[32] Next these on this side the Taurus are the mountaineers of Paropamisus, and various tribes of Parthians, Medes, Armenians, Cilicians, with ‘the Lycaonians,’1 and Pisidians.2 After these mountaineers come the people dwelling beyond the Taurus. First amongst these is India, a nation greater and more flourishing than any other; they extend as far as the Eastern Sea3 and the southern part of the Atlantic. In the most southerly part of this sea opposite to India is situated the island of Taprobana,4 which is not less than Britain. Beyond India to the west, and leaving the mountains [of the Taurus] on the right, is a vast region, miserably inhabited, on account of the sterility of its soil, by men of different races, who are absolutely in a savage state. They are named Arians, and extend from the mountains to Gedrosia and Carmania.5 Beyond these towards the sea are the Persians,6 the Susians,7 and the Babylonians,8 situated along the Persian Gulf, besides several smaller neighbouring states. On the side of the mountains and amidst the mountains are the Parthians, the Medes, the Armenians, and the nations adjoining these, together with Mesopotamia.9 Beyond Mesopotamia are the countries on this side the Euphrates; viz. the whole of Arabia Felix, bounded by the entire Arabian and Persian Gulfs, together with the country of the Scenitæ and Phylarchi, who are situated along the Euphrates and in Syria. Beyond the Arabian Gulf and as far as the Nile dwell the Ethiopians10 and Arabians,11 and next these the Egyptians, Syrians, and Cilicians,12 both those styled Trachiotæ and others besides, and last of all the Pamphylians.13
1 Probably an interpolation.
2 The mountaineers of Paropamisus were those who inhabited the mountains which separate Bactriana from India. The Parthians occupied the mountains north of the modern Khorasan. Under the name of Medians Strabo comprehends the various nations who inhabited the mountainous country between Parthia and Armenia. The Cilicians in habited Aladeuli; the Lycaonian mountaineers the mountains which separate Karaman from Itch-iili; and the Pisidians the country of Hamid.
3 The Bay of Bengal.
4 Ceylon.
5 The Arians inhabited Sigistan and a part of modern Persia. Strabo gave the name of Arians to all the people who occupied the portions of Asia comprised between the Indus and Persia, and between the chain of the Taurus and Gedrosia and Carmania. In after-times the designation of Arians was restricted to the inhabitants of the modern Khorasan. Gedrosia is Mekran; Carmania yet preserves the name of Kerman.
6 Ancient Persia is the modern province of Fars, Pars, or Paras; our Persia being much more extensive than the ancient country designated by the same name
7 The Susians inhabited the modern Khosistan.
8 The Babylonians occupied the present Irak-Arabi.
9 Now al-Djezira.
10 Viz. the Ethiopians occupying the territory from Syene to Abyssinia.
11 The Troglodyte Arabians.
12 The Cilicians occupied the modern Itch-iili and Aladeuli; the Trachiotæ or mountaineers, the former of these countries.
13 Pamphylia is the modern Tekieh.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.