Asia, Scythia, the Caucasus, and the Saka World

This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Ancient Greek text of Strabo, Geography Book 11.

Book 11 is one of the central Greek witnesses for the geography of the Scythian, Sarmatian, Caucasian, Caspian, Saka, Massagetae, Bactrian, Sogdian, Armenian, Median, and Colchian worlds. It begins with Asia's northern division at the Tanais and follows the whole arc from Maeotis and the Bosporus through Colchis and the Caucasus, across the Caspian and Hyrcanian horizon, into the eastern Scythians, the Saka, the Dahae, Bactria, Sogdiana, Media, Atropatene, and Armenia.

For the Scythian shelf, the book matters not as a stray antiquarian notice but as a large organizing argument. Strabo places the peoples of the steppe, the Caucasus, and Inner Asia within a continuous imperial geography: rivers, passes, trade roads, royal campaigns, nomad federations, and Greek myth all become evidence for the shape of Asia's northern world.

The English translation was newly made from the August Meineke Greek text as preserved in the Perseus canonical Greek XML. Public-domain English translations and Perseus display texts were used only as controls.

Translation

Geography 11.1.1-7

Asia is continuous with Europe, joining it at the Tanais. We must therefore speak about Asia next, after dividing it by certain natural boundaries for the sake of clarity. What Eratosthenes did for the whole inhabited world, we must do here for Asia.

For the Taurus, stretching from west to east, girds this continent more or less through the middle, leaving one part of it toward the north and the other toward the south. The Greeks call one of these parts "inside the Taurus" and the other "outside the Taurus." We have said this before, but let it be said again now for the sake of reminder.

The mountain has a breadth in many places of even three thousand stadia, and a length equal to that of Asia, somewhere about forty-five thousand stadia, from the mainland opposite Rhodes to the eastern extremities of India and Scythia.

It is divided into many parts and names, marked off by boundaries both greater and smaller. Since within so great a breadth of mountain certain peoples are enclosed, some of them more obscure, others quite well known, such as Parthia, Media, Armenia, some of the Cappadocians, the Cilicians, and the Pisidians, those that incline more toward the northern parts must be assigned here, and those in the southern parts to the south. Those lying in the middle of the mountains should also, because of the likeness of climate, be placed somehow toward the north; for the northern regions are cold, while the southern are warm. The flows of the rivers that go out from here also run almost all in contrary directions, some toward the northern parts and others toward the southern parts, at least at first, even if later some turn toward east or west. This gives a natural reason for using the mountains as boundaries in the division of Asia into two parts, just as the sea inside the Pillars, lying for the most part more or less in line with these mountains, has become suitable for making two continents, Europe and Libya, since it is a notable boundary of both.

For those who pass in the geography from Europe to Asia, the northern parts of the twofold division come first, so we must begin from these. The first of these are the regions around the Tanais, which we have taken as the boundary of Europe and Asia. These regions have, in a certain way, the form of a peninsula. On the west they are enclosed by the Tanais River and the Maeotis as far as the Bosporus and the coast of the Euxine that ends at Colchis; on the north by the Ocean as far as the mouth of the Caspian Sea; on the east by that same sea as far as the borderlands of Albania and Armenia, where the rivers Cyrus and Araxes empty, the Araxes flowing through Armenia and the Cyrus through Iberia and Albania; and on the south by the line from the mouth of the Cyrus to Colchis, about three thousand stadia from sea to sea through the lands of the Albanians and Iberians, so that it has the character of an isthmus. Those who have contracted the isthmus as much as Cleitarchus did, saying that it is flooded from either sea, would not be worthy even of consideration. Posidonius, however, has said that the isthmus is fifteen hundred stadia, the same as the isthmus from Pelusium to the Red Sea; and, he says, "I think the isthmus from the Maeotis to the Ocean also differs little from it."

I do not know how one could trust him about things unclear to him when he has nothing plausible to say about them, if he speaks so irrationally about things that are evident, and this though he was a friend of Pompey, who campaigned against the Iberians and Albanians as far as the sea on either side, the Caspian and the Colchian. They say, at any rate, that when Pompey was in Rhodes, at the time when he set out for the pirate war, and when he was soon afterward going to move against Mithridates and the peoples as far as the Caspian, he happened to attend Posidonius while he was lecturing; and that, when leaving, he asked whether Posidonius had any command for him, and Posidonius answered, "Always be first in excellence and superior to others." He adds to these things that Posidonius also wrote the history concerning Pompey. For these reasons, surely, Posidonius ought to have taken greater thought for the truth.

The second part would be the region above the Hyrcanian Sea, which we also call the Caspian, as far as the Scythians toward India. The third part is the land continuous with the isthmus just mentioned, and the regions next after it and by the Caspian Gates, nearest to the lands inside the Taurus and to Europe: these are Media, Armenia, Cappadocia, and the lands between. The fourth part is the land inside the Halys, together with the regions in Taurus itself and those outside it that fall within the peninsula made by the isthmus dividing the Pontic and Cilician seas. Among the other lands outside the Taurus we place India and Ariana as far as the peoples that descend toward the Persian Sea, the Arabian Gulf, the Nile, the Egyptian Sea, and the Issic Sea.

Geography 11.2.1-19

Since the parts have been set out in this way, the first portion is occupied, toward the north and the Ocean, by certain nomad Scythians, dwellers in wagons. Inland from them are Sarmatians, themselves also Scythians: the Aorsi and the Siraces, stretching southward as far as the Caucasian mountains. Some are nomads; others are tent-dwellers and farmers as well. Around the lake are the Maeotians. Along the sea, on the Asian side of the Bosporus, lies Sindica. After Sindica come the Achaeans, Zygi, Heniochi, Cercetae, and Long-beards. Above these lie the passes of the Phtheirophagi. After the Heniochi comes Colchis, lying below the Caucasian and Moschic mountains. Since the river Tanais has been taken as the boundary of Europe and Asia, we shall begin from there and sketch the particulars.

The Tanais flows from the northern parts, though not, as most suppose, as if it ran exactly opposite the Nile on the same diameter. It lies more to the east than the Nile and, like the Nile, has unknown sources. Much of the Nile's course is visible, since it passes through a country everywhere easy of access and has long navigable reaches. But of the Tanais we know the mouths, two of them, entering the northernmost parts of Lake Maeotis and sixty stadia apart, while little is known of the country above the mouths because of its cold and its want of resources. The natives can bear these conditions, living in nomad fashion on flesh and milk, but men of other nations cannot endure them. Besides this, the nomads are difficult for others to mix with; they are strong in numbers and force, and have shut off whatever part of the country is passable and whatever navigable reaches the river may have. For this reason some have supposed that its sources are in the Caucasian mountains, that it runs a long way toward the north and then turns back and empties into Maeotis. Theophanes of Mytilene agrees with them. Others say that it comes from the upper parts of the Ister; but they give no proof for so distant a flow from another quarter of the world, as though it could not rise both nearby and from the north.

On the river and the lake stands a city of the same name, Tanais, founded by the Greeks who hold the Bosporus. Recently King Polemon sacked it for disobedience. It had been a common market for the Asian and European nomads, and also for those who sail the lake from the Bosporus. One side brought slaves, hides, and whatever else belongs to nomad trade; the other brought clothing, wine, and the other goods proper to settled life in exchange. Before the market, at a distance of one hundred stadia, lies the island Alopekia, a settlement of mixed peoples. There are also other little islands nearby in the lake. Tanais is two thousand two hundred stadia from the mouth of Maeotis for those sailing straight north; the distance is not much greater for those coasting along the land.

In this coastwise voyage, the first place after Tanais, eight hundred stadia on, is the river called the Great Rhombites, where most of the fish used for salting are taken. Then, another eight hundred stadia farther, comes the Lesser Rhombites and a promontory that also has smaller fisheries. The people at the first place use little islands as mooring stations; those at the Lesser Rhombites are the Maeotians themselves, working the land. The Maeotians live along this whole coasting voyage. They are farmers, but no less warlike than the nomads. They are divided into many peoples: those nearest Tanais are rougher, while those adjoining the Bosporus are more tractable. From the Lesser Rhombites it is six hundred stadia to Tyrambê and the river Antikeitês; then one hundred and twenty to the Cimmerian village, the starting point for those who sail the lake. In this same coastwise route there are said to be some watch-stations of the Clazomenians.

Cimmericum was formerly a city founded on a peninsula, closing off the isthmus with a ditch and mound. The Cimmerians once held great power in the Bosporus, and for this reason it was called the Cimmerian Bosporus. These were the people who overran those living in the inland parts on the right side of the Pontus as far as Ionia. The Scythians drove them from these places, and the Greeks who founded Panticapaeum and the other Bosporan cities drove out the Scythians.

Next, twenty stadia away, is the village Achilleion, where there is a sanctuary of Achilles. Here is the narrowest strait at the mouth of Maeotis, about twenty stadia or a little more across, with the village Myrmecium on the opposite shore, near Heracleium and Parthenium.

From there it is ninety stadia to the monument of Satyrus. This is an artificial mound on a certain headland, raised for a man who had ruled the Bosporus with distinction.

Nearby is the village Patraeus. From it to the village Corocondame is one hundred and thirty stadia. Corocondame is the end of what is called the Cimmerian Bosporus. This name is given to the narrows at the mouth of Maeotis, stretching from the straits near Achilleion and Myrmecium as far as Corocondame and the little village opposite it in the land of the Panticapaeans, called Acra, separated by a strait of seventy stadia. The ice reaches even this far; in hard frosts Maeotis freezes so that one can cross it on foot. The whole of this strait has good harbors.

Above Corocondame lies a good-sized lake, called from that place Corocondamitis. It empties into the sea ten stadia from the village. A branch of the Antikeitês River flows into the lake and makes a certain island washed all round by the lake, Maeotis, and the river. Some call this river Hypanis too, as they also call the river near the Borysthenes.

When one sails into Corocondamitis, there is the notable city Phanagoreia, and also Cepi, Hermonassa, and Apaturum, the sanctuary of Aphrodite. Phanagoreia and Cepi are founded on the island just mentioned, on the left as one sails in; the remaining cities are on the right, beyond the Hypanis, in Sindica. Gorgipia is also in Sindica, the royal seat of the Sindi near the sea, and so is Aborake. All who are subject to the dynasts of the Bosporus are called Bosporani. Panticapaeum is the metropolis of the European Bosporani, and Phanagorion, for the city is also called by this name, of the Asian Bosporani. Phanagoreia seems to be the market for goods carried down from Maeotis and the barbarian country above it, while Panticapaeum is the market for goods brought there from the sea. In Phanagoreia there is also a famous sanctuary of Aphrodite Apatouros. They explain the goddess's epithet by setting beside it a myth: when giants attacked the goddess there, she summoned Heracles and hid him in a certain recess; then, receiving each giant one by one, she handed him over to Heracles to be killed by deceit.

Among the Maeotians are the Sindi themselves, the Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, and also the Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, Dosci, and many others. Among these are also the Aspurgiani, who live between Phanagoreia and Gorgipia over a space of five hundred stadia. King Polemon attacked them under pretence of friendship, but he did not escape notice; they countered his stratagem, took him alive, and he died. Of all the Asian Maeotians, some were subject to those who held the market at Tanais, others to the Bosporani; now one group, now another, would revolt. Often the rulers of the Bosporani held the country as far as Tanais, especially the latest rulers, Pharnaces, Asander, and Polemon. Pharnaces is said once to have brought the Hypanis against the Dandarii by clearing out an old canal, and so flooded their country.

After Sindica and Gorgipia, along the sea, comes the coast of the Achaeans, Zygi, and Heniochi. For the most part it has no harbors and is mountainous, being part of the Caucasus. These people live by sea-raiding. They have small craft, thin, narrow, and light, able to hold about twenty-five men, and only rarely as many as thirty. The Greeks call them kamarae. They say that from Jason's expedition the Phthiotic Achaeans founded the Achaea here, and Laconians founded Heniochia; their leaders were Krekas and Amphistratus, the charioteers of the Dioscuri, and it is likely that the Heniochi were named from them. Fitting out fleets of these kamarae and putting to sea, they master the waters, sometimes falling upon merchant ships, sometimes upon a territory, sometimes even upon a city. At times the holders of the Bosporus join in with them, supplying anchorages, a market, and a way to dispose of the plunder. When the raiders return to their own country, having no place to moor their boats, they lift the kamarae onto their shoulders and carry them up into the forests where they live and till a poor soil; when the sailing season comes, they carry them down again. They do the same in foreign territory. Knowing wooded places, they hide the kamarae there and then wander on foot by night and by day to seize people for slavery. They readily ransom what they have taken, notifying those who have suffered the loss after they sail away. In places under dynasts, the injured receive some help from their rulers; for the raiders are often attacked in turn, and the boats are brought back with their crews. But the country under the Romans is less well helped, because of the negligence of those sent there.

Such is their way of life. They too are ruled by the men called sceptuchs, and these in turn are under tyrants or kings. The Heniochi, at any rate, had four kings when Mithridates Eupator, fleeing from his ancestral kingdom to the Bosporus, passed through their country. Their country was passable for him. But giving up on the land of the Zygi because of its difficulties and the savagery of the people, he went with hardship along the coast, often taking ship by sea, until he reached the land of the Achaeans. They received him, and he finished the road from Phasis, a journey falling little short of four thousand stadia.

From Corocondame the voyage runs directly east. At one hundred and eighty stadia is the Sindic harbor and city; then, at four hundred stadia, the place called Bata, a village and harbor. At this point Sinope to the south seems to lie most directly opposite this coast, just as Carambis is said to lie opposite Criumetopon. From Bata, Artemidorus gives the coast of the Cercetae, with anchorages and villages for about eight hundred and fifty stadia; then the coast of the Achaeans for five hundred; then that of the Heniochi for one thousand; then Great Pityus, three hundred and sixty stadia as far as Dioscurias. But the writers of the Mithridatic histories, whom one should follow more closely, name first the Achaeans, then the Zygi, then the Heniochi, then the Cercetae, Moschi, Colchi, and above them the Phtheirophagi, Soanes, and other small peoples around the Caucasus. At first, as I said, the coast runs eastward and faces south; from Bata it bends gradually, then faces west and ends near Pityus and Dioscurias, for these places of Colchis adjoin the coast just described. After Dioscurias comes the rest of the Colchian coast and continuous Trapezus; it makes a considerable bend, then stretches out nearly straight to form the right-hand side of the Pontus, facing north. The whole coast of the Achaeans and the other peoples as far as Dioscurias, and the inland places lying directly south, are subject to the Caucasus.

This mountain overhangs both seas, the Pontic and the Caspian, walling across the isthmus that separates them. Toward the south it bounds Albania and Iberia; toward the north, the plains of the Sarmatians. It is well wooded with all kinds of timber, including wood fit for shipbuilding. Eratosthenes says that the natives call the Caucasus Caspian, perhaps naming it from the Caspians. Certain arms of it jut southward. They enclose the middle of Iberia and join the mountains of the Armenians and those called Moschic, and also Scydises and Paryadres. All these are parts of the Taurus, which forms the southern side of Armenia, broken off somehow from there toward the north and reaching as far as the Caucasus and the Euxine coast that stretches from Colchis toward Themiscyra.

Dioscurias, lying in such a gulf and occupying the easternmost point of the whole sea, is called the recess of the Euxine and the furthest sailing. The proverbial line must be taken in this way: "to Phasis, where the furthest course for ships lies." The maker of the iambic line did not mean the river, nor the city of the same name lying on the river, but Colchis by a part; for from the river and the city no less than six hundred stadia of straight sailing remain to the recess. This same Dioscurias is the beginning of the isthmus between the Caspian and the Pontus, and a common market for the peoples above and near it. Seventy peoples are said to assemble there, and some say three hundred, though they are careless about the facts. All speak different languages because, through their self-will and savagery, they live scattered and without mixture. Most are Sarmatians, but all are Caucasian. So much for the region around Dioscurias.

The greater part of the rest of Colchis also lies on the sea. The Phasis flows through it, a great river whose sources are in Armenia; it receives the Glaucus and the Hippus, which fall from the nearby mountains. One can sail up it as far as Sarapana, a fortress able to receive the population even of a city. From there people go on foot to the Cyrus in four days by a wagon road. On the Phasis stands a city of the same name, a market of the Colchians, protected on one side by the river, on another by a lake, and on another by the sea. From there the voyage to Amisus and Sinope is three days, or two, because the beaches and the river mouths are soft. The country is good in its crops, except for honey, which for the most part is bitter. It supplies everything needed for shipbuilding: it grows timber and sends it down by its rivers; it also produces much flax, hemp, wax, and pitch. Its linen-work is famous, for they exported it abroad; and some who wish to show a kinship between the Colchians and the Egyptians use these things as evidence. Above the rivers already mentioned, in the Moschic country, is the sanctuary of Leucothea, a foundation of Phrixus, and his oracle, where no ram is sacrificed. It was once wealthy, but in our time it was plundered by Pharnaces and, a little later, by Mithridates of Pergamum. For, as Euripides says, when a land is ruined, the things of the gods fall sick and will not be honored.

The myths show how much renown this country had in antiquity, hinting at Jason's expedition, which advanced even as far as Media, and still earlier at that of Phrixus. After these things the kings who inherited the country, holding it divided into sceptuchies, managed only moderately. But when Mithridates Eupator had greatly enlarged his power, the country passed to him. One of his friends was always sent as lieutenant and administrator of the country. Among these was Moaphernes, my mother's paternal uncle. From here the king received most of the supplies for his naval forces. When Mithridates was overthrown, the whole power under him was overthrown with him and divided among many. Last, Polemon held Colchis; after his death his wife Pythodoris now rules, reigning over Colchis, Trapezus, Pharnacia, and the barbarians above them, about whom we shall speak later. The Moschic country, in which the sanctuary stands, is divided into three parts: one part the Colchians hold, one the Iberians, and one the Armenians. There is also in Iberia a little city, the city of Phrixus, now Idêessa, a well-fortified place on the borders of Colchis. Near Dioscurias flows the river Charis.

Among the peoples who gather at Dioscurias are the Phtheirophagi, who take their name from dryness and filth. Nearby are the Soanes, no better than they in filth, but better in power, and indeed nearly the strongest of all in courage and force. They dominate the peoples around them, holding the heights of the Caucasus above Dioscurias. They have a king and a council of three hundred men, and they can gather, it is said, an army of two hundred thousand; for the whole multitude is fit for battle, though not organized in regular order. Among them, it is said, winter torrents carry down gold, and the barbarians catch it in perforated troughs and woolly skins. From this, then, the story of the golden fleece was mythologized, unless they are called Iberians, like the western Iberians, from the gold mines in both places. The Soanes use remarkable poisons on their arrow-points, and the smell even troubles those wounded by arrows not treated with poison. The other neighboring peoples around the Caucasus occupy poor and cramped lands. But the Albanian people and the Iberian people, who fill most of the isthmus already described, may themselves be called Caucasian; yet they possess a fortunate land, very capable of being well inhabited.

Geography 11.3.1-6

Iberia, at least for the most part, is well inhabited, with cities and settlements; so that there are tiled roofs, architectural construction in the houses, marketplaces, and the other public arrangements.

Some parts of the country are enclosed all around by the Caucasian mountains. For, as I have said, fruitful elbows of the range project toward the south, embracing the whole of Iberia and joining both Armenia and Colchis. In the middle is a plain watered by rivers, especially by the Cyrus. This river has its source in Armenia, enters at once into the plain just mentioned, receives the Aragus flowing from the Caucasus and other waters, and then issues through a narrow river valley into Albania. Carried between Albania and Armenia in a great stream through very well-pastured plains, it receives still more rivers, among them the Alazonius, Sandobanes, Rhoetaces, and Chanes, all navigable, and empties into the Caspian Sea. It was formerly called Corus.

The plain of the Iberians is occupied by those who are more agricultural and inclined toward peace, dressed in Armenian and Median fashion. The greater number, however, hold the mountain country; they are fighting men, living in the manner of the Scythians and Sarmatians, to whom they are both neighbors and kin. Even so they also touch agriculture, and whenever some disturbance occurs they assemble many tens of thousands, both from themselves and from those peoples.

There are four entrances into the country. One is through Sarapana, a Colchian fortress, and the narrows around it, through which the Phasis, passable by one hundred and twenty bridges because of its winding course, flows rough and violent down into Colchis, the places being cut into ravines by many winter torrents during the rains. It rises from the mountains above, being filled by many springs; in the plains it receives other rivers too, among them the Glaucus and Hippus. Once full and navigable, it goes out into the Pontus, and has a city of the same name upon it and a lake nearby. Such, then, is the entrance from Colchis into Iberia, closed in by rocks, strong places, and rivers running in ravines.

From the nomads toward the north there is a difficult ascent of three days, and after it a narrow river road along the Aragus River, four days' journey, admitting only one person at a time; the end of the road is guarded by a wall hard to fight against. From Albania the entrance is first through a passage cut in the rock, then through a marsh made by the Alazonius River as it falls from the Caucasus. From Armenia there are the narrows on the Cyrus and those on the Aragus. Before the rivers meet one another, there stand over them fortified cities on rocks about sixteen stadia apart: Harmozice on the Cyrus and Seusamora on the other river. Pompey used these entrances earlier when he set out from Armenia, and Canidius used them afterward.

Four classes of people inhabit the country. One class, the first, is that from which they appoint kings, choosing by nearness of kin and age the eldest; the next man administers justice and commands the army. The second class is that of the priests, who also attend to rights involving the neighboring peoples. The third class is that of the soldiers and farmers. The fourth is that of the common people, who are royal slaves and perform all the services needed for life. Their possessions are held in common by kin-groups, and the eldest governs and manages each property. Such are the Iberians and their country.

Geography 11.4.1-8

The Albanians are more pastoral and nearer to the nomadic kind, though they are not savage; for this reason they are also only moderately warlike. They live between the Iberians and the Caspian Sea, touching the sea toward the east and bordering the Iberians toward the west. Of the remaining sides, the northern is guarded by the Caucasian mountains, for these lie above the plains, and the part nearest the sea in particular is called Ceraunia; the southern side is made by Armenia as it stretches alongside, much of it plain and much of it mountainous, such as Cambysene, where the Armenians come together with both the Iberians and the Albanians.

The Cyrus, which flows through Albania, and the other rivers that fill it, add to the virtues of the land but estrange it from the sea. For the silt that strikes it in great quantity fills the passage, so that even the islands lying near it are joined to the mainland, and uneven shallows are made, hard to watch for; the backwash from the tides intensifies the unevenness. They say the outflow is divided into twelve mouths, some of them blind, others entirely shallow and leaving not even an anchorage. At any rate, although the shore for more than sixty stadia is washed on both sides by sea and rivers, every part of it is unapproachable; and the silt extends as much as five hundred stadia, making the beach sandy. Nearby the Araxes also empties, rushing violently out of Armenia. The silt that the Araxes thrusts forward, making its channel passable, is filled back up by the Cyrus.

Perhaps a people of this sort have no need of the sea; for they do not use the land either according to its worth, though it produces every fruit, even the most cultivated, and every plant, including evergreens. It receives not even slight care, but everything grows without sowing and without ploughing, just as those who have campaigned there say, describing a kind of Cyclopean life. In many places, land sown once bears twice or even three times, the first crop yielding even fifty-fold, and this without fallow and without being cut by iron, but by a plough made entirely of wood. The whole plain is watered by rivers and other waters more than the Babylonian and Egyptian plains, so that it always keeps a grassy appearance; for this reason it is also good for pasture. Added to this, the air is better than in those lands. The vines remain without being dug around forever, and are pruned every five years. Young vines already bear fruit in the second year, and mature vines give so much that people leave a great part on the branches. The livestock among them, both tame and wild, is also prolific.

The people are distinguished by beauty and size, and are simple and not hucksterish. They do not, for the most part, use coined money, nor do they know a number greater than one hundred, but make exchanges by loads. In the other matters of life too they are careless. They are inexperienced in exact measures and weights, and they are improvident in war, government, and agriculture. Nevertheless they fight both on foot and from horses, both light-armed and armored, like the Armenians.

They send out a larger army than the Iberians. For they arm sixty thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, the numbers with which they took the risk against Pompey. The nomads also fight together with them against outsiders, as they do with the Iberians, for the same reasons. At other times, however, they often attack the people and prevent them from farming. They are javelin-throwers and archers, wearing breastplates and shields, and helmets made from animal skins, much like the Iberians. Caspiane also belongs to the country of the Albanians, named from the Caspian people, from whom the sea too has its name, though that people has now disappeared. The entrance from Iberia into Albania is through Cambysene, a waterless and rough country, to the Alazonius River. The people themselves and their dogs are exceedingly devoted to hunting, not more by skill than by zeal in this matter.

Their kings also differ. Now one man rules all of them, but formerly each group was ruled separately according to each language. They have twenty-six languages because they do not mix readily with one another. The land also produces some of the deadly creeping things, scorpions and phalangia; some of the phalangia cause people to die laughing, others to die weeping from longing for their own people.

They honor as gods the Sun, Zeus, and the Moon, but the Moon especially. Her sanctuary is near Iberia. The priest is the man most honored after the king, presiding over the sacred land, which is large and well peopled, and over the temple servants themselves. Many of these become inspired and prophesy. If one of them, possessed for a longer time, wanders alone through the woods, the priest seizes him, binds him with a sacred chain, and feeds him lavishly for that year. Then, after being led forward for sacrifice to the goddess, he is anointed and sacrificed together with other victims. The manner of the sacrifice is this: someone holding a sacred spear, with which it is customary to sacrifice human beings, comes out from the crowd and strikes him through the side into the heart, not being inexperienced in such a matter. When he falls, they observe certain signs from the fall and declare them to the community. After the body has been carried to a certain place, all tread upon it, using this as a purification.

The Albanians honor old age exceedingly, and not only that of parents but that of others as well. But when people have died, it is not holy to care for them or even to remember them. Yet they bury property together with them, and therefore they live poor, possessing no inheritance from their fathers. So much concerning the Albanians. It is said that Jason, with Armenus the Thessalian, in his voyage to the Colchians, advanced as far as the Caspian Sea, and traversed Iberia and Albania and much of Armenia and Media, as the Jasoneia and many other memorials testify. Armenus was from the city Armenium, one of the cities around Lake Boebeis between Pherae and Larisa; those with him settled Acilisene and Syspiritis as far as Calachene and Adiabene, and indeed left Armenia named after him.

Geography 11.5.1-8

They say that the Amazons also live in the mountains above Albania. Theophanes, who campaigned with Pompey and was in the land of the Albanians, says that between the Amazons and the Albanians live the Gelae and Legae, Scythians, and that the river Mermadalis flows there between these peoples and the Amazons. Others, including Metrodorus of Scepsis and Hypsicrates, men not themselves unacquainted with the places, say that the Amazons live bordering the Gargarians, on the northern foothills of the Caucasian mountains called the Ceraunia. For the rest of the year, they say, the Amazons live by themselves, doing with their own hands the work of plowing, planting, tending the herds, and especially caring for horses. The strongest spend much time hunting on horseback and practicing the arts of war. From infancy all have the right breast burned, so that they may use the arm easily for every purpose, and above all for hurling the javelin. They use bow, sagaris, and pelta; they make helmets, coverings, and girdles from the skins of wild animals. They have two special months in spring, during which they go up to the neighboring mountain that divides them from the Gargarians. The Gargarians also go up, according to an ancient custom, to sacrifice together and to have intercourse with the women for the sake of children, unseen and in darkness, each man with whichever woman he happens upon. When they have made the women pregnant, they send them away. Whatever female children are born the women keep for themselves; the male children the Gargarians take back to raise. Each man treats each child as his own son, because the truth is unknown.

The Mermodas pours down from the mountains through the land of the Amazons, Siracene, and the intervening desert, and empties into Maeotis. They say that the Gargarians came up together with the Amazons from Themiscyra into these places, then broke away from them and, with certain Thracians and Euboeans who had wandered as far as this region, made war against them. Later, after ending the war, they made the agreements already described: to share only in children, while each people lived by itself.

There is something peculiar about the account of the Amazons. In other narratives, the mythical and the historical stand apart. Things ancient, false, and monstrous are called myths; history seeks the true, whether old or new, and either has no marvel in it or admits it only rarely. But about the Amazons the same things are said now as long ago, things both monstrous and far from belief. Who could believe that an army, city, or nation of women could ever be formed without men; and not merely be formed, but make attacks on others' land, master not only places near them so as to advance as far as what is now Ionia, but even send an expedition across the sea as far as Attica? This would be like saying that the men of that time had become women and the women men. Yet these same things are still said about them now. The oddity is heightened by the fact that the old reports are believed more readily than present ones.

Foundations of cities and names are at any rate attributed to them, as at Ephesus, Smyrna, Cyme, and Myrina, and so are tombs and other memorials. All writers call Themiscyra, the plains around the Thermodon, and the mountains above them Amazonian, and say that the Amazons were driven from there. Where they are now, few writers attempt to say; and what they say is without proof and without credibility. So too with Thalestria, whom they say met Alexander in Hyrcania and slept with him for the sake of having a child, being ruler of the Amazons. This is not agreed upon. Among so many historians, those who cared most for truth did not say it; those most trusted remember no such thing; and even those who do report it do not report the same facts. Cleitarchus says that Thalestria came to Alexander after setting out from the Caspian Gates and the Thermodon; but from the Caspian Gates to the Thermodon is more than six thousand stadia.

Nor are the stories that were repeated for the sake of glory accepted by everyone. Those who invented them cared more for flattery than for truth. Such was the transfer of the Caucasus to the Indian mountains and to the eastern sea near them, away from the mountains above Colchis and the Euxine. The Greeks called those mountains Caucasus, though they are more than thirty thousand stadia from India, and there they set the myths about Prometheus and his binding; for those were the farthest eastern places known to the people of that time. The expedition of Dionysus and Heracles against the Indians shows a later making of myth, since Heracles is said to have released Prometheus a thousand years afterward. It was more glorious for Alexander to have subdued Asia as far as the Indian mountains than only as far as the recess of the Euxine and the Caucasus. But the fame and name of the mountain, the belief that Jason and his companions had made the farthest expedition when they reached the places near the Caucasus, and the tradition that Prometheus was handed down as bound in Caucasus at the ends of the earth made them think they would please the king by transferring the mountain's name to India.

The highest parts of the true Caucasus are the southernmost, those near Albania, Iberia, Colchis, and the Heniochi. They are inhabited by the peoples whom I have mentioned as gathering at Dioscurias; they come together there chiefly for salt. Of these peoples some hold the peaks, while others dwell in wooded valleys and live chiefly from the flesh of wild animals, wild fruits, and milk. The summits are impassable in winter. In summer they climb them wearing broad rawhide shoes, spiked because of the snow and ice, like drums. They descend lying on hides with their loads, sliding down, as also happens in Atropatian Media and on Mount Masius in Armenia; there, however, they put little spiked wooden wheels under their soles. Such are the heights of the Caucasus.

As one descends to the foothills, the climates are more northern but milder, for the land already joins the plains of the Siraces. There are also certain Troglodytes living in holes because of the cold; among them there is already abundance of barley-meal. After the Troglodytes come ground-sleepers, certain people called Polyphagi, and the villages of the Eisadici, who are able to farm because they do not lie wholly under the north.

Next after these are already the nomads between Maeotis and the Caspian: the Nabiani and Panxani, and then the tribes of the Siraces and Aorsi. The Aorsi and Siraces seem to be fugitives from the peoples above them, and the Aorsi lie more to the north. Abeacus, king of the Siraces, when Pharnaces held the Bosporus, could send twenty thousand horsemen; Spadines, king of the Aorsi, two hundred thousand; and the upper Aorsi still more. They held a greater country and ruled almost the largest part of the Caspian coast, so that they traded on camels in Indian and Babylonian goods, receiving them from Armenians and Medes. Because of their prosperity they wore gold. The Aorsi live along the Tanais, while the Siraces live along the Achardeus, which flows out of the Caucasus and empties into Maeotis.

Geography 11.6.1-4 and 11.7.1-5

The second portion begins from the Caspian Sea, where the first portion ended. This same sea is also called Hyrcanian. We must first speak about this sea and the peoples living around it. It is a gulf running southward from the Ocean. At its beginning it is fairly narrow, but as it advances inland it grows wider, and especially toward the recess, where it reaches somewhere around five thousand stadia. The voyage in to the recess would be a little more than that, already in some way approaching the uninhabited region. Eratosthenes says that the circuit of this sea known to the Greeks is five thousand four hundred stadia along the Albanians and Cadusii; four thousand eight hundred along the Anariacae, Mardi, and Hyrcanians as far as the mouth of the river Oxus; and from there to the Iaxartes two thousand four hundred. But regarding the peoples in this portion and places set so far away, one must hear the reports more simply, especially the distances.

As one sails in, on the right, next to the Europeans, are the Scythians and Sarmatians who occupy the country between the Tanais and this sea. Most of them are nomads, and I have already spoken of them. On the left are the eastern Scythians, also nomads, stretching as far as the eastern sea and India. The old Greek writers called all the northern peoples generally Scythians and Celto-Scythians. Still earlier writers, making distinctions, called those who lived above the Euxine, the Ister, and the Adriatic Hyperboreans, Sauromatae, and Arimaspi; but those beyond the Caspian Sea they called, some Saka and others Massagetae. They had nothing exact to say about them, although they told the story of Cyrus's war against the Massagetae. Nothing concerning these peoples had been established with truth, and the old accounts of Persian, Median, or Syrian matters did not reach great credibility because of the simplicity of the writers and their fondness for myth.

Seeing that those who openly wrote myths were well received, these writers supposed that they too would make their work pleasing if they said, in the shape of history, things they had never seen or heard, or at least had not heard from those who had seen them. They looked only to this: what would make a pleasant and marvelous hearing. One would more easily believe Hesiod, Homer, and the tragic poets when they speak of heroes than Ctesias, Herodotus, Hellanicus, and writers of that sort.

Nor is it easy to trust most of those who wrote about Alexander. They too are careless with truth, both because of Alexander's glory and because the expedition reached the extremities of Asia, far from us; what is far away is hard to test. The dominion of the Romans and of the Parthians has uncovered more than the earlier traditions. Those who write about them describe the places and peoples among whom the actions occurred more credibly than earlier writers, for they have observed more closely.

The nomads who live along the left side as one enters the Caspian Sea are now called Dahae, those surnamed Parni. Then a desert lies between, and next comes Hyrcania, where the Caspian already spreads like an open sea until it joins the Median and Armenian mountains. Their foothills have a moonlike shape, ending at the sea and forming the recess of the gulf. This mountain-foot, if one begins from the sea and goes up toward the heights, is inhabited for a short distance by part of the Albanians and Armenians, but for the most part by Gelae, Cadusii, Amardi, Vitii, and Anariacae. They say that some Parrhasii settled with the Anariacae and are now called Parsii; and that Aenianes fortified a city in Vitia called Aeniana, where Greek arms, bronze vessels, and tombs are shown. There is also a city Anariace, in which, they say, an incubation oracle is shown, along with some other peoples more given to raiding and war than farming. The roughness of the places makes this so. The greater part of the mountainous coast is held by the Cadusii, for nearly five thousand stadia, according to Patrocles, who also considers this sea equal to the Pontic Sea. These places, then, are poor.

Hyrcania, however, is very prosperous, large, and mostly level, divided among notable cities, among which are Talabroce, Samariane, Carta, and the royal seat Tape. Tape is said to stand a little above the sea and to be fourteen hundred stadia from the Caspian Gates. Signs of the country's prosperity are these: the vine yields a metretes of wine; the fig-tree sixty medimni; wheat grows from the grain that falls out of the stalk; bees make hives in the trees, and honey drips from the leaves. This also happens in Matiane in Media, and in Sacasene and Araxene in Armenia. Yet neither Hyrcania nor the sea named from it has received proper care: the sea is without navigation and lies idle, though there are islands able to be inhabited and, as some have said, containing gold-bearing earth. The cause is that the rulers of the Hyrcanians, from the beginning, happened to be barbarians: Medes and Persians, and last of all Parthians worse than they; and the whole neighboring country is full of raiders, nomads, and desert. The Macedonians ruled for a short time, but they were in wars and unable to attend to distant things. Aristobulus says that Hyrcania is wooded and has oak, but does not grow pitch-pine, fir, or pine, while India abounds in these. Nisaea also belongs to Hyrcania, though some set Nisaea apart by itself.

Hyrcania is watered by the rivers Ochus and Oxus as far as their outlet into the sea. The Ochus also flows through Nisaea, though some say that the Ochus empties into the Oxus. Aristobulus declares that the Oxus was the greatest river he had seen in Asia, except the Indian rivers. He says that it is easy to sail, and Eratosthenes says the same, taking it from Patrocles; and that many Indian cargoes are brought down it to the Hyrcanian Sea, then ferried from there into Albania, and carried through the Cyrus and the next places to the Euxine. The Ochus is not often named by the ancients, but Apollodorus, who wrote the Parthica, names it frequently as flowing very near the Parthians.

Many false things were added about this sea because of Alexander's ambition. Since everyone agreed that the river Tanais divides Asia from Europe, and since much of Asia between this sea and the Tanais had not fallen under the Macedonians, it had been decided to invent a campaign, so that by report, at least, Alexander might seem to have mastered those parts too. They therefore brought into one the Maeotian lake, which receives the Tanais, and the Caspian Sea, calling the latter a lake as well and saying that both were pierced through to one another, each being part of the other. Polycleitus brings forward proofs that this sea is a lake: that it breeds serpents and that its water is somewhat sweet. He also infers that it is not different from Maeotis because the Tanais flows into it. For from the same Indian mountains from which the Ochus, Oxus, and many other rivers flow, the Iaxartes also flows and, like them, empties into the Caspian Sea, being the northernmost of all. This river, then, they named Tanais; and they added this as proof that it was the Tanais of which Polycleitus spoke: that the land beyond this river bears fir and the Scythians there use fir-wood arrows. This, they said, was also evidence that the country beyond was part of Europe and not Asia, since upper and eastern Asia does not bear fir. But Eratosthenes says that fir grows even in India, and that Alexander built his fleet from it there. Eratosthenes tries to bring many such contradictions together; for us, enough has been said about them.

Eudoxus and others also report the following marvel among the things told about Hyrcania. Certain coasts of the sea stand forward, hollowed with caves; between these coasts and the sea lies a low beach. Rivers flowing from the cliffs above are carried forward with such force that when they reach the coasts they shoot the water out into the sea, leaving the beach unwetted, so that even armies can pass under, sheltered by the stream. The natives often go down to the place for feasting and sacrifice. Sometimes they recline under the caves; sometimes, sunning themselves under the stream itself, each in a different way, they take their pleasure, with the sea visible on either side and the shore grassy and flowering because of the moisture.

Geography 11.8.1-9

From the Hyrcanian Sea, as one goes east, on the right are the mountains stretching as far as the Indian Sea, which the Greeks call Taurus. They begin from Pamphylia and Cilicia and run continuously from the west to this point, taking different names in different places. Along their northern parts live first the Gelae, Cadusii, and Amardi, as has been said, and some of the Hyrcanians; then the people of the Parthians, the Margiani, and the Arians, and the desert which the Sarnius River marks off from Hyrcania for those going east toward the Ochus. The range stretching this far from Armenia, or stopping a little short of it, is called Parachoathras. From the Hyrcanian Sea to the Arians is about six thousand stadia. Then come Bactria and Sogdiana, and last the nomad Scythians. The Macedonians called all the mountains that follow after the Arians Caucasus; but among the barbarians the heights and northern parts were called, by portions, Paropamisus, Emoda, Imaus, and other such names assigned to each part.

Opposite these on the left lie the Scythian and nomadic peoples, filling the whole northern side. Most of the Scythians, beginning from the Caspian Sea, are called Dahae; those still farther east are called Massagetae and Saka; the rest are called Scythians in common, but each people has its own proper name. All are, for the most part, nomads. The best known of the nomads are those who took Bactria from the Greeks: the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari, and Sacarauli. They set out from the far side of the Iaxartes, opposite the Saka and Sogdians, a land which the Saka held. Among the Dahae, some are called Aparni, some Xanthii, and some Pissuri. The Aparni lie nearest Hyrcania and the sea beside it; the rest stretch as far as the country opposite Aria.

Between them and Hyrcania and Parthia as far as the Arians lies a great waterless desert. Crossing it by long journeys, they used to overrun Hyrcania, Nisaea, and the plains of the Parthians. The Parthians agreed to pay tribute, and the tribute was to allow them at certain fixed times to overrun the country and carry off booty. When the nomads exceeded the agreement in their attacks, war followed; then there were settlements, and then renewed wars. Such is also the life of the other nomads: always attacking their neighbors, then making terms with them again.

The Saka made raids like those of the Cimmerians and Treres, some farther away and others nearby. They occupied Bactria and also seized the best land in Armenia, leaving it named after themselves, Sacasene. They advanced as far as the Cappadocians, especially those near the Euxine who are now called Pontic. But when they were feasting in assembly over the spoils, the Persian generals who were then in that region attacked them at night and utterly destroyed them. In the plain, they filled in a certain rock with earth into the shape of a hill, set a wall on it, and founded there the sanctuary of Anaitis and the gods who share her altar, Omanus and Anadatus, Persian divinities. They also appointed a yearly sacred festival, the Sakaia, which those who hold Zela still perform, for that is the name of the place. It is for the most part a little city of temple servants. Pompey added a notable territory to it, gathered the inhabitants within the wall, and declared it one of the cities he organized after the overthrow of Mithridates.

Some say this about the Saka; others say that when Cyrus marched against the Saka, he was defeated in battle and fled. After camping in a place where he left his stores full of every abundance, especially wine, he rested his army a little, then set out in the evening as if fleeing, leaving the tents full. After going as far as seemed useful, he halted. The Saka came on and found the camp empty of men but full of things for enjoyment, and they stuffed themselves without restraint. Cyrus returned and found them drunk and maddened. Some were lying in stupor and sleep and were cut down; others, dancing and raging in wine, fell naked upon the weapons of the enemy. Almost all perished. Cyrus, thinking this good fortune divine, consecrated that day to his ancestral goddess and called it Sakaia. Wherever there is a sanctuary of this goddess, the festival of the Sakaia is customary: a kind of Bacchic revel by day and night, with people dressed in Scythian fashion, drinking while playing and striking at one another and at the women drinking with them.

The Massagetae showed their valor in the war against Cyrus, about which many writers speak; one must learn the matter from them. Such things as these are said about the Massagetae: some live in mountains, some on plains, others in marshes made by the rivers, and others on the islands within the marshes. They say that the Araxes River especially floods the country, splitting into many branches and emptying by most of its mouths into the other sea toward the north, but by one alone into the Hyrcanian gulf. They consider only the sun a god, and to him they sacrifice horses. Each man marries one wife, but they also use one another's wives openly. A man who has intercourse with another's wife hangs his quiver from the wagon and lies with her openly. Among them the best death is considered to be this: when the old are cut up with sheep meat and eaten mixed with it. Those who die of disease they cast out as impious and worthy to be eaten by beasts. They are good cavalrymen and good foot soldiers; they use bows, swords, breastplates, and bronze sagares. In battle they have golden belts and headbands; their horses have gold bits and golden breastpieces. Silver is not found among them, and iron is scarce, but bronze and gold are abundant.

Those who live on the islands, having no sowable land, eat roots and use wild fruits; they clothe themselves in the bark of trees, since they have no grazing animals, and they drink the juice pressed from tree-fruit. Those in the marshes eat fish and wear the skins of seals that come up from the sea. The mountaineers themselves are fed by wild fruits; they also have a few sheep, but do not slaughter them often, sparing them for the sake of wool and milk. They variegate their clothing with dyes rubbed in, whose color is hard to wash out. The plains people, although they have land, do not farm it, but live from sheep and fish in nomad and Scythian fashion. There is a common mode of life for all such peoples, as I have often said, and their burials, customs, and whole life are similar: self-governing, rough, wild, and warlike, yet simple and untrading in their agreements.

The Attasii and Chorasmii also belong to the race of the Massagetae and Saka; to them Spitamenes fled from the Bactrians and Sogdians, one of the Persians who escaped Alexander by flight, like Bessus. Later Arsaces, fleeing Seleucus Callinicus, withdrew to the Apasiacae. Eratosthenes says that the Arachoti and Massagetae lie next to the Bactrians on the west near the Oxus, and that the Saka and Sogdians, throughout the whole extent of their territory, lie opposite India, while the Bactrians do so only in part, since the greater part lies alongside the Paropamisus. He says the Iaxartes separates the Saka and Sogdians, and the Oxus separates the Sogdians and Bactrians; the Tapyri live between the Hyrcanians and Arians; around the sea after the Hyrcanians are the Amardi, Anariacae, Cadusii, Albanians, Caspians, Vitii, and perhaps others as far as the Scythians; on the other side of the Hyrcanians are the Derbices; and the Cadusii touch both the Medes and the Matiani below Parachoathras.

He gives the distances in this way: from the Caspian to the Cyrus about one thousand eight hundred stadia; from there to the Caspian Gates five thousand six hundred; then to Alexandria among the Arians six thousand four hundred; then to the city Bactra, also called Zariaspa, three thousand eight hundred seventy; then to the river Iaxartes, to which Alexander came, about five thousand: altogether twenty-two thousand six hundred seventy. He also gives the distances from the Caspian Gates to the Indians in this way: to Hecatompylus, they say, one thousand nine hundred sixty; to Alexandria among the Arians, four thousand five hundred thirty; then to Prophthasia in Drangê, one thousand six hundred, though some say five hundred; then to the city of the Arachoti, four thousand one hundred twenty; then to Ortospana, at the three-road junction from Bactra, two thousand; then to the borders of India, one thousand: altogether fifteen thousand three hundred. In a straight line with this distance one must understand the continuation, the length of India from the Indus to the eastern sea. Such, then, are the matters concerning the Saka.

Geography 11.9.1-3

Parthia is not a large country. At any rate, under the Persians, and afterward for a long time while the Macedonians held power, it paid tribute together with the Hyrcanians. Besides being small, it is wooded, mountainous, and poor in resources; for this reason the kings pass rapidly through their own crowd, since the country cannot feed it even for a short time. Now, however, it has grown. Parts of Parthyene are Comisene and Chorene, and almost also the lands as far as the Caspian Gates, Rhagae, and the Tapyri, which formerly belonged to Media. Apameia and Heracleia are cities around Rhagae. From the Caspian Gates to Rhagae there are five hundred stadia, according to Apollodorus, and to Hecatompylus, the royal seat of the Parthians, one thousand two hundred sixty. They say that Rhagae got its name from the earthquakes that occurred there, by which many cities and two thousand villages were overturned, as Posidonius says. They say the Tapyri live between the Derbices and the Hyrcanians. They also report concerning the Tapyri that it is their custom to give their married wives to other men, once they have had two or three children by them, just as Cato in our own time gave Marcia to Hortensius when he asked for her, according to an ancient Roman custom.

When the lands outside the Taurus were stirred to revolt because the kings of Syria and Media, who also held these regions, were occupied with other affairs, first the entrusted governors caused Bactria and all the region near it to revolt: the party around Euthydemus. Then Arsaces, a Scythian man, having with him certain Dahae nomads called Parni, who live along the Ochus, attacked Parthia and took possession of it. At first he and those who succeeded him were weak, fighting continually against the men from whom they had taken the country. Later, by always taking away nearby territory because of their successes in war, they grew so strong that in the end they became masters of all the land inside the Euphrates. They also took part of Bactria by force, overcoming the Scythians and, still earlier, the party around Eucratides; and now they rule so much land and so many peoples that, in the magnitude of their empire, they have in a way become rivals of the Romans. The cause is their way of life and their customs, which contain much that is barbarian and Scythian, but still more that is useful for rule and for success in wars.

They say the Parni are Dahae who migrated from the Dahae above the Maeotis, whom they call Xandii or Parii. Yet it is not altogether agreed that there are any Dahae among the Scythians above the Maeotis. Some say Arsaces drew his lineage from these people; others say he was a Bactrian, and that in fleeing the growth of the party around Diodotus he caused Parthia to revolt. Since we have said much about Parthian customs in the sixth book of the Historical Memoirs, and in the second of those after Polybius, we shall omit it here, so as not to seem to repeat ourselves, saying only this: Posidonius states that the council of the Parthians is twofold, one part made up of kinsmen and the other of wise men and Magi, and that from both together the kings are appointed.

Geography 11.10.1-2

Aria and Margiana are the best districts in this region, with some settlements enclosed by mountains and others lying in plains. Certain tent-dwellers pasture the mountains, while the plains are crossed by rivers that water them, some by the Arius and others by the Margus. Aria borders Bactria and lies under the mountain that holds Bactria; it is about six thousand stadia distant from Hyrcania. Drangiana, down to Carmania, also used to pay tribute together with Aria. Most of it lies beneath the southern parts of the mountains, though it has some portions approaching the northern parts near Aria. Arachosia too is not far away; it also lies beneath the southern parts of the mountains and stretches as far as the Indus River, being part of Ariana. The length of Aria is about two thousand stadia, and the breadth of the plain three hundred. Its cities are Artacaena, Alexandria, and Achaia, named after their founders. The land produces excellent wine; for wine keeps there to the third generation in unpitched vessels.

Margiana too is similar, but its plain is enclosed by deserts. Antiochus Soter, admiring its natural excellence, surrounded it with a wall having a circuit of fifteen hundred stadia, and founded a city, Antioch. This land too is good for vines; they say that the base of a vine is often found large enough for two men to encircle, and the bunch of grapes two cubits long.

Geography 11.11.1-8

Some parts of Bactria lie alongside Aria toward the north, but the greater part stretches beyond it toward the east. It is a large country and bears every crop except olive. Because of the excellence of the country, the Greeks who caused it to revolt became so strong that they held both Ariana and the Indians, as Apollodorus of Artemita says, and subdued more peoples than Alexander, especially Menander, if indeed he crossed the Hypanis toward the east and advanced as far as Imaus. Some of these conquests were made by Menander himself, others by Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, king of the Bactrians. They held not only Pattalene but also the kingdoms of Saraostus and Sigerdis on the rest of the coast. In general, Apollodorus says that Bactria is the ornament of the whole of Ariana; and indeed they extended their rule as far as the Seres and the Phryni.

Their cities included Bactra, which they also call Zariaspa, through which a river of the same name flows and empties into the Oxus, and Adrapsa and many others. Among these was also Eucratideia, named after the ruler. The Greeks who took possession of the country divided it into satrapies, of which the Parthians took Aspionus and Tapyria from Eucratides. They also held Sogdiana, lying above Bactria toward the east, between the Oxus River, which marks the boundary between the Bactrians and the Sogdians, and the Iaxartes; the Iaxartes also marks the boundary between the Sogdians and the nomads.

In ancient times the Sogdians and Bactrians did not differ much in their lives and customs from the nomads, although the customs of the Bactrians were a little more civilized. Even concerning these, however, the companions of Onesicritus do not give the best report. They say that those worn out by old age or sickness were thrown alive to dogs, which were kept specially for this purpose and were called "undertakers" in the ancestral language; and that the places outside the wall of the metropolis of the Bactrians could be seen clean, while the inside was mostly full of human bones. Alexander abolished this custom. Something similar is reported about the Caspians also: when parents have passed beyond seventy years, they are shut up and starved to death. This custom, though Scythian, is more tolerable and similar to the law of the Ceians; but the Bactrian practice is much more Scythian. It would indeed be worth puzzling over, when Alexander found such things there, what we should say was likely to have been customary among them under the first Persians and the still earlier rulers.

They say that Alexander founded eight cities in Bactria and Sogdiana, and razed some others: Cariatae in Bactria, where Callisthenes was arrested and handed over to prison; Maracanda in Sogdiana; and Cyra, the last foundation of Cyrus, situated on the Iaxartes River, which was the boundary of the Persian empire. They say he razed this foundation, though he loved Cyrus, because of its frequent revolts. They also say that he took by treachery very strong rocks, one in Bactria, that of Sisimithres, where Oxyartes kept his daughter Roxana, and one in Sogdiana, that of Oxus, though some say of Ariamazes. They report that the rock of Sisimithres was fifteen stadia high and eighty in circuit, level on top and fertile, able to feed five hundred men; there Alexander received costly hospitality and celebrated his marriage with Roxana, daughter of Oxyartes. The rock in Sogdiana, they say, was twice as high. Around these places he also destroyed the city of the Branchidae, whom Xerxes had settled there after they willingly went away with him from their own country because they had betrayed the treasure of the god at Didyma and the sacred deposits. Alexander destroyed them in loathing for the temple-robbery and the betrayal.

Aristobulus calls the river flowing through Sogdiana the Polytimetus, the Macedonians having given it the name, just as they gave many other names, sometimes new ones and sometimes altered forms. After watering the country, it issues into desert and sandy land and is swallowed into the sand, like the Arius, which flows through the land of the Arians. They say that men digging near the Ochus River found a spring of oil. This is plausible; just as certain nitrous, astringent, bituminous, and sulphurous fluids flow through the earth, so too oily ones may be found, but their rarity makes the report seem strange. Some say the Ochus flows through Bactria, others beside it; some say it is distinct from the Oxus down to its mouths and lies farther south than the Oxus, with both rivers having their outflows into the sea in Hyrcania; others say that at first it is distinct, but joins into one stream with the Oxus, which in many places has a breadth of six or seven stadia. The Iaxartes, however, is distinct from the Oxus from beginning to end, and though it ends in the same sea, their mouths are about eighty parasangs apart, according to Patrocles. Of the Persian parasang, some say it is sixty stadia, others thirty or forty. When we sailed up the Nile, people used different measures for the schoeni from city to city, so that the same number of schoeni made the voyage longer in one place and shorter in another; this had been handed down from the beginning and is observed to this day.

As far as Sogdiana, for one going from Hyrcania toward the rising sun, the peoples inside the Taurus were known formerly to the Persians, then afterward to the Macedonians, and then to the Parthians. The peoples beyond them in a straight line are inferred from their likeness to be Scythian, but no expeditions against them are known to us, just as none are known against the northernmost of the nomads. Alexander did attempt to lead an expedition against them when he was pursuing Bessus and Spitamenes; but when Bessus was brought back alive as a captive, and Spitamenes was killed by the barbarians, Alexander gave up the undertaking. It is not agreed that any men sailed around from India to Hyrcania, but Patrocles has said that it is possible.

It is said that the end of the Taurus, which they call Imaus, joins the Indian Sea and neither projects farther east than India nor recedes from it. But as one passes to the northern side, the sea always takes something away from both the length and the breadth, so that the part of Asia now being outlined, which the Taurus cuts off toward the Ocean that fills the Caspian gulf, is made tapering toward the east. The greatest length of this part, from the Hyrcanian Sea to the Ocean near Imaus, is somewhere about thirty thousand stadia, since the route runs along the mountain country of the Taurus; its breadth is less than ten thousand. It has been said that the distance from the Issic Gulf to the eastern sea by India is about forty thousand stadia, and from the western extremities by the Pillars to Issus another thirty thousand. The recess of the Issic Gulf is a little, or not at all, farther east than Amisus; and the distance from Amisus to Hyrcania is about ten thousand stadia, being parallel to the line just mentioned from Issus to the Indians. Therefore the length toward the east of the part now traversed remains the thirty thousand stadia just stated. Again, since the greatest breadth of the inhabited world is about thirty thousand stadia, the world being shaped like a chlamys, this distance would be near the meridian drawn through the Hyrcanian Sea and the Persian Sea, if indeed the length of the inhabited world is seventy thousand stadia. If, then, from Hyrcania to Artemita in Babylonia there are eight thousand stadia, as Apollodorus of Artemita has said, and from there to the mouth of the Persian Sea the same again, and again the same or a little less to the places opposite the extremities of Ethiopia, the remainder of the stated breadth of the inhabited world from the recess of the Hyrcanian Sea to its mouth would be as much as we have said. Since this section of land tapers toward the eastern parts, its shape would become like a cook's knife: the mountain running straight and being imagined as the blade's edge, while the coast from the mouth of the Hyrcanian Sea to Tamarus on the other side ends in a curved and tapering line.

We must also mention some of the strange reports told about the completely barbarous peoples, such as those around the Caucasus and the other mountain country. Among some, they say, the custom is like the line of Euripides: to lament the newborn for all the evils into which he comes, but to send out the dead man, released from labors, from the house with joy and words of good omen. Among others no one is killed even for the greatest crimes, but is only exiled with his children, contrary to the practice of the Derbices; for they slaughter even for small offenses. The Derbices worship earth. They neither sacrifice nor eat anything female. Those who have passed beyond seventy years they slaughter, and their nearest kin consume the flesh; old women they strangle and then bury. Those who die before seventy they do not eat, but bury. The Siginni in other respects follow Persian ways, but use small shaggy horses, which cannot carry a rider; they yoke them in teams of four, and women trained from childhood drive them. The woman who drives best marries whomever she wishes. Some, they say, take pains to appear as long-headed as possible, with their foreheads thrust forward so as to overhang their chins. Among the Tapyri it is customary for the men to wear black and long hair, and for the women to wear white and short hair; they live between the Derbices and the Hyrcanians. The man judged bravest marries whom he wishes. The Caspians starve those over seventy years and expose them in the wilderness. Watching from a distance, if they see them dragged from the bier by birds, they count them blessed; if by beasts or dogs, less so; if by nothing, ill-fated.

Geography 11.12.1-5

Since the Taurus makes the northern parts of Asia, which are also called the parts inside the Taurus, we chose to speak first about these. Among them are the lands in the mountains themselves, either wholly or for the most part. The regions east of the Caspian Gates admit a simpler circuit of description because of their wildness, and it would make little difference whether they were counted under this or that climate. But all the western regions give abundant material for speaking about them; therefore we must move forward to the lands beside the Caspian Gates. Media lies beside them toward the west, a large country, once powerful, and situated in the middle of the Taurus, which in these parts is much branched and encloses great valleys, just as has happened also in Armenia.

This mountain begins from Caria and Lycia, but there it shows neither remarkable breadth nor remarkable height. It first rises greatly around the Chelidoniae, islands at the beginning of the Pamphylian coast. Extending toward the east, it encloses the long valleys of the Cilicians. Then on one side Amanus branches off from it, and on the other Anti-Taurus, where Comana is situated among the people called the upper Cappadocians. Anti-Taurus ends in Cataonia, while Mount Amanus advances as far as the Euphrates and Melitene, where Commagene lies beside Cappadocia. The mountains beyond the Euphrates receive it, continuous with those already mentioned except insofar as the river, flowing through the middle, cuts them off; and there the range gains greatly in height, breadth, and branching. Its southernmost part, then, is especially the Taurus that marks off Armenia from Mesopotamia.

From there flow both rivers that encircle Mesopotamia and come near one another around Babylonia before issuing into the Persian Sea: the Euphrates and the Tigris. The Euphrates is the larger and traverses more country with its winding stream. It has its sources in the northern part of the Taurus and flows west through the land called Greater Armenia as far as Lesser Armenia, having Lesser Armenia on the right and Acilisene on the left. Then it turns south, and in the turn joins the boundaries of the Cappadocians. Leaving these and the lands of the Commagenians on the right, and Acilisene and Sophene of Greater Armenia on the left, it advances toward Syria and again takes another turn into Babylonia and the Persian Gulf. The Tigris, carried from the southern part of the same mountain toward Seleucia, comes near the Euphrates and makes Mesopotamia with it; then it too issues into the same gulf. The sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris are about two thousand five hundred stadia apart.

Many branches run north from the Taurus. One is that of the mountain called Anti-Taurus; for here too the range was so named, enclosing Sophene in a valley lying between it and the Taurus. Beyond the Euphrates, around Lesser Armenia, a great and much-branched mountain stretches northward in sequence with Anti-Taurus. One part of it they call Paryadres, another the Moschic mountains, and another by other names. These enclose the whole of Armenia as far as the Iberians and Albanians. Then other mountains rise toward the east, lying above the Caspian Sea as far as both Atropatian and Greater Media. All these parts of the mountains too are called Parachoathras, both those reaching to the Caspian Gates and those still beyond toward the east, joining Aria. Thus they call the northern mountains by these names. The southern mountains beyond the Euphrates, stretching east from Cappadocia and Commagene, are at first called simply Taurus, dividing Sophene and the rest of Armenia from Mesopotamia; some call them the Gordyaean mountains. Among these is Masius, the mountain lying above Nisibis and Tigranocerta. Then it rises higher and is called Niphates; somewhere here, on the southern side of the mountain country, are the sources of the Tigris. Then from Niphates the ridge stretches farther and farther and forms Mount Zagrius, which divides Media and Babylonia. After Zagrius come, above Babylonia, the mountain country of the Elymaei and Paraetaceni, and above Media that of the Cossaei. In the middle are Media and Armenia, containing many mountains and many mountain-plateaus, and likewise plains and great valleys, and many neighboring peoples, small, mountainous, and mostly predatory. In this way, then, we place inside the Taurus both Media, to which the Caspian Gates belong, and Armenia.

According to our arrangement, these peoples would be northern, since they are inside the Taurus. But Eratosthenes, having made his division into southern parts and northern parts and into what he calls seals, naming some northern and others southern, makes the Caspian Gates the boundary of both climates. Therefore he would reasonably mark off as southern the parts south of the Caspian Gates that stretch toward the east, among which are Media and Armenia, and as northern the parts farther north, this being possible according to one arrangement or another. Perhaps, however, he did not notice this point: that outside the Taurus toward the south there is no part either of Armenia or of Media.

Geography 11.13.1-11

Media is divided in two. One part they call Greater Media, whose metropolis is Ecbatana, a great city that holds the royal seat of the Median empire. The Parthians continue to use this royal seat even now, and the kings spend the summer here, for Media is cold; their winter residence is in Seleucia on the Tigris, near Babylon. The other part is Atropatian Media. It received its name from the commander Atropates, who prevented this country, itself a part of Greater Media, from coming under the Macedonians. Proclaimed king, he organized this country separately under itself, and the succession from him is preserved down to the present, his later descendants having made marriage alliances with the kings of the Armenians, the Syrians, and afterward the Parthians.

The country lies beside Armenia and Matiane toward the east, beside Greater Media toward the west, and toward the north beside both. On the south it lies beside the peoples around the recess of the Hyrcanian Sea and beside Matiane. It is not small in power, as Apollonides says, since it can furnish ten thousand cavalry and forty thousand infantry. It has Lake Capauta, in which salts flower up and harden; they cause itching and pain, and oil is a remedy for the irritation. Fresh water is a remedy for clothes stiffened by the salt, if someone in ignorance dips them into the lake for washing. The Atropatians have strong neighbors, the Armenians and the Parthians, by whom they are often cut down; nevertheless they resist and recover what has been taken away, just as they recovered Symbace from the Armenians when the Armenians came under the Romans. They themselves have also drawn near to friendship with Caesar, while at the same time courting the Parthians.

Their summer royal seat is Gazaca, founded in a plain; their winter seat is Vera, in a strong fortress, which Antony besieged during his campaign against the Parthians. This place is two thousand four hundred stadia from the Araxes River, which marks the boundary between Armenia and Atropatene, as Dellius says, the friend of Antony who wrote the account of Antony's campaign against the Parthians, in which he himself was present as a commander. The other parts of this country are prosperous, but the northern part is mountainous, rough, and cold, the dwelling-place of the mountain Cadusii, Amardi, Tapyri, Cyrtii, and other such peoples, who are migrants and given to raiding. For both Zagros and Niphates have these peoples scattered through them; and the Cyrtii and Mards in Persis, for the Amards are also called Mards, and those in Armenia who are still called by the same names, are of the same sort.

The Cadusii fall a little short of the Ariani in the number of their infantry, and are excellent javelin-throwers; in rough country, instead of cavalry, they fight on foot. It was not the nature of the country that made Antony's campaign difficult, but the guide of the roads, Artavasdes, king of the Armenians. Antony rashly made this man, who was plotting against him, both adviser and master of the policy of the war. He did punish him, but late, after Artavasdes and also the man who made the road from Zeugma on the Euphrates to the point of contact with Atropatene eight thousand stadia, more than twice the straight route, through mountains, trackless places, and circuitous travel, had become responsible for many evils to the Romans.

Greater Media, in ancient times, ruled all Asia after overthrowing the empire of the Syrians. Later, under Astyages, after Cyrus and the Persians had taken away such great power from it, it nevertheless preserved much of its ancestral dignity. Ecbatana was a winter residence for the Persians, and likewise for the Macedonians who overthrew them and held Syria; and even now it provides the same use and security for the kings of the Parthians.

It is bounded on the east by Parthia and by the mountains of the Cossaei, a predatory people who once provided thirteen thousand archers when they were fighting as allies of the Elymaei against the Susians and Babylonians. Nearchus says that there were four predatory peoples: the Mards were close to the Persians; the Uxii and Elymaei to these and to the Susians; and the Cossaei to the Medes. He says that the kings collected tribute from all of them, but the Cossaei also received gifts whenever the king, after summering in Ecbatana, went down into Babylonia; Alexander ended much of their audacity by attacking them in winter. Greater Media is bounded on the east by these peoples and also by the Paraetaceni, who touch the Persians and are themselves mountainous and predatory; on the north by the Cadusii who live above the Hyrcanian Sea and by the others whom we have just gone through; on the south by Apolloniatis, which the ancients called Sitacene, and by Zagros, where Massabatice lies, being part of Media, though some say it belongs to Elymais; and on the west by the Atropatians and some of the Armenians. There are also Greek cities in Media, foundations of the Macedonians: Laodiceia, Apameia, Heracleia near Rhagae, and Rhagae itself, a foundation of Nicator. He named it Europus, but the Parthians call it Arsacia. It is about five hundred stadia south of the Caspian Gates, as Apollodorus of Artemita says.

Most of the country is high and cold. Such too are the mountains above Ecbatana, the regions around Rhagae and the Caspian Gates, and in general the northern parts from there as far as Matiane and Armenia. But the region below the Caspian Gates, lying in low and hollow ground, is exceedingly prosperous and bears every crop except the olive; even if an olive grows somewhere, it is without oil and dry. This country, like Armenia, is exceptionally good for raising horses. There is even a certain horse-pasturing meadow, through which those traveling from Persis and Babylon to the Caspian Gates pass; in it, they say, fifty thousand mares were pastured under the Persians, and these herds were royal. Some say the Nisaean horses, which the kings used because they were the best and largest, came from here; others say from Armenia. They are distinctive in form, as are the horses now called Parthian, compared with the Greek horses and the others among us. The fodder that best nourishes horses, because it is especially abundant here, we call by the special name Medic. The country also bears silphium, from which comes the juice called Medic; it is far inferior to the Cyrenaean, though at times it even surpasses it, whether because of differences in places, or because the plant differs in kind, or also because of those who extract and prepare the juice so that it will keep for storage and use.

Such, then, is the country. Its size is roughly equal in breadth and length. The greatest length of Media seems to be the distance from the crossing of Zagros, which is called the Median Gate, to the Caspian Gates through Sigriane: four thousand one hundred stadia. The account of its tributes agrees with the size and power of the country. Cappadocia paid the Persians each year, in addition to the silver tax, fifteen hundred horses, two thousand mules, and fifty thousand sheep; the Medes paid almost twice these amounts.

Most of the customs are the same among these people and the Armenians because the country too is similar. Yet they say the Medes were originators of these customs both for the Armenians and still earlier for the Persians, who conquered them and succeeded to the empire of Asia. For the dress now called Persian, the zeal for archery and horsemanship, the attendance, adornment, and godlike reverence shown by subjects around the kings, came to the Persians from the Medes. That this is true is clearest from the clothing. A tiara, a citaris, a felt cap, sleeved tunics, and trousers are suitable garments in cold and northern places, such as the Median regions, but least suitable in the southern regions. The Persians possess most of their habitation on the Red Sea, being farther south than the Babylonians and Susians; after overthrowing the Medes, they also acquired some of the lands adjoining Media. Yet the customs of the conquered appeared so solemn and so appropriate to royal dignity to the conquerors that, instead of going bare and lightly clothed, they endured dressing in this covered style and being shaded by these coverings.

Some say that Medea introduced this dress when she ruled in these places, as Jason also did, and that she covered her face when she went out in place of the king. The memorials of Jason, then, are the Jasonian shrines, honored exceedingly by the barbarians; and there is also a great mountain above the Caspian Gates on the left called Jasonian. Of Medea, they say, came the dress and the name of the country. It is also said that Medus, her son, succeeded to the rule and left the country named after himself. The Jasonian memorials in Armenia, the name of the country, and many other things, about which we shall speak, agree with these accounts.

This too is Median: choosing the bravest man as king, though not among all the Medes, but among the mountain people. More generally Median is the custom that kings have many wives. This custom belongs to the mountain Medes and to all of them; it is not permitted to have fewer than five. In the same way, they say, the women regard it as honorable to have as many husbands as possible, and consider fewer than five a misfortune. While the rest of Media is thoroughly prosperous, the northern mountain country is miserable. At any rate, the people feed on tree-fruits; from dried apples pounded up they make cakes, from roasted almonds they make breads, and from certain roots they press wine. They use the flesh of wild animals, but raise no tame livestock. So much we say also about the Medes. Concerning the customs common to all Media, since they have become the same as the Persian customs because of the Persian conquest, we shall speak in the account about the Persians.

Geography 11.14.1-16

Of Armenia, the southern parts have the Taurus lying before them, the range that separates Armenia from the whole region between the Euphrates and the Tigris, which they call Mesopotamia. The eastern parts join Greater Media and Atropatene. The northern parts are the mountains above the Caspian Sea, the mountains of Parachoathras, and the Albanians, Iberians, and the Caucasus, which encircles those peoples and joins them to the Armenians; it also joins the Moschic and Colchian mountains as far as the peoples called the Tibareni. On the west are these peoples, together with Paryadres and Scydises as far as Lesser Armenia and the river valley of the Euphrates, which separates Armenia from Cappadocia and Commagene.

The Euphrates has its sources from the northern side of the Taurus. At first it flows west through Armenia; then it turns south and cuts through the Taurus between the Armenians, Cappadocians, and Commagenians. After issuing outside and coming into Syria, it turns toward the winter sunrise as far as Babylon and makes Mesopotamia together with the Tigris; both rivers end in the Persian Gulf. Such are the lands around Armenia, almost all mountainous and rough, except for the few parts that slope toward Media. Again, since the Taurus just mentioned takes its beginning from the land opposite the Commagenians and Melitenians which the Euphrates makes, Masius is the mountain lying above the Mygdonians in Mesopotamia on the south, among whom is Nisibis. On the northern side lies Sophene between Masius and Anti-Taurus. Anti-Taurus begins from the Euphrates and Taurus and ends toward eastern Armenia, enclosing Sophene in the middle, while on the other side it has Acilisene placed between Taurus and the river valley of the Euphrates before the river bends toward the south. The royal seat of Sophene is Carcathiocerta. Far east above Masius, in Gordyene, lies Niphates; then Abus, from which both the Euphrates and the Araxes flow, the one west and the other east; then Nibarus stretches as far as Media.

We have said how the Euphrates flows. The Araxes, carried toward the east as far as Atropatene, bends west and north and first flows past Azara, then Artaxata, cities of the Armenians; afterward it issues through the Araxene plain toward the Caspian Sea.

In Armenia itself there are many mountains and many mountain-plateaus, where even the vine does not easily grow, and many valleys, some moderately prosperous and others exceedingly so, such as the Araxene plain. Through it the Araxes River flows and falls toward the extremities of Albania and the Caspian Sea. After this comes Sacasene, itself bordering Albania and the Cyrus River, then Gogarene. All this country abounds in fruits, cultivated trees, and evergreens, and it also bears the olive. Phauene too is a province of Armenia, and Comisene and Orchistene, which supplies the greatest cavalry. Chorzene and Cambysene are the farthest north and the most snow-struck, joining the Caucasian mountains, Iberia, and Colchis. There, they say, when snowfalls last a long time, whole traveling parties are often swallowed in the snow on the mountain crossings. People carry staffs for such dangers, raising them to the surface for breathing and to signal to those who come upon them, so that they may receive help, be dug out, and be saved. In the snow, they say, hollow lumps form, containing good water as if in a casing; and living creatures are born in it. Apollonides calls them worms, Theophanes wood-worms. In these, good water is enclosed, and when the casings are split apart, it is drunk. They suppose the generation of the creatures to be like that of gnats from flame in mines, and like the blister-beetle.

They report that Armenia, formerly small, was enlarged by the men around Artaxias and Zariadris. Earlier they were generals of Antiochus the Great; afterward, after his defeat, they became kings, one of Sophene, Acisene, Odomantis, and certain other regions, the other of the country around Artaxata. They enlarged Armenia together by cutting off parts from the surrounding peoples: from the Medes, Caspiane, Phaunitis, and Basoropeda; from the Iberians, the foothill of Paryadres, Chorzene, and Gogarene beyond the Cyrus; from the Chalybes and Mosynoeci, Carenitis and Xerxene, which border Lesser Armenia or are parts of it; from the Cataonians, Acilisene and the region around Anti-Taurus; and from the Syrians, Taronitis. Thus all became speakers of the same language.

The cities of Armenia are Artaxata, which they also call Artaxiasata, Hannibal having founded it for King Artaxias, and Arxata, both on the Araxes. Arxata is near the borders of Atropatene, while Artaxata is well settled beside the Araxene plain and is the royal seat of the country. It lies on a peninsula-like bend, with the river thrown around the wall in a circle except at the isthmus; the isthmus is closed by a ditch and palisade. Not far from the city are the treasure-fortresses of Tigranes and Artavasdes, strongholds named Babyrsa and Olane; there were also others on the Euphrates. Artageira was caused to revolt by Adon the garrison commander; Caesar's generals, after besieging it for a long time, took it and dismantled the walls.

There are many rivers in the country. The best known are the Phasis and Lycus, which fall into the Pontic Sea, though Eratosthenes wrongly puts the Thermodon instead of the Lycus; the Cyrus and Araxes, which fall into the Caspian; and the Euphrates and Tigris, which fall into the Red Sea.

There are also great lakes in Armenia. One is Mantiane, translated as Blue, the largest, they say, after Maeotis, of salt water, extending as far as Atropatene and having salt-pans. Another is Arsene, which they also call Thopitis. It is nitrous, tears and frays garments, and for this reason its water is undrinkable. The Tigris passes through it, setting out from the mountain country around Niphates and preserving its current unmixed because of its swiftness; from this it also has its name, since the Medes call an arrow tigris. The river has many kinds of fish, but the lake fish are of one kind. Near the recess of the lake the river falls into a chasm, is carried for a long distance underground, and rises in Chalonitis. From there, it is carried down toward Opis and the so-called wall of Semiramis, leaving the Gordyaeans and all Mesopotamia on the right; the Euphrates, on the opposite side, has the same country on the left. Coming near one another and making Mesopotamia, the Tigris is carried through Seleucia toward the Persian Gulf, and the Euphrates through Babylon, as has been said somewhere in the discussions against Eratosthenes and Hipparchus.

There are gold mines in Syspiritis around Caballa, to which Alexander sent Menon with soldiers; he was strangled by the natives. There are other mines too, especially of the substance called sandyx, which they also call Armenian color, like chalce. The country is so exceedingly good for horse-pasture, and no less than Media, that the Nisaean horses used by the kings of the Persians are produced here too; and the satrap of Armenia used to send the Persian king twenty thousand foals each year for the Mithracina. When Artavasdes joined Antony in his invasion of Media, he displayed, apart from the rest of the cavalry, the armored cavalry itself, six thousand horse. Not only the Medes and Armenians have become zealous for this cavalry, but also the Albanians; for they too use armored horsemen.

The wealth and power of the country have a considerable sign in this: when Pompey assessed Tigranes, father of Artavasdes, at six thousand talents of silver, Tigranes immediately distributed it among the Roman forces, fifty drachmas to each soldier, one thousand to each centurion, and a talent to each cavalry commander and tribune.

Theophanes gives the size of the country as one hundred schoeni in breadth and twice as much in length, setting the schoenus at forty stadia; he has spoken by way of exaggeration. It is nearer the truth to set as the length what he called the breadth, and as the breadth half that or a little more. Such, then, are the nature and power of Armenia.

There is an antiquarian account of this people as follows. Armenus, from the Thessalian city Armenium, which lies between Pherae and Larisa on Lake Boebe, as has been said, campaigned with Jason into Armenia. The writers around Cyrsilus of Pharsalus and Medius of Larisa, men who campaigned with Alexander, say Armenia was named after him. Of those with Armenus, they say, some settled Acilisene, which had formerly been under the Sophenians, and others in Syspiritis as far as Calachene and Adiabene, outside the Armenian borders. They also say that Armenian dress is Thessalian: the deep tunics, for example, which they call Thessalian in tragedies, and which they gird around the chest, and the cloaks. The tragic actors also imitated the Thessalians, for they needed some such added costume, and the Thessalians, who especially wore deep garments, naturally because they were the northernmost of all Greeks and inhabited the coldest places, provided the most suitable model for the costume of actors in their fictions. They say the zeal for horsemanship is Thessalian for the Armenians too, and likewise for the Medes. The campaign of Jason is witnessed by the Jasonian memorials, some of which the rulers constructed in similar fashion, just as Parmenion built the temple of Jason at Abdera.

They think the Araxes was so called by those around Armenus because of its likeness to the Peneius, taking the same name as that river. For the Peneius too is called Araxes because it tore Ossa away from Olympus when it broke through Tempe. They say that the river in Armenia also, after coming down from the mountains, broadened in ancient times and made a sea in the plains below, having no outlet, but that Jason, imitating Tempe, made the cleft through which the water now crashes down into the Caspian Sea. From this the Araxene plain was laid bare, through which the river happens to flow toward the cataract. This account told about the Araxes River has some plausibility, but Herodotus' account does not have much; for he says that the river flows from the Matieni, splits into forty rivers, and divides the Scythians and Bactrians. Callisthenes followed him.

It is also said that some of the Aenianes settled Vitia, while others settled above the Armenians beyond Abus and Nibarus, which are parts of the Taurus. Abus is near the road leading to Ecbatana, by the temple of Baris. They also say that certain Thracians, those called Saraparae, a word meaning something like head-cutters, settled above Armenia near the Guranii and Medes. They were beast-like men, disobedient mountain people, scalpers and beheaders; for this is what the Saraparae indicate. The matters concerning Medea have also been stated in the Median section. From all these things they infer that the Medes and Armenians are somehow kin to the Thessalians and to those descended from Jason and Medea.

This, then, is the ancient account. The later account, beginning with the Persians and proceeding in sequence down to our own time, may suitably be stated in summary up to this point. The Persians and Macedonians held Armenia, and after them those who held Syria and Media. The last ruler was Orontes, a descendant of Hydarnes, one of the Seven Persians. Then Armenia was divided in two by the generals of Antiochus the Great, who fought against the Romans, Artaxias and Zariadris. These men ruled with the king's permission; but when Antiochus was defeated, they attached themselves to the Romans and were ranked independently, being called kings. Tigranes was a descendant of Artaxias and held what is specifically called Armenia, which was adjacent to Media, the Albanians, and the Iberians as far as Colchis and the part of Cappadocia on the Euxine. Artanes of Sophene was a descendant of Zariadris and held the southern parts and especially the western parts of them. He was overthrown by Tigranes, and Tigranes became master of all. He experienced varied fortunes. At first he was a hostage among the Parthians; then, through them, he obtained his return, after they received as payment seventy valleys of Armenia. When he had grown powerful, he recovered these places and ravaged the Parthian country around Ninus and Arbela. He had as subjects the Atropatenian and the Gordyaean, and with them the rest of Mesopotamia; crossing the Euphrates, he also took Syria itself and Phoenicia by force. Raised to such a height, he founded a city near Iberia between that country and Zeugma on the Euphrates, which he named Tigranocerta, gathering into it people from twelve Greek cities that he had made desolate. But Lucullus, who fought Mithridates, came upon it first; he released the inhabitants to each one's own city, attacked and tore down the still unfinished foundation, and left it a small village. He also drove Tigranes out of Syria and Phoenicia. Artavasdes succeeded him and for a time prospered as a friend of the Romans; but when he betrayed Antony to the Parthians in the war against them, he paid the penalty. Antony brought him to Alexandria, led him captive through the city in procession, and kept him under guard for a time; then Artavasdes was killed when the Actian war was beginning. After him several kings ruled while subject to Caesar and the Romans, and even now the country is held in the same way.

All the sacred rites of the Persians are honored by the Medes and Armenians; those of Anaitis are honored especially by the Armenians, who have founded sanctuaries for her in other places and also in Acilisene. There they dedicate male and female slaves. This is not surprising; but the most eminent men of the nation also consecrate their virgin daughters, for whom it is customary, after having prostituted themselves for a long time at the goddess's sanctuary, afterward to be given in marriage. No one thinks it beneath him to live with such a woman as his wife. Herodotus says something of this kind also about the Lydian women, for he says that they all prostitute themselves. They treat their lovers so hospitably that they even provide guest-gifts and often give back more gifts than they receive, since they are supplied from prosperous households. They do not receive just any foreigners, but especially those of equal rank.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Greek source text printed below. The translation was made against the August Meineke Greek text as preserved in the Perseus canonical Greek XML, with public-domain English and Perseus display texts used as controls only.

The Perseus XML witness preserves several editorial intrusions in the Greek source text. They are left in the source appendix for transparency and are not translated as Strabo's prose: post καὶ· ἀεὶ at 11.1.7; post Κολχίδος at 11.2.18; post ἀλκιμωτάτας at 11.5.1; ante ῥᾴδιον at 11.6.4; post ἓν at 11.7.4; post μὲν· γὰρ at 11.11.1; post βραχυκομεῖν· οἰκοῦσι at 11.11.8; post νοτιώτερα· πρὸς at 11.12.5; post Ἀρμενίᾳ· καὶ at 11.13.2; ante τὰ· καὶ at 11.13.9; and post δραχμὰς· καὶ at 11.14.10.

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

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Source Text: Στράβων, Γεωγραφικά 11

Greek source text from Strabo, Geography Book 11, edited by August Meineke and preserved in the Perseus canonical Greek XML. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

11.1

11.1.1

τῇ δʼ Εὐρώπῃ συνεχής ἐστιν ἡ Ἀσία κατὰ τὸν Τάναϊν συνάπτουσα αὐτῇ· περὶ ταύτης οὖν ἐφεξῆς ῥητέον διελόντας φυσικοῖς τισιν ὅροις τοῦ σαφοῦς χάριν. ὅπερ οὖν Ἐρατοσθένης ἐφʼ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐποίησε, τοῦθʼ ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ποιητέον.

11.1.2

ὁ γὰρ Ταῦρος μέσην πως διέζωκε ταύτην τὴν ἤπειρον ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω τεταμένος, τὸ μὲν αὐτῆς ἀπολείπων πρὸς βορρᾶν τὸ δὲ μεσημβρινόν. καλοῦσι δὲ αὐτῶν οἱ Ἕλληνες τὸ μὲν ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου τὸ δὲ ἐκτός. εἴρηται δὲ ταῦθʼ ἡμῖν καὶ πρότερον, ἀλλʼ εἰρήσθω καὶ νῦν ὑπομνήσεως χάριν.

11.1.3

πλάτος μὲν οὖν ἔχει τὸ ὄρος πολλαχοῦ καὶ τρισχιλίων σταδίων, μῆκος δʼ ὅσον καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἀσίας, τεττάρων που μυριάδων καὶ πεντακισχιλίων, ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥοδίων περαίας ἐπὶ τὰ ἄκρα τῆς Ἰνδικῆς καὶ Σκυθίας πρὸς τὰς ἀνατολάς.

11.1.4

διῄρηται δʼ εἰς μέρη πολλὰ καὶ ὀνόματα περιγραφαῖς καὶ μείζοσι καὶ ἐλάττοσιν ἀφωρισμένα. ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐν τῷ τοσούτῳ πλάτει τοῦ ὄρους ἀπολαμβάνεταί τινα ἔθνη, τὰ μὲν ἀσημότερα τὰ δὲ καὶ παντελῶς γνώριμα (καθάπερ ἡ Παρθυαία καὶ Μηδία καὶ Ἀρμενία καὶ Καππαδοκῶν τινες καὶ Κίλικες καὶ Πισίδαι), τὰ μὲν πλεονάζοντα ἐν τοῖς προσβόρροις μέρεσιν ἐνταῦθα τακτέον, τὰ δʼ ἐν τοῖς νοτίοις εἰς τὰ νότια, καὶ τὰ ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τῶν ὀρῶν κείμενα διὰ τὰς τῶν ἀέρων ὁμοιότητας πρὸς βορρᾶν πως θετέον· ψυχροὶ γάρ εἰσιν, οἱ δὲ νότιοι θερμοί. καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν δὲ αἱ ῥύσεις ἐνθένδε ἰοῦσαι πᾶσαι σχεδόν τι εἰς τἀναντία αἱ μὲν εἰς τὰ βόρεια αἱ δʼ εἰς τὰ νότια μέρη (τά γε πρῶτα, κἂν ὕστερόν τινες ἐπιστρέφωσι πρὸς ἀνατολὰς ἢ δύσεις), ἔχουσί τι εὐφυὲς πρὸς τὸ τοῖς ὄρεσιν ὁρίοις χρῆσθαι κατὰ τὴν εἰς δύο μέρη διαίρεσιν τῆς Ἀσίας· καθάπερ καὶ ἡ θάλαττα ἡ ἐντὸς στηλῶν, ἐπʼ εὐθείας πως οὖσα ἡ πλείστη τοῖς ὄρεσι τούτοις, ἐπιτηδεία γεγένηται πρὸς τὸ δύο ποιεῖν ἠπείρους, τήν τε Εὐρώπην καὶ τὴν Λιβύην, ὅριον ἀμφοῖν οὖσα ἀξιόλογον.

11.1.5

τοῖς δὲ μεταβαίνουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς Εὐρώπης ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐν τῇ γεωγραφίᾳ τὰ πρὸς βορρᾶν ἐστι πρῶτα τῆς εἰς δύο διαιρέσεως, ὥστε ἀπὸ τούτων ἀρκτέον. αὐτῶν δὲ τούτων πρῶτά ἐστι τὰ περὶ τὸν Τάναϊν, ὅνπερ τῆς Εὐρώπης καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ὅριον ὑπεθέμεθα. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα τρόπον τινὰ χερρονησίζοντα· περιέχεται γὰρ ἐκ μὲν τῆς ἑσπέρας τῷ ποταμῷ τῷ Τανάιδι καὶ τῇ Μαιώτιδι μέχρι τοῦ Βοσπόρου καὶ τῆς τοῦ Εὐξείνου παραλίας τῆς τελευτώσης εἰς τὴν Κολχίδα· ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄρκτων τῷ Ὠκεανῷ μέχρι τοῦ στόματος τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης· ἕωθεν δὲ αὐτῇ ταύτῃ τῇ θαλάττῃ μέχρι τῶν μεθορίων τῆς τε Ἀλβανίας καὶ τῆς Ἀρμενίας, καθʼ ἃ ὁ Κῦρος καὶ ὁ Ἀράξης ἐκδιδοῦσι ποταμοί, ῥέοντες ὁ μὲν διὰ τῆς Ἀρμενίας Κῦρος δὲ διὰ τῆς Ἰβηρίας καὶ τῆς Ἀλβανίας· ἐκ νότου δὲ τῇ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκβολῆς τοῦ Κύρου μέχρι τῆς Κολχίδος, ὅσον τρισχιλίων οὔσῃ σταδίων ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἐπὶ θάλατταν, διʼ Ἀλβανῶν καὶ Ἰβήρων, ὥστε ἰσθμοῦ λόγον ἔχειν. οἱ δʼ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον συναγαγόντες τὸν ἰσθμὸν ἐφʼ ὅσον Κλείταρχος, ἐπίκλυστον φήσας ἐξ ἑκατέρου τοῦ πελάγους, οὐδʼ ἂν λόγου ἀξιοῖντο. Ποσειδώνιος δὲ χιλίων καὶ πεντακοσίων εἴρηκε τὸν ἰσθμόν, ὅσον καὶ τὸν ἀπὸ Πηλουσίου ἰσθμὸν εἰς τὴν Ἐρυθράν. δοκῶ δέ φησί μὴ πολὺ διαφέρειν μηδὲ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς Μαιώτιδος εἰς τὸν Ὠκεανόν.

11.1.6

οὐκ οἶδα δὲ πῶς ἄν τις περὶ τῶν ἀδήλων αὐτῷ πιστεύσειε μηδὲν εἰκὸς ἔχοντι εἰπεῖν περὶ αὐτῶν, ὅταν περὶ τῶν φανερῶν οὕτω παραλόγως λέγῃ, καὶ ταῦτα φίλος Πομπηίῳ γεγονὼς τῷ στρατεύσαντι ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἴβηρας καὶ τοὺς Ἀλβανοὺς μέχρι τῆς ἐφʼ ἑκάτερα θαλάττης τῆς τε Κασπίας καὶ τῆς Κολχικῆς. φασὶ γοῦν ἐν Ῥόδῳ γενόμενον τὸν Πομπήιον, ἡνίκα ἐπὶ τὸν λῃστρικὸν πόλεμον ἐξῆλθεν (εὐθὺς δʼ ἔμελλε καὶ ἐπὶ Μιθριδάτην ὁρμήσειν καὶ τὰ μέχρι τῆς Κασπίας ἔθνη), παρατυχεῖν διαλεγομένῳ τῷ Ποσειδωνίῳ, ἀπιόντα δʼ ἐρέσθαι εἴ τι προστάττει, τὸν δʼ εἰπεῖν αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν καὶ ὑπείροχον ἔμμεναι ἄλλων.Hom. Il. 6.208προστίθει δὲ τούτοις ὅτι καὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν συνέγραψε τὴν περὶ αὐτόν. διὰ δὴ ταῦτα ἐχρῆν φροντίσαι τἀληθοῦς πλέον τι.

11.1.7

δεύτερον δʼ ἂν εἴη μέρος τὸ ὑπὲρ τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης, ἣν καὶ Κασπίαν καλοῦμεν, μέχρι τῶν κατʼ Ἰνδοὺς Σκυθῶν. τρίτον δὲ μέρος τὸ συνεχὲς τῷ λεχθέντι ἰσθμῷ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς τούτῳ καὶpost καὶ· ἀεὶ ταῖς Κασπίαις πύλαις, τῶν ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου καὶ τῆς Εὐρώπης ἐγγυτάτω· ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ Μηδία καὶ Ἀρμενία καὶ Καππαδοκία καὶ τὰ μεταξύ. τέταρτον δʼ ἡ ἐντὸς Ἅλυος γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Ταύρῳ καὶ ἐκτὸς ὅσα εἰς τὴν χερρόνησον ἐμπίπτει, ἣν ποιεῖ ὁ διείργων ἰσθμὸς τήν τε Ποντικὴν καὶ τὴν Κιλικίαν θάλατταν. τῶν δὲ ἄλλων τῶν ἔξω τοῦ Ταύρου τήν τε Ἰνδικὴν τίθεμεν καὶ τὴν Ἀριανὴν μέχρι τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν καθηκόντων πρός τε τὴν κατὰ Πέρσας θάλατταν καὶ τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον καὶ τὸν Νεῖλον καὶ πρὸς τὸ Αἰγύπτιον πέλαγος καὶ τὸ Ἰσσικόν.

11.2.1

οὕτω δὲ διακειμένων τὸ πρῶτον μέρος οἰκοῦσιν ἐκ μὲν τῶν πρὸς ἄρκτον μερῶν καὶ τὸν Ὠκεανὸν Σκυθῶν τινὲς νομάδες καὶ ἁμάξοικοι, ἐνδοτέρω δὲ τούτων Σαρμάται, καὶ οὗτοι Σκύθαι, Ἄορσοι καὶ Σιρακοὶ μέχρι τῶν Καυκασίων ὀρῶν ἐπὶ μεσημβρίαν τείνοντες, οἱ μὲν νομάδες οἱ δὲ καὶ σκηνῖται καὶ γεωργοί, περὶ δὲ τὴν λίμνην Μαιῶται· πρὸς δὲ τῇ θαλάττῃ τοῦ Βοσπόρου τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Σινδική· μετὰ δὲ ταύτην Ἀχαιοὶ καὶ Ζυγοὶ καὶ Ἡνίοχοι Κερκέται τε καὶ Μακροπώγωνες. ὑπέρκειται δὲ τούτων καὶ τὰ τῶν Φθειροφάγων στενά· μετὰ δὲ τοὺς Ἡνιόχους ἡ Κολχὶς ὑπὸ τοῖς Καυκασίοις ὄρεσι κειμένη καὶ τοῖς Μοσχικοῖς. ἐπεὶ δʼ ὅριον ὑπόκειται τῆς Εὐρώπης καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ὁ Τάναϊς ποταμός, ἐντεῦθεν ἀρξάμενοι τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστα ὑπογράψομεν.

11.2.2

φέρεται μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρκτικῶν μερῶν, οὐ μὴν ὡς ἂν κατὰ διάμετρον ἀντίρρους τῷ Νείλῳ, καθάπερ νομίζουσιν οἱ πολλοί, ἀλλὰ ἑωθινώτερος ἐκείνου, παραπλησίως ἐκείνῳ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀδήλους ἔχων· ἀλλὰ τοῦ μὲν πολὺ τὸ φανερὸν χώραν διεξιόντος πᾶσαν εὐεπίμικτον καὶ μακροὺς ἀνάπλους ἔχοντος, τοῦ δὲ Τανάιδος τὰς μὲν ἐκβολὰς ἴσμεν (δύο δʼ εἰσὶν εἰς τὰ ἀρκτικώτατα μέρη τῆς Μαιώτιδος ἑξήκοντα σταδίους ἀλλήλων διέχουσαι), τοῦ δʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐκβολῶν ὀλίγον τὸ γνώριμόν ἐστι διὰ τὰ ψύχη καὶ τὰς ἀπορίας τῆς χώρας, ἃς οἱ μὲν αὐτόχθονες δύνανται φέρειν σαρξὶ καὶ γάλακτι τρεφόμενοι νομαδικῶς, οἱ δʼ ἀλλοεθνεῖς οὐχ ὑπομένουσιν. ἄλλως τε οἱ νομάδες δυσεπίμικτοι τοῖς ἄλλοις ὄντες καὶ πλήθει καὶ βίᾳ διαφέροντες ἀποκεκλείκασιν εἰ καί τι πορεύσιμον τῆς χώρας ἐστὶν ἢ εἴ τινας τετύχηκεν ἀνάπλους ἔχων ὁ ποταμός. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς αἰτίας ταύτης οἱ μὲν ὑπέλαβον τὰς πηγὰς ἔχειν αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς Καυκασίοις ὄρεσι, πολὺν δʼ ἐνεχθέντα ἐπὶ τὰς ἄρκτους εἶτʼ ἀναστρέψαντα ἐκβάλλειν εἰς τὴν Μαιῶτιν (τούτοις δὲ ὁμοδοξεῖ καὶ Θεοφάνης ὁ Μιτυληναῖος), οἱ δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄνω μερῶν τοῦ Ἴστρου φέρεσθαι· σημεῖον δὲ φέρουσιν οὐδὲν τῆς πόρρωθεν οὕτω ῥύσεως καὶ ἀπʼ ἄλλων κλιμάτων, ὥσπερ οὐ δυνατὸν ὂν καὶ ἐγγύθεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρκτων.

11.2.3

ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ τῇ λίμνῃ πόλις ὁμώνυμος οἰκεῖται Τάναϊς, κτίσμα τῶν τὸν Βόσπορον ἐχόντων Ἑλλήνων. νεωστὶ μὲν οὖν ἐξεπόρθησεν αὐτὴν Πολέμων ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπειθοῦσαν, ἦν δʼ ἐμπόριον κοινὸν τῶν τε Ἀσιανῶν καὶ τῶν Εὐρωπαίων νομάδων καὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Βοσπόρου τὴν λίμνην πλεόντων, τῶν μὲν ἀνδράποδα ἀγόντων καὶ δέρματα καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῶν νομαδικῶν, τῶν δʼ ἐσθῆτα καὶ οἶνον καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα τῆς ἡμέρου διαίτης οἰκεῖα ἀντιφορτιζομένων. πρόκειται δʼ ἐν ἑκατὸν σταδίοις τοῦ ἐμπορίου νῆσος Ἀλωπεκία, κατοικία μιγάδων ἀνθρώπων· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλα νησίδια πλησίον ἐν τῇ λίμνῃ. διέχει δὲ τοῦ στόματος τῆς Μαιώτιδος εὐθυπλοοῦσιν ἐπὶ τὰ βόρεια δισχιλίους καὶ διακοσίους σταδίους ὁ Τάναϊς, οὐ πολὺ δὲ πλείους εἰσὶ παραλεγομένῳ τὴν γῆν.

11.2.4

ἐν δὲ τῷ παράπλῳ τῷ παρὰ γῆν πρῶτον μέν ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Τανάιδος προϊοῦσιν ἐν ὀκτακοσίοις σταδίοις ὁ μέγας καλούμενος Ῥομβίτης, ἐν ᾧ τὰ πλεῖστα ἁλιεύματα τῶν εἰς ταριχείας ἰχθύων· ἔπειτα ἐν ἄλλοις ὀκτακοσίοις ὁ ἐλάττων Ῥομβίτης καὶ ἄκρα ἔχουσα καὶ αὐτὴ ἁλιείας ἐλάττους· ἔχουσι δὲ οἱ μὲν πρότερον νησία ὁρμητήρια, οἱ δʼ ἐν τῷ μικρῷ Ῥομβίτῃ αὐτοί εἰσιν οἱ Μαιῶται ἐργαζόμενοι· οἰκοῦσι γὰρ ἐν τῷ παράπλῳ τούτω παντὶ οἱ Μαιῶται, γεωργοὶ μὲν οὐχ ἧττον δὲ τῶν νομάδων πολεμισταί. διῄρηνται δὲ εἰς ἔθνη πλείω τὰ μὲν πλησίον τοῦ Τανάιδος ἀγριώτερα, τὰ δὲ συνάπτοντα τῷ Βοσπόρῳ χειροήθη μᾶλλον. ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ μικροῦ Ῥομβίτου στάδιοί εἰσιν ἑξακόσιοι ἐπὶ Τυράμβην καὶ τὸν Ἀντικείτην ποταμόν· εἶθʼ ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσιν ἐπὶ τὴν κώμην τὴν Κιμμερικήν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἀφετήριον τοῖς τὴν λίμνην πλέουσιν· ἐν δὲ τῷ παράπλῳ τούτῳ καὶ σκοπαί τινες λέγονται Κλαζομενίων.

11.2.5

τὸ δὲ Κιμμερικὸν πόλις ἦν πρότερον ἐπὶ χερρονήσου ἱδρυμένη, τὸν ἰσθμὸν τάφρῳ καὶ χώματι κλείουσα· ἐκέκτηντο δʼ οἱ Κιμμέριοι μεγάλην ποτὲ ἐν τῷ Βοσπόρῳ δύναμιν, διόπερ καὶ Κιμμερικὸς Βόσπορος ὠνομάσθη. οὗτοι δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ τοὺς τὴν μεσόγαιαν οἰκοῦντας ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς μέρεσι τοῦ Πόντου μέχρι Ἰωνίας ἐπιδραμόντες. τούτους μὲν οὖν ἐξήλασαν ἐκ τῶν τόπων Σκύθαι, τοὺς δὲ Σκύθας Ἕλληνες οἱ Παντικάπαιον καὶ τὰς ἄλλας οἰκίσαντες πόλεις τὰς ἐν Βοσπόρῳ.

11.2.6

εἶτʼ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀχίλλειον κώμην εἴκοσιν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ Ἀχιλλέως ἱερόν· ἐνταῦθα δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ στενώτατος πορθμὸς τοῦ στόματος τῆς Μαιώτιδος ὅσον εἴκοσι σταδίων ἢ πλειόνων, ἔχων ἐν τῇ περαίᾳ κώμην τὸ Μυρμήκιον (πλησίον δʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλείου) καὶ τὸ Παρθένιον.

11.2.7

ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τὸ Σατύρου μνῆμα ἐνενήκοντα στάδιοι· τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν ἐπʼ ἄκρας τινὸς χωστὸν ἀνδρὸς τῶν ἐπιφανῶς δυναστευσάντων τοῦ Βοσπόρου.

11.2.8

πλησίον δὲ κώμη Πατραεύς, ἀφʼ ἧς ἐπὶ κώμην Κοροκονδάμην ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα· αὕτη δʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ Κιμμερικοῦ καλουμένου Βοσπόρου πέρας. καλεῖται δὲ οὕτως ὁ στενωπὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος τῆς Μαιώτιδος ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ τὸ Ἀχίλλειον καὶ τὸ Μυρμήκιον στενῶν διατείνων μέχρι πρὸς τὴν Κοροκονδάμην καὶ τὸ ἀντικείμενον αὐτῇ κώμιον τῆς Παντικαπαίων γῆς ὄνομα Ἄκραν ἑβδομήκοντα σταδίων διειργόμενον πορθμῷ· μέχρι γὰρ δεῦρο καὶ ὁ κρύσταλλος διατείνει, πηττομένης τῆς Μαιώτιδος κατὰ τοὺς κρυμοὺς ὥστε πεζεύεσθαι. ἅπας δʼ ἐστὶν εὐλίμενος ὁ στενωπὸς οὗτος.

11.2.9

ὑπέρκειται δὲ τῆς Κοροκονδάμης εὐμεγέθης λίμνη, ἣν καλοῦσιν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς Κοροκονδαμῖτιν· ἐκδίδωσι δʼ ἀπὸ δέκα σταδίων τῆς κώμης εἰς τὴν θάλατταν· ἐμβάλλει δὲ εἰς τὴν λίμνην ἀπορρώξ τις τοῦ Ἀντικείτου ποταμοῦ, καὶ ποιεῖ νῆσον περίκλυστόν τινα ταύτῃ τε τῇ λίμνῃ καὶ τῇ Μαιώτιδι καὶ τῷ ποταμῷ. τινὲς δὲ καὶ τοῦτον τὸν ποταμὸν Ὕπανιν προσαγορεύουσι, καθάπερ καὶ τὸν πρὸς τῷ Βορυσθένει.

11.2.10

εἰσπλεύσαντι δʼ εἰς τὴν Κοροκονδαμῖτιν ἥ τε Φαναγόρειά ἐστι πόλις ἀξιόλογος καὶ Κῆποι καὶ Ἑρμώνασσα καὶ τὸ Ἀπάτουρον τὸ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱερόν· ὧν ἡ Φαναγόρεια καὶ οἱ Κῆποι κατὰ τὴν λεχθεῖσαν νῆσον ἵδρυνται εἰσπλέοντι ἐν ἀριστερᾷ, αἱ δὲ λοιπαὶ πόλεις ἐν δεξιᾷ πέραν Ὑπάνιος ἐν τῇ Σινδικῇ. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Γοργιπία ἐν τῇ Σινδικῇ, τὸ βασίλειον τῶν Σινδῶν πλησίον θαλάττης, καὶ Ἀβοράκη. τοῖς δὲ τοῦ Βοσπόρου δυνάσταις ὑπήκοοι ὄντες ἅπαντες Βοσπορανοὶ καλοῦνται· καὶ ἔστι τῶν μὲν Εὐρωπαίων Βοσπορανῶν μητρόπολις τὸ Παντικάπαιον, τῶν δʼ Ἀσιανῶν τὸ Φαναγόρειον (καλεῖται γὰρ καὶ οὕτως ἡ πόλις), καὶ δοκεῖ τῶν μὲν ἐκ τῆς Μαιώτιδος καὶ τῆς ὑπερκειμένης βαρβάρου κατακομιζομένων ἐμπόριον εἶναι τὰ Φαναγόρεια, τῶν δʼ ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ἀναφερομένων ἐκεῖσε τὸ Παντικάπαιον. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Φαναγορείᾳ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱερὸν ἐπίσημον τῆς Ἀπατούρου· ἐτυμολογοῦσι δὲ τὸ ἐπίθετον τῆς θεοῦ μῦθόν τινα προστησάμενοι, ὡς ἐπιθεμένων ἐνταῦθα τῇ θεῷ τῶν γιγάντων ἐπικαλεσαμένη τὸν Ἡρακλέα κρύψειεν ἐν κευθμῶνί τινι, εἶτα τῶν γιγάντων ἕκαστον δεχομένη καθʼ ἕνα τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ παραδιδοίη δολοφονεῖν ἐξ ἀπάτης.

11.2.11

τῶν Μαιωτῶν δʼ εἰσὶν αὐτοί τε οἱ Σινδοὶ καὶ Δανδάριοι καὶ Τορέται καὶ Ἄγροι καὶ Ἀρρηχοί, ἔτι δὲ Τάρπητες Ὀβιδιακηνοὶ Σιττακηνοὶ Δόσκοι, ἄλλοι πλείους· τούτων δʼ εἰσὶ καὶ οἱ Ἀσπουργιανοὶ μεταξὺ Φαναγορείας οἰκοῦντες καὶ Γοργιπίας ἐν πεντακοσίοις σταδίοις, οἷς ἐπιθέμενος Πολέμων ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ προσποιήσει φιλίας οὐ λαθὼν ἀντεστρατηγήθη καὶ ζωγρίᾳ ληφθεὶς ἀπέθανε. τῶν τε συμπάντων Μαιωτῶν τῶν Ἀσιανῶν οἱ μὲν ὑπήκουον τῶν τὸ ἐμπόριον ἐχόντων τὸ ἐν τῷ Τανάιδι οἱ δὲ τῶν Βοσπορανῶν· τοτὲ δʼ ἀφίσταντο ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλοι. πολλάκις δʼ οἱ τῶν Βοσπορανῶν ἡγεμόνες καὶ τὰ μέχρι τοῦ Τανάιδος κατεῖχον καὶ μάλιστα οἱ ὕστατοι, Φαρνάκης καὶ Ἄσανδρος καὶ Πολέμων. Φαρνάκης δέ ποτε καὶ τὸν Ὕπανιν τοῖς Δανδαρίοις ἐπαγαγεῖν λέγεται διά τινος παλαιᾶς διώρυγος ἀνακαθάρας αὐτὴν καὶ κατακλύσαι τὴν χώραν.

11.2.12

μετὰ δὲ τὴν Σινδικὴν καὶ τὴν Γοργιπίαν ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ ἡ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ Ζυγῶν καὶ Ἡνιόχων παραλία τὸ πλέον ἀλίμενος καὶ ὀρεινή, τοῦ Καυκάσου μέρος οὖσα. ζῶσι δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ θάλατταν λῃστηρίων, ἀκάτια ἔχοντες λεπτὰ στενὰ καὶ κοῦφα, ὅσον ἀνθρώπους πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι δεχόμενα, σπάνιον δὲ τριάκοντα δέξασθαι τοὺς πάντας δυνάμενα· καλοῦσι δʼ αὐτὰ οἱ Ἕλληνες καμάρας. φασὶ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰάσονος στρατιᾶς τοὺς μὲν Φθιώτας Ἀχαιοὺς τὴν ἐνθάδε Ἀχαΐαν οἰκίσαι, Λάκωνας δὲ τὴν Ἡνιοχίαν, ὧν ἦρχον Κρέκας καὶ Ἀμφίστρατος οἱ τῶν Διοσκούρων ἡνίοχοι, καὶ τοὺς Ἡνιόχους ἀπὸ τούτων εἰκὸς ὠνομάσθαι. τῶν δʼ οὖν καμαρῶν στόλους κατασκευαζόμενοι καὶ ἐπιπλέοντες τοτὲ μὲν ταῖς ὁλκάσι τοτὲ δὲ χώρᾳ τινὶ ἢ καὶ πόλει θαλαττοκρατοῦσι. προσλαμβάνουσι δʼ ἔσθʼ ὅτε καὶ οἱ τὸν Βόσπορον ἔχοντες ὑφόρμους χορηγοῦντες καὶ ἀγορὰν καὶ διάθεσιν τῶν ἁρπαζομένων· ἐπανιόντες δὲ εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα χωρία, ναυλοχεῖν οὐκ ἔχοντες, ἀναθέμενοι τοῖς ὤμοις τὰς καμάρας ἀναφέρουσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς δρυμοὺς ἐν οἷσπερ καὶ οἰκοῦσι, λυπρὰν ἀροῦντες γῆν· καταφέρουσι δὲ πάλιν ὅταν ᾖ καιρὸς τοῦ πλεῖν. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσι καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ γνώριμα ἔχοντες ὑλώδη χωρία, ἐν οἷς ἀποκρύψαντες τὰς καμάρας αὐτοὶ πλανῶνται πεζῇ νύκτωρ καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἀνδραποδισμοῦ χάριν. ἃ δʼ ἂν λάβωσιν ἐπίλυτρα ποιοῦσι ῥᾳδίως μετὰ τοὺς ἀνάπλους μηνύοντες τοῖς ἀπολέσασιν. ἐν μὲν οὖν τοῖς δυναστευομένοις τόποις ἐστί τις βοήθεια ἐκ τῶν ἡγεμόνων τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις· ἀντεπιτίθενται γὰρ πολλάκις καὶ κατάγουσιν αὐτάνδρους τὰς καμάρας· ἡ δʼ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις ἀβοηθητοτέρα ἐστὶ διὰ τὴν ὀλιγωρίαν τῶν πεμπομένων.

11.2.13

τοιοῦτος μὲν ὁ τούτων βίος· δυναστεύονται δὲ καὶ οὗτοι ὑπὸ τῶν καλουμένων Σκηπτούχων; καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ οὗτοι ὑπὸ τυράννοις ἢ βασιλεῦσίν εἰσιν. οἱ γοῦν Ἡνίοχοι τέτταρας εἶχον βασιλέας, ἡνίκα Μιθριδάτης ὁ Εὐπάτωρ φεύγων ἐκ τῆς προγονικῆς εἰς Βόσπορον διῄει τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν· καὶ αὕτη μὲν ἦν πορεύσιμος αὐτῷ, τῆς δὲ τῶν Ζυγῶν ἀπογνοὺς διά τε δυσχερείας καὶ ἀγριότητας τῇ παραλίᾳ χαλεπῶς ᾔει, τὰ πολλὰ ἐμβαίνων ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν, ἕως ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἧκε· καὶ προσλαβόντων τούτων ἐξετέλεσε τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἐκ Φάσιδος οὐ πολὺ τῶν τετρακισχιλίων λείπουσαν σταδίων.

11.2.14

εὐθὺς δʼ οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς Κοροκονδάμης πρὸς ἕω μὲν ὁ πλοῦς ἐστιν. ἐν δὲ σταδίοις ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα ὁ Σινδικός ἐστι λιμὴν καὶ πόλις, εἶτα ἐν τετρακοσίοις τὰ καλούμενα Βατὰ κώμη καὶ λιμήν, καθʼ ὃ μάλιστα ἀντικεῖσθαι δοκεῖ πρὸς νότον ἡ Σινώπη ταύτῃ τῇ παραλίᾳ, καθάπερ ἡ Κάραμβις εἴρηται τοῦ Κριοῦ μετώπῳ· ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Βατῶν ὁ μὲν Ἀρτεμίδωρος τὴν Κερκετῶν λέγει παραλίαν ὑφόρμους ἔχουσαν καὶ κώμας ὅσον ἐπὶ σταδίους ὀκτακοσίους καὶ πεντήκοντα, εἶτα τὴν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν σταδίων πεντακοσίων, εἶτα τὴν τῶν Ἡνιόχων χιλίων, εἶτα τὸν Πιτυοῦντα τὸν μέγαν τριακοσίων ἑξήκοντα μέχρι Διοσκουριάδος· οἱ δὲ τὰ Μιθριδατικὰ συγγράψαντες, οἷς μᾶλλον προσεκτέον, Ἀχαιοὺς λέγουσι πρώτους, εἶτα Ζυγούς, εἶτα Ἡνιόχους, εἶτα Κερκέτας καὶ Μόσχους καὶ Κόλχους καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τούτων Φθειροφάγους καὶ Σοάνας καὶ ἄλλα μικρὰ ἔθνη τὰ περὶ τὸν Καύκασον. κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν ἡ παραλία, καθάπερ εἶπον, ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω τείνει καὶ βλέπει πρὸς νότον, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Βατῶν ἐπιστροφὴν λαμβάνει κατὰ μικρόν, εἶτʼ ἀντιπρόσωπος γίνεται τῇ δύσει καὶ τελευτᾷ πρὸς τὸν Πιτυοῦντα καὶ τὴν Διοσκουριάδα· ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ χωρία τῆς Κολχίδος συνάπτει τῇ λεχθείσῃ παραλίᾳ. μετὰ δὲ τὴν Διοσκουριάδα ἡ λοιπὴ τῆς Κολχίδος ἐστὶ παραλία καὶ ἡ συνεχὴς Τραπεζοῦς καμπὴν ἀξιόλογον ποιήσασα, εἶτα εἰς εὐθεῖαν ταθεῖσά πως πλευρὰν τὴν τὰ δεξιὰ τοῦ Πόντου ποιοῦσαν τὰ βλέποντα πρὸς ἄρκτον. ἅπασα δʼ ἡ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων παραλία μέχρι Διοσκουριάδος καὶ τῶν ἐπʼ εὐθείας πρὸς νότον ἐν τῇ μεσογαίᾳ τόπων ὑποπέπτωκε τῷ Καυκάσῳ.

11.2.15

ἔστι δʼ ὄρος τοῦτο ὑπερκείμενον τοῦ πελάγους ἑκατέρου τοῦ τε Ποντικοῦ καὶ τοῦ Κασπίου, διατειχίζον τὸν ἰσθμὸν τὸν διείργοντα αὐτά. ἀφορίζει δὲ πρὸς νότον μὲν τήν τε Ἀλβανίαν καὶ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, πρὸς ἄρκτον δὲ τὰ τῶν Σαρματῶν πεδία· εὔδενδρον δʼ ἐστὶν ὕλῃ παντοδαπῇ τῇ τε ἄλλῃ καὶ τῇ ναυπηγησίμῳ. φησὶ δʼ Ἐρατοσθένης ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων καλεῖσθαι Κάσπιον τὸν Καύκασον, ἴσως ἀπὸ τῶν Κασπίων παρονομασθέντα. ἀγκῶνες δέ τινες αὐτοῦ προπίπτουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν, οἳ τήν τε Ἰβηρίαν περιλαμβάνουσι μέσην καὶ τοῖς Ἀρμενίων ὄρεσι συνάπτουσι καὶ τοῖς Μοσχικοῖς καλουμένοις, ἔτι δὲ τῷ Σκυδίσῃ καὶ τῷ Παρυάδρῃ· ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ μέρη τοῦ Ταύρου πάντα τοῦ ποιοῦντος τὸ νότιον τῆς Ἀρμενίας πλευρόν, ἀπερρωγότα πως ἐκεῖθεν πρὸς ἄρκτον καὶ προσπίπτοντα μέχρι τοῦ Καυκάσου καὶ τῆς τοῦ Εὐξείνου παραλίας τῆς ἐπὶ Θεμίσκυραν διατεινούσης ἀπὸ τῆς Κολχίδος.

11.2.16

ἡ δʼ οὖν Διοσκουριὰς ἐν κόλπῳ τοιούτῳ κειμένη καὶ τὸ ἑωθινώτατον σημεῖον ἐπέχουσα τοῦ σύμπαντος πελάγους, μυχός τε τοῦ Εὐξείνου λέγεται καὶ ἔσχατος πλοῦς· τό τε παροιμιακῶς λεχθὲν οὕτω δεῖ δέξασθαι εἰς Φᾶσιν ἔνθα ναυσὶν ἔσχατος δρόμος, Anon. fr. 559 (Nauck) οὐχ ὡς τὸν ποταμὸν λέγοντος τοῦ ποιήσαντος τὸ ἰαμβεῖον, οὐδὲ δὴ ὡς τὴν ὁμώνυμον αὐτῷ πόλιν κειμένην ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ, ἀλλʼ ὡς τὴν Κολχίδα ἀπὸ μέρους, ἐπεὶ ἀπό γε τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ τῆς πόλεως οὐκ ἐλάττων ἑξακοσίων σταδίων λείπεται πλοῦς ἐπʼ εὐθείας εἰς τὸν μυχόν. ἡ δʼ αὐτὴ Διοσκουριάς ἐστι καὶ ἀρχὴ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ τοῦ μεταξὺ τῆς Κασπίας καὶ τοῦ Πόντου καὶ ἐμπόριον τῶν ὑπερκειμένων καὶ σύνεγγυς ἐθνῶν κοινόν· συνέρχεσθαι γοῦν εἰς αὐτὴν ἑβδομήκοντα, οἱ δὲ καὶ τριακόσια ἔθνη φασίν, οἷς οὐδὲν τῶν ὄντων μέλει, πάντα δὲ ἑτερόγλωττα διὰ τὸ σποράδην καὶ ἀμίκτως οἰκεῖν ὑπὸ αὐθαδείας καὶ ἀγριότητος· Σαρμάται δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ πλείους, πάντες δὲ Καυκάσιοι. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ τὰ περὶ τὴν Διοσκουριάδα.

11.2.17

καὶ ἡ λοιπὴ δὲ Κολχὶς ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ ἡ πλείων ἐστί· διαρρεῖ δʼ αὐτὴν ὁ Φᾶσις, μέγας ποταμὸς ἐξ Ἀρμενίας τὰς ἀρχὰς ἔχων, δεχόμενος τόν τε Γλαῦκον καὶ τὸν Ἵππον ἐκ τῶν πλησίον ὀρῶν ἐκπίπτοντας· ἀναπλεῖται δὲ μέχρι Σαραπανῶν ἐρύματος δυναμένου δέξασθαι καὶ πόλεως συνοικισμόν, ὅθεν πεζεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν Κῦρον ἡμέραις τέτταρσι διʼ ἁμαξιτοῦ. ἐπίκειται δὲ τῷ Φάσιδι ὁμώνυμος πόλις, ἐμπόριον τῶν Κόλχων, τῇ μὲν προβεβλημένη τὸν ποταμὸν τῇ δὲ λίμνην τῇ δὲ τὴν θάλατταν. ἐντεῦθεν δὲ πλοῦς ἐπʼ Ἀμισοῦ καὶ Σινώπης τριῶν ἡμερῶν ἢ δύο διὰ τὸ τοὺς αἰγιαλοὺς μαλακοὺς εἶναι καὶ τὰς τῶν ποταμῶν ἐκβολάς. ἀγαθὴ δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ χώρα καὶ καρποῖς πλὴν τοῦ μέλιτος (πικρίζει γὰρ τὸ πλέον) καὶ τοῖς πρὸς ναυπηγίαν πᾶσιν· ὕλην τε γὰρ καὶ φύει καὶ ποταμοῖς κατακομίζει, λίνον τε ποιεῖ πολὺ καὶ κάνναβιν καὶ κηρὸν καὶ πίτταν. ἡ δὲ λινουργία καὶ τεθρύληται· καὶ γὰρ εἰς τοὺς ἔξω τόπους ἐξεκόμιζον, καί τινες βουλόμενοι συγγένειάν τινα τοῖς Κόλχοις πρὸς τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἐμφανίζειν ἀπὸ τούτων πιστοῦνται. ὑπέρκειται δὲ τῶν λεχθέντων ποταμῶν ἐν τῇ Μοσχικῇ τὸ τῆς Λευκοθέας ἱερὸν Φρίξου ἵδρυμα, καὶ μαντεῖον ἐκείνου, ὅπου κριὸς οὐ θύεται, πλούσιόν ποτε ὑπάρξαν, συληθὲν δὲ ὑπὸ Φαρνάκου καθʼ ἡμᾶς καὶ μικρὸν ὕστερον ὑπὸ Μιθριδάτου τοῦ Περγαμηνοῦ. κακωθείσης γὰρ χώρας νοσεῖ τὰ τῶν θεῶν οὐδὲ τιμᾶσθαι θέλει, Eur. Tro. 27 φησὶν Εὐριπίδης.

11.2.18

τὸ μὲν γὰρ παλαιὸν ὅσην ἐπιφάνειαν ἔσχεν ἡ χώρα αὕτη δηλοῦσιν οἱ μῦθοι, τὴν Ἰάσονος στρατείαν αἰνιττόμενοι προελθόντος μέχρι καὶ Μηδίας, ἔτι δὲ πρότερον τὴν Φρίξου. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα διαδεξάμενοι βασιλεῖς εἰς σκηπτουχίας διῃρημένην ἔχοντες τὴν χώραν μέσως ἔπραττον· αὐξηθέντος δὲ ἐπὶ πολὺ Μιθριδάτου τοῦ Εὐπάτορος, εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἡ χώρα περιέστη· ἐπέμπετο δʼ ἀεί τις τῶν φίλων ὕπαρχος καὶ διοικητὴς τῆς χώρας. τούτων δὲ ἦν καὶ Μοαφέρνης, ὁ τῆς μητρὸς ἡμῶν θεῖος πρὸς πατρός· ἦν δʼ ἔνθεν ἡ πλείστη τῷ βασιλεῖ πρὸς τὰς ναυτικὰς δυνάμεις ὑπουργία. καταλυθέντος δὲ Μιθριδάτου συγκατελύθη καὶ ἡ ὑπʼ αὐτῷ πᾶσα καὶ διενεμήθη πολλοῖς· ὕστατα δὲ Πολέμων ἔσχε τὴν Κολχίδα, κἀκείνου τελευτήσαντος ἡ γυνὴ Πυθοδωρὶς κρατεῖ, βασιλεύουσα καὶ Κόλχων καὶ Τραπεζοῦντος καὶ Φαρνακίας καὶ τῶν ὑπερκειμένων βαρβάρων, περὶ ὧν ἐροῦμεν ἐν τοῖς ὕστερον. ἡ δʼ οὖν Μοσχική, ἐν ᾗ τὸ ἱερόν, τριμερής ἐστι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἔχουσιν αὐτῆς Κόλχοι τὸ δὲ Ἴβηρες τὸ δὲ Ἀρμένιοι. ἔστι δὲ καὶ πολίχνιον ἐν τῇ Ἰβηρίᾳ Φρίξου πόλις ἡ νῦν Ἰδήεσσα, εὐερκὲς χωρίον ἐν μεθορίοις τῆς Κολχίδος post Κολχίδος· περὶ δὲ τὴν Διοσκουριάδα ῥεῖ ὁ Χάρης ποταμός. .

11.2.19

τῶν δὲ συνερχομένων ἐθνῶν εἰς τὴν Διοσκουριάδα καὶ οἱ Φθειροφάγοι εἰσίν, ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐχμοῦ καὶ τοῦ πίνου λαβόντες τοὔνομα. πλησίον δὲ καὶ οἱ Σοάνες, οὐδὲν βελτίους τούτων τῷ πίνῳ δυνάμει δὲ βελτίους, σχεδὸν δέ τι καὶ κράτιστοι κατὰ ἀλκὴν καὶ δύναμιν· δυναστεύουσι γοῦν τῶν κύκλῳ τὰ ἄκρα τοῦ Καυκάσου κατέχοντες τὰ ὑπὲρ τῆς Διοσκουριάδος· βασιλέα δʼ ἔχουσι καὶ συνέδριον ἀνδρῶν τριακοσίων, συνάγουσι δʼ ὥς φασι στρατιὰν καὶ εἴκοσι μυριάδων· ἅπαν γάρ ἐστι τὸ πλῆθος μάχιμον, οὐ συντεταγμένον δέ . παρὰ τούτοις δὲ λέγεται καὶ χρυσὸν καταφέρειν τοὺς χειμάρρους, ὑποδέχεσθαι δʼ αὐτὸν τοὺς βαρβάρους φάτναις κατατετρημέναις καὶ μαλλωταῖς δοραῖς· ἀφʼ οὗ δὴ μεμυθεῦσθαι καὶ τὸ χρυσόμαλλον δέρος· εἰ μὴ καὶ Ἴβηρας ὁμωνύμως τοῖς ἑσπερίοις καλοῦσιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑκατέρωθι χρυσείων. χρῶνται δʼ οἱ Σοάνες φαρμάκοις πρὸς τὰς ἀκίδας θαυμαστοῖς καὶ τοὺς ἀφαρμάκτοις τετρωμένους βέλεσι λυπεῖ κατὰ τὴν ὀσμήν. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα ἔθνη τὰ πλησίον τὰ περὶ τὸν Καύκασον λυπρὰ καὶ μικρόχωρα, τὸ δὲ τῶν Ἀλβανῶν ἔθνος καὶ τὸ τῶν Ἰβήρων, ἃ δὴ πληροῖ μάλιστα τὸν λεχθέντα ἰσθμόν, Καυκάσια μὲν καὶ αὐτὰ λέγοιτʼ ἄν, εὐδαίμονα δὲ χώραν ἔχει καὶ σφόδρα καλῶς οἰκεῖσθαι δυναμένην.

11.3

11.3.1

καὶ δὴ ἥ γε Ἰβηρία κατοικεῖται καλῶς τὸ πλέον πόλεσί τε καὶ ἐποικίοις, ὥστε καὶ κεραμωτὰς εἶναι στέγας καὶ ἀρχιτεκτονικὴν τὴν τῶν οἰκήσεων κατασκευὴν καὶ ἀγορὰς καὶ τἆλλα κοινά.

11.3.2

τῆς δὲ χώρας τὰ μὲν κύκλῳ τοῖς Καυκασίοις ὄρεσι περιέχεται· προπεπτώκασι γάρ, ὡς εἶπον, ἀγκῶνες ἐπὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν εὔκαρποι, περιλαμβάνοντες τὴν σύμπασαν Ἰβηρίαν καὶ συνάπτοντες πρός τε τὴν Ἀρμενίαν καὶ τὴν Κολχίδα· ἐν μέσῳ δʼ ἐστὶ πεδίον ποταμοῖς διάρρυτον, μεγίστῳ δὲ τῷ Κύρῳ, ὃς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχων ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀρμενίας, εἰσβαλὼν εὐθὺς εἰς τὸ πεδίον τὸ λεχθέν, παραλαβὼν καὶ τὸν Ἄραγον ἐκ τοῦ Καυκάσου ῥέοντα καὶ ἄλλα ὕδατα διὰ στενῆς ποταμίας εἰς τὴν Ἀλβανίαν ἐκπίπτει· μεταξὺ δὲ ταύτης τε καὶ τῆς Ἀρμενίας ἐνεχθεὶς πολὺς διὰ πεδίων εὐβοτουμένων σφόδρα, δεξάμενος καὶ ἄλλους πλείους ποταμούς, ὧν ἐστιν ὅ τε Ἀλαζόνιος καὶ ὁ Σανδοβάνης καὶ ὁ Ῥοιτάκης καὶ Χάνης πλωτοὶ πάντες εἰς τὴν Κασπίαν ἐμβάλλει θάλατταν. ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ πρότερον Κόρος.

11.3.3

τὸ μὲν οὖν πεδίον τῶν Ἰβήρων οἱ γεωργικώτεροι καὶ πρὸς εἰρήνην νενευκότες οἰκοῦσιν ἀρμενιστί τε καὶ μηδιστὶ ἐσκευασμένοι, τὴν δʼ ὀρεινὴν οἱ πλείους καὶ μάχιμοι κατέχουσι Σκυθῶν δίκην ζῶντες καὶ Σαρματῶν, ὧνπερ καὶ ὅμοροι καὶ συγγενεῖς εἰσιν· ἅπτονται δʼ ὅμως καὶ γεωργίας, πολλάς τε μυριάδας συνάγουσιν καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτῶν καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνων, ἐπειδάν τι συμπέσῃ θορυβῶδες.

11.3.4

τέτταρες δʼ εἰσὶν εἰς τὴν χώραν εἰσβολαί· μία μὲν διὰ Σαραπανῶν φρουρίου Κολχικοῦ καὶ τῶν κατʼ αὐτὸ στενῶν, διʼ ὧν ὁ Φᾶσις γεφύραις ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι περατὸς γινόμενος διὰ τὴν σκολιότητα καταρρεῖ τραχὺς καὶ βίαιος εἰς τὴν Κολχίδα, πολλοῖς χειμάρροις κατὰ τὰς ἐπομβρίας ἐκχαραδρουμένων τῶν τόπων. γεννᾶται δʼ ἐκ τῶν ὑπερκειμένων ὀρῶν πολλαῖς συμπληρούμενος πηγαῖς, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πεδίοις καὶ ἄλλους προσλαμβάνει ποταμούς, ὧν ἐστιν ὅ τε Γλαῦκος καὶ ὁ Ἵππος· πληρωθεὶς δὲ καὶ γενόμενος πλωτὸς ἐξίησιν εἰς τὸν Πόντον καὶ ἔχει πόλιν ὁμώνυμον ἐφʼ αὑτῷ καὶ λίμνην πλησίον. ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῆς Κολχίδος εἰς τὴν Ἰβηρίαν ἐμβολὴ τοιαύτη, πέτραις καὶ ἐρύμασι καὶ ποταμοῖς χαραδρώδεσι διακεκλεισμένη.

11.3.5

ἐκ δὲ τῶν πρὸς ἄρκτον νομάδων ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἀνάβασις χαλεπή, καὶ μετὰ ταύτην ποταμία στενὴ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀράγου ποταμοῦ τεττάρων ἡμερῶν ὁδὸν ἔχουσα ἐφʼ ἕνα, φρουρεῖ δὲ τὸ πέρας τῆς ὁδοῦ τεῖχος δύσμαχον· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Ἀλβανίας διὰ πέτρας πρῶτον λατομητὴ εἴσοδος, εἶτα διὰ τέλματος ὃ ποιεῖ ὁ ποταμὸς Ἀλαζόνιος ἐκ τοῦ Καυκάσου καταπίπτων. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Ἀρμενίας τὰ ἐπὶ τῷ Κύρῳ στενὰ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῷ Ἀράγῳ· πρὶν γὰρ εἰς ἀλλήλους συμπεσεῖν, ἔχουσιν ἐπικειμένας πόλεις ἐρυμνὰς ἐπὶ πέτραις διεχούσαις ἀλλήλων ὅσον ἑκκαίδεκα σταδίους, ἐπὶ μὲν τῷ Κύρῳ τὴν Ἁρμοζικὴν ἐπὶ δὲ θατέρῳ Σευσάμορα. ταύταις δὲ ἐχρήσατο ταῖς εἰσβολαῖς πρότερον Πομπήιος ἐκ τῶν Ἀρμενίων ὁρμηθείς, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Κανίδιος.

11.3.6

τέτταρα δὲ καὶ γένη τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκεῖ τὴν χώραν· ἓν μὲν καὶ πρῶτον ἐξ οὗ τοὺς βασιλέας καθιστᾶσι κατʼ ἀγχιστείαν τε καὶ ἡλικίαν τὸν πρεσβύτατον, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος δικαιοδοτεῖ καὶ στρατηλατεῖ. δεύτερον δὲ τὸ τῶν ἱερέων οἳ ἐπιμελοῦνται καὶ τῶν πρὸς τοὺς ὁμόρους δικαίων. τρίτον δὲ τὸ τῶν στρατευομένων καὶ γεωργούντων. τέταρτον δὲ τὸ τῶν λαῶν, οἳ βασιλικοὶ δοῦλοί εἰσι καὶ πάντα διακονοῦνται τὰ πρὸς τὸν βίον. κοιναὶ δʼ εἰσὶν αὐτοῖς αἱ κτήσεις κατὰ συγγένειαν, ἄρχει δὲ καὶ ταμιεύει ἑκάστην ὁ πρεσβύτατος. τοιοῦτοι μὲν οἱ Ἴβηρες καὶ ἡ χώρα αὐτῶν.

11.4

11.4.1

Ἀλβανοὶ δὲ ποιμενικώτεροι καὶ τοῦ νομαδικοῦ γένους ἐγγυτέρω, πλὴν ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἄγριοι· ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ πολεμικοὶ μετρίως. οἰκοῦσι δὲ μεταξὺ τῶν Ἰβήρων καὶ τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης, πρὸς ἕω μὲν ἁπτόμενοι τῆς θαλάττης, πρὸς δύσιν δὲ ὁμοροῦντες τοῖς Ἴβηρσι· τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν πλευρῶν τὸ μὲν βόρειον φρουρεῖται τοῖς Καυκασίοις ὄρεσι (ταῦτα γὰρ ὑπέρκειται τῶν πεδίων, καλεῖται δὲ τὰ πρὸς τῇ θαλάττῃ μάλιστα Κεραύνια), τὸ δὲ νότιον ποιεῖ ἡ Ἀρμενία παρήκουσα, πολλὴ μὲν πεδιὰς πολλὴ δὲ καὶ ὀρεινή, καθάπερ ἡ Καμβυσηνή, καθʼ ἣν ἅμα καὶ τοῖς Ἴβηρσι καὶ τοῖς Ἀλβανοῖς οἱ Ἀρμένιοι συνάπτουσιν.

11.4.2

ὁ δὲ Κῦρος ὁ διαρρέων τὴν Ἀλβανίαν καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ποταμοὶ οἱ πληροῦντες ἐκεῖνον ταῖς μὲν τῆς γῆς ἀρεταῖς προσλαμβάνουσι, τὴν δὲ θάλατταν ἀλλοτριοῦσιν. ἡ γὰρ χοῦς προσπίπτουσα πολλὴ πληροῖ τὸν πόρον, ὥστε καὶ τὰς ἐπικειμένας νησῖδας ἐξηπειροῦσθαι καὶ τενάγη ποιεῖν ἀνώμαλα καὶ δυσφύλακτα· τὴν δʼ ἀνωμαλίαν ἐπιτείνουσιν αἱ ἐκ τῶν πλημμυρίδων ἀνακοπαί. καὶ δὴ καὶ εἰς στόματα δώδεκά φασι μεμερίσθαι τὰς ἐκβολάς, τὰ μὲν τυφλὰ τὰ δὲ παντελῶς ἐπίπεδα ὄντα καὶ μηδὲ ὕφορμον ἀπολείποντα· ἐπὶ πλείους γοῦν ἢ ἑξήκοντα σταδίους ἀμφικλύστου τῆς ᾐόνος οὔσης τῇ θαλάττῃ καὶ τοῖς ποταμοῖς, ἅπαν εἶναι μέρος αὐτῆς ἀπροσπέλαστον, τὴν δὲ χοῦν καὶ μέχρι πεντακοσίων παρήκειν σταδίων θινώδη ποιοῦσαν τὸν αἰγιαλόν. πλησίον δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἀράξης ἐμβάλλει τραχὺς ἐκ τῆς Ἀρμενίας ἐκπίπτων· ἣν δὲ ἐκεῖνος προωθεῖ χοῦν πορευτὸν ποιῶν τὸ ῥεῖθρον, ταύτην ὁ Κῦρος ἀναπληροῖ.

11.4.3

τάχα μὲν οὖν τῷ τοιούτῳ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐδὲν δεῖ θαλάττης· οὐδὲ γὰρ τῇ γῇ χρῶνται κατʼ ἀξίαν, πάντα μὲν ἐκφερούσῃ καρπὸν καὶ τὸν ἡμερώτατον, πᾶν δὲ φυτόν· καὶ γὰρ τὰ ἀειθαλῆ φέρει· τυγχάνει δʼ ἐπιμελείας οὐδὲ μικρᾶς ἀλλὰ τάγʼ ἄσπαρτα καὶ ἀνήροτα πάντα φύονται,Hom. Od. 9.109καθάπερ οἱ στρατεύσαντές φασι, Κυκλώπειόν τινα διηγούμενοι βίον· πολλαχοῦ γὰρ σπαρεῖσαν ἅπαξ δὶς ἐκφέρειν καρπὸν ἢ καὶ τρίς, τὸν δὲ πρῶτον καὶ πεντηκοντάχουν, ἀνέαστον καὶ ταῦτα οὐδὲ σιδήρῳ τμηθεῖσαν ἀλλʼ αὐτοξύλῳ ἀρότρῳ. ποτίζεται δὲ πᾶν τὸ πεδίον τοῦ Βαβυλωνίου καὶ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου μᾶλλον τοῖς ποταμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὕδασιν ὥστʼ ἀεὶ ποώδη φυλάττειν τὴν ὄψιν· διὰ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ εὔβοτόν ἐστι· πρόσεστι δὲ καὶ τὸ εὐάερον ἐκείνων μᾶλλον. ἄσκαφοι δʼ αἱ ἄμπελοι μένουσαι διὰ τέλους, τεμνόμεναι δὲ διὰ πενταετηρίδος, νέαι μὲν διετεῖς ἐκφέρουσιν ἤδη καρπόν, τέλειαι δʼ ἀποδιδόασι τοσοῦτον ὥστʼ ἀφιᾶσιν ἐν τοῖς κλήμασι πολὺ μέρος. εὐερνῆ δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ βοσκήματα παρʼ αὐτοῖς τά τε ἥμερα καὶ τὰ ἄγρια.

11.4.4

καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι κάλλει καὶ μεγέθει διαφέροντες, ἁπλοῖ δὲ καὶ οὐ καπηλικοί· οὐδὲ γὰρ νομίσματι τὰ πολλὰ χρῶνται, οὐδὲ ἀριθμὸν ἴσασι μείζω τῶν ἑκατόν, ἀλλὰ φορτίοις τὰς ἀμοιβὰς ποιοῦνται· καὶ πρὸς τἆλλα δὲ τὰ τοῦ βίου ῥᾳθύμως ἔχουσιν. ἄπειροι δʼ εἰσὶ καὶ μέτρων τῶν ἐπʼ ἀκριβὲς καὶ σταθμῶν, καὶ πολέμου δὲ καὶ πολιτείας καὶ γεωργίας ἀπρονοήτως ἔχουσιν· ὅμως δὲ καὶ πεζοὶ καὶ ἀφʼ ἵππων ἀγωνίζονται, ψιλοί τε καὶ κατάφρακτοι, καθάπερ Ἀρμένιοι.

11.4.5

στέλλουσι δὲ μείζω τῆς Ἰβήρων στρατιάν. ὁπλίζουσι γὰρ καὶ ἓξ μυριάδας πεζῶν, ἱππέας δὲ μυρίους καὶ δισχιλίους, ὅσοις πρὸς Πομπήιον διεκινδύνευσαν. καὶ τούτοις δὲ συμπολεμοῦσιν οἱ νομάδες πρὸς τοὺς ἔξωθεν, ὥσπερ τοῖς Ἴβηρσι, κατὰ τὰς αὐτὰς αἰτίας. ἄλλως δʼ ἐπιχειροῦσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πολλάκις ὥστε καὶ γεωργεῖν κωλύουσιν. ἀκοντισταὶ δέ εἰσι καὶ τοξόται, θώρακας ἔχοντες καὶ θυρεούς, περίκρανα δὲ θήρεια παραπλησίως τοῖς Ἴβηρσιν. ἔστι δὲ τῆς Ἀλβανῶν χώρας καὶ ἡ Κασπιανή, τοῦ Κασπίου ἔθνους ἐπώνυμος, οὗπερ καὶ ἡ θάλαττα, ἀφανοῦς ὄντος νυνί. ἡ δʼ ἐκ τῆς Ἰβηρίας εἰς τὴν Ἀλβανίαν εἰσβολὴ διὰ τῆς Καμβυσηνῆς ἀνύδρου τε καὶ τραχείας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀλαζόνιον ποταμόν. θηρευτικοὶ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ οἱ κύνες αὐτῶν εἰς ὑπερβολήν, οὐ τέχνῃ μᾶλλον ἢ σπουδῇ τῇ περὶ τοῦτο.

11.4.6

διαφέρουσι δὲ καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς· νυνὶ μὲν οὖν εἷς ἁπάντων ἄρχει, πρότερον δὲ καὶ καθʼ ἑκάστην γλῶτταν ἰδίᾳ ἐβασιλεύοντο ἕκαστοι. γλῶτται δʼ εἰσὶν ἓξ καὶ εἴκοσιν αὐτοῖς διὰ τὸ μὴ εὐεπίμικτον πρὸς ἀλλήλους. φέρει δʼ ἡ γῆ καὶ τῶν ἑρπετῶν ἔνια τῶν θανασίμων καὶ σκορπίους καὶ φαλάγγια· τῶν δὲ φαλαγγίων τὰ μὲν ποιεῖ γελῶντας ἀποθνήσκειν, τὰ δὲ κλαίοντας πόθῳ τῶν οἰκείων.

11.4.7

θεοὺς δὲ τιμῶσιν ἥλιον καὶ δία καὶ σελήνην, διαφερόντως δὲ τὴν σελήνην. ἔστι δʼ αὐτῆς τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Ἰβηρίας πλησίον· ἱερᾶται δʼ ἀνὴρ ἐντιμότατος μετά γε τὸν βασιλέα, προεστὼς τῆς ἱερᾶς χώρας, πολλῆς καὶ εὐάνδρου, καὶ αὐτῆς καὶ τῶν ἱεροδούλων, ὧν ἐνθουσιῶσι πολλοὶ καὶ προφητεύουσιν· ὃς δʼ ἂν αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πλέον κατάσχετος γενόμενος πλανᾶται κατὰ τὰς ὕλας μόνος, τοῦτον συλλαβὼν ὁ ἱερεὺς ἁλύσει δήσας ἱερᾷ τρέφει πολυτελῶς τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἐκεῖνον, ἔπειτα προαχθεὶς εἰς τὴν θυσίαν τῆς θεοῦ, σὺν ἄλλοις ἱερείοις θύεται μυρισθείς. τῆς δὲ θυσίας ὁ τρόπος οὗτος· ἔχων τις ἱερὰν λόγχην ᾗπέρ ἐστι νόμος ἀνθρωποθυτεῖν, παρελθὼν ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους παίει διὰ τῆς πλευρᾶς εἰς τὴν καρδίαν, οὐκ ἄπειρος τοιούτου· πεσόντος δὲ σημειοῦνται μαντεῖά τινα ἐκ τοῦ πτώματος καὶ εἰς τὸ κοινὸν ἀποφαίνουσι, κομισθέντος δὲ τοῦ σώματος εἴς τι χωρίον ἐπιβαίνουσιν ἅπαντες καθαρσίῳ χρώμενοι.

11.4.8

ὑπερβαλλόντως δὲ τὸ γῆρας τιμῶσιν Ἀλβανοὶ καὶ τὸ τῶν ἄλλων, οὐ τῶν γονέων μόνον· τεθνηκότων δὲ οὐχ ὅσιον φροντίζειν οὐδὲ μεμνῆσθαι. συγκατορύττουσι μέντοι τὰ χρήματα αὐτοῖς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πένητες ζῶσιν οὐδὲν πατρῷον ἔχοντες. ταῦτα μὲν περὶ Ἀλβανῶν. λέγεται δʼ Ἰάσονα μετὰ Ἀρμένου τοῦ Θετταλοῦ κατὰ τὸν πλοῦν τὸν ἐπὶ τοὺς Κόλχους ὁρμῆσαι μέχρι τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης, καὶ τήν τε Ἰβηρίαν καὶ τὴν Ἀλβανίαν ἐπελθεῖν καὶ πολλὰ τῆς Ἀρμενίας καὶ τῆς Μηδίας, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ τά τε Ἰασόνια καὶ ἄλλα ὑπομνήματα πλείω. τὸν δὲ Ἄρμενον εἶναι ἐξ Ἀρμενίου πόλεως τῶν περὶ τὴν Βοιβηίδα λίμνην μεταξὺ Φερῶν καὶ Λαρίσης, τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ τε οἰκίσαι τήν τε Ἀκιλισηνὴν καὶ τὴν Συσπιρῖτιν ἕως Καλαχανῆς καὶ Ἀδιαβηνῆς, καὶ δὴ καὶ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν ἐπώνυμον καταλιπεῖν.

11.5.1

ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἀλβανίας ὄρεσι καὶ τὰς Ἀμαζόνας οἰκεῖν φασι. Θεοφάνης μὲν οὖν ὁ συστρατεύσας τῷ Πομπηίῳ καὶ γενόμενος ἐν τοῖς Ἀλβανοῖς, μεταξὺ τῶν Ἀμαζόνων καὶ τῶν Ἀλβανῶν φησι Γήλας οἰκεῖν καὶ Λήγας Σκύθας, καὶ ῥεῖν ἐνταῦθα τὸν Μερμάδαλιν ποταμὸν τούτων τε καὶ τῶν Ἀμαζόνων ἀνὰ μέσον. ἄλλοι δέ, ὧν καὶ ὁ Σκήψιος Μητρόδωρος καὶ Ὑψικράτης, οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ ἄπειροι τῶν τόπων γεγονότες, Γαργαρεῦσιν ὁμόρους αὐτὰς οἰκεῖν φασιν ἐν ταῖς ὑπωρείαις ταῖς πρὸς ἄρκτον τῶν Καυκασίων ὀρῶν ἃ καλεῖται Κεραύνια, τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον καθʼ αὑτάς, αὐτουργούσας ἕκαστα τά τε πρὸς ἄροτον καὶ φυτουργίαν καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὰς νομὰς καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἵππων, τὰς δʼ ἀλκιμωτάτας post ἀλκιμωτάτας· τῶν ἵππων κυνηγεσίαις πλεονάζειν καὶ τὰ πολέμια ἀσκεῖν· ἁπάσας δʼ ἐπικεκαῦσθαι τὸν δεξιὸν μαστὸν ἐκ νηπίων, ὥστε εὐπετῶς χρῆσθαι τῷ βραχίονι πρὸς ἑκάστην χρείαν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πρώτοις πρὸς ἀκοντισμόν· χρῆσθαι δὲ καὶ τόξῳ καὶ σαγάρει καὶ πέλτῃ, δορὰς δὲ θηρίων ποιεῖσθαι περίκρανά τε καὶ σκεπάσματα καὶ διαζώματα· δύο δὲ μῆνας ἐξαιρέτους ἔχειν τοῦ ἔαρος, καθʼ οὓς ἀναβαίνουσιν εἰς τὸ πλησίον ὄρος τὸ διορίζον αὐτάς τε καὶ τοὺς Γαργαρέας. ἀναβαίνουσι δὲ κἀκεῖνοι κατὰ ἔθος τι παλαιόν, συνθύσοντές τε καὶ συνεσόμενοι ταῖς γυναιξὶ τεκνοποιίας χάριν ἀφανῶς τε καὶ ἐν σκότει, ὁ τυχὼν τῇ τυχούσῃ, ἐγκύμονας δὲ ποιήσαντες ἀποπέμπουσιν· αἱ δʼ ὅ τι μὲν ἂν θῆλυ τέκωσι κατέχουσιν αὐταί, τὰ δʼ ἄρρενα κομίζουσιν ἐκείνοις ἐκτρέφειν· ᾠκείωται δʼ ἕκαστος πρὸς ἕκαστον νομίζων υἱὸν διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν.

11.5.2

ὁ δὲ Μερμόδας καταράττων ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν διὰ τῆς τῶν Ἀμαζόνων καὶ τῆς Σιρακηνῆς καὶ ὅση μεταξὺ ἔρημος, εἰς τὴν Μαιῶτιν ἐκδίδωσι. τοὺς δὲ Γαργαρέας συναναβῆναι μὲν ἐκ Θεμισκύρας φασὶ ταῖς Ἀμαζόσιν εἰς τούσδε τοὺς τόπους, εἶτʼ ἀποστάντας αὐτῶν πολεμεῖν μετὰ Θρᾳκῶν καὶ Εὐβοέων τινῶν πλανηθέντων μέχρι δεῦρο πρὸς αὐτάς, ὕστερον δὲ καταλυσαμένους τὸν πρὸς αὐτὰς πόλεμον ἐπὶ τοῖς λεχθεῖσι ποιήσασθαι συμβάσεις, ὥστε τέκνων συγκοινωνεῖν μόνον, ζῆν δὲ καθʼ αὑτοὺς ἑκατέρους.

11.5.3

ἴδιον δέ τι συμβέβηκε τῷ λόγῳ τῷ περὶ τῶν Ἀμαζόνων· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι τὸ μυθῶδες καὶ τὸ ἱστορικὸν διωρισμένον ἔχουσι· τὰ γὰρ παλαιὰ καὶ ψευδῆ καὶ τερατώδη μῦθοι καλοῦνται, ἡ δʼ ἱστορία βούλεται τἀληθές, ἄν τε παλαιὸν ἄν τε νέον, καὶ τὸ τερατῶδες ἢ οὐκ ἔχει ἢ σπάνιον· περὶ δὲ τῶν Ἀμαζόνων τὰ αὐτὰ λέγεται καὶ νῦν καὶ πάλαι, τερατώδη τε ὄντα καὶ πίστεως πόρρω. τίς γὰρ ἂν πιστεύσειεν, ὡς γυναικῶν στρατὸς ἢ πόλις ἢ ἔθνος συσταίη ἄν ποτε χωρὶς ἀνδρῶν; καὶ οὐ μόνον γε συσταίη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐφόδους ποιήσαιτο ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν καὶ κρατήσειεν οὐ τῶν ἐγγὺς μόνον ὥστε καὶ μέχρι τῆς νῦν Ἰωνίας προελθεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διαπόντιον στείλαιτο στρατείαν μέχρι τῆς Ἀττικῆς; τοῦτο γὰρ ὅμοιον ὡς ἂν εἴ τις λέγοι, τοὺς μὲν ἄνδρας γυναῖκας γεγονέναι τοὺς τότε τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας ἄνδρας. ἀλλὰ μὴν ταῦτά γε αὐτὰ καὶ νῦν λέγεται περὶ αὐτῶν. ἐπιτείνει δὲ τὴν ἰδιότητα καὶ τὸ πιστεύεσθαι τὰ παλαιὰ μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ νῦν·

11.5.4

κτίσεις γοῦν πόλεων καὶ ἐπωνυμίαι λέγονται, καθάπερ Ἐφέσου καὶ Σμύρνης καὶ Κύμης καὶ Μυρίνης, καὶ τάφοι καὶ ἄλλα ὑπομνήματα· τὴν δὲ Θεμίσκυραν καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν Θερμώδοντα πεδία καὶ τὰ ὑπερκείμενα ὄρη ἅπαντες Ἀμαζόνων καλοῦσι, καί φασιν ἐξελαθῆναι αὐτὰς ἐνθένδε. ὅπου δὲ νῦν εἰσίν, ὀλίγοι τε καὶ ἀναποδείκτως καὶ ἀπίστως ἀποφαίνονται· καθάπερ καὶ περὶ Θαληστρίας, ἣν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ συμμῖξαί φασιν ἐν τῇ Ὑρκανίᾳ καὶ συγγενέσθαι τεκνοποιίας χάριν, δυναστεύουσαν τῶν Ἀμαζόνων· οὐ γὰρ ὁμολογεῖται τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ τῶν συγγραφέων τοσούτων ὄντων οἱ μάλιστα τῆς ἀληθείας φροντίσαντες οὐκ εἰρήκασιν, οὐδʼ οἱ πιστευόμενοι μάλιστα οὐδενὸς μέμνηνται τοιούτου, οὐδʼ οἱ εἰπόντες τὰ αὐτὰ εἰρήκασι· Κλείταρχος δέ φησι τὴν Θαληστρίαν ἀπὸ Κασπίων πυλῶν καὶ Θερμώδοντος ὁρμηθεῖσαν ἐλθεῖν πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον· εἰσὶ δʼ ἀπὸ Κασπίας εἰς Θερμώδοντα στάδιοι πλείους ἑξακισχιλίων.

11.5.5

καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸ ἔνδοξον θρυληθέντα οὐκ ἀνωμολόγηται παρὰ πάντων, οἱ δὲ πλάσαντες ἦσαν οἱ κολακείας μᾶλλον ἢ ἀληθείας φροντίζοντες· οἷον τὸ τὸν Καύκασον μετενεγκεῖν εἰς τὰ Ἰνδικὰ ὄρη καὶ τὴν πλησιάζουσαν ἐκείνοις ἑῴαν θάλατταν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπερκειμένων τῆς Κολχίδος καὶ τοῦ Εὐξείνου ὀρῶν· ταῦτα γὰρ οἱ Ἕλληνες καὶ Καύκασον ὠνόμαζον, διέχοντα τῆς Ἰνδικῆς πλείους ἢ τρισμυρίους σταδίους, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐμύθευσαν τὰ περὶ Προμηθέα καὶ τὸν δεσμὸν αὐτοῦ· ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ ὕστατα πρὸς ἕω ἐγνώριζον οἱ τότε. ἡ δὲ ἐπὶ Ἰνδοὺς στρατεία Διονύσου καὶ Ἡρακλέους ὑστερογενῆ τὴν μυθοποιίαν ἐμφαίνει, ἅτε τοῦ Ἡρακλέους καὶ τὸν Προμηθέα λῦσαι λεγομένου χιλιάσιν ἐτῶν ὕστερον. καὶ ἦν μὲν ἐνδοξότερον τὸ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον μέχρι τῶν Ἰνδικῶν ὀρῶν καταστρέψασθαι τὴν Ἀσίαν ἢ μέχρι τοῦ μυχοῦ τοῦ Εὐξείνου καὶ τοῦ Καυκάσου· ἀλλʼ ἡ δόξα τοῦ ὄρους καὶ τοὔνομα καὶ τὸ τοὺς περὶ Ἰάσονα δοκεῖν μακροτάτην στρατείαν τελέσαι τὴν μέχρι τῶν πλησίον Καυκάσου καὶ τὸ τὸν Προμηθέα παραδεδόσθαι δεδεμένον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις τῆς γῆς ἐν τῷ Καυκάσῳ χαριεῖσθαί τι τῷ βασιλεῖ ὑπέλαβον τοὔνομα τοῦ ὄρους μετενέγκαντες εἰς τὴν Ἰνδικήν.

11.5.6

τὰ μὲν οὖν ὑψηλότατα τοῦ ὄντως Καυκάσου τὰ νοτιώτατά ἐστι τὰ πρὸς Ἀλβανίᾳ καὶ Ἰβηρίᾳ καὶ Κόλχοις καὶ Ἡνιόχοις· οἰκοῦσι δὲ οὓς εἶπον τοὺς συνερχομένους εἰς τὴν Διοσκουριάδα· συνέρχονται δὲ τὸ πλεῖστον ἁλῶν χάριν. τούτων δʼ οἱ μὲν τὰς ἀκρωρείας κατέχουσιν, οἱ δὲ ἐν νάπαις αὐλίζονται καὶ ζῶσιν ἀπὸ θηρείων σαρκῶν τὸ πλέον καὶ καρπῶν ἀγρίων καὶ γάλακτος. αἱ δὲ κορυφαὶ χειμῶνος μὲν ἄβατοι, θέρους δὲ προσβαίνουσιν ὑποδούμενοι κεντρωτὰ ὠμοβόινα δίκην τυμπάνων πλατεῖα διὰ τὰς χιόνας καὶ τοὺς κρυστάλλους. καταβαίνουσι δʼ ἐπὶ δορᾶς κείμενοι σὺν τοῖς φορτίοις καὶ κατολισθαίνοντες, ὅπερ καὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἀτροπατίαν Μηδίαν καὶ κατὰ τὸ Μάσιον ὄρος τὸ ἐν Ἀρμενίᾳ συμβαίνει· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ τροχίσκοι ξύλινοι κεντρωτοὶ τοῖς πέλμασιν ὑποτίθενται. τοῦ γοῦν Καυκάσου τὰ μὲν ἄκρα τοιαῦτα.

11.5.7

καταβαίνοντι δʼ εἰς τὰς ὑπωρείας ἀρκτικώτερα μέν ἐστι τὰ κλίματα, ἡμερώτερα δέ· ἤδη γὰρ συνάπτει τοῖς πεδίοις τῶν Σιράκων. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ τρωγλοδύται τινὲς ἐν φωλεοῖς οἰκοῦντες διὰ τὰ ψύχη, παρʼ οἷς ἤδη καὶ ἀλφίτων ἐστὶν εὐπορία· μετὰ δὲ τοὺς τρωγλοδύτας καὶ χαμαικοῖται καὶ πολυφάγοι τινὲς καλούμενοι καὶ αἱ τῶν Εἰσαδίκων κῶμαι, δυναμένων γεωργεῖν διὰ τὸ μὴ παντελῶς ὑποπεπτωκέναι ταῖς ἄρκτοις.

11.5.8

οἱ δʼ ἐφεξῆς ἤδη νομάδες οἱ μεταξὺ τῆς Μαιώτιδος καὶ τῆς Κασπίας Ναβιανοὶ καὶ Πανξανοὶ καὶ ἤδη τὰ τῶν Σιράκων καὶ Ἀόρσων φῦλα. δοκοῦσι δʼ οἱ Ἄορσοι καὶ οἱ Σίρακες φυγάδες εἶναι τῶν ἀνωτέρω καὶ προσάρκτιοι μᾶλλον Ἀόρσων. Ἀβέακος μὲν οὖν ὁ τῶν Σιράκων βασιλεύς, ἡνίκα Φαρνάκης τὸν Βόσπορον εἶχε, δύο μυριάδας ἱππέων ἔστελλε, Σπαδίνης δʼ ὁ τῶν Ἀόρσων καὶ εἴκοσιν, οἱ δὲ ἄνω Ἄορσοι καὶ πλείονας· καὶ γὰρ ἐπεκράτουν πλείονος γῆς καὶ σχεδόν τι τῆς Κασπίων παραλίας τῆς πλείστης ἦρχον, ὥστε καὶ ἐνεπορεύοντο καμήλοις τὸν Ἰνδικὸν φόρτον καὶ τὸν Βαβυλώνιον παρά τε Ἀρμενίων καὶ Μήδων διαδεχόμενοι· ἐχρυσοφόρουν δὲ διὰ τὴν εὐπορίαν. οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἄορσοι τὸν Τάναϊν παροικοῦσιν, οἱ Σίρακες δὲ τὸν Ἀχαρδέον, ὃς ἐκ τοῦ Καυκάσου ῥέων ἐκδίδωσιν εἰς τὴν Μαιῶτιν.

11.6.1

ἡ δὲ δευτέρα μερὶς ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης, εἰς ἣν κατέπαυεν ἡ προτέρα· καλεῖται δʼ ἡ αὐτὴ θάλαττα καὶ Ὑρκανία. δεῖ δὲ περὶ τῆς θαλάττης εἰπεῖν πρότερον ταύτης καὶ τῶν προσοίκων ἐθνῶν. ἔστι δʼ ὁ κόλπος ἀνέχων ἐκ τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἱκανῶς στενός, ἐνδοτέρω δὲ πλατύνεται προϊών, καὶ μάλιστα κατὰ τὸν μυχὸν ἐπὶ σταδίους που καὶ πεντακισχιλίους· ὁ δʼ εἴσπλους μέχρι τοῦ μυχοῦ μικρῷ πλειόνων ἂν εἴη συνάπτων πως ἤδη τῇ ἀοικήτῳ. φησὶ δʼ Ἐρατοσθένης τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων γνωριζόμενον περίπλουν τῆς θαλάττης ταύτης τὸν μὲν παρὰ τοὺς Ἀλβανοὺς καὶ τοὺς Καδουσίους εἶναι πεντακισχιλίων καὶ τετρακοσίων, τὸν δὲ παρὰ τὴν Ἀναριακῶν καὶ Μάρδων καὶ Ὑρκανῶν μέχρι τοῦ στόματος τοῦ Ὤξου ποταμοῦ τετρακισχιλίων καὶ ὀκτακοσίων· ἔνθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰαξάρτου δισχιλίων τετρακοσίων. δεῖ δὲ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ μερίδι ταύτῃ καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐκτετοπισμένοις ἁπλούστερον ἀκούειν, καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τῶν διαστημάτων.

11.6.2

εἰσπλέοντι δʼ ἐν δεξιᾷ μὲν τοῖς Εὐρωπαίοις οἱ συνεχεῖς Σκύθαι νέμονται καὶ Σαρμάται οἱ μεταξὺ τοῦ Τανάιδος καὶ τῆς θαλάττης ταύτης, νομάδες οἱ πλείους, περὶ ὧν εἰρήκαμεν· ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δʼ οἱ πρὸς ἕω Σκύθαι, νομάδες καὶ οὗτοι, μέχρι τῆς ἑῴας θαλάττης καὶ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς παρατείνοντες. ἅπαντας μὲν δὴ τοὺς προσβόρρους κοινῶς οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων συγγραφεῖς Σκύθας καὶ Κελτοσκύθας ἐκάλουν· οἱ δʼ ἔτι πρότερον διελόντες τοὺς μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ Εὐξείνου καὶ Ἴστρου καὶ τοῦ Ἀδρίου κατοικοῦντας Ὑπερβορέους ἔλεγον καὶ Σαυρομάτας καὶ Ἀριμασπούς, τοὺς δὲ πέραν τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης τοὺς μὲν Σάκας τοὺς δὲ Μασσαγέτας ἐκάλουν, οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀκριβὲς λέγειν περὶ αὐτῶν οὐδέν, καίπερ πρὸς Μασσαγέτας τοῦ Κύρου πόλεμον ἱστοροῦντες. ἀλλʼ οὔτε περὶ τούτων οὐδὲν ἠκρίβωτο πρὸς ἀλήθειαν, οὔτε τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν Περσικῶν οὔτε τῶν Μηδικῶν ἢ Συριακῶν ἐς πίστιν ἀφικνεῖτο μεγάλην διὰ τὴν τῶν συγγραφέων ἁπλότητα καὶ τὴν φιλομυθίαν.

11.6.3

ὁρῶντες γὰρ τοὺς φανερῶς μυθογράφους εὐδοκιμοῦντας ᾠήθησαν καὶ αὐτοὶ παρέξεσθαι τὴν γραφὴν ἡδεῖαν, ἐὰν ἐν ἱστορίας σχήματι λέγωσιν ἃ μηδέποτε μήτε εἶδον μήτε ἤκουσαν ἢ οὐ παρά γε ἰδόντων, σκοποῦντες δὲ αὐτὸ μόνον τοῦτο ὅ τι ἀκρόασιν ἡδεῖαν ἔχει καὶ θαυμαστήν. ῥᾷον δʼ ἄν τις Ἡσιόδῳ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ πιστεύσειεν ἡρωολογοῦσι καὶ τοῖς τραγικοῖς ποιηταῖς ἢ Κτησίᾳ τε καὶ Ἡροδότῳ καὶ Ἑλλανίκῳ καὶ ἄλλοις τοιούτοις.

11.6.4

οὐδὲ τοῖς περὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου δὲ συγγράψασιν ante ῥᾴδιον· οὐ ῥᾴδιον πιστεύειν τοῖς πολλοῖς· καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι ῥᾳδιουργοῦσι διά τε τὴν δόξαν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ διὰ τὸ τὴν στρατείαν πρὸς τὰς ἐσχατιὰς γεγονέναι τῆς Ἀσίας πόρρω ἀφʼ ἡμῶν· τὸ δὲ πόρρω δυσέλεγκτον. ἡ δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπικράτεια καὶ ἡ τῶν Παρθυαίων πλεῖόν τι προσεκκαλύπτει τῶν παραδεδομένων πρότερον· οἱ γὰρ περὶ ἐκείνων συγγράφοντες καὶ τὰ χωρία καὶ τὰ ἔθνη, ἐν οἷς αἱ πράξεις, πιστότερον λέγουσιν ἢ οἱ πρὸ αὐτῶν· μᾶλλον γὰρ κατωπτεύκασι.

11.7.1

τοὺς δʼ οὖν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ εἰσπλέοντι τὸ Κάσπιον πέλαγος παροικοῦντας νομάδας Δάας οἱ νῦν προσαγορεύουσι τοὺς ἐπονομαζομένους Πάρνους· εἶτʼ ἔρημος πρόκειται μεταξύ, καὶ ἐφεξῆς ἡ Ὑρκανία, καθʼ ἣν ἤδη πελαγίζει μέχρι τοῦ συνάψαι τοῖς Μηδικοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ τοῖς Ἀρμενίων. τούτων δʼ ἐστὶ μηνοειδὲς τὸ σχῆμα κατὰ τὰς ὑπωρείας, αἳ τελευτῶσαι πρὸς θάλατταν ποιοῦσι τὸν μυχὸν τοῦ κόλπου. οἰκεῖ δὲ τὴν παρώρειαν ταύτην μέχρι τῶν ἄκρων ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἀρξαμένοις ἐπὶ μικρὸν μὲν τῶν Ἀλβανῶν τι μέρος καὶ τῶν Ἀρμενίων, τὸ δὲ πλέον Γῆλαι καὶ Καδούσιοι καὶ Ἄμαρδοι καὶ Οὐίτιοι καὶ Ἀναριάκαι. φασὶ δὲ Παρρασίων τινὰς συνοικῆσαι τοῖς Ἀναριάκαις, οὓς καλεῖσθαι νῦν Παρσίους· Αἰνιᾶνας δʼ ἐν τῇ Οὐιτίᾳ τειχίσαι πόλιν ἣν Αἰνιάνα καλεῖσθαι, καὶ δείκνυσθαι ὅπλα τε Ἑλληνικὰ ἐνταῦθα καὶ σκεύη χαλκᾶ καὶ ταφάς· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ πόλιν Ἀναριάκην, ἐν ᾗ, φασί, δείκνυται μαντεῖον ἐγκοιμωμένων καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ἔθνη λῃστρικὰ καὶ μάχιμα μᾶλλον ἢ γεωργικά· ποιεῖ δὲ τοῦτο ἡ τραχύτης τῶν τόπων. τὸ μέντοι πλέον τῆς περὶ τὴν ὀρεινὴν παραλίας Καδούσιοι νέμονται, σχεδὸν δέ τι ἐπὶ πεντακισχιλίους σταδίους, ὥς φησι Πατροκλῆς, ὃς καὶ πάρισον ἡγεῖται τὸ πέλαγος τοῦτο τῷ Ποντικῷ. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τὰ χωρία λυπρά.

11.7.2

ἡ δʼ Ὑρκανία σφόδρα εὐδαίμων καὶ πολλὴ καὶ τὸ πλέον πεδιὰς πόλεσί τε ἀξιολόγοις διειλημμένη, ὧν ἐστι Ταλαβρόκη καὶ Σαμαριανὴ καὶ Κάρτα καὶ τὸ βασίλειον Τάπη, ὅ φασι μικρὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάττης ἱδρυμένον διέχειν τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν σταδίους χιλίους τετρακοσίους. σημεῖα δὲ τῆς εὐδαιμονίας· ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἄμπελος μετρητὴν οἴνου φέρει, ἡ δὲ συκῆ μεδίμνους ἑξήκοντα, ὁ δὲ σῖτος ἐκ τοῦ ἐκπεσόντος καρποῦ τῆς καλάμης φύεται, ἐν δὲ τοῖς δένδρεσι σμηνουργεῖται καὶ τῶν φύλλων ἀπορρεῖ μέλι· τοῦτο δὲ γίνεται καὶ τῆς Μηδίας ἐν τῇ Ματιανῇ καὶ τῆς Ἀρμενίας ἐν τῇ Σακασηνῇ καὶ τῇ Ἀραξηνῇ. τῆς μέντοι προσηκούσης ἐπιμελείας οὐκ ἔτυχεν οὔτε αὐτὴ οὔτε ἡ ἐπώνυμος αὐτῇ θάλαττα ἄπλους τε οὖσα καὶ ἀργός· νῆσοί τέ εἰσιν οἰκεῖσθαι δυνάμεναι, ὡς δʼ εἰρήκασί τινες καὶ χρυσῖτιν ἔχουσαι γῆν. αἴτιον δʼ ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἡγεμόνες οἵ τʼ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐτύγχανον βάρβαροι ὄντες οἱ τῶν Ὑρκανῶν, Μῆδοί τε καὶ Πέρσαι καὶ οἱ ὕστατοι Παρθυαῖοι, χείρους ἐκείνων ὄντες, καὶ ἡ γείτων ἅπασα χώρα λῃστῶν καὶ νομάδων μεστὴ καὶ ἐρημίας. Μακεδόνες δʼ ὀλίγον μὲν χρόνον ἐπῆρξαν, ἀλλʼ ἐν πολέμοις ὄντες καὶ τὰ πόρρω σκοπεῖν οὐ δυνάμενοι. φησὶ δʼ Ἀριστόβουλος ὑλώδη οὖσαν τὴν Ὑρκανίαν δρῦν ἔχειν, πεύκην δὲ καὶ ἐλάτην καὶ πίτυν μὴ φύειν, τὴν δʼ Ἰνδικὴν πληθύειν τούτοις. τῆς δὲ Ὑρκανίας ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Νησαία· τινὲς δὲ καὶ καθʼ αὑτὴν τιθέασι τὴν Νησαίαν.

11.7.3

διαρρεῖται δὲ καὶ ποταμοῖς ἡ Ὑρκανία τῷ τε Ὤχῳ καὶ Ὤξῳ μέχρι τῆς εἰς θάλατταν ἐκβολῆς, ὧν ὁ Ὦχος καὶ διὰ τῆς Νησαίας ῥεῖ· ἔνιοι δὲ τὸν Ὦχον εἰς τὸν Ὦξον ἐμβάλλειν φασίν. Ἀριστόβουλος δὲ καὶ μέγιστον ἀποφαίνει τὸν Ὦξον τῶν ἑωραμένων ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν πλὴν τῶν Ἰνδικῶν· φησὶ δὲ καὶ εὔπλουν εἶναι καὶ οὗτος καὶ Ἐρατοσθένης παρὰ Πατροκλέους λαβών, καὶ πολλὰ τῶν Ἰνδικῶν φορτίων κατάγειν εἰς τὴν Ὑρκανίαν θάλατταν, ἐντεῦθεν δʼ εἰς τὴν Ἀλβανίαν περαιοῦσθαι καὶ διὰ τοῦ Κύρου καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς τόπων εἰς τὸν Εὔξεινον καταφέρεσθαι. οὐ πάνυ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν ὁ Ὦχος ὀνομάζεται· Ἀπολλόδωρος μέντοι ὁ τὰ Παρθικὰ γράψας συνεχῶς αὐτὸν ὀνομάζει ὡς ἐγγυτάτω τοῖς Παρθυαίοις ῥέοντα.

11.7.4

προσεδοξάσθη δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς θαλάττης ταύτης πολλὰ ψευδῆ διὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου φιλοτιμίαν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὡμολόγητο ἐκ πάντων ὅτι διείργει τὴν Ἀσίαν ἀπὸ τῆς Εὐρώπης ὁ Τάναϊς ποταμός, τὸ δὲ μεταξὺ τῆς θαλάττης καὶ τοῦ Τανάιδος πολὺ μέρος τῆς Ἀσίας ὂν οὐχ ὑπέπιπτε τοῖς Μακεδόσι, στρατηγεῖν δʼ ἔγνωστο ὥστε τῇ φήμῃ γε κἀκείνων δόξαι τῶν μερῶν κρατεῖν τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον, εἰς ἓν post ἓν· οὖν συνῆγον τήν τε Μαιῶτιν λίμνην τὴν δεχομένην τὸν Τάναϊν καὶ τὴν Κασπίαν θάλατταν, λίμνην καὶ ταύτην καλοῦντες καὶ συντετρῆσθαι φάσκοντες πρὸς ἀλλήλας ἀμφοτέρας, ἑκατέραν δὲ εἶναι μέρος τῆς ἑτέρας. Πολύκλειτος δὲ καὶ πίστεις προφέρεται περὶ τοῦ λίμνην εἶναι τὴν θάλατταν ταύτην, ὄφεις τε γὰρ ἐκτρέφειν καὶ ὑπόγλυκυ εἶναι τὸ ὕδωρ· ὅτι δὲ καὶ οὐχ ἑτέρα τῆς Μαιώτιδός ἐστι, τεκμαιρόμενος ἐκ τοῦ τὸν Τάναϊν εἰς αὐτὴν ἐμβάλλειν· ἐκ γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν ὀρῶν τῶν Ἰνδικῶν ἐξ ὧν ὅ τε Ὦχος καὶ ὁ Ὦξος καὶ ἄλλοι πλείους φέρεται καὶ ὁ Ἰαξάρτης ἐκδίδωσί τε ὁμοίως ἐκείνοις εἰς τὸ Κάσπιον πέλαγος πάντων ἀρκτικώτατος. τοῦτον οὖν ὠνόμασαν Τάναϊν, καὶ προσέθεσάν γε τούτῳ πίστιν, ὡς εἴη Τάναϊς ὃν εἴρηκεν ὁ Πολύκλειτος· τὴν γὰρ περαίαν τοῦ ποταμοῦ τούτου φέρειν ἐλάτην καὶ οἰστοῖς ἐλατίνοις χρῆσθαι τοὺς ταύτῃ Σκύθας· τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τεκμήριον τοῦ τὴν χώραν τὴν πέραν τῆς Εὐρώπης εἶναι, μὴ τῆς Ἀσίας· τὴν γὰρ Ἀσίαν τὴν ἄνω καὶ τὴν πρὸς ἕω μὴ φύειν ἐλάτην. Ἐρατοσθένης δέ φησι καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰνδικῇ φύεσθαι ἐλάτην καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ναυπηγήσασθαι τὸν στόλον Ἀλέξανδρον· πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα συγκρούειν Ἐρατοσθένης πειρᾶται, ἡμῖν δʼ ἀποχρώντως εἰρήσθω περὶ αὐτῶν.

11.7.5

καὶ τοῦτο δʼ ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ὑρκανίαν ἱστορουμένων παραδόξων ἐστὶν ὑπὸ Εὐδόξου καὶ ἄλλων, ὅτι πρόκεινταί τινες ἀκταὶ τῆς θαλάττης ὕπαντροι, τούτων δὲ μεταξὺ καὶ τῆς θαλάττης ὑπόκειται ταπεινὸς αἰγιαλός, ἐκ δὲ τῶν ὕπερθεν κρημνῶν ποταμοὶ ῥέοντες τοσαύτῃ προφέρονται βίᾳ ὥστε ταῖς ἀκταῖς συνάψαντες ἐξακοντίζουσι τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὴν θάλατταν, ἄρραντον φυλάττοντες τὸν αἰγιαλὸν ὥστε καὶ στρατοπέδοις ὁδεύσιμον εἶναι σκεπαζομένοις τῷ ῥεύματι, οἱ δʼ ἐπιχώριοι κατάγονται πολλάκις εὐωχίας καὶ θυσίας χάριν εἰς τὸν τόπον, καὶ ποτὲ μὲν ὑπὸ τοῖς ἄντροις κατακλίνονται, ποτὲ δʼ ὑπʼ αὐτῷ τῷ ῥεύματι ἡλιαζόμενοι ἄλλως ἄλλοι τέρπονται, παραφαινομένης ἅμα καὶ τῆς θαλάττης ἑκατέρωθεν καὶ τῆς ᾐόνος ποώδους καὶ ἀνθηρᾶς οὔσης διὰ τὴν ἰκμάδα.

11.8.1

ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης προϊόντι ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω δεξιὰ μέν ἐστι τὰ ὄρη μέχρι τῆς Ἰνδικῆς θαλάττης παρατείνοντα, ἅπερ οἱ Ἕλληνες ὀνομάζουσι Ταῦρον, ἀρξάμενα ἀπὸ τῆς Παμφυλίας καὶ τῆς Κιλικίας καὶ μέχρι δεῦρο προϊόντα ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας συνεχῆ καὶ τυγχάνοντα ἄλλων καὶ ἄλλων ὀνομάτων. προσοικοῦσι δʼ αὐτοῦ τὰ προσάρκτια μέρη πρῶτοι μὲν οἱ Γῆλαι καὶ Καδούσιοι καὶ Ἄμαρδοι, καθάπερ εἴρηται, καὶ τῶν Ὑρκανίων τινές, ἔπειτα τὸ τῶν Παρθυαίων ἔθνος καὶ τὸ τῶν Μαργιανῶν καὶ τῶν Ἀρίων καὶ ἡ ἔρημος, ἣν ἀπὸ τῆς Ὑρκανίας ὁρίζει ὁ Σάρνιος ποταμὸς πρὸς ἕω βαδίζουσι καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Ὦχον. καλεῖται δὲ τὸ μέχρι δεῦρο ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀρμενίας διατεῖνον ἢ μικρὸν ἀπολεῖπον Παραχοάθρας. ἔστι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης εἰς τοὺς Ἀρίους περὶ ἑξακισχιλίους σταδίους· εἶθʼ ἡ Βακτριανή ἐστι καὶ ἡ Σογδιανή, τελευταῖοι δὲ Σκύθαι νομάδες. τὰ δʼ ὄρη Μακεδόνες μὲν ἅπαντα τὰ ἐφεξῆς ἀπὸ Ἀρίων Καύκασον ἐκάλεσαν, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς βαρβάροις τά τε ἄκρα κατὰ μέρος ὠνομάζετο ὁ Παροπάμισος τὰ προσβόρεια καὶ τὰ Ἠμωδὰ καὶ τὸ Ἴμαον καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα ὀνόματα ἑκάστοις μέρεσιν ἐπέκειτο.

11.8.2

ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τούτοις ἀντιπαράκειται τὰ Σκυθικὰ ἔθνη καὶ τὰ νομαδικὰ ἅπασαν ἐκπληροῦντα τὴν βόρειον πλευράν. οἱ μὲν δὴ πλείους τῶν Σκυθῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης ἀρξάμενοι Δᾶαι προσαγορεύονται, τοὺς δὲ προσεῴους τούτων μᾶλλον Μασσαγέτας καὶ Σάκας ὀνομάζουσι, τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους κοινῶς μὲν Σκύθας ὀνομάζουσιν ἰδίᾳ δʼ ὡς ἑκάστους· ἅπαντες δʼ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ νομάδες. μάλιστα δὲ γνώριμοι γεγόνασι τῶν νομάδων οἱ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀφελόμενοι τὴν Βακτριανήν, Ἄσιοι καὶ Πασιανοὶ καὶ Τόχαροι καὶ Σακάραυλοι, ὁρμηθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς περαίας τοῦ Ἰαξάρτου τῆς κατὰ Σάκας καὶ Σογδιανούς, ἣν κατεῖχον Σάκαι. καὶ τῶν Δαῶν οἱ μὲν προσαγορεύονται Ἄπαρνοι οἱ δὲ Ξάνθιοι οἱ δὲ Πίσσουροι. οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἄπαρνοι πλησιαίτατα τῇ Ὑρκανίᾳ παράκεινται καὶ τῇ κατʼ αὐτὴν θαλάττῃ, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ διατείνουσι καὶ μέχρι τῆς ἀντιπαρηκούσης τῇ Ἀρίᾳ.

11.8.3

μεταξὺ δʼ αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς Ὑρκανίας καὶ τῆς Παρθυαίας μέχρι Ἀρίων ἔρημος πρόκειται πολλὴ καὶ ἄνυδρος, ἣν διεξιόντες μακραῖς ὁδοῖς κατέτρεχον τήν τε Ὑρκανίαν καὶ τὴν Νησαίαν καὶ τὰ τῶν Παρθυαίων πεδία· οἱ δὲ συνέθεντο φόρους· φόρος δʼ ἦν τὸ ἐπιτρέπειν τακτοῖς τισι χρόνοις τὴν χώραν κατατρέχειν καὶ φέρεσθαι λείαν. ἐπιπολαζόντων δʼ αὐτῶν παρὰ τὰ συγκείμενα ἐπολεμεῖτο, καὶ πάλιν διαλύσεις καὶ ἀναπολεμήσεις ὑπῆρχον. τοιοῦτος δὲ καὶ ὁ τῶν ἄλλων νομάδων βίος, ἀεὶ τοῖς πλησίον ἐπιτιθεμένων τοτὲ δʼ αὖ διαλλαττομένων.

11.8.4

Σάκαι μέντοι παραπλησίας ἐφόδους ἐποιήσαντο τοῖς Κιμμερίοις καὶ Τρήρεσι, τὰς μὲν μακροτέρας τὰς δὲ καὶ ἐγγύθεν· καὶ γὰρ τὴν Βακτριανὴν κατέσχον καὶ τῆς Ἀρμενίας κατεκτήσαντο τὴν ἀρίστην γῆν, ἣν καὶ ἐπώνυμον ἑαυτῶν κατέλιπον τὴν Σακασηνήν, καὶ μέχρι Καππαδόκων καὶ μάλιστα τῶν πρὸς Εὐξείνῳ οὓς Ποντικοὺς νῦν καλοῦσι, προῆλθον. ἐπιθέμενοι δʼ αὐτοῖς πανηγυρίζουσιν ἀπὸ τῶν λαφύρων οἱ ταύτῃ τότε τῶν Περσῶν στρατηγοὶ νύκτωρ ἄρδην αὐτοὺς ἠφάνισαν. ἐν δὲ τῷ πεδίῳ πέτραν τινὰ προσχώματι συμπληρώσαντες εἰς βουνοειδὲς σχῆμα ἐπέθηκαν τεῖχος καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἀναΐτιδος καὶ τῶν συμβώμων θεῶν ἱερὸν ἱδρύσαντο, Ὠμανοῦ καὶ Ἀναδάτου Περσικῶν δαιμόνων, ἀπέδειξάν τε πανήγυριν κατʼ ἔτος ἱεράν, τὰ Σάκαια, ἣν μέχρι νῦν ἐπιτελοῦσιν οἱ τὰ Ζῆλα ἔχοντες· οὕτω γὰρ καλοῦσι τὸν τόπον· ἔστι δὲ ἱεροδούλων πόλισμα τὸ πλέον· Πομπήιος δὲ προσθεὶς χώραν ἀξιόλογον καὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ συνοικίσας εἰς τὸ τεῖχος μίαν τῶν πόλεων ἀπέφηνεν ὧν διέταξε μετὰ τὴν Μιθριδάτου κατάλυσιν.

11.8.5

οἱ μὲν οὖν οὕτω λέγουσι περὶ τῶν Σακῶν, οἱ δʼ ὅτι Κῦρος ἐπιστρατεύσας τοῖς Σάκαις ἡττηθεὶς τῇ μάχῃ φεύγει, στρατοπεδευσάμενος δʼ ἐν ᾧ χωρίῳ τὰς παρασκευὰς ἀπολελοίπει πλήρεις ἀφθονίας ἁπάσης καὶ μάλιστα οἴνου, διαναπαύσας μικρὰ τὴν στρατιάν, ἤλαυνεν ἀφʼ ἑσπέρας ὡς φεύγων, πλήρεις ἀφεὶς τὰς σκηνάς· προελθὼν δʼ ὅσον ἐδόκει συμφέρειν ἱδρύθη· ἐπιόντες δʼ ἐκεῖνοι καὶ καταλαβόντες ἔρημον ἀνδρῶν τὸ στρατόπεδον τῶν δὲ πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν μεστόν, ἀνέδην ἐνεπίμπλαντο· ὁ δʼ ὑποστρέψας ἐξοίνους κατέλαβε καὶ παραπλῆγας, ὥσθʼ οἱ μὲν ἐν κάρῳ κείμενοι καὶ ὕπνῳ κατεκόπτοντο, οἱ δʼ ὀρχούμενοι καὶ βακχεύοντες γυμνοὶ περιέπιπτον τοῖς τῶν πολεμίων ὅπλοις, ὀλίγου δʼ ἀπώλοντο ἅπαντες. ὁ δὲ θεῖον νομίσας τὸ εὐτύχημα, τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἀνιερώσας τῇ πατρίῳ θεῷ προσηγόρευσε Σάκαια· ὅπου δʼ ἂν ᾖ τῆς θεοῦ ταύτης ἱερόν, ἐνταῦθα νομίζεται καὶ ἡ τῶν Σακαίων ἑορτὴ βακχεία τις μεθʼ ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτωρ, διεσκευασμένων σκυθιστί, πινόντων ἅμα καὶ πληκτιζομένων πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἅμα τε καὶ τὰς συμπινούσας γυναῖκας.

11.8.6

Μασσαγέται δʼ ἐδήλωσαν τὴν σφετέραν ἀρετὴν ἐν τῷ πρὸς Κῦρον πολέμῳ, περὶ οὗ θρυλοῦσι πολλοί, καὶ δεῖ πυνθάνεσθαι παρʼ ἐκείνων. λέγεται δὲ καὶ τοιαῦτα περὶ τῶν Μασσαγετῶν, ὅτι κατοικοῦσιν οἱ μὲν ὄρη τινὲς δʼ αὐτῶν πεδία οἱ δὲ ἕλη ἃ ποιοῦσιν οἱ ποταμοί, οἱ δὲ τὰς ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσι νήσους. μάλιστα δέ φασι τὸν Ἀράξην ποταμὸν κατακλύζειν τὴν χώραν πολλαχῆ σχιζόμενον, ἐκπίπτοντα δὲ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις στόμασιν εἰς τὴν ἄλλην τὴν πρὸς ἄρκτοις θάλατταν, ἑνὶ δὲ μόνῳ πρὸς τὸν κόλπον τὸν Ὑρκάνιον. θεὸν δὲ ἥλιον μόνον ἡγοῦνται, τούτῳ δὲ ἱπποθυτοῦσι· γαμεῖ δʼ ἕκαστος μίαν, χρῶνται δὲ καὶ ταῖς ἀλλήλων οὐκ ἀφανῶς, ὁ δὲ μιγνύμενος τῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ τὴν φαρέτραν ἐξαρτήσας ἐκ τῆς ἁμάξης φανερῶς μίγνυται· θάνατος δὲ νομίζεται παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἄριστος, ὅταν γηράσαντες κατακοπῶσι μετὰ προβατείων κρεῶν καὶ ἀναμὶξ βρωθῶσι· τοὺς δὲ νόσῳ θανόντας ῥίπτουσιν ὡς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἀξίους ὑπὸ θηρίων βεβρῶσθαι. ἀγαθοὶ δὲ ἱππόται καὶ πεζοί, τόξοις δὲ χρῶνται καὶ μαχαίραις καὶ θώραξι καὶ σαγάρεσι χαλκαῖς, ζῶναι δὲ αὐτοῖς εἰσι χρυσαῖ καὶ διαδήματα ἐν ταῖς μάχαις· οἵ τε ἵπποι χρυσοχάλινοι, καὶ μασχαλιστῆρες δὲ χρυσοῖ· ἄργυρος δʼ οὐ γίνεται παρʼ αὐτοῖς, σίδηρος δʼ ὀλίγος, χαλκὸς δὲ καὶ χρυσὸς ἄφθονος.

11.8.7

οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐν ταῖς νήσοις οὐκ ἔχοντες σπόριμα ῥιζοφαγοῦσι καὶ ἀγρίοις χρῶνται καρποῖς, ἀμπέχονται δὲ τοὺς τῶν δένδρων φλοιούς (οὐδὲ γὰρ βοσκήματα ἔχουσι), πίνουσι δὲ τὸν ἐκ τῶν δένδρων καρπὸν ἐκθλίβοντες· οἱ δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσιν ἰχθυοφαγοῦσιν, ἀμπέχονται δὲ τὰ τῶν φωκῶν δέρματα τῶν ἐκ θαλάττης ἀνατρεχουσῶν· οἱ δʼ ὄρειοι τοῖς ἀγρίοις τρέφονται καὶ αὐτοὶ καρποῖς· ἔχουσι δὲ καὶ πρόβατα ὀλίγα ὥστʼ οὐδὲ κατακόπτουσι φειδόμενοι τῶν ἐρίων χάριν καὶ τοῦ γάλακτος· τὴν δʼ ἐσθῆτα ποικίλλουσιν ἐπιχρίστοις φαρμάκοις δυσεξίτηλον ἔχουσι τὸ ἄνθος. οἱ δὲ πεδινοὶ καίπερ ἔχοντες χώραν οὐ γεωργοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ προβάτων καὶ ἰχθύων ζῶσι νομαδικῶς καὶ Σκυθικῶς. ἔστι γάρ τις καὶ κοινὴ δίαιτα πάντων τῶν τοιούτων ἣν πολλάκις λέγω, καὶ ταφαὶ δʼ εἰσὶ παραπλήσιαι καὶ ἤθη καὶ ὁ σύμπας βίος, αὐθέκαστος μὲν σκαιός τε καὶ ἄγριος καὶ πολεμικός, πρὸς δὲ τὰ συμβόλαια ἁπλοῦς καὶ ἀκάπηλος.

11.8.8

τοῦ δὲ τῶν Μασσαγετῶν καὶ τῶν Σακῶν ἔθνους καὶ οἱ Ἀττάσιοι καὶ οἱ Χωράσμιοι, εἰς οὓς ἀπὸ τῶν Βακτριανῶν καὶ τῶν Σογδιανῶν ἔφυγε Σπιταμένης, εἷς ἐκ τῶν ἀποδράντων Περσῶν τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον, καθάπερ καὶ Βῆσσος· καὶ ὕστερον δὲ Ἀρσάκης τὸν Καλλίνικον φεύγων Σέλευκον εἰς τοὺς Ἀπασιάκας ἐχώρησε. φησὶ δʼ Ἐρατοσθένης τοὺς Ἀραχωτοὺς καὶ Μασσαγέτας τοῖς Βακτρίοις παρακεῖσθαι πρὸς δύσιν παρὰ τὸν Ὦξον, καὶ Σάκας μὲν καὶ Σογδιανοὺς τοῖς ὅλοις ἐδάφεσιν ἀντικεῖσθαι τῇ Ἰνδικῇ, Βακτρίους δʼ ἐπʼ ὀλίγον· τὸ γὰρ πλέον τῷ Παροπαμισῷ παρακεῖσθαι· διείργειν δὲ Σάκας μὲν καὶ Σογδιανοὺς τὸν Ἰαξάρτην, καὶ Σογδιανοὺς δὲ καὶ Βακτριανοὺς τὸν Ὦξον, μεταξὺ δὲ Ὑρκανῶν καὶ Ἀρίων Ταπύρους οἰκεῖν· κύκλῳ δὲ περὶ τὴν θάλατταν μετὰ τοὺς Ὑρκανοὺς Ἀμάρδους τε καὶ Ἀναριάκας καὶ Καδουσίους καὶ Ἀλβανοὺς καὶ Κασπίους καὶ Οὐιτίους, τάχα δὲ καὶ ἑτέρους μέχρι Σκυθῶν, ἐπὶ θάτερα δὲ μέρη τῶν Ὑρκανῶν Δέρβικας, τοὺς δὲ Καδουσίους συμψαύειν Μήδων καὶ Ματιανῶν ὑπὸ τὸν Παραχοάθραν.

11.8.9

τὰ δὲ διαστήματα οὕτω λέγει· ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ Κασπίου ἐπὶ τὸν Κῦρον ὡς χιλίους ὀκτακοσίους σταδίους, ἔνθεν δʼ ἐπὶ Κασπίας πύλας πεντακισχιλίους ἑξακοσίους, εἶτʼ εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν τὴν ἐν Ἀρίοις ἑξακισχιλίους τετρακοσίους, εἶτʼ εἰς Βάκτραν τὴν πόλιν, ἣ καὶ Ζαριάσπα καλεῖται, τρισχιλίους ὀκτακοσίους ἑβδομήκοντα, εἶτʼ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰαξάρτην ποταμόν, ἐφʼ ὃν Ἀλέξανδρος ἧκεν, ὡς πεντακισχιλίους· ὁμοῦ δισμύριοι δισχίλιοι ἑξακόσιοι ἑβδομήκοντα. λέγει δὲ καὶ οὕτω τὰ διαστήματα ἀπὸ Κασπίων πυλῶν εἰς Ἰνδούς· εἰς μὲν Ἑκατόμπυλον χιλίους ἐνακοσίους ἑξήκοντά φασιν, εἰς δʼ Ἀλεξάνδρειαν τὴν ἐν Ἀρίοις τετρακισχιλίους πεντακοσίους τριάκοντα, εἶτʼ εἰς Προφθασίαν τὴν ἐν Δραγγῇ χιλίους ἑξακοσίους, οἱ δὲ πεντακοσίους, εἶτʼ εἰς Ἀραχωτοὺς τὴν πόλιν τετρακισχιλίους ἑκατὸν εἴκοσιν, εἶτʼ εἰς Ὀρτόσπανα ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκ Βάκτρων τρίοδον δισχιλίους, εἶτʼ εἰς τὰ ὅρια τῆς Ἰνδικῆς χιλίους· ὁμοῦ μύριοι πεντακισχίλιοι τριακόσιοι. ἐπʼ εὐθείας δὲ τῷ διαστήματι τούτῳ τὸ συνεχὲς δεῖ νοεῖν, τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰνδοῦ μέχρι τῆς ἑῴας θαλάττης μῆκος τῆς Ἰνδικῆς. ταῦτα μὲν τὰ περὶ τοὺς Σάκας.

11.9

11.9.1

ἡ δὲ Παρθυαία πολλὴ μὲν οὐκ ἔστι· συνετέλει γοῦν μετὰ τῶν Ὑρκανῶν κατὰ τὰ Περσικὰ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τῶν Μακεδόνων κρατούντων ἐπὶ χρόνον πολύν. πρὸς δὲ τῇ σμικρότητι δασεῖα καὶ ὀρεινή ἐστι καὶ ἄπορος, ὥστε διὰ τοῦτο δρόμῳ διεξιᾶσι τὸν ἑαυτῶν οἱ βασιλεῖς ὄχλον, οὐ δυναμένης τρέφειν τῆς χώρας οὐδʼ ἐπὶ μικρόν· ἀλλὰ νῦν ηὔξηται. μέρη δʼ ἐστὶ τῆς Παρθυηνῆς ἥ τε Κωμισηνὴ καὶ ἡ Χωρήνη, σχεδὸν δέ τι καὶ τὰ μέχρι πυλῶν Κασπίων καὶ Ῥαγῶν καὶ Ταπύρων ὄντα τῆς Μηδίας πρότερον. ἔστι δʼ Ἀπάμεια καὶ Ἡράκλεια, πόλεις περὶ τὰς Ῥάγας. εἰσὶ δʼ ἀπὸ Κασπίων πυλῶν εἰς μὲν Ῥάγας στάδιοι πεντακόσιοι, ὥς φησιν Ἀπολλόδωρος, εἰς δʼ Ἑκατόμπυλον τὸ τῶν Παρθυαίων βασίλειον χίλιοι διακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα· τοὔνομα δὲ ταῖς Ῥάγαις ἀπὸ τῶν γενομένων σεισμῶν γενέσθαι φασίν, ὑφʼ ὧν πόλεις τε συχναὶ καὶ κῶμαι δισχίλιαι, ὡς Ποσειδώνιός φησι, ἀνετράπησαν. τοὺς δὲ Ταπύρους οἰκεῖν φασι μεταξὺ Δερβίκων τε καὶ Ὑρκανῶν. ἱστοροῦσι δὲ περὶ τῶν Ταπύρων ὅτι αὐτοῖς εἴη νόμιμον τὰς γυναῖκας ἐκδιδόναι τὰς γαμετὰς ἑτέροις ἀνδράσιν, ἐπειδὰν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀνέλωνται δύο ἢ τρία τέκνα, καθάπερ καὶ Κάτων Ὁρτησίῳ δεηθέντι ἐξέδωκε τὴν Μαρκίαν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν κατὰ παλαιὸν Ῥωμαίων ἔθος.

11.9.2

νεωτερισθέντων δὲ τῶν ἔξω τοῦ Ταύρου διὰ τὸ πρὸς ἄλλοις εἶναι τοὺς τῆς Συρίας καὶ τῆς Μηδίας βασιλέας τοὺς ἔχοντας καὶ ταῦτα, πρῶτον μὲν τὴν Βακτριανὴν ἀπέστησαν οἱ πεπιστευμένοι καὶ τὴν ἐγγὺς αὐτῆς πᾶσαν, οἱ περὶ Εὐθύδημον. ἔπειτʼ Ἀρσάκης ἀνὴρ Σκύθης τῶν Δαῶν τινας ἔχων τοὺς Πάρνους καλουμένους νομάδας παροικοῦντας τὸν Ὦχον, ἐπῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν Παρθυαίαν καὶ ἐκράτησεν αὐτῆς. κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν ἀσθενὴς ἦν διαπολεμῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἀφαιρεθέντας τὴν χώραν καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ διαδεξάμενοι ἐκεῖνον, ἔπειθʼ οὕτως ἴσχυσαν ἀφαιρούμενοι τὴν πλησίον ἀεὶ διὰ τὰς ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις κατορθώσεις ὥστε τελευτῶντες ἁπάσης τῆς ἐντὸς Εὐφράτου κύριοι κατέστησαν. ἀφείλοντο δὲ καὶ τῆς Βακτριανῆς μέρος βιασάμενοι τοὺς Σκύθας καὶ ἔτι πρότερον τοὺς περὶ Εὐκρατίδαν, καὶ νῦν ἐπάρχουσι τοσαύτης γῆς καὶ τοσούτων ἐθνῶν ὥστε ἀντίπαλοι τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις τρόπον τινὰ γεγόνασι κατὰ μέγεθος τῆς ἀρχῆς. αἴτιος δʼ ὁ βίος αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἔθη τὰ ἔχοντα πολὺ μὲν τὸ βάρβαρον καὶ τὸ Σκυθικόν, πλέον μέντοι τὸ χρήσιμον πρὸς ἡγεμονίαν καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις κατόρθωσιν.

11.9.3

φασὶ δὲ τοὺς Πάρνους Δάας μετανάστας εἶναι ἐκ τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς Μαιώτιδος Δαῶν, οὓς Ξανδίους ἢ Παρίους καλοῦσιν· οὐ πάνυ δʼ ὡμολόγηται Δάας εἶναί τινας τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς Μαιώτιδος Σκυθῶν· ἀπὸ τούτων δʼ οὖν ἕλκειν φασὶ τὸ γένος τὸν Ἀρσάκην, οἱ δὲ Βακτριανὸν λέγουσιν αὐτόν, φεύγοντα δὲ τὴν αὔξησιν τῶν περὶ Διόδοτον ἀποστῆσαι τὴν Παρθυαίαν. εἰρηκότες δὲ πολλὰ περὶ τῶν Παρθικῶν νομίμων ἐν τῇ ἕκτῃ τῶν ἱστορικῶν ὑπομνημάτων βίβλῳ, δευτέρᾳ δὲ τῶν μετὰ Πολύβιον, παραλείψομεν ἐνταῦθα μὴ ταυτολογεῖν δόξωμεν, τοσοῦτον εἰπόντες μόνον ὅτι τῶν Παρθυαίων συνέδριόν φησιν εἶναι Ποσειδώνιος διττόν, τὸ μὲν συγγενῶν τὸ δὲ σοφῶν καὶ μάγων, ἐξ ὧν ἀμφοῖν τοὺς βασιλεῖς καθίστασθαι.

11.10

11.10.1

ἡ δʼ Ἀρία καὶ ἡ Μαργιανὴ κράτιστα χωρία ἐστὶ ταύτῃ, τῇ μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν ἐγκλειόμενα τῇ δʼ ἐν πεδίοις τὰς οἰκήσεις ἔχοντα. τὰ μὲν οὖν ὄρη νέμονται σκηνῖταί τινες, τὰ δὲ πεδία ποταμοῖς διαρρεῖται ποτίζουσιν αὐτὰ τὰ μὲν τῷ Ἀρίῳ τὰ δὲ Μάργῳ. ὁμορεῖ δὲ ἡ Ἀρία τῇ Βακτριανῇ καὶ τὴν ὑποστᾶσαν ὄρει τῷ ἔχοντι τὴν Βακτριανήν· διέχει δὲ τῆς Ὑρκανίας περὶ ἑξακισχιλίους σταδίους. συντελὴς δʼ ἦν αὐτῇ καὶ ἡ Δραγγιανὴ μέχρι Καρμανίας, τὸ μὲν πλέον τοῖς νοτίοις μέρεσι τῶν ὀρῶν ὑποπεπτωκυῖα, ἔχουσα μέντοι τινὰ τῶν μερῶν καὶ τοῖς ἀρκτικοῖς πλησιάζοντα τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἀρίαν· καὶ ἡ Ἀραχωσία δὲ οὐ πολὺ ἄπωθέν ἐστι, καὶ αὕτη τοῖς νοτίοις μέρεσι τῶν ὀρῶν ὑποπεπτωκυῖα καὶ μέχρι τοῦ Ἰνδοῦ ποταμοῦ τεταμένη, μέρος οὖσα τῆς Ἀριανῆς. μῆκος δὲ τῆς Ἀρίας ὅσον δισχίλιοι στάδιοι, πλάτος δὲ τριακόσιοι τοῦ πεδίου· πόλεις δὲ Ἀρτακάηνα καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρεια καὶ Ἀχαΐα, ἐπώνυμοι τῶν κτισάντων. εὐοινεῖ δὲ σφόδρα ἡ γῆ· καὶ γὰρ εἰς τριγονίαν παραμένει ἐν ἀπιττώτοις ἄγγεσι.

11.10.2

παραπλησία δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Μαργιανή, ἐρημίαις δὲ περιέχεται τὸ πεδίον. θαυμάσας δὲ τὴν εὐφυΐαν ὁ Σωτὴρ Ἀντίοχος τείχει περιέβαλε κύκλον ἔχοντι χιλίων καὶ πεντακοσίων σταδίων, πόλιν δὲ ἔκτισεν Ἀντιόχειαν. εὐάμπελος δὲ καὶ αὕτη ἡ γῆ· φασὶ γοῦν τὸν πυθμένα εὑρίσκεσθαι πολλάκις δυσὶν ἀνδράσι περιληπτόν, τὸν δὲ βότρυν δίπηχυν.

11.11

11.11.1

τῆς δὲ Βακτρίας μέρη μέν τινα τῇ Ἀρίᾳ παραβέβληται πρὸς ἄρκτον, τὰ πολλὰ δʼ ὑπέρκειται πρὸς ἕω· πολλὴ δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ πάμφορος πλὴν ἐλαίου. τοσοῦτον δὲ ἴσχυσαν οἱ ἀποστήσαντες Ἕλληνες αὐτὴν διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τῆς χώρας ὥστε τῆς τε Ἀριανῆς ἐπεκράτουν καὶ τῶν Ἰνδῶν, ὥς φησιν Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Ἀρταμιτηνός, καὶ πλείω ἔθνη κατεστρέψαντο ἢ Ἀλέξανδρος, καὶ μάλιστα Μένανδρος (εἴ γε καὶ τὸν Ὕπανιν διέβη πρὸς ἔω καὶ μέχρι τοῦ Ἰμάου προῆλθε) τὰ μὲνpost μὲν· γὰρ αὐτὸς τὰ δὲ Δημήτριος ὁ Εὐθυδήμου υἱὸς τοῦ Βακτρίων βασιλέως· οὐ μόνον δὲ τὴν Παταληνὴν κατέσχον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης παραλίας τήν τε Σαραόστου καλουμένην καὶ τὴν Σιγέρδιδος βασιλείαν. καθʼ ὅλου δέ φησιν ἐκεῖνος τῆς συμπάσης Ἀριανῆς πρόσχημα εἶναι τὴν Βακτριανήν· καὶ δὴ καὶ μέχρι Σηρῶν καὶ Φρυνῶν ἐξέτεινον τὴν ἀρχήν.

11.11.2

πόλεις δʼ εἶχον τά τε Βάκτρα ἥνπερ καὶ Ζαριάσπαν καλοῦσιν, ἣν διαρρεῖ ὁμώνυμος ποταμὸς ἐκβάλλων εἰς τὸν Ὦξον, καὶ Ἄδραψα καὶ ἄλλας πλείους· τούτων δʼ ἦν καὶ ἡ Εὐκρατίδεια τοῦ ἄρξαντος ἐπώνυμος. οἱ δὲ κατασχόντες αὐτὴν Ἕλληνες καὶ εἰς σατραπείας διῃρήκασιν, ὧν τήν τε Ἀσπιώνου καὶ τὴν Ταπυρίαν ἀφῄρηντο Εὐκρατίδην οἱ Παρθυαῖοι. ἔσχον δὲ καὶ τὴν Σογδιανὴν ὑπερκειμένην πρὸς ἕω τῆς Βακτριανῆς μεταξὺ τοῦ τε Ὤξου ποταμοῦ, ὃς ὁρίζει τήν τε τῶν Βακτρίων καὶ τὴν τῶν Σογδίων, καὶ τοῦ Ἰαξάρτου· οὗτος δὲ καὶ τοὺς Σογδίους ὁρίζει καὶ τοὺς νομάδας.

11.11.3

τὸ μὲν οὖν παλαιὸν οὐ πολὺ διέφερον τοῖς βίοις καὶ τοῖς ἔθεσι τῶν νομάδων οἵ τε Σογδιανοὶ καὶ οἱ Βακτριανοί, μικρὸν δʼ ὅμως ἡμερώτερα ἦν τὰ τῶν Βακτριανῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τούτων οὐ τὰ βέλτιστα λέγουσιν οἱ περὶ Ὀνησίκριτον· τοὺς γὰρ ἀπειρηκότας διὰ γῆρας ἢ νόσον ζῶντας παραβάλλεσθαι τρεφομένοις κυσὶν ἐπίτηδες πρὸς τοῦτο, οὓς ἐνταφιαστὰς καλεῖσθαι τῇ πατρῴᾳ γλώττῃ, καὶ ὁρᾶσθαι τὰ μὲν ἔξω τείχους τῆς μητροπόλεως τῶν Βάκτρων καθαρά, τῶν δʼ ἐντὸς τὸ πλέον ὀστέων πλῆρες ἀνθρωπίνων· καταλῦσαι δὲ τὸν νόμον Ἀλέξανδρον. τοιαῦτα δέ πως καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς Κασπίους ἱστοροῦσι· τοὺς γὰρ γονέας, ἐπειδὰν ὑπὲρ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη γεγονότες τυγχάνωσιν, ἐγκλεισθέντας λιμοκτονεῖσθαι. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἀνεκτότερον καὶ τῷ Κείων νόμῳ παραπλήσιον καίπερ ὂν σκυθικόν, πολὺ μέντοι σκυθικώτερον τὸ τῶν Βακτριανῶν. καὶ δὴ διαπορεῖν ἄξιον ἦν, ἡνίκα Ἀλέξανδρος τοιαῦτα κατελάμβανε τἀνταῦθα, τί χρὴ εἰπεῖν τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν πρώτων Περσῶν καὶ τῶν ἔτι πρότερον ἡγεμόνων ὁποῖα εἰκὸς ἦν παρʼ αὐτοῖς νενομίσθαι.

11.11.4

φασὶ δʼ οὖν ὀκτὼ πόλεις τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἔν τε τῇ Βακτριανῇ καὶ τῇ Σογδιανῇ κτίσαι, τινὰς δὲ κατασκάψαι, ὧν Καριάτας μὲν τῆς Βακτριανῆς, ἐν ᾗ Καλλισθένης συνελήφθη καὶ παρεδόθη φυλακῆ, Μαράκανδα δὲ τῆς Σογδιανῆς καὶ τὰ Κῦρα, ἔσχατον ὂν Κύρου κτίσμα ἐπὶ τῷ Ἰαξάρτῃ ποταμῷ κείμενον, ὅπερ ἦν ὅριον τῆς Περσῶν ἀρχῆς· κατασκάψαι δὲ τὸ κτίσμα τοῦτο καίπερ ὄντα φιλόκυρον διὰ τὰς πυκνὰς ἀποστάσεις· ἑλεῖν δὲ καὶ πέτρας ἐρυμνὰς σφόδρα ἐκ προδοσίας τήν τε ἐν τῇ Βακτριανῇ τὴν Σισιμίθρου ἐν ᾗ εἶχεν Ὀξυάρτης τὴν θυγατέρα Ῥωξάνην, καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ Σογδιανῇ τὴν τοῦ Ὤξου, οἱ δʼ Ἀριαμάζου φασί. τὴν μὲν οὖν Σισιμίθρου πεντεκαίδεκα σταδίων ἱστοροῦσι τὸ ὕψος, ὀγδοήκοντα δὲ τὸν κύκλον, ἄνω δʼ ἐπίπεδον καὶ εὔγεων ὅσον πεντακοσίους ἄνδρας τρέφειν δυναμένην, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ξενίας τυχεῖν πολυτελοῦς καὶ γάμους ἀγαγεῖν Ῥωξάνης τῆς Ὀξυάρτου θυγατρὸς τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον· τὴν δὲ τῆς Σογδιανῆς διπλασίαν τὸ ὕψος φασί. περὶ τούτους δὲ τοὺς τόπους καὶ τὸ τῶν Βραγχιδῶν ἄστυ ἀνελεῖν, οὓς Ξέρξην μὲν ἱδρῦσαι αὐτόθι συναπάραντας αὐτῷ ἑκόντας ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας διὰ τὸ παραδοῦναι τὰ χρήματα τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ ἐν Διδύμοις καὶ τοὺς θησαυρούς, ἐκεῖνον δʼ ἀνελεῖν μυσαττόμενον τὴν ἱεροσυλίαν καὶ τὴν προδοσίαν.

11.11.5

τὸν δὲ διὰ τῆς Σογδιανῆς ῥέοντα ποταμὸν καλεῖ Πολυτίμητον Ἀριστόβουλος, τῶν Μακεδόνων τοὔνομα θεμένων, καθάπερ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ τὰ μὲν καινὰ ἔθεσαν τὰ δὲ παρωνόμασαν· ἄρδοντα δὲ τὴν χώραν ἐκπίπτειν εἰς ἔρημον καὶ ἀμμώδη γῆν καταπίνεσθαί τε εἰς τὴν ἄμμον, ὡς καὶ τὸν Ἄριον τὸν διʼ Ἀρίων ῥέοντα. τοῦ δὲ Ὤχου ποταμοῦ πλησίον ὀρύττοντας εὑρεῖν ἐλαίου πηγὴν λέγουσιν· εἰκὸς δέ, ὥσπερ νιτρώδη τινὰ καὶ στύφοντα ὑγρὰ καὶ ἀσφαλτώδη καὶ θειώδη διαρρεῖ τὴν γῆν, οὕτω καὶ λιπαρὰ εὑρίσκεσθαι, τὸ δὲ σπάνιον ποιεῖ τὴν παραδοξίαν. ῥεῖν δὲ τὸν Ὦχον οἱ μὲν διὰ τῆς Βακτριανῆς φασιν οἱ δὲ παρʼ αὐτήν, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἕτερον τοῦ Ὤξου μέχρι τῶν ἐκβολῶν νοτιώτερον ἐκείνου, ἀμφοτέρων δʼ ἐν τῇ Ὑρκανίᾳ τὰς εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ὑπάρχειν ἐκρύσεις, οἱ δὲ κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἕτερον συμβάλλειν δʼ εἰς ἓν τὸ τοῦ Ὤξου ῥεῖθρον, πολλαχοῦ καὶ ἓξ καὶ ἑπτὰ σταδίων ἔχοντα τὸ πλάτος. ὁ μέντοι Ἰαξάρτης ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς μέχρι τέλους ἕτερός ἐστι τοῦ Ὤξου, καὶ εἰς μὲν τὴν αὐτὴν τελευτῶν θάλατταν, αἱ δʼ ἐμβολαὶ διέχουσιν ἀλλήλων, ὥς φησι Πατροκλῆς, παρασάγγας ὡς ὀγδοήκοντα· τὸν δὲ παρασάγγην τὸν περσικὸν οἱ μὲν ἑξήκοντα σταδίων φασίν, οἱ δὲ τριάκοντα ἢ τετταράκοντα. ἀναπλεόντων δʼ ἡμῶν τὸν Νεῖλον ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλοις μέτροις χρώμενοι τὰς σχοίνους ὠνόμαζον ἀπὸ πόλεως ἐπὶ πόλιν, ὥστε τὸν αὐτὸν τῶν σχοίνων ἀριθμὸν ἀλλαχοῦ μὲν μείζω παρέχειν πλοῦν ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ βραχύτερον· οὕτως ἐξ ἀρχῆς παραδεδομένον καὶ φυλαττόμενον μέχρι νῦν.

11.11.6

μέχρι μὲν δὴ τῆς Σογδιανῆς πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον ἰόντι ἀπὸ τῆς Ὑρκανίας γνώριμα ὑπῆρξε τὰ ἔθνη καὶ τοῖς Πέρσαις πρότερον τὰ εἴσω τοῦ Ταύρου καὶ τοῖς Μακεδόσι μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς Παρθυαίοις. τὰ δʼ ἐπέκεινα ἐπʼ εὐθείας ὅτι μὲν Σκυθικά ἐστιν, ἐκ τῆς ὁμοειδείας εἰκάζεται, στρατεῖαι δʼ οὐ γεγόνασιν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἡμῖν γνώριμοι, καθάπερ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τοὺς βορειοτάτους τῶν νομάδων, ἐφʼ οὓς ἐπεχείρησε μὲν ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἄγειν στρατείαν, ὅτε τὸν Βῆσσον μετῄει καὶ τὸν Σπιταμένην, ζωγρίᾳ δʼ ἀναχθέντος τοῦ Βήσσου, τοῦ δὲ Σπιταμένους ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων διαφθαρέντος, ἐπαύσατο τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως. οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι δʼ ὅτι περιέπλευσάν τινες ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἐπὶ τὴν Ὑρκανίαν· ὅτι δὲ δυνατόν, Πατροκλῆς εἴρηκε.

11.11.7

λέγεται δὲ διότι τοῦ Ταύρου τὸ τελευταῖον, ὃ καλοῦσιν Ἴμαιον, τῇ Ἰνδικῇ θαλάττῃ ξυνάπτον, οὐδὲν οὔτε προὔχει πρὸς ἕω τῆς Ἰνδικῆς μᾶλλον οὔτʼ εἰσέχει· παριόντι δʼ εἰς τὸ βόρειον πλευρὸν ἀεί τι τοῦ μήκους ὑφαιρεῖ καὶ τοῦ πλάτους ἡ θάλαττα, ὥστʼ ἀποφαίνειν μύουρον πρὸς ἕω τὴν νῦν ὑπογραφομένην μερίδα τῆς Ἀσίας, ἣν ὁ Ταῦρος ἀπολαμβάνει πρὸς τὸν ὠκεανὸν τὸν πληροῦντα τὸ Κάσπιον πέλαγος. μῆκος δʼ ἐστὶ ταύτης τῆς μερίδος τὸ μέγιστον ἀπὸ τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης ἐπὶ τὸν ὠκεανὸν τὸν κατὰ τὸ Ἴμαιον τρισμυρίων που σταδίων, παρὰ τὴν ὀρεινὴν τοῦ Ταύρου τῆς πορείας οὔσης, πλάτος δʼ ἔλαττον τῶν μυρίων. εἴρηται γὰρ ὅτι περὶ τετρακισμυρίους σταδίους ἐστὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰσσικοῦ κόλπου μέχρι τῆς ἑῴας θαλάττης τῆς κατὰ Ἰνδούς, ἐπὶ δʼ Ἰσσὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑσπερίων ἄκρων τῶν κατὰ στήλας ἄλλοι τρισμύριοι· ἔστι δὲ ὁ μυχὸς τοῦ Ἰσσικοῦ κόλπου μικρὸν ἢ οὐδὲν Ἀμισοῦ ἑωθινώτερος, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ Ἀμισοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν Ὑρκανίαν γῆν περὶ μυρίους ἐστὶ σταδίους, παράλληλον ὂν τῷ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰσσοῦ λεχθέντι ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἰνδούς. λείπεται δὴ τὸ λεχθὲν μῆκος ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω τῆς περιωδευμένης νυνὶ μερίδος οἱ τρισμύριοι στάδιοι. πάλιν δὲ τοῦ πλάτους τοῦ μεγίστου τῆς οἰκουμένης ὄντος περὶ τρισμυρίους σταδίους, χλαμυδοειδοῦς οὔσης, τὸ διάστημα τοῦτο ἐγγὺς ἂν εἴη τοῦ μεσημβρινοῦ τοῦ διὰ τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης γραφομένου καὶ τῆς Περσικῆς, εἴπερ ἐστὶ τὸ μῆκος τῆς οἰκουμένης ἑπτὰ μυριάδες· εἰ οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς Ὑρκανίας ἐπὶ Ἀρτεμίταν τὴν ἐν τῇ Βαβυλωνίᾳ στάδιοί εἰσιν ὀκτακισχίλιοι, καθάπερ εἴρηκεν Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ ἐκ τῆς Ἀρτεμίτας, ἐκεῖθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τὸ στόμα τῆς κατὰ Πέρσας θαλάττης ἄλλο τοσοῦτόν ἐστι, καὶ πάλιν τοσοῦτον ἢ μικρὸν ἀπολεῖπον εἰς τὰ ἀνταίροντα τοῖς ἄκροις τῆς Αἰθιοπίας, λοιπὸν ἂν εἴη τοῦ πλάτους τῆς οἰκουμένης τοῦ λεχθέντος ἀπὸ τοῦ μυχοῦ τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος αὐτῆς ὅσον εἰρήκαμεν. μυούρου δʼ ὄντος τοῦ τμήματος τούτου τῆς γῆς ἐπὶ τὰ πρὸς ἕω μέρη, γίνοιτʼ ἂν τὸ σχῆμα προσόμοιον μαγειρικῇ κοπίδι, τοῦ μὲν ὄρους ἐπʼ εὐθείας ὄντος καὶ νοουμένου κατὰ τὴν ἀκμὴν τῆς κοπίδος, τῆς δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ Ὑρκανίου παραλίας ἐπὶ Τάμαρον κατὰ θάτερον πλευρὸν εἰς περιφερῆ καὶ μύουρον γραμμὴν ἀπολῆγον.

11.11.8

ἐπιμνηστέον δὲ καὶ τῶν παραδόξων ἐνίων ἃ θρυλοῦσι περὶ τῶν τελέως βαρβάρων, οἷον τῶν περὶ τὸν Καύκασον καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ὀρεινήν. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ νόμιμον εἶναί φασι τὸ τοῦ Εὐριπίδου τὸν φύντα θρηνεῖν εἰς ὅσʼ ἔρχεται κακά, τὸν δʼ αὖ θανόντα καὶ πόνων πεπαυμένον χαίροντας εὐφημοῦντας ἐκπέμπειν δόμων.Eur. Cresphontes 449 (Nauck)ἑτέροις δὲ μηδένα ἀποκτείνειν τῶν ἐξαμαρτόντων τὰ μέγιστα, ἀλλʼ ἐξορίζειν μόνον μετὰ τῶν τέκνων, ὑπεναντίως τοῖς Δέρβιξι· καὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ μικροῖς οὗτοι σφάττουσι. σέβονται δὲ γῆν οἱ Δέρβικες· θύουσι δʼ οὐδὲν θῆλυ οὐδὲ ἐσθίουσι· τοὺς δὲ ὑπὲρ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη γεγονότας σφάττουσιν, ἀναλίσκουσι δὲ τὰς σάρκας οἱ ἄγχιστα γένους· τὰς δὲ γραίας ἀπάγχουσιν, εἶτα θάπτουσι· τοὺς δὲ ἐντὸς ἑβδομήκοντα ἐτῶν ἀποθανόντας οὐκ ἐσθίουσιν ἀλλὰ θάπτουσι. Σίγιννοι δὲ τἆλλα μὲν περσίζουσιν, ἱππαρίοις δὲ χρῶνται μικροῖς δασέσιν, ἅπερ ἱππότην ὀχεῖν μὲν οὐ δύναται, τέθριππα δὲ ζευγνύουσιν· ἡνιοχοῦσι δὲ γυναῖκες ἐκ παίδων ἠσκημέναι, ἡ δʼ ἄριστα ἡνιοχοῦσα συνοικεῖ ᾧ βούλεται· τινὰς δʼ ἐπιτηδεύειν φασὶν ὅπως ὡς μακροκεφαλώτατοι φανοῦνται καὶ προπεπτωκότες τοῖς μετώποις ὥσθʼ ὑπερκύπτειν τῶν γενείων. Ταπύρων δʼ ἔστι καὶ τὸ τοὺς μὲν ἄνδρας μελανειμονεῖν καὶ μακροκομεῖν, τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας λευχειμονεῖν καὶ βραχυκομεῖνpost βραχυκομεῖν· οἰκοῦσι δὲ μεταξὺ Δερβίκων καὶ Ὑρκανῶν. καὶ ὁ ἀνδρειότατος κριθεὶς γαμεῖ ἣν βούλεται. Κάσπιοι δὲ τοὺς ὑπὲρ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη λιμοκτονήσαντες εἰς τὴν ἐρημίαν ἐκτιθέασιν, ἄπωθεν δὲ σκοπεύοντες ἐὰν μὲν ὑπʼ ὀρνίθων κατασπωμένους ἀπὸ τῆς κλίνης ἴδωσιν, εὐδαιμονίζουσιν, ἐὰν δὲ ὑπὸ θηρίων ἢ κυνῶν, ἧττον, ἐὰν δʼ ὑπὸ μηδενός, κακοδαιμονίζουσι.

11.12

11.12.1

ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ βόρεια μέρη τῆς Ἀσίας ποιεῖ ὁ Ταῦρος, ἃ δὴ καὶ ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου καλοῦσιν, εἰπεῖν προειλόμεθα πρῶτον περὶ τούτων· τούτων δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν αὐτοῖς ἢ ὅλα ἢ τὰ πλεῖστα. ὅσα μὲν οὖν τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν ἑωθινώτερά ἐστιν, ἁπλουστέραν ἔχει τὴν περιήγησιν διὰ τὴν ἀγριότητα, οὐ πολύ τε ἂν διαφέροι τοῦδε ἢ τοῦδε τοῦ κλίματος συγκαταλεχθέντα· τὰ δʼ ἑσπέρια πάντα δίδωσιν εὐπορίαν τοῦ λέγειν περὶ αὐτῶν, ὥστε δεῖ προάγειν ἐπὶ τὰ παρακείμενα ταῖς Κασπίαις πύλαις. παράκειται δὲ ἡ Μηδία πρὸς δύσιν, χώρα καὶ πολλὴ καὶ δυναστεύσασά ποτε καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τῷ Ταύρῳ κειμένη, πολυσχιδεῖ κατὰ ταῦτα ὑπάρχοντι τὰ μέρη καὶ αὐλῶνας ἐμπεριλαμβάνοντι μεγάλους, καθάπερ καὶ τῇ Ἀρμενίᾳ τοῦτο συμβέβηκε.

11.12.2

τὸ γὰρ ὄρος τοῦτο ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς Καρίας καὶ Λυκίας, ἀλλʼ ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὔτε πλάτος οὔτε ὕψος ἀξιόλογον δείκνυσιν· ἐξαίρεται δὲ πολὺ πρῶτον κατὰ τὰς Χελιδονίας (αὗται δʼ εἰσὶ νῆσοι κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς Παμφύλων παραλίας), ἐπὶ δὲ τὰς ἀνατολὰς ἐκτεινόμενον αὐλῶνας μακροὺς ἀπολαμβάνει τοὺς τῶν Κιλίκων· εἶτα τῇ μὲν τὸ Ἀμανὸν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ σχίζεται τῇ δὲ ὁ Ἀντίταυρος, ἐν ᾧ τὰ Κόμανα ἵδρυται τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἄνω λεγομένοις Καππάδοξιν. οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἐν τῇ Καταονίᾳ τελευτᾷ, τὸ δὲ Ἀμανὸν ὄρος μέχρι τοῦ Εὐφράτου καὶ τῆς Μελιτηνῆς πρόεισι, καθʼ ἣν ἡ Κομμαγηνὴ τῇ Καππαδοκίᾳ παράκειται· ἐκδέχεται δὲ τὰ πέραν τοῦ Εὐφράτου ὄρη, συνεχῆ μὲν τοῖς προειρημένοις πλὴν ὅσον διακόπτει ῥέων διὰ μέσων ὁ ποταμός, πολλὴν δʼ ἐπίδοσιν λαμβάνει εἰς τὸ ὕψος καὶ τὸ πλάτος καὶ τὸ πολυσχιδές. τὸ δʼ οὖν νοτιώτατον μάλιστά ἐστιν ὁ Ταῦρος ὁρίζων τὴν Ἀρμενίαν ἀπὸ τῆς Μεσοποταμίας.

11.12.3

ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἀμφότεροι ῥέουσιν οἱ τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν ἐγκυκλούμενοι ποταμοὶ καὶ συνάπτοντες ἀλλήλοις ἐγγὺς κατὰ τὴν Βαβυλωνίαν, εἶτα ἐκδιδόντες εἰς τὴν κατὰ Πέρσας θάλατταν, ὅ τε Εὐφράτης καὶ Τίγρις. ἔστι δὲ καὶ μείζων ὁ Εὐφράτης καὶ πλείω διέξεισι χώραν σκολιῷ τῷ ῥείθρῳ, τὰς πηγὰς ἔχων ἐν τῷ προσβορείῳ μέρει τοῦ Ταύρου, ῥέων δʼ ἐπὶ δύσιν διὰ τῆς Ἀρμενίας τῆς μεγάλης καλουμένης μέχρι τῆς μικρᾶς, ἐν δεξιᾷ ἔχων ταύτην ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τὴν Ἀκιλισηνήν· εἶτʼ ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς νότον, συνάπτει δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν τοῖς Καππαδόκων ὁρίοις· δεξιᾷ δὲ ταῦτα ἀφεὶς καὶ τὰ τῶν Κομμαγηνῶν, ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τὴν Ἀκιλισηνὴν καὶ Σωφηνὴν τῆς μεγάλης Ἀρμενίας πρόεισιν ἐπὶ τὴν Συρίαν καὶ λαμβάνει πάλιν ἄλλην ἐπιστροφὴν εἰς τὴν Βαβυλωνίαν καὶ τὸν Περσικὸν κόλπον. ὁ δὲ Τίγρις ἐκ τοῦ νοτίου μέρους τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὄρους ἐνεχθεὶς ἐπὶ τὴν Σελεύκειαν συνάπτει τῷ Εὐφράτῃ πλησίον καὶ ποιεῖ τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν πρὸς αὐτόν, εἶτʼ ἐκδίδωσι καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν κόλπον. διέχουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων αἱ πηγαὶ τοῦ τε Εὐφράτου καὶ τοῦ Τίγριος περὶ δισχιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους σταδίους.

11.12.4

ἀπὸ δʼ οὖν τοῦ Ταύρου πρὸς ἄρκτον ἀποσχίδες πολλαὶ γεγόνασι, μία μὲν ἡ τοῦ καλουμένου Ἀντιταύρου· καὶ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα οὕτως ὠνομάζετο ὁ τὴν Σωφηνὴν ἀπολαμβάνων ἐν αὐλῶνι μεταξὺ κειμένῳ αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ Ταύρου. πέραν δὲ τοῦ Εὐφράτου κατὰ τὴν μικρὰν Ἀρμενίαν ἐφεξῆς τῷ Ἀντιταύρῳ πρὸς ἄρκτον ἐπεκτείνεται μέγα ὄρος καὶ πολυσχιδές· καλοῦσι δὲ τὸ μὲν αὐτοῦ Παρυάδρην τὸ δὲ Μοσχικὰ ὄρη τὸ δʼ ἄλλοις ὀνόμασι· ταῦτα δʼ ἀπολαμβάνει τὴν Ἀρμενίαν ὅλην μέχρι Ἰβήρων καὶ Ἀλβανῶν. εἶτʼ ἄλλʼ ἐπανίσταται πρὸς ἕω, τὰ ὑπερκείμενα τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης μέχρι Μηδίας τῆς τε Ἀτροπατίου καὶ τῆς μεγάλης· καλοῦσι δὲ καὶ ταῦτα τὰ μέρη πάντα τῶν ὀρῶν Παραχοάθραν καὶ τὰ μέχρι τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν καὶ ἐπέκεινα ἔτι πρὸς ταῖς ἀνατολαῖς τὰ συνάπτοντα τῇ Ἀρίᾳ. τὰ μὲν δὴ πρόσβορρα ὄρη οὕτω καλοῦσι, τὰ δὲ νότια τὰ πέραν τοῦ Εὐφράτου τῆς Καππαδοκίας καὶ τῆς Κομμαγηνῆς πρὸς ἕω τείνοντα κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν αὐτὸ τοῦτο καλεῖται Ταῦρος, διορίζων τὴν Σωφηνὴν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Ἀρμενίαν ἀπὸ τῆς Μεσοποταμίας· τινὲς δὲ Γορδυαῖα ὄρη καλοῦσιν. ἐν δὲ τούτοις ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ Μάσιον, τὸ ὑπερκείμενον τῆς Νισίβιος ὄρος καὶ τῶν Τιγρανοκέρτων. ἔπειτα ἐξαίρεται πλέον καὶ καλεῖται Νιφάτης· ἐνταῦθα δέ που καὶ τοῦ Τίγριος πηγαὶ κατὰ τὸ νότιον τῆς ὀρεινῆς πλευρόν· εἶτʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Νιφάτου μᾶλλον ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον ἡ ῥάχις ἐκτεινομένη τὸ Ζάγριον ὄρος ποιεῖ τὸ διορίζον τὴν Μηδίαν καὶ τὴν Βαβυλωνίαν· μετὰ δὲ τὸ Ζάγριον ἐκδέχεται ὑπὲρ μὲν τῆς Βαβυλωνίας ἥ τε τῶν Ἐλυμαίων ὀρεινὴ καὶ ἡ τῶν Παραιτακηνῶν, ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς Μηδίας ἡ τῶν Κοσσαίων· ἐν μέσῳ δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ Μηδία καὶ ἡ Ἀρμενία, πολλὰ μὲν ὄρη περιλαμβάνουσα πολλὰ δὲ ὀροπέδια, ὡσαύτως δὲ πεδία καὶ αὐλῶνας μεγάλους, συχνὰ δὲ καὶ ἔθνη τὰ περιοικοῦντα, μικρὰ ὀρεινὰ καὶ λῃστρικὰ τὰ πλείω. οὕτω μὲν τοίνυν τίθεμεν ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου τήν τε Μηδίαν, ἧς εἰσι καὶ αἱ Κάσπιοι πύλαι, καὶ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν.

11.12.5

καθʼ ἡμᾶς μὲν τοίνυν προσάρκτια ἂν εἴη τὰ ἔθνη ταῦτα, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου, Ἐρατοσθένης δὲ πεποιημένος τὴν διαίρεσιν εἰς τὰ νότια μέρη καὶ τὰ προσάρκτια καὶ τὰς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λεγομένας σφραγῖδας, τὰς μὲν βορείους καλῶν τὰς δὲ νοτίους, ὅρια ἀποφαίνει τῶν κλιμάτων ἀμφοῖν τὰς Κασπίους πύλας· εἰκότως οὖν τὰ νοτιώτεραpost νοτιώτερα· πρὸς ἕω τείνοντα τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν νότια ἂν ἀποφαίνοι, ὧν ἐστι καὶ ἡ Μηδία καὶ ἡ Ἀρμενία, τὰ δὲ βορειότερα πρόσβορρα, κατʼ ἄλλην καὶ ἄλλην διάταξιν τούτου συμβαίνοντος. τάχα δὲ οὐκ ἐπέβαλε τούτῳ, διότι ἔξω τοῦ Ταύρου πρὸς νότον οὐδέν ἐστιν οὔτε τῆς Ἀρμενίας μέρος οὔτε τῆς Μηδίας.

11.13

11.13.1

ἡ δὲ Μηδία δίχα διῄρηται· καλοῦσι δὲ τὴν μὲν μεγάλην, ἧς μητρόπολις τὰ Ἐκβάτανα, μεγάλη πόλις καὶ τὸ βασίλειον ἔχουσα τῆς Μήδων ἀρχῆς· διατελοῦσι δὲ καὶ νῦν οἱ Παρθυαῖοι τούτῳ χρώμενοι βασιλείῳ, καὶ θερίζουσί γε ἐνταῦθα οἱ βασιλεῖς· ψυχρὰ γὰρ ἡ Μηδία· τὸ δὲ χειμάδιόν ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἐν Σελευκείᾳ τῇ ἐπὶ τῷ Τίγριδι πλησίον Βαβυλῶνος. ἡ δʼ ἑτέρα μερίς ἐστιν ἡ Ἀτροπάτιος Μηδία· τοὔνομα δʼ ἔσχεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος Ἀτροπάτου, ὃς ἐκώλυσεν ὑπὸ τοῖς Μακεδόσι γίνεσθαι καὶ ταύτην μέρος οὖσαν μεγάλης Μηδίας· καὶ δὴ καὶ βασιλεὺς ἀναγορευθεὶς ἰδίᾳ συνέταξε καθʼ αὑτὴν τὴν χώραν ταύτην, καὶ ἡ διαδοχὴ σώζεται μέχρι νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου, πρός τε τοὺς Ἀρμενίων βασιλέας ποιησαμένων ἐπιγαμίας τῶν ὕστερον καὶ Σύρων καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Παρθυαίων.

11.13.2

κεῖται δὲ ἡ χώρα τῇ μὲν Ἀρμενίᾳpost Ἀρμενίᾳ· καὶ τῇ Ματιανῇ πρὸς ἕω τῇ δὲ μεγάλῃ Μηδίᾳ πρὸς δύσιν, πρὸς ἄρκτον δʼ ἀμφοτέραις· τοῖς δὲ περὶ τὸν μυχὸν τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης καὶ τῇ Ματιανῇ ἀπὸ νότου παράκειται. ἔστι δʼ οὐ μικρὰ κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν, ὥς φησιν Ἀπολλωνίδης, ἥ γε καὶ μυρίους ἱππέας δύναται παρέχεσθαι, πεζῶν δὲ τέτταρας μυριάδας. λίμνην δʼ ἔχει τὴν Καπαῦτα, ἐν ᾗ ἅλες ἐπανθοῦντες πήττονται· εἰσὶ δὲ κνησμώδεις καὶ ἐπαλγεῖς· ἔλαιον δὲ τοῦ πάθους ἄκος, ὕδωρ δὲ γλυκὺ τοῖς καπυρωθεῖσιν ἱματίοις, εἴ τις κατʼ ἄγνοιαν βάψειεν εἰς αὐτὴν πλύσεως χάριν. ἔχουσι δʼ ἰσχυροὺς γείτονας τοὺς Ἀρμενίους καὶ τοὺς Παρθυαίους, ὑφʼ ὧν περικόπτονται πολλάκις· ἀντέχουσι δʼ ὅμως καὶ ἀπολαμβάνουσι τὰ ἀφαιρεθέντα, καθάπερ τὴν Συμβάκην ἀπέλαβον παρὰ τῶν Ἀρμενίων ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις γεγονότων, καὶ αὐτοὶ προσεληλύθασι τῇ φιλίᾳ τῇ πρὸς Καίσαρα· θεραπεύουσι δʼ ἅμα καὶ τοὺς Παρθυαίους.

11.13.3

βασίλειον δʼ αὐτῶν θερινὸν μὲν ἐν πεδίῳ ἱδρυμένον Γάζακα, χειμερινὸν δὲ ἐν φρουρίῳ ἐρυμνῷ Ὀυέρα, ὅπερ Ἀντώνιος ἐπολιόρκησε κατὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Παρθυαίους στρατείαν. διέχει δὲ τοῦτο τοῦ Ἀράξου ποταμοῦ τοῦ ὁρίζοντος τήν τε Ἀρμενίαν καὶ τὴν Ἀτροπατηνὴν σταδίους δισχιλίους καὶ τετρακοσίους, ὥς φησιν ὁ Δέλλιος ὁ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου φίλος, συγγράψας τὴν ἐπὶ Παρθυαίους αὐτοῦ στρατείαν ἐν ᾗ παρῆν καὶ αὐτὸς ἡγεμονίαν ἔχων. ἔστι δὲ τῆς χώρας ταύτης τὰ μὲν ἄλλα εὐδαίμονα χωρία, ἡ δὲ προσάρκτιος ὀρεινὴ καὶ τραχεῖα καὶ ψυχρά, Καδουσίων κατοικία τῶν ὀρεινῶν καὶ Ἀμάρδων καὶ Ταπύρων καὶ Κυρτίων καὶ ἄλλων τοιούτων, οἳ μετανάσται εἰσὶ καὶ λῃστρικοί. καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ζάγρος καὶ ὁ Νιφάτης κατεσπαρμένα ἔχουσι τὰ ἔθνη ταῦτα, καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Περσίδι Κύρτιοι καὶ Μάρδοι (καὶ γὰρ οὕτω λέγονται οἱ Ἄμαρδοι) καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἀρμενίᾳ μέχρι νῦν ὁμωνύμως προσαγορευόμενοι τῆς αὐτῆς εἰσὶν ἰδέας.

11.13.4

οἱ δʼ οὖν Καδούσιοι πλήθει τῷ πεζῷ μικρὸν ἀπολείπονται τῶν Ἀριανῶν, ἀκοντισταὶ δʼ εἰσὶν ἄριστοι, ἐν δὲ τοῖς τραχέσιν ἀνθʼ ἱππέων πεζοὶ διαμάχονται. Ἀντωνίῳ δὲ χαλεπὴν τὴν στρατείαν ἐποίησεν οὐχ ἡ τῆς χώρας φύσις, ἀλλʼ ὁ τῶν ὁδῶν ἡγεμών, ὁ τῶν Ἀρμενίων βασιλεὺς Ἀρταουάσδης, ὃν εἰκῆ ἐκεῖνος ἐπιβουλεύοντα αὐτῷ σύμβουλον ἐποιεῖτο καὶ κύριον τῆς περὶ τοῦ πολέμου γνώμης· ἐτιμωρήσατο μὲν οὖν αὐτόν, ἀλλʼ ὀψέ, ἡνίκα πολλῶν αἴτιος κατέστη κακῶν Ῥωμαίοις καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ἐκεῖνος, ὅστις τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ζεύγματος ὁδὸν τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην μέχρι τοῦ ἅψασθαι τῆς Ἀτροπατηνῆς ὀκτακισχιλίων σταδίων ἐποίησε, πλέον ἢ διπλασίαν τῆς εὐθείας, διὰ ὀρῶν καὶ ἀνοδιῶν καὶ κυκλοπορίας.

11.13.5

ἡ δὲ μεγάλη Μηδία τὸ μὲν παλαιὸν τῆς Ἀσίας ἡγήσατο πάσης καταλύσασα τὴν τῶν Σύρων ἀρχήν· ὕστερον δʼ ὑπὸ Κύρου καὶ Περσῶν ἀφαιρεθεῖσα τὴν τοσαύτην ἐξουσίαν ἐπὶ Ἀστυάγου διεφύλαττεν ὅμως πολὺ τοῦ πατρίου ἀξιώματος, καὶ ἦν τὰ Ἐκβάτανα χειμάδιον τοῖς Πέρσαις· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἐκείνους καταλύσασι Μακεδόσι τοῖς τὴν Συρίαν ἔχουσι, καὶ νῦν ἔτι τοῖς Παρθυαίων βασιλεῦσι τὴν αὐτὴν παρέχεται χρείαν τε καὶ ἀσφάλειαν.

11.13.6

ὁρίζεται δʼ ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς ἕω τῇ τε Παρθυαίᾳ καὶ τοῖς Κοσσαίων ὄρεσι λῃστρικῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἳ τοξότας μυρίους καὶ τρισχιλίους παρέσχοντό ποτε Ἐλυμαίοις συμμαχοῦντες ἐπὶ Σουσίους καὶ Βαβυλωνίους. Νέαρχος δέ φησι τεττάρων ὄντων λῃστρικῶν ἐθνῶν, ὧν Μάρδοι μὲν Πέρσαις προσεχεῖς ἦσαν, Οὔξιοι δὲ καὶ Ἐλυμαῖοι τούτοις τε καὶ Σουσίοις, Κοσσαῖοι δὲ Μήδοις, πάντας μὲν φόρους πράττεσθαι τοὺς βασιλέας, Κοσσαίους δὲ καὶ δῶρα λαμβάνειν, ἡνίκα ὁ βασιλεὺς θερίσας ἐν Ἐκβατάνοις εἰς τὴν Βαβυλωνίαν καταβαίνοι· καταλῦσαι δʼ αὐτῶν τὴν πολλὴν τόλμαν Ἀλέξανδρον ἐπιθέμενον χειμῶνος. τούτοις τε δὴ ἀφορίζεται πρὸς ἕω καὶ ἔτι τοῖς Παραιτακηνοῖς, οἳ συνάπτουσι Πέρσαις ὀρεινοὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ λῃστρικοί· ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἄρκτων τοῖς ὑπεροικοῦσι τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης Καδουσίοις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις, οὓς ἄρτι διήλθομεν· πρὸς νότον δὲ τῇ Ἀπολλωνιάτιδι, ἣν Σιτακηνὴν ἐκάλουν οἱ παλαιοί, καὶ τῷ Ζάγρῳ, καθʼ ὃ ἡ Μασσαβατικὴ κεῖται τῆς Μηδίας οὖσα, οἱ δὲ τῆς Ἐλυμαίας φασί· πρὸς δύσιν δὲ τοῖς Ἀτροπατίοις καὶ τῶν Ἀρμενίων τισίν. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ Ἑλληνίδες πόλεις κτίσματα τῶν Μακεδόνων ἐν τῇ Μηδίᾳ, ὧν Λαοδίκειά τε καὶ Ἀπάμεια καὶ ἡ πρὸς Ῥάγαις Ἡράκλεια καὶ αὐτὴ Ῥάγα, τὸ τοῦ Νικάτορος κτίσμα, ὃ ἐκεῖνος μὲν Εὐρωπὸν ὠνόμασε, Πάρθοι δὲ Ἀρσακίαν, νοτιωτέραν οὖσαν τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν πεντακοσίοις που σταδίοις, ὥς φησιν Ἀπολλόδωρος Ἀρτεμιτηνός.

11.13.7

ἡ πολλὴ μὲν οὖν ὑψηλή ἐστι καὶ ψυχρά· τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ ὑπερκείμενα τῶν Ἐκβατάνων ὄρη καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς Ῥάγας καὶ τὰς Κασπίους πύλας καὶ καθόλου τὰ προσάρκτια μέρη τὰ ἐντεῦθεν μέχρι πρὸς τὴν Ματιανὴν καὶ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν. ἡ δʼ ὑπὸ ταῖς Κασπίοις πύλαις ἐν ταπεινοῖς ἐδάφεσι καὶ κοίλοις οὖσα εὐδαίμων σφόδρα ἐστὶ καὶ πάμφορος πλὴν ἐλαίας· εἰ δὲ καὶ φύεταί που, ἀλιπής τέ ἐστι καὶ ξηρά· ἱππόβοτος δὲ καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶ διαφερόντως καὶ ἡ Ἀρμενία· καλεῖται δέ τις καὶ λειμὼν ἱππόβοτος, ὃν καὶ διεξίασιν οἱ ἐκ τῆς Περσίδος καὶ Βαβυλῶνος εἰς Κασπίους πύλας ὁδεύοντες, ἐν ᾧ πέντε μυριάδας ἵππων θηλείων νέμεσθαί φασιν ἐπὶ τῶν Περσῶν, εἶναι δὲ τὰς ἀγέλας ταύτας βασιλικάς. τοὺς δὲ Νησαίους ἵππους, οἷς ἐχρῶντο οἱ βασιλεῖς ἀρίστοις οὖσι καὶ μεγίστοις, οἱ μὲν ἐνθένδε λέγουσι τὸ γένος, οἱ δʼ ἐξ Ἀρμενίας· ἰδιόμορφοι δέ εἰσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ Παρθικοὶ λεγόμενοι νῦν, παρὰ τοὺς Ἑλλαδικοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς παρʼ ἡμῖν. καὶ τὴν βοτάνην δὲ τὴν μάλιστα τρέφουσαν τοὺς ἵππους ἀπὸ τοῦ πλεονάζειν ἐνταῦθα ἰδίως μηδίκην καλοῦμεν. φέρει δὲ καὶ σίλφιον ἡ χώρα, ἀφʼ οὗ ὁ Μηδικὸς καλούμενος ὀπός, πολὺ λειπόμενος τοῦ Κυρηναϊκοῦ· ἔστι δʼ ὅτε καὶ διαφέρων ἐκείνου, εἴτε παρὰ τὰς τῶν τόπων διαφορὰς εἴτε τοῦ φυτοῦ κατʼ εἶδος ἐξαλλάττοντος, εἴτε καὶ παρὰ τοὺς ὀπίζοντας καὶ σκευάζοντας ὥστε συμμένειν πρὸς τὴν ἀπόθεσιν καὶ τὴν χρείαν.

11.13.8

τοιαύτη μέν τις ἡ χώρα· τὸ δὲ μέγεθος πάρισός πώς ἐστιν εἰς πλάτος καὶ μῆκος· δοκεῖ δὲ μέγιστον εἶναι μῆκος τῆς Μηδίας τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Ζάγρου ὑπερθέσεως, ἥπερ καλεῖται Μηδικὴ πύλη, εἰς Κασπίους πύλας διὰ τῆς Σιγριανῆς σταδίων τετρακισχιλίων ἑκατόν. τῷ δὲ μεγέθει καὶ τῇ δυνάμει τῆς χώρας ὁμολογεῖ καὶ ἡ περὶ τῶν φόρων ἱστορία· τῆς γὰρ Καππαδοκίας παρεχούσης τοῖς Πέρσαις κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν πρὸς τῷ ἀργυρικῷ τέλει ἵππους χιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους, ἡμιόνους δὲ δισχιλίους, προβάτων δὲ πέντε μυριάδας, διπλάσια σχεδόν τι τούτων ἐτέλουν οἱ Μῆδοι.

11.13.9

ἔθη δὲ τὰ πολλὰ μὲν τὰ αὐτὰ τούτοις τε καὶ τοῖς Ἀρμενίοις διὰ τὸ καὶ τὴν χώραν παραπλησίαν εἶναι. τοὺς μέντοι Μήδους ἀρχηγέτας εἶναί φασι καὶ τούτοις καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Πέρσαις τοῖς ἔχουσιν αὐτοὺς καὶ διαδεξαμένοις τὴν τῆς Ἀσίας ἐξουσίαν. ἡ γὰρ νῦν λεγομένη Περσικὴ στολὴ καὶ ὁ τῆς τοξικῆς καὶ ἱππικῆς ζῆλος καὶ ἡ περὶ τοὺς βασιλέας θεραπεία καὶ κόσμος καὶ σεβασμὸς θεοπρεπὴς παρὰ τῶν ἀρχομένων εἰς τοὺς Πέρσας παρὰ Μήδων ἀφῖκται. καὶ ὅτι τοῦτʼ ἀληθὲς ἐκ τῆς ἐσθῆτος μάλιστα δῆλον· τιάρα γάρ τις καὶ κίταρις καὶ πῖλος καὶ χειριδωτοὶ χιτῶνες καὶ ἀναξυρίδες ἐν μὲν τοῖς ψυχροῖς τόποις καὶ προσβόρροις ἐπιτήδειά ἐστι φορήματα, οἷοί εἰσιν οἱ Μηδικοί, ἐν δὲ τοῖς νοτίοις ἥκιστα· οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι τὴν πλείστην οἴκησιν ἐπὶ τῇ Ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάττῃ κέκτηνται, μεσημβρινώτεροι καὶ Βαβυλωνίων ὄντες καὶ Σουσίων· μετὰ δὲ τὴν κατάλυσιν τὴν τῶν Μήδων προσεκτήσαντό τινα καὶ τῶν προσαπτομένων Μηδίᾳ. ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἐφάνη σεμνὰ καὶ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ προσχήματος οἰκεῖαante τὰ· καὶ τὰ ἔθη τοῖς νικήσασι τὰ τῶν νικηθέντων, ὥστʼ ἀντὶ γυμνητῶν καὶ ψιλῶν θηλυστολεῖν ὑπέμειναν, καὶ κατηρεφεῖς εἶναι τοῖς σκεπάσμασι.

11.13.10

τινὲς δὲ Μήδειαν καταδεῖξαι τὴν ἐσθῆτα ταύτην φασὶ δυναστεύσασαν ἐν τοῖς τόποις, καθάπερ καὶ Ἰάσονα, καὶ ἐπικρυπτομένην τὴν ὄψιν ὅτε ἀντὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐξίοι· τοῦ μὲν οὖν Ἰάσονος ὑπομνήματα εἶναι τὰ Ἰασόνια ἡρῷα τιμώμενα σφόδρα ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων (ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὄρος μέγα ὑπὲρ τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ καλούμενον Ἰασόνιον), τῆς δὲ Μηδείας τὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τοὔνομα τῆς χώρας. λέγεται δὲ καὶ Μῆδος υἱὸς αὐτῆς διαδέξασθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν χώραν ἐπώνυμον αὑτοῦ καταλιπεῖν. ὁμολογεῖ δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν Ἰασόνια καὶ τὸ τῆς χώρας ὄνομα καὶ ἄλλα πλείω περὶ ὧν ἐροῦμεν.

11.13.11

καὶ τοῦτο δὲ Μηδικὸν τὸ βασιλέα αἱρεῖσθαι τὸν ἀνδρειότατον, ἀλλʼ οὐ πᾶσιν ἀλλὰ τοῖς ὀρείοις· μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν πολλὰς εἶναι γυναῖκας· τοῖς δʼ ὀρείοις τῶν Μήδων καὶ πᾶσιν ἔθος τοῦτο, ἐλάττους δὲ τῶν πέντε οὐκ ἔξεστιν· ὡς δʼ αὕτως τὰς γυναῖκάς φασιν ἐν καλῷ τίθεσθαι ὅτι πλείστους νέμειν ἄνδρας, τῶν πέντε δὲ ἐλάττους συμφορὰν ἡγεῖσθαι. τῆς δʼ ἄλλης Μηδίας εὐδαιμονούσης τελέως λυπρά ἐστιν ἡ προσάρκτιος ὀρεινή· σιτοῦνται γοῦν ἀπὸ ἀκροδρύων, ἔκ τε μήλων ξηρῶν κοπέντων ποιοῦνται μάζας, ἀπὸ δʼ ἀμυγδάλων φωχθέντων ἄρτους, ἐκ δὲ ῥιζῶν τινων οἶνον ἐκθλίβουσι, κρέασι δὲ χρῶνται θηρείοις, ἥμερα δὲ οὐ τρέφουσι θρέμματα. τοσαῦτα καὶ περὶ Μήδων φαμέν· περὶ δὲ τῶν νομίμων κοινῇ τῆς συμπάσης Μηδίας, ἐπειδὴ ταὐτὰ τοῖς Περσικοῖς γεγένηται διὰ τὴν τῶν Περσῶν ἐπικράτειαν, ἐν τῷ περὶ ἐκείνων λόγῳ φήσομεν.

11.14

11.14.1

τῆς δʼ Ἀρμενίας τὰ μὲν νότια προβέβληται τὸν Ταῦρον, διείργοντα αὐτὴν ἀφʼ ὅλης τῆς μεταξὺ Εὐφράτου καὶ τοῦ Τίγριος, ἣν Μεσοποταμίαν καλοῦσι, τὰ δὲ ἑωθινὰ τῇ Μηδίᾳ συνάπτει τῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ τῇ Ἀτροπατηνῇ· προσάρκτια δέ ἐστι τὰ ὑπερκείμενα τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης ὄρη τὰ τοῦ Παραχοάθρα καὶ Ἀλβανοὶ καὶ Ἴβηρες καὶ ὁ Καύκασος ἐγκυκλούμενος τὰ ἔθνη ταῦτα καὶ συνάπτων τοῖς Ἀρμενίοις, συνάπτων δὲ καὶ τοῖς Μοσχικοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ Κολχικοῖς μέχρι τῶν καλουμένων Τιβαρανῶν· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἑσπέρας ταῦτά ἐστι τὰ ἔθνη καὶ ὁ Παρυάδρης καὶ ὁ Σκυδίσης μέχρι τῆς μικρᾶς Ἀρμενίας καὶ τῆς τοῦ Εὐφράτου ποταμίας, ἣ διείργει τὴν Ἀρμενίαν ἀπὸ τῆς Καππαδοκίας καὶ τῆς Κομμαγηνῆς.

11.14.2

ὁ γὰρ Εὐφράτης ἀπὸ τῆς βορείου πλευρᾶς τοῦ Ταύρου τὰς ἀρχὰς ἔχων τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ῥεῖ πρὸς δύσιν διὰ τῆς Ἀρμενίας, εἶτʼ ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς νότον καὶ διακόπτει τὸν Ταῦρον μεταξὺ τῶν Ἀρμενίων τε καὶ Καππαδόκων καὶ Κομμαγηνῶν, ἐκπεσὼν δʼ ἔξω καὶ γενόμενος κατὰ τὴν Συρίαν ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς χειμερινὰς ἀνατολὰς μέχρι Βαβυλῶνος καὶ ποιεῖ τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν πρὸς τὸν Τίγριν· ἀμφότεροι δὲ τελευτῶσιν εἰς τὸν Περσικὸν κόλπον. τὰ μὲν δὴ κύκλῳ τοιαῦτα, ὀρεινὰ σχεδόν τι πάντα καὶ τραχέα πλὴν τῶν πρὸς τὴν Μηδίαν κεκλιμένων ὀλίγων. πάλιν δὲ τοῦ λεχθέντος Ταύρου τὴν ἀρχὴν λαμβάνοντος ἀπὸ τῆς περαίας τῶν Κομμαγηνῶν καὶ τῶν Μελιτηνῶν ἣν ὁ Εὐφράτης ποιεῖ, Μάσιον μέν ἐστι τὸ ὑπερκείμενον ὄρος τῶν ἐν τῇ Μεσοποταμίᾳ Μυγδόνων ἐκ νότου, ἐν οἷς ἡ Νίσιβίς ἐστιν· ἐκ δὲ τῶν πρὸς ἄρκτον μερῶν ἡ Σωφηνὴ κεῖται μεταξὺ τοῦ τε Μασίου καὶ τοῦ Ἀντιταύρου. οὗτος δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Εὐφράτου καὶ τοῦ Ταύρου τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβὼν τελευτᾷ πρὸς τὰ ἑῷα τῆς Ἀρμενίας ἀπολαμβάνων μέσην τὴν Σωφηνήν, ἐκ θατέρου δὲ μέρους ἔχων τὴν Ἀκιλισηνὴν μεταξὺ ἱδρυμένην τοῦ Ταύρου τε καὶ τῆς τοῦ Εὐφράτου ποταμίας πρὶν ἢ κάμπτειν αὐτὴν ἐπὶ νότον. βασίλειον δὲ τῆς Σωφηνῆς Καρκαθιόκερτα. τοῦ δὲ Μασίου ὑπέρκειται πρὸς ἕω πολὺ κατὰ τὴν Γορδυηνὴν ὁ Νιφάτης, εἶθʼ ὁ Ἄβος, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ ὁ Εὐφράτης ῥεῖ καὶ ὁ Ἀράξης, ὁ μὲν πρὸς δύσιν ὁ δὲ πρὸς ἀνατολάς· εἶθʼ ὁ Νίβαρος μέχρι τῆς Μηδίας παρατείνει.

11.14.3

ὁ μὲν οὖν Εὐφράτης εἴρηται ὃν τρόπον ῥεῖ· ὁ δὲ Ἀράξης πρὸς τὰς ἀνατολὰς ἐνεχθεὶς μέχρι τῆς Ἀτροπατηνῆς κάμπτει πρὸς δύσιν καὶ πρὸς ἄρκτους καὶ παραρρεῖ τὰ Ἄζαρα πρῶτον, εἶτʼ Ἀρτάξατα, πόλεις Ἀρμενίων· ἔπειτα διὰ τοῦ Ἀραξηνοῦ πεδίου πρὸς τὸ Κάσπιον ἐκδίδωσι πέλαγος.

11.14.4

ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ Ἀρμενίᾳ πολλὰ μὲν ὄρη πολλὰ δὲ ὀροπέδια, ἐν οἷς οὐδʼ ἄμπελος φύεται ῥᾳδίως, πολλοὶ δʼ αὐλῶνες οἱ μὲν μέσως οἱ δὲ καὶ σφόδρα εὐδαίμονες καθάπερ τὸ Ἀραξηνὸν πεδίον, διʼ οὗ ὁ Ἀράξης ποταμὸς ῥέων εἰς τὰ ἄκρα τῆς Ἀλβανίας καὶ τὴν Κασπίαν ἐκπίπτει θάλατταν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἡ Σακασηνὴ καὶ αὐτὴ τῇ Ἀλβανίᾳ πρόσχωρος καὶ τῷ Κύρῳ ποταμῷ, εἶθʼ ἡ Γωγαρηνή· πᾶσα γὰρ ἡ χώρα αὕτη καρποῖς τε καὶ τοῖς ἡμέροις δένδρεσι καὶ τοῖς ἀειθαλέσι πληθύει, φέρει δὲ καὶ ἐλαίαν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἡ Φαυηνὴ τῆς Ἀρμενίας ἐπαρχία καὶ ἡ Κωμισηνὴ καὶ Ὀρχιστηνὴ πλείστην ἱππείαν παρέχουσα· ἡ δὲ Χορζηνὴ καὶ Καμβυσηνὴ προσβορρόταταί εἰσι καὶ νιφόβολοι μάλιστα, συνάπτουσαι τοῖς Καυκασίοις ὄρεσι καὶ τῇ Ἰβηρίᾳ καὶ τῇ Κολχίδι· ὅπου φασὶ κατὰ τὰς ὑπερβολὰς τῶν ὀρῶν πολλάκις καὶ συνοδίας ὅλας ἐν τῇ χιόνι καταπίνεσθαι νιφετῶν γινομένων ἐπὶ πλέον· ἔχειν δὲ καὶ βακτηρίας πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους κινδύνους, ἃς παρεξαίροντας εἰς τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἀναπνοῆς τε χάριν καὶ τοῦ διαμηνύειν τοῖς ἐπιοῦσιν ὥστε βοηθείας τυγχάνειν, ἀνορύττεσθαι καὶ σώζεσθαι. ἐν δὲ τῇ χιόνι βώλους πήγνυσθαί φασι κοίλας περιεχούσας χρηστὸν ὕδωρ ὡς ἐν χιτῶνι, καὶ ζῷα δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννᾶσθαι· καλεῖ δὲ σκώληκας Ἀπολλωνίδης, Θεοφάνης δὲ θρῖπας· κἀν τούτοις ἀπολαμβάνεσθαι χρηστὸν ὕδωρ, περισχισθέντων δὲ τῶν χιτώνων πίνεσθαι· τὴν δὲ γένεσιν τῶν ζῴων τοιαύτην εἰκάζουσιν οἵαν τὴν τῶν κωνώπων ἐκ τῆς ἐν τοῖς μετάλλοις φλογὸς καὶ τοῦ φεψάλου.

11.14.5

ἱστοροῦσι δὲ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν μικρὰν πρότερον οὖσαν αὐξηθῆναι διὰ τῶν περὶ Ἀρταξίαν καὶ Ζαρίαδριν, οἳ πρότερον μὲν ἦσαν Ἀντιόχου τοῦ μεγάλου στρατηγοί, βασιλεύσαντες δʼ ὕστερον μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου ἧτταν ὁ μὲν τῆς Σωφηνῆς καὶ τῆς Ἀκισηνῆς καὶ Ὀδομαντίδος καὶ ἄλλων τινῶν ὁ δὲ τῆς περὶ Ἀρτάξατα, συνηύξησαν ἐκ τῶν περικειμένων ἐθνῶν ἀποτεμόμενοι μέρη, ἐκ Μήδων μὲν τήν τε Κασπιανὴν καὶ Φαυνῖτιν καὶ Βασοροπέδαν, Ἰβήρων δὲ τήν τε παρώρειαν τοῦ Παρυάδρου καὶ τὴν Χορζηνὴν καὶ Γωγαρηνήν, πέραν οὖσαν τοῦ Κύρου, Χαλύβων δὲ καὶ Μοσυνοίκων Καρηνῖτιν καὶ Ξερξήνην, ἃ τῇ μικρᾷ Ἀρμενίᾳ ἐστὶν ὅμορα ἢ καὶ μέρη αὐτῆς ἐστι, Καταόνων δὲ Ἀκιλισηνὴν καὶ τὴν περὶ τὸν Ἀντίταυρον, Σύρων δὲ Ταρωνῖτιν, ὥστε πάντας ὁμογλώττους εἶναι.

11.14.6

πόλεις δʼ εἰσὶν τῆς Ἀρμενίας Ἀρτάξατά τε (ἣν καὶ Ἀρταξιάσατα καλοῦσιν, Ἀννίβα κτίσαντος Ἀρταξίᾳ τῷ βασιλεῖ) καὶ Ἄρξατα, ἀμφότεραι ἐπὶ τῷ Ἀράξῃ, ἡ μὲν Ἄρξατα πρὸς τοῖς ὅροις τῆς Ἀτροπατίας, ἡ δὲ Ἀρτάξατα πρὸς τῷ Ἀραξηνῷ πεδίῳ συνῳκισμένη καλῶς καὶ βασίλειον οὖσα τῆς χώρας. κεῖται δʼ ἐπὶ χερρονησιάζοντος ἀγκῶνος τὸ τεῖχος ἔχουσα κύκλῳ προβεβλημένον τὸν ποταμὸν πλὴν τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ, τὸν ἰσθμὸν δʼ ἔχει τάφρῳ καὶ χάρακι κεκλεισμένον. οὐ πολὺ δʼ ἄπωθεν τῆς πόλεώς ἐστι τὰ Τιγράνου καὶ Ἀρταουάσδου γαζοφυλάκια, φρούρια ἐρυμνά, Βάβυρσά τε καὶ Ὀλανή· ἦν δὲ καὶ ἄλλα ἐπὶ τῷ Εὐφράτῃ. Ἀρτάγειρα δὲ ἀπέστησε μὲν Ἄδων ὁ φρούραρχος, ἐξεῖλον δʼ οἱ Καίσαρος στρατηγοὶ πολιορκήσαντες πολὺν χρόνον, καὶ τὰ τείχη περιεῖλον.

11.14.7

ποταμοὶ δὲ πλείους μέν εἰσιν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ, γνωριμώτατοι δὲ Φᾶσις μὲν καὶ Λύκος εἰς τὴν Ποντικὴν ἐκπίπτοντες θάλατταν (Ἐρατοσθένης δʼ ἀντὶ τοῦ Λύκου τίθησι Θερμώδοντα οὐκ εὖ), εἰς δὲ τὴν Κασπίαν Κῦρος καὶ Ἀράξης, εἰς δὲ τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν ὅ τε Εὐφράτης καὶ ὁ Τίγρις.

11.14.8

εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ λίμναι κατὰ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν μεγάλαι, μία μὲν ἡ Μαντιανή, Κυανῆ ἑρμηνευθεῖσα, μεγίστη, ὥς φασι, μετὰ τὴν Μαιῶτιν, ἁλμυροῦ ὕδατος, διήκουσα μέχρι τῆς Ἀτροπατίας, ἔχουσα καὶ ἁλοπήγια· ἡ δὲ Ἀρσηνή, ἣν καὶ Θωπῖτιν καλοῦσιν· ἔστι δὲ νιτρῖτις, τὰς δʼ ἐσθῆτας ῥήττει καὶ διαξαίνει· διὰ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἄποτόν ἐστι τὸ ὕδωρ. φέρεται δὲ διʼ αὐτῆς ὁ Τίγρις ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὸν Νιφάτην ὀρεινῆς ὁρμηθείς, ἄμικτον φυλάττων τὸ ῥεῦμα διὰ τὴν ὀξύτητα, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ τοὔνομα, Μήδων τίγριν καλούντων τὸ τόξευμα· καὶ οὗτος μὲν ἔχει πολυειδεῖς ἰχθῦς, οἱ δὲ λιμναῖοι ἑνὸς εἴδους εἰσί· κατὰ δὲ τὸν μυχὸν τῆς λίμνης εἰς βάραθρον ἐμπεσὼν ὁ ποταμὸς καὶ πολὺν τόπον ἐνεχθεὶς ὑπὸ γῆς ἀνατέλλει κατὰ τὴν Χαλωνῖτιν· ἐκεῖθεν δʼ ἤδη πρὸς τὴν Ὦπιν καὶ τὸ τῆς Σεμιράμιδος καλούμενον διατείχισμα ἐκεῖνός τε καταφέρεται τοὺς Γορδυαίους ἐν δεξιᾷ ἀφεὶς καὶ τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν ὅλην, καὶ ὁ Εὐφράτης τοὐναντίον ἐν ἀριστερᾷ ἔχων τὴν αὐτὴν χώραν· πλησιάσαντες δὲ ἀλλήλοις καὶ ποιήσαντες τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν ὁ μὲν διὰ Σελευκείας φέρεται πρὸς τὸν Περσικὸν κόλπον, ὁ δὲ διὰ Βαβυλῶνος, καθάπερ εἴρηταί που ἐν τοῖς πρὸς Ἐρατοσθένην καὶ Ἵππαρχον λόγοις.

11.14.9

μέταλλα δʼ ἐν μὲν τῇ Συσπιρίτιδί ἐστι χρυσοῦ κατὰ τὰ Κάβαλλα, ἐφʼ ἃ Μένωνα ἔπεμψεν Ἀλέξανδρος μετὰ στρατιωτῶν, ἀνήχθη δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων· καὶ ἄλλα δʼ ἐστὶ μέταλλα, καὶ δὴ τῆς σάνδικος καλουμένης, ἣν δὴ καὶ Ἀρμένιον καλοῦσι χρῶμα, ὅμοιον κάλχῃ. οὕτω δʼ ἐστὶν ἱπποβότος σφόδρα ἡ χώρα καὶ οὐχ ἧττον τῆς Μηδίας, ὥστε οἱ Νησαῖοι ἵπποι καὶ ἐνταῦθα γίνονται, οἷσπερ οἱ Περσῶν βασιλεῖς ἐχρῶντο, καὶ ὁ σατράπης τῆς Ἀρμενίας τῷ Πέρσῃ κατʼ ἔτος δισμυρίους πώλους τοῖς Μιθρακίνοις ἔπεμπεν. Ἀρταουάσδης δὲ Ἀντωνίῳ χωρὶς τῆς ἄλλης ἱππείας αὐτὴν τὴν κατάφρακτον ἑξακισχιλίαν ἵππον ἐκτάξας ἐπέδειξεν, ἡνίκα εἰς τὴν Μηδίαν ἐνέβαλε σὺν αὐτῷ. ταύτης δὲ τῆς ἱππείας οὐ Μῆδοι μόνοι καὶ Ἀρμένιοι ζηλωταὶ γεγόνασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἀλβανοί· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι καταφράκτοις χρῶνται.

11.14.10

τοῦ δὲ πλούτου καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως τῆς χώρας σημεῖον οὐ μικρὸν ὅτι Πομπηίου Τιγράνῃ τῷ πατρὶ τῷ Ἀρταουάσδου τάλαντα ἐπιγράψαντος ἑξακισχίλια ἀργυρίου, διένειμεν αὐτίκα ταῖς δυνάμεσι τῶν Ῥωμαίων, στρατιώτῃ μὲν κατʼ ἄνδρα πεντήκοντα δραχμὰςpost δραχμὰς· καὶ ἑκατόν ἑκατοντάρχῃ δὲ χιλίας ἱππάρχῳ δὲ καὶ χιλιάρχῳ τάλαντον.

11.14.11

μέγεθος δὲ τῆς χώρας Θεοφάνης ἀποδίδωσιν εὖρος μὲν σχοίνων ἑκατὸν μῆκος δὲ διπλάσιον, τιθεὶς τὴν σχοῖνον τετταράκοντα σταδίων· πρὸς ὑπερβολὴν δʼ εἴρηκεν· ἐγγυτέρω δʼ ἐστὶ τῆς ἀληθείας μῆκος μὲν θέσθαι τὸ ὑπʼ ἐκείνου λεχθὲν εὖρος, εὖρος δὲ τὸ ἥμισυ ἢ μικρῷ πλεῖον. ἡ μὲν δὴ φύσις τῆς Ἀρμενίας καὶ δύναμις τοιαύτη.

11.14.12

ἀρχαιολογία δέ τίς ἐστι περὶ τοῦ ἔθνους τοῦδε τοιαύτη· ἄρμενος ἐξ Ἀρμενίου πόλεως Θετταλικῆς, ἣ κεῖται μεταξὺ Φερῶν καὶ Λαρίσης ἐπὶ τῇ Βοίβῃ, καθάπερ εἴρηται, συνεστράτευσεν Ἰάσονι εἰς τὴν Ἀρμενίαν· τούτου φασὶν ἐπώνυμον τὴν Ἀρμενίαν οἱ περὶ Κυρσίλον τὸν Φαρσάλιον καὶ Μήδιον τὸν Λαρισαῖον, ἄνδρες συνεστρατευκότες Ἀλεξάνδρῳ· τῶν δὲ μετὰ τοῦ Ἀρμένου τοὺς μὲν τὴν Ἀκιλισηνὴν οἰκῆσαι τὴν ὑπὸ τοῖς Σωφηνοῖς πρότερον οὖσαν, τοὺς δὲ ἐν τῇ Συσπιρίτιδι ἕως τῆς Καλαχηνῆς καὶ τῆς Ἀδιαβηνῆς ἔξω τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν ὅρων. καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα δὲ τὴν Ἀρμενιακὴν Θετταλικήν φασιν, οἷον τοὺς βαθεῖς χιτῶνας οὓς καλοῦσιν Θετταλικοὺς ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις, καὶ ζωννύουσι περὶ τὰ στήθη καὶ ἐφαπτίδας, ὡς καὶ τῶν τραγῳδῶν μιμησαμένων τοὺς Θετταλούς· ἔδει μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐπιθέτου κόσμου τοιούτου τινός, οἱ δὲ Θετταλοὶ μάλιστα βαθυστολοῦντες, ὡς εἰκός, διὰ τὸ πάντων εἶναι Ἑλλήνων βορειοτάτους καὶ ψυχροτάτους νέμεσθαι τόπους ἐπιτηδειοτάτην παρέσχοντο μίμησιν τῇ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν διασκευῇ ἐν τοῖς ἀναπλάσμασιν· καὶ τὸν τῆς ἱππικῆς ζῆλόν φασιν εἶναι Θετταλικὸν καὶ τούτοις ὁμοίως καὶ Μήδοις. τὴν δὲ Ἰάσονος στρατείαν καὶ τὰ Ἰασόνια μαρτυρεῖ, ὧν τινα οἱ δυνάσται κατεσκεύασαν παραπλησίως ὥσπερ τὸν ἐν Ἀβδήροις νεὼν τοῦ Ἰάσονος Παρμενίων.

11.14.13

τὸν δὲ Ἀράξην κληθῆναι νομίζουσι κατὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα τὴν πρὸς τὸν Πηνειὸν ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἄρμενον ὁμωνύμως ἐκείνῳ· καλεῖσθαι γὰρ Ἀράξην κἀκεῖνον διὰ τὸ ἀπαράξαι τὴν Ὄσσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ὀλύμπου ῥήξαντα τὰ Τέμπη· καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἀρμενίᾳ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν καταβάντα πλατύνεσθαί φασι τὸ παλαιόν, καὶ πελαγίζειν ἐν τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις πεδίοις οὐκ ἔχοντα διέξοδον, Ἰάσονα δὲ μιμησάμενον τὰ Τέμπη ποιῆσαι τὴν διασφάγα, διʼ ἧς καταράττει νυνὶ τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὴν Κασπίαν θάλατταν· ἐκ δὲ τούτου γυμνωθῆναι τὸ Ἀραξηνὸν πεδίον, διʼ οὗ τυγχάνει ῥέων ἐπὶ τὸν καταράκτην ὁ ποταμός. οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὁ λόγος περὶ τοῦ Ἀράξου ποταμοῦ λεγόμενος ἔχει τι πιθανόν, ὁ δὲ Ἡροδότειος οὐ πάνυ· φησὶ γὰρ ἐκ Ματιηνῶν αὐτὸν ῥέοντα εἰς τετταράκοντα ποταμοὺς σχίζεσθαι, μερίζειν δὲ Σκύθας καὶ Βακτριανούς· καὶ Καλλισθένης δὲ ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ.

11.14.14

λέγονται δὲ καὶ τῶν Αἰνιάνων τινὲς οἱ μὲν τὴν Οὐιτίαν οἰκῆσαι οἱ δʼ ὕπερθε τῶν Ἀρμενίων ὑπὲρ τὸν Ἄβον καὶ τὸν Νίβαρον (μέρη δʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ Ταύρου ταῦτα), ὧν ὁ Ἄβος ἐγγύς ἐστι τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς εἰς Ἐκβάτανα φερούσης παρὰ τὸν τῆς Βάριδος νεών. φασὶ δὲ καὶ Θρᾳκῶν τινας, τοὺς προσαγορευομένους Σαραπάρας οἷον κεφαλοτόμους, οἰκῆσαι ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἀρμενίας πλησίον Γουρανίων καὶ Μήδων, θηριώδεις ἀνθρώπους καὶ ἀπειθεῖς ὀρεινοὺς περισκυθιστάς τε καὶ ἀποκεφαλιστάς· τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῦσιν οἱ Σαραπάραι. εἴρηται δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς Μηδείας ἐν τοῖς Μηδικοῖς· ὥστʼ ἐκ πάντων τούτων εἰκάζουσι καὶ τοὺς Μήδους καὶ Ἀρμενίους συγγενεῖς πως τοῖς Θετταλοῖς εἶναι καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ Ἰάσονος καὶ Μηδείας.

11.14.15

ὁ μὲν δὴ παλαιὸς λόγος οὗτος, ὁ δὲ τούτου νεώτερος καὶ κατὰ Πέρσας εἰς τὸ ἐφεξῆς μέχρι εἰς ἡμᾶς ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ πρέποι ἂν μέχρι τοσούτου λεχθείς, ὅτι κατεῖχον τὴν Ἀρμενίαν Πέρσαι καὶ Μακεδόνες, μετὰ ταῦτα οἱ τὴν Συρίαν ἔχοντες καὶ τὴν Μηδίαν· τελευταῖος δʼ ὑπῆρξεν Ὀρόντης ἀπόγονος Ὑδάρνου τῶν ἑπτὰ Περσῶν ἑνός· εἶθʼ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀντιόχου τοῦ μεγάλου στρατηγῶν τοῦ πρὸς Ῥωμαίους πολεμήσαντος διῃρέθη δίχα, Ἀρταξίου τε καὶ Ζαριάδριος· καὶ ἦρχον οὗτοι τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιτρέψαντος· ἡττηθέντος δʼ ἐκείνου προσθέμενοι Ῥωμαίοις καθʼ αὑτοὺς ἐτάττοντο βασιλεῖς προσαγορευθέντες. τοῦ μὲν οὖν Ἀρταξίου Τιγράνης ἦν ἀπόγονος καὶ εἶχε τὴν ἰδίως λεγομένην Ἀρμενίαν (αὕτη δʼ ἦν προσεχὴς τῇ τε Μηδίᾳ καὶ Ἀλβανοῖς καὶ Ἴβηρσι μέχρι Κολχίδος καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ Εὐξείνῳ Καππαδοκίας), τοῦ δὲ Ζαριάδριος ὁ Σωφηνὸς Ἀρτάνης ἔχων τὰ νότια μέρη καὶ τούτων τὰ πρὸς δύσιν μᾶλλον. κατελύθη δʼ οὗτος ὑπὸ τοῦ Τιγράνου, καὶ πάντων κατέστη κύριος ἐκεῖνος. τύχαις δʼ ἐχρήσατο ποικίλαις· κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν γὰρ ὡμήρευσε παρὰ Πάρθοις, ἔπειτα διʼ ἐκείνων ἔτυχε καθόδου, λαβόντων μισθὸν ἑβδομήκοντα αὐλῶνας τῆς Ἀρμενίας· αὐξηθεὶς δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ἀπέλαβε τὰ χωρία καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων ἐπόρθησε τήν τε περὶ Νίνον καὶ τὴν περὶ Ἄρβηλα· ὑπηκόους δʼ ἔσχε καὶ τὸν Ἀτροπατηνὸν καὶ τὸν Γορδυαῖον, μεθʼ ὧν καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν Μεσοποταμίαν, ἔτι δὲ τὴν Συρίαν αὐτὴν καὶ Φοινίκην διαβὰς τὸν Εὐφράτην ἀνὰ κράτος εἷλεν. ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δʼ ἐξαρθεὶς καὶ πόλιν ἔκτισε πλησίον τῆς Ἰβηρίας μεταξὺ ταύτης τε καὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην Ζεύγματος, ἣν ὠνόμασε Τιγρανόκερτα, ἐκ δώδεκα ἐρημωθεισῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πόλεων Ἑλληνίδων ἀνθρώπους συναγαγών. ἔφθη δʼ ἐπελθὼν Λεύκολλος ὁ τῷ Μιθριδάτῃ πολεμήσας καὶ τοὺς μὲν οἰκήτορας εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἑκάστου ἀπέλυσε, τὸ δὲ κτίσμα ἡμιτελὲς ἔτι ὂν κατέσπασε προσβαλὼν καὶ μικρὰν κώμην κατέλιπεν, ἐξήλασε δὲ καὶ τῆς Συρίας αὐτὸν καὶ τῆς Φοινίκης. διαδεξάμενος δʼ Ἀρταουάσδης ἐκεῖνον τέως μὲν ηὐτύχει φίλος ὢν Ῥωμαίοις, Ἀντώνιον δὲ προδιδοὺς Παρθυαίοις ἐν τῷ πρὸς αὐτοὺς πολέμῳ δίκας ἔτισεν· ἀναχθεὶς γὰρ εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, δέσμιος πομπευθεὶς διὰ τῆς πόλεως τέως μὲν ἐφρουρεῖτο, ἔπειτʼ ἀνῃρέθη συνάπτοντος τοῦ Ἀκτιακοῦ πολέμου. μετʼ ἐκεῖνον δὲ πλείους ἐβασίλευσαν ὑπὸ Καίσαρι καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ὄντες· καὶ νῦν ἔτι συνέχεται τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον.

11.14.16

ἅπαντα μὲν οὖν τὰ τῶν Περσῶν ἱερὰ καὶ Μῆδοι καὶ Ἀρμένιοι τετιμήκασι, τὰ δὲ τῆς Ἀναΐτιδος διαφερόντως Ἀρμένιοι, ἔν τε ἄλλοις ἱδρυσάμενοι τόποις καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀκιλισηνῇ. ἀνατιθέασι δʼ ἐνταῦθα δούλους καὶ δούλας· καὶ τοῦτο μὲν οὐ θαυμαστόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θυγατέρας οἱ ἐπιφανέστατοι τοῦ ἔθνους ἀνιεροῦσι παρθένους, αἷς νόμος ἐστὶ καταπορνευθείσαις πολὺν χρόνον παρὰ τῇ θεῷ μετὰ ταῦτα δίδοσθαι πρὸς γάμον, οὐκ ἀπαξιοῦντος τῇ τοιαύτῃ συνοικεῖν οὐδενός. τοιοῦτον δέ τι καὶ Ἡρόδοτος λέγει τὸ περὶ τὰς Λυδάς· πορνεύειν γὰρ ἁπάσας. οὕτω δὲ φιλοφρόνως χρῶνται τοῖς ἐρασταῖς ὥστε καὶ ξενίαν παρέχουσι καὶ δῶρα ἀντιδιδόασι πλείω πολλάκις ἢ λαμβάνουσιν, ἅτʼ ἐξ εὐπόρων οἴκων ἐπιχορηγούμεναι· δέχονται δὲ οὐ τοὺς τυχόντας τῶν ξένων, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα τοὺς ἀπὸ ἴσου ἀξιώματος.

Source Colophon

Greek source inspected from the Perseus canonical Greek XML for Strabo, Geography, tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc2, edited by August Meineke, Strabonis Geographica, Leipzig: Teubner, 1877, as preserved by the Perseus Digital Library. The English rendering above is newly prepared from the Greek, with existing English editions used only as controls.

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