A Complete Good Works Translation from Geography 12.5.1-4

Strabo's Galatia chapter gives a compact Greek geographical witness to the Trocmi, Tolistobogii, and Tectosages, the Galatian migration into Asia, the shared language of the three peoples, the tetrarchies and council at Drynemetum, Deiotarus and Amyntas, the fortified centers, Pessinus, and the southern edge of Galatia. It is a Greek imperial-period description, but it is one of the clearest full source-units for Galatian political geography.

Translation

Section 1

To the south of the Paphlagonians are the Galatians. Of these there are three peoples: two, the Trocmi and Tolistobogii, named after their leaders, and the third, the Tectosages, named from the people in Celtica. The Galatians occupied this land after wandering for a long time and overrunning the country subject to the Attalic kings and to the Bithynians, until by voluntary grant they received the present Galatia, also called Gallo-Graecia. Leonnorius is especially thought to have been the leader of the crossing into Asia. Since the three peoples had one language and were not different in any other respect, they divided each people into four portions and called each portion a tetrarchy. Each had its own tetrarch, one judge, one military commander set under the tetrarch, and two subordinate military commanders. The council of the twelve tetrarchs consisted of three hundred men, and they gathered at the place called Drynemetum. The council judged cases of murder, while the tetrarchs and judges judged the other cases. Such, then, was the old arrangement. In our time the power came to three rulers, then to two, then to one, Deiotarus; then Amyntas succeeded him. Now the Romans possess both this land and all the land that came under Amyntas, having gathered them into one province.

Section 2

The Trocmi hold the parts toward Pontus and Cappadocia. These are the strongest parts of the land held by the Galatians. They have three fortified places: Tavium, a trading place of those parts, where there is a bronze colossal image of Zeus and his sacred precinct, an asylum; Mithridatium, which Pompey gave to Bogodiatarus after marking it off from the Pontic kingdom; and third, Danala, where Pompey and Lucullus held their meeting, Lucullus handing over the command and departing for his triumph, Pompey arriving to succeed him in the war. The Trocmi, then, hold these parts. The Tectosages hold the parts toward Great Phrygia around Pessinus and the Orcaorci. Their fortified place was Ancyra, sharing its name with the little Phrygian town near Blaudus toward Lydia. The Tolistobogii border the Bithynians and the Phrygia called Epictetus. Their fortified places are Blucium and Peium, of which one was the royal residence of Deiotarus and the other his treasury.

Section 3

Pessinus is the greatest trading place in those parts, and it has a sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods that receives great reverence. They call her Agdistis. In former times the priests were certain rulers, enjoying a great priesthood, but now their honors have been much diminished, while the trading place remains. The sacred precinct was furnished by the Attalic kings in a manner worthy of a sanctuary, with a temple and porticoes of white stone. The Romans made the sanctuary famous when they sent for the image of the goddess from there according to the oracles of the Sibyl, just as they did with Asclepius from Epidaurus. There is also a mountain rising over the city, Dindymum, from which comes the name Dindymene, just as Cybele is named from the Cybela. Nearby the river Sangarius makes its flow. Along this river are the ancient dwelling places of the Phrygians, of Midas and still earlier of Gordius and certain others. They preserve no traces of cities, but are villages a little larger than the others, such as Gordium and Gorbeus, the royal residence of Castor son of Saocondarus. Deiotarus slaughtered Castor there while he was his son-in-law, and also killed his own daughter. He tore down the fortified place and ruined most of the settlement.

Section 4

After Galatia, toward the south, there is Lake Tatta, lying beside Great Cappadocia around the Morimeni, and itself part of Great Phrygia, together with the land continuous with it as far as the Taurus, most of which Amyntas held. Tatta is a natural salt-pan. The water so easily forms a crust around anything dipped into it that people draw up wreaths of salt when they lower a circle of rushes, and birds that touch the water with their feathers are caught, immediately falling because of the salt that hardens around them.

Colophon

This page translates Strabo, Geography 12.5.1-4 from Greek for the Celtic continental expansion of the Good Work Library. Strabo's description preserves Greek geographical framing and Roman provincial hindsight; the translation keeps that frame visible while preserving the whole Galatia chapter as a source-body.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

🌲

Source Text: Strabo, Geography 12.5.1-4

Greek source text from Perseus Hopper's text of Strabo, Geography, Book 12. This page gives the complete Galatia chapter: the three Galatian peoples, tetrarchies, Drynemetum, tribal territories, Pessinus, and Lake Tatta.

Section 1

πρὸς νότον τοίνυν εἰσὶ τοῖς Παφλαγόσι Γαλάται: τούτων δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἔθνη τρία, δύο μὲν τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἐπώνυμα, Τροκμοὶ καὶ Τολιστοβώγιοι, τὸ τρίτον δ᾽ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐν Κελτικῇ ἔθνους Τεκτόσαγες. κατέσχον δὲ τὴν χώραν ταύτην οἱ Γαλάται πλανηθέντες πολὺν χρόνον καὶ καταδραμόντες τὴν ὑπὸ τοῖς Ἀτταλικοῖς βασιλεῦσι χώραν καὶ τοῖς Βιθυνοῖς, ἕως παρ᾽ ἑκόντων ἔλαβον τὴν νῦν Γαλατίαν καὶ Γαλλογραικίαν λεγομένην. ἀρχηγὸς δὲ δοκεῖ μάλιστα τῆς περαιώσεως τῆς εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν γενέσθαι Λεοννόριος. τριῶν δὲ ὄντων ἐθνῶν ὁμογλώττων καὶ κατ᾽ ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἐξηλλαγμένων, ἕκαστον διελόντες εἰς τέτταρας μερίδας τετραρχίαν ἑκάστην ἐκάλεσαν, τετράρχην ἔχουσαν ἴδιον καὶ δικαστὴν ἕνα καὶ στρατοφύλακα ἕνα ὑπὸ τῷ τετράρχῃ τεταγμένους, ὑποστρατοφύλακας δὲ δύο. ἡ δὲ τῶν δώδεκα τετραρχῶν βουλὴ ἄνδρες ἦσαν τριακόσιοι, συνήγοντο δὲ εἰς τὸν καλούμενον Δρυνέμετον. τὰ μὲν οὖν φονικὰ ἡ βουλὴ ἔκρινε, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα οἱ τετράρχαι καὶ οἱ δικασταί. πάλαι μὲν οὖν ἦν τοιαύτη τις ἡ διάταξις, καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς δὲ εἰς τρεῖς, εἶτ᾽ εἰς δύο ἡγεμόνας, εἶτα εἰς ἕνα ἧκεν ἡ δυναστεία, εἰς Δηιόταρον, εἶτα ἐκεῖνον διεδέξατο Ἀμύντας: νῦν δ᾽ ἔχουσι Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ ταύτην καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ τῷ Ἀμύντᾳ γενομένην πᾶσαν εἰς μίαν συναγαγόντες ἐπαρχίαν.

Section 2

ἔχουσι δὲ οἱ μὲν Τροκμοὶ τὰ πρὸς τῷ Πόντῳ καὶ τῇ Καππαδοκίᾳ: ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐστὶ τὰ κράτιστα ὧν νέμονται Γαλάται: φρούρια δ᾽ αὐτοῖς τετείχισται τρία, Τάουιον, ἐμπόριον τῶν ταύτῃ, ὅπου ὁ τοῦ Διὸς κολοσσὸς χαλκοῦς καὶ τέμενος αὐτοῦ ἄσυλον, καὶ Μιθριδάτιον, ὃ ἔδωκε Πομπήιος Βογοδιατάρῳ τῆς Ποντικῆς βασιλείας ἀφορίσας, τρίτον δέ πω Δανάλα, ὅπου τὸν σύλλογον ἐποιήσαντο Πομπήιός τε καὶ Λεύκολλος, ὁ μὲν ἥκων ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ πολέμου διαδοχὴν ὁ δὲ παραδιδοὺς τὴν ἐξουσίαν καὶ ἀπαίρων ἐπὶ τὸν θρίαμβον. Τροκμοὶ μὲν δὴ ταῦτ᾽ ἔχουσι τὰ μέρη, Τεκτόσαγες δὲ τὰ πρὸς τῇ μεγάλῃ Φρυγίᾳ τῇ κατὰ Πεσσινοῦντα καὶ Ὀρκαόρκους: τούτων δ᾽ ἦν φρούριον Ἄγκυρα ὁμώνυμος τῇ πρὸς Λυδίᾳ περὶ Βλαῦδον πολίχνῃ Φρυγιακῇ. Τολιστοβώγιοι δὲ ὅμοροι Βιθυνοῖς εἰσι καὶ τῇ Ἐπικτήτῳ καλουμένῃ Φρυγίᾳ: φρούρια δ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐστι τό τε Βλούκιον καὶ τὸ Πήιον, ὧν τὸ μὲν ἦν βασίλειον Δηιοτάρου, τὸ δὲ γαζοφυλάκιον.

Section 3

Πεσσινοῦς δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἐμπόριον τῶν ταύτῃ μέγιστον, ἱερὸν ἔχον τῆς μητρὸς τῶν θεῶν σεβασμοῦ μεγάλου τυγχάνον: καλοῦσι δ᾽ αὐτὴν Ἄγδιστιν. οἱ δ᾽ ἱερεῖς τὸ παλαιὸν μὲν δυνάσται τινὲς ἦσαν, ἱερωσύνην καρπούμενοι μεγάλην, νυνὶ δὲ τούτων μὲν αἱ τιμαὶ πολὺ μεμείωνται, τὸ δὲ ἐμπόριον συμμένει: κατεσκεύασται δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀτταλικῶν βασιλέων ἱεροπρεπῶς τὸ τέμενος ναῷ τε καὶ στοαῖς λευκολίθοις: ἐπιφανὲς δ᾽ ἐποίησαν Ῥωμαῖοι τὸ ἱερόν, ἀφίδρυμα ἐνθένδε τῆς θεοῦ μεταπεμψάμενοι κατὰ τοὺς τῆς Σιβύλλης χρησμούς, καθάπερ καὶ τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ τοῦ ἐν Ἐπιδαύρῳ. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὄρος ὑπερκείμενον τῆς πόλεως τὸ Δίνδυμον, ἀφ᾽ οὗ ἡ Δινδυμηνή, καθάπερ ἀπὸ τῶν Κυβέλων ἡ Κυβέλη. πλησίον δὲ καὶ ὁ Σαγγάριος ποταμὸς ποιεῖται τὴν ῥύσιν: ἐπὶ δὲ τούτῳ τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν Φρυγῶν οἰκητήρια Μίδου καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Γορδίου καὶ ἄλλων τινῶν, οὐδ᾽ ἴχνη σώζοντα πόλεων, ἀλλὰ κῶμαι μικρῷ μείζους τῶν ἄλλων, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ Γόρδιον καὶ Γορβεοῦς, τὸ τοῦ Κάστορος βασίλειον τοῦ Σαωκονδάρου, ἐν ᾧ γαμβρὸν ὄντα τοῦτον ἀπέσφαξε Δηιόταρος καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ: τὸ δὲ φρούριον κατέσπασε καὶ διελυμήνατο τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς κατοικίας.

Section 4

μετὰ δὲ τὴν Γαλατίαν πρὸς νότον ἥ τε λίμνη ἐστὶν ἡ Τάττα, παρακειμένη τῇ μεγάλῃ Καππαδοκίᾳ τῇ κατὰ τοὺς Μοριμηνούς, μέρος δ᾽ οὖσα τῆς μεγάλης Φρυγίας, καὶ ἡ συνεχὴς ταύτῃ μέχρι τοῦ Ταύρου, ἧς τὴν πλείστην Ἀμύντας εἶχεν. ἡ μὲν οὖν Τάττα ἁλοπήγιόν ἐστιν αὐτοφυές, οὕτω δὲ περιπήττεται ῥᾳδίως τὸ ὕδωρ παντὶ τῷ βαπτισθέντι εἰς αὐτὸ ὥστε στεφάνους ἁλῶν ἀνέλκουσιν, ἐπειδὰν καθῶσι κύκλον σχοίνινον, τά τε ὄρνεα ἁλίσκεται τὰ προσαψάμενα τῷ πτερώματι τοῦ ὕδατος παραχρῆμα πίπτοντα διὰ τὴν περίπηξιν τῶν ἁλῶν.

Source Colophon

The Greek source was captured from Perseus Hopper on 2026-05-13 and inspected on disk at Tulku/Tools/celtic/sources/continental_batch_2026-05-13/strabo_12_5_1_greek_perseus.html through strabo_12_5_4_greek_perseus.html. The English translation is a New Tianmu Anglican Church Good Works Translation made from the Greek source.

🌲