No More Learning

Near it is Salapia,[2467] the port
of the Argyrippeni. For the two cities, Canusium and Argyrippa, are
situated at no great distance from the sea, and in the midst of a plain;
at one time they were the most important cities of the Greeks of Italy,
as is manifest from the circumference of their walls, but now they have
fallen off. One of them was originally called Argos Hippium, then
Argyrippa, and then again Arpi. They are said to have been both founded
by Diomed, and both the plain of Diomed and many other things are shown
in these districts as evidence of his having possessed them. Such were
the ancient offerings in the temple of Minerva, at Luceria. [2468] That
was an ancient city of the Daunii, but now it is of no account. Again,
in the neighbouring sea there are two islands called the Diomedean
islands, one of which is inhabited, but the other, they say, is desert:
in the latter it is fabled that Diomed disappeared from the earth, and
that his companions were transformed into birds,[2469] and indeed the
fable goes so far as to prolong their race to the present time, saying
that they are tame, and lead a sort of human life, both in respect of
food, and their readiness to approach men of gentle manners, and to shun
the evil and wanton. We have already noticed[2470] what is currently
reported amongst the Heneti concerning this hero [Diomed] and the
honours decreed to him by custom. It is thought also that Sipus[2471]
was a settlement founded by Diomed, [CAS. 284] it is distant from
Salapia about 140 stadia, and was called by the Greeks Sepius, from the
numbers of cuttle fish[2472] thrown up by the sea along its shore.
Between Salapia and Sipus is a navigable river, and a considerable
estuary; by both of these channels the merchandise, and wheat
especially, of Sipus is conveyed to the sea. Two heroa or shrines are
shown on a hill of Daunia, called Drium, one on the very brow of the
hill sacred to Calchas, those who are about to inquire of the oracle
offer a black ram to him, and sleep upon the fleece, the other below
near the foot of the hill is dedicated to Podalirius, it is about a
hundred stadia distant from the sea; from this hill also flows a
stream,[2473] which is a potent cure for all manner of diseases among
cattle. [2474] The promontory of Garganum[2475] running into the sea,
juts out from this bay about 300 stadia. [2476] As you turn the point you
perceive the town of Urium,[2477] while off the headland are seen the
Diomedean islands. All this coast produces everything in great
abundance, it is exceedingly well adapted for horses and sheep, and the
wool is finer than that of Tarentum, but less glossy. The district is
mild on account of the cup-like situation of the plains. There are some
who report that Diomed attempted to cut a canal to the sea, but being
sent for to return home, where he died, left it incomplete, as well as
other undertakings. This is one account of him: another makes him abide
here till the end of his days; a third is the fable I have already
noticed, that he vanished in the island [of Teutria], and one might
reckon as a fourth that of the Heneti,[2478] for they somehow make out
that he finished his career among them, as they assert his apotheosis.
The distances I have thus given are laid down in accordance with those
of Artemidorus.

10. The chorographer indeed gives only 165 miles from Brentesium[2479]
to Garganum, but Artemidorus makes them more. [2480] Thence to Ancona,
the first says there are 254 miles, whilst Artemidorus has given but
1250 stadia to the Fiumesino,[2481] near to Ancona, which is much
shorter. Polybius says that from Iapygia the distance has been laid down
in miles, and that there are 562 miles thence to the town of Sila,[2482]
thence to Aquileia 178. These geographers do not agree as to the length
to be assigned to the line of the sea-coast of Illyria, run from the
Ceraunian Mountains[2483] to the head[2484] of the Adriatic, some of
them stating it to be above 6000 [stadia], and making it longer than the
opposite coast [of Italy], while it is much shorter. [2485] Indeed they
all generally differ among themselves in stating distances, as we often
have occasion to remark. Wherever it is possible to discriminate we set
forth what appears to us to be correct, but where it is impossible to
come to any safe conclusion we think it our duty to publish their
several assertions. However, when we have no data furnished by them, it
must not be wondered at, if we should leave some points untouched in
treating of such and so vast a subject as we have undertaken. We would
not indeed omit any of the important particulars, but trifling
circumstances, even when they are noted, are of little advantage, and
when taken no heed of, are not missed, nor does their omission at all
impair the whole work, or, if it does, at most not much.

[CAS. 285] 11. Immediately beyond the Garganum comes a deep bay. [2486]
Those who dwell round it call themselves Apuli,[2487] they speak the
same language as the Daunii and Peucetii, and at the present time
resemble them in every other particular; however it is likely that they
were formerly distinct, since their names completely differ from those
of the others. In ancient times the whole of this country was
flourishing, but Hannibal and the wars which subsequently occurred have
wasted it. Here too was fought the battle of Cannæ, where there was so
great a slaughter of the Roman forces and their allies. [2488] Near this
gulf there is a lake,[2489] and above the lake in the interior is the
Apulian Teanum,[2490] having a like name with that of the
Sidicini. [2491] It is between this and the neighbourhood of
Dicæarchia[2492] that the breadth of Italy is so contracted as to form
an isthmus of less than 1000 stadia from sea to sea. [2493] Leaving the
lake we sail next to Buca,[2494] and the country of the Frentani. There
are 200 stadia from the lake both to Buca and to the Garganum. The
remainder of the towns in the vicinity of Buca have been before
described. [2495]




CHAPTER IV.


1. So great indeed is Italy, and much as we have described it; we will
now advert to the chief of the many things that have been described,
which have conduced to raise the Romans to so great a height of
prosperity. One point is its insular position, by which it is securely
guarded, the seas forming a natural protection around it with the
exception of a very inconsiderable frontier, which too is fortified by
almost impassable mountains. A second is, that there are but few
harbours, and those few capacious and admirably situated. These are of
great service both for enterprises against foreign places, and also in
case of invasions undertaken against the country, and the reception of
abundant merchandise. And a third, that it is situated so as to possess
many advantages of atmosphere and temperature of climate, in which both
animals and plants, and in fact all things available for sustaining
life, may be accommodated with every variety both of mild and severe
temperature; its length stretches in a direction north and south.
Sicily, which is extensive, may be looked upon as an addition to its
length, for we cannot consider it in any other light than as a part of
it. The salubrity or severity of the atmosphere of different countries,
is estimated by the amount of cold or heat, or the degrees of
temperature between those extremes; in this way we shall find that
Italy, which is situated in the medium of both the extremes, and having
so great a length, largely participates in a salubrious atmosphere, and
that in many respects. This advantage is still secured to it in another
way, for the chain of the Apennines extending through its whole length,
and leaving on each side plains and fruitful hills, there is no district
which does not participate in the advantages of the best productions
both of hill and plain. We must also enumerate the magnitude and number
of its rivers and lakes, and the springs of hot and cold waters supplied
by nature in various localities for the restoration of health; and in
addition to these, its great wealth in mines of all the metals,
abundance of timber, and excellent food both for man and for beasts of
all kinds. Italy, likewise, being situated in the very midst of the
greatest nations, I allude to Greece and the best provinces of Asia, is
naturally in a [CAS. 286] position to gain the ascendency, since she
excels the circumjacent countries both in the valour of her population
and in extent of territory, and by being in proximity to them seems to
have been ordained to bring them into subjection without difficulty.

2. If, in addition to our description of Italy, a few words should be
summarily added about the Romans who have possessed themselves of it,
and prepared it as a centre from whence to enforce their universal
dominion, we would offer the following. —The Romans, after the
foundation of their state, discreetly existed as a kingdom for many
years, till Tarquin, the last [Roman king], abused his power, when they
expelled him, and established a mixed form of government, being a
modification both of the monarchical and aristocratical systems; they
admitted both the Sabines[2496] and Latins[2497] into their alliance,
but as neither they nor the other neighbouring states continued to act
with good faith towards them at all times, they were under the necessity
of aggrandizing themselves by the dismemberment of their
neighbours. [2498] Having thus, by degrees, arrived at a state of
considerable importance, it chanced that they lost their city suddenly,
contrary to the expectation of all men, and again recovered the same
contrary to all expectation. [2499] This took place, according to
Polybius, in the nineteenth year after the naval engagement of
Ægos-potami,[2500] about the time of the conclusion of the peace of
Antalcidas. [2501] Having escaped these misfortunes, the Romans first
reduced all the Latins[2502] to complete obedience, they then subdued
the Tyrrheni,[2503] and stayed the Kelts, who border the Po, from their
too frequent and licentious forays; then the Samnites, and after them
they conquered the Tarentines and Pyrrhus,[2504] and presently after the
remainder of what is now considered as Italy, with the exception of the
districts on the Po. While these still remained a subject of dispute
they passed over into Sicily,[2505] and having wrested that island from
the Carthaginians[2506] they returned to complete the conquest of the
people dwelling along the Po. While this war was still in hand Hannibal
entered Italy,[2507] thus the second war against the Carthaginians
ensued, and after a very short interval the third, in which Carthage was
demolished. [2508] At the same time the Romans became masters of
Africa,[2509] and of such portions of Spain as they won from the
Carthaginians. Both the Greeks and the Macedonians, and the nations of
Asia who dwelt on the hither side of the river Kizil-Irmak[2510] and the
Taurus, took part in these struggles with the Carthaginians: over these
Antiochus[2511] was king, and Philip and Perseus,[2512] these therefore
the Romans found themselves obliged to subdue. The people likewise of
Illyria and Thrace, who were next neighbours to the Greeks and
Macedonians, at this time commenced the war with the Romans that never
ceased, until the subjugation of all the people who inhabit the
countries on the hither side of the Danube[2513] and the
Kizil-Irmak[2510] had been effected. The Iberians, and Kelts, and all
the rest who are subject to the Romans, shared a similar fate, for the
Romans never rested in the subjugation of the land to their sway until
they had entirely overthrown it: in the first instance they took
Numantia,[2514] and subdued Viriathus,[2515] and afterwards vanquished
Sertorius,[2516] and last of all the Cantabrians,[2517] who were brought
to subjection by Augustus Cæsar. [2518] Likewise the whole of Gaul both
within and beyond the Alps with Liguria were annexed at first by a
partial occupation, but subsequently divus Cæsar and then Augustus
subdued them completely in open war, so that now[2519] the Romans direct
their expeditions against the Germans from these countries as the most
convenient rendezvous, and have already adorned their own country with
several triumphs over them. Also in Africa all that did not belong to
the Carthaginians has been left to the charge of kings owning dependence
on the Roman state, while such as have attempted to assert their
independence have been overpowered. At the present moment both Maurusia
and much of the rest [CAS. 288] of Africa have fallen to the portion of
Juba[2520] on account of his good will and friendship towards the
Romans. The like things have taken place in Asia. At first it was
governed by kings who were dependent on the Romans, and afterwards when
their several lines of succession failed, as of that of the kings
Attalus,[2521] the kings of the Syrians,[2522] the Paphlagonians,[2523]
Cappadocians,[2524] and Egyptians,[2525] [or] when they revolted and
were subsequently deposed, as it happened in the case of Mithridates
Eupator, and Cleopatra of Egypt, the whole of their territories within
the Phasis[2526] and the Euphrates,[2527] with the exception of some
tribes of Arabs, were brought completely under the dominion of the
Romans and the dynasties set up by them. The Armenians and the people
who lie beyond Colchis, both the Albani and Iberians, require nothing
more than that Roman governors should be sent among them, and they would
be easily ruled; their attempted insurrections are merely the
consequence of the want of attention from the Romans, who are so much
occupied elsewhere: the like may be asserted of those who dwell beyond
the Danube,[2528] and inhabit the banks of the Euxine, excepting only
those who dwell on the Bosphorus[2529] and the Nomades;[2530] of these
the former are in subjection to the Romans, and the latter are
unprofitable for commerce on account of their wandering life, and only
require to be watched. The rest of the countries [of Asia] are chiefly
inhabited by Scenites[2531] and Nomades who dwell at a great distance.
The Parthians indeed border on them and are very powerful, but they have
yielded so far to the superiority of the Romans and our emperors, that
they have not only sent back[2532] to Rome the trophies which they had
at a still more distant period taken from the Romans, but Phraates has
even sent his sons and his sons’ sons to Augustus Cæsar, as hostages,
assiduously courting his friendship:[2533] indeed the [Parthians] of the
present time frequently send for a king from hence,[2534] and are almost
on the point of relinquishing all power to the Romans. We now see Italy,
which has frequently been torn by civil war even since it came under the
dominion of the Romans, nay, even Rome herself, restrained from rushing
headlong into confusion and destruction by the excellence of her form of
government and the ability of her emperors. Indeed it were hard to
administer the affairs of so great an empire otherwise than by
committing them to one man as a father. [2535] For it would never have
been in the power of the Romans and their allies to attain to a state of
such perfect peace, and the enjoyment of such abundant prosperity, as
Augustus Cæsar afforded them from the time that he took upon himself the
absolute authority; and which his son Tiberius, who has succeeded him,
still maintains, who takes his father for a pattern in his government
and ordinances. And in their turn his sons, Germanicus and Drusus,[2536]
who are exercising the functions of government under their father, take
him for their model.




BOOK VII.

GERMANY. —THE CIMBRI, GETÆ, DACI. —MOUTHS OF THE DANUBE. —THE
TAURICA CHERSONESUS, ILLYRICUM, HUNGARY, EPIRUS, DODONA,
MACEDONIA, THRACE. —THE HELLESPONT.

SUMMARY.


In the Seventh Book Strabo describes the remaining portions of
Europe. That on the east is the country beyond the Rhine, as far
as the Don[2537] and the mouth of the Sea of Azof;[2538] and on
the south, that which the Danube[2539] bounds, lying between the
Adriatic and the left shores of the Euxine, as far as Greece and
the Sea of Marmora,[2540] including the whole of Macedonia.




CHAPTER I.


1. We have described Spain and the Keltic nations, together with Italy
and the islands adjacent, and must now speak of the remaining portions
of Europe, dividing it in the best way we can. That which remains is, on
the east, all the country beyond the Rhine, as far as the Don and the
mouth of the Sea of Azof; and, on the south, that which the Danube
bounds, lying between the Adriatic and the left shores of the Euxine, as
far as Greece and the Sea of Marmora, for the Danube, which is the
largest of the rivers of Europe, divides the whole territory of which we
have spoken, into two portions. This river from its commencement flows
southwards, then, making a sudden turn, continues its course from west
to east, which [terminates] in the Euxine Sea. It takes its rise in the
western confines of Germany, not far from the head of the Adriatic,
being distant from it about 1000 stadia,[2541] and falls into the Euxine
near the mouths of the Dniester[2542] and the Dnieper,[2543] inclining a
little towards the north. Thus the countries beyond the Rhine and
Keltica are situated to the north of the Danube, and are occupied by the
Galatic and German tribes, as far as the territory of the
Bastarnæ,[2544] the Tyregetæ,[2545] and the river Dnieper; so also is
the country situated between the Dnieper, the Don, and the mouth of the
Sea of Azof, which on one side stretches back as far as the [Northern]
Ocean,[2546] and on another is washed by the Euxine. To the south of the
Danube are situated the people of Illyria and Thrace, and mixed with
them certain tribes of Kelts and other races, extending as far as
Greece.

We will first speak of those nations to the north of the Danube, for
their history is less involved than that of the tribes situated on the
other side of the river.

2. Next after the Keltic nations come the Germans who inhabit the
country to the east beyond the Rhine; and these differ but little from
the Keltic race, except in their being more fierce, of a larger stature,
and more ruddy in countenance; but in every other respect, their figure,
their customs and manners of life, are such as we have related of the
Kelts. [2547] The Romans therefore, I think, have very appositely applied
to them the name “Germani,” as signifying genuine; for in the Latin
language Germani signifies genuine. [2548]

3. The first division of this country is the land extending along the
Rhine from its source to its embouchure. Indeed, the valley of that
river extends nearly as far as the whole breadth of Germany on the west.
Of the people who occupied this country, some have been transplanted by
the Romans into Keltica, the others have retired to the interior, as the
Marsi;[2549] there are but few remaining, and some portion of them [CAS.
290] are Sicambri;[2550] next to the inhabitants of this valley succeeds
the tribe dwelling between the Rhine and the river Elbe,[2551] which
river flows towards the ocean in a direction nearly parallel with the
Rhine, and traversing a country of no less extent. There are also
between these other navigable rivers, such as the Ems,[2552] on which
Drusus defeated the Bructeri[2553] in a naval engagement; all likewise
flowing from south to north, and falling into the ocean; for the whole
country rises towards the south, and forms a ridge of mountains near the
Alps, which extends eastward as though it were a continuation of the
Alps;[2554] and some have even so described it, as well on account of
its position as because it produces the same system of vegetation;
nevertheless, the altitude of this ridge in no part equals that of the
Alps. Here is situated the Hercynian Wood,[2555] and the tribes of the
Suevi,[2556] some of whom inhabit the forest, as do likewise some of the
Quadi. [2557] Among these latter people is situated Bujæmum, the royal
city of Marobodus, whither he has assembled many strangers and many of
the Marcomanni, a kindred nation with his own. This Marobodus, from a
private station, raised himself to the administration of affairs after
his return from Rome. For he went to that city while a youth, and was
patronized by Augustus. After he came home, he acquired the sovereignty
of his country, and added to the people I have enumerated, the
Luji,[2558] a powerful nation, and the Zumi,[2559] and the Gutones[2560]
and Mugilones and Sibini, besides the Semnones, another considerable
tribe of the Suevi. As I have previously stated, a portion of the Suevi
dwells within the Forest, while another portion occupies the territory
beyond, on the frontiers of the Getæ; wherefore the nation of the Suevi
is the most considerable, as it extends from the Rhine as far as the
Elbe, and even a part of them, as the Hermonduri and the Langobardi,
inhabit the country beyond the Elbe; but at the present time these
tribes, having been defeated, have retired entirely beyond the Elbe. All
these nations easily change their abode, on account of the scantiness of
provisions, and because they neither cultivate the lands nor accumulate
wealth, but dwell in miserable huts, and satisfy their wants from day to
day, the most part of their food being supplied by the herd, as amongst
the nomade races, and in imitation of them they transfer their
households in waggons, wandering with their cattle to any place which
may appear most advantageous. There are many other smaller German
tribes, as the Cherusci, Chatti, Gamabrivi,[2561] Chattuarii, and next
the ocean the Sicambri, Chaubi,[2562] Bructeri,[2563] Cimbri, Cauci,
Caulci, Campsiani,[2564] and many others.

In the same direction with the Ems,[2565] the Weser[2566] and the river
Lippe[2567] take their course, the latter, distant about 600 stadia from
the Rhine, flows through the territory of the Lesser Bructeri. And there
is also the river Sala,[2568] between which and the Rhine Drusus
Germanicus died, whilst in the midst of his victories. He not only
subdued the greater part of the German tribes, but also the islands on
the coast he passed along, one amongst which is Byrchanis,[2569] which
he took by siege.

4. All these nations became known through their wars with [CAS. 291] the
Romans, at one time submitting, at another revolting and quitting their
habitations; and we should have become acquainted with a greater number
of their tribes, if Augustus had permitted his generals to pass the
Elbe, in pursuit of those who had fled thither; but he considered the
war on hand would be more easily brought to a conclusion, if he left the
people on the other side of the Elbe unmolested, and not by attacking
provoke them to make common cause with his enemies.

The Sicambri inhabiting the country next the Rhine were the first to
commence the war, under the conduct of their leader, Melon; other
nations afterwards followed their example, at one time being victorious,
at another defeated, and again recommencing hostilities, without regard
to hostages or the faith of treaties. Against these people mistrust was
the surest defence; for those who were trusted effected the most
mischief. For example, the Cherusci, and those who were subject to them,
amongst whom three Roman legions with their general, Quintilius Varus,
perished by ambush, in violation of the truce; nevertheless all have
received punishment for this perfidy, which furnished to Germanicus the
Younger the opportunity of a most brilliant triumph, he leading publicly
as his captives the most illustrious persons, both men and women,
amongst whom were Segimuntus,[2570] the son of Segestes, the chief of
the Cherusci, and his sister, named Thusnelda, the wife of Armenius, who
led on the Cherusci when they treacherously attacked Quintilius Varus,
and even to this day continues the war; likewise his son Thumelicus, a
boy three years old, as also Sesithacus, the son of Segimerus,[2571]
chief of the Cherusci, and his wife Rhamis, the daughter of
Ucromirus,[2572] chief of the Chatti,[2573] and Deudorix, the son of
Bætorix, the brother of Melon, of the nation of the Sicambri; but
Segestes, the father-in-law of Armenius, from the commencement opposed
the designs of his son-in-law, and taking advantage of a favourable
opportunity, went over to the Roman camp and witnessed the triumphal
procession over those who were dearest to him, he being held in honour
by the Romans. There was also led in triumph Libes the priest of the
Chatti, and many other prisoners of the various vanquished nations, the
Cathylci and the Ampsani, the Bructeri, the Usipi, the Cherusci, the
Chatti, the Chattuarii, the Landi,[2574] the Tubattii. [2575]

The Rhine is distant from the Elbe about 3000 stadia, if one could
travel in a direct line; but we are compelled to go a circuitous route,
on account of the windings of the marshes and the woods.

5. The Hercynian Forest[2576] is extremely dense, and overgrown with
very large trees, covering an immense circuit of country, fortified by
nature. In the midst of it is situated the region well suited for
habitation, of which we have spoken. Near this forest are the sources of
the Danube and the Rhine, and the lake[2577] situated between these,
together with the marshes formed by the Rhine. The circuit of the lake
is more than 300[2578] stadia, and the distance across about 200. In
this lake is an island which served Tiberius as an arsenal, in the naval
war with the Vindelici. This lake is south of the sources of the Danube
and the Hercynian Forest, so that in passing from Keltica[2579] to the
forest, one has first to cross the lake, then the Danube, and afterwards
by a more passable country, and over elevated plains, you approach the
forest. When Tiberius had proceeded but one day’s journey from the lake,
he came in sight of the sources of the Danube. [2580]

The territory of the Rhæti[2581] borders some portion of this lake, but
the greater part of the shores belong to the Helvetii[2582] [CAS. 292]
and Vindelici,[2583] [the Norici come next after the Vindelici in an
easterly direction,][2584] and the desert of the Boii. [2585] The nations
as far as the Pannonians,[2586] but more especially the Helvetii and
Vindelici, inhabit high table lands. The Rhæti and the Norici,[2587]
verging towards Italy, extend over the very summits of the Alps; the
former confining with the Insubri,[2588] the latter the Carni,[2589] and
the districts about Aquileia. There is likewise another great forest,
named Gabreta, on this side the territory of the Suevi, while beyond
them lies the Hercynian Wood, which also is in their possession.




CHAPTER II.


1. Some of the accounts which we receive respecting the Cimbri are not
worthy of credit, while others seem likely enough: for instance, no one
could accept the reason given for their wandering life and piracy, that,
dwelling on a peninsula, they were driven out of their settlements by a
very high tide;[2590] for they still to this day possess the country
which they had in former times, and have sent as a present to Augustus
the caldron held most sacred by them, supplicating his friendship, and
an amnesty for past offences; and having obtained their request, they
returned home. Indeed, it would have been ridiculous for them to have
departed from their country in a pet, on account of a natural and
constant phenomenon, which recurs twice every day. It is likewise
evidently a fiction, that there ever occurred an overwhelming
flood-tide, for the ocean, in the influences of this kind which it
experiences, receives a certain settled and periodical increase and
decrease. [2591] Neither is it true, as has been related,[2592] that the
Cimbri take arms against the flood-tides, or that the Kelts, as an
exercise of their intrepidity, suffer their houses to be washed away by
them, and afterwards rebuild them; and that a greater number of them
perish by water than by war, as Ephorus relates. For the regular order
the flood-tides observe, and the notoriety of the extent of the country
subject to inundation by them, could never have given occasion for such
absurd actions. For the tide flowing twice every day, how could any one
think for an instant that it was not a natural and harmless phenomenon,
and that it occurs not only on their coasts, but on all others bordering
on the ocean? Is not this quite incredible? Neither is Clitarchus to be
trusted,[2593] when he says that their cavalry, on seeing the sea
flowing in, rode off at full speed, and yet scarcely escaped by flight
from being overtaken by the flood; for we know, by experience, that the
tide does not come in with such impetuosity, but that the sea advances
stealthily by slow degrees. And we should think, besides, that a
phenomenon of daily occurrence, which would naturally strike the ear of
such as [CAS. 293] approached it, before even they could see it with
their eyes, could not by any means terrify them so as to put them to
flight, as if they had been surprised by some unexpected catastrophe.

2. For such fables as these, Posidonius justly blames these writers, and
not inaptly conjectures that the Cimbri, on account of their wandering
life and habits of piracy, might have made an expedition as far as the
countries around the Palus Mæotis, and that from them has been derived
the name of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, or what we should more correctly
denominate the Cimbrian Bosphorus, for the Greeks call the Cimbri
Cimmerii.

He likewise tells us that the Boii formerly inhabited the Hercynian
Forest, and that the Cimbri, having made an incursion into those parts,
were repulsed by them, and driven towards the Danube, and the country
occupied by the Scordisci, a Galatic tribe, and from thence to the
Tauristæ, or Taurisci, a people likewise of Galatic origin, and farther
to the Helvetii, who were at that time a rich and peaceful people; but,
perceiving that the wealth of these freebooters far exceeded their own,
the Helvetii, and more especially the Tigureni and the Toygeni,
associated themselves with their expeditions. But both the Cimbri and
their auxiliaries were vanquished by the Romans, the one part when they
crossed the Alps and came down upon Italy, the others on the other side
of the Alps.

3. It is reported that the Cimbri had a peculiar custom. They were
accompanied in their expeditions by their wives; these were followed by
hoary-headed priestesses,[2594] clad in white, with cloaks of
carbasus[2595] fastened on with clasps, girt with brazen girdles, and
bare-footed. These individuals, bearing drawn swords, went to meet the
captives throughout the camp, and, having crowned them, led them to a
brazen vessel containing about 20 amphoræ, and placed on a raised
platform, which one of the priestesses having ascended, and holding the
prisoner above the vessel, cut his throat; then, from the manner in
which the blood flowed into the vessel, some drew certain divinations;
while others, having opened the corpse, and inspected the entrails,
prophesied victory to their army. In battle too they beat skins
stretched on the wicker sides of chariots, which produces a stunning
noise.

4. As we have before stated, the northernmost of the Germans inhabit a
country bordering on the ocean; but we are only acquainted with those
situated between the mouths of the Rhine and the Elbe, of which the
Sicambri[2596] and Cimbri[2597] are the most generally known: those
dwelling along the coast[2598] beyond the Elbe are entirely unknown to
us; for none of the ancients with whom I am acquainted have prosecuted
this voyage towards the east as far as the mouths of the Caspian Sea,
neither have the Romans as yet sailed coastwise beyond the Elbe, nor has
any one travelling on foot penetrated farther into this country. But it
is evident, by the _climates_ and the parallels of distances, that in
following a longitudinal course towards the east we must come to the
countries near the Dnieper, and the regions on the north side of the
Euxine. But as for any particulars as to Germany beyond the Elbe, or of
the countries which lie beyond it in order, whether we should call them
the Bastarnæ, as most geographers suppose, or whether other nations
intervene, such as the Jazyges,[2599] or the Roxolani,[2600] or any
others of the tribes dwelling in waggons, it is not easy to give any
account. Neither can we say whether these nations extend as far as the
[Northern] Ocean, along the whole distance, or whether [between them and
the Ocean] there are countries rendered unfit for habitation by the cold
or by any other cause; or whether men of a different race are situated
between the sea and the most eastern of the Germans.

The same uncertainty prevails with regard to the other [CAS. 294]
nations[2601] of the north, for we know neither the Bastarnæ nor the
Sauromatæ;[2602] nor, in a word, any of those tribes situate above the
Euxine: we are ignorant as to what distance they lie from the
Atlantic,[2603] or even whether they extend as far as that sea.




CHAPTER III.


1. As to the southern part of Germany beyond the Elbe, the country which
adjoins the bank of that river is now occupied by the Suevi. Next lies
the country of the Getæ, at first narrow, its southern side extends
along the Danube, and the opposite side along the mountains of the
Hercynian Forest, even including part of those mountains, it then
becomes broader towards the north, and extends as far as the Tyregetæ;
however, we are unable to declare its boundaries with accuracy; and it
is on account of our ignorance of these places that those who relate
fables of the Riphæan mountains and the Hyperboreans have received
credit; as also that which Pytheas of Marseilles has forged concerning
the countries bordering on the Northern Ocean, making use of his
acquaintance with astronomy and mathematics to fabricate his false
narration: let us therefore pass over them; as also what Sophocles,
speaking of Orithya in one of his tragedies, says, that she, being
snatched by the north wind, was carried

“Over the whole ocean, to the extremities of the earth,
Even to the place where night received its birth,
Where the opposite side of the heavens is beheld,
And where is situated the ancient garden of Phœbus. ”

This is of no value to our present inquiry, but must be omitted, as
Socrates has done in the Phædrus of Plato. We will relate only what we
have learnt from ancient accounts, and the reports made in our times.

2. The Greeks indeed considered the Getæ to be Thracians. They occupied
either bank of the Danube, as also did the Mysians, likewise a Thracian
people, now called the Mœsi, from whom are descended the Mysians,
settled between the Lydians, the Phrygians, and the inhabitants of the
Troad. Even the Phrygians themselves are the same as the Briges, a
people of Thrace, as also are the Mygdones, the Bebryces, the
Mædobithyni, the Bithyni, the Thyni, and, as I consider, also are the
Mariandyni. All these people quitted Europe entirely, the Mysians alone
remaining. Posidonius appears to me to have rightly conjectured that it
is the Mysians of Europe (or as I should say of Thrace) that Homer
designates when he says,

“and his glorious eyes
Averting, on the land look’d down remote
Of the horse-breeding Thracians, of the bold
Close-fighting Mysian race. . . . ”[2604]

For if any one should understand them as the Mysians of Asia, the
expression of the poet would not be fitting. For this would be, that
having turned his eyes from the Trojans towards the land of the
Thracians, he beheld at the same time the land of the Mysians, situated
not far off from where he was, but conterminous with the Troad, rather
behind it and on either side, but separated from Thrace by the breadth
of the Hellespont. [2605] This would be to confound the continents, and
at the same time to disregard the form of the poet’s expression. For “to
turn his eyes again,” is more especially to turn them behind him; but he
who extends his vision from the Trojans to the people either behind
them, or on either side of them, stretches his sight to a greater
distance, but not in the least behind him. And this also is introduced
as a proof of this very thing, that Homer classes with these the
Hippemolgi,[2606] the Galactophagi,[2607] and the Abii,[2608] who are
the Scythian Hamaxœci[2609] and Sarmatians; for at this day, all these
nations, as well as the Bastarnæ, are mixed with the Thracians, more
especially with those beyond the Danube, and some even with [CAS. 296]
the Thracians on this side the Danube; also amongst these are the Keltic
tribes of the Boii, Scordisci, and Taurisci. Some, indeed, call the
Scordisci the Scordistæ, and give to the Taurisci the names of
Ligurisci[2610] and Tauristæ.

3. Posidonius relates that the Mysians religiously abstain from eating
any thing that had life, and consequently, from cattle; but that they
lived in a quiet way on honey, milk, and cheese; wherefore they are
considered a religious people, and called Capnobatæ. [2611] He adds, that
there are amongst the Thracians some who live without wives, and who are
known by the name of Ctistæ. These are considered sacred and worthy of
honour, and live in great freedom. [He pretends] that the poet
comprehends the whole of these people when he says,

“and where abide,
On milk sustain’d, and blest with length of days,
The Hippemolgi, justest of mankind. ”[2612]

These he designates as “without life,” more particularly on account of
their living without wives, considering their solitary state as but a
half life; in the same way as he likewise designates the house of
Protesilaus “imperfect,” on account of the bereavement of his widow; in
the same manner he applies to the Mysians the epithet of
“close-fighting,” on account of their being invincible, like good
warriors. [Finally, Posidonius pretends] that in the thirteenth[2613]
book of the Iliad we ought to substitute for “the close-fighting
Mysians,” [“the close-fighting Mœsi. ”]

4. Nevertheless it would perhaps be superfluous to change the text [of
Homer], which has stood the test of so many years. For it appears more
probable to suppose that the people were anciently called Mysians, but
that their name is now altered. Further, any one would suppose that the
Abii[2614] were no more so named from being unmarried than from their
being houseless,[2615] or their dwelling in waggons. In fact, as
injustice is ordinarily committed in matters relative to bonds for money
and the acquisition of wealth, it would be natural that the people
living so frugally on such small property should be called [by Homer]
the justest of mankind: and the more so as the philosophers who place
justice next to moderation, aim at independence of others and frugality
as amongst the most desirable objects of attainment; from which however
some, having passed the bounds of moderation, have wandered into a
cynical mode of life. [2616] But [the words of the poet] sanction no such
assertion of the Thracians, and the Getæ in particular, that they live
without wives. But see what Menander says of these people, not out of
his own imagination, as it should seem, but deriving it from history.
“All the Thracians truly, and especially above all others we
Getæ, (for I myself glory in being descended from this race,) are
not very chaste. ”

And a little after he gives examples of their rage for women.

“For there is no one among us who marries fewer than ten or
eleven wives, and some have twelve, or even more. [2617] If any
one loses his life who has only married four or five wives, he is
lamented by us as unfortunate, and one deprived of the pleasures
of Hymen. ”

Such a one would be accounted as unmarried amongst them. These things
are likewise confirmed by the evidence of other historians. And it is
not likely that the same people should regard as an unhappy life that
which is passed without the enjoyment of many women, and at the same
time regard as a dignified and holy life that which is passed in
celibacy without any women. But that those living without wives should
be considered holy, and termed Capnobatæ, is entirely opposed to our
received opinions; for all agree in regarding women as the authors of
devotion to the gods, and it is they [CAS. 297] who induce the men by
their example to a more attentive worship of the gods, and to the
observance of feast-days and supplications; for scarcely is there found
a man living by himself who pays any regard to such matters. And again
attend to the words of the same poet when he speaks in one of his
characters, bringing in a man disgusted with the expenses[2618] of the
sacrifices of the women.

“The gods weary us indeed, but especially our married men, who
are always obliged to celebrate some feast. ”

And his Misogynes, complaining of the same things, exclaims,

“We sacrificed five times a day, while seven female slaves ranged
in a circle played on the cymbals, and others raised their
suppliant cries. ”

It would therefore seem absurd to suppose that only those among the Getæ
who remained without wives were considered pious, but that the care of
worshipping the Supreme Being is great among this nation is not to be
doubted, after what Posidonius has related, “and they even abstain from
animal food from religious motives,” as likewise on account of the
testimony of other historians.

5. For it is said that one of the nation of the Getæ, named
Zamolxis,[2619] had served Pythagoras, and had acquired with this
philosopher some astronomical knowledge, in addition to what he had
learned from the Egyptians, amongst whom he had travelled. He returned
to his own country, and was highly esteemed both by the chief rulers and
the people, on account of his predictions of astronomical phenomena, and
eventually persuaded the king to unite him in the government, as an
organ of the will of the gods. At first he was chosen a priest of the
divinity most revered by the Getæ, but afterwards was esteemed as a god,
and having retired into a district of caverns, inaccessible and
unfrequented by other men, he there passed his life, rarely
communicating with anybody except the king and his ministers. The king
himself assisted him to play his part, seeing that his subjects obeyed
him more readily than formerly, as promulgating his ordinances with the
counsel of the gods. This custom even continues to our time; for there
is always found some one of this character who assists the king in his
counsels, and is styled a god by the Getæ. The mountain likewise [where
Zamolxis retired] is held sacred, and is thus distinguished, being named
Cogæonus,[2620] as well as the river which flows by it; and at the time
when Byrebistus, against whom divus Cæsar prepared an expedition,
reigned over the Getæ, Decæneus held that honour: likewise the
Pythagorean precept to abstain from animal food, which was originally
introduced by Zamolxis, is still observed to a great extent.

6. Any one may well entertain such questions as these touching the
localities mentioned by the poet [Homer], and with regard to the Mysians
and the illustrious Hippemolgi: but what Apollodorus has advanced in his
preface to the Catalogue of Ships in the Second Book [of the Iliad] is
by no means to be adopted. For he praises the opinions of Eratosthenes,
who says that Homer and the rest of the ancients were well versed in
every thing that related to Greece, but were in a state of considerable
ignorance as to places at a distance, in consequence of the
impossibility of their making long journeys by land or voyages by sea.
In support of this he asserts,[2621] that Homer designated Aulis as
‘rocky,’ as indeed it is; Eteonus as ‘mountainous and woody,’ Thisbe as
‘abounding in doves,’ Haliartus as ‘grassy;’ but that neither Homer nor
the others were familiar with localities far off; for although there are
forty rivers which discharge themselves into the Black Sea,[2622] he
makes no mention whatever even of the most considerable, as the
Danube,[2623] the Don,[2624] the Dnieper,[2625] the Bog,[2626] the
Phasz,[2627] the Termeh,[2628] the Kizil-Irmak,[2629] nor does [CAS.
298] he even allude to the Scythians, but makes up fables about certain
illustrious Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii. He had become acquainted
with the Paphlagonians of the interior from the relations of such as had
penetrated into those regions on foot, but he was perfectly unacquainted
with the sea-coasts of the country; which indeed was likely enough, for
that sea was in his time closed to navigation, and known by the name of
Pontus Axenus [or the Inhospitable] on account of the severity of the
storms to which it was subject, as well as of the savage disposition of
the nations who inhabited its shores, but more especially of the
Scythian hordes,[2630] who made a practice of sacrificing strangers,
devouring their flesh, and using their skulls for drinking-cups;
although at a subsequent period, when the Ionians had established cities
along its shores, it was called by the name of Pontus Euxinus [or the
Hospitable]. He was likewise in ignorance as to the natural
peculiarities of Egypt and Libya,[2631] as the risings of the Nile, and
the alluvial deposits, which he no where notices, nor yet the isthmus
[of Suez] which separates the Red Sea from the Egyptian Sea;[2632] nor
yet does he relate any particulars of Arabia, Ethiopia, or the Ocean,
unless we should agree with the philosopher Zeno in altering the Homeric
line as follows,

“I came to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Arabians. ”[2633]

Indeed we ought not to be surprised at meeting with this in Homer, for
those who have lived at a more recent period than he did, have been
ignorant of many things, and have told strange tales. Hesiod has talked
of _Hemicynes_,[2634] _Megalocephali_, and _Pygmies_; Alcman of
_Steganopodes_; Æschylus of _Cynocephali_, _Sternophthalmi_, and
_Monommati_, (they say it is in his Prometheus,) and ten thousand other
absurdities. From these he proceeds to censure the writers who talk of
the Riphæan Mountains[2635] and Mount Ogyium,[2636] and the dwelling of
the Gorgons[2637] and the Hesperides,[2638] the land of Meropis[2639]
mentioned by Theopompus, Cimmeris,[2640] a city mentioned in Hecatæus,
the land of Panchæa[2641] mentioned by Euhemerus, and the river-stones
formed of sand mentioned by Aristotle,[2642] which were dissolved by
rain-showers. Further, that there exists in Africa a city of Bacchus
which no one can find twice. He likewise reproves those who assert that
the wanderings of Ulysses mentioned in Homer were in the neighbourhood
of Sicily, for again, if we should say that the wanderings did take
place in those parts, we should have to confess that the poet
transferred them to the ocean for the sake of making his account the
more romantic. Some allowance might be made for others, but no manner of
excuse can be put forward for Callimachus, who pretends to the character
of a critic, and yet supposes that Gaudus was the island of Calypso, and
identifies Scheria with Corcyra. [2643] Other writers he blames for
misstatements as to Gerena,[2644] Acacesium,[2645] and [CAS. 299] the
Demus[2646] in Ithaca, Pelethronium[2647] in Pelium, and the Glaucopium
at Athens. [2648] With these and a few similar trifling observations,
most of which he has drawn from Eratosthenes, whose inaccuracy we have
before shown, he breaks off. However, we frankly acknowledge, both with
respect to him [Apollodorus] and Eratosthenes, that the moderns are
better informed on geography than the ancients: but to strain the
subject beyond measure, as they do, especially when they inculpate
Homer, seems to me as if it gave a fair occasion to any one to find
fault, and to say by way of recrimination, that they reproach the poet
for the very things of which they themselves are ignorant. As for the
rest of their observations, particular mention is made of some of them
in the places where they occur, and of others in the General
Introduction.

7. It has been our wish, while discoursing of the Thracians, and

“the bold
Close-fighting Mysian race, and where abide,
On milk sustain’d, and _blest with length of days_,
The Hippemolgi, justest of mankind,”[2649]

to compare what we have advanced with the remarks of Posidonius and the
other critics. Now, in the first place, they have universally proved the
very contrary of the allegations which they had undertaken to maintain;
for where they undertook to show that amongst the ancients there was a
greater amount of ignorance as to places far from Greece than there was
among the moderns, they have proved the very contrary, and that not only
with regard to the countries more remote, but even with respect to
Greece itself; but, as I have said before, let the other matters remain
in abeyance while we consider carefully the subject now before us. Thus
they say that it was through ignorance Homer and the ancients omitted to
speak of the Scythians, and their cruelty to strangers, whom they
sacrificed, devoured their flesh, and afterwards made use of their
skulls as drinking-cups, for which barbarities the sea was termed the
Axine,[2650] or inhospitable; but in place of these they imagined fables
as to illustrious Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii, the most just of
mankind, who never existed any where in this world. But how came it that
they named the sea the Axenus, if they were so ignorant of the barbarism
of that region, or of those savages who were the most barbarous on
earth? But these undoubtedly are the Scythians! Or in the early times
were not those who dwelt beyond the Mysians, and Thracians, and Getæ,
Hippemolgi, (or milkers of mares,) Galactophagi, and Abii? Nay rather,
they exist at this very day, being called Hamaxœci and Nomades, living
on the herd, milk and cheese, and especially on cheese made of mare’s
milk, and being ignorant how to lay up treasure or deal in merchandise,
except the simple barter of one commodity for another. How then can it
be said that the poet [Homer] knew nothing of the Scythians, since he
doubtless designates some of them by the names of Hippemolgi and
Galactophagi? And that the men of that [CAS. 300] time called these
people Hippemolgi even Hesiod is a witness in the words which
Eratosthenes has quoted:

“He went and saw the Ethiopians, the Ligurians,[2651] and the
Scythians, milkers of mares. ”

And when we consider the amount of fraud connected with trading
speculations even amongst ourselves, what ground have we to wonder that
Homer should have designated as the justest and most noble those who had
but few commercial and monetary transactions, and with the exception of
their swords and drinking-cups, possessed all things in common, and
especially their wives and children, who were cared for by the whole
community according to the system of Plato. Æschylus too seems to plead
the poet’s cause, when he says,

“But the Scythians, governed by good laws, and feeding on cheese
of mares’ milk. ”

And this is still the opinion entertained of them by the Greeks; for we
esteem them the most sincere, the least deceitful of any people, and
much more frugal and self-relying than ourselves. And yet the manner of
life customary among us has spread almost every where, and brought about
a change for the worse, effeminacy, luxury, and over-great refinement,
inducing extortion in ten thousand different ways; and doubtless much of
this corruption has penetrated even into the countries of the nomades,
as well as those of the other barbarians; for having once learnt how to
navigate the sea, they have become depraved, committing piracy and
murdering strangers; and holding intercourse with many different
nations, they have imitated both their extravagance and their dishonest
traffic, which may indeed appear to promote civility of manners, but do
doubtless corrupt the morals and lead to dissimulation, in place of the
genuine sincerity we have before noticed.

8. Those however who lived before our time, and more especially those
who lived near to the times of Homer, were such as he describes them,
and so they were esteemed to be by the Greeks. Take for instance what
Herodotus relates concerning the king[2652] of the Scythians, against
whom Darius waged war, and especially the answer he sent [to the
messenger of Darius]. Take again what Chrysippus relates of the kings
of the Bosphorus, [Satyrus[2653] and] Leuco. The letters of the Persians
are full of the sincerity I have described; so likewise are the
memorials of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Indians. It was on this
account that both Anacharsis and Abaris, and certain others of the same
class, gained so great a reputation among the Greeks; for we may well
believe they displayed their national characteristics of affability of
manner, simplicity, and love of justice. But what occasion is there for
me to speak of such as belonged to the times of old? for Alexander [the
Great], the son of Philip, in his campaign against the Thracians beyond
Mount Hæmus,[2654] is said to have penetrated as far as this in an
incursion into the country of the Triballi, and observed that they
occupied the territory as far as the Danube and the island Peuce,[2655]
which is in it, and that the Getæ possessed the country beyond that
river; however, he was unable to pass into the island for want of a
sufficient number of ships, and because Syrmus, the king of the
Triballi, who had taken refuge in that place, resisted the undertaking:
but Alexander crossed over into the country of the Getæ and took their
city, after which he returned home in haste, carrying with him presents
from those nations, and also from Syrmus. Ptolemy, the son of Lagus,
relates that in this campaign the Kelts who dwell on the Adriatic[2656]
came to Alexander for the purpose of making a treaty of friendship and
mutual hospitality, and that the king received them in a friendly way,
and asked them, while drinking, what might be the chief object of their
dread, supposing that they would say it was he; but that they replied,
it was no man, only they felt some alarm lest the heavens should on some
occasion or other [CAS. 302] fall on them, but that they valued the
friendship of such a man as him above every thing. These examples
sufficiently manifest the open sincerity of the barbarians, both of the
one who would not suffer Alexander to land on the island, but
nevertheless sent presents and concluded a treaty of friendship with
him, and also of those who asserted that they feared no man, but that
they valued the friendship of great men above every price.

In like manner Dromichætes, who was king of the Getæ in the times of the
successors of Alexander, having taken captive Lysimachus, who had come
to wage war against him, showed him his poverty and that of his people,
and likewise their great frugality, bade him not to make war on such,
but rather seek them as friends; after which he received him as a guest,
made a treaty of friendship, and suffered him to depart. [2657] [*And
Plato, in his Republic,[2658] considers that the neighbourhood of the
sea ought to be shunned as being productive of vice, and that those who
would enjoy a well-governed city, should plant it very far from the sea,
and not near it. *][2659]

9. Ephorus, in the fourth book of his History, which is entitled “Of
Europe,” having gone over Europe as far as the Scythians, concludes by
saying that there is great difference in the manner of life both of the
Sauromatæ and the other Scythians, for while some of them are
exceedingly morose, and are indeed cannibals, others abstain even from
the flesh of animals. Other historians, he observes, descant upon their
ferocity, knowing that the terrible and the wonderful always excite
attention; but they ought also to relate the better features of these
people, and point to them as a pattern; for his part, he declares he
will speak of those who excel in the justness of their actions, as there
are some of the nomade Scythians who subsist on mares’ milk, and excel
all men in their justice, these are mentioned by the poets: as Homer,
where he says that Jupiter beheld the land

“Of the Galactophagi and Abii, justest of mankind;”[2660]

and Hesiod, in his poem entitled “Travels round the World,” who says
that Phineus was taken by the Harpies

“To the land of the Galactophagi, who have their dwellings
in waggons. ”

Ephorus then proceeds to state the causes of their justice, because they
are frugal in their mode of life, not hoarders of wealth, and just
towards each other; they possess everything in common, both their women,
their children, and the whole of their kin; thus when they come into
collision with other nations, they are irresistible and unconquered,
having no cause for which they need endure slavery. He then cites
Chœrilus, who in his “Passage of the Bridge of Boats,” which
Darius[2661] had made, says,

“And the sheep-feeding Sacæ, a people of Scythian race, but they
inhabited
Wheat-producing Asia: truly they were a colony of the nomades,
A righteous race. ”

And again Ephorus declares of Anacharsis, whom he designates as “The
Wise,” that he was sprung from that race; and that he was reckoned as
one of the Seven Sages, on account of his pre-eminent moderation and
knowledge. He asserts too that he was the inventor of the bellows, the
double-fluked anchor, and the potter’s wheel. [2662] I merely state this,
although I know very well that Ephorus is not at all times to be relied
on, especially when speaking of Anacharsis; (for how can the wheel be
his invention, with which Homer, who is anterior to him, was acquainted;
[who says],

“as when, before his wheel
Seated, the potter twirls it with both hands,” &c. ;[2663])

[CAS. 303] for I wish to show by these references, that there was a
general impression among both the ancients and moderns with regard to
the nomades, that some were very far removed from the rest of mankind,
that they subsisted on milk, and were very frugal,[2664] and the most
just of men, and that all this was not the mere invention of Homer.

10. It is but just too that Apollodorus should give some explanation
respecting the Mysians mentioned in the Epic poems of Homer, whether he
takes them to be but people of his feigning, when the poet says,

“Of the close-fighting Mysians and the illustrious Hippemolgi,”[2665]

or would he regard them as the Mysians of Asia? Now if he should declare
that he considers them to be those of Asia, he will misinterpret the
poet, as has been before observed; but if he should say they were but an
invention, as there were no Mysians in Thrace, he will be guilty of a
palpable misstatement, for even in our own times Ælius Catus has removed
from the opposite side of the Danube into Thrace fifty thousand Getæ,
who speak a language cognate with the Thracian. They still inhabit the
very spot, and pass by the name of Mœsi. Whether those of former times
were so designated, and had their name slightly varied in Asia, or, as
is more suitable to history and the poet’s expression, those in Thrace
were at the first called Mysians,[2666] is not certain. But enough of
this; we must now return to our geography.

11. Let us pass over the early history of the Getæ, and occupy ourselves
with their actual condition. Bœrebistas, one of the Getæ, having taken
the command of his tribe, reanimated the men who were disheartened by
frequent wars, and raised them to such a degree of training, sobriety,
and a habit of obedience to orders, that he established a powerful
dominion within a few years, and brought most of the neighbouring states
into subjection to the Getæ. He at length became formidable even to the
Romans, fearlessly crossing the Danube, and laying waste Thrace as far
as Macedonia and Illyria; he also subdued the Kelts who live among the
Thracians and Illyrians, and thoroughly annihilated the Boii who were
subject to Critasirus and the Taurisci. In order to maintain the
obedience of his subjects, he availed himself of the assistance of
Decæneus a sorcerer,[2667] who had travelled in Egypt, and who, by
predictions he had learnt to draw from certain natural signs, was
enabled to assume the character of an oracle, and was almost held in the
veneration of a god, as we have related when noticing Zamolxis. [2668] As
an instance of their implicit obedience, we may relate that they were
persuaded to root up their vines and live without wine. However,
Bœrebistas was murdered in a sedition before the Romans sent an army
against him. Those who succeeded to his government divided it into
several states. Lately, when Augustus Cæsar sent an army against them,
they were divided into five states, at another time they were four, for
such divisions are but temporary in duration, and variable in their
extent.

12. There was, from ancient times, another division of these people
which still exists; thus, some they call Dacians and others Getæ: the
Getæ extend towards the Euxine and the east, but the Dacians are
situated on the opposite side towards Germany and the sources of the
Danube,[2669] whom I consider to have been called Daci from a very early
period. Whence also amongst the Attics the names of Getæ and Davi were
customary for slaves. This at least is more probable than to consider
them as taken from the Scythians who are named Daæ,[2670] for they live
far beyond Hyrcania,[2671] and it is not likely that slaves would be
brought all that way into Attica. It was usual with them to call their
slaves after the name of the nation from whence they were brought, as
Lydus and Syrus,[2672] or else by a name much in use in their own
country, as, for a Phrygian, Manes or Midas; for a Paphlagonian, Tibius.
The nation which was raised to so much power by Bœrebistas has since
been completely reduced by [CAS. 304] civil dissensions and contests
with the Romans; however, they are still able to set out 40,000 men
armed for the wars.

13. The river Maros[2673] flows through their country into the
Danube,[2674] on which the Romans transported their military stores; for
thus they termed the upper part of that river from its sources to the
cataracts, which flows chiefly through the country of the Dacians, but
the part below that point which flows through the country of the Getæ as
far as the Black Sea, they call the Ister. [2675] The Dacians speak the
same language as the Getæ. The Getæ are best known among the Greeks on
account of the frequent wandering expeditions they make on both sides of
the Danube, and their being mixed among the Thracians and Mysians. The
like is the case with regard to the nation of the Triballi, a Thracian
people; for they have received many refugees on occasions when their
more powerful neighbours have driven out the weaker, for from time to
time the Scythians of the opposite side of the river, and the Bastarnæ,
and the Sarmatians,[2676] become victorious, and those who are driven
out cross over and some of them take up their residence either in the
islands of the river or in Thrace, while on the other side the
inhabitants are distressed by the Illyrians. At one time when the Getæ
and the Dacians had increased to the greatest numbers, they were able to
set on foot an army of two hundred thousand men, but now they are
reduced to about forty thousand men, and are even likely to become
subject to the Romans; still they are not yet quite under their sway on
account of their trust in the Germans, who are enemies to the Romans.

14. Between [the Getæ and] the Black Sea, from the Danube to the
Dniester,[2677] lies the desert of the Getæ. [2678] It is entirely a
plain and destitute of water. It was there that Darius the son of
Hystaspes, at the time he crossed the Danube, was in danger of being cut
off with his whole army for want of water; this he found out before it
was too late, and returned. At a subsequent period, when Lysimachus was
waging war against the Getæ and their king Dromichætes, he not only
incurred the risk,[2679] but he fell into the hands of the enemy; but
his life was spared by the courtesy of the barbarian, as I have before
related.

15. Near the mouths of the Danube is the large island called
Peuce. [2680] This the Bastarnæ possessed, and were hence called Peucini.
There are also other islands much smaller, some above this, and others
nearer the sea. The Danube has seven mouths, the largest is called the
Sacred Mouth,[2681] the passage by which to Peuce is 120 stadia. [2682]
At the lower part of this island Darius made his bridge. It might
likewise have been constructed at the upper part. This is the first
mouth on the left-hand side as you sail into the Black Sea; the rest are
passed while sailing along towards the Dniester; the seventh mouth is
distant from this first mouth about 300 stadia. These mouths form
several islands. The first three mouths next after the Sacred Mouth are
but small, the remainder are much less than it, but greater than any of
the three. Ephorus states that the Danube has five mouths. From hence to
the Dniester,[2683] which is a navigable river, there are 900
stadia. [2684] In the district intervening there are two great lakes; one
is open to the sea, and is used as a harbour,[2685] the other has no
outlet.

16. At the mouth of the Dniester there is a tower called the Tower of
Neoptolemus, and a village called Hermōnax. [2686] As you sail up the
river 140 stadia, there are cities on both sides; the one is
Niconia,[2687] and that on the left Ophiussa. [2688] Those who dwell on
the spot say that the city is but 120 stadia [CAS. 306] up the river.
The island of Leuce[2689] is distant from the river’s mouth a course of
500 stadia; it is quite in the sea, and is sacred to Achilles.

17. Next is the Dnieper,[2690] a river navigable to the distance of
600[2691] stadia, and near to it another river, the Bog,[2692] and an
island[2693] lying before the mouth of the Dnieper, which possesses a
haven. After sailing up the Borysthenes[2694] 200 stadia, you come to
the city of like name with the river, which is likewise called
Olbia;[2695] it is a great emporium and a foundation of the Milesians.
Of the region lying inland from the coast we have described between the
Dnieper and the Danube, the first portion is the Desert of the Getæ,
then comes the Tyregetæ, after them the Jazyges Sarmatæ, and the
Basilii, who are also called Urgi. [2696] Most of these people are
nomades. However, a few of them pay attention to agriculture. These are
said to inhabit the banks of the Danube, frequently even on both sides
of the river. In the inland the Bastarnæ dwell, and confine with the
Tyregetæ and the Germans; indeed, they may almost be said to be of the
German stock. They are divided into many tribes, as some are called
Atmoni, some Sidones, those who inhabit the island Peuce[2697] in the
Danube, Peucini, and the most northern, Roxolani. [2698] These latter
depasture the plains lying between the Don[2699] and the Dnieper.
Indeed the whole of the northern regions with which we are acquainted,
from Germany to the Caspian, is an extended plain. Whether any dwell
still farther than the Roxolani is unknown to us. However, the Roxolani
fought against the generals of Mithridates Eupator. Their leader was
Tasius. They came as allies of Palacus, the son of Scilurus, and were
considered good soldiers, but against the serried and well-armed phalanx
every barbarous and light-armed tribe is ineffective. Thus they,
although numbering fifty thousand men, could not withstand the six
thousand arrayed by Diophantus, the general of Mithridates, but were
almost all cut to pieces. They make use of helmets and breastplates made
of untanned ox-hide. They bear wicker shields; and as weapons, lances,
the bow, and the sword, such as most of the other barbarians do. The
woollen tents of the nomades are fixed upon their chariots, in which
they pass their lives. Their herds are scattered round their tents, and
they live on the milk, the cheese, and the meat which they supply. They
shift their quarters ever in search of pasture, changing the places they
have exhausted for others full of grass. In the winter they encamp in
the marshes near the Palus Mæotis,[2700] and in the summer on the
plains.

18. The whole of this country, which reaches to the sea-coast extending
from the Dnieper[2701] to the Palus Mæotis, is subject to severe
winters; so also are the most northern of the districts bordering on the
sea, as the mouth of the Palus Mæotis, and farther that of the Dnieper
and the head of the Gulf of Tamyraca, or Carcinites,[2702] which washes
the isthmus[2703] of the Magna Chersonesus. The intense cold of the
districts inhabited, notwithstanding their being plains, is manifest,
for they rear no asses, as that animal is too susceptible of cold; some
of their oxen are without horns by nature, of the others they file off
the horns, as a part most susceptible of injury from cold. Their horses
are diminutive and their sheep large. Their brazen vessels are split
with the frosts, and their contents frozen into a solid mass. However,
the rigour of the frosts may be best illustrated by the phænomena which
are [CAS. 307] common in the neighbourhood of the embouchure of the Palus
Mæotis;[2704] for the passage from Panticapæum,[2705] across to
Phanagoria,[2706] is at times performed in waggons, thus being both a
sea passage[2707] and an overland route [as the season may determine].
There are also fish which are taken in the ice by means of a round net
called a gangama, and especially a kind of sturgeon called
antacæus,[2708] nearly the size of a dolphin. It is related that
Neoptolemus, the general of Mithridates,[2709] defeated the barbarians
during summer-time in a naval engagement in this very strait, and during
the winter in a cavalry action. They say that about the Bosphorus the
vine is hidden away in the earth in winter, great mounds of mould being
piled over it [to preserve it from the frost]. They also report that the
heats are excessive, [this may be accounted for in several ways,]
perhaps men’s bodies not being accustomed to them, feel them the more;
perhaps the plains are at that time unrefreshed by winds; or perhaps the
thickness of the air is heated to a great degree, similar to the way in
which the misty air is affected in times when a parhelion is observed.

It appears that Ateas,[2710] who carried on war against Philip,[2711]
the son of Amyntas, had the rule over most of the barbarians of these
parts.

19. After the island[2712] situated opposite the mouth of the Dnieper,
in sailing towards the east, we arrive at the cape of the Course of
Achilles. [2713] The district is quite bare, notwithstanding that it is
termed a wood. It is sacred to Achilles. Then we arrive at the Course of
Achilles, a low peninsula; for it is a certain tongue of land about a
thousand stadia in length, running out towards the east, and its width
is but two stadia[2714] in the broadest part, and but four
plethra[2715] in the narrowest. It is distant from the mainland, which
runs out on both sides of the neck, about 60 stadia. It is sandy, but
water is obtainable by digging. About the midst of the Course of
Achilles[2716] is the neck of the isthmus [joining it to the mainland].
It is about 40 stadia in breadth, and terminates in a headland which
they call Tamyraca. [2717] This possesses an anchorage opposite the
mainland. Next comes the Gulf Carcinites, which is of considerable
extent, reaching towards the north[2718] about 1000 stadia. Some affirm
that it is three times that distance to the head of the gulf . . . are
called Taphrii. They likewise call the Gulf Carcinites the Gulf
Tamyraca, the same as the headland.




CHAPTER IV.


1. At the bottom of the bay (Carcinites) commences the isthmus[2719]
which separates the lake called Sapra, [or the Putrid Lake,] from the
sea; it is 40 stadia in width, and forms the [CAS. 308] Tauric or
Scythian Chersonese. [2720] This, according to some, is 360 stadia
across. The Putrid Lake[2721] is said to extend 4000 stadia (in
circumference), and forms part of the [Palus] Mæotis on its western
side, with which it communicates by a large opening. It abounds in
marshy tracts, and is scarcely navigable with “sewn”[2722] boats. The
shallower parts are soon uncovered, and again covered with water, by the
force of the wind; but the marsh will not bear boats of a deeper
draught. In the bay are three small islands; and in sailing along the
coast, some shallows are met with, and rocks which rise above water.

2. On the left in sailing out of the bay [Carcinites] there is a small
town and another harbour[2723] belonging to the people of the
Chersonese; for in coasting along the bay, there projects towards the
south a large promontory, which is a part of the great Chersonese. Upon
it stands a city of the Heracleotæ, who are a colony from Heraclea[2724]
in the Euxine; it bears the same name, Chersonesus, as the territory. It
is distant from the Dniester,[2725] in following the coast, 4400 stadia.
In this city is a temple of the Virgin, some goddess,[2726] after whom
the promontory, which is in front of the city, at the distance of 100
stadia, is called Parthenium. It has a shrine of the goddess and a
statue. Between the city[2727] and the promontory are three harbours;
next is the old city Chersonesus in ruins; then follows a harbour with a
narrow entrance. It was called Symbolon Limen, or Signal Harbour; and
here principally was carried on a system of piracy against those who
took refuge in the ports. This, together with another harbour, called
Ctenus,[2728] forms an isthmus of 40 stadia in extent. This isthmus
locks in the Smaller Chersonesus, which we said was a part of the Great
Chersonesus, having on it a city of the same name.

3. It was formerly governed by its own laws, but after it was ravaged by
barbarous nations, the inhabitants were obliged to elect as their
protector, Mithridates Eupator, who was anxious to direct his forces
against the barbarians who lived above the isthmus, and occupied the
country as far as the Dnieper and the Adriatic, and thus to prepare
himself against war with the Romans. Mithridates, with these views,
readily despatched an expedition into the Chersonesus, and carried on
war at the same time against the Scythians, Scilurus, and the sons of
Scilurus, namely, Palacus and his brothers, whom Posidonius reckons to
have been fifty, and Apollonides eighty, in number. By the subjugation
of these enemies he became at once master of the Bosporus, which
Pairisades, who held the command of it, voluntarily surrendered.