Note 412 — LIFE OF LUCULLUS.

This is the modern Nisibin in 37° N. lat. on the Jakhjakhah, the ancient Mygdonius. The Mygdonius is a branch of the Chaborras, which flows into the Euphrates. Nisibin is now a small place with "about a hundred well-built houses, and a dozen shops kept by Christians" (Forbes, London Geog. Journal, ix. 241). Two tall columns of marble and the church of St. James, which is built from fragments of Nisibis, are the only remains of a city which is often mentioned in the ancient history of the East.

The town is mentioned by Tacitus (Annal. xv. 35) under the name of Nisibis, and he places it thirty-nine Roman miles from Tigranocerta. Nisibis is also the name in Ammianus Marcellinus. Dion Cassius (36, c. 6, 7) describes the siege and capture of Nisibis. This event belongs to the year B.C. 68.