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 Themiscyra[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, 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 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] 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 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 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 MÆOTIS 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 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 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. We will begin then with the nation of the Cappadocians. Of all the countries of Pontus, this[155] extends the greatest distance into the interior.[156] On the left[157] 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 Asia[158] 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 off[163] 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 Cyrus[168] 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, Carcathiocerta[174] upon the Tigris, Tigranocerta[175] 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 Dascusa[177] to the borders of the Caspian Sea, thirteen[178] 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 left[182] 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 river[190] 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 these[191] 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 instance[195] 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 fifty[196] miles, and that Nicator Seleucus[197] 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 name[200] in Europe; it is four miles in circumference, and one mile distant from the mainland. Opposite to Pharnacea[201] 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 Riphæan[203] 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 point[204] where the sun rises in the summer, it is the country of the Scythians. Still further than them, and beyond[205] 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 sacred[212] 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 Cadusia[216] 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 Jaxartes[217] 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 first[221] 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 along[224] 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 Casius[227] 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 mentioned[231] 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 descent[232] 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 Mygdonia[234] 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; Gazæ[239] 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 built[241] 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 side[247] of these gates we come to the deserts[248] of Parthia and the mountain chain of Cithenus; and after that, the most pleasant locality of all Parthia, Choara[249] 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 formerly[251] 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 back[253] 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 hundred[254] 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 eighty[255] stadia, to the city of Bactra,[256] commonly called Zariaspa, three thousand seven hundred, and thence to the river Jaxartes[257] 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 Sideris[261] 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 Oxus[276] 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 river[278] 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 Napæi[292] 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 sea[293] 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 it[296] 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 portion[298] 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 task[303] 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 display[304] 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 approach[305] 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 Cicones[308] 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 Emodus[309] rises, the nations of India begin, which borders not only on the Eastern sea, but on the Southern as well, which we have already mentioned[310] 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 Etesian[313] 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 Liber[316] 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 stadia[317] 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 treatise[319] 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 already[320] 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 Cophes[326] and Peucolaitis, a city of India, is two hundred and thirty-seven miles; from thence to the river Indus and the city of Taxilla[327] sixty; from thence to the famous river Hydaspes[328] 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 altars[330] 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 Jomanes[333] 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 Calingæ[338] 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 Gangarides[345] 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, always[349] end their life by a voluntary death upon the lighted pile. In addition to these, there is a class[350] 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 hunt[351] 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 Dardæ[354] 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 Bear[357] 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 Methora[358] and Chrysobora.[359] In the regions which lie to the south[360] 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 nearer[361] 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 Cophes[379] 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 circumstance[381] 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 Bear[393] 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 horizon[399] 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 hemisphere[400] 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 towards[402] 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 information[403] 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 celebrated[405] 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 shells[406] 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 mention[407] 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. Arachosia[409] 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 Erymanthus[410] 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 Cartana[412] 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 town[418] was built by Alexander. Below all these countries, is the line of coast which we come to after leaving the Indus. Ariana[419] 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 Tonberos[420] 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 Daritis[435] forms part of Ariana, and give the length of them both as nineteen hundred and fifty miles, and the breadth one half of that[436] 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 Ichthyophagi[438] 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 Onesicritus[439] has stated, who commanded the fleet of Alexander, and sailed from India[440] 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 Leonnatus[442] 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 days[444] 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 Oracla[451] 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-serpents[452] 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 Pasargadæ[454] 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 Eulæus[456] 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 millions[461] 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 distant[464] 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 Ocelis[466] in Arabia, or else at Cane,[467] in the region which bears frankincense. There is also a third port of Arabia, Muza[468] 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, Muziris[471] 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 as[474] 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 Carmania[475] extends a distance of twelve hundred and fifty miles. From its frontier to the river Sabis[476] 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 indentation[479] in the land upon these coasts, under the name of Rubrum[480] 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 Azanian[482] Sea. The Persian Gulf, at the entrance, is only five[483] 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 resembles[484] 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 promontory[487] 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. Persis[494] 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 kingdoms[496] 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, Parthia[497] always lay at the foot of the mountains[498] 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. Media[503] lies crosswise to the west, and so presenting itself obliquely to Parthia, closes the entrance of both kingdoms[504] 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 Babylonia[513] 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 Orei[518] 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 Gordyæi[520] 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 Absithris[522] 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 have[525] already stated that Alexander, struck with the favourable situation of the spot, ordered it to be built. We have also similarly made mention[526] 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 stated[527] 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 there[530] of Jupiter Belus[531] 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 Vologesus[534] has of late years founded another city in its vicinity, Vologesocerta[535] 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. When the Euphrates ceases, by running in its channel, to afford protection[539] to those who dwell on its banks, which it does when it approaches the confines of Charax, the country is immediately infested by the Attali, a predatory people of Arabia, beyond whom are found the Scenitæ.[540] The banks along this river are occupied by the Nomades of Arabia, as far as the deserts of Syria, from which, as we have already stated,[541] it takes a turn to the south,[542] and leaves the solitary deserts of Palmyra. Seleucia is distant, by way of the Euphrates, from the beginning of Mesopotamia, eleven hundred and twenty-five; from the Red Sea, by way of the Tigris, two hundred and twenty; and from Zeugma, seven hundred and twenty-three, miles. Zeugma is distant from Seleucia[543] in Syria, on the shores of our sea, one hundred and seventy-five[544] miles. Such is the extent of the land that lies in these parts between the two seas.[545] The length of the kingdom of Parthia is nine hundred and eighteen miles. CHAP. 31.—THE TIGRIS. There is, besides the above, another town in Mesopotamia, on the banks of the Tigris and near its confluence with the Euphrates, the name of which is Digba.[546] (27.) But it will be as well now to give some particulars respecting the Tigris itself. This river rises in the region of Greater Armenia,[547] from a very remarkable source, situate on a plain. The name of the spot is Elegosine,[548] and the stream, as soon as it begins to flow, though with a slow current, has the name of Diglito.[549] When its course becomes more rapid, it assumes the name of Tigris,[550] given to it on account of its swiftness, that word signifying an arrow in the Median language. It then flows into Lake Arethusa,[551] the waters of which are able to support all weighty substances thrown into them, and exhale nitrous vapours. This lake produces only one kind of fish, which, however, never enter the current of the river in its passage through the lake: and in a similar manner, the fish of the Tigris will never swim out of its stream into the waters of the lake. Distinguishable from the lake, both by the rapidity and the colour of its waters, the tide of the river is hurried along; after it has passed through and arrived at Mount Taurus, it disappears[552] in a cavern of that mountain, and passing beneath it, bursts forth on the other side; the spot bears the name of Zoroande.[553] That the waters on either side of the mountain are the same, is evident from the fact, that bodies thrown in on the one side will reappear on the other. It then passes through another lake, called Thospites, and once more burying itself in the earth, reappears, after running a distance of twenty-two miles, in the vicinity of Nymphæum.[554] Claudius Cæsar informs us that, in the district of Arrene[555] it flows so near to the river Arsanias,[556] that when their waters swell they meet and flow together, but without, however, intermingling. For those of the Arsani, as he says, being lighter, float on the surface of the Tigris for a distance of nearly four miles, after which they separate, and the Arsanias flows into the Euphrates. The Tigris, after flowing through Armenia and receiving the well-known rivers Parthenias and Nicephorion, separates the Arabian Orei[557] from the Adiabeni, and then forms by its course, as previously mentioned, the country of Mesopotamia. After traversing the mountains of the Gordyæi,[558] it passes round Apamea,[559] a town of Mesene, one hundred and twenty-five miles on this side of Babylonian Seleucia, and then divides into two channels, one[560] of which runs southward, and flowing through Mesene, runs towards Seleucia, while the other takes a turn to the north and passes through the plains of the Cauchæ,[561] at the back of the district of Mesene. When the waters have reunited, the river assumes the name of Pasitigris. After this, it receives the Choaspes,[562] which comes from Media; and then, as we have already stated,[563] flowing between Seleucia and Ctesiphon, discharges itself into the Chaldæan Lakes, which it supplies for a distance of seventy miles. Escaping from them by a vast channel, it passes the city of Charax to the right, and empties itself into the Persian Sea, being ten miles in width at the mouth. Between the mouths of the two rivers Tigris and the Euphrates, the distance was formerly twenty-five, or, according to some writers, seven miles only, both of them being navigable to the sea. But the Orcheni and others who dwell on its banks, have long since dammed up the waters of the Euphrates for the purposes of irrigation, and it can only discharge itself into the sea by the aid of the Tigris. The country on the banks of the Tigris is called Parapotamia;[564] we have already made mention of Mesene, one of its districts. Dabithac[565] is a town there, adjoining to which is the district of Chalonitis, with the city of Ctesiphon,[566] famous, not only for its palm-groves, but for its olives, fruits, and other shrubs. Mount Zagrus[567] reaches as far as this district, and extends from Armenia between the Medi and the Adiabeni; above Parætacene and Persis. Chalonitis[568] is distant from Persis three hundred and eighty miles; some writers say that by the shortest route it is the same distance from Assyria and the Caspian Sea. Between these peoples and Mesene is Sittacene, which is also called Arbelitis[569] and Palæstine. Its city of Sittace[570] is of Greek origin; this and Sabdata[571] lie to the east, and on the west is Antiochia,[572] between the two rivers Tigris and Tornadotus,[573] as also Apamea,[574] to which Antiochus[575] gave this name, being that of his mother. The Tigris surrounds this city, which is also traversed by the waters of the Archoüs. Below[576] this district is Susiane, in which is the city of Susa,[577] the ancient residence of the kings of Persia, built by Darius, the son of Hystaspes; it is distant from Seleucia Babylonia four hundred and fifty miles, and the same from Ecbatana of the Medi, by way of Mount Carbantus.[578] Upon the northern channel of the river Tigris is the town of Babytace,[579] distant from Susa one hundred and thirty-five miles. Here, for the only place in all the world, is gold held in abhorrence; the people collect it together and bury it in the earth, that it may be of use to no one.[580] On the east of Susiane are the Oxii, a predatory people, and forty independent savage tribes of the Mizæi. Above these are the Mardi and the Saitæ, subject to Parthia: they extend above the district of Elymais, which we have already mentioned[581] as joining up to the coast of Persis. Susa is distant two hundred and fifty miles from the Persian Sea. Near the spot where the fleet of Alexander came up[582] the Pasitigris to Susa, there is a village situate on the Chaldæan Lake, Aple by name, from which to Susa is a distance of sixty miles and a half. Adjoining to the people of Susiane, on the east, are the Cossiæi;[583] and above them, to the north, is Mesabatene, lying at the foot of Mount Cambalidus,[584] a branch of the Caucasian chain: from this point the country of the Bactri is most accessible. Susiane is separated from Elymais by the river Eulæus, which rises in Media, and, after concealing itself in the earth for a short distance, rises again and flows through Mesabatene. It then flows round the citadel of Susa[585] and the temple of Diana, which is held in the highest veneration by all these nations; the river itself being the object of many pompous ceremonials; the kings, indeed, will drink of no other water,[586] and for that reason carry it with them on their journies to any considerable distance. This river receives the waters of the Hedypnos,[587] which passes Asylus, in Persis, and those of the Aduna, which rises in Susiane. Magoa[588] is a town situate near it, and distant from Charax fifteen miles; some writers place this town at the very extremity of Susiane, and close to the deserts. Below the Eulæus is Elymais,[589] upon the coast adjoining to Persis, and extending from the river Orates[590] to Charax, a distance of two hundred and forty miles. Its towns are Seleucia[591] and Socrate,[592] upon Mount Casyrus. The shore which lies in front of this district is, as we have already stated, rendered inaccessible by mud,[593] the rivers Brixa and Ortacea bringing down vast quantities of slime from the interior,—Elymais itself being so marshy that it is impossible to reach Persis that way, unless by going completely round: it is also greatly infested with serpents, which are brought down by the waters of these rivers. That part of it which is the most inaccessible of all, bears the name of Characene, from Charax,[594] the frontier city of the kingdoms of Arabia. Of this place we will now make mention, after first stating the opinions of M. Agrippa in relation to this subject. That author informs us that Media, Parthia, and Persis, are bounded on the east by the Indus, on the west by the Tigris, on the north by Taurus and Caucasus, and on the south by the Red Sea; that the length of these countries is thirteen hundred and twenty miles, and the breadth eight hundred and forty; and that, in addition to these, there is Mesopotamia, which, taken by itself, is bounded on the east by the Tigris, on the west by the Euphrates, on the north by the chain of Taurus, and on the south by the Persian Sea, being eight hundred miles in length, and three hundred and sixty in breadth. Charax is a city situate at the furthest extremity of the Arabian Gulf, at which begins the more prominent portion of Arabia Felix:[595] it is built on an artificial elevation, having the Tigris on the right, and the Eulæus on the left, and lies on a piece of ground three miles in extent, just between the confluence of those streams. It was first founded by Alexander the Great, with colonists from the royal city of Durine, which was then destroyed, and such of his soldiers as were invalided and left behind. By his order it was to be called Alexandria, and a borough called Pella, from his native place, was to be peopled solely by Macedonians; the city, however, was destroyed by inundations of the rivers. Antiochus,[596] the fifth king of Syria, afterwards rebuilt this place and called it by his own name; and on its being again destroyed, Pasines, the son of Saggonadacus, and king of the neighbouring Arabians, whom Juba has incorrectly described as a satrap of king Antiochus, restored it, and raised embankments for its protection, calling it after himself. These embankments extended in length a distance of nearly three miles, in breadth a little less. It stood at first at a distance of ten stadia from the shore, and even had a harbour[597] of its own. But according to Juba, it is fifty miles from the sea; and at the present day, the ambassadors from Arabia, and our own merchants who have visited the place, say that it stands at a distance of one hundred and twenty miles from the sea-shore. Indeed, in no part of the world have alluvial deposits been formed more rapidly by the rivers, and to a greater extent than here; and it is only a matter of surprise that the tides, which run to a considerable distance beyond this city, do not carry them back again. At this place was born Dionysius,[598] the most recent author of a description of the world; he was sent by the late emperor Augustus to gather all necessary information in the East, when his eldest[599] son was about to set out for Armenia to take the command against the Parthians and Arabians. The fact has not escaped me, nor indeed have I forgotten, that at the beginning of this work[600] I have remarked that each author appeared to be most accurate in the description of his own country; still, while I am speaking of these parts of the world, I prefer to follow the discoveries made by the Roman arms, and the description given by king Juba, in his work dedicated to Caius Cæsar above-mentioned, on the subject of the same expedition against Arabia. CHAP. 32. (28.)—ARABIA. Arabia, inferior to no country throughout the whole world, is of immense extent, running downwards, as we have previously stated,[601] from Mount Amanus, over against Cilicia and Commagene; many of the Arabian nations having been removed to those countries by Tigranes the Great,[602] while others again have migrated of their own accord to the shores of our sea[603] and the coast of Egypt, as we have already mentioned.[604] The Nubei[605] have even penetrated as far as Mount Libanus in the middle of Syria; in their turn they are bounded by the Ramisi, these by the Taranei, and these again by the Patami. As for Arabia itself, it is a peninsula, running out between the Red and the Persian Seas; and it is by a kind of design, apparently on the part of nature, that it is surrounded by the sea in such a manner as to resemble very much the form and size[606] of Italy, there being no difference either in the climate of the two countries, as they lie in the same latitudes.[607] This, too, renders it equally fertile with the countries of Italy. We have already mentioned[608] its peoples, which extend from our sea as far as the deserts of Palmyrene, and we shall now proceed to a description of the remainder. The Scenitæ, as we have already stated,[609] border upon the Nomades and the tribes that ravage the territories of Chaldæa, being themselves of wandering habits, and receiving their name from the tents which constitute their dwellings; these are made of goats’ hair, and they pitch them wherever they please. Next after them are the Nabatæi, who have a city called Petra,[610] which lies in a deep valley, somewhat less than two miles in width, and surrounded by inaccessible mountains, between which a river flows: it is distant from the city of Gaza, on our shores, six hundred miles, and from the Persian Gulf one hundred and thirty-five. At this place two roads meet, the one leading from Syria to Palmyra, and the other from Gaza. On leaving Petra we come to the Omani,[611] who dwell as far as Charax, with their once famous cities which were built by Semiramis, Besannisa and Soractia by name; at the present day they are wildernesses. We next come to a city situate on the banks of the Pasitigris, Fora by name, and subject to the king of Charax: to this place people resort on their road from Petra, and sail thence to Charax, twelve miles distant, with the tide. If you are proceeding by water from the Parthian territories, you come to a village known as Teredon; and below the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris, you have the Chaldæi dwelling on the left side of the river, and the Nomadic tribes of the Scenitæ on the right. Some writers also make mention of two other cities situate at long intervals, as you sail along the Tigris, Barbatia, and then Thumata, distant from Petra, they say, ten days’ sail; our merchants report that these places are subject to the king of Charax. The same writers also state, that Apamea[612] is situate where the overflow of the Euphrates unites with the Tigris; and that when the Parthians meditate an incursion, the inhabitants dam up the river by embankments, and so inundate their country. We will now proceed to describe the coast after leaving Charax,[613] which was first explored by order of king Epiphanes. We first come to the place where the mouth of the Euphrates formerly existed, the river Salsus,[614] and the Promontory of Chaldone,[615] from which spot, the sea along the coast, for an extent of fifty miles,[616] bears more the aspect of a series of whirlpools than of ordinary sea; the river Achenus, and then a desert tract for a space of one hundred miles, until we come to the island of Ichara; the gulf of Capeus, on the shores of which dwell the Gaulopes and the Chateni, and then the gulf of Gerra.[617] Here we find the city of Gerra, five miles in circumference, with towers built of square blocks of salt. Fifty miles from the coast, lying in the interior, is the region of Attene, and opposite to Gerra is the island of Tylos,[618] as many miles distant from the shore; it is famous for the vast number of its pearls, and has a town of the same name; in its vicinity there is a smaller island,[619] distant from a promontory on the larger one twelve miles and a half. They say that beyond this large islands may be seen, upon which no one has ever landed: the circumference of the smaller island is one hundred and twelve miles and a half, and it is more than that distance from the Persian coast, being accessible by only one narrow channel. We then come to the island of Asclie, and the nations of the Nocheti, the Zurazi, the Borgodi, the Catharrei, the Nomades, and then the river Cynos.[620] Beyond this, the navigation is impracticable on that side,[621] according to Juba, on account of the rocks; and he has omitted all mention of Batrasave,[622] a town of the Omani, and of the city of Omana,[623] which former writers have made out to be a famous port of Carmania;[624] as also of Homna and Attana, towns which at the present day, our merchants say, are by far the most famous ones in the Persian Sea. Passing the river Cynos,[625] there is a mountain, Juba says, that bears marks of the action of fire; also, the nation of the Epimaranitæ, then a nation of Ichthyophagi, and then a desert island, and the nation of the Bathymi. We then come to the Eblitæan Mountains, the island of Omoënus, the port of Mochorbe, the islands of Etaxalos and Inchobrice, and the nation of the Cadæi. There are many islands also that have no name, but the better known ones are Isura, Rhinnea, and another still nearer the shore, upon which there are some stone pillars with an inscription in unknown characters. There are also the port of Gobœa, the desert islands called Bragæ, the nation of the Thaludæi, the region of Dabanegoris, Mount Orsa, with a harbour, the gulf of Duatus, with numerous islands, Mount Tricoryphos,[626] the region of Cardaleon, and the islands called Solanades, Cachinna, and that of the Ichthyophagi. We then find the Clari, the shore of Mamæum, on which there are gold mines, the region of Canauna, the nations of the Apitami and the Casani, the island of Devade, the fountain of Coralis, the Carphati, the islands of Calaëu and Amnamethus, and the nation of the Darræ. Also, the island of Chelonitis,[627] numerous islands of Ichthyophagi, the deserts of Odanda, Basa, many islands of the Sabæi, the rivers Thanar and Amnume, the islands of Dorice, and the fountains of Daulotos and Dora. We find also the islands of Pteros, Labatanis, Coboris, and Sambrachate, with a town of the same name[628] on the mainland. Lying to the south are a great number of islands, the largest of which is Camari; also the river Musecros, and the port of Laupas. We then come to the Sabæi, a nation of Scenitæ,[629] with numerous islands, and the city of Acila,[630] which is their mart, and from which persons embark for India. We next come to the region of Amithoscutta, Damnia, the Greater and the Lesser Mizi, and the Drimati. The promontory of the Naumachæi, over against Carmania, is distant from it fifty miles. A wonderful circumstance is said to have happened here; Numenius, who was made governor of Mesena by king Antiochus, while fighting against the Persians, defeated them at sea, and at low water, by land, with an army of cavalry, on the same day; in memory of which event he erected a twofold trophy on the same spot, in honour of Jupiter and Neptune.[631] Opposite to this place, in the main sea, lies the island of Ogyris,[632] famous for being the burial-place of king Erythras;[633] it is distant from the mainland one hundred and twenty miles, being one hundred and twelve in circumference. No less famous is another island, called Dioscoridu,[634] and lying in the Azanian Sea;[635] it is distant two hundred and eighty miles from the extreme point of the Promontory of Syagrus.[636] The remaining places and nations on the mainland, lying still to the south, are the Ausaritæ, to whose country it is seven days’ journey among the mountains, the nations of the Larendani and the Catabani, and the Gebanitæ, who occupy a great number of towns, the largest of which are Nagia, and Thomna with sixty-five temples, a number which fully bespeaks its size. We then come to a promontory, from which to the mainland of the Troglodytæ it is fifty miles, and then the Thoani, the Actæi, the Chatramotitæ, the Tonabei, the Antidalei, the Lexianæ, the Agræi, the Cerbani, and the Sabæi,[637] the best known of all the tribes of Arabia, on account of their frankincense; these nations extend from sea to sea.[638] The towns which belong to them on the Red Sea are Marane, Marma, Corolia, and Sabatha; and in the interior, Nascus, Cardava, Carnus, and Thomala, from which they bring down their spices for exportation. One portion of this nation is the Atramitæ,[639] whose capital, Sabota, has sixty temples within its walls. But the royal city of all these nations is Mariaba;[640] it lies upon a bay, ninety-four miles in extent, and filled with islands that produce perfumes. Lying in the interior, and joining up to the Atramitæ, are the Minæi; the Elamitæ[641] dwell on the sea-shore, in a city from which they take their name. Next to these are the Chaculatæ; then the town of Sibi, by the Greeks called Apate;[642] the Arsi, the Codani, the Vadei, who dwell in a large town, the Barasasæi, the Lechieni, and the island of Sygaros,[643] into the interior of which no dogs are admitted, and so being exposed on the sea-shore, they wander about there and are left to die. We then come to a gulf which runs far into the interior, upon which are situate the Læenitæ, who have given to it their name; also their royal city of Agra,[644] and upon the gulf that of Læana, or as some call it Ælana;[645] indeed, by some of our writers this has been called the Ælanitic Gulf, and by others again, the Ælenitic; Artemidorus calls it the Alenitic, and Juba the Lænitic. The circumference of Arabia, measured from Charax to Læana, is said to be four thousand six hundred and sixty-six miles, but Juba thinks that it is somewhat less than four thousand. Its widest part is at the north, between the cities of Heroopolis and Charax. We will now mention the remaining places and peoples of the interior of Arabia. Up to the Nabatæi[646] the ancients joined the Thimanei; at present they have next to them the Taveni, and then the Suelleni, the Arraceni,[647] and the Areni,[648] whose town is the centre of all the commerce of these parts. Next come the Hemnatæ, the Aualitæ, the towns of Domata and Hegra, the Tamudæi,[649] with the town of Badanatha, the Carrei, with the town of Cariati,[650] the Achoali, with the town of Foth, and the Minæi, who derive their origin, it is supposed,[651] from Minos, king of Crete, and of whom the Carmæi are a tribe. Next comes a town, fourteen miles distant, called Marippa, and belonging to the Palamaces, a place by no means to be overlooked, and then Carnon. The Rhadamæi also—these too are supposed to derive their origin[652] from Rhadamanthus, the brother of Minos—the Homeritæ,[653] with their city of Masala,[654] the Hamirei, the Gedranitæ, the Amphyræ, the Ilisanitæ, the Bachilitæ, the Samnæi, the Amitæi, with the towns of Nessa[655] and Cennesseris, the Zamareni, with the towns of Sagiatta and Canthace, the Bacascami, the town of Riphearma, the name by which they call barley, the Autei, the Ethravi, the Cyrei and the Mathatæi, the Helmodenes, with the town of Ebode, the Agacturi, dwelling in the mountains, with a town twenty miles distant, in which is a fountain called Ænuscabales,[656] which signifies “the town of the camels.” Ampelome[657] also, a Milesian colony, the town of Athrida, the Calingii, whose city is called Mariva,[658] and signifies “the lord of all men;” the towns of Palon and Murannimal, near a river by which it is thought that the Euphrates discharges itself, the nations of the Agrei and the Ammonii, the town of Athenæ, the Caunaravi, a name which signifies “most rich in herds,” the Coranitæ, the Œsani, and the Choani.[659] Here were also formerly the Greek towns of Arethusa, Larisa, and Chalcis, which have been destroyed in various wars. Ælius Gallus,[660] a member of the Equestrian order, is the sole person who has hitherto carried the Roman arms into these lands, for Caius Cæsar, the son[661] of Augustus, only had a distant view of Arabia. In his expedition, Gallus destroyed the following towns, the names of which are not given by the authors who had written before his time, Negrana, Nestum, Nesca, Masugum, Caminacum, Labecia, and Mariva[662] above-mentioned, six miles in circumference, as also Caripeta, the furthest point of his expedition. He brought back with him the following discoveries—that the Nomades[663] live upon milk and the flesh of wild beasts, and that the other nations, like the Indians, extract a sort of wine from the palm-tree, and oil from sesame.[664] He says that the most numerous of these tribes are the Homeritæ and the Minæi, that their lands are fruitful in palms and shrubs, and that their chief wealth is centred in their flocks. We also learn from the same source that the Cerbani and the Agræi excel in arms, but more particularly the Chatramotitæ;[665] that the territories of the Carrei are the most extensive and most fertile; but that the Sabæi are the richest of all in the great abundance of their spice-bearing groves, their mines of gold,[666] their streams for irrigation, and their ample produce of honey and wax. Of their perfumes we shall have to treat more at large in the Book devoted to that subject.[667] The Arabs either wear the mitra,[668] or else go with their hair unshorn, while the beard is shaved, except upon the upper lip: some tribes, however, leave even the beard unshaved. A singular thing too, one half of these almost innumerable tribes live by the pursuits of commerce, the other half by rapine: take them all in all, they are the richest nations in the world, seeing that such vast wealth flows in upon them from both the Roman and the Parthian Empires; for they sell the produce of the sea or of their forests, while they purchase nothing whatever in return. CHAP. 33.—THE GULFS OF THE RED SEA. We will now trace the rest of the coast that lies opposite to that of Arabia. Timosthenes has estimated the length of the whole gulf at four days’ sail, and the breadth at two, making the Straits[669] to be seven miles and a half in width. Eratosthenes says that the length of the shore from the mouth of the gulf is thirteen hundred miles on each side, while Artemidorus states that the length on the Arabian side is seventeen hundred and fifty miles, (29.) and that along the Troglodytic coast, to Ptolemais, the distance is eleven hundred and thirty-seven and a half. Agrippa, however, maintains that there is no difference whatever in the length of the two sides, and makes it seventeen hundred and twenty-two miles. Most writers mention the length as being four hundred and seventy-five miles, and make the Straits to face the south-east, being twelve miles wide according to some, fifteen according to others. The localities of this region are as follow: On passing the Ælanitic Gulf there is another gulf, by the Arabians called Sœa, upon which is situate the city of Heroön.[670] The town of Cambysu[671] also stood here formerly, between the Neli and the Marchades, Cambyses having established there the invalids of his army. We then come to the nation of the Tyri, and the port of the Danei, from which place an attempt has been made to form a navigable canal to the river Nile, at the spot where it enters the Delta previously mentioned,[672] the distance between the river and the Red Sea being sixty-two miles. This was contemplated first of all by Sesostris,[673] king of Egypt, afterwards by Darius, king of the Persians, and still later by Ptolemy II.,[674] who also made a canal, one hundred feet in width and forty deep, extending a distance of thirty-seven miles and a half, as far as the Bitter Springs.[675] He was deterred from proceeding any further with this work by apprehensions of an inundation, upon finding that the Red Sea was three cubits higher than the land in the interior of Egypt. Some writers, however, do not allege this as the cause, but say that his reason was, a fear lest, in consequence of introducing the sea, the water of the Nile might be spoilt, that being the only source from which the Egyptians obtain water for drinking. Be this as it may, the whole of the journey from the Egyptian Sea is usually performed by land one of the three following ways:—Either from Pelusium across the sands, in doing which the only method of finding the way is by means of reeds fixed in the earth, the wind immediately effacing all traces of footsteps: by the route which begins two miles beyond Mount Casius, and at a distance of sixty miles enters the road from Pelusium, adjoining to which road the Arabian tribe of the Autei dwell; or else by a third route, which leads from Gerrum, and which they call Adipsos,[676] passing through the same Arabians, and shorter by nearly sixty miles, but running over rugged mountains and through a district destitute of water. All these roads lead to Arsinoë,[677] a city founded in honour of his sister’s name, upon the Gulf of Carandra, by Ptolemy Philadelphus, who was the first to explore Troglodytice, and called the river which flows before Arsinoë by the name of Ptolemæus. After this comes the little town of Enum, by some writers mentioned as Philotera; next to which are the Abasæi, a nation sprung from intermarriages with the Troglodytæ, then some wild Arabian tribes, the islands of Sapirine and Scytala, and after these, deserts as far as Myoshormon, where we find the fountain of Tatnos, Mount Æas, the island of Iambe, and numerous harbours. Berenice also, is here situate, so called after the name of the mother of Philadelphus, and to which there is a road from Coptos, as we have previously stated;[678] then the Arabian Autei, and the Zebadei. CHAP. 34.—TROGLODYTICE. Troglodytice comes next, by the ancients called Midoë, and by some Michoë; here is Mount Pentedactylos, some islands called Stenæ Deiræ,[679] the Halonnesi,[680] a group of islands not less in number, Cardamine, and Topazos,[681] which last has given its name to the precious stone so called. The gulf is full of islands; those known as Mareu are supplied with fresh water, those called Erenos, are without it; these were ruled by governors[682] appointed by the kings. In the interior are the Candei, also called Ophiophagi, a people in the habit of eating serpents; there is no region in existence more productive of them. Juba, who appears to have investigated all these matters with the greatest diligence, has omitted, in his description of these regions—unless, indeed, it be an error in the copying—another place called Berenice and surnamed Panchrysos,[683] as also a third surnamed Epidires,[684] and remarkable for the peculiarity of its site; for it lies on a long projecting neck of land, at the spot where the Straits at the mouth of the Red Sea separate the coast of Africa from Arabia by a distance of seven miles only: here too is the island of Cytis,[685] which also produces the topaz. Beyond this are forests, in which is Ptolemais,[686] built by Philadelphus for the chase of the elephant, and thence called Epitheras,[687] situate near Lake Monoleus. This is the same region that has been already mentioned by us in the Second Book,[688] and in which, during forty-five days before the summer solstice and for as many after, there is no shadow at the sixth hour, and during the other hours of the day it falls to the south; while at other times it falls to the north; whereas at the Berenice of which we first[689] made mention, on the day of the summer solstice the shadow totally disappears at the sixth hour, but no other unusual phænomenon is observed. That place is situate at a distance of six hundred and two miles from Ptolemais, which has thus become the subject of a remarkable theory, and has promoted the exercise of a spirit of the most profound investigation; for it was at this spot that the extent of the earth was first ascertained, it being the fact that Erastosthenes, beginning at this place by the accurate calculation of the length of the shadow, was enabled to determine with exactness the dimensions of the earth. After passing this place we come to the Azanian[690] Sea, a promontory by some writers called Hispalus, Lake Mandalum, and the island of Colocasitis, with many others lying out in the main sea, upon which multitudes of turtles are found. We then come to the town of Suche, the island of Daphnidis,[691] and the town of the Adulitæ,[692] a place founded by Egyptian runaway slaves. This is the principal mart for the Troglodytæ, as also for the people of Æthiopia: it is distant from Ptolemais five days’ sail. To this place they bring ivory in large quantities, horns of the rhinoceros, hides of the hippopotamus, tortoise-shell, sphingiæ,[693] and slaves. Beyond the Æthiopian Aroteræ are the islands known by the name of Aliæu,[694] as also those of Bacchias, Antibacchias, and Stratioton. After passing these, on the coast of Æthiopia, there is a gulf which remains unexplored still; a circumstance the more to be wondered at, seeing that merchants have pursued their investigations to a greater distance than this. We then come to a promontory, upon which there is a spring called Cucios,[695] much resorted to by mariners. Beyond it is the Port of Isis, distant ten days’ rowing from the town of the Adulitæ: myrrh is brought to this port by the Troglodytæ. The two islands before the harbour are called Pseudepylæ,[696] and those in it, the same in number, are known as Pylæ;[697] upon one of these there are some stone columns inscribed with unknown characters. Beyond these is the Gulf of Abalites, the island of Diodorus,[698] and other desert islands; also, on the mainland, a succession of deserts, and then the town of Gaza, and the promontory and port of Mossylum,[699] to the latter of which cinnamon is brought for exportation: it was thus far that Sesostris led[700] his army. Some writers place even beyond this, upon the shore, one town of Æthiopia, called Baricaza. Juba will have it that at the Promontory of Mossylum[701] the Atlantic Sea begins, and that with a north-west wind[702] we may sail past his native country, the Mauritanias, and arrive at Gades. We ought not on this occasion to curtail any portion of the opinions so expressed by him. He says that after we pass the promontory of the Indians,[703] known as Lepteacra, and by others called Drepanum, the distance, in a straight line, beyond the island of Exusta and Malichu, is fifteen hundred miles; from thence to a place called Sceneos two hundred and twenty-five; and from thence to the island of Adanu one hundred and fifty miles; so that the distance to the open sea[704] is altogether eighteen hundred and seventy-five miles. All the other writers, however, are of opinion that, in consequence of the intensity of the sun’s heat, this sea is not navigable; added to which, commerce is greatly exposed to the depredations of a piratical tribe of Arabians called Ascitæ,[705] who dwell upon the islands: placing two inflated skins of oxen beneath a raft of wood, they ply their piratical vocation with the aid of poisoned arrows. We learn also from the same author that some nations of the Troglodytæ have the name of Therothoæ,[706] being so called from their skill in hunting. They are remarkable for their swiftness, he says, just as the Ichthyophagi are, who can swim like the animals whose element is the sea. He speaks also of the Bangeni, the Gangoræ, the Chalybes, the Xoxinæ, the Sirechæ, the Daremæ, and the Domazames. Juba states, too, that the inhabitants who dwell on the banks of the Nile from Syene as far as Meroë, are not a people of Æthiopia, but Arabians; and that the city of the Sun, which we have mentioned[707] as situate not far from Memphis, in our description of Egypt, was founded by Arabians. There are some writers who take away the further bank of the Nile from Æthiopia,[708] and unite it to Africa;[709] and they people its sides with tribes attracted thither by its water. We shall leave these matters, however, to the option of each, to form his opinion on them, and shall now proceed to mention the towns on each side[710] in the order in which they are given. CHAP. 35.—ÆTHIOPIA. On leaving Syene,[711] and taking first the Arabian side, we find the nation of the Catadupi, then the Syenitæ, and the town of Tacompsos,[712] by some called Thatice, as also Aramasos, Sesamos, Sanduma, Masindomacam, Arabeta and Boggia, Leupitorga, Tantarene, Mecindita, Noa, Gloploa, Gystate, Megada, Lea, Renni, Nups, Direa, Patiga, Bacata, Dumana, Rhadata, at which place a golden cat was worshipped as a god, Boron, in the interior, and Mallos, near Meroë; this is the account given by Bion. Juba, however, gives another account; he says that there is a city on Mount Megatichos,[713] which lies between Egypt and Æthiopia, by the Arabians known as Myrson, after which come Tacompsos, Aramus, Sesamos, Pide, Mamuda, Orambis, situate near a stream of bitumen, Amodita, Prosda, Parenta, Mama, Tesatta, Gallas, Zoton, Graucome, Emeus, the Pidibotæ, the Hebdomecontacometæ,[714] Nomades, who dwell in tents, Cyste, Macadagale, Proaprimis, Nups, Detrelis, Patis, the Ganbreves, the Magasnei, Segasmala, Crandala, Denna, Cadeuma, Thena, Batta, Alana, Mascoa, the Scammi, Hora, situate on an island, and then Abala, Androgalis, Sesecre, the Malli, and Agole. On the African side[715] we find mentioned, either what is another place with the same name of Tacompsos, or else a part of the one before-mentioned, and after it Moggore, Sæa, Edos, Plenariæ, Pinnis, Magassa, Buma, Linthuma, Spintum, Sydop, the Censi, Pindicitora, Acug, Orsum, Sansa, Maumarum, Urbim, the town of Molum, by the Greeks called Hypaton,[716] Pagoarca, Zmanes, at which point elephants begin to be found, the Mambli, Berressa, and Acetuma; there was formerly a town also called Epis, over against Meroë, which had, however, been destroyed before Bion wrote. These are the names of places given as far as Meroë; but at the present day hardly any of them on either side of the river are in existence; at all events, the prætorian troops that were sent by the Emperor Nero[717] under the command of a tribune, for the purposes of enquiry, when, among his other wars, he was contemplating an expedition against Æthiopia, brought back word that they had met with nothing but deserts on their route. The Roman arms also penetrated into these regions in the time of the late Emperor Augustus, under the command of P. Petronius,[718] a man of Equestrian rank, and prefect of Egypt. That general took the following cities, the only ones we now find mentioned there, in the following order; Pselcis,[719] Primis, Abuncis, Phthuris, Cambusis, Atteva, and Stadasis, where the river Nile, as it thunders down the precipices, has quite deprived the inhabitants of the power of hearing: he also sacked the town of Napata.[720] The extreme distance to which he penetrated beyond Syene was nine hundred and seventy miles; but still, it was not the Roman arms that rendered these regions a desert. Æthiopia, in its turn gaining the mastery, and then again reduced to servitude, was at last worn out by its continual wars with Egypt, having been a famous and powerful country even at the time of the Trojan war, when Memnon[721] was its king; it is also very evident from the fabulous stories about Andromeda,[722] that it ruled over Syria in the time of king Cepheus, and that its sway extended as far as the shores of our sea. In a similar manner, also, there have been conflicting accounts as to the extent of this country: first by Dalion, who travelled a considerable distance beyond Meroë, and after him by Aristocreon and Basilis, as well as the younger Simonides, who made a stay of five years at Meroë,[723] when he wrote his account of Æthiopia. Timosthenes, however, the commander of the fleets of Philadelphus, without giving any other estimate as to the distance, says that Meroë is sixty days’ journey from Syene; while Eratosthenes states that the distance is six hundred and twenty-five miles, and Artemidorus six hundred. Sebosus says that from the extreme point of Egypt, the distance to Meroë is sixteen hundred and seventy-five miles, while the other writers last mentioned make it twelve hundred and fifty. All these differences, however, have since been settled; for the persons sent by Nero for the purposes of discovery have reported that the distance from Syene to Meroë is eight hundred and seventy-one miles, the following being the items. From Syene to Hiera Sycaminos[724] they make to be fifty-four miles, from thence to Tama seventy-two, to the country of the Evonymitæ,[725] the first region of Æthiopia, one hundred and twenty, to Acina fifty-four, to Pittara twenty-five, and to Tergedus one hundred and six. They state also that the island of Gagaudes lies at an equal distance from Syene and Meroë, and that it is at this place that the bird called the parrot was first seen; while at another island called Articula, the animal known as the sphingium[726] was first discovered by them, and after passing Tergedus, the cynocephalus.[727] The distance from thence to Napata is eighty miles, that little town being the only one of all of them that now survives. From thence to the island of Meroë the distance is three hundred and sixty miles. They also state that the grass in the vicinity of Meroë becomes of a greener and fresher colour, and that there is some slight appearance of forests, as also traces of the rhinoceros and elephant. They reported also that the city of Meroë stands at a distance of seventy miles from the first entrance of the island of Meroë, and that close to it is another island, Tadu by name, which forms a harbour facing those who enter the right hand channel of the river. The buildings in the city, they said, were but few in number, and they stated that a female, whose name was Candace, ruled over the district, that name having passed from queen to queen for many years. They related also that there was a temple of Jupiter Hammon there, held in great veneration, besides smaller shrines erected in honour of him throughout all the country. In addition to these particulars, they were informed that in the days of the Æthiopian dominion, the island of Meroë enjoyed great renown, and that, according to tradition, it was in the habit of maintaining two hundred thousand armed men, and four thousand artisans. The kings of Æthiopia are said even at the present day to be forty-five in number. (30.) The whole of this country has successively had the names of Ætheria,[728] Atlantia, and last of all, Æthiopia, from Æthiops, the son of Vulcan. It is not at all surprising that towards the extremity of this region the men and animals assume a monstrous form, when we consider the changeableness and volubility of fire, the heat of which is the great agent in imparting various forms and shapes to bodies. Indeed, it is reported that in the interior, on the eastern side, there is a people that have no noses, the whole face presenting a plane surface; that others again are destitute of the upper lip, and others are without tongues. Others again, have the mouth grown together, and being destitute of nostrils, breathe through one passage only, imbibing their drink through it by means of the hollow stalk of the oat, which there grows spontaneously and supplies them with its grain for food. Some of these nations have to employ gestures by nodding the head and moving the limbs, instead of speech. Others again were unacquainted with the use of fire before the time of Ptolemy Lathyrus, king of Egypt. Some writers have also stated that there is a nation of Pygmies, which dwells among the marshes in which the river Nile takes its rise; while on the coast of Æthiopia, where we paused,[729] there is a range of mountains, of a red colour, which have the appearance of being always burning. All the country, after we pass Meroë, is bounded by the Troglodytæ and the Red Sea, it being three days’ journey from Napata to the shores of that sea; throughout the whole of this district the rain water is carefully preserved at several places, while the country that lies between is extremely productive of gold. The parts beyond this are inhabited by the Adabuli, a nation of Æthiopia; and here, over against Meroë, are the Megabarri,[730] by some writers called the Adiabari; they occupy the city of Apollo; some of them, however, are Nomades, living on the flesh of elephants. Opposite to them, on the African side, dwell the Macrobii,[731] and then again, beyond the Megabarri, there are the Memnones and the Dabeli, and, at a distance of twenty days’ journey, the Critensi. Beyond these are the Dochi, and then the Gymnetes, who always go naked; and after them the Andetæ, the Mothitæ, the Mesaches, and the Ipsodoræ, who are of a black tint, but stain the body all over with a kind of red earth. On the African side again there are the Medimni, and then a nation of Nomades, who live on the milk of the cynocephalus, and then the Aladi and the Syrbotæ,[732] which last are said to be eight cubits in height. Aristocreon informs us that on the Libyan side, at a distance of five days’ journey from Meroë, is the town of Tolles, and then at a further distance of twelve days’ journey, Esar, a town founded by the Egyptians who fled from Psammetichus;[733] he states also that they dwelt there for a period of three hundred years, and that opposite, on the Arabian side, there is a town of theirs called Daron.[734] The town, however, which he calls Esar, is by Bion called Sape, who says that the name means “the strangers:” their capital being Sembobitis, situate on an island, and a third place of theirs, Sinat in Arabia. Between the mountains and the river Nile are the Simbarri, the Palugges, and, on the mountains themselves, the Asachæ, who are divided into numerous peoples; they are said to be distant five days’ journey from the sea, and to procure their subsistence by the chase of the elephant. An island in the Nile, which belongs to the Semberritæ, is governed by a queen; beyond it are the Æthiopian Nubei,[735] at a distance of eight days’ journey: their town is Tenupsis, situate on the Nile. There are the Sesambri also, a people among whom all the quadrupeds are without ears, the very elephants even. On the African side are the Tonobari, the Ptoenphæ, a people who have a dog for their king, and divine from his movements what are his commands; the Auruspi, who have a town at a considerable distance from the Nile, and then the Archisarmi, the Phaliges, the Marigerri, and the Casmari. Bion makes mention also of some other towns situate on islands, the whole distance being twenty days’ journey from Sembobitis to Meroë; a town in an adjoining island, under the queen of the Semberritæ, with another called Asara, and another, in a second island, called Darde. The name of a third island is Medoë, upon which is the town of Asel, and a fourth is called Garodes, with a town upon it of the same name. Passing thence along the banks of the Nile, are the towns of Navi, Modunda, Andatis, Secundum, Colligat, Secande, Navectabe, Cumi, Agrospi, Ægipa, Candrogari, Araba, and Summara.[736] Beyond is the region of Sirbitum, at which the mountains terminate,[737] and which by some writers is said to contain the maritime Æthiopians, the Nisacæthæ, and the Nisyti, a word which signifies “men with three or four eyes,”—not that the people really have that conformation, but because they are remarkable for the unerring aim of their arrows. On that side of the Nile which extends along the borders of the Southern Ocean beyond the Greater Syrtes,[738] Dalion says that the people, who use rain-water only, are called the Cisori, and that the other nations are the Longompori, distant five days’ journey from the Œcalices, the Usibalci, the Isbeli, the Perusii, the Ballii, and the Cispii, the rest being deserts, and inhabited by the tribes of fable only. In a more westerly direction are the Nigroæ, whose king has only one eye, and that in the forehead, the Agriophagi,[739] who live principally on the flesh of panthers and lions, the Pamphagi,[740] who will eat anything, the Anthropophagi, who live on human flesh, the Cynamolgi,[741] a people with the heads of dogs, the Artabatitæ, who have four feet, and wander about after the manner of wild beasts; and, after them, the Hesperiæ and the Perorsi, whom we have already spoken[742] of as dwelling on the confines of Mauritania. Some tribes, too, of the Æthiopians subsist on nothing but locusts,[743] which are smoke-dried and salted as their provision for the year; these people do not live beyond their fortieth year. M. Agrippa was of opinion that the length[744] of the whole country of the Æthiopians, including the Red Sea, was two thousand one hundred and seventy miles, and its breadth, including Upper Egypt, twelve hundred and ninety-seven. Some authors again have made the following divisions of its length; from Meroë to Sirbitum eleven days’ sail, from Sirbitum to the Dabelli fifteen days’, and from them to the Æthiopian Ocean six days’ journey. It is agreed by most authors, that the distance altogether, from the ocean[745] to Meroë, is six hundred and twenty-five miles, and from Meroë to Syene, that which we have already mentioned. Æthiopia lies from south-east to south-west. Situate as it is, in a southern hemisphere, forests of ebony are to be seen of the brightest verdure; and in the midst of these regions there is a mountain of immense height, which overhangs the sea, and emits a perpetual flame. By the Greeks this mountain is called Theon Ochema,[746] and at a distance of four days’ sail from it is a promontory, known as Hesperu Ceras,[747] upon the confines of Africa, and close to the Hesperiæ, an Æthiopian nation. There are some writers who affirm that in these regions there are hills of a moderate height, which afford a pleasant shade from the groves with which they are clad, and are the haunts of Ægipans[748] and Satyrs. CHAP. 36. (31.)—ISLANDS OF THE ÆTHIOPIAN SEA. We learn from Ephorus, as well as Eudoxus and Timosthenes, that there are great numbers of islands scattered all over this sea; Clitarchus says that king Alexander was informed of an island so rich that the inhabitants gave a talent of gold for a horse, and of another[749] upon which there was found a sacred mountain, shaded with a grove, the trees of which emitted odours of wondrous sweetness; this last was situate over against the Persian Gulf. Cerne[750] is the name of an island situate opposite to Æthiopia, the size of which has not been ascertained, nor yet its distance from the main land: it is said that its inhabitants are exclusively Æthiopians. Ephorus states that those who sail from the Red Sea into the Æthiopian Ocean cannot get beyond the Columnæ[751] there, some little islands so called. Polybius says that Cerne is situate at the extremity of Mauritania, over against Mount Atlas, and at a distance of eight stadia from the land; while Cornelius Nepos states that it lies very nearly in the same meridian as Carthage, at a distance from the mainland of ten miles, and that it is not more than two miles in circumference. It is said also that there is another island situate over against Mount Atlas, being itself known by the name of Atlantis.[752] Five days’ sail beyond it there are deserts, as far as the Æthiopian Hesperiæ and the promontory, which we have mentioned as being called Hesperu Ceras, a point at which the face of the land first takes a turn towards the west and the Atlantic Sea. Facing this promontory are also said to be the islands called the Gorgades,[753] the former abodes of the Gorgons, two days’ sail from the mainland, according to Xenophon of Lampsacus. Hanno, a general of the Carthaginians, penetrated as far as these regions, and brought back an account that the bodies of the women were covered with hair, but that the men, through their swiftness of foot, made their escape; in proof of which singularity in their skin, and as evidence of a fact so miraculous, he placed the skins[754] of two of these females in the temple of Juno, which were to be seen there until the capture of Carthage. Beyond these even, are said to be the two islands of the Hesperides; but so uncertain are all the accounts relative to this subject, that Statius Sebosus says that it is forty days’ sail, past the coast of the Atlas range, from the islands of the Gorgons to those of the Hesperides, and one day’s sail from these to the Hesperu Ceras. Nor have we any more certain information relative to the islands of Mauritania. We only know, as a fact well-ascertained, that some few were discovered by Juba over against the country of the Autololes, upon which he established a manufactory of Gætulian purple.[755] CHAP. 37. (32.)—THE FORTUNATE ISLANDS. There are some authors who think that beyond these are the Fortunate Islands,[756] and some others; the number of which Sebosus gives, as well as the distances, informing us that Junonia[757] is an island seven hundred and fifty miles distant from Gades. He states also that Pluvialia[758] and Capraria[759] are the same distance from Junonia, to the west; and that in Pluvialia the only fresh water to be obtained is rain water. He then states that at a distance of two hundred and fifty miles from these, opposite the left of Mauritania, and situate in the direction of the sun at the eighth hour, are the Fortunate Islands,[760] one of which, from its undulating surface, has the name of Invallis,[761] and another that of Planasia,[762] from the peculiarity[763] of its appearance. He states also that the circumference of Invallis is three hundred miles, and that trees grow to a height of one hundred and fourteen feet. Relative to the Fortunate Islands, Juba has ascertained the following facts: that they are situate to the south in nearly a due westerly direction, and at a distance from the Purple Islands of six hundred and twenty-five miles, the sailing being made for two hundred and fifty miles due west, and then three hundred and seventy-five towards the east.[764] He states that the first is called Ombrios,[765] and that it presents no traces of buildings whatever; that among the mountains there is a lake, and some trees,[766] which bear a strong resemblance to giant fennel, and from which water is extracted; that drawn from those that are black is of a bitter taste, but that produced by the white ones is agreeable and good for drinking. He states also that a second island has the name of Junonia, but that it contains nothing beyond a small temple of stone: also that in its vicinity there is another, but smaller, island[767] of the same name, and then another called Capraria, which is infested by multitudes of huge lizards. According to the same author, in sight of these islands is Ninguaria,[768] which has received that name from its perpetual snows; this island abounds also in fogs. The one next to it is Canaria;[769] it contains vast multitudes of dogs of very large size, two of which were brought home to Juba: there are some traces of buildings to be seen here. While all these islands abound in fruit and birds of every kind, this one produces in great numbers the date palm which bears the caryota, also pine nuts. Honey too abounds here, and in the rivers papyrus, and the fish called silurus,[770] are found. These islands, however, are greatly annoyed by the putrefying bodies of monsters, which are constantly thrown up by the sea. CHAP. 38.—THE COMPARATIVE DISTANCES OF PLACES ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Having now fully described the earth, both without[771] as well as within, it seems only proper that we should succinctly state the length and breadth of its various seas. (33.) Polybius has stated, that in a straight line from the Straits of Gades to the mouth of the Mæotis, it is a distance of three thousand four hundred and thirty-seven miles and a half, and that, starting from the same point,[772] the distance in a straight line to Sicily is twelve hundred and fifty miles, from thence to Crete three hundred and seventy-five, to Rhodes one hundred and eighty-seven and a half, to the Chelidonian Islands the same distance, to Cyprus two hundred and twenty-five, and from thence to Seleucia Pieria, in Syria, one hundred and fifteen miles: the sum of all which distances amounts to two thousand three hundred and forty miles. Agrippa estimates this same distance, in a straight line from the Straits of Gades to the Gulf of Issus, at three thousand three hundred and forty miles; in which computation, however, I am not certain that there is not some error in the figures, seeing that the same author has stated that the distance from the Straits of Sicily to Alexandria is thirteen hundred and fifty miles. Taking the whole length of the sea-line throughout the gulfs above-mentioned, and beginning at the same point,[773] he makes it ten thousand and fifty-eight miles; to which number Artemidorus has added seven hundred and fifty-six: the same author, including in his calculation the shores of the Mæotis, makes the whole distance seventeen thousand three hundred and ninety miles. Such is the measurement given by men who have penetrated into distant countries, unaided by force of arms, and have, with a boldness that exhibits itself in the times of peace even, challenged, as it were, Fortune herself. I shall now proceed to compare the dimensions of the various parts of the earth, however great the difficulties which may arise from the discrepancy of the accounts given by various authors: the most convenient method, however, will be that of adding the breadth to the length.[774] Following this mode of reckoning, the dimensions of Europe will be eight thousand two hundred and ninety-four miles; of Africa, to adopt a mean between all the various accounts given by authors, the length is three thousand seven hundred and ninety-four miles, while the breadth, so far as it is inhabited, in no part exceeds two hundred and fifty miles.[775] But, as Agrippa, including its deserts, makes it from Cyrenaica, a part of it, to the country of the Garamantes, so far as was then known, a further distance of nine hundred and ten miles, the entire length, added together, will make a distance of four thousand six hundred and eight miles. The length of Asia is generally admitted[776] to be six thousand three hundred and seventy-five miles, and the breadth, which ought, properly, to be reckoned from the Æthiopian Sea to Alexandria,[777] near the river Nile, so as to run through Meroë and Syene, is eighteen hundred and seventy-five. It appears then that Europe is greater than Asia, by a little less than one half of Asia, and greater than Africa by as much again of Africa and one-sixth. If all these sums are added together, it will be clearly seen that Europe is one-third, and a little more than one-eighth part of one-third, Asia one-fourth and one-fourteenth part of one-fourth, and Africa, one-fifth and one-sixtieth part of one-fifth of the whole earth.[778] CHAP. 39.—DIVISION OF THE EARTH INTO PARALLELS AND SHADOWS OF EQUAL LENGTH. To the above we shall add even another instance of ingenious discovery by the Greeks, and indeed of the most minute skilfulness; that so nothing may be wanting to our investigation of the geographical divisions of the earth, and the various countries thereof which have been pointed out; that it may be the better understood, too, what affinity, or relationship as it were, exists between one region and another, in respect to the length of their days and nights, and in which of them the shadows are of equal length, and the distance from the pole is the same. I shall therefore give these particulars as well, and shall state the divisions of the whole earth in accordance with the various sections of the heavens. The lines or segments which divide the world are many in number; by our people they are known as “circuli” or circles, by the Greeks they are called “paralleli” or parallels. (34.) The first begins at that part of India which looks towards the south, and extends to Arabia and those who dwell upon the borders of the Red Sea. It embraces the Gedrosi, the Carmanii, the Persæ, the Elymæi, Parthyene, Aria, Susiane, Mesopotamia, Seleucia surnamed Babylonia, Arabia as far as Petra, Cœle Syria, Pelusium, the lower parts of Egypt called the Chora of Alexandria, the maritime parts of Africa, all the cities of Cyrenaica, Thapsus, Adrumetum, Clupea, Carthage, Utica, the two Hippo’s, Numidia, the two Mauritanias, the Atlantic Sea, and the Pillars of Hercules. Within the meridian of this parallel, on the middle day of the equinox, the pin of the dial, usually called the gnomon, if seven feet in length, throws a shadow at mid-day no more than four feet long: the longest day and night are fourteen equinoctial hours respectively, the shortest being only ten. The next circle or parallel begins with the western parts of India, and runs through the middle of Parthia, through Persepolis, the nearer parts of Persis, the nearer Arabia, Judæa, and the people who live near Mount Libanus, and it embraces Babylon, Idumæa, Samaria, Hierosolyma, Ascalon, Joppa, Cæsarea in Phœnicia, Ptolemais, Sidon, Tyre, Berytus, Botrys, Tripolis, Byblus, Antiochia, Laodicea, Seleucia, the maritime parts of Cilicia, the southern parts of Cyprus, Crete, Lilybæum in Sicily, and the northern parts of Africa and Numidia. In these regions, at the time of the equinox, a gnomon of thirty-five feet in length gives only a shadow twenty-four feet long; and the longest day and night are respectively fourteen equinoctial hours, and one-fifth of an hour, in length. The third circle or parallel begins at the part of India which lies in the vicinity of Mount Imaüs, and runs through the Caspian Gates and the nearer parts of Media, Cataonia, Cappadocia, Taurus, Amanus, Issus, the Passes of Cilicia, Soli, Tarsus, Cyprus, Pisidia, Side in Pamphylia, Lycaonia, Patara in Lycia, Xanthus, Caunus, Rhodes, Cos, Halicarnassus, Cnidos, Doris, Chios, Delos, the middle of the Cyclades, Gythium, Malea, Argos, Laconia, Elis, Olympia, Messenia in Peloponnesus, Syracuse, Catina, the middle of Sicily, the southern parts of Sardinia, Carteia, and Gades. A gnomon, one hundred inches in length, throws a shadow seventy-seven inches long; the length of the longest day is fourteen equinoctial hours and a half, plus one thirtieth of an hour. Under the fourth circle or parallel lie those parts of India which are on the other side of the Imaüs, the southern parts of Cappadocia, Galatia, Mysia, Sardis, Smyrna, Sipylus, Mount Tmolus, Lydia, Caria, Ionia, Tralles, Colophon, Ephesus, Miletus, Chios, Samos, the Icarian Sea, the northern part of the Cyclades, Athens, Megara, Corinth, Sicyon, Achaia, Patræ, the Isthmus, Epirus, the northern parts of Sicily, the eastern parts of Gallia Narbonensis, and the sea-coast of Spain, from New Carthage westward. In these districts a gnomon of twenty-one feet throws a shadow of sixteen feet in length; the longest day contains fourteen equinoctial hours and two-thirds of an hour. Under the fifth zone are included, from the entrance to the Caspian Sea, the Bactri, Iberia, Armenia, Mysia, Phrygia, the Hellespont, Troas, Tenedos, Abydos, Scepsis, Ilium, Mount Ida, Cyzicus, Lampsacus, Sinope, Amisus, Heraclea in Pontus, Paphlagonia, Lemnos, Imbros, Thasos, Cassandria, Thessaly, Macedonia, Larissa, Amphipolis, Thessalonica, Pella, Edessa, Berœa, Pharsalia, Carystus, Eubœa in Bœotia, Chalcis, Delphi, Acarnania, Ætolia, Apollonia, Brudisium, Tarentum, Thurii, Locri, Rhegium, the Lucani, Neapolis, Puteoli, the Tuscan Sea, Corsica, the Balearic Islands, and the middle of Spain. A gnomon, seven feet in length, in these countries gives a shadow of six feet, and the length of the day is fifteen equinoctial hours. The sixth division, in which Rome is included, embraces the Caspian nations, Caucasus, the northern parts of Armenia, Apollonia on the Rhyndacus, Nicomedia, Nicæa, Chalcedon, Byzantium, Lysimachia, the Chersonnesus, the Gulf of Melas, Abdera, Samothracia, Maronea, Ænus, Bessica, Thracia, Mædica, Pæonia, the Illyrii, Dyrrhachium, Canusium, the extreme parts of Apulia, Campania, Etruria, Pisæ, Luna, Luca, Genua, Liguria, Antipolis, Massilia, Narbo, Tarraco, the middle parts of Hispania Tarraconensis, and thence through Lusitania. A gnomon of nine feet here throws a shadow eight feet long; the greatest length of the day is fifteen equinoctial hours, plus one-ninth part of an hour, or, according to Nigidius, one-fifth. The seventh division begins on the other side of the Caspian Sea, and the line runs above Callatis, and through the Bosporus, the Borysthenes, Tomi, the back part of Thrace, the Triballi, the remainder of Illyricum, the Adriatic Sea, Aquileia, Altinum, Venetia, Vicetia, Patavium, Verona, Cremona, Ravenna, Ancona, Picenum, the Marsi, the Peligni, the Sabini, Umbria, Ariminum, Bononia, Placentia, Mediolanum, all the districts at the foot of the Apennines, and, beyond the Alps, Gallia Aquitanica, Vienna, the Pyrenæan range, and Celtiberia. A gnomon thirty-five feet in length here throws a shadow of thirty-six feet, except in some parts of Venetia, where the shadow just equals the length of the gnomon; the longest day is fifteen equinoctial hours, plus three-fifths of an hour. Thus far we have set forth the results of observations made by the ancients. The remaining part of the earth has been divided, through the careful researches of those of more recent times, by three additional parallels. The first runs from the Tanais through the Mæotis and the country of the Sarmatæ, as far as the Borysthenes, and so through the Daci and part of Germany, and the Gallic provinces, as far as the shores of the ocean, the longest day being sixteen hours. The second parallel runs through the country of the Hyperborei and the island of Britannia, the longest day being seventeen hours in length. The last of all is the Scythian parallel, which runs from the Riphæan range to Thule, in which, as we have already stated,[779] the year is divided into days and nights alternately, of six months’ duration. The same authors have also placed before the first parallel, which we have here given,[780] two other parallels or circles; the first running through the island of Meroë and the city of Ptolemais which was built on the Red Sea for the chase of the elephant; where the longest day is twelve hours and a half in length; and the second passing through Syene in Egypt, in which the longest day is thirteen hours in length. The same authors have also added half an hour to each of the parallels, till they come to the last. Thus far on the Geography of the earth. * * * * * Summary.—Towns mentioned, eleven hundred and ninety-four. Nations, five hundred and seventy-six. Noted rivers, one hundred and fifteen. Famous mountains, thirty-eight. Islands, one hundred and eight. Peoples or towns no longer in existence, ninety-five. Remarkable events, narratives, and observations, two thousand two hundred and fourteen. * * * * * Roman authors quoted.—M. Agrippa,[781] M. Varro,[782] Varro Atacinus,[783] Cornelius Nepos,[784] Hyginus,[785] L. Vetus,[786] Mela Pomponius,[787] Domitius Corbulo,[788] Licinius Mucianus,[789] Claudius Cæsar,[790] Arruntius,[791] Sebosus,[792] Fabricius Tuscus,[793] T. Livius,[794] Seneca,[795] Nigidius.[796] * * * * * Foreign authors quoted.—King Juba,[797] Hecatæus,[798] Hellenicus,[799] Damastes,[800] Eudoxus,[801] Dicæarchus,[802] Bæton,[803] Timosthenes,[804] Patrocles,[805] Demodamas,[806] Clitarchus,[807] Eratosthenes,[808] Alexander the Great,[809] Ephorus,[810] Hipparchus,[811] Panætius,[812] Callimachus,[813] Artemidorus,[814] Apollodorus,[815] Agathocles,[816] Polybius,[817] Eumachus,[818] Timæus Siculus,[819] Alexander Polyhistor,[820] Isidorus,[821] Amometus,[822] Metrodorus,[823] Posidonius,[824] Onesicritus,[825] Nearchus,[826] Megasthenes,[827] Diognetus,[828] Aristocreon,[829] Bion,[830] Dalion,[831] the Younger Simonides,[832] Basilis,[833] Xenophon[834] of Lampsacus.