were made the central or turning point in his expeditions; the distance from the Caspian Gates to the frontier of India being there set down as fifteen thousand six hundred and eighty[255] stadia, to the city of Bactra,[256] commonly called Zariaspa, three thousand seven hundred, and thence to the river Jaxartes[257] five thousand stadia.

CHAP. 18. (16.)—NATIONS SITUATE AROUND THE HYRCANIAN SEA.

Lying to the east of the Caspii is the region known as Apavortene,[258] in which there is a place noted for its singular fertility, called Dareium.[259] We then come to the nations of the Tapyri,[260] the Anariaci, the Staures, and the Hyrcani, past whose shores and beyond the river Sideris[261] the Caspian begins to take the name of the ‘Hyrcanian’ Sea: on this side of that stream are also the rivers Maxeras and Strato; all of them take their rise in the Caucasian chain. Next comes the district of Margiane,[262] so remarkable for its sunny climate. It is the only spot in all these regions that produces the vine, being shut in on every side by verdant and refreshing hills. This district is fifteen hundred stadia in circumference, but is rendered remarkably difficult of access by sandy deserts, which extend a distance of one hundred and twenty miles: it lies opposite to the country of Parthia, and in it Alexander founded the city of Alexandria. This place having been destroyed by the barbarians, Antiochus,[263] the son of Seleucus, rebuilt it on the same site as a Syrian city.[264] For, seeing that it was watered by the Margus,[265] which passes through it, and is afterwards divided into a number of streams for the irrigation of the district of Zothale, he restored it, but preferred giving it the name of Antiochia.[266] The circumference of this city is seventy stadia: it was to this place that Orodes conducted such of the Romans as had survived the defeat of Crassus. From the mountain heights of this district, along the range of Caucasus, the savage race of the Mardi, a free people, extends as far as the Bactri.[267] Below the district inhabited by them, we find the nations of the Orciani, the Commori, the Berdrigæ, the Harmatotropi,[268] the Citomaræ, the Comani, the Marucæi, and the Mandruani. The rivers here are the Mandrus and the Chindrus.[269] Beyond the nations already mentioned, are the Chorasmii,[270] the Candari,[271] the Attasini, the Paricani, the Sarangæ, the Marotiani, the Aorsi,[272] the Gaëli, by the Greek writers called Cadusii,[273] the Matiani, the city of Heraclea,[274] which was founded by Alexander, but was afterwards destroyed, and rebuilt by Antiochus, and by him called Achaïs; the Derbices also,[275] through the middle of whose territory the river Oxus[276] runs, after rising in Lake Oxus,[277] the Syrmatæ, the Oxydracæ, the Heniochi, the Bateni, the Saraparæ, and the Bactri, whose chief city is Zariaspe, which afterwards received the name of Bactra, from the river[278] there. This last nation lies at the back of Mount Paropanisus,[279] over against the sources of the river Indus, and is bounded by the river Ochus.[280] Beyond it are the Sogdiani,[281] the town of Panda, and, at the very extremity of their territory, Alexandria,[282] founded by Alexander the Great. At this spot are the altars which were raised by Hercules and Father Liber, as also by Cyrus, Semiramis, and Alexander; for the expeditions of all these conquerors stopped short at this region, bounded as it is by the river Jaxartes, by the Scythians known as the Silis, and by Alexander and his officers supposed to have been the Tanais. This river was crossed by Demodamas, a general of kings Seleucus and Antiochus, and whose account more particularly we have here followed. He also consecrated certain altars here to Apollo Didymæus.[283]

CHAP. 19. (17.)—THE NATIONS OF SCYTHIA AND THE COUNTRIES ON THE EASTERN OCEAN.

Beyond this river are the peoples of Scythia. The Persians have called them by the general name of Sacæ,[284] which properly belongs to only the nearest nation of them. The more ancient writers give them the name of Aramii. The Scythians themselves give the name of “Chorsari” to the Persians, and they call Mount Caucasus Graucasis, which means “white with snow.” The multitude of these Scythian nations is quite innumerable: in their life and habits they much resemble the people of Parthia. The tribes among them that are better known are the Sacæ, the Massagetæ,[285] the Dahæ,[286] the Essedones,[287] the Ariacæ,[288] the Rhymmici, the Pæsici, the Amardi,[289] the Histi, the Edones, the Camæ, the Camacæ, the Euchatæ,[290] the Cotieri, the Anthusiani, the Psacæ, the Arimaspi,[291] the Antacati, the Chroasai, and the Œtei; among them the Napæi[292] are said to have been destroyed by the Palæi. The rivers in their country that are the best known, are the Mandragæus and the Carpasus. Indeed upon no subject that I know of are there greater discrepancies among writers, from the circumstance, I suppose, of these nations being so extremely numerous, and of such migratory habits. Alexander the Great has left it stated that the water of this sea[293] is fresh, and M. Varro informs us, that some of it, of a similar character, was brought to Pompey, when holding the chief command in the Mithridatic war in its vicinity; the salt,[294] no doubt, being overpowered by the volume of water discharged by the rivers which flow into it. He adds also, that under the direction of Pompey, it was ascertained that it is seven days’ journey from India to the river Icarus,[295] in the country of the Bactri, which discharges itself into the Oxus, and that the merchandize of India being conveyed from it[296] through the Caspian Sea into the Cyrus, may be brought by land to Phasis in Pontus, in five days at most. There are numerous islands throughout the whole of the Caspian sea: the only one that is well known is that of Tazata.[297]

CHAP. 20.—THE SERES.

After we have passed the Caspian Sea and the Scythian Ocean, our course takes an easterly direction, such being the turn here taken by the line of the coast. The first portion[298] of these shores, after we pass the Scythian Promontory, is totally uninhabitable, owing to the snow, and the regions adjoining are uncultivated, in consequence of the savage state of the nations which dwell there. Here are the abodes of the Scythian Anthropophagi,[299] who feed on human flesh. Hence it is that all around them consists of vast deserts, inhabited by multitudes of wild beasts, which are continually lying in wait, ready to fall upon human beings just as savage as themselves. After leaving these, we again come to a nation of the Scythians, and then again to desert tracts tenanted by wild beasts, until we reach a chain of mountains which runs up to the sea, and bears the name of Tabis.[300] It is not, however, before we have traversed very nearly one half of the coast that looks towards the north-east, that we find it occupied by inhabitants.

The first people that are known of here are the Seres,[301] so famous for the wool that is found in their forests.[302] After steeping it in water, they comb off a white down that adheres to the leaves; and then to the females of our part of the world they give the twofold task[303] of unravelling their textures, and of weaving the threads afresh. So manifold is the labour, and so distant are the regions which are thus ransacked to supply a dress through which our ladies may in public display[304] their charms. The Seres are of inoffensive manners, but, bearing a strong resemblance therein to all savage nations, they shun all intercourse with the rest of mankind, and await the approach[305] of those who wish to traffic with them. The first river that is known in their territory is the Psitharas,[306] next to that the Cambari, and the third the Laros; after which we come to the Promontory of Chryse,[307] the Gulf of Cynaba, the river Atianos, and the nation of the Attacori on the gulf of that name, a people protected by their sunny hills from all noxious blasts, and living in a climate of the same temperature as that of the Hyperborei. Amometus has written a work entirely devoted to the history of these people, just as Hecatæus has done in his treatise on the Hyperborei. After the Attacori, we find the nations of the Phruri and the Tochari, and, in the interior, the Casiri, a people of India, who look toward the Scythians, and feed on human flesh. Here are also numerous wandering Nomad tribes of India. There are some authors who state that in a north-easterly direction these nations touch upon the Cicones[308] and the Brysari.

CHAP. 21.—THE NATIONS OF INDIA.

But we come now to nations as to which there is a more general agreement among writers. Where the chain of Emodus[309] rises, the nations of India begin, which borders not only on the Eastern sea, but on the Southern as well, which we have already mentioned[310] as being called the Indian Ocean. That part which faces the east runs in a straight line a distance of eighteen hundred and seventy-five miles until it comes to a bend, at which the Indian Ocean begins. Here it takes a turn to the south, and continues to run in that direction a distance of two thousand four hundred and seventy-five miles, according to Eratosthenes, as far as the river Indus, the boundary of India on the west.[311] Many authors have represented the entire length of the Indian coast as being forty days’ and nights’ sail, and as being, from north to south, two thousand eight hundred and fifty miles. Agrippa states its length to be three thousand three hundred miles, and its breadth, two thousand three hundred. Posidonius has given its measurement as lying from north-east to south-east, placing it opposite to Gaul, of which country he has given the measurement as lying from north-west to south-west; making the whole of India to lie due west of Gaul. Hence, as he has shewn by undoubted proofs, India lying opposite to Gaul must be refreshed by the blowing of that wind,[312] and derive its salubrity therefrom.

In this region, the appearance of the heavens is totally changed, and quite different is the rising of the stars; there are two summers in the year, and two harvests, while the winter intervenes between them during the time that the Etesian[313] winds are blowing: during our winter too, they enjoy light breezes, and their seas are navigable. In this country there are nations and cities which would be found to be quite innumerable, if a person should attempt to enumerate them. For it has been explored not only by the arms of Alexander the Great and of the kings who succeeded him, by Seleucus and Antiochus, who sailed round even to the Caspian and Hyrcanian Sea, and by Patrocles,[314] the admiral of their fleet, but has been treated of by several other Greek writers who resided at the courts of Indian kings, such, for instance, as Megasthenes, and by Dionysius, who was sent thither by Philadelphus, expressly for the purpose: all of whom have enlarged upon the power and vast resources of these nations. Still, however, there is no possibility of being rigorously exact, so different are the accounts given, and often of a nature so incredible. The followers of Alexander the Great have stated in their writings, that there were no less than five thousand cities in that portion of India which they vanquished by force of arms, not one of which was smaller than that of Cos;[315] that its nations were eight in number, that India forms one-third of the whole earth, and that its populations are innumerable—a thing which is certainly far from improbable, seeing that the Indians are nearly the only race of people who have never migrated from their own territories. From the time of Father Liber[316] to that of Alexander the Great, one hundred and fifty-three kings of India are reckoned, extending over a period of six thousand four hundred and fifty-one years and three months. The vast extent of their rivers is quite marvellous; it is stated that on no one day did Alexander the Great sail less than six hundred stadia[317] on the Indus, and still was unable to reach its mouth in less than five months and some few days: and yet it is a well-known fact that this river is not so large as the Ganges.[318] Seneca, one of our fellow-countrymen, who has written a treatise[319] upon the subject of India, has given its rivers as sixty-five in number, and its nations as one hundred and eighteen. The difficulty too would be quite as great, if we were to attempt to enumerate its mountains. The chains of Emaüs, of Emodus, of Paropanisus, and of Caucasus, are all connected, the one with the other; and from their foot, the country of India runs down in the form of a vast plain, bearing a very considerable resemblance to that of Egypt.

However, that we may come to a better understanding relative to the description of these regions, we will follow in the track of Alexander the Great. Diognetus and Bæton, whose duty it was to ascertain the distances and length of his expeditions, have written that from the Caspian Gates to Hecatompylon, the city of the Parthians, the distance is the number of miles which we have already[320] stated; and that from thence to Alexandria,[321] of the Arii, which city was founded by the same king, the distance is five hundred and seventy-five miles; from thence to Prophthasia,[322] the city of the Drangæ, one hundred and ninety-nine; from thence to the city of the Arachosii,[323] five hundred and sixty-five; from thence to Ortospanum,[324] one hundred and seventy-five; and from thence to the city built by Alexander,[325] fifty, miles. In some copies, however, the numbers are found differently stated; and we find this last city even placed at the very foot of Mount Caucasus! From this place to the river Cophes[326] and Peucolaitis, a city of India, is two hundred and thirty-seven miles; from thence to the river Indus and the city of Taxilla[327] sixty; from thence to the famous river Hydaspes[328] one hundred and twenty; and from thence to the Hypasis,[329] a river no less famous, two hundred and ninety miles, and three hundred and ninety paces. This last was the extreme limit of the expedition of Alexander, though he crossed the river and dedicated certain altars[330] on the opposite side. The dispatches written by order of that king fully agree with the distances above stated.

The remaining distances beyond the above point were ascertained on the expedition of Seleucus Nicator. They are, to the river Sydrus,[331] one hundred and sixty-eight miles; to the river Jomanes, the same; some copies, however, add to this last distance five miles; thence to the Ganges, one hundred and twelve miles; to Rhodapha, five hundred and sixty-nine—though, according to some writers, this last distance is only three hundred and twenty-five miles; to the town of Calinipaxa,[332] one hundred and sixty-seven, according to some, two hundred and sixty-five; thence to the confluence of the river Jomanes[333] and Ganges, six hundred and twenty-five; most writers, however, add thirteen miles to this last distance; thence to the city of Palibothra,[334] four hundred and twenty-five—and thence to the mouth of the Ganges, six hundred and thirty-seven miles and a half.

The nations whom it may be not altogether inopportune to mention, after passing the Emodian Mountains, a cross range of which is called “Imaus,” a word which, in the language of the natives, signifies “snowy,”[335] are the Isari, the Cosyri, the Izi, and, upon the chain of mountains, the Chisiotosagi, with numerous peoples, which have the surname of Brachmanæ,[336] among whom are the Maccocalingæ. There are also the rivers Prinas and Cainas,[337] which last flows into the Ganges, both of them navigable streams. The nation of the Calingæ[338] comes nearest to the sea, and above them are the Mandei and the Malli.[339] In the territory of the last-named people is a mountain called Mallus: the boundary of this region is the river Ganges.

CHAP. 22. (18.)—THE GANGES.

Some writers have stated that this river, like the Nile, takes its rise from unknown sources,[340] and, in a similar manner, waters the neighbouring territory; others, again, say that it rises in the mountains of Scythia. They state also that nineteen rivers discharge their waters into it; those among them that are navigable, besides the rivers already mentioned,[341] are the Condochates,[342] the Erannoboas,[343] the Cosoagus,[344] and the Sonus. Other writers again say that it bursts forth at its very source with a loud noise, hurling itself over rocks and precipices; and that after it has reached the plains, its waters become more tranquil, and it pauses for a time in a certain lake, after which it flows gently on. They say also that it is eight miles in breadth, where it is the very narrowest, and one hundred stadia where it is but moderately wide, and that it is nowhere less than twenty paces in depth. The last nation situate on the banks of the Ganges is that of the Gangarides[345] Calingæ; the city where their king dwells has the name of Protalis.[346]

(19.) This king has sixty thousand foot-soldiers, one thousand horse, and seven hundred elephants, always caparisoned ready for battle. The people of the more civilized nations of India are divided into several classes.[347] One of these classes till the earth, another attends to military affairs, others again are occupied in mercantile pursuits, while the wisest and the most wealthy among them have the management of the affairs of state—act as judges, and give counsel to the king. The fifth class,[348] entirely devoting themselves to the pursuit of wisdom, which in these countries is almost held in the same veneration as religion, always[349] end their life by a voluntary death upon the lighted pile. In addition to these, there is a class[350] in a half-savage state, and doomed to endless labour; by means of their exertions, all the classes previously mentioned are supported. It is their duty to hunt[351] the elephant, and to tame him when captured; for it is by the aid of these animals that they plough; by these animals they are conveyed from place to place; these in especial they look upon as constituting their flocks and herds; by their aid they wage their wars, and fight in defence of their territories. Strength, age, and size, are the points usually considered in making choice of these animals.

In the Ganges there is an island of very considerable size, inhabited by a single nation; it is called Modogalinga.[352] Beyond the Ganges are situate the Modubæ, the Molindæ, the Uberæ, with a magnificent city of the same name, the Modresi, the Preti, the Caloæ, the Sasuri, the Passalæ, the Colobæ, the Orumcolæ, the Abali, and the Thalutæ. The king of the last-named people has fifty thousand foot-soldiers, four thousand horse, and four hundred armed elephants. We next come to a still more powerful nation, the Andaræ,[353] who dwell in numerous villages, as well as thirty cities fortified with walls and towers. They furnish for their king one hundred thousand foot, two thousand horse, and a thousand elephants. The country of the Dardæ[354] is the most productive of gold, that of the Setæ of silver.