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

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

THE Euxine1 Sea, which in former times had the name of Axenus,2 from the savage and inhospitable character of the nations living on its borders, by a peculiar whim of nature, which is continually giving way before the greedy inroads of the sea, lies between Europe and Asia. It was not enough for the ocean to have surrounded the earth, and then deprived us of a considerable portion of it, thus rendering still greater its uninhabitable proportion; it was not enough for it to have forced a passage through the mountains, to have torn away Calpe from Africa, and to have swallowed up a much larger space than it left untouched; it was not enough for it to have poured its tide into the Propontis through the Hellespont, after swallowing up still more of the dry land—for beyond the Bosporus, as well, it opens with its insatiate appetite upon another space of immense extent, until the Mæotian lakes3 unite their ravening waters with it as it ranges far and wide.

That all this has taken place in spite, as it were, of the earth, is manifested by the existence of so many straits and such numbers of narrow passages formed against the will of nature—that of the Hellespont,4 being only eight hundred and seventy-five paces in width, while at the two Bospori5 the passage across may be effected by oxen6 swimming, a fact from which they have both derived their name. And then besides,7 although they are thus severed, there are certain points on which these coasts stand in the relation of brotherhood towards each other—the singing of birds and the barking of dogs on the one side can be heard on the other, and an intercourse can be maintained between these two worlds by the medium even of the human voice,8 if the winds should not happen to carry away the sound thereof.

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

After passing the mouth of the Bosporus we come to the river Rhebas,9 by some writers called the Rhesus. We next come to Psillis,10 the port of Calpas,11 and the Sagaris,12 a famous river, which rises in Phrygia and receives the waters of other rivers of vast magnitude, among which are the Tembrogius13 and the Gallus,14 the last of which is by many called the Sangarius. After leaving the Sagaris the Gulf of the Mariandyni15 begins, and we come to the town of Heraclea,16 on the river Lycus;17 this place is distant from the mouth of the Euxine two hundred miles. The sea-port of Acone18 comes next, which has a fearful notoriety for its aconite or wolf’s-bane, a deadly poison, and then the cavern of Acherusia,19 the rivers Pædopides, Callichorus, and Sonautes, the town of Tium,20 distant from Heraclea thirty-eight miles, and the river Billis.

CHAP. 2. (2.)—PAPHLAGONIA.

Beyond this river begins the nation of Paphlagonia,21 by some writers called Pylæmenia;22 it is closed in behind by the country of Galatia. In it are Mastya,23 a town founded by the Milesians, and then Cromna,24 at which spot Cornelius Nepos also places the Heneti,25 from whom he would have us believe that the Veneti of Italy, who have a similar name, are descended. The city also of Sesamon, now called Amastris,26 Mount Cytorus,27 distant sixty-three miles from Tium, the towns of Cimolis28 and Stephane,29 and the river Parthenius.30 The promontory of Carambis,31 which extends a great distance into the sea, is distant from the mouth of the Euxine three hundred and twenty-five miles, or, according to some writers, three hundred and fifty, being the same distance from the Cimmerian Bosporus, or, as some persons think, only three hundred and twelve miles. There was formerly also a town of the same name, and another near it called Armene; we now find there the colony of Sinope,32 distant from Mount Cytorus one hundred and sixty-four miles. We then come to the river Evarchus,33 and after that a people of the Cappadocians, the towns of Gaziura34 and Gazelum,35 the river Halys,36 which runs from the foot of Mount Taurus through Cataonia and Cappadocia, the towns of Gangre37 and Carusa,38 the free town of Amisus,39 distant from Sinope one hundred and thirty miles, and a gulf of the same name, of such vast extent40 as to make Asia assume the form of a peninsula, the isthmus of which is only some two hundred41 miles in breadth, or a little more, across to the gulf of Issus in Cilicia. In all this district there are, it is said, only three races that can rightly be termed Greeks, the Dorians, the Ionians, and the Æolians, all the rest being of barbarian origin.42 To Amisus was joined the town of Eupatoria,43 founded by Mithridates: after his defeat they were both included under the name of Pompeiopolis.

CHAP. 3. (3.)—CAPPADOCIA.

Cappadocia44 has in the interior Archelais,45 a colony founded by Claudius Cæsar, and past which the river Halys flows; also the towns of Comana,46 watered by the Sarus, Neocæsarea,47 by the Lycus,48 and Amasia,49 in the region of Gazacene, washed by the Iris. In Colopene it has Sebastia and Sebastopolis;50 these are insignificant places, but still equal in importance to those just mentioned. In its remaining districts there is Melita,51 founded by Semiramis, and not far from the Euphrates, Diocæsarea,52 Tyana,53 Castabala,54 Magnopolis,55 Zela,56 and at the foot of Mount Argæus57 Mazaca, now called Cæsarea.58 That part of Cappadocia which lies stretched out before the Greater Armenia is called Melitene, before Commagene Cataonia, before Phrygia Garsauritis, Sargarausene,59 and Cammanene, before Galatia Morimene, where their territories are divided by the river Cappadox,60 from which this people have taken their name; they were formerly known as the Leucosyri.61 From Neocæsarea above mentioned, the lesser Armenia is separated by the river Lycus. In the interior also there is the famous river Ceraunus,62 and on the coast beyond the town of Amisus, the town and river of Chadisia,63 and the town of Lycastum,64 after which the region of Themiscyra65 begins.

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

The river Iris brings down to the sea the waters of the Lycus. In the interior is the city of Ziela,66 famous for the defeat of Triarius67 and the victory of C. Cæsar.68 Upon the coast there is the river Thermodon, which rises at the fortified place called Phanarœa,69 and flows past the foot of Mount Amazonius.70 There was formerly a town of the same name as the river, and five others in all, Amazonium, Themiscyra, Sotira, Amasia, and Comana,71 now only a Manteium. (4.) We find here the nations of the Genetæ,72 the Chalybes,73 the town of Cotyorum,74 the nations of the Tibareni and the Mossyni, who make marks upon their bodies,75 the people called Macrocephali,76 the town of Cerasus,77 the port of Chordule, the nations called the Bechires78 and the Buzeri, the river Melas,79 the people called the Macrones, and Sidene with its river Sidenus,80 by which the town of Polemonium81 is washed, at a distance from Amisus of one hundred and twenty miles. We next come to the rivers Iasonius82 and Melanthius,83 and, at a distance of eighty miles from Amisus, the town of Pharnacea,84 the fortress and river of Tripolis;85 the fortress and river of Philocalia, the fortress of Liviopolis, but not upon a river, and, at a distance of one hundred miles from Pharnacea, the free city of Trapezus,86 shut in by a mountain of vast size. Beyond this town is the nation of the Armenochalybes87 and the Greater Armenia, at a distance of thirty miles. On the coast, before Trapezus, flows the river Pyxites, and beyond it is the nation of the Sanni88 Heniochi. Next comes the river Absarus,89 with a fortress of the same name at its mouth, distant from Trapezus one hundred and forty miles.

At the back of the mountains of this district is Iberia, while on the coast are the Heniochi, the Ampreutæ,90 the Lazi, the rivers Acampsis,91 Isis,92 Mogrus, and Bathys,93 the nations of the Colchi, the town of Matium,94 the river Heracleum and the promontory of the same name,95 and the Phasis,96 the most celebrated river of Pontus. This river rises among the Moschi, and is navigable for the largest vessels a distance of thirty-eight miles and a half, and for small ones very much higher up; it is crossed by one hundred and twenty bridges. It formerly had many cities of note on its banks, the more famous of which were Tyndaris, Circæum, Cygnus, and Phasis97 at its mouth. But the most celebrated of them all was Æa, fifteen miles98 distant from the sea, where the Hippos and the Cyaneos,99 rivers of vast size, flow into it from opposite directions. At the present day its only place of note is Surium, which derives its name from the river which flows at that spot into the Phasis, and up to which place the Phasis is navigable for large vessels, as we have already100 mentioned. It receives also some other rivers, wonderful for their number and magnitude, and among them the Glaucus.101 At the mouth of the Phasis, at a distance of seventy miles from Absarus, are some islands, which, however, have no name. After passing this, we come to another river, the Charieis,102 and the nation of the Salæ, by the ancients called Phthirophagi,103 as also Suani.104 The river Chobus105 flows from the Caucasus through the country of the Suani. The river Rhoas comes next, then the region of Ecrectice, the rivers Singames,106 Tarsuras,107 Astelephus,108 Chrysorrhoas, the nation of the Absilæ, the castle of Sebastopolis,109 one hundred miles distant from Phasis, the nation of the Sannigæ, the town of Cygnus,110 and the river and town of Penius.111 We then come to the tribes of the Heniochi,112 who are distinguished by numerous names.

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

Below this lies the region of Pontus known as Colica,113 in which the mountain chain of Caucasus bends away towards the Riphæan mountains, as we have previously114 mentioned; one side running down towards the Euxine and the Lake Mæotis, the other towards the Caspian and the Hyrcanian sea. The remaining portion of these shores is peopled by savage nations, the Melanchlæni,115 and the Coraxi, who formerly dwelt in Dioscurias,116 near the river Anthemus, now deserted, but once a famous city; so much so, indeed, that we learn from Timosthenes, that three hundred nations, all of different languages, were in the habit of resorting to it, and in later times we had there one hundred and thirty interpreters for the purpose of transacting business. There are some authors who are of opinion that this place was built by Amphitus and Telchius, the charioteers117 of Castor and Pollux, from whom it is generally understood that the nation of the Heniochi sprang. After passing Dioscurias we come to the town of Heracleium,118 seventy miles distant from Sebastopolis, and then the Achæi,119 the Mardi,120 and the Cercetæ,121 and, behind them, the Cerri and the Cephalotomi.122 In the innermost part123 of this district there was Pityus,124 a city of very considerable opulence, but destroyed by the Heniochi: behind it are the Epageritæ, a people of Sarmatian origin, dwelling upon the range of the Caucasus, and beyond them, the Sauromatæ. It was with these people that Mithridates125 took refuge in the reign of the Emperor Claudius: and from him we learn that the Thalli126 join up to them, a people who border on the eastern side upon the mouth127 of the Caspian sea: he tells us also that at the reflux the channel is dry there. Upon the coast of the Euxine, near the country of the Cercetæ, is the river Icarusa,128 with the town and river of Hierus, distant from Heracleium one hundred and thirty-six miles. Next to this, is the promontory of Cruni, after passing which, we find the Toretæ upon a lofty ridge of mountains. The city of Sindos129 is distant from Hierus sixty-seven miles and a half; after passing which, we come to the river Setheries. (6.) From thence to the entrance of the Cimmerian Bosporus the distance is eighty-eight miles and a half.

CHAP. 6.—THE CIMMERIAN BOSPORUS.

The length of the peninsula130 which projects between the Euxine and Lake Mæotis, is not more than sixty-seven miles and a half, and the width across never less than two jugera:131 it has the name of Eion.132 The shores of the Bosporus then take a curve both on the side of Europe and of Asia, thus forming the Mæotis. The towns at the entrance of the Bosporus are, first Hermonassa,133 next Cepi,134 founded by the Milesians, and then Stratoclia and Phanagoria,135 and the almost deserted town of Apaturos,136 and, at the extremity of the mouth, Cimmerium,137 which was formerly called Cerberion. (7.) We then come to Lake Mæotis, which has been already mentioned138 in the description of Europe.

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

After passing Cimmerium, the coast139 is inhabited by the Mæotici, the Vali, the Serbi,140 the Arrechi, the Zingi, and the Psessi. We then come to the river Tanais,141 which discharges itself into the sea by two mouths, and the banks of which are inhabited by the Sarmatæ, the descendants of the Medi, it is said, a people divided into numerous tribes. The first of these are the Sauromatæ Gynæcocratumeni,142 the husbands of the Amazons. Next to them are the Ævazæ,143 the Coitæ,144 the Cicimeni, the Messeniani, the Costobocci, the Choatræ, the Zigæ,145 the Dandarii, the Thyssagetæ, and the Iyrcæ,146 as far as certain rugged deserts and densely wooded vallies, beyond which again are the Arimphæi,147 who extend as far as the Riphæan Mountains.148 The Scythians call the river Tanais by the name of Silis, and the Mæotis the Temarunda, meaning the “mother of the sea.” There is149 a city also at the mouth of the Tanais. The neighbouring country was inhabited first by the Carians, then by the Clazomenii and Mæones, and after them by the Panticapenses.150

There are some writers who state that there are the following nations dwelling around the Mæotis, as far as the Ceraunian mountains;151 at a short distance from the shore, the Napitæ, and beyond them, the Essedones, who join up to the Colchians, and dwell upon the summits of the mountains: after these again, the Camacæ, the Orani, the Autacæ, the Mazacasi, the Cantiocæ, the Agamathæ, the Pici, the Rimosoli, the Acascomarci, and, upon the ridges of the Caucasus, the Itacalæ, the Imadochi, the Rami, the Anclacæ, the Tydii, the Carastasei, and the Anthiandæ. The river Lagoüs runs from the Cathæan152 mountains, and into it flows the Opharus. Upon it are the tribes of the Cauthadæ, and the Opharitæ. Next to these are the rivers Menotharus and Imityes, which flow from the Cissian mountains, among the peoples called the Acdei, the Carnæ, the Oscardei, the Accisi, the Gabri, the Gogari, and, around the source of the Imityes, the Imityi, and the Apatræi. Some writers say that the Auchetæ, the Athernei, and the Asampatæ, Scythian tribes, have made inroads upon this territory, and have destroyed the Tanaitæ and the Inapæi to a man. Others again represent the Ocharius as running through the Cantici and the Sapæi, and the Tanais as passing through the territories of the Sarcharcei, the Herticei, the Spondolici, the Synhietæ, the Anasi, the Issi, the Catetæ, the Tagoræ, the Caroni, the Neripi, the Agandei, the Mandarei, the Satarchei, and the Spalei.

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

We have now gone over the coast which borders upon the Inner153 Sea, and have enumerated the various nations that dwell thereon; let us now turn to those vast tracts of land which lie further in the interior. I do not deny that in my description I shall differ very materially from the ancient writers, but still it is one that has been compiled with the most anxious research, from a full examination into the events which have transpired of late in these countries under the command of Domitius Corbulo,154 and from information received either from kings who have been sent thence to Rome, as suppliants for our mercy, or else the sons of kings who have visited us in the character of hostages.

We will begin then with the nation of the Cappadocians.

Of all the countries of Pontus, this155 extends the greatest distance into the interior.156 On the left157 it leaves behind the Lesser and the Greater Armenia, as well as Commagene, and on the right all the nations of the province of Asia which we have previously described. Spreading over numerous peoples, it rises rapidly in elevation in an easterly direction towards the range of Taurus. Then passing Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Cilicia, it advances above the district of Antiochia, the portion of it known as Cataonia extending as far as Cyrrhestica, which forms part of that district. The length of Asia158 here is twelve hundred and fifty miles, its breadth six hundred and forty.159

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

Greater Armenia,160 beginning at the mountains known as the Paryadres,161 is separated, as we have already stated,162 from Cappadocia by the river Euphrates, and, where that river turns off163 in its course, from Mesopotamia, by the no less famous river Tigris. Both of these rivers take their rise in Armenia, which also forms the commencement of Mesopotamia, a tract of country which lies between these streams; the intervening space between them being occupied by the Arabian Orei.164 It thus extends its frontier as far as Adiabene, at which point it is stopped short by a chain of mountains which takes a cross direction; whereupon the province extends in width to the left, crossing the course of the Araxes,165 as far as the river Cyrus;166 while in length it reaches as far as the Lesser Armenia,167 from which it is separated by the river Absarus, which flows into the Euxine, and by the mountains known as the Paryadres, in which the Absarus takes its rise.

CHAP. 10.—THE RIVERS CYRUS AND ARAXES.

The river Cyrus168 takes its rise in the mountains of the Heniochi, by some writers called the Coraxici; the Araxes rises in the same mountains as the river Euphrates, at a distance from it of six miles only;169 and after being increased by the waters of the Usis, falls itself, as many authors have supposed, into the Cyrus, by which it is carried into the Caspian Sea.

The more famous towns in Lesser Armenia are Cæsarea,170 Aza,171 and Nicopolis;172 in the Greater Arsamosata,173 which lies near the Euphrates, Carcathiocerta174 upon the Tigris, Tigranocerta175 which stands on an elevated site, and, on a plain adjoining the river Araxes, Artaxata.176 According to Aufidius, the circumference of the whole of Armenia is five thousand miles, while Claudius Cæsar makes the length, from Dascusa177 to the borders of the Caspian Sea, thirteen178 hundred miles, and the breadth, from Tigranocerta to Iberia,179 half that distance. It is a well-known fact, that this country is divided into prefectures, called “Strategies,” some of which singly formed a kingdom in former times; they are one hundred and twenty in number, with barbarous and uncouth names.180 On the east, it is bounded, though not immediately, by the Ceraunian Mountains and the district of Adiabene. The space that intervenes is occupied by the Sopheni, beyond whom is the chain of mountains,181 and then beyond them the inhabitants of Adiabene. Dwelling in the valleys adjoining to Armenia are the Menobardi and the Moscheni. The Tigris and inaccessible mountains surround Adiabene. To the left182 of it is the territory of the Medi, and in the distance is seen the Caspian Sea; which, as we shall state in the proper place, receives its waters from the ocean,183 and is wholly surrounded by the Caucasian Mountains. The inhabitants upon the confines of Armenia shall now be treated of.

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

The whole plain which extends away from the river Cyrus is inhabited by the nation of the Albani,184 and, after them,185 by that of the Iberi,186 who are separated from them by the river Alazon,187 which flows into the Cyrus from the Caucasian chain. The chief cities are Cabalaca,188 in Albania, Harmastis,189 near a river190 of Iberia, and Neoris; there is the region also of Thasie, and that of Triare, extending as far as the mountains known as the Paryadres. Beyond these191 are the deserts of Colchios, on the side of which that looks towards the Ceraunian Mountains dwell the Armenochalybes;192 and there is the country of the Moschi, extending to the river Iberus, which flows into the Cyrus; below them are the Sacassani, and after them the Macrones, upon the river Absarus. Such is the manner in which the plains and low country are parcelled out. Again, after passing the confines of Albania, the wild tribes of the Silvi inhabit the face of the mountains, below them those of the Lubieni, and after them the Diduri and the Sodii.

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

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

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

Some writers have stated that the distance between the Euxine and the Caspian Sea is not more than three hundred and seventy-five miles; Cornelius Nepos makes it only two hundred and fifty. Within such straits is Asia pent up in this second instance195 by the agency of the sea! Claudius Cæsar has informed us that from the Cimmerian Bosporus to the Caspian Sea is a distance of only one hundred and fifty196 miles, and that Nicator Seleucus197 contemplated cutting through this isthmus just at the time when he was slain by Ptolemy Ceraunus. It is a well-known fact that the distance from the Gates of Caucasus to the shores of the Euxine is two hundred miles.

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

The islands of the Euxine are the Planctæ or Cyaneæ,198 otherwise called Symplegades, and Apollonia, surnamed Thynias,199 to distinguish it from the island of that name200 in Europe; it is four miles in circumference, and one mile distant from the mainland. Opposite to Pharnacea201 is Chalceritis, to which the Greeks have given the name of Aria,202 and consecrated it to Mars; here, they say, there were birds that used to attack strangers with blows of their wings.

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

Having now stated all that bears reference to the interior of Asia, let us cross in imagination the Riphæan203 Mountains, and traverse the shores of the ocean to the right. On three sides does this ocean wash the coasts of Asia, as the Scythian Ocean on the north, the Eastern Ocean on the east, and the Indian Ocean on the south; and it is again divided into various names, derived from the numerous gulfs which it forms, and the nations which dwell upon its shores. A great part of Asia, however, which lies exposed to the north, through the noxious effects of those freezing climates, consists of nothing but vast deserts. From the extreme north north-east to the point204 where the sun rises in the summer, it is the country of the Scythians. Still further than them, and beyond205 the point where north north-east begins, some writers have placed the Hyperborei, who are said, indeed, by the majority to be a people of Europe.206 After passing this point,207 the first place that is known is Lytarmis,208 a promontory of Celtica, and next to it the river Carambucis,209 where the chain of the Riphæan Mountains terminates, and with it the extreme rigour of the climate; here, too, we have heard of a certain people being situate, called the Arimphæi,210 a race not much unlike the Hyperborei.211 Their habitations are the groves, and the berries their diet; long hair is held to be disgraceful by the women as well as the men, and they are mild in their manners. Hence it is that they are reported to be a sacred212 race, and are never molested even by the savage tribes which border upon them, and not only they, but such other persons as well as may have fled to them for refuge. Beyond these we come straight to the Scythians, the Cimmerii, the Cisianthi, the Georgi, and a nation of Amazons.213 These last extend to the Caspian and Hyrcanian Sea.214

CHAP. 15.—THE CASPIAN AND HYRCANIAN SEA.

Bursting through, this sea makes a passage from the Scythian Ocean into the back of Asia,215 receiving various names from the nations which dwell upon its banks, the two most famous of which are the Caspian and the Hyrcanian races. Clitarchus is of opinion that the Caspian Sea is not less in area than the Euxine. Eratosthenes gives the measure of it on the south-east, along the coast of Cadusia216 and Albania, as five thousand four hundred stadia; thence, through the territories of the Anariaci, the Amardi, and the Hyrcani, to the mouth of the river Zonus he makes four thousand eight hundred stadia, and thence to the mouth of the Jaxartes217 two thousand four hundred; which makes in all a distance of one thousand five hundred and seventy-five miles. Artemidorus, however, makes this sum smaller by twenty-five miles. Agrippa bounds the Caspian Sea and the nations around it, including Armenia, on the east by the Ocean of the Seres,218 on the west by the chain of the Caucasus, on the south by that of Taurus, and on the north by the Scythian Ocean; and he states it, so far as its extent is known, to be four hundred and eighty miles in length, and two hundred and ninety in breadth. There are not wanting, however, some authors who state that its whole circumference, from the Straits,219 is two thousand five hundred miles.

Its waters make their way into this sea by a very narrow mouth,220 but of considerable length; and where it begins to enlarge, it curves obliquely with horns in the form of a crescent, just as though it would make a descent from its mouth into Lake Mæotis, resembling a sickle in shape, as M. Varro says. The first221 of its gulfs is called the Scythian Gulf; it is inhabited on both sides, by the Scythians, who hold communication with each other across the Straits,222 the Nomades being on one side, together with the Sauromatæ, divided into tribes with numerous names, and on the other, the Abzoæ, who are also divided into an equal number. At the entrance, on the right hand side,223 dwell the Udini, a Scythian tribe, at the very angle of the mouth. Then along224 the coast there are the Albani, the descendants of Jason, it is said; that part of the sea which lies in front of them, bears the name of ‘Albanian.’ This nation, which lies along the Caucasian chain, comes down, as we have previously stated,225 as far as the river Cyrus, which forms the boundary of Armenia and Iberia. Above the maritime coast of Albania and the nation of the Udini, the Sarmatæ, the Utidorsi, and the Aroteres stretch along its shores, and in their rear the Sauromatian Amazons, already spoken of.226

The rivers which run through Albania in their course to the sea are the Casius227 and the Albanus,228 and then the Cambyses,229 which rises in the Caucasian mountains, and next to it the Cyrus, rising in those of the Coraxici, as already mentioned.230 Agrippa states that the whole of this coast, inaccessible from rocks of an immense height, is four hundred and twenty-five miles in length, beginning from the river Casius. After we pass the mouth of the Cyrus, it begins to be called the ‘Caspian Sea;’ the Caspii being a people who dwell upon its shores.

In this place it may be as well to correct an error into which many persons have fallen, and even those who lately took part with Corbulo in the Armenian war. The Gates of Iberia, which we have mentioned231 as the Caucasian, they have spoken of as being called the ‘Caspian,’ and the coloured plans which have been sent from those parts to Rome have that name written upon them. The menaced expedition, too, that was contemplated by the Emperor Nero, was said to be designed to extend as far as the Caspian Gates, whereas it was really intended for those which lead through Iberia into the territory of the Sarmatæ; there being hardly any possibility of approach to the Caspian Sea, by reason of the close juxtaposition of the mountains there. There are, however, other Caspian Gates, which join up to the Caspian tribes; but these can only be distinguished from a perusal of the narrative of those who took part in the expedition of Alexander the Great.

CHAP. 16.—ADIABENE.

The kingdom of the Persians, by which we now understand that of Parthia, is elevated upon the Caucasian chain between two seas, the Persian and the Hyrcanian. To the Greater Armenia, which in the front slopes towards Commagene, is joined Sophene, which lies upon the descent232 on both sides thereof, and next to it is Adiabene, the most advanced frontier of Assyria; a part of which is Arbelitis,233 where Alexander conquered Darius, and which joins up to Syria. The whole of this country was called Mygdonia by the Macedonians, on account of the resemblance it bore to Mygdonia234 in Europe. Its cities are Alexandria,235 and Antiochia, also called Nisibis;236 this last place is distant from Artaxata seven hundred and fifty miles. There was also in former times Ninus,237 a most renowned city, on the banks of the Tigris, with an aspect towards the west. Adjoining the other front of Greater Armenia, which runs down towards the Caspian Sea, we find Atropatene,238 which is separated from Otene, a region of Armenia, by the river Araxes; Gazæ239 is its chief city, distant from Artaxata four hundred and fifty miles, and the same from Ecbatana in Media, to which country Atropatene belongs.

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

Ecbatana,240 the capital of Media, was built241 by king Seleucus, at a distance from Great Seleucia of seven hundred and fifty miles, and twenty miles from the Caspian Gates. The remaining towns of the Medians are Phazaca, Aganzaga, and Apamea,242 surnamed Rhagiane. The reason of these passes receiving the name of “Gates,” is the same that has been stated above.243 The chain of mountains is suddenly broken by a passage of such extreme narrowness that, for a distance of eight miles, a single chariot can barely find room to move along: the whole of this pass has been formed by artificial means. Both on the right hand and the left are overhanging rocks, which look as though they had been exposed to the action of fire; and there is a tract of country, quite destitute of water, twenty-eight miles in extent. This narrow pass, too, is rendered still more difficult by a liquid salt which oozes from the rocks, and uniting in a single stream, makes its way along the pass. Besides this, it is frequented by such multitudes of serpents, that the passage is quite impracticable except in winter.

(15.) Joining up to Adiabene are the people formerly known as the ‘Carduchi,’ now the Cordueni,244 in front of whom the river Tigris flows: and next to them are the Pratitæ, entitled the Par Odon,245 who hold possession of the Caspian Gates.246 On the other side247 of these gates we come to the deserts248 of Parthia and the mountain chain of Cithenus; and after that, the most pleasant locality of all Parthia, Choara249 by name. Here were two cities of the Parthians, built in former times for their protection against the people of Media, Calliope,250 and Issatis, the last of which stood formerly251 on a rock. Hecatompylos,252 the capital of Parthia, is distant from the Caspian Gates one hundred and thirty-three miles. In such an effectual manner is the kingdom of Parthia shut out by these passes. After leaving these gates we find the nation of the Caspii, extending as far as the shores of the Caspian, a race which has given its name to these gates as well as to the sea: on the left there is a mountainous district. Turning back253 from this nation to the river Cyrus, the distance is said to be two hundred and twenty miles; but if we go from that river as far down as the Caspian Gates, the distance is seven hundred254 miles. In the itineraries of Alexander the Great these gates were made the central or turning point in his expeditions; the distance from the Caspian Gates to the frontier of India being there set down as fifteen thousand six hundred and eighty255 stadia, to the city of Bactra,256 commonly called Zariaspa, three thousand seven hundred, and thence to the river Jaxartes257 five thousand stadia.

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

Lying to the east of the Caspii is the region known as Apavortene,258 in which there is a place noted for its singular fertility, called Dareium.259 We then come to the nations of the Tapyri,260 the Anariaci, the Staures, and the Hyrcani, past whose shores and beyond the river Sideris261 the Caspian begins to take the name of the ‘Hyrcanian’ Sea: on this side of that stream are also the rivers Maxeras and Strato; all of them take their rise in the Caucasian chain. Next comes the district of Margiane,262 so remarkable for its sunny climate. It is the only spot in all these regions that produces the vine, being shut in on every side by verdant and refreshing hills. This district is fifteen hundred stadia in circumference, but is rendered remarkably difficult of access by sandy deserts, which extend a distance of one hundred and twenty miles: it lies opposite to the country of Parthia, and in it Alexander founded the city of Alexandria. This place having been destroyed by the barbarians, Antiochus,263 the son of Seleucus, rebuilt it on the same site as a Syrian city.264 For, seeing that it was watered by the Margus,265 which passes through it, and is afterwards divided into a number of streams for the irrigation of the district of Zothale, he restored it, but preferred giving it the name of Antiochia.266 The circumference of this city is seventy stadia: it was to this place that Orodes conducted such of the Romans as had survived the defeat of Crassus. From the mountain heights of this district, along the range of Caucasus, the savage race of the Mardi, a free people, extends as far as the Bactri.267 Below the district inhabited by them, we find the nations of the Orciani, the Commori, the Berdrigæ, the Harmatotropi,268 the Citomaræ, the Comani, the Marucæi, and the Mandruani. The rivers here are the Mandrus and the Chindrus.269 Beyond the nations already mentioned, are the Chorasmii,270 the Candari,271 the Attasini, the Paricani, the Sarangæ, the Marotiani, the Aorsi,272 the Gaëli, by the Greek writers called Cadusii,273 the Matiani, the city of Heraclea,274 which was founded by Alexander, but was afterwards destroyed, and rebuilt by Antiochus, and by him called Achaïs; the Derbices also,275 through the middle of whose territory the river Oxus276 runs, after rising in Lake Oxus,277 the Syrmatæ, the Oxydracæ, the Heniochi, the Bateni, the Saraparæ, and the Bactri, whose chief city is Zariaspe, which afterwards received the name of Bactra, from the river278 there. This last nation lies at the back of Mount Paropanisus,279 over against the sources of the river Indus, and is bounded by the river Ochus.280 Beyond it are the Sogdiani,281 the town of Panda, and, at the very extremity of their territory, Alexandria,282 founded by Alexander the Great. At this spot are the altars which were raised by Hercules and Father Liber, as also by Cyrus, Semiramis, and Alexander; for the expeditions of all these conquerors stopped short at this region, bounded as it is by the river Jaxartes, by the Scythians known as the Silis, and by Alexander and his officers supposed to have been the Tanais. This river was crossed by Demodamas, a general of kings Seleucus and Antiochus, and whose account more particularly we have here followed. He also consecrated certain altars here to Apollo Didymæus.283

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

Beyond this river are the peoples of Scythia. The Persians have called them by the general name of Sacæ,284 which properly belongs to only the nearest nation of them. The more ancient writers give them the name of Aramii. The Scythians themselves give the name of “Chorsari” to the Persians, and they call Mount Caucasus Graucasis, which means “white with snow.” The multitude of these Scythian nations is quite innumerable: in their life and habits they much resemble the people of Parthia. The tribes among them that are better known are the Sacæ, the Massagetæ,285 the Dahæ,286 the Essedones,287 the Ariacæ,288 the Rhymmici, the Pæsici, the Amardi,289 the Histi, the Edones, the Camæ, the Camacæ, the Euchatæ,290 the Cotieri, the Anthusiani, the Psacæ, the Arimaspi,291 the Antacati, the Chroasai, and the Œtei; among them the Napæi292 are said to have been destroyed by the Palæi. The rivers in their country that are the best known, are the Mandragæus and the Carpasus. Indeed upon no subject that I know of are there greater discrepancies among writers, from the circumstance, I suppose, of these nations being so extremely numerous, and of such migratory habits. Alexander the Great has left it stated that the water of this sea293 is fresh, and M. Varro informs us, that some of it, of a similar character, was brought to Pompey, when holding the chief command in the Mithridatic war in its vicinity; the salt,294 no doubt, being overpowered by the volume of water discharged by the rivers which flow into it. He adds also, that under the direction of Pompey, it was ascertained that it is seven days’ journey from India to the river Icarus,295 in the country of the Bactri, which discharges itself into the Oxus, and that the merchandize of India being conveyed from it296 through the Caspian Sea into the Cyrus, may be brought by land to Phasis in Pontus, in five days at most. There are numerous islands throughout the whole of the Caspian sea: the only one that is well known is that of Tazata.297

CHAP. 20.—THE SERES.

After we have passed the Caspian Sea and the Scythian Ocean, our course takes an easterly direction, such being the turn here taken by the line of the coast. The first portion298 of these shores, after we pass the Scythian Promontory, is totally uninhabitable, owing to the snow, and the regions adjoining are uncultivated, in consequence of the savage state of the nations which dwell there. Here are the abodes of the Scythian Anthropophagi,299 who feed on human flesh. Hence it is that all around them consists of vast deserts, inhabited by multitudes of wild beasts, which are continually lying in wait, ready to fall upon human beings just as savage as themselves. After leaving these, we again come to a nation of the Scythians, and then again to desert tracts tenanted by wild beasts, until we reach a chain of mountains which runs up to the sea, and bears the name of Tabis.300 It is not, however, before we have traversed very nearly one half of the coast that looks towards the north-east, that we find it occupied by inhabitants.

The first people that are known of here are the Seres,301 so famous for the wool that is found in their forests.302 After steeping it in water, they comb off a white down that adheres to the leaves; and then to the females of our part of the world they give the twofold task303 of unravelling their textures, and of weaving the threads afresh. So manifold is the labour, and so distant are the regions which are thus ransacked to supply a dress through which our ladies may in public display304 their charms. The Seres are of inoffensive manners, but, bearing a strong resemblance therein to all savage nations, they shun all intercourse with the rest of mankind, and await the approach305 of those who wish to traffic with them. The first river that is known in their territory is the Psitharas,306 next to that the Cambari, and the third the Laros; after which we come to the Promontory of Chryse,307 the Gulf of Cynaba, the river Atianos, and the nation of the Attacori on the gulf of that name, a people protected by their sunny hills from all noxious blasts, and living in a climate of the same temperature as that of the Hyperborei. Amometus has written a work entirely devoted to the history of these people, just as Hecatæus has done in his treatise on the Hyperborei. After the Attacori, we find the nations of the Phruri and the Tochari, and, in the interior, the Casiri, a people of India, who look toward the Scythians, and feed on human flesh. Here are also numerous wandering Nomad tribes of India. There are some authors who state that in a north-easterly direction these nations touch upon the Cicones308 and the Brysari.

CHAP. 21.—THE NATIONS OF INDIA.

But we come now to nations as to which there is a more general agreement among writers. Where the chain of Emodus309 rises, the nations of India begin, which borders not only on the Eastern sea, but on the Southern as well, which we have already mentioned310 as being called the Indian Ocean. That part which faces the east runs in a straight line a distance of eighteen hundred and seventy-five miles until it comes to a bend, at which the Indian Ocean begins. Here it takes a turn to the south, and continues to run in that direction a distance of two thousand four hundred and seventy-five miles, according to Eratosthenes, as far as the river Indus, the boundary of India on the west.311 Many authors have represented the entire length of the Indian coast as being forty days’ and nights’ sail, and as being, from north to south, two thousand eight hundred and fifty miles. Agrippa states its length to be three thousand three hundred miles, and its breadth, two thousand three hundred. Posidonius has given its measurement as lying from north-east to south-east, placing it opposite to Gaul, of which country he has given the measurement as lying from north-west to south-west; making the whole of India to lie due west of Gaul. Hence, as he has shewn by undoubted proofs, India lying opposite to Gaul must be refreshed by the blowing of that wind,312 and derive its salubrity therefrom.

In this region, the appearance of the heavens is totally changed, and quite different is the rising of the stars; there are two summers in the year, and two harvests, while the winter intervenes between them during the time that the Etesian313 winds are blowing: during our winter too, they enjoy light breezes, and their seas are navigable. In this country there are nations and cities which would be found to be quite innumerable, if a person should attempt to enumerate them. For it has been explored not only by the arms of Alexander the Great and of the kings who succeeded him, by Seleucus and Antiochus, who sailed round even to the Caspian and Hyrcanian Sea, and by Patrocles,314 the admiral of their fleet, but has been treated of by several other Greek writers who resided at the courts of Indian kings, such, for instance, as Megasthenes, and by Dionysius, who was sent thither by Philadelphus, expressly for the purpose: all of whom have enlarged upon the power and vast resources of these nations. Still, however, there is no possibility of being rigorously exact, so different are the accounts given, and often of a nature so incredible. The followers of Alexander the Great have stated in their writings, that there were no less than five thousand cities in that portion of India which they vanquished by force of arms, not one of which was smaller than that of Cos;315 that its nations were eight in number, that India forms one-third of the whole earth, and that its populations are innumerable—a thing which is certainly far from improbable, seeing that the Indians are nearly the only race of people who have never migrated from their own territories. From the time of Father Liber316 to that of Alexander the Great, one hundred and fifty-three kings of India are reckoned, extending over a period of six thousand four hundred and fifty-one years and three months. The vast extent of their rivers is quite marvellous; it is stated that on no one day did Alexander the Great sail less than six hundred stadia317 on the Indus, and still was unable to reach its mouth in less than five months and some few days: and yet it is a well-known fact that this river is not so large as the Ganges.318 Seneca, one of our fellow-countrymen, who has written a treatise319 upon the subject of India, has given its rivers as sixty-five in number, and its nations as one hundred and eighteen. The difficulty too would be quite as great, if we were to attempt to enumerate its mountains. The chains of Emaüs, of Emodus, of Paropanisus, and of Caucasus, are all connected, the one with the other; and from their foot, the country of India runs down in the form of a vast plain, bearing a very considerable resemblance to that of Egypt.

However, that we may come to a better understanding relative to the description of these regions, we will follow in the track of Alexander the Great. Diognetus and Bæton, whose duty it was to ascertain the distances and length of his expeditions, have written that from the Caspian Gates to Hecatompylon, the city of the Parthians, the distance is the number of miles which we have already320 stated; and that from thence to Alexandria,321 of the Arii, which city was founded by the same king, the distance is five hundred and seventy-five miles; from thence to Prophthasia,322 the city of the Drangæ, one hundred and ninety-nine; from thence to the city of the Arachosii,323 five hundred and sixty-five; from thence to Ortospanum,324 one hundred and seventy-five; and from thence to the city built by Alexander,325 fifty, miles. In some copies, however, the numbers are found differently stated; and we find this last city even placed at the very foot of Mount Caucasus! From this place to the river Cophes326 and Peucolaitis, a city of India, is two hundred and thirty-seven miles; from thence to the river Indus and the city of Taxilla327 sixty; from thence to the famous river Hydaspes328 one hundred and twenty; and from thence to the Hypasis,329 a river no less famous, two hundred and ninety miles, and three hundred and ninety paces. This last was the extreme limit of the expedition of Alexander, though he crossed the river and dedicated certain altars330 on the opposite side. The dispatches written by order of that king fully agree with the distances above stated.

The remaining distances beyond the above point were ascertained on the expedition of Seleucus Nicator. They are, to the river Sydrus,331 one hundred and sixty-eight miles; to the river Jomanes, the same; some copies, however, add to this last distance five miles; thence to the Ganges, one hundred and twelve miles; to Rhodapha, five hundred and sixty-nine—though, according to some writers, this last distance is only three hundred and twenty-five miles; to the town of Calinipaxa,332 one hundred and sixty-seven, according to some, two hundred and sixty-five; thence to the confluence of the river Jomanes333 and Ganges, six hundred and twenty-five; most writers, however, add thirteen miles to this last distance; thence to the city of Palibothra,334 four hundred and twenty-five—and thence to the mouth of the Ganges, six hundred and thirty-seven miles and a half.

The nations whom it may be not altogether inopportune to mention, after passing the Emodian Mountains, a cross range of which is called “Imaus,” a word which, in the language of the natives, signifies “snowy,”335 are the Isari, the Cosyri, the Izi, and, upon the chain of mountains, the Chisiotosagi, with numerous peoples, which have the surname of Brachmanæ,336 among whom are the Maccocalingæ. There are also the rivers Prinas and Cainas,337 which last flows into the Ganges, both of them navigable streams. The nation of the Calingæ338 comes nearest to the sea, and above them are the Mandei and the Malli.339 In the territory of the last-named people is a mountain called Mallus: the boundary of this region is the river Ganges.

CHAP. 22. (18.)—THE GANGES.

Some writers have stated that this river, like the Nile, takes its rise from unknown sources,340 and, in a similar manner, waters the neighbouring territory; others, again, say that it rises in the mountains of Scythia. They state also that nineteen rivers discharge their waters into it; those among them that are navigable, besides the rivers already mentioned,341 are the Condochates,342 the Erannoboas,343 the Cosoagus,344 and the Sonus. Other writers again say that it bursts forth at its very source with a loud noise, hurling itself over rocks and precipices; and that after it has reached the plains, its waters become more tranquil, and it pauses for a time in a certain lake, after which it flows gently on. They say also that it is eight miles in breadth, where it is the very narrowest, and one hundred stadia where it is but moderately wide, and that it is nowhere less than twenty paces in depth. The last nation situate on the banks of the Ganges is that of the Gangarides345 Calingæ; the city where their king dwells has the name of Protalis.346

(19.) This king has sixty thousand foot-soldiers, one thousand horse, and seven hundred elephants, always caparisoned ready for battle. The people of the more civilized nations of India are divided into several classes.347 One of these classes till the earth, another attends to military affairs, others again are occupied in mercantile pursuits, while the wisest and the most wealthy among them have the management of the affairs of state—act as judges, and give counsel to the king. The fifth class,348 entirely devoting themselves to the pursuit of wisdom, which in these countries is almost held in the same veneration as religion, always349 end their life by a voluntary death upon the lighted pile. In addition to these, there is a class350 in a half-savage state, and doomed to endless labour; by means of their exertions, all the classes previously mentioned are supported. It is their duty to hunt351 the elephant, and to tame him when captured; for it is by the aid of these animals that they plough; by these animals they are conveyed from place to place; these in especial they look upon as constituting their flocks and herds; by their aid they wage their wars, and fight in defence of their territories. Strength, age, and size, are the points usually considered in making choice of these animals.

In the Ganges there is an island of very considerable size, inhabited by a single nation; it is called Modogalinga.352 Beyond the Ganges are situate the Modubæ, the Molindæ, the Uberæ, with a magnificent city of the same name, the Modresi, the Preti, the Caloæ, the Sasuri, the Passalæ, the Colobæ, the Orumcolæ, the Abali, and the Thalutæ. The king of the last-named people has fifty thousand foot-soldiers, four thousand horse, and four hundred armed elephants. We next come to a still more powerful nation, the Andaræ,353 who dwell in numerous villages, as well as thirty cities fortified with walls and towers. They furnish for their king one hundred thousand foot, two thousand horse, and a thousand elephants. The country of the Dardæ354 is the most productive of gold, that of the Setæ of silver.

But more famous and more powerful than any nation, not only in these regions, but throughout almost the whole of India, are the Prasii, who dwell in a city of vast extent and of remarkable opulence, called Palibothra;355 from which circumstance some writers have given to the people themselves the name of Palibothri, and, indeed, to the whole tract of country between the Ganges and the Indus. These people keep on daily pay in their king’s service an army, consisting of six hundred thousand foot, thirty thousand horse, and nine thousand elephants, from which we may easily form a conjecture as to the vast extent of their resources. Behind these people, and lying still more in the interior, are the Monedes, and the Suari,356 among whom is a mountain known as Maleus, upon which the shadow falls to the north in winter, and to the south in summer, six months alternately. In this district the Constellation of the Greater Bear357 is seen at only one period in the year, and then but for fifteen days, according to what Bæton states. Megasthenes, however, informs us that the same is the case also in many other localities of India. The South Pole is by the Indians called Diamasa.

The river Jomanes runs into the Ganges through the territory of the Palibothri, between the cities of Methora358 and Chrysobora.359 In the regions which lie to the south360 of the Ganges, the people are tinted by the heat of the sun, so much so as to be quite coloured, but yet not burnt black, like the Æthiopians. The nearer361 they approach the Indus, the deeper their colour, a proof of the heat of the climate. After leaving the nation of the Prasii, we immediately come to the Indus; in the mountains of the Prasii a race of Pygmies is said to exist. Artemidorus says that between these two rivers there is a distance of two thousand one hundred miles.

CHAP. 23. (20.)—THE INDUS.

The Indus, called Sindis by the natives, rises in that branch of the Caucasian range which bears the name of Paropanisus,362 and runs in an easterly direction, receiving in its course the waters of nineteen rivers. The most famous of these are the Hydaspes,363 into which four other rivers have already discharged themselves, the Cantaba,364 which receives three other rivers, the Acesinus, and the Hypasis,365 which last two are navigable themselves. Still however, so moderate, as it were, do the waters of this river show themselves in their course, that it is never more than fifty stadia in width, nor does it ever exceed fifteen paces in depth. Of two islands, which it forms in its course, the one, which is known as Prasiane, is of very considerable size; the other, which is smaller, is called Patale. According to the accounts given by the most moderate writers, this river is navigable for a distance of twelve hundred and fifty miles, and after following the sun’s course to the west, in some degree, discharges itself into the ocean. I will here give the distances of various places situate on the coast to the mouth of this river, in a general way, just as I find them stated, although they none of them tally with each other.

From the mouth of the Ganges to the Promontory of the Calingi and the town of Dandaguda,366 is six hundred and twenty-five miles; from thence to Tropina twelve hundred and twenty-five; from thence to the promontory of Perimula, where is held the most celebrated mart in all India, seven hundred and fifty, and from thence to the city of Patala, in the island just mentioned, six hundred and twenty miles.

The mountain races between the Indus and the Jomanes are the Cesi,367 the Cetriboni, who dwell in the woods, and after them the Megallæ, whose king possesses five hundred elephants, and an army of horse and foot, the numbers of which are unknown; then the Chrysei, the Parasangæ, and the Asmagi,368 whose territory is infested by wild tigers; these people keep in arms thirty thousand foot, three hundred elephants, and eight hundred horse. They are bounded by the river Indus, and encircled by a range of mountains and deserts for a distance of six hundred and twenty-five miles. Below these deserts are the Dari and the Suræ, and then deserts again for one hundred and eighty-seven miles, sands in general encircling these spots just as islands are surrounded by the sea. Below these deserts, again, are the Maltecoræ, the Singæ, the Marohæ, the Rarungæ, and the Morontes. These last peoples, who possess the mountains throughout the whole range of country as far as the shores of the ocean, are free, and independent of all kings, and hold numerous cities upon the declivities of the mountains. After them come the Nareæ,369 who are bounded by Capitalia, the most lofty of all the Indian peaks: the inhabitants who dwell on the other side of it have extensive mines of gold and silver. After these again are the Oratæ, whose king possesses only ten elephants, but a large army of foot; next come the Suarataratæ, who live under the rule of a king as well, but breed no elephants, as they depend solely on their horse and foot; then the Odonbeores, the Arabastræ, and the Horacæ, which last inhabit a fine city fortified by trenches cut in the marshes. It is quite impossible to approach the city, except by the bridge, as the water in the trenches is full of crocodiles, an animal most insatiate for human flesh. There is another city also in their territory, which has been greatly extolled, Automula by name, situate on the sea-shore, a famous mart, lying at the point of confluence of five rivers: their king possesses sixteen hundred elephants, one hundred and fifty thousand foot, and five thousand horse. The king of the Charmæ is a less opulent potentate; he has only sixty elephants and some small remains of his former strength. After these we come to the nation of the Pandæ,370 the only one throughout all India which is ruled by women. It is said that Hercules had but one child of the female sex, for which reason she was his especial favourite, and he bestowed upon her the principal one of these kingdoms. The sovereigns who derive their origin from this female, rule over three hundred towns, and have an army of one hundred and fifty thousand foot, and five hundred elephants. After passing through this list of three hundred cities, we come to the Darangæ,371 the Posingæ, the Butæ, the Gogaræi, the Umbræ, the Nereæ, the Brancosi, the Nobundæ, the Cocondæ, the Nesei, the Palatitæ, the Salobriasæ, and the Olostræ, who reach up to the island of Patala, from the extremity of whose shores to the Caspian Gates it is a distance of nineteen hundred and twenty-five miles.

After passing this island, the other side of the Indus is occupied, as we know by clear and undoubted proofs, by the Athoæ, the Bolingæ, the Gallitalutæ, the Dimuri, the Megari, the Ardabæ, the Mesæ, and after them, the Uri and the Silæ; beyond which last there are desert tracts, extending a distance of two hundred and fifty miles. After passing these nations, we come to the Organagæ, the Abortæ, the Bassuertæ, and, after these last, deserts similar to those previously mentioned. We then come to the peoples of the Sorofages, the Arbæ, the Marogomatræ, the Umbrittæ, of whom there are twelve nations, each with two cities, and the Asini, a people who dwell in three cities, their capital being Bucephala,372 which was founded around the tomb of the horse belonging to king Alexander, which bore that name. Above these peoples there are some mountain tribes, which lie at the foot of Caucasus, the Soseadæ and the Sondræ, and, after passing the Indus and going down its stream, the Samarabriæ, the Sambraceni, the Bisambritæ, the Orsi, the Anixeni, and the Taxilæ, with a famous city,373 which lies on a low but level plain, the general name of the district being Amenda: there are four nations here, the Peucolaitæ,374 the Arsagalitæ, the Geretæ, and the Assoï.

The greater part of the geographers, in fact, do not look upon India as bounded by the river Indus, but add to it the four Satrapies of the Gedrosi,375 the Arachotæ,376 the Arii,377 and the Paropanisidæ,378 the river Cophes379 thus forming the extreme boundary of India. All these territories, however, according to other writers, are reckoned as belonging to the country of the Arii. (21.) Many writers, too, place in India the city of Nysa,380 and the mountain of Merus, sacred to Father Bacchus; in which circumstance381 originated the story that he sprang from the thigh of Jupiter. They also place here the nation of the Astacani, whose country abounds in the vine, the laurel, the box-tree, and all the fruits which are produced in Greece. As to those wonderful and almost fabulous stories which are related about the fertility of the soil, and the various kinds of fruits and trees, as well as wild beasts, and birds, and other sorts of animals, they shall be mentioned each in its proper place, in a future portion of this work. I shall also very shortly have to make some further mention of the four Satrapies, it being at present my wish to hasten to a description of the island of Taprobane.

But first there are some other islands of which we must make mention. Patala,382 as we have already stated, lies at the mouth of the Indus: it is of a triangular figure, and is two hundred and twenty miles in breadth. Beyond the mouth of the Indus are the islands of Chryse and Argyre,383 abounding in metals, I believe; but as to what some persons have stated, that their soil consists of gold and silver, I am not so willing to give a ready credence to that. After passing these islands we come to Crocala,384 twenty miles in breadth, and then, at twelve miles’ distance from it, Bibraga,385 abounding in oysters and other shell-fish. At eight miles’ distance from Bibraga we find Toralliba, and many others of no note.

CHAP. 24. (22.)—TAPROBANE.

Taprobane,386 under the name of the “land of the Antichthones,”387 was long looked upon as another world: the age and the arms of Alexander the Great were the first to give satisfactory proof that it is an island. Onesicritus, the commander of his fleet, has informed us that the elephants of this island are larger, and better adapted for warfare than those of India; and from Megasthenes we learn that it is divided by a river, that the inhabitants have the name of Palæogoni,388 and that their country is more productive of gold and pearls of great size than even India. Eratosthenes has also given the dimensions of this island, as being seven thousand stadia in length, and five thousand in breadth: he states also that there are no cities, but villages to the number of seven hundred.389 It begins at the Eastern sea, and lies extended opposite to India, east and west. This island was in former times supposed to be twenty days’ sail from the country of the Prasii,390 but in later times, whereas the navigation was formerly confined to vessels constructed of papyrus with the tackle peculiar to the Nile, the distance has been estimated at no more than seven days’391 sail, in reference to the speed which can be attained by vessels of our construction. The sea that lies between the island and the mainland is full of shallows, not more than six paces in depth; but in certain channels it is of such extraordinary depth, that no anchor has ever found a bottom. For this reason it is that the vessels are constructed with prows at either end; so that there may be no necessity for tacking while navigating these channels, which are extremely narrow. The tonnage of these vessels is three thousand amphoræ.392 In traversing their seas, the people of Taprobane take no observations of the stars, and indeed the Greater Bear393 is not visible to them; but they carry birds out to sea, which they let go from time to time, and so follow their course as they make for the land. They devote only four months in the year to the pursuits of navigation, and are particularly careful not to trust themselves on the sea during the next hundred days after our summer solstice, for in those seas it is at that time the middle of winter.

Thus much we learn from the ancient writers; it has fallen to our lot, however, to obtain a still more accurate knowledge of these people; for during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, an embassy came from even this distant island to Rome. The circumstances under which this took place were as follow: Annius Plocamus had farmed from the treasury the revenues arising from the Red Sea. A certain freedman of his, while sailing around Arabia, was carried away by a gale from the north beyond the coast of Carmania. In the course of fifteen days he had drifted to Hippuros, a port of Taprobane, where he was most kindly and hospitably received by the king; and having, after a study of six months, become well acquainted with the language, was enabled to answer all his enquiries relative to the Romans and their emperor. But of all that he heard, the king was more particularly struck with surprise at our rigid notions of justice, on ascertaining that among the money found on the captive, the denarii were all of equal weight, although the different figures on them plainly showed that they had been struck in the reigns of several emperors. By this circumstance in especial, the king was prompted to form an alliance with the Romans, and accordingly sent to Rome an embassy, consisting of four persons, the chief of whom was Rachias.394

From these persons we learned that in Taprobane there are five hundred towns, and that there is a harbour that lies facing the south, and adjoining the city of Palæsimundus,395 the most famous city in the isle, the king’s place of residence, and containing a population of two hundred thousand. They also informed us that in the interior there is a lake called Megisba, three hundred and seventy-five miles in circumference, and containing islands which are fertile, though for pasturage only. In this lake they informed us two rivers take their rise, one of which, called Palæsimundus, flows into the harbour near the city of that name, by three channels, the narrowest of which is five stadia in width, the largest fifteen; while the other, Cydara by name, takes a direction northward, towards the Indian coast. We learned also that the nearest point of the Indian coast is a promontory known as Coliacum,396 distant from the island four days’ sail, and that midway between them lies the island of the Sun. They stated also that those seas are of a deep green tint; besides which, there are numerous trees growing at the bottom, so much so, that the rudders of the vessels frequently break off portions of their foliage.397 They were much astonished at the constellations which are visible to us, the Greater Bear and the Pleiades,398 as though they had now beheld a new expanse of the heavens; and they declared that in their country the moon can only be seen above the horizon399 from the eighth to its sixteenth day. They also stated that Canopus, a large bright star, gives light to them by night. But what surprised them more than anything, was that the shadow of their bodies was thrown towards our hemisphere400 and not theirs, and that the sun arose on the left hand and set on the right, and not in the opposite direction.401 They also informed us that the side of their island which lies opposite to India is ten thousand stadia in length, and runs in a south-easterly direction—that beyond the Emodian Mountains they look towards402 the Seræ, whose acquaintance they had also made in the pursuits of commerce; that the father of Rachias had frequently visited their country, and that the Seræ always came to meet them on their arrival. These people, they said, exceeded the ordinary human height, had flaxen hair, and blue eyes, and made an uncouth sort of noise by way of talking, having no language of their own for the purpose of communicating their thoughts. The rest of their information403 was of a similar nature to that communicated by our merchants. It was to the effect that the merchandize on sale was left by them upon the opposite bank of a river on their coast, and it was then removed by the natives, if they thought proper to deal on terms of exchange. On no grounds ought luxury with greater reason to be detested by us, than if we only transport our thoughts to these scenes, and then reflect, what are its demands, to what distant spots it sends in order to satisfy them, and for how mean and how unworthy an end!

But yet Taprobane even, isolated as it is by nature from the rest of the world, is not exempt from our vices. Gold and silver are held in esteem even there. They have a marble which resembles tortoise-shell in appearance; this, as well as their pearls and precious stones, is highly valued; all our luxuries in fact, those even of the most exquisite nature, are there carried to the very highest pitch. They asserted that their wealth is much greater than ours, but admitted that we know better than they how to obtain real enjoyment from opulence.

In this island no slavery exists; they do not prolong their sleep to day-break, nor indeed during any part of the day; their buildings are only of a moderate height from the ground; the price of corn is always the same; they have no courts of law and no litigation. Hercules is the deity whom they worship; and their king is chosen by the people, an aged man always, distinguished for his mild and clement disposition, and without children. If after he has been elected king, he happens to become the father of children, his abdication is the consequence; this is done that there may be no danger of the sovereign power becoming hereditary. Thirty advisers are provided for him by the people, and it is only by the advice of the majority of them that any man is condemned to capital punishment. Even then, the person so condemned has a right of appealing to the people, in which case a jury consisting of seventy persons is appointed. Should these acquit the accused, the thirty counsellors are no longer held in any estimation, but are visited with the greatest disgrace. The king wears the costume of Father Liber,404 while the rest of the people dress like the natives of Arabia. The king, if he is found guilty of any offence, is condemned to death; but no one slays him; all turn their backs upon him, and refuse to hold any communication or even discourse with him. Their festivals are celebrated405 with the chase, the most valued sports being the pursuit of the tiger and the elephant. The lands are carefully tilled; the vine is not cultivated there, but of other fruits there is great abundance. They take great delight in fishing, and especially in catching turtles; beneath the shells406 of which whole families find an abode, of such vast size are they to be found. These people look upon a hundred years as a comparatively short life. Thus much have we learned respecting Taprobane.

CHAP. 25.—THE ARIANI AND THE ADJOINING NATIONS.

We will now proceed to give some further particulars relative to the four Satrapies, of which we have postponed further mention407 till the present occasion.

(23). After passing the nations in the vicinity of the Indus, we come to the mountain districts. The territory of Capisene formerly had a city, called Capisa,408 which was destroyed by Cyrus. Arachosia409 has a river and a city of the same name; the city was built by Semiramis; by some writers it is called Cophen. The river Erymanthus410 flows past Parabeste,411 which belongs to the Arachosii. Writers make the Dexendrusi come next, forming the boundary of the Arachotæ on the southern side, and of the Paropanisadæ on the north. The city of Cartana412 lies at the foot of Caucasus; in later times it has been called Tetragonis.413 This region lies over against that of the Bactri, who come next, and whose chief city is Alexandria,414 so called from the name of its founder. We then come to the Syndraci,415 the Dangalæ,416 the Parapinæ,417 the Catuces, and the Mazi: and then at the foot of Caucasus, to the Cadrusi, whose town418 was built by Alexander.

Below all these countries, is the line of coast which we come to after leaving the Indus. Ariana419 is a region parched by the sun and surrounded by deserts; still, however, as the face of the country is every here and there diversified with well-shaded spots, it finds communities grouped together to cultivate it, and more especially around the two rivers, known as the Tonberos420 and the Arosapes.421 There is also the town of Artacoana,422 and the river Arius,423 which flows past Alexandria,424 a city founded by Alexander; this place is thirty stadia in extent. Much more beautiful than it, as well as of much greater antiquity, is Artacabane,425 fortified a second time by Antiochus, and fifty stadia in breadth. We then come to the nation of the Dorisdorsigi, and the rivers Pharnaracotis,426 and Ophradus; and then to Prophthasia,427 a city of the Zaraspades, the Drangæ,428 the Evergetæ,429 the Zarangæ, and the Gedrusi;430 the towns of Pucolis, Lyphorta, the desert of the Methorgi,431 the river Manais,432 the nation of the Acutri, the river Eorum, the nation of the Orbi, the Pomanus, a navigable river in the territories of the Pandares, the Apirus in the country of the Suari, with a good harbour at its mouth, the city of Condigramma, and the river Cophes;433 into which last flow the navigable streams of the Saddaros,434 the Parospus, and the Sodanus. Some writers will also have it that Daritis435 forms part of Ariana, and give the length of them both as nineteen hundred and fifty miles, and the breadth one half of that436 of India. Others again have spread the Gedrusi and the Pasires over an extent of one hundred and thirty-eight miles, and place next to them the Ichthyophagi Oritæ,437 a people who speak a language peculiar to themselves, and not the Indian dialect, extending over a space of two hundred miles. Alexander forbade the whole of the Ichthyophagi438 to live any longer on fish. Next after these the writers have placed extensive deserts, and then Carmania, Persia, and Arabia.

CHAP. 26.—VOYAGES TO INDIA.

But before we enter into any details respecting these countries, it will be as well to mention what Onesicritus439 has stated, who commanded the fleet of Alexander, and sailed from India440 into the heart of Persia, and what has been more recently related by Juba; after which I shall speak of the route along these seas which has been discovered in later years and is followed at the present day. The journal of the voyage of Onesicritus and Nearchus has neither the names of the stations, nor yet the distances set down in it; and, first of all, it is not sufficiently explained where Xylenepolis was, and near what river, a place founded by Alexander, and from which, upon setting out, they took their departure. Still, however, the following places are mentioned by them, which are worthy of our notice. The town of Arbis, founded by Nearchus on the occasion of this voyage; the river Nabrus,441 navigable for vessels, and opposite to it an island, at a distance of seventy stadia; Alexandria, built by Leonnatus442 by order of Alexander in the territories of this people; Argenus, with a very convenient harbour; the river Tonberos,443 a navigable stream, around whose banks are the Pasiræ; then come the Ichthyophagi, who extend over so large a tract of coast that it took thirty days444 to sail past their territory; and an island known by the names of the “Island of the Sun”445 and the “Bed of the Nymphs,” the earth of which is red, and in which every animal instantly dies; the cause of which, however, has not been ascertained.446 Next to these is the nation of the Ori, and then the Hyctanis,447 a river of Carmania, with an excellent harbour at its mouth, and producing gold; at this spot the writers state that for the first time they caught sight of the Great Bear.448 The star Arcturus too, they tell us, was not to be seen here every night, and never, when it was seen, during the whole of it. Up to this spot extended the empire of the Achæmenidæ,449 and in these districts are to be found mines of copper, iron, arsenic, and red lead.

They next came to the Promontory of Carmania,450 from which the distance across to the opposite coast, where the Macæ, a nation of Arabia, dwell, is fifty miles; and then to three islands, of which that of Oracla451 is alone inhabited, being the only one supplied with fresh water; it is distant from the mainland twenty-five miles; quite in the Gulf, and facing Persia, there are four other islands. About these islands sea-serpents452 were seen swimming towards them, twenty cubits in length, which struck the fleet with great alarm. They then came to the island of Athothradus, and those called the Gauratæ, upon which dwells the nation of the Gyani; the river Hyperis,453 which discharges itself midway into the Persian Gulf, and is navigable for merchant ships; the river Sitiogagus, from which to Pasargadæ454 is seven days’ sail; a navigable river known as the Phristimus, and an island without a name; and then the river Granis,455 navigable for vessels of small burden, and flowing through Susiane; the Deximontani, a people who manufacture bitumen, dwell on its right bank. The river Zarotis comes next, difficult of entrance at its mouth, except by those who are well acquainted with it; and then two small islands; after which the fleet sailed through shallows which looked very much like a marsh, but were rendered navigable by certain channels which had been cut there. They then arrived at the mouth of the Euphrates, and from thence passed into a lake which is formed by the rivers Eulæus456 and Tigris, in the vicinity of Charax,457 after which they arrived at Susa,458 on the river Tigris. Here, after a voyage of three months, they found Alexander celebrating a festival, seven months after he had left them at Patale.459 Such was the voyage performed by the fleet of Alexander.

In later times it has been considered a well-ascertained fact that the voyage from Syagrus,460 the Promontory of Arabia, to Patale, reckoned at thirteen hundred and thirty-five miles, can be performed most advantageously with the aid of a westerly wind, which is there known by the name of Hippalus.

The age that followed pointed out a shorter route, and a safer one, to those who might happen to sail from the same promontory for Sigerus, a port of India; and for a long time this route was followed, until at last a still shorter cut was discovered by a merchant, and the thirst for gain brought India even still nearer to us. At the present day voyages are made to India every year: and companies of archers are carried on board the vessels, as those seas are greatly infested with pirates.

It will not be amiss too, on the present occasion, to set forth the whole of the route from Egypt, which has been stated to us of late, upon information on which reliance may be placed, and is here published for the first time. The subject is one well worthy of our notice, seeing that in no year does India drain our empire of less than five hundred and fifty millions461 of sesterces, giving back her own wares in exchange, which are sold among us at fully one hundred times their prime cost.

Two miles distant from Alexandria is the town of Juliopolis.462 The distance thence to Coptos, up the Nile, is three hundred and eight miles; the voyage is performed, when the Etesian winds are blowing, in twelve days. From Coptos the journey is made with the aid of camels, stations being arranged at intervals for the supply of fresh water. The first of these stations is called Hydreuma,463 and is distant464 twenty-two miles; the second is situate on a mountain, at a distance of one day’s journey from the last; the third is at a second Hydreuma, distant from Coptos ninety-five miles; the fourth is on a mountain; the next to that is at another Hydreuma, that of Apollo, and is distant from Coptos one hundred and eighty-four miles; after which, there is another on a mountain. There is then another station at a place called the New Hydreuma, distant from Coptos two hundred and thirty miles: and next to it there is another, called the Old Hydreuma, or the Troglodytic, where a detachment is always on guard, with a caravansary that affords lodging for two thousand persons. This last is distant from the New Hydreuma seven miles. After leaving it we come to the city of Berenice,465 situate upon a harbour of the Red Sea, and distant from Coptos two hundred and fifty-seven miles. The greater part of this distance is generally travelled by night, on account of the extreme heat, the day being spent at the stations; in consequence of which it takes twelve days to perform the whole journey from Coptos to Berenice.

Passengers generally set sail at midsummer, before the rising of the Dog-star, or else immediately after, and in about thirty days arrive at Ocelis466 in Arabia, or else at Cane,467 in the region which bears frankincense. There is also a third port of Arabia, Muza468 by name; it is not, however, used by persons on their passage to India, as only those touch at it who deal in incense and the perfumes of Arabia. More in the interior there is a city; the residence of the king there is called Sapphar,469 and there is another city known by the name of Save. To those who are bound for India, Ocelis is the best place for embarcation. If the wind, called Hippalus,470 happens to be blowing, it is possible to arrive in forty days at the nearest mart of India, Muziris471 by name. This, however, is not a very desirable place for disembarcation, on account of the pirates which frequent its vicinity, where they occupy a place called Nitrias; nor, in fact, is it very rich in articles of merchandize. Besides, the road-stead for shipping is a considerable distance from the shore, and the cargoes have to be conveyed in boats, either for loading or discharging. At the moment that I am writing these pages, the name of the king of this place is Cælobothras. Another port, and a much more convenient one, is that which lies in the territory of the people called Neacyndi, Barace by name. Here king Pandion used to reign, dwelling at a considerable distance from the mart in the interior, at a city known as Modiera. The district from which pepper is carried down to Barace in boats hollowed out of a single tree,472 is known as Cottonara.473 None of these names of nations, ports, and cities are to be found in any of the former writers, from which circumstance it would appear that the localities have since changed their names. Travellers set sail from India on their return to Europe, at the beginning of the Egyptian month Tybis, which is our December, or at all events before the sixth day of the Egyptian month Mechir, the same as474 our ides of January: if they do this, they can go and return in the same year. They set sail from India with a south-east wind, and upon entering the Red Sea, catch the south-west or south. We will now return to our main subject.

CHAP.

27.—CARMANIA.

Nearchus states in his writings that the coast of Carmania475 extends a distance of twelve hundred and fifty miles. From its frontier to the river Sabis476 is one hundred miles. At this spot begins the cultivation of the vine; which with the tillage of the fields, extends as far as the river Ananis,477 a distance of twenty-five miles. This region is known by the name of Armuzia. The cities of Carmania are Zetis and Alexandria.478

CHAP. 28.—THE PERSIAN AND THE ARABIAN GULFS.

The sea then makes a two-fold indentation479 in the land upon these coasts, under the name of Rubrum480 or “Red,” given to it by our countrymen; while the Greeks have called it Erythrum, from king Erythras,481 or, according to some writers, from its red colour, which they think is produced by the reflection of the sun’s rays; others again are of opinion that it arises from the sand and the complexion of the soil, others from some peculiarity in the nature of the water. (24.) Be this as it may, this body of water is divided into two gulfs. The one which lies to the east is called the Persian Gulf, and is two thousand five hundred miles in circumference, according to Eratosthenes. Opposite to it lies Arabia, the length of which is fifteen hundred miles. On the other side again, Arabia is bounded by the Arabian Gulf. The sea as it enters this gulf is called the Azanian482 Sea. The Persian Gulf, at the entrance, is only five483 miles wide; some writers make it four. From the entrance to the very bottom of the gulf, in a straight line, has been ascertained to be nearly eleven hundred and twenty-five miles: in outline it strongly resembles484 the human head. Onesicritus and Nearchus have stated in their works that from the river Indus to the Persian Gulf, and from thence to Babylon, situate in the marshes of the Euphrates, is a distance of seventeen hundred miles.

In the angle of Carmania are the Chelonophagi,485 who cover their cabins with the shells of turtles, and live upon their flesh; these people inhabit the next promontory that is seen after leaving the river Arbis;486 with the exception of the head, they are covered all over with long hair, and are clothed in the skins of fishes.

(25.) Beyond their district, in the direction of India, is said to be the desert island of Caicandrus, fifty miles out at sea; near to which, with a strait flowing between them, is Stoidis, celebrated for its valuable pearls. After passing the promontory487 are the Armozei,488 joining up to the Carmani; some writers, however, place between them the Arbii,489 extending along the shore a distance of four hundred and twenty-one miles. Here is a place called Portus Macedonum,490 and the Altars of Alexander, situate on a promontory, besides the rivers Saganos, Daras, and Salsa. Beyond the last river we come to the promontory of Themisteas, and the island of Aphrodisias, which is peopled. Here Persis begins, at the river Oratis,491 which separates it from Elymais.492 Opposite to the coast of Persis, are the islands of Psilos, Cassandra, and Aracia, the last sacred to Neptune,493 and containing a mountain of great height. Persis494 itself, looking towards the west, has a line of coast five hundred and fifty miles in length; it is a country opulent even to luxury, but has long since changed its name for that of “Parthia.”495 I shall now devote a few words to the Parthian empire.

CHAP. 29.—THE PARTHIAN EMPIRE.

The kingdoms496 of Parthia are eighteen in all: such being the divisions of its provinces, which lie, as we have already stated, along the Red Sea to the south, and the Hyrcanian to the north. Of this number the eleven, called the Higher provinces, begin at the frontiers of Armenia and the shores of the Caspian, and extend to the Scythians, whose mode of life is similar in every respect. The other seven kingdoms of Parthia bear the name of the Lower provinces. As to the Parthi themselves, Parthia497 always lay at the foot of the mountains498 so often mentioned, which overhang all these nations. On the east it is bounded by the Arii, on the south by Carmania and the Ariani, on the west by the Pratitæ, a people of the Medi, and on the north by the Hyrcani: it is surrounded by deserts on every side. The more distant of the Parthi are called Nomades;499 on this side of them there are deserts. On the west are the cities of Issatis and Calliope, already mentioned,500 on the north-east Europus,501 on the south-east Maria; in the middle there are Hecatompylos,502 Arsace, and Nisiæa, a fine district of Parthiene, in which is Alexandropolis, so called from its founder.

(26.) It is requisite in this place to trace the localities of the Medi also, and to describe in succession the features of the country as far as the Persian Sea, in order that the account which follows may be the better understood. Media503 lies crosswise to the west, and so presenting itself obliquely to Parthia, closes the entrance of both kingdoms504 into which it is divided. It has, then, on the east, the Caspii and the Parthi; on the south, Sittacene, Susiane, and Persis; on the west, Adsiabene; and on the north, Armenia. The Persæ have always inhabited the shores of the Red Sea, for which reason it has received the name of the Persian Gulf. This maritime region of Persis has the name of Ciribo;505 on the side on which it runs up to that of the Medi, there is a place known by the name of Climax Megale,506 where the mountains are ascended by a steep flight of stairs, and so afford a narrow passage which leads to Persepolis,507 the former capital of the kingdom, destroyed by Alexander. It has also, at its extreme frontier, Laodicea,508 founded by Antiochus. To the east of this place is the fortress of Passagarda,509 held by the Magi, at which spot is the tomb of Cyrus; also Ecbatana,510 a city of theirs, the inhabitants of which were removed by Darius to the mountains. Between the Parthi and the Ariani projects the territory of the Parætaceni.511 By these nations and the river Euphrates are the Lower kingdoms of Parthia bounded; of the others we shall speak after Mesopotamia, which we shall now describe, with the exception of that angle of it and the peoples of Arabia, which have been already mentioned in a former book.512

CHAP. 30.—MESOPOTAMIA.

The whole of Mesopotamia formerly belonged to the Assyrians, being covered with nothing but villages, with the exception of Babylonia513 and Ninus.514 The Macedonians formed these communities into cities, being prompted thereto by the extraordinary fertility of the soil. Besides the cities already mentioned, it contains those of Seleucia,515 Laodicea,516 Artemita;517 and in Arabia, the peoples known as the Orei518 and the Mardani, besides Antiochia,519 founded by Nicanor, the governor of Mesopotamia, and called Arabis. Joining up to these in the interior is an Arabian people, called the Eldamani, and above them, upon the river Pallaconta, the town of Bura, and the Arabian peoples known as the Salmani and the Masei. Up to the Gordyæi520 join the Aloni, through whose territory runs the river Zerbis, which falls into the Tigris; next are the Azones, the Silici, a mountain tribe, and the Orontes, to the west of whom lies the town of Gaugamela,521 as also Suë, situate upon the rocks. Beyond these are the Silici, surnamed Classitæ, through whose district runs the river Lycus on its passage from Armenia, the Absithris522 running south-east, the town of Accobis, and then in the plains the towns of Diospage, Polytelia,523 Stratonice, and Anthermis.524 In the vicinity of the Euphrates is Nicephorion, of which we have525 already stated that Alexander, struck with the favourable situation of the spot, ordered it to be built. We have also similarly made mention526 of Apamea on the Zeugma. Leaving that city and going eastward, we come to Caphrena, a fortified town, formerly seventy stadia in extent, and called the “Court of the Satraps.” It was to this place that the tribute was conveyed; now it is reduced to a mere fortress. Thæbata is still in the same state as formerly: after which comes Oruros, which under Pompeius Magnus formed the extreme limit of the Roman Empire, distant from Zeugma two hundred and fifty miles. There are writers who say that the Euphrates was drawn off by an artificial channel by the governor Gobares, at the point where we have stated527 that it branches off,528 in order that it might not commit damage in the city of Babylonia, in consequence of the extreme rapidity of its course. The Assyrians universally call this river by the name of Narmalcha,529 which signifies the “royal river.” At the point where its waters divide, there was in former times a very large city, called Agranis, which the Persæ have destroyed.

Babylon, the capital of the nations of Chaldæa, long enjoyed the greatest celebrity of all cities throughout the whole world: and it is from this place that the remaining parts of Mesopotamia and Assyria received the name of Babylonia. The circuit of its walls, which were two hundred feet in height, was sixty miles. These walls were also fifty feet in breadth, reckoning to every foot three fingers’ breadth beyond the ordinary measure of our foot. The river Euphrates flowed through the city, with quays of marvellous workmanship erected on either side. The temple there530 of Jupiter Belus531 is still in existence; he was the first inventor of the science of Astronomy. In all other respects it has been reduced to a desert, having been drained of its population in consequence of its vicinity to Seleucia,532 founded for that purpose by Nicator, at a distance of ninety miles, on the confluence of the Tigris and the canal that leads from the Euphrates. Seleucia, however, still bears the surname of Babylonia: it is a free and independent city, and retains the features of the Macedonian manners. It is said that the population of this city amounts to six hundred thousand, and that the outline of its walls resembles an eagle with expanded wings: its territory, they say, is the most fertile in all the East. The Parthi again, in its turn, founded Ctesiphon,533 for the purpose of drawing away the population of Seleucia, at a distance of nearly three miles, and in the district of Chalonitis; Ctesiphon is now the capital of all the Parthian kingdoms. Finding, however, that this city did not answer the intended purpose, king Vologesus534 has of late years founded another city in its vicinity, Vologesocerta535 by name. Besides the above, there are still the following towns in Mesopotamia: Hipparenum,536 rendered famous, like Babylon, by the learning of the Chaldæi, and situate near the river Narraga,537 which falls into the Narroga, from which a city so called has taken its name. The Persæ destroyed the walls of Hipparenum. Orchenus also, a third place of learning of the Chaldæi, is situate in the same district, towards the south; after which come the Notitæ, the Orothophanitæ, and the Grecichartæ.538 From Nearchus and Onesicritus we learn that the distance by water from the Persian Sea to Babylon, up the Euphrates, is four hundred and twelve miles; other authors, however, who have written since their time, say that the distance to Seleucia is four hundred and forty miles: and Juba says that the distance from Babylon to Charax is one hundred and seventy-five. Some writers state that the Euphrates continues to flow with an undivided channel for a distance of eighty-seven miles beyond Babylon, before its waters are diverted from their channel for the purposes of irrigation; and that the whole length of its course is not less than twelve hundred miles. The circumstance that so many different authors have treated of this subject, accounts for all these variations, seeing that even the Persian writers themselves do not agree as to what is the length of their schæni and parasangæ, each assigning to them a different length.