1. The southern parts of Armenia lie in front of the Taurus, which
separates Armenia from the whole of the country situated between the
Euphrates and the Tigris, and which is called Mesopotamia. The eastern
parts are contiguous to the Greater Media, and to Atropatene. To the
north are the range of the mountains of Parachoathras lying above the
Caspian Sea, the Albanians, Iberians, and the Caucasus. The Caucasus
encircles these nations, and approaches close to the Armenians, the
Moschic and Colchic mountains, and extends as far as the country of the
people called Tibareni. On the west are these nations and the mountains
Paryadres and Scydises, extending to the Lesser Armenia, and the country
on the side of the Euphrates, which divides Armenia from Cappadocia and
Commagene.
2. The Euphrates rises in the northern side of the Taurus, and flows at
first towards the west through Armenia, it then makes a bend to the
south, and intersects the Taurus between the Armenians, Cappadocians,
and Commageni. Then issuing outwards and entering Syria, it turns
towards the winter sunrise as far as Babylon, and forms Mesopotamia
with the Tigris. Both these rivers terminate in the Persian Gulf.
Such is the nature of the places around Armenia, almost all of them
mountainous and rugged, except a few tracts which verge towards Media.
To the above-mentioned Taurus, which commences again in the country on
the other side of the Euphrates, occupied [CAS. 527] by the Commageni,
and Meliteni formed by the Euphrates, belongs Mount Masius, which is
situated on the south above the Mygdones in Mesopotamia, in whose
territory is Nisibis; on the northern parts is Sophene, lying between
the Masius and Anti-Taurus. Anti-Taurus begins from the Euphrates and
the Taurus, and terminates at the eastern parts of Armenia, enclosing
within it Sophene. It has on the other side Acilisene, which lies
between [Anti-]Taurus and the bed of the Euphrates before it turns to
the south. The royal city of Sophene is Carcathiocerta.[1055]
Above Mount Masius far to the east along Gordyene is the Niphates, then
the Abus,[1056] from which flow both the Euphrates and the Araxes, the
former to the west, the latter to the east; then the Nibarus, which
extends as far as Media.
3. We have described the course of the Euphrates. The Araxes, after
running to the east as far as Atropatene, makes a bend towards the west
and north. It then first flows beside Azara, then by Artaxata,[1057] a
city of the Armenians; afterwards it passes through the plain of
Araxenus to discharge itself into the Caspian Sea.
4. There are many mountains in Armenia, and many mountain plains, in
which not even the vine grows. There are also many valleys, some are
moderately fertile, others are very productive, as the Araxenian plain,
through which the river Araxes flows to the extremities of Albania, and
empties itself into the Caspian Sea. Next is Sacasene, which borders
upon Albania, and the river Cyrus; then Gogarene. All this district
abounds with products of the soil, cultivated fruit trees and
evergreens. It bears also the olive.
There is Phauene, (Phanenæ, Phasiana?) a province of Armenia, Comisene,
and Orchistene, which furnishes large bodies of cavalry.
Chorzene[1058] and Cambysene are the most northerly countries, and
particularly subject to falls of snow. They are contiguous to the
Caucasian mountains, to Iberia, and Colchis. Here, they say, on the
passes over mountains, it frequently happens that whole companies of
persons have been overwhelmed in violent snow-storms. Travellers are
provided against such dangerous accidents with poles, which they force
upwards to the surface of the snow, for the purpose of breathing, and of
signifying their situation to other travellers who may come that way, so
that they may receive assistance, be extricated, and so escape alive.
They say that hollow masses are consolidated in the snow, which contain
good water, enveloped as in a coat; that animals are bred in the snow,
which Apollonides call scoleces,[1059] and Theophanes, thripes, and that
these hollow masses contain good water, which is obtained by breaking
open their coats or coverings. The generation of these animals is
supposed to be similar to that of the gnats, (or mosquitos,) from
flames, and the sparks in mines.
5. According to historians, Armenia, which was formerly a small country,
was enlarged by Artaxias and Zariadris, who had been generals of
Antiochus the Great, and at last, after his overthrow, when they became
kings, (the former of Sophene, Acisene, (Amphissene?) Odomantis, and
some other places, the latter of the country about Artaxata,) they
simultaneously aggrandized themselves, by taking away portions of the
territory of the surrounding nations: from the Medes they took the
Caspiana, Phaunitis, and Basoropeda; from the Iberians, the country at
the foot of the Paryadres, the Chorzene, and Gogarene, which is on the
other side of the Cyrus; from the Chalybes, and the Mosynœci, Carenitis
and Xerxene, which border upon the Lesser Armenia, or are even parts of
it; from the Cataones, Acilisene,[1060] and the country about the
Anti-Taurus; from the Syrians, Taronitis;[1061] hence they all speak the
same language.
6. The cities of Armenia are Artaxata, called also Artaxiasata, [CAS.
529] built by Hannibal for the king Artaxias, and Arxata, both situated
on the Araxes; Arxata on the confines of Atropatia, and Artaxata near
the Araxenian plain; it is well inhabited, and the seat of the kings of
the country. It lies upon a peninsular elbow of land; the river
encircles the walls except at the isthmus, which is enclosed by a ditch
and rampart.
Not far from the city are the treasure-storehouses of Tigranes and
Artavasdes, the strong fortresses Babyrsa, and Olane. There were others
also upon the Euphrates. Ador, (Addon?) the governor of the fortress,
occasioned the revolt of Artageræ, but the generals of Cæsar retook it
after a long siege, and destroyed the walls.
7. There are many rivers in the country. The most celebrated are the
Phasis and Lycus; they empty themselves into the Euxine; (Eratosthenes
instead of the Lycus mentions the Thermodon, but erroneously;) the Cyrus
and the Araxes into the Caspian, and the Euphrates and the Tigris into
the Persian Gulf.
8. There are also large lakes in Armenia; one the Mantiane,[1062] which
word translated signifies Cyane, or Blue, the largest salt-water lake,
it is said, after the Palus Mæotis, extending as far as (Media-)
Atropatia. It has salt pans for the concretion of salt.
The next is Arsene,[1063] which is also called Thopitis. Its waters
contain nitre, and are used for cleaning and fulling clothes. It is
unfit by these qualities for drinking. The Tigris passes through this
lake[1064] after issuing from the mountainous country near the Niphates,
and by its rapidity keeps its stream unmixed with the water of the lake,
whence it has its name, for the Medes call an arrow, Tigris. This river
contains fish of various kinds, but the lake one kind only.
At the extremity of the lake the river falls into a deep cavity in the
earth. After pursuing a long course under-ground, it reappears in the
Chalonitis; thence it goes to Opis, and to the wall of Semiramis, as it
is called, leaving the Gordyæi[1065] and the whole of Mesopotamia on the
right hand. The Euphrates, on the contrary, has the same country on the
left. Having approached one another, and formed Mesopotamia, one
traverses Seleucia in its course to the Persian Gulf, the other Babylon,
as I have said in replying to Eratosthenes and Hipparchus.
9. There are mines of gold in the Hyspiratis,[1066] near Caballa.
Alexander sent Menon to the mines with a body of soldiers, but he was
strangled[1067] by the inhabitants of the country. There are other
mines, and also a mine of Sandyx as it is called, to which is given the
name of Armenian colour, it resembles the Calche.[1068]
This country is so well adapted, being nothing inferior in this respect
to Media, for breeding horses, that the race of Nesæan horses, which the
kings of Persia used, is found here also; the satrap of Armenia used to
send annually to the king of Persia 20,000 foals at the time of the
festival of the Mithracina. Artavasdes, when he accompanied Antony in
his invasion of Media, exhibited, besides other bodies of cavalry, 6000
horse covered with complete armour drawn up in array.
Not only do the Medes and Armenians, but the Albanians also, admire this
kind of cavalry, for the latter use horses covered with armour.
10. Of the riches and power of this country, this is no slight proof,
that when Pompey imposed upon Tigranes, the father of Artavasdes, the
payment of 6000 talents of silver, he immediately distributed the money
among the Roman army, to each soldier 50 drachmæ, 1000 to a centurion,
and a talent to a Hipparch and a Chiliarch.
11. Theophanes represents this as the size of the country; its breadth
to be 100 schœni, and its length double this number, reckoning the
schœnus at 40 stadia; but this computation exceeds the truth. It is
nearer the truth to take the [CAS. 530] length as he has given it, and
the breadth at one half, or a little more.
Such then is the nature of the country of Armenia, and its power.
12. There exists an ancient account of the origin of this nation to the
following effect. Armenus of Armenium, a Thessalian city, which lies
between Pheræ and Larisa on the lake Bœbe, accompanied Jason, as we have
already said, in his expedition into Armenia, and from Armenus the
country had its name, according to Cyrsilus the Pharsalian and Medius
the Larisæan, persons who had accompanied the army of Alexander. Some of
the followers of Armenus settled in Acilisene, which was formerly
subject to the Sopheni; others in the Syspiritis, and spread as far as
Calachene and Adiabene, beyond the borders of Armenia.
The dress of the Armenian people is said to be of Thessalian origin;
such are the long tunics, which in tragedies are called Thessalian; they
are fastened about the body with a girdle, and with a clasp on the
shoulder. The tragedians, for they required some additional decoration
of this kind, imitate the Thessalians in their attire. The Thessalians
in particular, from wearing a long dress, (probably because they inhabit
the most northerly and the coldest country in all Greece,) afforded the
most appropriate subject of imitation to actors for their theatrical
representations. The passion for riding and the care of horses
characterize the Thessalians, and are common to Armenians and Medes.
The Jasonia are evidence of the expedition of Jason: some of these
memorials the sovereigns of the country restored, as Parmenio restored
the temple of Jason at Abdera.
13. It is supposed that Armenus and his companions called the Araxes
by this name on account of its resemblance to the Peneius, for the
Peneius had the name of Araxes from bursting through Tempe, and rending
(ἀπαράξαι) Ossa from Olympus. The Araxes also in Armenia, descending
from the mountains, is said to have spread itself in ancient times,
and to have overflowed the plains, like a sea, having no outlet; that
Jason, in imitation of what is to be seen at Tempe, made the opening
through which the water at present precipitates itself into the Caspian
Sea; that upon this the Araxenian plain, through which the river flows
to the cataract, became uncovered. This story which is told of the
river Araxes contains some probability; that of Herodotus[1069] none
whatever. For he says that, after flowing out of the country of the
Matiani, it is divided into forty rivers, and separates the Scythians
from the Bactrians. Callisthenes has followed Herodotus.
14. Some tribes of Ænianes are mentioned, some of whom settled in Vitia,
others above the Armenians beyond the Abus and the Nibarus. These latter
are branches of Taurus; the Abus is near the road which leads to
Ecbatana by the temple of Baris (Zaris?).
Some tribes of Thracians, surnamed Saraparæ, or decapitators, are said
to live above Armenia, near the Gouranii and Medes. They are a savage
people, intractable mountaineers, and scalp and decapitate strangers;
for such is the meaning of the term Saraparæ.
I have spoken of Medeia in the account of Media, and it is conjectured
from all the circumstances that the Medes and Armenians are allied in
some way to the Thessalians, descended from Jason and Medeia.
15. This is the ancient account, but the more recent, and extending from
the time of the Persians to our own age, may be given summarily, and in
part only (as follows); Persians and Macedonians gained possession of
Armenia, next those who were masters of Syria and Media. The last was
Orontes, a descendant of Hydarnes, one of the seven Persians: it was
then divided into two portions by Artaxias and Zariadris, generals of
Antiochus the Great, who made war against the Romans. These were
governors by permission of the king, but upon his overthrow they
attached themselves to the Romans, were declared independent, and had
the title of kings. Tigranes was a descendant of Artaxias, and had
Armenia, properly so called. This country was contiguous to Media, to
the Albani, and to the Iberes, and extended as far as Colchis, and
Cappadocia upon the Euxine.
Artanes the Sophenian was the descendant of Zariadris, and had the
southern parts of Armenia, which verge rather to the west. He was
defeated by Tigranes, who became master of the whole country. He had
experienced many vicissitudes of fortune. At first he had served as a
[CAS. 532] hostage among the Parthians; then by their means he returned
to his country, in compensation for which service they obtained seventy
valleys in Armenia. When he acquired power, he recovered these valleys,
and devastated the country of the Parthians, the territory about Ninus,
and that about Arbela.[1070] He subjected to his authority the
Atropatenians, and the Gordyæans; by force of arms he obtained
possession also of the rest of Mesopotamia, and, after crossing the
Euphrates, of Syria and Phœnicia. Having attained this height of
prosperity, he even founded near Iberia,[1071] between this country and
the Zeugma on the Euphrates, a city, which he named Tigranocerta, and
collected inhabitants out of twelve Grecian cities, which he had
depopulated. But Lucullus, who had commanded in the war against
Mithridates, surprised him, thus engaged, and dismissed the inhabitants
to their respective homes. The buildings which were half finished he
demolished, and left a small village remaining. He drove Tigranes both
out of Syria and Phœnicia.
Artavasdes, his successor, prospered as long as he continued a friend of
the Romans. But having betrayed Antony to the Parthians in the war with
that people, he suffered punishment for his treachery. He was carried in
chains to Alexandria, by order of Antony, led in procession through the
city, and kept in prison for a time. On the breaking out of the Actiac
war he was then put to death. Many kings reigned after Artavasdes, who
were dependent upon Cæsar and the Romans. The country is still governed
in the same manner.
16. Both the Medes and Armenians have adopted all the sacred rites of
the Persians, but the Armenians pay particular reverence to Anaïtis, and
have built temples to her honour in several places, especially in
Acilisene. They dedicate there to her service male and female slaves; in
this there is nothing remarkable, but it is surprising that persons of
the highest rank in the nation consecrate their virgin daughters to the
goddess. It is customary for these women, after being prostituted a
long period at the temple of Anaïtis, to be disposed of in marriage, no
one disdaining a connexion with such persons. Herodotus mentions
something similar respecting the Lydian women, all of whom prostitute
themselves. But they treat their paramours with much kindness, they
entertain them hospitably, and frequently make a return of more presents
than they receive, being amply supplied with means derived from their
wealthy connexions. They do not admit into their dwellings accidental
strangers, but prefer those of a rank equal to their own.
BOOK XII.
CAPPADOCIA.
SUMMARY.
The Twelfth Book contains the remainder of Pontus, viz.
Cappadocia, Galatia, Bithynia, Mysia, Phrygia, and Mæonia: the
cities, Sinope in Pontus, Heracleia, and Amaseia, and likewise
Isauria, Lycia, Pamphylia, and Cilicia, with the islands lying
along the coast; the mountains and rivers.
CHAPTER I.
1.[1072]Cappadocia consists of many parts, and has experienced frequent
changes.
The nations speaking the same language are chiefly those who are bounded
on the south by the Cilician Taurus,[1073] as it is called; on the east
by Armenia, Colchis, and by the intervening nations who speak different
languages; on the north by the Euxine, as far as the mouth of the
Halys;[1074] on the west by the Paphlagonians, and by the Galatians, who
migrated into Phrygia, and spread themselves as far as Lycaonia, and the
Cilicians, who occupy Cilicia Tracheia (Cilicia the mountainous).[1075]
2. Among the nations that speak the same language, the ancients placed
the Cataonians by themselves, contra-distinguishing them from the
Cappadocians, whom they considered as a different people. In the
enumeration of the nations they placed Cataonia after Cappadocia, then
the Euphrates, and the nations on the other side of that river, so as to
include even Melitene in Cataonia, although Melitene lies between
Cataonia and the Euphrates, approaches close to Commagene, and
constitutes a tenth portion of Cappadocia, according to the division of
the country into ten provinces. For the kings in our times who preceded
Archelaus[1076] usually divided the kingdom of Cappadocia in this
manner.
Cataonia is a tenth portion of Cappadocia. In our time each province had
its own governor, and since no difference appears in the language of the
Cataonians compared with that of the other Cappadocians, nor any
difference in their customs, it is surprising how entirely the
characteristic marks of a foreign nation have disappeared, yet they were
distinct nations; Ariarathes, the first who bore the title of king of
the Cappadocians, annexed the Cataonians to Cappadocia.
3. This country composes the isthmus, as it were, of a large peninsula
formed by two seas; by the bay of Issus, extending to Cilicia Tracheia,
and by the Euxine lying between Sinope and the coast of the Tibareni.
The isthmus cuts off what we call the peninsula; the whole tract lying
to the west of the Cappadocians, to which Herodotus[1077] gives the name
of the country within the Halys. This is the country the whole of which
was the kingdom of Crœsus. Herodotus calls him king of the nations on
this side the river Halys. But writers of the present time give the name
of Asia, which is the appellation of the whole continent, to the country
within the Taurus.
This Asia comprises, first, the nations on the east, Paphlagonians,
Phrygians, and Lycaonians; then Bithynians, Mysians, and the Epictetus;
besides these, Troas, and Hellespontia; next to these, and situated on
the sea, are the Æolians and Ionians, who are Greeks; the inhabitants of
the remaining portions are Carians and Lycians, and in the inland parts
are Lydians.
We shall speak hereafter of the other nations.
4. The Macedonians obtained possession of Cappadocia after it had been
divided by the Persians into two satrapies, and permitted, partly with
and partly without the consent of the people, the satrapies to be
altered to two kingdoms, one of which they called Cappadocia Proper, and
Cappadocia [CAS. 534] near the Taurus, or Cappadocia the Great; the
other they called Pontus, but according to other writers, Cappadocia on
Pontus.
We are ignorant at present how Cappadocia the Great was at first
distributed; upon the death of Archelaus the king, Cæsar and the senate
decreed that it should be a Roman province. But when the country was
divided in the time of Archelaus and of preceding kings into ten
provinces, they reckoned five near the Taurus, Melitene, Cataonia,
Cilicia, Tyanītis, and Garsaurītis; the remaining five were Laviansene,
Sargarausene, Saravene, Chamanene, Morimene. The Romans afterwards
assigned to the predecessors of Archelaus an eleventh province formed
out of Cilicia, consisting of the country about Castabala and
Cybistra,[1078] extending to Derbe, belonging to Antipater, the robber.
Cilicia Trachea about Elæussa was assigned to Archelaus, and all the
country which served as the haunts of pirates.
CHAPTER II.
1. Melitene resembles Commagene, for the whole of it is planted with
fruit-trees, and is the only part of all Cappadocia which is planted in
this manner. It produces oil, and the wine Monarites, which vies with
the wines of Greece. It is situated opposite to Sophene, having the
river Euphrates flowing between it and Commagene, which borders upon it.
In the country on the other side of the river is Tomisa, a considerable
fortress of the Cappadocians. It was sold to the prince of Sophene for a
hundred talents. Lucullus presented it afterwards as a reward of valour
to the Cappadocian prince for his services in the war against
Mithridates.
2. Cataonia is a plain, wide and hollow,[1079] and produces everything
except evergreen trees. It is surrounded by mountains, and among others
by the Amanus on the side towards the south, a mass separated from the
Cilician Taurus, and also by the Anti-Taurus,[1080] a mass rent off in a
contrary direction. The Amanus extends from Cataonia to Cilicia, and
the Syrian sea towards the west and south. In this intervening space it
comprises the whole of the gulf of Issus, and the plains of the
Cilicians which lie towards the Taurus. But the Anti-Taurus inclines to
the north, and a little also to the east, and then terminates in the
interior of the country.
3. In the Anti-Taurus are deep and narrow valleys, in which is situated
Comana,[1081] and the temple of Enyus (Bellona), which they call Ma.
It is a considerable city. It contains a very great multitude of
persons who at times are actuated by divine impulse, and of servants of
the temple. It is inhabited by Cataonians, who are chiefly under the
command of the priest, but in other respects subject to the king. The
former presides over the temple, and has authority over the servants
belonging to it, who, at the time that I was there, exceeded in number
six thousand persons, including men and women. A large tract of land
adjoins the temple, the revenue of which the priest enjoys. He is
second in rank in Cappadocia after the king, and, in general, the
priests are descended from the same family as the kings. Orestes, when
he came hither with his sister Iphigenia from Tauric Scythia,[1082]
is thought to have introduced the sacred rites performed in honour of
Diana Tauropolus, and to have deposited here the tresses (Coman, κόμην)
of mourning, from which the city had the name of Comana.
The river Sarus flows through this city, and passes out through the
valleys of the Taurus to the plains of Cilicia, and to the sea lying
below them.
4. The Pyramus,[1083] which has its source in the middle of the plain,
is navigable throughout Cataonia. There is a large subterraneous
channel, through which the water flows under-ground to a great distance,
and then may be seen springing up again to the surface. If an arrow is
let down into the pit from above, the resistance of the water is so
great that it is scarcely immersed. Although it pursues its course with
great[1084] depth and breadth, it undergoes an extraordinary contraction
of its size by the time it has reached the Taurus. There is also an
extraordinary fissure in the mountain, through which the stream is
carried. For, as in rocks which have burst and split in two [CAS. 536]
parts, the projections in one correspond so exactly with the hollows in
the other that they might even be fitted together, so here I have seen
the rocks at the distance of two or three plethra, overhanging the river
on each side, and nearly reaching to the summit of the mountain, with
hollows on one side answering to projections on the other. The bed
between (the mountains) is entirely rock; it has a deep and very narrow
fissure through the middle, so that a dog and a hare might leap across
it. This is the channel of the river; it is full to the margin, and in
breadth resembles a canal.[1085] But on account of the winding of its
course, the great contraction of the stream, and the depth of the
ravine, a noise, like that of thunder, strikes at a distance on the ears
of those who approach it. In passing out through the mountains, it
brings down from Cataonia, and from the Cilician plains, so great a
quantity of alluvial soil to the sea, that an oracle to the following
effect is reported to have been uttered respecting it:
“The time will come, when Pyramus, with its deep whirlpools,
by advancing on the sea-shore, will reach the sacred Cyprus.”
Something similar to this takes place in Egypt. The Nile is continually
converting the sea into continent by an accumulation of earth;
accordingly Herodotus calls Egypt a gift of the river, and Homer says,
that the Pharos was formerly out at sea, not as it is at present
connected with the mainland of Egypt.
5. [The third[1086] in rank is the Dacian priesthood of Jupiter,
inferior to this, but still of importance.] There is at this place a
body of salt water, having the circumference of a considerable lake. It
is shut in by lofty and perpendicular hills, so that the descent is by
steps. The water it is said does not increase in quantity, nor has it
anywhere an apparent outlet.
6. Neither the plain of the Cataonians nor Melitene have any city, but
strongholds upon the mountains, as Azamora, and Dastarcum, round which
runs the river Carmalas.[1087] There is also the temple of the Cataonian
Apollo, which is venerated throughout the whole of Cappadocia, and
which the Cappadocians have taken as a model of their own temples. Nor
have the other provinces, except two, any cities. Of the rest,
Sargarausene has a small town Herpa, and a river Carmalas, which also
discharges itself into the Cilician sea.[1088] In the other provinces is
Argos, a lofty fortress near the Taurus, and Nora, now called Neroassus,
in which Eumenes sustained a long siege. In our time it was a
treasure-hold of Sisinus, who attempted to take possession of the
kingdom of Cappadocia. To him belonged Cadena, a royal seat, built after
the form of a city. Situated upon the borders of Lycaonia is Garsauira,
a village town, said to have been formerly the capital of the country.
In Morimene, among the Venasii, is a temple of Jupiter, with buildings
capable of receiving nearly three thousand servants of the temple. It
has a tract of sacred land attached to it, very fertile, and affording
to the priest a yearly revenue of fifteen talents. The priest is
appointed for life like the priest at Comana, and is next to him in
rank.
7. Two provinces only have cities. In the Tyanitis is Tyana,[1089] lying
at the foot of the Taurus at the Cilician Gates,[1090] where are the
easiest and the most frequented passes into Cilicia and Syria. It is
called, “Eusebeia at the Taurus.” Tyanitis is fertile, and the greatest
part of it consists of plains. Tyana is built upon the mound of
Semiramis, which is fortified with good walls. At a little distance from
this city are Castabala and Cybistra, towns which approach still nearer
to the mountain. At Castabala is a temple of Diana Perasia, where, it is
said, the priestesses walk with naked feet unhurt upon burning coals. To
this place some persons apply the story respecting Orestes and Diana
Tauropolus, and say that the goddess was called Perasia, because she was
conveyed from beyond (πέραθεν) sea.
In Tyanitis, one of the ten provinces above mentioned, is the city
Tyana. But with these I do not reckon the cities that were afterwards
added, Castabala, and Cybistra, and those in Cilicia Tracheia, to which
belongs Elæussa, a small [CAS. 538] fertile island, which Archelaus
furnished with excellent buildings, where he passed the greater part of
his time.
In the Cilician province, as it is called, is Mazaca,[1091] the capital
of the nation. It is also called “Eusebeia,” with the addition “at the
Argæus,” for it is situated at the foot of the Argæus,[1092] the highest
mountain in that district; its summit is always covered with snow.
Persons who ascend it (but they are not many) say that both the Euxine
and the sea of Issus may be seen from thence in clear weather.
Mazaca is not adapted in other respects by nature for the settlement of
a city, for it is without water, and unfortified. Through the neglect of
the governors, it is without walls, perhaps intentionally, lest,
trusting to the wall as to a fortification, the inhabitants of a plain,
which has hills situated above it, and not exposed to the attacks of
missile weapons, should addict themselves to robbery. The country about,
although it consists of plains, is entirely barren and uncultivated, for
the soil is sandy, and rocky underneath. At a little distance further
there are burning plains, and pits full of fire to an extent of many
stadia, so that the necessaries of life are brought from a distance.
What seems to be a peculiar advantage (abundance of wood) is a source of
danger. For though nearly the whole of Cappadocia is without timber, the
Argæus is surrounded by a forest, so that wood may be procured near at
hand, yet even the region lying below the forest contains fire in many
parts, and springs of cold water; but as neither the fire nor the water
break out upon the surface, the greatest part of the country is covered
with herbage. In some parts the bottom is marshy, and flames burst out
from the ground by night. Those acquainted with the country collect wood
with caution; but there is danger to others, and particularly to cattle,
which fall into these hidden pits of fire.
8. In the plain in front of the city, and about 40 stadia from it, is a
river of the name of Melas,[1093] whose source is in ground lower than
the level of the city. It is useless to the inhabitants, because it
does not flow from an elevated situation. It spreads abroad in marshes
and lakes, and in the summer-time corrupts the air round the city. A
valuable stone quarry is rendered almost useless by it. For there are
extensive beds of stone, from which the Mazaceni obtain an abundant
supply of materials for building, but the slabs, being covered with
water, are not easily detached by the workmen. These are the marshes
which in every part are subject to take fire.
Ariarathes the king filled in some narrow channels by which the Melas
entered the Halys, and converted the neighbouring plain into a wide
lake. There he selected some small islands like the Cyclades, where he
passed his time in boyish and frivolous diversions. The barrier,
however, was broken down all at once, and the waters again flowed abroad
and swelled the Halys, which swept away a large part of the Cappadocian
territory, and destroyed many buildings and plantations; it also damaged
a considerable part of the country of the Galatians, who occupy Phrygia.
In compensation for this injury he paid a fine of three hundred talents
to the inhabitants, who had referred the matter to the decision of the
Romans. The same was the case at Herpa; for he there obstructed the
stream of the Carmalas, and, on the bursting of the dyke, the water
damaged some of the places in the Cilician territories about Mallus; he
was obliged to make compensation to those who had sustained injury.
9. Although the territory of the Mazaceni is destitute in many respects
of natural advantages, it seems to have been preferred by the kings as a
place of residence, because it was nearest the centre of those districts
which supplied timber, stone for building, and fodder, of which a very
large quantity was required for the subsistence of their cattle. Their
city was almost a camp. The security of their persons and treasure[1094]
depended upon the protection afforded by numerous fortresses, some of
which belonged to the king, others to their friends.
Mazaca is distant from Pontus[1095] about 800 stadia to the south, and
from the Euphrates a little less than double that distance; from the
Cilician Gates and the camp of Cyrus, a [CAS. 539] journey of six days
by way of Tyana,[1096] which is situated about the middle of the route,
and is distant from Cybistra 300 stadia. The Mazaceni adopt the laws of
Charondas, and elect a Nomōdist, (or Chanter of the Laws,) who, like the
Jurisconsults of the Romans, is the interpreter of their laws. Tigranes
the Armenian, when he overran Cappadocia, treated them with great
severity. He forced them to abandon their settlements, and go into
Mesopotamia; they peopled Tigranocerta, chiefly by their numbers.
Afterwards, upon the capture of Tigranocerta, those who were able
returned to their own country.
10. The breadth of the country from Pontus to the Taurus is about 1800
stadia; the length from Lycaonia and Phrygia, as far as the Euphrates to
the east, and Armenia, is about 3000 stadia. The soil is fertile, and
abounds with fruits of the earth, particularly corn, and with cattle of
all kinds. Although it lies more to the south than Pontus, it is colder.
Bagadania, although a plain country, and situated more towards the south
than any district in Cappadocia, (for it lies at the foot of the
Taurus,) produces scarcely any fruit-bearing trees. It affords pasture
for wild asses, as does a large portion of the other parts of the
country, particularly that about Garsauira, Lycaonia, and Morimene.
In Cappadocia is found the red earth called the Sinopic, which is better
than that of any other country. The Spanish only can rival it. It had
the name of Sinopic, because the merchants used to bring it down from
Sinope, before the traffic of the Ephesians extended as far as the
people of Cappadocia. It is said that even plates of crystal and of the
onyx stone were discovered by the miners of Archelaus near the country
of the Galatians. There was a place where was found a white stone of the
colour of ivory in pieces of the size of small whetstones, from which
were made handles for small swords. Another place produced large masses
of transparent stone for windows, which were exported.
The boundary of Pontus and Cappadocia is a mountainous range parallel
to the Taurus, commencing from the western extremities of Chammanene,
(where stands Dasmenda, a fortress built upon a precipice,) and
extending to the eastern parts of Laviansene. Both Chammanene and
Laviansene are provinces of Cappadocia.
11. When the Romans, after the defeat of Antiochus, first governed Asia,
they made treaties of friendship and alliance both with the nations and
with the kings. This honour was conferred upon the other kings
separately and independently, but upon the king of Cappadocia in common
with the nation. On the extinction of the royal race, the Romans
admitted the independence of the Cappadocians according to the treaty of
friendship and alliance which they had made with the nation. The
deputies excused themselves from accepting the liberty which was offered
to them, declaring that they were unable to bear it, and requested that
a king might be appointed. The Romans were surprised that any people
should be unwilling to enjoy liberty, but permitted[1097] them to elect
by suffrage any one they pleased from among themselves. They elected
Ariobarzanes. The race became extinct in the third generation.
Archelaus, who was not connected with the nation, was appointed king by
Antony.
So much respecting the Greater Cappadocia.
With regard to Cilicia Tracheia, which was annexed to the Greater
Cappadocia, it will be better to describe it when we give an account of
the whole of Cilicia.
CHAPTER III.
1. Mithridates Eupator was appointed King of Pontus. His kingdom
consisted of the country bounded by the Halys,[1098] extending to the
Tibareni,[1099] to Armenia, to the territory within the Halys, extending
as far as Amastris,[1100] and to some parts of Paphlagonia. He annexed
to (the kingdom of) Pontus the sea-coast towards the west as far as
Heracleia,[1101] the birth-place of Heracleides the Platonic philosopher,
and towards [CAS. 541] the east, the country extending to Colchis, and
the Lesser Armenia. Pompey, after the overthrow of Mithridates, found
the kingdom comprised within these boundaries. He distributed the
country towards Armenia and towards Colchis among the princes who had
assisted him in the war; the remainder he divided into eleven
governments, and annexed them to Bithynia, so that out of both there was
formed one province. Some people in the inland parts he subjected to the
kings descended from Pylæmenes, in the same manner as he delivered over
the Galatians to be governed by tetrarchs of that nation.
In later times the Roman emperors made different divisions of the same
country, appointing kings and rulers, making some cities free, and
subjecting others to the authority of rulers, others again were left
under the dominion of the Roman people.
As we proceed in our description according to the present state of
things, we shall touch slightly on their former condition, whenever it
may be useful.
I shall begin from Heracleia,[1102] which is the most westerly of these
places.
2. In sailing out of the Propontis into the Euxine Sea, on the left hand
are the parts adjoining to Byzantium, (Constantinople,) and these belong
to the Thracians. The parts on the left of the Pontus are called
Aristera (or left) of Pontus; the parts on the right are contiguous to
Chalcedon. Of these the first tract of country belongs to the
Bithynians, the next to the Mariandyni, or, as some say, to the
Caucones; next is that of the Paphlagonians, extending to the Halys,
then that of the Cappadocians near the Pontus, and then a district
reaching to Colchis.[1103] All this country has the name of the Dexia
(or right) of Pontus. This whole coast, from Colchis to Heracleia, was
subject to Mithridates Eupator. But the parts on the other side to the
mouth of the Euxine and Chalcedon, remained under the government of the
king of Bithynia. After the overthrow of the kings the Romans preserved
the same boundaries of the kingdoms; Heracleia was annexed to Pontus,
and the country beyond assigned to the Bithynians.
3. It is generally acknowledged by writers, that the Bithynians, who
were formerly Mysians, received this name from Bithynians and Thyni,
Thracian people, who came and settled among them. They advance as a
proof of their statement, first as regards the Bithynians, that there
still exists in Thrace a people called Bithynians, and then, as regards
the Thyni, that the sea-shore, near Apollonia[1104] and
Salmydessus,[1105] is called Thynias. The Bebryces, who preceded them as
settlers in Mysia, were, as I conjecture, Thracians. We have said[1106]
that the Mysians themselves were a colony of those Thracians who are now
called Mæsi.
Such is the account given of these people.
4. There is not, however, the same agreement among writers with regard
to the Mariandyni, and the Caucones. For they say that Heracleia is
situated among the Mariandyni, and was founded by Milesians.[1107] But
who they are, or whence they came, nothing is said. There is no
difference in language, nor any other apparent national distinction
between them and the Bithynians, whom they resemble in all respects. It
is probable therefore the Mariandyni were a Thracian tribe.
Theopompus says that Mariandynus, who governed a part of Paphlagonia,
which was subject to many masters, invaded and obtained possession of
the country of the Bebryces, and that he gave his own name to the
territory which he had before occupied. It is also said that the
Milesians who first founded Heracleia, compelled the Mariandyni, the
former possessors of the place, to serve as Helots, and even sold them,
but not beyond the boundaries of their country. For they were sold on
the same conditions as the class of persons called Mnoans, who were
slaves to the Cretans, and the Penestæ,[1108] who were slaves of the
Thessalians.
5. The Caucones, who, according to history, inhabited the line of
sea-coast which extends from the Mariandyni as far as the river
Parthenius, and to whom belonged the city Tieium,[1109] [CAS. 542] are
said by some writers to be Scythians, by others a tribe of Macedonians,
and by others a tribe of Pelasgi. We have already spoken of these people
elsewhere.[1110] Callisthenes in his comment upon the enumeration of the
ships inserts after this verse,
“Cromna, Ægialus, and the lofty Erythini,”[1111]
these lines,
“The brave son of Polycles led the Caucones,
Who inhabited the well-known dwellings about the river Parthenius,”
for the territory extends from Heracleia, and the Mariandyni as far as
the Leucosyri, whom we call Cappadocians. But the tribe of the Caucones
about Tieium extends to the Parthenius; that of the Heneti, who occupy
Cytorum,[1112] immediately follows the Parthenius, and even at present
some Caucones are living about the Parthenius.
6. Heracleia is a city with a good harbour, and of importance in other
respects. It has sent out colonies, among which are the
Cherronesus,[1113] and the Callatis.[1114] It was once independent,
afterwards for some time it was under the power of tyrants; it again
recovered its freedom; but at last, when subject to the Romans, it was
governed by kings. It received a colony of Romans, which was settled in
a portion of the city, and of its territory. A little before the battle
of Actium, Adiatorix, the son of Domnecleius the tetrarch of Galatia,
who had received from Antony that portion of the city of which the
Heracleiotæ were in possession, attacked the Romans by night, and put
them to death by the command, as he said, of Antony; but after the
victory at Actium, he was led in triumph, and put to death together with
his son. The city belongs to the province of Pontus, which was annexed
to Bithynia.
7. Between Chalcedon and Heracleia are several rivers, as the
Psillis,[1115] the Calpas, and the Sangarius, of which last the poet
makes mention.[1116] It has its source at the village Sangias, at the
distance of 150 stadia from Pessinus. It flows through the greater part
of Phrygia Epictetus, and a part also of Bithynia, so that it is distant
from Nicomedia a little more than 300 stadia, where the river Gallus
unites with it. The latter river has its source at Modra in Phrygia on
the Hellespont, which is the same country as the Epictetus, and was
formerly occupied by the Bithynians.
The Sangarius thus increased in bulk, and navigable, although not so
formerly, is the boundary of Bithynia at the part of the coast where it
discharges itself. In front of this coast is the island Thynia.
In the territory of Heracleia grows the aconite.
This city is distant from the temple at Chalcedon about 1500, and from
the Sangarius 500, stadia.
8. Tieium is now a small town and has nothing remarkable belonging to
it, except that it was the birth-place of Philetærus, the founder of the
family of the Attalic kings.
Next is the river Parthenius, flowing through a country abounding with
flowers; from these it obtained its name.[1117] Its source is in
Paphlagonia. Then succeeded Paphlagonia, and the Heneti. It is a
question what Heneti the poet means, when he says,
“the brave Pylæmenes led the Paphlagonians out of the country
of the Heneti, where they have a race of wild mules;”[1118]
for at present, they say, no Heneti are to be found in Paphlagonia.
Others say that it is a village on the shore distant ten schœni from
Amastris. But Zenodotus writes the verse in this manner, “From Heneta,”
and says that it means the present Amisus. According to others it was a
tribe bordering upon the Cappadocians, which engaged in an expedition
with the Cimmerians, and were afterwards driven away into Adria. But the
account most generally received is, that the Heneti were the most
considerable tribe of the Paphlagonians; that Pylæmenes was descended
from it; that a large body of this people accompanied him to the Trojan
war; that when they had lost their leader they passed over to Thrace
upon the capture of Troy; and in the course of their wanderings arrived
at the present Henetic territory.
Some writers say that both Antenor and his sons participated in this
expedition, and settled at the inner recess of the [CAS. 544] gulf of
Adria, as we have said in the description of Italy.[1119] It is probable
that this was the cause of the extinction of the Heneti, and that they
were no longer to be found in Paphlagonia.
9. The boundary of the Paphlagonians to the east is the river Halys,
which flows from the south between the Syrians and the Paphlagonians;
and according to Herodotus,[1120] (who means Cappadocians, when he is
speaking of Syrians,) discharges itself into the Euxine Sea. Even at
present they are called Leuco-Syrians, (or White Syrians,) while those
without the Taurus are called Syrians. In comparison with the people
within the Taurus, the latter have a burnt complexion; but the former,
not having it, received the appellation of Leuco-Syrians (or White
Syrians). Pindar says that
“the Amazons commanded a Syrian band, armed with spears with
broad iron heads;”
thus designating the people that lived at Themiscyra.[1121] Themiscyra
belongs to the Amiseni,[1122] and the district of the Amiseni to the
Leuco-Syrians settled beyond the Halys.
The river Halys forms the boundary of the Paphlagonians to the east;
Phrygians and the Galatians settled among that people, on the south; and
on the west Bithynians and Mariandyni (for the race of the Caucones has
everywhere entirely disappeared); on the north the Euxine. This country
is divided into two parts, the inland, and the maritime, extending from
the Halys as far as Bithynia. Mithridates Eupator possessed the maritime
part as far as Heracleia, and of the inland country he had the district
nearest to Heracleia, some parts of which extended even beyond the
Halys. These are also the limits of the Roman province of Pontus. The
remainder was subject to chiefs, even after the overthrow of
Mithridates.
We shall afterwards speak of those Paphlagonians in the inland parts,
who were not subject to Mithridates; we propose at present to describe
the country which he governed, called Pontus.
10. After the river Parthenius is Amastris, bearing the same name as the
princess by whom it was founded. It is situated upon a peninsula, with
harbours on each side of the isthmus. Amastris was the wife of
Dionysius, the tyrant of Heracleia, and daughter of Oxyathres, the
brother of the Darius who fought against Alexander. She formed the
settlement out of four cities, Sesamus, Cytorum, Cromna, (mentioned by
Homer in his recital of the Paphlagonian forces,[1123]) and Tieium,
which city however soon separated from the others, but the rest
continued united. Of these, Sesamus is called the citadel of Amastris.
Cytorum was formerly a mart of the people of Sinope. It had its name
from Cytorus, the son of Phrixus, according to Ephorus. Box-wood of the
best quality grows in great abundance in the territory of Amastris, and
particularly about Cytorum.
Ægialus is a line of sea-coast, in length more than 100 stadia. On it is
a village of the same name,[1124] which the poet mentions in these
lines,
“Cromna, and Ægialus, and the lofty Erythini;”[1125]
but some authors write,
“Cromna and Cobialus.”
The Erythini are said to be the present Erythrini, and to have their
name from their (red) colour. They are two rocks.[1126]
Next to Ægialus is Carambis, a large promontory stretching towards the
north, and the Scythian Chersonesus. We have frequently mentioned this
promontory, and the Criu-metopon opposite it, which divides the Euxine
into two seas.[1127]
Next to Carambis is Cinolis,[1128] and Anti-Cinolis, and
Aboniteichos,[1129] a small city, and Armene,[1130] which gave rise to
the common proverb;
“He who had nothing to do built a wall about Armene.”
It is a village of the Sinopenses, with a harbour.
11. Next is Sinope itself, distant from Armene 50 stadia, the most
considerable of all the cities in that quarter. It was founded by
Milesians, and when the inhabitants had established a naval force they
commanded the sea within the Cyanean [CAS. 545] rocks, and were allies
of the Greeks in many naval battles beyond these limits. Although this
city was independent for a long period, it did not preserve its liberty
to the last, but was taken by siege, and became subject first to
Pharnaces, then to his successors, to the time when the Romans put an
end to the power of Mithridates Eupator. This prince was born and
brought up in this city, on which he conferred distinguished honour, and
made it a capital of the kingdom. It has received advantages from nature
which have been improved by art. It is built upon the neck of a
peninsula; on each side of the isthmus are harbours, stations for
vessels, and fisheries worthy of admiration for the capture of the
pelamydes. Of these fisheries we have said[1131] that the people of
Sinope have the second, and the Byzantines the third, in point of
excellence.
The peninsula projects in a circular form; the shores are surrounded by
a chain of rocks, and in some parts there are cavities, like rocky pits,
which are called Chœnicides. These are filled when the sea is high. For
the above reason, the place is not easily approached; besides which,
along the whole surface of rock the road is covered with sharp-pointed
stones, and persons cannot walk upon it with naked feet. The lands in
the higher parts and above the city have a good soil, and are adorned
with fields dressed as gardens, and this is the case in a still greater
degree in the suburbs. The city itself is well secured with walls, and
magnificently ornamented with a gymnasium, forum, and porticos.
Notwithstanding these advantages for defence, it was twice taken; first
by Pharnaces, who attacked it unexpectedly; afterwards by Lucullus, who
besieged it while it was harassed by an insidious tyrant within the
walls. For Bacchides,[1132] who was appointed by the king commander of
the garrison, being always suspicious of treachery on the part of those
within the city, had disgraced and put many to death. He thus prevented
the citizens both from defending themselves with bravery, although
capable of making a gallant defence, and from offering terms for a
capitulation. The city was therefore captured. Lucullus took away the
Sphere of Billarus,[1133] and the Autolycus,[1134] the workmanship of
Sthenis, whom the citizens regarded as a founder, and honoured as a god;
he left the other ornaments of the city untouched. There was there an
oracle of Sthenis. He seems to have been one of the companions of Jason
in his voyage, and to have got possession of this place. In after times
the Milesians, observing the natural advantages of the city, and the
weakness of the inhabitants, appropriated it as their own, and sent out
colonists. It has at present a Roman colony, and a part of the city and
of the territory belongs to the Romans. It is distant from Hieron[1135]
3500, from Heracleia 2000, and from Carambis 700, stadia. It has
produced men distinguished among philosophers, Diogenes the Cynic, and
Timotheus surnamed Patrion; among poets, Diphilus, the writer of comedy;
among historians, Baton,[1136] who wrote the history of Persia.
12. Proceeding thence, next in order is the mouth of the river Halys. It
has its name from the _hales_, or salt mines,[1137] near which it flows.
It has its source in the Greater Cappadocia, near the territory of
Pontus, in Camisene. It flows in a large stream towards the west, then
turning to the north through the country of the Galatians and
Paphlagonians, forms the boundary of their territory, and of that of the
Leuco-Syrians. The tract of land belonging to Sinope and all the
mountainous country as far as Bithynia, situated above the sea-coast,
which has been described, furnishes timber of excellent quality for
ship-building, and is easily conveyed away. The territory of [CAS. 546]
Sinope produces the maple, and the mountain nut tree, from which wood
for tables is cut. The whole country is planted with the olive, and
cultivation begins a little above the sea-coast.
13. Next to the mouth of the Halys is Gadilonítis, extending as far as
the Saramene; it is a fertile country, wholly consisting of plains, and
produces every kind of fruit. It affords also pasture for flocks of
sheep which are covered[1138] with skins, and produce a soft wool; very
little of this wool is to be found throughout Cappadocia and Pontus.
There are also deer,[1139] which are rare in other parts.
The Amiseni possess one part of this country. Pompey gave another to
Deïotarus, as well as the tract about Pharnacia and Trapezus as far as
Colchis and the Lesser Armenia. Pompey appointed him king of these
people and countries: he had already inherited the tetrarchy of the
Galatians, called the Tolistobogii. Upon his death various persons
succeeded to the different parts of his kingdom.
14. Next to Gadilon[1140] are the Saramene,[1141] and Amisus, a
considerable city distant from Sinope about 900 stadia. Theopompus says
that the Milesians were the first founders, * * * * * * *[1142] [then by]
a chief of the Cappadocians; in the third place it received a colony of
Athenians under the conduct of Athenocles, and its name was changed to
Piræeus.
This city also was in the possession of the kings. Mithridates Eupator
embellished it with temples, and added a part to it. Lucullus, and
afterwards Pharnaces, who came from across the Bosporus, besieged it.
Antony surrendered it to the kings of Pontus, after it had been declared
free by Divus Cæsar. Then the Tyrant Strato oppressed the inhabitants,
who again recovered their liberty under Cæsar Augustus after the battle
of Actium. They are now in a prosperous condition. Among other fertile
spots is Themiscyra,[1143] the abode of the Amazons, and Sidene.[1144]
15. Themiscyra is a plain, partly washed by the sea, and distant about
60 stadia from the city (Amisus); and partly situated at the foot of a
mountainous country, which is well wooded, and intersected with rivers,
which have their source among the mountains. A river, named Thermodon,
which receives the water of all these rivers, traverses the plain.
Another river very similar to this, of the name of Iris,[1145] flowing
from a place called Phanarœa,[1146] traverses the same plain. It has its
sources in Pontus. Flowing westward through the city of Pontic
Comana,[1147] and through Dazimonitis,[1148] a fertile plain, it then
turns to the north beside Gaziura,[1149] an ancient seat of the kings,
but now deserted; it then again returns to the east, where, uniting with
the Scylax[1150] and other rivers, and taking its course beside the
walls of my native place, Amaseia,[1151] a very strongly fortified city,
proceeds to Phanarœa. There when joined by the Lycus,[1152] which rises
in Armenia, it becomes the Iris. It then enters Themiscyra, and
discharges itself into the Euxine. This plain, therefore, is well
watered with dews, is constantly covered with herbage, and is capable of
affording food to herds of cattle as well as to horses. The largest
crops there consist of panic and millet, or rather they never fail, for
the supply of water more than counteracts the effect of all drought;
these people, therefore, never on any occasion experience a famine. The
country at the foot of the mountains produces so large an autumnal crop
of spontaneous-grown wild fruits, of the vine, the pear, the apple, and
hazel, that, in all seasons of the year, persons who go into the woods
to cut timber gather them in large quantities; the fruit is found either
yet hanging upon the trees or lying beneath a deep covering of fallen
leaves thickly strewed upon the ground. Wild animals of all kinds, which
resort here on account of the abundance of food, are frequently hunted.
16. Next to Themiscyra is Sidene, a fertile plain, but not watered in
the same manner by rivers as Themiscyra. It has strongholds on the
sea-coast, as Side,[1153] from which Sidene has [CAS. 548] its name,
Chabaca and Phabda (Phauda).[1154] Amisene extends as far as this place.
Among the natives of Amisus[1155] distinguished for their learning were
the mathematicians Demetrius, the son of Rathenus, and Dionysodorus, of
the same name as the Ionian (Milesian?) geometrician, and Tyrannion the
grammarian, whose lessons I attended.
17. Next to Sidene is Pharnacia[1156] a small fortified city, and then
follows Trapezus,[1157] a Greek city, to which from Amisus is a voyage
of about 2200 stadia; thence to the Phasis about 1400 stadia, so that
the sum total of stadia from the Hieron[1158] to the Phasis is about
8000 stadia, either more or less.
In sailing along this coast from Amisus we first come to the Heracleian
promontory;[1159] then succeeds another promontory, Jasonium,[1160] and
the Genetes;[1161] then Cytorus (Cotyorus) a small city,[1162] from
which Pharnacia received a colony; then Ischopolis, which is in ruins.
Next is a bay on which are situated Cerasus, and Hermonassa,[1163] small
settlements. Near Hermonassa is Trapezus, then Colchis. Somewhere about
this place is a settlement called Zygopolis.
I have already spoken of Colchis, and of the sea-coast beyond.[1164]
18. Above Trapezus and Pharnacia are situated Tibareni, Chaldæi, Sanni,
(who were formerly called Macrones,[1165]) and the Lesser Armenia. The
Appaïtæ also, formerly called Cercitæ, are not far from these places.
Through the country belonging to these people stretches the
Scydises,[1166] a very rugged mountain, contiguous to the Moschic
mountains[1167] above Colchis. The heights of the Scydises are occupied
by the Heptacometæ.[1168] This country is likewise traversed by the
Paryadres,[1169] which extends from the neighbourhood of Sidene and
Themiscyra to the Lesser Armenia, and forms the eastern side of the
Pontus.
All the inhabitants of these mountains are quite savage, but
the Heptacometæ are more so than all the others. Some of them live among
trees, or in small towers, whence the ancients called them
Mosynœci,[1170] because the towers were called mosȳnes. Their food
consists of the flesh of wild animals and the fruits of trees. They
attack travellers, leaping down from the floors of their dwellings among
the trees. The Heptacometæ cut off three of Pompey’s cohorts, as they
were passing through the mountains, by placing on their road vessels
filled with maddening honey, which is procured from the branches of
trees. The men who had tasted the honey and lost their senses were
attacked and easily despatched. Some of these barbarians were called
Byzeres.
19. The present Chaldæi were anciently called Chalybes. It is in their
territory chiefly that Pharnacia is situated. On the sea-coast it has
natural advantages for the capture of the pelamydes. For this fish is
first caught at this place. On the mainland there are at present mines
of iron; formerly there were also mines of silver. The sea-shore along
all these places is very narrow, for directly above it are hills, which
abound with mines and forests; much, however, of the country is not
cultivated. The miners derive their subsistence from the mines, and the
fishermen from the fisheries, especially from the capture of pelamydes
and dolphins. The dolphins pursue shoals of fish, the cordyla, the
tunny, and even the pelamys; they grow fat on them, and as they approach
the land incautiously, are easily taken. They are caught with a bait and
then cut into pieces; large quantities of the fat are used for all
purposes.
20. These I suppose are the people who are called by Homer Halizoni, who
in his Catalogue follow the Paphlagonians.
“But Odius and Epistrophus led the Halizoni
Far from Alybe, where there are silver mines;”[1171]
whether the writing was changed from “far from Chalybe,” or whether the
people were formerly called Alybes instead of Chalybes. We cannot at
present say that it is possible that Chaldæi should be read for
Chalybes, but it cannot be maintained that formerly Chalybes could not
be read for Alybes, especially [CAS. 549] when we know that names are
subject to many changes, more especially among barbarians. For example,
a tribe of Thracians were called Sinties, then Sinti, then Saii, in
whose country Archilochus is said to have thrown away his shield:
“one of the Saii exults in having a shield, which, without
blame, I involuntarily left behind in a thicket.”
This same people have now the name of Sapæi. For all these people were
settled about Abdera, they also held Lemnos and the islands about
Lemnos. Thus also Brygi, Briges, and Phryges are the same people; and
Mysi, Mæones, and Meones are the same people. But it is unnecessary to
multiply instances of this kind.
The Scepsian (Demetrius) throws some doubt on the alteration of the name
from Alybes to Chalybes, but not understanding what follows, nor what
accords with it, nor, in particular, why the poet calls the Chalybes
Alizoni, he rejects the opinion that there has been an alteration of
name. In comparing his opinion with my own I shall consider also the
hypotheses entertained by others.
21. Some persons alter the word to Alazones, others to Amazons, and
“Alybe” to “Alope,” or “Alobe,” calling the Scythians above the
Borysthenes Alazones and Callipidæ, and by other names, about which
Hellanicus, Herodotus, and Eudoxus have talked very absurdly; some say
that the Amazons were situated between Mysia, Caria, and Lydia near
Cyme, which is the opinion also of Ephorus, who was a native of the
latter place. And this opinion may not be unreasonable, for he may mean
the country which in later times was inhabited by the Æolians and
Ionians, but formerly by Amazons. There are some cities, it is said,
which have their names from the Amazons; as Ephesus, Smyrna, Cyme, and
Myrina. But would any one think of inquiring in these places after
Alybe, or, according to some writers, Alope, or Alobe; what would be the
meaning of “from afar,” or where is the silver mine?
22. These objections he solves by an alteration in the text, for he
writes the verses in this manner,
“But Odius and Epistrophus led the Amazons,
Who came from Alope, whence the tribe of the Amazonides.”
But by this solution he has invented another fiction. For Alope is
nowhere to be found in that situation, and the alteration in the text,
itself a great change, and contrary to the authority of ancient copies,
looks like an adaptation formed for the occasion.
The Scepsian (Demetrius) does not adopt the opinion of Ephorus, nor does
he agree with those who suppose them to be the Halizoni about Pallene,
whom we mentioned in the description of Macedonia. He is at a loss also
to understand how any one could suppose that auxiliaries could come to
the Trojans from the Nomades situated above the Borysthenes. He much
approves of the opinion of Hecatæus the Milesian, and of Menecrates of
Elea, disciples of Xenocrates, and that of Palæphatus. The first of
these says in his work entitled “the Circuit of the Earth,” “near the
city Alazia is the river Odrysses, which after flowing through the plain
of Mygdonia from the west, out of the lake Dascylitis, empties itself
into the Rhyndacus.” He further relates that Alazia is now deserted, but
that many villages of the Alazones through which the Odrysses flows are
inhabited. In these villages Apollo is worshipped with peculiar honours,
and especially on the confines of the Cyziceni.
Menecrates, in his work “the Circuit of the Hellespont,” says that above
the places near Myrleia there is a continuous mountain tract occupied by
the nation of the Halizoni. The name, he says, ought to be written with
two l’s, Hallizoni, but the poet uses one only on account of the metre.
Palæphatus says that Odius and Epistrophus levied their army from among
the Amazons then living in Alope, but at present in Zeleia.[1172]
Do the opinions of these persons deserve approbation? For besides their
alteration of the ancient text, and the position of this people, they
neither point out the silver mines, nor where in Myrleatis Alope is
situated, nor how they, who came thence to Troy, came “from afar,”
although it should be granted that there existed an Alope, or an Alazia.
For these are much nearer Troy than the places about Ephesus. Those,
however, are triflers, in the opinion of Demetrius, who speak of the
existence of Amazons near Pygela, between Ephesus, Magnesia, and Priene,
for the words “from afar” do not agree with the spot; much less will
they agree with a situation about Mysia, and Teuthrania.
23. [CAS. 551] This may be true, says he, but some expressions are to be
understood as loosely applied, such as these,
“Far from Ascania,”[1173]
and
“His name was Arnæus, given to him by his honoured mother,”[1174]
and
“Penelope seized the well-turned key with her firm hand.”[1175]
But admitting this, the other assertions are not to be allowed to which
Demetrius is disposed to attend; nor has he refuted in a convincing
manner those persons who maintain that we ought to read “far from
Chalybe.” For having conceded that, although at present there are not
silver mines among the Chalybes, they might formerly have existed, he
does not grant that they were far-famed, and worthy of notice, like the
iron mines. But some one may say, what should prevent them from being as
famous as the iron mines, or does an abundance of iron make a place
celebrated, and not an abundance of silver? Again, if the silver mines
had obtained celebrity in the age of Homer, but not in the heroic times,
can any one blame the poet’s representation? How did their fame reach
him? How did the fame of the copper mines at Temesa in Italy, or of the
wealth of Thebes in Egypt, reach his ears, although Egyptian Thebes was
situated almost at double the distance of the Chaldæi.
But Demetrius does not altogether agree with those whose opinions he
espouses. For when he is describing the neighbourhood of Scepsis his own
birth-place, he mentions Enea, a village, Argyria, and Alazonia, as near
Scepsis, and the Æsepus;[1176] but if these places exist at all, they
must be near the sources of the Æsepus. Hecatæus places them beyond the
mouths of that river. Palæphatus, who says that the Amazons formerly
occupied Alope, and at present Zeleia, does not advance anything in
agreement with these statements. But if Menecrates agrees with
Demetrius, neither does Menecrates say what this Alope, or Alobe, is,
(or, in whatever manner they please to write the name,) nor yet does
Demetrius himself.
24. With regard to Apollodorus, who mentions these places in his
discourse on the array of the Trojan forces, we have said much before
in reply to him, and we must now speak of him again.[1177] He is of
opinion that we ought not to understand the Halizoni without the Halys,
for no auxiliaries came to Troy from the country on the other side of
the Halys. First, then, we will inquire of him who are the Halizoni
within the Halys, and situated
“far from Alybe, where are silver mines?”
He will not be able to reply. Next we will ask the reason why he does
not admit that some auxiliaries came from the country on the other side
of the Halys. For if it was the case, that all the rest were living on
this side the Halys, except the Thracians, nothing prevented this one
body of allies from coming from afar, from the country beyond the
Leuco-Syrians? Or, was it possible for the persons immediately engaged
in the war to pass over from those places, and from the country beyond
them, as the Amazons, Treres, and Cimmerians, but impossible for allies
to do so?
The Amazons were not allies, because Priam had fought in alliance with
the Phrygians against them:
“at that time, says Priam, I was among their auxiliaries on
that day, when the Amazons came to attack them.”[1178]
The people also who were living on the borders of the country of the
Amazons were not situated at so great a distance that it was difficult
to send for them from thence, nor did any animosity exist, I suppose, at
that time to prevent them from affording assistance.
25. Nor is there any foundation for the opinion, that all the ancients
agree that no people from the country beyond the Halys took part in the
Trojan war. Testimony may be found to the contrary. Mæandrius at least
says that Heneti came from the country of the Leuco-Syrians to assist
the Trojans in the war; that they set sail thence with the Thracians,
and settled about the recess of the Adriatic; and that the Heneti, who
had no place in the expedition, were Cappadocians. This account seems to
agree with the circumstance, that the people inhabiting the whole of
that part of Cappadocia near the Halys, which extends along Paphlagonia,
speak two dialects, and that their language abounds with Paphlagonian
names, as [CAS. 553] Bagas, Biasas, Æniates, Rhatotes, Zardoces,
Tibius, Gasys, Oligasys, and Manes. For these names are frequently to be
found in the Bamonitis, the Pimolitis, the Gazaluïtis, and Gazacene, and
in most of the other districts. Apollodorus himself quotes the words of
Homer, altered by Zenodotus;
“from Henete, whence comes a race of wild mules,”
and says, that Hecatæus the Milesian understands Henete to mean Amisus.
But we have shown that Amisus belongs to the Leuco-Syrians, and is
situated beyond the Halys.
26. He also somewhere says that the poet obtained his knowledge of the
Paphlagonians, situated in the interior, from persons who had travelled
through the country on foot, but that he was not acquainted with the
sea-coast any more than with the rest of the territory of Pontus; for
otherwise he would have mentioned it by name. We may, on the contrary,
after the description which has just been given of the country, retort
and say that he has traversed the whole of the sea-coast, and has
omitted nothing worthy of record which existed at that time. It is not
surprising that he does not mention Heracleia, Amastris, or Sinope, for
they were not founded; nor is it strange that he should omit to speak of
the interior of the country; nor is it a proof of ignorance not to
specify by name many places which were well known, as we have shown in a
preceding part of this work.
He says that Homer was ignorant of much that was remarkable in Pontus,
as rivers and nations, otherwise he would have mentioned their names.
This may be admitted with respect to some very remarkable nations and
rivers, as the Scythians, the Palus Mæotis, and the Danube. For he would
not have described the Nomades, by characteristic signs, as living on
milk, Abii, a people without certain means of subsistence, “most just”
and “renowned Hippemolgi,” (milkers of mares,) and not distinguished
them as Scythians, or Sauromatæ, or Sarmatæ, if, indeed, they had these
names among the Greeks (at that time). Nor in mentioning the Thracians
and Mysians, who live near the Danube, would he have passed over in
silence the Danube itself, one of the largest rivers, particularly as,
in other instances, he is inclined to mark the boundaries of places by
rivers; nor in speaking of the Cimmerians would he have omitted the
Bosporus, or the Mæotis.
27. With respect then to places not so remarkable, or not famous at that
time, or not illustrating the subject of his poem, who can blame the
poet for omitting them? As, for example, omitting to mention the Don,
famed only as it is for being the boundary of Asia and Europe. The
persons however of that time were not accustomed to use the name either
of Asia or Europe, nor was the habitable earth divided into three
continents; otherwise he would have mentioned them by name on account of
their strong characteristic marks, as he mentioned by name Libya
(Africa), and the Libs (the south-west wind), blowing from the western
parts of Africa. But as the continents were not yet distinguished, it
was not necessary that he should mention the Don. There were many things
worthy of record, which did not occur to him. For both in actions and in
discourse much is done and said without any cause or motive, by merely
spontaneously presenting itself to the mind.
It is evident from all these circumstances that every person who
concludes that because a certain thing is not mentioned by the poet he
was therefore ignorant of it, uses a bad argument; and we must prove by
several examples that it is bad, for many persons employ this kind of
evidence to a great extent. We must refute them therefore by producing
such instances as these which follow, although we shall repeat what has
been already said.
If any one should maintain that the poet was not acquainted with a river
which he has not mentioned, we should say that his argument is absurd,
for he has not mentioned by name even the river Meles, which runs by
Smyrna, his birth-place according to many writers, while he has
mentioned the rivers Hermus and Hyllus by name, but yet not the
Pactolus,[1179] which discharges itself into the same channel as these
rivers, and rises in the mountain Tmolus.[1180] He does not mention
either Smyrna itself, or the other cities of the Ionians, or most of
those of the Æolians, although he specifies Miletus, Samos, Lesbos, and
Tenedos. He does not mention the Lethæus, which flows beside
Magnesia,[1181] nor the Marsyas, which rivers empty themselves into the
Mæander,[1182] which he mentions by name, as well as [CAS. 554]
“the Rhesus, Heptaporus, Caresus, and Rhodius,”[1183]
and others, many of which are not more than small streams. While he
specifies by name many countries and cities, sometimes he makes an
enumeration of rivers and mountains, sometimes he does not do so. He
does not mention the rivers in Ætolia and Attica, nor many others. And
if, in mentioning people that live afar off, he does not mention those
who are very near, it is certainly not through ignorance of them, for
they were well known to other writers. With respect to people who were
all equally near, he does not observe one rule, for some he mentions,
and not others, as for instance he mentions the Lycii, and Solymi, but
not the Milyæ, nor Pamphylians, nor Pisidians; the Paphlagonians,
Phrygians, and Mysians, but not the Mariandyni, nor Thyni, nor
Bithynians, nor Bebryces; the Amazons, but not the Leuco-Syrians, nor
Syrians, nor Cappadocians, nor Lycaonians, while he frequently speaks of
the Phœnicians, Ægyptians, and Æthiopians. He mentions the Aleian plain,
and the Arimi mountains, but not the nation among which these are
situated.
The argument drawn from this is false; the true argument would have been
to show that the poet has asserted what is not true. Apollodorus has not
succeeded in this attempt, and he has more particularly failed when he
ventures to call by the name of fiction “the renowned Hippemolgi and
Galactophagi.”[1184] So much then in reply to Apollodorus. I now return
to the part of my description which follows next in order.
28. Above the places about Pharnacia and Trapezus are the Tibareni, and
Chaldæi, extending as far as the Lesser Armenia.
The Lesser Armenia is sufficiently fertile. Like Sophene it was always
governed by princes who were sometimes in alliance with the other
Armenians, and sometimes acting independently. They held in subjection
the Chaldæi and Tibareni. Their dominion extended as far as Trapezus and
Pharnacia. When Mithridates Eupator became powerful, he made himself
master of Colchis, and of all those places which were ceded to him by
Antipater the son of Sisis. He bestowed however so much care upon them,
that he built seventy-five strongholds, in which he deposited the
greatest part of his treasure. The most considerable of these were
Hydara, Basgœdariza, and Sinoria, a fortress situated on the borders of
the Greater Armenia, whence Theophanes parodied the name, and called it
Synoria.
All the mountainous range of the Paryadres has many such convenient
situations for fortresses, being well supplied with water and timber, it
is intersected in many places by abrupt ravines and precipices. Here he
built most of the strongholds for keeping his treasure. At last on the
invasion of the country by Pompey he took refuge in these extreme parts
of the kingdom of Pontus, and occupied a mountain near Dasteira in
Acilisene, which was well supplied with water. The Euphrates also was
near, which is the boundary between Acilisene and the Lesser Armenia.
Mithridates remained there till he was besieged and compelled to fly
across the mountains into Colchis, and thence to Bosporus. Pompey built
near this same place in the Lesser Armenia Nicopolis, a city which yet
subsists, and is well inhabited.
29. The Lesser Armenia, which was in the possession of different persons
at different times, according to the pleasure of the Romans, was at last
subject to Archelaus. The Tibareni, however, and Chaldæi, extending as
far as Colchis, Pharnacia, and Trapezus, are under the government of
Pythodoris, a prudent woman, and capable of presiding over the
management of public affairs. She is the daughter of Pythodorus of
Tralles. She was the wife of Polemo, and reigned conjointly with him for
some time. She succeeded, after his death, to the throne. He died in the
country of the Aspurgiani, a tribe of barbarians living about Sindica.
She had two sons by Polemo, and a daughter who was married to Cotys the
Sapæan. He was treacherously murdered, and she became a widow. She had
children by him, the eldest of whom is now king. Of the sons of
Pythodoris, one as a private person, administers, together with his
mother, the affairs of the kingdom, the other has been lately made king
of the Greater Armenia. Pythodoris however married Archelaus, and
remained with him till his death. At present she is a widow, and in
possession of the countries before mentioned, and of others still more
beautiful, of which we shall next speak.
30. Sidene, and Themiscyra are contiguous to Pharnacia. Above these
countries is situated Phanarœa, containing the best portion of the
Pontus, for it produces excellent oil and [CAS. 556] wine, and
possesses every other property of a good soil. On the eastern side it
lies in front of the Paryadres which runs parallel to it; on the western
side it has the Lithrus, and the Ophlimus. It forms a valley of
considerable length and breadth. The Lycus, coming out of Armenia, flows
through this valley, and the Iris, which issues from the passes near
Amaseia. Both these rivers unite about the middle of the valley. A city
stands at their confluence which the first founder called Eupatoria,
after his own name. Pompey found it half-finished, and added to it a
territory, furnished it with inhabitants, and called it Magnopolis. It
lies in the middle of the plain. Close to the foot of the Paryadres is
situated Cabeira, about 150 stadia further to the south than Magnopolis,
about which distance likewise, but towards the west, is Amaseia. At
Cabeira was the palace of Mithridates, the water-mill, the park for
keeping wild animals, the hunting-ground in the neighbourhood, and the
mines.
31. There also is the Cainochorion, (New Castle,) as it is called, a
fortified and precipitous rock, distant from Cabeira less than 200
stadia. On its summit is a spring, which throws up abundance of water,
and at its foot a river, and a deep ravine. The ridge of rocks on which
it stands is of very great height, so that it cannot be taken by siege.
It is enclosed with an excellent wall, except the part where it has been
demolished by the Romans. The whole country around is so covered with
wood, so mountainous, and destitute of water, that an enemy cannot
encamp within the distance of 120 stadia. There Mithridates had
deposited his most valuable effects, which are now in the Capitol, as
offerings dedicated by Pompey.
Pythodoris is in possession of all this country; (for it is contiguous
to that of the barbarians, which she holds as a conquered country;) she
also holds the Zelitis and the Megalopolitis. After Pompey had raised
Cabeira to the rank of a city, and called it Diospolis, Pythodoris
improved it still more, changed its name to Sebaste, (or Augusta,) and
considers it a royal city.
She has also the temple of Mēn surnamed of Pharnaces, at Ameria, a
village city, inhabited by a large body of sacred menials, and having
annexed to it a sacred territory, the produce of which is always enjoyed
by the priest. The kings held this temple in such exceeding veneration,
that this was the Royal oath, “by the fortune of the king, and by Mēn
of Pharnaces.” This is also the temple of the moon, like that among the
Albani, and those in Phrygia, namely the temple of Mēn in a place of the
same name, the temple of Ascæus at Antioch in Pisidia, and another in
the territory of Antioch.
32. Above Phanarœa is Comana[1185] in Pontus, of the same name as that
in the Greater Cappadocia, and dedicated to the same goddess. The temple
is a copy of that in Cappadocia, and nearly the same course of religious
rites is practised there; the mode of delivering the oracles is the
same; the same respect is paid to the priests, as was more particularly
the case in the time of the first kings, when twice a year, at what is
called the Exodi of the goddess, (when her image is carried in
procession,) the priest wore the diadem of the goddess and received the
chief honours after the king.
33. We have formerly mentioned Dorylaus the Tactician, who was my
mother’s great grandfather; and another Dorylaus, who was the nephew of
the former, and the son of Philetærus; I said that, although he had
obtained from Mithridates the highest dignities and even the priesthood
of Comana, he was detected in the fact of attempting the revolt of the
kingdom to the Romans. Upon his fall the family also was disgraced. At a
later period however Moaphernes, my mother’s uncle, rose to distinction
near upon the dissolution of the kingdom. But a second time he and his
friends shared in the misfortunes of the king, except those persons who
had anticipated the calamity and deserted him early. This was the case
with my maternal grandfather, who, perceiving the unfortunate progress
of the affairs of the king in the war with Lucullus, and at the same
time being alienated from him by resentment for having lately put to
death his nephew Tibius, and his son Theophilus, undertook to avenge
their wrongs and his own. He obtained pledges of security from Lucullus,
and caused fifteen fortresses to revolt; in return he received
magnificent promises. On the arrival of Pompey, who succeeded Lucullus
in the conduct of the war, he regarded as enemies (in consequence of the
enmity which subsisted between himself and that general) all those
persons who had performed any services that were acceptable to Lucullus.
On his return home at the conclusion of the war he prevailed upon the
senate not to confirm those honours which Lucullus had promised to some
persons of [CAS. 558] Pontus, maintaining it to be unjust towards a
general who had brought the war to a successful issue, that the rewards
and distribution of honours should be placed in the hands of another.
34. The affairs of Comana were administered as has been described in the
time of the kings. Pompey, when he had obtained the power, appointed
Archelaus priest, and assigned to him a district of two schœni, or 60
stadia in circuit, in addition to the sacred territory, and gave orders
to the inhabitants to obey Archelaus. He was their governor, and master
of the sacred slaves who inhabited the city, but had not the power of
selling them. The slaves amounted to no less than six thousand.
This Archelaus was the son of that Archelaus who received honours from
Sylla and the senate; he was the friend of Gabinius, a person of
consular rank. When the former was sent into Syria, he came with the
expectation of accompanying him, when he was making preparations for the
Parthian war, but the senate would not permit him to do so, and he
abandoned this, and conceived a greater design.
Ptolemy, the father of Cleopatra, happened at this time to be ejected
from his kingdom by the Ægyptians. His daughter however, the elder
sister of Cleopatra, was in possession of the throne. When inquiries
were making in order to marry her to a husband of royal descent,
Archelaus presented himself to those who were negotiating the affair,
and pretended to be the son of Mithridates Eupator. He was accepted, but
reigned only six months. He was killed by Gabinius in a pitched battle,
in his attempt to restore Ptolemy.
35. His son however succeeded to the priesthood, and Lycomedes succeeded
him, to whom was assigned an additional district of four schœni (or 120
stadia) in extent. When Lycomedes was dispossessed he was succeeded by
Dyteutus, the son of Adiatorix, who still occupies the post, and appears
to have obtained this honour from Cæsar Augustus on account of his good
conduct on the following occasion.
Cæsar, after leading in triumph Adiatorix, with his wife and children,
had resolved to put him to death together with the eldest of his sons.
Dyteutus was the eldest; but when the second of his brothers told the
soldiers who were leading them away to execution that he was the eldest,
there was a contest between the two brothers, which continued for some
time, till the parents prevailed upon Dyteutus to yield to the younger,
assigning as a reason, that the eldest would be a better person to
protect his mother and his remaining brother. The younger was put to
death together with his father; the elder was saved, and obtained this
office. When Cæsar was informed of the execution of these persons, he
regretted it, and, considering the survivors worthy of his favour and
protection, bestowed upon them this honourable appointment.
36. Comana is populous, and is a considerable mart, frequented by
persons coming from Armenia. Men and women assemble there from all
quarters from the cities and the country to celebrate the festival at
the time of the exodi or processions of the goddess. Some persons under
the obligation of a vow are always residing there, and perform
sacrifices in honour of the goddess.
The inhabitants are voluptuous in their mode of life. All their property
is planted with vines, and there is a multitude of women, who make a
gain of their persons, most of whom are dedicated to the goddess. The
city is almost a little Corinth. On account of the multitude of harlots
at Corinth, who are dedicated to Venus, and attracted by the festivities
of the place, strangers resorted thither in great numbers. Merchants and
soldiers were quite ruined, so that hence the proverb originated,
“every man cannot go to Corinth.”
Such is the character of Comana.
37. All the country around is subject to Pythodoris, and she possesses
also Phanarœa, the Zelitis, and the Megalopolitis.
We have already spoken of Phanarœa.
In the district Zelitis is the city Zela,[1186] built upon the mound of
Semiramis. It contains the temple of Anaïtis, whom the Armenians also
worship. Sacrifices are performed with more pomp than in other places,
and all the people of Pontus take oaths here in affairs of highest
concern. The multitude of the sacred menials, and the honours conferred
upon the priests, were in the time of the kings, upon the plan which I
have before described. At present, however, everything is under the
power of Pythodoris, but many persons had previously reduced the number
of the sacred attendants, injured the property and diminished the
revenue belonging to the [CAS. 560] temple. The adjacent district of
Zelitis, (in which is the city Zela, on the mound of Semiramis,) was
reduced by being divided into several governments. Anciently, the kings
did not govern Zela as a city, but regarded it as a temple of the
Persian gods; the priest was the director of everything relating to its
administration. It was inhabited by a multitude of sacred menials, by
the priest, who possessed great wealth, and by his numerous attendants;
the sacred territory was under the authority of the priest, and it was
his own property. Pompey added many provinces to Zelitis, and gave the
name of city to Zela, as well as to Megalopolis. He formed Zelitis,
Culupene, and Camisene, into one district. The two latter bordered upon
the Lesser Armenia, and upon Laviansene. Fossile salt was found in them,
and there was an ancient fortress called Camisa, at present in ruins.
The Roman governors who next succeeded assigned one portion of these two
governments to the priests of Comana, another to the priest of Zela, and
another to Ateporix, a chief of the family of the tetrarchs of Galatia;
upon his death, this portion, which was not large, became subject to the
Romans under the name of a province. This little state is a political
body of itself, Carana[1187] being united with it as a colony, and hence
the district has the name of Caranitis. The other parts are in the
possession of Pythodoris, and Dyteutus.
38. There remain to be described the parts of Pontus, situated between
this country and the districts of Amisus, and Sinope, extending towards
Cappadocia, the Galatians, and the Paphlagonians.
Next to the territory of the Amiseni is Phazemonitis,[1188] which
extends as far as the Halys, and which Pompey called Neapolitis. He
raised the village Phazemon to the rank of a city, and increasing its
extent gave to it the name of Neapolis.[1189] The northern side of this
tract is bounded by the Gazelonitis, and by the country of the Amiseni;
the western side by the Halys; the eastern by Phanarœa; the remainder by
the territory of Amasis, my native country, which surpasses all the rest
in extent and fertility.
The part of Phazemonitis towards Phanarœa is occupied by a lake,
sea-like in magnitude, called Stiphane,[1190] which abounds with fish,
and has around it a large range of pasture adapted to all kinds of
animals. Close upon it is a strong fortress, Cizari, [Icizari,] at
present deserted, and near it a royal seat in ruins. The rest of the
country in general is bare, but produces corn.
Above the district of Amasis are the hot springs[1191] of the
Phazemonitæ, highly salubrious, and the Sagylium,[1192] a stronghold
situated on a lofty perpendicular hill, stretching upwards and
terminating in a sharp peak. In this fortress is a reservoir well
supplied with water, which is at present neglected, but was useful, on
many occasions, to the kings. Here the sons of Pharnaces the king
captured and put to death Arsaces, who was governing without the
authority of the Roman generals, and endeavouring to produce a
revolution in the state. The fortress was taken by Polemo and Lycomedes,
both of them kings, by famine and not by storm. Arsaces, being prevented
from escaping into the plains, fled to the mountains without provisions.
There he found the wells choked up with large pieces of rock. This had
been done by order of Pompey, who had directed the fortresses to be
demolished, and to leave nothing in them that could be serviceable to
robbers, who might use them as places of refuge. Such was the settlement
of the Phazemonitis made by Pompey. Those who came afterwards divided
this district among various kings.
39. My native city, Amaseia, lies in a deep and extensive valley,
through which runs the river Iris.[1193] It is indebted to nature and
art for its admirable position and construction. It [CAS. 561] answers
the double purpose of a city and a fortress. It is a high rock,
precipitous on all sides, descending rapidly down to the river: on the
margin of the river, where the city stands, is a wall, and a wall also
which ascends on each side of the city to the peaks, of which there are
two, united by nature, and completely fortified with towers. In this
circuit of the wall are the palace, and the monuments of the kings. The
peaks are connected together by a very narrow ridge, in height five or
six stadia on each side, as you ascend from the banks of the river, and
from the suburbs. From the ridge to the peaks there remains another
sharp ascent of a stadium in length, which defies the attacks of an
enemy. Within the rock are reservoirs of water, the supply from which
the inhabitants cannot be deprived of, as two channels are cut, one in
the direction of the river, the other of the ridge. Two bridges are
built over the river, one leading from the city to the suburbs, the
other from the suburbs to the country beyond; for near this bridge the
mountain, which overhangs the rock, terminates.
A valley extends from the river; it is not very wide at its
commencement, but afterwards increases in breadth, and forms the plain
called the Chiliocomon (The Thousand Villages). Next is the Diacopene,
and the Pimolisene, the whole of which is a fertile district extending
to the Halys.
These are the northern parts of the country of the Amasenses, and are in
length about 500 stadia. Then follows the remainder, which is much
longer, extending as far as Babanomus, and the Ximene,[1194] which
itself reaches to the Halys. The breadth is reckoned from north to
south, to the Zelitis and the Greater Cappadocia, as far as the
Trocmi.[1195] In Ximene there is found fossile salt, (ἅλες, Hales,) from
which it is supposed the river had the name of Halys. There are many
ruined fortresses in my native country, and large tracts of land made a
desert by the Mithridatic war. The whole of it, however, abounds with
trees. It affords pasture for horses, and is adapted to the subsistence
of other animals; the whole of it is very habitable. Amaseia was given
to the kings, but at present it is a (Roman) province.
40. There remains to be described the country within the Halys,
belonging to the province of Pontus, and situated about the
Olgassys,[1196] and contiguous to the Sinopic district. The Olgassys is
a very lofty mountain, and difficult to be passed. The Paphlagonians
have erected temples in every part of this mountain. The country around,
the Blaene, and the Domanītis, through which the river Amnias[1197]
runs, is sufficiently fertile. Here it was that Mithridates Eupator
entirely destroyed[1198] the army of Nicomedes the Bithynian, not in
person, for he himself happened to be absent, but by his generals.
Nicomedes fled with a few followers, and escaped into his own country,
and thence sailed to Italy. Mithridates pursued him, and made himself
master of Bithynia as soon as he entered it, and obtained possession of
Asia as far as Caria and Lycia. Here is situated Pompeiopolis,[1199] in
which city is the Sandaracurgium,[1200] (or Sandaraca works,) it is not
far distant from Pimolisa, a royal fortress in ruins, from which the
country on each side of the river is called Pimolisene. The
Sandaracurgium is a mountain hollowed out by large trenches made by
workmen in the process of mining. The work is always carried on at the
public charge, and slaves were employed in the mine who had been sold on
account of their crimes. Besides the great labour of the employment, the
air is said to be destructive of life, and scarcely endurable in
consequence of the strong odour issuing from the masses of mineral;
hence the slaves are short-lived. The mining is frequently suspended
from its becoming unprofitable, for great expense is incurred by the
employment of more than two hundred workmen, whose number is continually
diminishing by disease and fatal accidents.
So much respecting Pontus.
41. Next to Pompeiopolis is the remainder of the inland parts of
Paphlagonia as far as Bithynia towards the west. This tract, although
small in extent, was governed, a little before our time, by several
princes, but their race is extinct; at present it is in possession of
the Romans. The parts bordering upon Bithynia are called Timonitis; the
country of Gezatorix, [CAS. 562] Marmolitis, Sanisene, and Potamia.
There was also a Cimiatene, in which was Cimiata, a strong fortress
situated at the foot of the mountainous range of the Olgassys.
Mithridates, surnamed Ctistes, (or the Founder,) made it his
head-quarters when engaged in the conquest of Pontus, and his successors
kept possession of it to the time of Mithridates Eupator. The last king
of Paphlagonia was Deïotarus,[1201] son of Castor, and surnamed
Philadelphus, who possessed Gangra,[1202] containing the palace of
Morzeus, a small town, and a fortress.
42. Eudoxus, without defining the spot, says, that fossil fish[1203] are
found in Paphlagonia in dry ground, and in marshy ground also about the
lake Ascanius,[1204] which is below Cius, but he gives no clear
information on the subject.
We have described Paphlagonia bordering upon Pontus; and as the
Bithynians border upon the Paphlagonians towards the west, we shall
endeavour to describe this region also. We shall then set out again from
the Bithynians and the Paphlagonians, and describe the parts of the
country next to these nations lying towards the south; they extend as
far as the Taurus, and are parallel to Pontus and Cappadocia; for some
order and division of this kind are suggested by the nature of the
places.
CHAPTER IV.
1. Bithynia is bounded on the east by the Paphlagonians, Mariandyni, and
by some tribes of the Epicteti; on the north by the line of the
sea-coast of the Euxine, extending from the mouth of the Sangarius[1205]
to the straits at Byzantium and Chalcedon; on the west by the Propontis;
on the south by Mysia and Phrygia Epictetus, as it is called, which has
the name also of Hellespontic Phrygia.
2. Here upon the mouth of the Pontus is situated Chalcedon, founded by
the Megareans,[1206] the village Chrysopolis, and the Chalcedonian
temple. In the country a little above the sea-coast is a fountain,
Azaritia, (Azaretia?) which breeds small crocodiles.
Next follows the coast of the Chalcedonians, the bay of Astacus,[1207]
as it is called, which is a part of the Propontis.
Here Nicomedia[1208] is situated, bearing the name of one of the
Bithynian kings by whom it was founded. Many kings however have taken
the same name, as the Ptolemies, on account of the fame of the first
person who bore it.
On the same bay was Astacus a city founded by Megareans and Athenians;
it was afterwards again colonized by Dœdalsus. The bay had its name from
the city. It was razed by Lysimachus. The founder of Nicomedia
transferred its inhabitants to the latter city.
3. There is another bay[1209] continuous with that of Astacus, which
advances further towards the east, and where is situated Prusias,[1210]
formerly called Cius. Philip, the son of Demetrius, and father of
Perseus, gave it to Prusias, son of Zelas, who had assisted him in
destroying both this and Myrleia,[1211] a neighbouring city, and also
situated near Prusa. He rebuilt them from their ruins, and called the
city Cius Prusias, after his own name, and Myrleia he called Apameia,
after that of his wife. This is the Prusias who received Hannibal, (who
took refuge with him hither after the defeat of Antiochus,) and retired
from Phrygia[1212] on the Hellespont, according to agreement with the
Attalici.[1213] This country was formerly called Lesser Phrygia, but by
the Attalici Phrygia Epictetus.[1214] Above Prusias is a mountain which
is called Arganthonius.[1215] Here is the scene of the fable of Hylas,
one of the companions of Hercules in the ship Argo, who, having
disembarked in order to obtain water for the vessel, was carried away by
nymphs. Cius, as the story goes, was a friend and companion of Hercules;
on his return from Colchis, he settled there and founded the city which
bears his name. At the present time a festival called Oreibasia, [CAS.
564] is celebrated by the Prusienses, who wander about the mountains and
woods, a rebel rout, calling on Hylas by name, as though in search of
him.
The Prusienses having shown a friendly disposition towards the Romans in
their administration of public affairs, obtained their freedom. But the
Apamies were obliged to admit a Roman colony.
Prusa, situated below the Mysian Olympus, on the borders of the
Phrygians and the Mysians, is a well-governed city; it was founded by
Cyrus,[1216] who made war against Crœsus.
4. It is difficult to define the boundaries of the Bithynians, Mysians,
Phrygians, of the Doliones about Cyzicus, and of the Mygdones and Troes;
it is generally admitted that each of these tribes ought to be placed
apart from the other. A proverbial saying is applied to the Phrygians
and Mysians,
“The boundaries of the Mysi and Phryges are apart from one
another,”
but it is difficult to define them respectively. The reason is this;
strangers who came into the country were soldiers and barbarians; they
had no fixed settlement in the country of which they obtained
possession, but were, for the most part, wanderers, expelling others
from their territory, and being expelled themselves. All these nations
might be supposed to be Thracians, because Thracians occupy the country
on the other side, and because they do not differ much from one another.
5. But as far as we are able to conjecture, we may place Mysia between
Bithynia and the mouth of the Æsepus, contiguous to the sea, and nearly
along the whole of Olympus. Around it, in the interior, is the
Epictetus, nowhere reaching the sea, and extending as far as the eastern
parts of the Ascanian lake and district, for both bear the same name.
Part of this territory was Phrygian, and part Mysian; the Phrygian was
further distant from Troy; and so we must understand the words of the
poet[1217], when he says,
“Phorcys, and the godlike Ascanius, were the leaders of the
Phryges far from Ascania,”
that is, the Phrygian Ascania; for the other, the Mysian Ascania, was
nearer to the present Nicæa, which he mentions, when he says,
“Palmys, Ascanius, and Morys, sons of Hippotion, the leader of
the Mysi, fighting in close combat, who came from the fertile
soil of Ascania, as auxiliaries.”[1218]
It is not then surprising that he should speak of an Ascanius, a leader
of the Phrygians, who came from Ascania, and of an Ascanius, a leader of
the Mysians, coming also from Ascania, for there is much repetition of
names derived from rivers, lakes, and places.
6. The poet himself assigns the Æsepus as the boundary of the Mysians,
for after having described the country above Ilium, and lying along the
foot of the mountains subject to Æneas, and which he calls Dardania, he
places next towards the north Lycia, which was subject to Pandarus, and
where Zeleia[1219] was situated; he says,
“They who inhabited Zeleia, at the very foot of Ida, Aphneii
Trojans, who drink of the dark stream of Æsepus;”[1220]
below Zeleia, towards the sea, on this side of Æsepus, lies the plain of
Adrasteia, and Tereia, Pitya, and in general the present district of
Cyzicene near Priapus,[1221] which he afterwards describes. He then
returns again to the parts towards the east, and to those lying above,
by which he shows that he considered the country as far as the Æsepus
the northern and eastern boundary of the Troad. Next to the Troad are
Mysia and Olympus.[1222] Ancient tradition then suggests some such
disposition of these nations. But the present changes have produced many
differences in consequence of the continual succession of governors of
the country, who confounded together people and districts, and separated
others. The Phrygians and Mysians were masters of the country after the
capture of Troy; afterwards the Lydians; then the Æolians and Ionians;
next, the Persians and Macedonians; lastly, the Romans, under whose
government most of the tribes have lost even their languages and names,
in consequence of a new partition of the country having been made. It
will be proper to take this into consideration when we describe its
present state, at the same time showing a due regard to antiquity.
7. In the inland parts of Bithynia is Bithynium,[1223] situated above
Tieium,[1224] and to which belongs the country about Salon, [CAS. 565]
affording the best pasturage for cattle, whence comes the cheese of
Salon. Nicæa,[1225] the capital of Bithynia, is situated on the Ascanian
lake. It is surrounded by a very large and very fertile plain, which in
the summer is not very healthy. Its first founder was Antigonus, the son
of Philip, who called it Antigonia. It was then rebuilt by Lysimachus,
who changed its name to that of his wife Nicæa. She was the daughter of
Antipater. The city is situated in a plain. Its shape is quadrangular,
eleven stadia in circuit. It has four gates. Its streets are divided at
right angles, so that the four gates may be seen from a single stone,
set up in the middle of the Gymnasium. A little above the Ascanian lake
is Otrœa, a small town situated just on the borders of Bithynia towards
the east. It is conjectured that Otrœa was so called from Otreus.
8. That Bithynia was a colony of the Mysians, first Scylax of Caryanda
will testify, who says that Phrygians and Mysians dwell around the
Ascanian lake. The next witness is Dionysius, who composed a work on
“the foundation of cities.” He says that the straits at Chalcedon, and
Byzantium, which are now called the Thracian, were formerly called the
Mysian Bosporus. Some person might allege this as a proof that the
Mysians were Thracians; and Euphorio says,
“by the waters of the Mysian Ascanius;”
and thus also Alexander the Ætolian,
“who have their dwellings near the Ascanian waters, on the
margin of the Ascanian lake, where Dolion dwelt, the son of
Silenus and of Melia.”
These authors testify the same thing, because the Ascanian lake is found
in no other situation but this.
9. Men distinguished for their learning, natives of Bithynia, were
Xenocrates the philosopher, Dionysius the dialectician, Hipparchus,
Theodosius and his sons the mathematicians, Cleophanes the rhetorician
of Myrleia, and Asclepiades the physician of Prusa.[1226]
10. To the south of the Bithynians are the Mysians about Olympus (whom
some writers call Bithyni Olympeni, and others Hellespontii) and Phrygia
upon the Hellespont. To the south of the Paphlagonians are the
Galatians, and still further to the south of both these nations are the
Greater Phrygia, and Lycaonia, extending as far as the Cilician and
Pisidian Taurus. But since the parts continuous with Paphlagonia adjoin
Pontus, Cappadocia, and the nations which we have just described, it may
be proper first to give an account of the parts in the neighbourhood of
these nations, and then proceed to a description of the places next in
order.
CHAPTER V.
1. To the south of the Paphlagonians are the Galatians, of whom there
are three tribes; two of them, the Trocmi and the Tolistobogii, have
their names from their chiefs; the third, the Tectosages, from the tribe
of that name in Celtica. The Galatians took possession of this country
after wandering about for a long period, and overrunning the country
subject to the Attalic and the Bithynian kings, until they received by a
voluntary cession the present Galatia, or Gallo-Græcia, as it is called.
Leonnorius seems to have been the chief leader of these people when they
passed over into Asia. There were three nations that spoke the same
language, and in no respect differed from one another. Each of them was
divided into four portions called tetrarchies, and had its own tetrarch,
its own judge, and one superintendent of the army, all of whom were
under the control of the tetrarch, and two subordinate superintendents
[CAS. 567] of the army. The Council of the twelve Tetrarchs consisted of
three hundred persons, who assembled at a place called the
Drynemetum.[1227] The council determined causes relative to murder, the
others were decided by the tetrarchs and the judges. Such, anciently,
was the political constitution of Galatia; but, in our time, the
government was in the hands of three chiefs, then of two, and at last it
was administered by Deïotarus, who was succeeded by Amyntas. At present,
the Romans possess this as well as all the country which was subject to
Amyntas, and have reduced it into one province.
2. The Trocmi occupy the parts near Pontus and Cappadocia, which are the
best which the Galatians possess. They have three walled fortresses,
Tavium, a mart for the people in that quarter, where there is a colossal
statue of Jupiter in brass, and a grove, which is used as a place of
refuge; Mithridatium, which Pompey gave to Bogodiatarus, (Deïotarus?)
having separated it from the kingdom of Pontus; and thirdly, Danala,
where Pompey, when he was about to leave the country to celebrate his
triumph, met Lucullus and delivered over to him as his successor the
command of the war.
This is the country which the Trocmi possess.
The Tectosages occupy the parts towards the greater Phrygia near
Pessinus,[1228] and the Orcaorci. They had the fortress Ancyra,[1229] of
the same name as the small Phrygian city towards Lydia near
Blaudus.[1230] The Tolistobogii border upon the Bithynians, and Phrygia
Epictetus, as it is called. They possess the fortresses Blucium,
(Luceium,) which was the royal seat of Deïotarus, and Peïum, which was
his treasure-hold.
3. Pessinus is the largest mart of any in that quarter. It contains a
temple of the Mother of the Gods, held in the highest veneration. The
goddess is called Agdistis. The priests anciently were a sort of
sovereigns, and derived a large revenue from their office. At present
their consequence is much diminished, but the mart still subsists. The
sacred enclosure was adorned with fitting magnificence by the Attalic
kings,[1231] with a temple, and porticos of marble. The Romans gave
importance to the temple by sending for the statue of the goddess from
thence according to the oracle of the Sibyl, as they had sent for that
of Asclepius from Epidaurus.
The mountain Dindymus is situated above the city; from Dindymus comes
Dindymene, as from Cybela, Cybele. Near it runs the river Sangarius, and
on its banks are the ancient dwellings of the Phrygians, of Midas, and
of Gordius before his time, and of some others, which do not preserve
the vestiges of cities, but are villages a little larger than the rest.
Such is Gordium,[1232] and Gorbeus (Gordeus), the royal seat of Castor,
son of Saocondarius, (Saocondarus?) in which he was put to death by his
father-in-law, Deïotarus, who there also murdered his own daughter.
Deïotarus razed the fortress, and destroyed the greater part of the
settlement.
4. Next to Galatia towards the south is the lake Tatta,[1233] lying
parallel to that part of the Greater Cappadocia which is near the
Morimeni. It belongs to the Greater Phrygia, as well as the country
continuous with this, and extending as far as the Taurus, and of which
Amyntas possessed the greatest part. Tatta is a natural salt-pan. The
water so readily makes a deposit around everything immersed in it, that
upon letting down wreaths formed of rope, chaplets of salt are drawn up.
If birds touch the surface of the water with their wings, they
immediately fall down in consequence of the concretion of the salt upon
them, and are thus taken.
CHAPTER VI.
1. Such is the description of Tatta. The places around Orcaorci,
Pitnisus and the mountainous plains of Lycaonia, are cold and bare,
affording pasture only for wild asses; there is a great scarcity of
water, but wherever it is found the wells are very deep, as at Soatra,
where it is even sold. Soatra is a village city near Garsabora
(Garsaura?). Although the country is ill supplied with water, it is
surprisingly well adapted for feeding sheep, but the wool is coarse.
Some persons have acquired very great wealth by these flocks alone.
Amyntas had above three hundred flocks of sheep in these [CAS. 568]
parts. In this district there are two lakes, the greater Coralis, the
smaller Trogitis. Somewhere here is Iconium,[1234] a small town, well
built, about which is a more fertile tract of land than the pastures for
the wild asses before mentioned. Polemo possessed this place.
Here the Taurus approaches this country, separating Cappadocia and
Lycaonia from Cilicia Tracheia. It is the boundary of the Lycaonians and
Cappadocians, between Coropassus, a village of the Lycaonians, and
Gareathyra (Garsaura), a small town of the Cappadocians. The distance
between these fortressess is about 120 stadia.
2. To Lycaonia belongs Isaurica, near the Taurus, in which are the
Isaura, two villages of the same name, one of which is surnamed Palæa,
or the Old, the other [the New], the latter is well fortified.[1235]
There were many other villages dependent upon these. They are all of
them, however, the dwellings of robbers. They occasioned much trouble to
the Romans, and to Publius Servilius, surnamed Isauricus, with whom I
was acquainted; he subjected these places to the Romans, and destroyed
also many of the strongholds of the pirates, situated upon the sea.
3. Derbe,[1236] the royal seat of the tyrant Antipater, surnamed
Derbætes, is on the side of the Isaurian territory close upon
Cappadocia. Laranda[1237] also belonged to Antipater. In my time Amyntas
attacked and killed Antipater Derbætes, and got possession of the Isaura
and of Derbe. The Romans gave him the Isaura where he built a palace for
himself, after having destroyed Isauria Palæa (the Old). He began to
build in the same place a new wall, but before its completion he was
killed by the Cilicians in an ambuscade, when invading the country of
the Homonadeis.
4. For being in possession of Antiocheia near Pisidia, and the country
as far as Apollonias,[1238] near Apameia Cibotus,[1239] some parts of
the Paroreia, and Lycaonia, he attempted to exterminate the Cilicians
and Pisidians, who descended from the Taurus and overran this district,
which belonged to the Phrygians and Cilicians (Lycaonians). He razed
also many fortresses, which before this time were considered
impregnable, among which was Cremna, but he did not attempt to take by
storm Sandalium, situated between Cremna and Sagalassus.
5. Cremna is occupied by a Roman colony.
Sagalassus is under the command of the same Roman governor, to whom all
the kingdom of Amyntas is subject. It is distant from Apameia a day’s
journey, having a descent of nearly 30 stadia from the fortress. It has
the name also of Selgessus. It was taken by Alexander.
Amyntas made himself master of Cremna and passed into the country of the
Homonadeis, who were supposed to be the most difficult to reduce of all
the tribes. He had already got into his power most of their
strongholds, and had killed the tyrant himself, when he was taken
prisoner by an artifice of the wife of the tyrant, whom he had killed,
and was put to death by the people. Cyrinius (Quirinus)[1240] reduced
them by famine and took four thousand men prisoners, whom he settled as
inhabitants in the neighbouring cities, but he left no person in the
country in the prime of life.
Among the heights of Taurus, and in the midst of rocks and precipices
for the most part inaccessible, is a hollow and fertile plain divided
into several valleys. The inhabitants cultivate this plain, but live
among the overhanging heights of the mountains, or in caves. They are
for the most part armed, and accustomed to make incursions into the
country of other tribes, their own being protected by mountains, which
serve as a wall.
CHAPTER VII.
1. Contiguous to these, among other tribes of the Pisidians, are the
Selgeis, the most considerable tribe of the nation.
The greater part of the Pisidians occupy the summits of Taurus, but some
tribes situated above Side[1241] and [CAS. 570] Aspendus,[1242] which
are Pamphylian cities, occupy heights, all of which are planted with
olives. The parts above these, a mountainous country, are occupied by
the Catennenses, who border upon the Selgeis and the Homonadeis. The
Sagalasseis occupy the parts within the Taurus towards Milyas.
2. Artemidorus says that Selge, Sagalassus, Petnelissus, Adada,
Tymbrias, Cremna, Pityassus, (Tityassus?) Amblada, Anabura, Sinda,
Aarassus, Tarbassus, Termessus, are cities of the Pisidians. Of these
some are entirely among the mountains, others extend on each side even
as far as the country at the foot of the mountains, and reach to
Pamphylia and Milyas, and border on Phrygians, Lydians, and Carians, all
of whom are disposed to peace, although situated to the north.[1243]
The Pamphylians, who partake much of the character of the Cilician
nation, do not altogether abstain from predatory enterprises, nor permit
the people on the confines to live in peace, although they occupy the
southern parts of the country at the foot of Taurus.
On the confines of Phrygia and Caria, are Tabæ,[1244] Sinda, and
Amblada, whence is procured the Amblada wine, which is used in diet
prescribed for the sick.
3. All the rest of the mountain tribes of the Pisidians whom I have
spoken of are divided into states governed by tyrants, and follow like
the Cilicians a predatory mode of life. It is said that anciently some
of the Leleges, a wandering people, were intermixed with them, and from
the similarity of their habits and manners settled there.
Selge[1245] had the rank of a city from the first when founded by the
Lacedæmonians, but at a still earlier period by Calchas. Latterly it has
maintained its condition and flourished in consequence of its excellent
constitution and government, so that at one time it had a population of
20,000 persons. The place deserves admiration from the advantages which
nature has bestowed upon it. Among the summits of Taurus is a very
fertile tract capable of maintaining many thousand inhabitants. Many
spots produce the olive and excellent vines, and afford abundant pasture
for animals of all kinds. Above and all around are forests containing
trees of various sorts. The styrax is found here in great abundance, a
tree not large but straight in its growth. Javelins, similar to those of
the cornel tree, are made of the wood of this tree. There is bred in the
trunk of the styrax tree, a worm, which eats through the timber to the
surface, and throws out raspings like bran, or saw-dust, a heap of which
is collected at the root. Afterwards a liquid distils which readily
concretes into a mass like gum. A part of this liquid descends upon and
mixes with the raspings at the root of the tree, and with earth; a
portion of it acquires consistence on the surface of the mass, and
remains pure. That portion which flows along the surface of the trunk of
the tree, and concretes, is also pure. A mixture is made of the impure
part, which is a combination of wood-dust and earth; this has more odour
than the pure styrax, but is inferior to it in its other properties.
This is not commonly known. It is used for incense in large quantities
by superstitious worshippers of the gods.
The Selgic iris[1246] also, and the unguent which is made from it, are
in great esteem. There are few approaches about the city, and the
mountainous country of the Selgeis, which abounds with precipices and
ravines, formed among other rivers by the Eurymedon[1247] and the
Cestrus,[1248] which descend from the Selgic mountains, and discharge
themselves into the Pamphylian Sea. There are bridges on the roads. From
the strength and security of their position the Selgeis were never at
any time, nor on any single occasion, subject to any other people, but
enjoyed unmolested the produce of their country, with the exception of
that part situated below them in Pamphylia, and that within the Taurus,
for which they were carrying on a continual warfare with the kings.
Their position with respect to the Romans was that they possessed this
tract on certain conditions. They sent ambassadors to Alexander and
offered to receive his commands in the character of friends, but at
present they are altogether subject to the Romans, and are included in
what was formerly the kingdom of Amyntas.
CHAPTER VIII.[CAS. 571]
1. The people called Mysians, and Phrygians, who live around the
so-called Mysian Olympus, border upon the Bithynians to the south. Each
of these nations is divided into two parts. One is called the Greater
Phrygia, of which Midas was king. A part of it was occupied by the
Galatians. The other is the Lesser, or Phrygia on the Hellespont, or
Phrygia around Olympus, and is also called Epictetus.
Mysia is also divided into two parts; Olympic Mysia, which is continuous
with Bithynia, and with the Epictetus, (which, Artemidorus says, was
inhabited by the Mysians beyond the Danube,) and the part around the
Caïcus,[1249] and the Pergamene[1250] as far as Teuthrania, and the
mouths of the river.
2. This country, however, as we have frequently observed, has undergone
so many changes, that it is uncertain whether the district around
Sipylus,[1251] which the ancients called Phrygia, were a part of the
Greater or the Lesser Phrygia, from whence Tantalus, Pelops, and Niobe
were called Phrygians. Whatever the explanation may be, the change is
certain. For Pergamene and Elaïtis,[1252] through which country the
Caïcus passes, and empties itself into the sea, and Teuthrania, situated
between these two districts, where Teuthras lived, and Telephus was
brought up, lies between the Hellespont, and the country about Sipylus,
and Magnesia, which is at the foot of the mountain, so that, as I have
said, it is difficult
“To assign the confines of the Mysians and Phryges.”--
3. The Lydians also, and the Mæones, whom Homer calls Meones, are in
some way confounded with these people and with one another; some authors
say that they are the same, others that they are different, nations. Add
to this that some writers regard the Mysians as Thracians, others as
Lydians, according to an ancient tradition, which has been preserved by
Xanthus the Lydian, and by Menecrates of Elæa, who assign as the origin
of the name Mysians, that the Lydians call the beech-tree (Oxya) Mysos,
which grows in great abundance near Olympus, where it is said decimated
persons[1253] were exposed, whose descendants are the later Mysians,
and received their appellation from the Mysos, or beech-tree growing in
that country. The language also is an evidence of this. It is a mixture
of Lydian and Phrygian words, for they lived some time in the
neighbourhood of Olympus. But when the Phrygians passed over from
Thrace, and put to death the chief of Troy and of the country near it,
they settled here, but the Mysians established themselves above the
sources of the Caïcus near Lydia.
4. The confusion which has existed among the nations in this district,
and even the fertility of the country within the Halys, particularly
near the sea, have contributed to the invention of fables of this sort.
The richness of the country provoked attacks, from various quarters, and
at all times, of tribes who came from the opposite coast, or
neighbouring people contended with one another for the possession of it.
Inroads and migrations took place chiefly about the period of the Trojan
war, and subsequently to that time, Barbarians as well as Greeks showing
an eagerness to get possession of the territory of other nations. This
disposition, however, showed itself before the time of the Trojan war;
for there existed then tribes of Pelasgi, Caucones, and Leleges, who are
said to have wandered, anciently, over various parts of Europe. The poet
represents them as assisting the Trojans, but not as coming from the
opposite coast. The accounts respecting the Phrygians and the Mysians
are more ancient than the Trojan times.
Two tribes bearing the name of Lycians, lead us to suppose that they are
the same race; either the Trojan Lycians sent colonies to the Carians,
or the Carian Lycians to the Trojans. Perhaps the same may be the case
with the Cilicians, for they also are divided into two tribes; but we
have not the same evidence that the present Cilicians existed before the
Trojan times. Telephus may be supposed to have come with his mother from
Arcadia; by her marriage with Teuthras, (who had received them as his
guests,) Telephus was admitted into the [CAS. 572] family of Teuthras,
was reputed to be his son, and succeeded to the kingdom of the Mysians.
5. “The Carians, who were formerly islanders, and Leleges,” it is said,
“settled on the continent with the assistance of the Cretans. They built
Miletus, of which the founder was Sarpedon from Miletus in Crete. They
settled the colony of Termilæ in the present Lycia, but, according to
Herodotus,[1254] these people were a colony from Crete under the conduct
of Sarpedon, brother of Minos and Rhadamanthus, who gave the name of
Termilæ to the people formerly called Milyæ, and still more anciently
Solymi; when, however, Lycus the son of Pandion arrived, he called them
Lycii after his own name.” This account shows that the Solymi and
Lycians were the same people, but the poet distinguishes them. He
represents Bellerophon setting out from Lycia, and
“fighting with the renowned Solymi.”[1255]
He says Peisander (Isander?), his son, Mars
“slew when fighting with the Solymi,”[1256]
and speaks of Sarpedon as a native of Lycia.[1257]
6. That the common prize, proposed to be obtained by the conquerors, was
the fertile country which I am describing, is confirmed by many
circumstances which happened both before and after the Trojan times.
When even the Amazons ventured to invade it, Priam and Bellerophon are
said to have undertaken an expedition against these women. Anciently
there were cities which bore the names of the Amazons. In the Ilian
plain there is a hill
“which men call Batieia, but the immortals, the tomb of the
bounding (πολυσκάρθμοιο) Myrina,”
who, according to historians, was one of the Amazons, and they found
this conjecture on the epithet, for horses are said to be εὐσκάρθμοι on
account of their speed; and she was called πολύσκαρθμος from the
rapidity with which she drove the chariot. Myrina therefore, the place,
was named after the Amazon. In the same manner the neighbouring islands
were invaded on account of their fertility; among which were Rhodes and
Cos. That they were inhabited before the Trojan times clearly appears
from the testimony of Homer.[1258]
7. After the Trojan times, the migrations of Greeks and of Treres, the
inroads of Cimmerians and Lydians, afterwards of Persians and
Macedonians, and lastly of Galatians, threw everything into confusion.
An obscurity arose not from these changes only, but from the
disagreement between authors in their narration of the same events, and
in their description of the same persons; for they called Trojans
Phrygians, like the Tragic poets; and Lycians Carians, and similarly in
other instances. The Trojans who, from a small beginning, increased so
much in power that they became kings of kings, furnished a motive to the
poet and his interpreters, for determining what country ought to be
called Troy. For the poet calls by the common name of Trojans all their
auxiliaries, as he calls their enemies Danai and Achæi. But certainly we
should not give the name of Troy to Paphlagonia, or to Caria, or to
Lycia, which borders upon it. I mean when the poet says,
“the Trojans advanced with the clashing of armour and shouts,”[1259]
and where he speaks of their enemies,
“but the Achæi advanced silently, breathing forth warlike
ardour,”[1260]
and thus frequently in other passages.
We must endeavour, however, to distinguish as far as we are able one
nation from another, notwithstanding this uncertainty. If anything
relative to ancient history escapes my notice, it must be pardoned, for
this is not the province of the geographer; my concern is with the
present state of people and places.
8. There are two mountains situated above the Propontis, the Mysian
Olympus[1261] and Ida.[1262] At the foot of Olympus is Bithynia, and,
contiguous to the mountain, between Ida and the sea, is Troy.
We shall afterwards speak of Troy, and of the places continuous with it
on the south. At present we shall give an account of the places about
Olympus, and of the adjoining country as far as the Taurus, and parallel
to the parts which we have previously described.
The country lying around Olympus is not well inhabited. On its heights
are immense forests and strongholds, well adapted [CAS. 574] for the
protection of robbers, who, being able to maintain themselves there for
any length of time, often set themselves up as tyrants, as Cleon a
captain of a band of robbers did in my recollection.
9. Cleon was a native of the village Gordium, which he afterwards
enlarged, and erected into a city, giving it the name of Juliopolis. His
first retreat and head-quarters was a place called Callydium, one of the
strongest holds. He was of service to Antony in attacking the soldiers
who collected money for Labienus, at the time that the latter occupied
Asia, and thus hindered the preparations which he was making for his
defence. In the Actian war he separated himself from Antony and attached
himself to the generals of Cæsar; he was rewarded above his deserts, for
in addition to what he received from Antony he obtained power from
Cæsar, and exchanged the character of a freebooter for that of a petty
prince. He was priest of Jupiter Abrettenus, the Mysian god, and a
portion of the Morena was subject to him, which, like Abrettena, is
Mysian. He finally obtained the priesthood of Comana in Pontus, and went
to take possession of it, but died within a month after his arrival. He
was carried off by an acute disease, occasioned either by excessive
repletion, or, according to the account of those employed about the
temple, inflicted by the anger of the goddess. The story is this. Within
the circuit of the sacred enclosure is the dwelling of the priest and
priestess. Besides other sacred observances relative to the temple, the
purity of this enclosure is an especial object of vigilance, by
abstinence from eating swine’s flesh. The whole city, indeed, is bound
to abstain from this food, and swine are not permitted to enter it.
Cleon, however, immediately upon his arrival displayed his lawless
disposition and character by violating this custom, as if he had come
there not as a priest, but a polluter of sacred things.
10. The description of Olympus is as follows. Around it, to the north,
live Bithynians, Mygdonians, and Doliones; the rest is occupied by
Mysians and Epicteti. The tribes about Cyzicus[1263] from Æsepus[1264]
as far as Rhyndacus[1265] and the lake Dascylitis,[1266] are called for
the most part Doliones; those next to the Doliones, and extending as far
as the territory of the Myrleani,[1267] are called Mygdones. Above the
Dascylitis are two large lakes, the Apolloniatis,[1268] and the
Miletopolitis.[1269] Near the Dascylitis is the city Dascylium, and on
the Miletopolitis, Miletopolis. Near a third lake is Apollonia on the
Rhyndacus, as it is called. Most of these places belong at present to
the Cyziceni.
11. Cyzicus is an island[1270] in the Propontis, joined to the continent
by two bridges. It is exceedingly fertile. It is about 500 stadia in
circumference. There is a city of the same name near the bridges, with
two close harbours, and more than two hundred docks for vessels. One
part of the city is in a plain, the other near the mountain which is
called Arcton-oros (or Bear-mountain). Above this is another mountain,
the Dindymus, with one peak, having on it a temple founded by the
Argonauts in honour of Dindymene, mother of the gods. This city rivals
in size, beauty, and in the excellent administration of affairs, both in
peace and war, the cities which hold the first rank in Asia. It appears
to be embellished in a manner similar to Rhodes, Massalia,[1271] and
ancient Carthage. I omit many details. There are three architects, to
whom is intrusted the care of the public edifices and engines. The city
has also three store-houses, one for arms, one for engines, and one for
corn. The Chalcidic earth mixed with the corn prevents it from spoiling.
The utility of preserving it in this manner was proved in the
Mithridatic war. The king attacked the city unexpectedly with an army of
150,000 men and a large body of cavalry, and made himself master of the
opposite hill, which is called the hill of Adrasteia, and of the suburb.
He afterwards transferred his camp to the neck of land above the city,
blockaded it by land, and attacked it by sea with four hundred ships.
The Cyziceni resisted all these attempts, and were even nearly capturing
the king in a subterraneous passage, by working a countermine. He was,
however, apprized of it, and escaped by retreating in time out of the
excavation. Lucullus, the Roman general, was able, though late, to send
succours into the city by night. Famine also came to the aid of the
Cyziceni by spreading among this large army. The king did not foresee
this, and after losing great numbers of his men went away. [CAS. 576]
The Romans respected the city, and to this present time it enjoys
freedom. A large territory belongs to it, some part of which it has held
from the earliest times; the rest was a gift of the Romans. Of the Troad
they possess the parts beyond the Æsepus, namely, those about Zeleia and
the plain of Adrasteia; a part of the lake Dascylitis belongs to them,
the other part belongs to the Byzantines. They also possess a large
district near the Dolionis, and the Mygdonis, extending as far as the
lake Miletopolitis, and the Apolloniatis. Through these countries runs
the river Rhyndacus, which has its source in the Azanitis. Having
received from Mysia Abrettene, among other rivers, the Macestus,[1272]
which comes from Ancyra[1273] in the Abaeitis it empties itself into the
Propontis at the island Besbicus.[1274]
In this island of the Cyziceni is the mountain Artace, well wooded, and
in front of it lies a small island of the same name, near it is the
promontory Melas (or Black), as it is called, which is met with in
coasting from Cyzicus to Priapus.[1275]
12. To Phrygian Epictetus belong the Azani, and the cities Nacoleia,
Cotiaeium,[1276] Midiaeium, Dorylæum,[1277] and Cadi.[1278] Some persons
assign Cadi to Mysia.
Mysia extends in the inland parts from Olympene to Pergamene, and to the
plain of Caïcus, as it is called; so that it lies between Ida and the
Catacecaumene, which some place in Mysia, others in Mæonia.
13. Beyond the Epictetus to the south is the Greater Phrygia, leaving on
the left Pessinus, and the parts about Orcaorci, and Lycaonia, and on
the right Mæones, Lydians, and Carians. In the Epictetus are Phrygia
Paroreia, and the country towards Pisidia, and the parts about
Amorium,[1279] Eumeneia,[1280] and Synnada.[1281] Next are Apameia
Cibotus,[1282] and Laodiceia,[1283] the largest cities in Phrygia.
Around them lie the towns [and places], Aphrodisias,[1284]
Colossæ,[1285] Themisonium,[1286] Sanaus, Metropolis,[1287] Apollonias,
and farther off than these, Peltæ, Tabeæ, Eucarpia, and Lysias.
14. The Paroreia[1288] has a mountainous ridge extending from east to
west. Below it on either side stretches a large plain, cities are
situated near the ridge, on the north side, Philomelium,[1289] on the
south Antiocheia, surnamed Near Pisidia.[1290] The former lies entirely
in the plain, the other is on a hill, and occupied by a Roman colony.
This was founded by the Magnetes, who live near the Mæander. The Romans
liberated them from the dominion of the kings, when they delivered up
the rest of Asia within the Taurus to Eumenes. In this place was
established a priesthood of Men Arcæus, having attached to it a
multitude of sacred attendants, and tracts of sacred territory. It was
abolished after the death of Amyntas by those who were sent to settle
the succession to his kingdom.
Synnada is not a large city. In front of it is a plain planted with
olives, about 60 stadia in extent. Beyond is Docimia, a village, and the
quarry of the Synnadic marble. This is the name given to it by the
Romans, but the people of the country call it Docimite and Docimæan. At
first the quarry produced small masses, but at present, through the
extravagance of the Romans, pillars are obtained, consisting of a single
stone and of great size, approaching the alabastrite marble in variety
of colours; although the distant carriage of such heavy loads to the sea
is difficult, yet both pillars and slabs of surprising magnitude and
beauty are conveyed to Rome.
15. Apameia is a large mart of Asia, properly so called, and second in
rank to Ephesus, for it is the common staple for merchandise brought
from Italy and from Greece. It is built upon the mouth of the river
Marsyas, which runs through the middle of it, and has its commencement
above the city; being carried down to the suburb with a strong and
precipitous current, it enters the Mæander,[1291] which receives also
another river, the Orgas, and traverses a level tract with a gentle and
unruffled stream. Here the Mæander becomes a large river, and flows for
some time through Phrygia; it then separates Caria and Lydia at the
plain, as it is called, of the Mæander, running in a direction
excessively tortuous, so that from the course of this river all windings
are called Mæanders. Towards its termination it runs through the part of
Caria occupied by the Ionians; the mouths by which it empties itself are
between Miletus and Priene.[1292] It rises in a hill called Celænæ, on
which was a city of the same name. Antiochus [CAS. 578] Soter
transferred the inhabitants to the present Apameia, and called the city
after his mother Apama, who was the daughter of Artabazus. She was given
in marriage to Seleucus Nicator. Here is laid the scene of the fable of
Olympus and Marsyas, and of the contest between Marsyas and Apollo.
Above is situated a lake[1293] on which grows a reed, which is suited to
the mouth-pieces of pipes. From this lake, it is said, spring the
Marsyas and the Mæander.
16. Laodiceia,[1294] formerly a small town, has increased in our time,
and in that of our ancestors, although it received great injury when it
was besieged by Mithridates Eupator; the fertility however of the soil
and the prosperity of some of its citizens have aggrandized it. First,
Hiero embellished the city with many offerings, and bequeathed to the
people more than 2000 talents; then Zeno the rhetorician, and his son
Polemo, were an ornament and support to it; the latter was thought by
Antony, and afterwards by Augustus Cæsar, worthy even of the rank of
king in consequence of his valiant and upright conduct.
The country around Laodiceia breeds excellent sheep, remarkable not only
for the softness of their wool, in which they surpass the Milesian
flocks, but for their dark or raven colour. The Laodiceans derive a
large revenue from them, as the Colosseni do from their flocks, of a
colour of the same name.