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 Euxine
1 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 lakes
3 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 Bospori
5 the
passage across may be effected by oxen
6 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 Tembrogius
13
and the Gallus,
14 the last of which is by many called the Sangarius. After leaving the Sagaris the Gulf of the Mariandyni
15
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 Acone
18 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
Cimolis
28 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 Gaziura
34 and Gazelum,
35 the river Halys,
36 which runs from the
foot of Mount Taurus through Cataonia and Cappadocia, the
towns of Gangre
37 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 extent
40 as to make Asia assume
the form of a peninsula, the isthmus of which is only some
two hundred
41 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.
Cappadocia
44 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 Argæus
57 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 Themiseyra
65 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 Triarius
67 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, Themiseyra,
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 Macro-
cephali,
76 the town of Cerasus,
77 the port of Chordule, the
nations called the Bechires
78 and the Buzeri, the river Melas,
79
the people called the Macrones, and Sidene with its river
Sidenus,
80 by which the town of Polemonium
81 is washed, at a
distance from Amisus of one hundred and twenty miles. We
next come to the rivers Iasonius
82
on the site of the older city of Side, at the mouth of the Sidenus 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 Armenochalybes
87 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 Sanni
88 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 Phasis
97 at its
mouth. But the most celebrated of them all was Æa, fifteen
miles
98 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 already
100 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 Chobus
105 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 previously
114 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 Dios-
curias,
116 near the river Anthemus, now deserted, but once a
famous city; so much so, indeed, that we learn from Timos-
thenes, 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 charioteers
117 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 part
123 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 Mithridates
125 took refuge in the reign of the
Emperor Claudius: and from him we learn that the Thalli
126
join up to them, a people who border on the eastern side upon
the mouth
127 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 Sindos
129 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 peninsula
130 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
mentioned
138 in the description of Europe.
CHAP. 7.—LAKE MIEOTIS AND THE ADJOINING NATIONS.
After passing Cimmerium, the coast
139 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 is
149 a city also at the mouth of the Ta-
nais. 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
Cathæan
152 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
Inner
153 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.
BOOK VII.
MAN, HIS BIRTH, HIS ORGANIZATION, AND THE INVENTION OF THE ARTS.
