It is a rock,
surrounded
by the sea, of about seven
stadia in circuit, and covered with dwellings.
stadia in circuit, and covered with dwellings.
Strabo
The Adiabeni are also called
Saccopodes. [519]
We shall describe Mesopotamia and the nations towards the south, after
premising a short account of the customs of the Assyrians.
20. Their other customs are like those of the Persians, but this is
peculiar to themselves: three discreet persons, chiefs of each tribe,
are appointed, who present publicly young women who are marriageable,
and give notice by the crier, beginning with those most in estimation,
of a sale of them to men intending to become husbands. In this manner
marriages are contracted.
As often as the parties have sexual intercourse with one another, they
rise, each apart from the other, to burn perfumes. In the morning they
wash, before touching any household vessel. For as ablution is customary
after touching a dead body, so it is practised after sexual
intercourse. [520] There is a custom prescribed by an oracle for all the
Babylonian women to have intercourse with strangers. The women repair to
a temple of Venus, accompanied by numerous attendants and a crowd of
people. Each woman has a cord round her head. The man approaches a
woman, and places on her lap as much money as he thinks proper; he then
leads her away to a distance from the sacred grove, and has intercourse
with her. The money is considered as consecrated to Venus.
There are three tribunals, one consisting of persons who are past
military service, another of nobles, and a third of old men, besides
another appointed by the king. It is the business of the latter[521] to
dispose of the virgins in marriage, and to determine causes respecting
adultery; of another to decide those relative to theft; and of the
third, those of assault and violence.
The sick are brought out of their houses into the highways, and inquiry
is made of passengers whether any of them can give information of a
remedy for the disease. There is no one so ill-disposed as not to accost
the sick person, and acquaint [CAS. 745] him with anything that he
considers may conduce to his recovery.
Their dress is a tunic reaching to the feet, an upper garment of wool,
[and] a white cloak. The hair is long. They wear a shoe resembling a
buskin. They wear also a seal, and carry a staff not plain, but with a
figure upon the top of it, as an apple, a rose, a lily, or something of
the kind. They anoint themselves with oil of sesamum. They bewail the
dead, like the Egyptians and many other nations. They bury the body in
honey, first besmearing it with wax.
There are three communities which have no corn. They live in the
marshes, and subsist on fish. Their mode of life is like that of the
inhabitants of Gedrosia. [522]
21. Mesopotamia has its name from an accidental circumstance. We have
said that it is situated between the Euphrates and the Tigris, that the
Tigris washes its eastern side only, and the Euphrates its western and
southern sides. To the north is the Taurus, which separates Armenia from
Mesopotamia. The greatest distance by which they are separated from each
other is that towards the mountains. This distance may be the same which
Eratosthenes mentions, and is reckoned from Thapsacus,[523] where there
was the (Zeugma) old bridge of the Euphrates, to the (Zeugma) passage
over the Tigris, where Alexander crossed it, a distance, that is, of
2400 stadia. The least distance between them is somewhere about
Seleuceia and Babylon, and is a little more than 200 stadia.
The Tigris flows through the middle of the lake called Thopitis[524] in
the direction of its breadth, and after traversing it to the opposite
bank, sinks under ground with a loud noise and rushing of air. Its
course is for a long space invisible, but it rises again to the surface
not far from Gordyæa. According to Eratosthenes, it traverses the lake
with such rapidity, that although the lake is saline and without
fish,[525] yet in this part it is fresh, has a current, and abounds with
fish.
22. The contracted shape of Mesopotamia extends far in length, and
somewhat resembles a ship. The Euphrates forms the larger part of its
boundary. The distance from Thapsacus to Babylon, according to
Eratosthenes, is 4800 stadia, and from the (Zeugma)[526] bridge in
Commagene, where Mesopotamia begins, to Thapsacus, is not less than 2000
stadia.
23. The country lying at the foot of the mountains is very fertile. The
people, called by the Macedonians Mygdones, occupy the parts towards the
Euphrates, and both Zeugmata, that is, the Zeugma in Commagene, and the
ancient Zeugma at Thapsacus. In their territory is Nisibis,[527] which
they called also Antioch in Mygdonia, situated below Mount Masius,[528]
and Tigranocerta,[529] and the places about Carrhæ, Nicephorium,[530]
Chordiraza,[531] and Sinnaca, where Crassus was taken prisoner by
stratagem, and put to death by Surena, the Parthian general. [532]
24. Near the Tigris are the places belonging to the Gordyæi,[533] whom
the ancients called Carduchi; their cities are Sareisa, Satalca, and
Pinaca, a very strong fortress with three citadels, each enclosed by its
own wall, so that it is as it were a triple city. It was, however,
subject to the king of Armenia; the Romans also took it by storm,
although the Gordyæi had the reputation of excelling in the art of
building, and to be skilful in the construction of siege engines. It was
for this reason Tigranes took them into his service. The rest of
Mesopotamia (Gordyæa? ) was subject to the Romans. Pompey assigned to
Tigranes the largest and best portion of the country; for it has fine
pastures, is rich in plants, and produces evergreens and an aromatic,
the amomum. It breeds lions also. It furnishes naphtha, and the stone
called Gangitis,[534] which drives away reptiles.
25. Gordys, the son of Triptolemus, is related to have colonized
Gordyene. The Eretrians[535] afterwards, who were carried away by force
by the Persians, settled here. We shall soon speak of Triptolemus in our
description of Syria.
26. The parts of Mesopotamia inclining to the south, and [CAS. 747] at
a distance from the mountains, are an arid and barren district, occupied
by the Arabian Scenitæ, a tribe of robbers and shepherds, who readily
move from place to place, whenever pasture or booty begin to be
exhausted. The country lying at the foot of the mountains is harassed
both by these people and by the Armenians. They are situated above, and
keep them in subjection by force. It is at last subject for the most
part to these people, or to the Parthians, who are situated at their
side, and possess both Media and Babylonia.
27. Between the Tigris and the Euphrates flows a river called Basileios
(or the Royal river), and about Anthemusia another called the
Aborrhas. [536] The road for merchants going from Syria to Seleuceia and
Babylon lies through the country of the (Arabian) Scenitæ, [now called
Malii,][537] and through the desert belonging to their territory. The
Euphrates is crossed in the latitude of Anthemusia, a place in
Mesopotamia. [538] Above the river, at the distance of four schœni, is
Bambyce, which is called by the names of Edessa and Hierapolis,[539]
where the Syrian goddess Atargatis is worshipped. After crossing the
river, the road lies through a desert country on the borders of
Babylonia to Scenæ, a considerable city, situated on the banks of a
canal. From the passage across the river to Scenæ is a journey of five
and twenty days. There are (on the road) owners of camels, who keep
resting-places, which are well supplied with water from cisterns, or
transported from a distance.
The Scenitæ exact a moderate tribute from merchants, but [otherwise] do
not molest them: the merchants, therefore, avoid the country on the
banks of the river, and risk a journey through the desert, leaving the
river on the right hand at a distance of nearly three days’ march. For
the chiefs of the tribes living on both banks of the river, who occupy
not indeed a fertile territory, yet one less sterile than the rest (of
the country), are settled in the midst of their own peculiar domains,
and each exacts a tribute of no moderate amount for himself. And it is
difficult among so large a body of people, and of such daring habits, to
establish any common standard of tribute advantageous to the merchant.
Scenæ is distant from Seleuceia 18 schœni.
28. The Euphrates and its eastern banks are the boundaries of the
Parthian empire. The Romans and the chiefs of the Arabian tribes occupy
the parts on this side the Euphrates as far as Babylonia. Some of the
chiefs attach themselves in preference to the Parthians, others to the
Romans, to whom they adjoin. The Scenitæ nomades, who live near the
river, are less friendly to the Romans than those tribes who are
situated at a distance near Arabia Felix. The Parthians were once
solicitous of conciliating the friendship of the Romans, but having
repulsed Crassus,[540] who began the war with them, they suffered
reprisals, when they themselves commenced hostilities, and sent Pacorus
into Asia. [541] But Antony, following the advice of the Armenian,[542]
was betrayed, and was unsuccessful (against them). Phraates, his[543]
successor, was so anxious to obtain the friendship of Augustus Cæsar,
that he even sent the trophies, which the Parthians had set up as
memorials of [CAS. 748] the defeat of the Romans. He also invited Titius
to a conference, who was at that time præfect of Syria, and delivered
into his hands, as hostages, four of his legitimate sons, Seraspadanes,
Rhodaspes, Phraates, and Bonones, with two of their wives and four of
their sons; for he was apprehensive of conspiracy and attempts on his
life. [544] He knew that no one could prevail against him, unless he was
opposed by one of the Arsacian family, to which race the Parthians were
strongly attached. He therefore removed the sons out of his way, with a
view of annihilating the hopes of the disaffected.
The surviving sons, who live at Rome, are entertained as princes at the
public expense. The other kings (his successors) have continued to send
ambassadors (to Rome), and to hold conferences (with the Roman
præfects).
CHAPTER II.
1. Syria is bounded on the north by Cilicia and the mountain Amanus;
from the sea to the bridge on the Euphrates (that is, from the Issic Bay
to the Zeugma in Commagene) is a distance of 1400 stadia, and forms the
above-mentioned (northern) boundary; on the east it is bounded by the
Euphrates and the Arabian Scenitæ, who live on this side the Euphrates;
on the south, by Arabia Felix and Egypt; on the west, by the Egyptian
and Syrian Seas as far as Issus.
2. Beginning from Cilicia and Mount Amanus, we set down as parts of
Syria, Commagene, and the Seleucis of Syria, as it is called, then
Cœle-Syria, lastly, on the coast, Phœnicia, and in the interior, Judæa.
Some writers divide the whole of Syria into Cœlo-Syrians, Syrians, and
Phœnicians, and say that there are intermixed with these four other
nations, Jews, Idumæans, Gazæans, and Azotii, some of whom are
husbandmen, as the Syrians and Cœlo-Syrians, and others merchants, as
the Phœnicians.
3. This is the general description [of Syria]. [545]
In describing it in detail, we say that Commagene is rather a small
district. It contains a strong city, Samosata, in which was the seat of
the kings. At present it is a (Roman) province. A very fertile but small
territory lies around it. Here is now the Zeugma, or bridge, of the
Euphrates, and near it is situated Seleuceia, a fortress of Mesopotamia,
assigned by Pompey to the Commageneans. Here Tigranes confined in prison
for some time and put to death Selene, surnamed Cleopatra, after she was
dispossessed of Syria. [546]
4. Seleucis is the best of the above-mentioned portions of Syria. It is
called and is a Tetrapolis, and derives its name from the four
distinguished cities which it contains; for there are more than four
cities, but the four largest are Antioch Epidaphne,[547] Seleuceia in
Pieria,[548] Apameia,[549] and Laodiceia. [550] They were called Sisters
from the concord which existed between them. They were founded by
Seleucus Nicator. The largest bore the name of his father, and the
strongest his own. Of the others, Apameia had its name from his wife
Apama, and Laodiceia from his mother.
In conformity with its character of Tetrapolis, Seleucis, according to
Poseidonius, was divided into four satrapies; Cœle-Syria into the same
number, but [Commagene, like] Mesopotamia, consisted of one. [551]
Antioch also is a Tetrapolis, consisting (as the name implies) [CAS.
750] of four portions, each of which has its own, and all of them a
common wall. [552]
[Seleucus] Nicator founded the first of these portions, transferring
thither settlers from Antigonia, which a short time before Antigonus,
son of Philip, had built near it. The second was built by the general
body of settlers; the third by Seleucus, the son of Callinicus; the
fourth by Antiochus, the son of Epiphanes.
5. Antioch is the metropolis of Syria. A palace was constructed there
for the princes of the country. It is not much inferior in riches and
magnitude to Seleuceia on the Tigris and Alexandreia in Egypt.
[Seleucus] Nicator settled here the descendants of Triptolemus, whom we
have mentioned a little before. [553] On this account the people of
Antioch regard him as a hero, and celebrate a festival to his honour on
Mount Casius[554] near Seleuceia. They say that when he was sent by the
Argives in search of Io, who first disappeared at Tyre, he wandered
through Cilicia; that some of his Argive companions separated from him
and founded Tarsus; that the rest attended him along the sea-coast, and,
relinquishing their search, settled with him on the banks of the
Orontes;[555] that Gordys the son of Triptolemus, with some of those who
had accompanied his father, founded a colony in Gordyæa, and that the
descendants of the rest became settlers among the inhabitants of
Antioch.
6. Daphne,[556] a town of moderate size, is situated above Antioch at
the distance of 40 stadia. Here is a large forest, with a thick covert
of shade and springs of water flowing through it. In the midst of the
forest is a sacred grove, which is a sanctuary, and a temple of Apollo
and Diana. It is the custom for the inhabitants of Antioch and the
neighbouring people to assemble here to celebrate public festivals. The
forest is 80 stadia in circumference.
7. The river Orontes flows near the city. Its source is in Cœle-Syria.
Having taken its course under-ground, it reäppears, traverses the
territory of Apameia to Antioch, approaching the latter city, and then
descends to the sea at Seleuceia. The name of the river was formerly
Typhon, but was changed to Orontes, from the name of the person who
constructed the bridge over it.
According to the fable, it was somewhere here that Typhon was struck
with lightning, and here also was the scene of the fable of the Arimi,
whom we have before mentioned. [557] Typhon was a serpent, it is said,
and being struck by lightning, endeavoured to make its escape, and
sought refuge in the ground; it deeply furrowed the earth, and (as it
moved along) formed the bed of the river; having descended under-ground,
it caused a spring to break out, and from Typhon the river had its name.
On the west the sea, into which the Orontes discharges itself, is
situated below Antioch in Seleuceia, which is distant from the mouth of
the river 40, and from Antioch 120 stadia. The ascent by the river to
Antioch is performed in one day.
To the east of Antioch are the Euphrates, Bambyce,[558] Berœa,[559] and
Heracleia, small towns formerly under the government of Dionysius, the
son of Heracleon. Heracleia is distant 20 stadia from the temple of
Diana Cyrrhestis.
8. Then follows the district of Cyrrhestica,[560] which extends as far
as that of Antioch. On the north near it are Mount Amanus and Commagene.
Cyrrhestica extends as far as these places, and touches them. Here is
situated a city, Gindarus, the acropolis of Cyrrhestica, and a
convenient resort for robbers, and near it a place called Heracleium. It
was near these places that Pacorus, the eldest of the sons of the
Parthian king, who had invaded Syria, was defeated by Ventidius, and
killed.
Pagræ,[561] in the district of Antioch, is close to Gindarus. It [CAS.
751] is a strong fortress situated on the pass over the Amanus, which
leads from the gates of the Amanus into Syria. Below Pagræ lies the
plain of Antioch, through which flow the rivers Arceuthus, Orontes, and
Labotas. [562] In this plain is also the trench of Meleagrus, and the
river Œnoparas,[563] on the banks of which Ptolemy Philometor, after
having defeated Alexander Balas, died of his wounds. [564]
Above these places is a hill called Trapezon from its form,[565] and
upon it Ventidius engaged Phranicates[566] the Parthian general.
After these places, near the sea, are Seleuceia[567] and Pieria, a
mountain continuous with the Amanus and Rhosus, situated between Issus
and Seleuceia.
Seleuceia formerly had the name of Hydatopotami (rivers of water). It is
a considerable fortress, and may defy all attacks; wherefore Pompey,
having excluded from it Tigranes, declared it a free city.
To the south of Antioch is Apameia, situated in the interior, and to the
south of Seleuceia, the mountains Casius and Anti-Casius.
Still further on from Seleuceia are the mouths of the Orontes, then the
Nymphæum, a kind of sacred cave, next Casium, then follows
Poseidium[568] a small city, and Heracleia. [569]
9. Then follows Laodiceia, situated on the sea; it is a very well-built
city, with a good harbour; the territory, besides its fertility in other
respects, abounds with wine, of which the greatest part is exported to
Alexandreia. The whole mountain overhanging the city is planted almost
to its summit with vines. The summit of the mountain is at a great
distance from Laodiceia, sloping gently and by degrees upwards from the
city; but it rises perpendicularly over Apameia.
Laodiceia suffered severely when Dolabella took refuge there. Being
besieged by Cassius, he defended it until his death, but he involved in
his own ruin the destruction of many parts of the city. [570]
10. In the district of Apameia is a city well fortified in almost every
part. For it consists of a well-fortified hill, situated in a hollow
plain, and almost surrounded by the Orontes, which, passing by a large
lake in the neighbourhood, flows through wide-spread marshes and meadows
of vast extent, affording pasture for cattle and horses. [571] The city
is thus securely situated, and received the name Cherrhonesus (or the
peninsula) from the nature of its position. It is well supplied from a
very large fertile tract of country, through which the Orontes flows
with numerous windings. Seleucus Nicator, and succeeding kings, kept
there five hundred elephants, and the greater part of their army.
It was formerly called Pella by the first Macedonians, because most of
the soldiers of the Macedonian army had settled there; for Pella, the
native place of Philip and Alexander, was held to be the metropolis of
the Macedonians. Here also the soldiers were mustered, and the breed of
horses kept up. There were in the royal stud more than thirty thousand
brood mares and three hundred stallions. Here were employed
colt-breakers, instructors in the method of fighting in heavy armour,
and all who were paid to teach the arts of war.
The power Trypho, surnamed Diodotus, acquired is a proof of the
influence of this place; for when he aimed at the empire of Syria, he
made Apameia the centre of his operations. He was born at Casiana, a
strong fortress in the Apameian district, and educated in Apameia; he
was a favourite of the king and the persons about the court. When he
attempted to effect a revolution in the state, he obtained his supplies
from Apameia and from the neighbouring cities, Larisa,[572] Casiana,
Megara, Apollonia, and others like them, all of which were reckoned to
belong to the district of Apameia. He was proclaimed king of this
country, and maintained his sovereignty for a long time. Cæcilius
Bassus, at the head of two legions, caused Apameia to revolt, and was
besieged by two large Roman armies, but his resistance was so vigorous
and long that he only surrendered voluntarily and on his own
conditions. [573] For the country supplied his army with provisions,
[CAS. 753] and a great many of the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes
were his allies, who possessed strongholds, among which was Lysias,
situated above the lake, near Apameia, Arethusa,[574] belonging to
Sampsiceramus and Iamblichus his son, chiefs of the tribe of the
Emeseni. [575] At no great distance were Heliopolis and Chalcis,[576]
which were subject to Ptolemy, son of Mennæus,[577] who possessed the
Massyas[578] and the mountainous country of the Ituræans. Among the
auxiliaries of Bassus was Alchædamnus,[579] king of the Rhambæi, a tribe
of the Nomades on this side of the Euphrates. He was a friend of the
Romans, but, considering himself as having been unjustly treated by
their governors, he retired to Mesopotamia, and then became a tributary
of Bassus. Poseidonius the Stoic was a native of this place, a man of
the most extensive learning among the philosophers of our times.
11. The tract called Parapotamia, belonging to the Arab chiefs, and
Chalcidica, extending from the Massyas, border upon the district of
Apameia on the east; and nearly all the country further to the south of
Apameia belongs to the Scenitæ, who resemble the Nomades of Mesopotamia.
In proportion as the nations approach the Syrians they become more
civilized, while the Arabians and Scenitæ are less so. Their
governments are better constituted [as that of Arethusa under
Sampsiceramus, that of Themella under Gambarus, and other states of this
kind]. [580]
12. Such is the nature of the interior parts of the district of
Seleuceia.
The remainder of the navigation along the coast from Laodiceia is such
as I shall now describe.
Near Laodiceia are the small cities, Poseidium, Heracleium, and Gabala.
Then follows the maritime tract[581] of the Aradii, where are
Paltus,[582] Balanæa, and Carnus,[583] the arsenal of Aradus, which has
a small harbour; then Enydra,[584] and Marathus, an ancient city of the
Phœnicians in ruins. The Aradii[585] divided the territory by lot. Then
follows the district Simyra. [586] Continuous with these places is
Orthosia,[587] then the river Eleutherus, which some make the boundary
of Seleucis towards Phœnicia and Cœle-Syria.
13. Aradus is in front of a rocky coast without harbours, and situated
nearly between its arsenal[588] and Marathus. It is distant from the
land 20 stadia.
It is a rock, surrounded by the sea, of about seven
stadia in circuit, and covered with dwellings. The population even at
present is so large that the houses have many stories. It was colonized,
it is said, by fugitives from Sidon. The inhabitants are supplied with
water partly from cisterns containing rain water, and partly [CAS. 754]
from the opposite coast. In war time they obtain water a little in front
of the city, from the channel (between the island and the mainland), in
which there is an abundant spring. The water is obtained by letting down
from a boat, which serves for the purpose, and inverting over the spring
(at the bottom of the sea), a wide-mouthed funnel of lead, the end of
which is contracted to a moderate-sized opening; round this is fastened
a (long) leathern pipe, which we may call the neck, and which receives
the water, forced up from the spring through the funnel. The water first
forced up is sea water, but the boatmen wait for the flow of pure and
potable water, which is received into vessels ready for the purpose, in
as large a quantity as may be required, and carry it to the city. [589]
14. The Aradii were anciently governed by their own kings in the same
manner as all the other Phœnician cities. Afterwards the Persians,
Macedonians, and now the Romans have changed the government to its
present state.
The Aradii, together with the other Phœnicians, consented to become
allies of the Syrian kings; but upon the dissension of the two brothers,
Callinicus Seleucus and Antiochus Hierax, as he was called, they
espoused the party of Callinicus; they entered into a treaty, by which
they were allowed to receive persons who quitted the king’s dominions,
and took refuge among them, and were not obliged to deliver them up
against their will. They were not, however, to suffer them to embark and
quit the island without the king’s permission. From this they derived
great advantages; for those who took refuge there were not ordinary
people, but persons who had held the highest trusts, and apprehended the
worst consequences (when they fled). They regarded those who received
them with hospitality as their benefactors; they acknowledged their
preservers, and remembered with gratitude the kindness which they had
received, particularly after their return to their own country. It was
thus that the Aradii acquired possession of a large part of the opposite
continent, most of which they possess even at present, and were
otherwise successful. To this good fortune they added prudence and
industry in the conduct of their maritime affairs; when they saw their
neighbours, the Cilicians, engaged in piratical adventures, they never
on any occasion took part with them in such (a disgraceful)
occupation. [590]
15. After Orthosia and the river Eleutherus is Tripolis, which has its
designation from the fact of its consisting of three cities, Tyre,
Sidon, and Aradus. Contiguous to Tripolis is Theoprosopon,[591] where
the mountain Libanus terminates. Between them lies a small place called
Trieres.
16. There are two mountains, which form Cœle-Syria, as it is called,
lying nearly parallel to each other; the commencement of the ascent of
both these mountains, Libanus and Antilibanus, is a little way from the
sea; Libanus rises above the sea near Tripolis and Theoprosopon, and
Antilibanus, above the sea near Sidon. They terminate somewhere near the
Arabian mountains, which are above the district of Damascus and the
Trachones as they are there called, where they form fruitful hills. A
hollow plain lies between them, the breadth of which towards the sea is
200 stadia, and the length from the sea to the interior is about twice
that number of stadia. Rivers flow through it, the largest of which is
the Jordan, which water a country fertile and productive of all things.
It contains also a lake, which produces the aromatic rush and reed. In
it are also marshes. The name of the lake is Gennesaritis. It produces
also balsamum. [592]
Among the rivers is the Chrysorrhoas, which commences [CAS. 755] from
the city and territory of Damascus, and is almost entirely drained by
water-courses; for it supplies with water a large tract of country, with
a very deep soil.
The Lycus[593] and the Jordan are navigated upwards chiefly by the
Aradii, with vessels of burden.
17. Of the plains, the first reckoning from the sea is called Macras and
Macra-pedium. Here Poseidonius says there was seen a serpent lying dead,
which was nearly a plethrum in length, and of such a bulk and thickness
that men on horseback standing on each side of its body could not see
one another; the jaws when opened could take in a man on horseback, and
the scales of the skin were larger than a shield.
18. Next to the plain of Macras is that of Massyas, which also contains
some mountainous parts, among which is Chalcis, the acropolis, as it
were, of the Massyas. The commencement of this plain is at
Laodiceia,[594] near Libanus. The Ituræans and Arabians, all of whom are
freebooters, occupy the whole of the mountainous tracts. The husbandmen
live in the plains, and when harassed by the freebooters, they require
protection of various kinds. The robbers have strongholds from which
they issue forth; those, for example, who occupy Libanus have high up on
the mountain the fortresses Sinna, Borrhama, and some others like them;
lower down, Botrys and Gigartus, caves also near the sea, and the castle
on the promontory Theoprosopon. Pompey destroyed these fastnesses, from
whence the robbers overran Byblus,[595] and Berytus[596] situated next
to it, and which lie between Sidon and Theoprosopon.
Byblus, the royal seat of Cinyrus, is sacred to Adonis. Pompey delivered
this place from the tyranny of Cinyrus, by striking off his head. It is
situated upon an eminence at a little distance from the sea.
19. After Byblus is the river Adonis,[597] and the mountain Climax, and
Palæ-Byblus, then the river Lycus, and Berytus. This latter place was
razed by Tryphon, but now the Romans have restored it, and two legions
were stationed there by Agrippa, who also added to it a large portion of
the territory of Massyas, as far as the sources of the Orontes. These
sources are near Libanus, the Paradeisus, and the Egyptian
Fort near the district of Apameia. These places lie near the sea.
20. Above the Massyas is the Royal Valley, as it is called, and the
territory of Damascus, so highly extolled. Damascus is a considerable
city, and in the time of the Persian empire was nearly the most
distinguished place in that country.
Above Damascus are the two (hills) called Trachones; then, towards the
parts occupied by Arabians and Ituræans promiscuously, are mountains of
difficult access, in which were caves extending to a great depth. One of
these caves was capable of containing four thousand robbers, when the
territory of Damascus was subject to incursions from various quarters.
The Barbarians used to rob the merchants most generally on the side of
Arabia Felix,[598] but this happens less frequently since the
destruction of the bands of the robbers under Zenodorus, by the good
government of the Romans, and in consequence of the security afforded by
the soldiers stationed and maintained in Syria.
21. The whole country[599] above Seleucis, extending towards Egypt and
Arabia, is called Cœle-Syria, but peculiarly the tract bounded by
Libanus and Antilibanus, of the remainder one part is the coast
extending from Orthosia[600] as far as Pelusium,[601] and is called
Phœnicia, a narrow strip of land along the sea; the other, situated
above Phœnicia in the interior between Gaza and Antilibanus, and
extending to the Arabians, called Judæa.
22. Having described Cœle-Syria properly so called, we pass on to
Phœnicia, of which we have already described[602] the part extending
from Orthosia to Berytus.
Next to Berytus is Sidon, at the distance of 400 stadia. Between these
places is the river Tamyras,[603] and the grove of Asclepius and
Leontopolis.
Next to Sidon is Tyre,[604] the largest and most ancient city of the
Phœnicians. This city is the rival of Sidon in magnitude, fame, and
antiquity, as recorded in many fables. For although poets have
celebrated Sidon more than Tyre (Homer, however, does not even mention
Tyre), yet the colonies sent into Africa and Spain, as far as, and
beyond the Pillars, extol [CAS. 756] much more the glory of Tyre. Both
however were formerly, and are at present, distinguished and illustrious
cities, but which of the two should be called the capital of Phœnicia is
a subject of dispute among the inhabitants. [605] Sidon is situated upon
a fine naturally-formed harbour on the mainland.
23. Tyre is wholly an island, built nearly in the same manner as Aradus.
It is joined to the continent by a mound, which Alexander raised, when
he was besieging it. It has two harbours, one close, the other open,
which is called the Egyptian harbour. The houses here, it is said,
consist of many stories, of more even than at Rome; on the occurrence,
therefore, of an earthquake, the city was nearly demolished. [606] It
sustained great injury when it was taken by siege by Alexander, but it
rose above these misfortunes, and recovered itself both by the skill of
the people in the art of navigation, in which the Phœnicians in general
have always excelled all nations, and by (the export of) purple-dyed
manufactures, the Tyrian purple being in the highest estimation. The
shell-fish from which it is procured is caught near the coast, and the
Tyrians have in great abundance other requisites for dyeing. The great
number of dyeing works renders the city unpleasant as a place of
residence, but the superior skill of the people in the practice of this
art is the source of its wealth. Their independence was secured to them
at a small expense to themselves, not only by the kings of Syria, but
also by the Romans, who confirmed what the former had conceded. [607]
They pay extravagant honours to Hercules.
The great number and magnitude of their colonies and cities are proofs
of their maritime skill and power.
Such then are the Tyrians.
24. The Sidonians are said by historians to excel in various kinds of
art, as the words of Homer also imply. [608] Besides, they cultivate
science and study astronomy and arithmetic, to which they were led by
the application of numbers (in accounts) and night sailing, each of
which (branches of knowledge) concerns the merchant and seaman; in the
same manner the Egyptians were led to the invention of geometry by the
mensuration of ground, which was required in consequence of the Nile
confounding, by its overflow, the respective boundaries of the country.
It is thought that geometry was introduced into Greece from Egypt, and
astronomy and arithmetic from Phœnicia. At present the best
opportunities are afforded in these cities of acquiring a knowledge of
these, and of all other branches of philosophy.
If we are to believe Poseidonius, the ancient opinion about atoms
originated with Mochus, a native of Sidon, who lived before the Trojan
times. Let us, however, dismiss subjects relating to antiquity. In my
time there were distinguished philosophers, natives of Sidon, as
Boethus, with whom I studied the philosophy of Aristotle,[609] and
Diodotus his brother. Antipater was of Tyre, and a little before my time
Apollonius, who published a table of the philosophers of the school of
Zeno, and of their writings.
Tyre is distant from Sidon not more than 200 stadia. Between the two is
situated a small town, called Ornithopolis, (the city of birds); next a
river[610] which empties itself near Tyre into the sea. Next after Tyre
is Palæ-tyrus (ancient Tyre), at the distance of 30 stadia. [611]
[CAS. 758] 25. Then follows Ptolemaïs, a large city, formerly called
Ace. [612] It was the place of rendezvous for the Persians in their
expeditions against Egypt. Between Ace and Tyre is a sandy beach, the
sand of which is used in making glass. The sand, it is said, is not
fused there, but carried to Sidon to undergo that process. Some say that
the Sidonians have, in their own country, the vitrifiable sand;
according to others, the sand of every place can be fused. I heard at
Alexandria from the glass-workers, that there is in Egypt a kind of
vitrifiable earth, without which expensive works in glass of various
colours could not be executed, but in other countries other mixtures are
required; and at Rome, it is reported, there have been many inventions
both for producing various colours, and for facilitating the
manufacture, as for example in glass wares, where a glass bowl may be
purchased for a copper coin,[613] and glass is ordinarily used for
drinking.
26. A phenomenon[614] of the rarest kind is said to have occurred on the
shore between Tyre and Ptolemaïs. The people of Ptolemaïs had engaged in
battle with Sarpedon the general, and after a signal defeat were left in
this place, when a wave from the sea, like the rising tide, overwhelmed
the fugitives; some were carried out to sea and drowned, others perished
in hollow places; then again the ebb succeeding, uncovered and displayed
to sight the bodies lying in confusion among dead fish.
A similar phenomenon took place at Mount Casium in Egypt. The ground, to
a considerable distance, after a violent and single shock fell in parts,
at once exchanging places; the elevated parts opposed the access of the
sea, and parts which had subsided admitted it. Another shock occurred,
and the place recovered its ancient position, except that there was an
alteration (in the surface of the ground) in some places, and none in
others. Perhaps such occurrences are connected with periodical returns
the nature of which is unknown to us. This is said to be the case with
the rise of the waters of the Nile, which exhibits a variety in its
effects, but observes (in general) a certain order, which we do not
comprehend.
27. Next to Ace is the Tower of Strato, with a station for
vessels. [615] Between these places is Mount Carmel, and cities of which
nothing but the names remain, as Sycaminopolis, Bucolopolis,
Crocodeilopolis, and others of this kind; next is a large forest. [616]
28. Then Joppa,[617] where the coast of Egypt, which at first stretches
towards the east, makes a remarkable bend towards the north. In this
place, according to some writers, Andromeda was exposed to the
sea-monster. It is sufficiently elevated; it is said to command a view
of Jerusalem, the capital of the Jews,[618] who, when they descended to
the sea, used this place as a naval arsenal. But the arsenals of robbers
are the haunts of robbers. Carmel, and the forest, belonged to the Jews.
The district was so populous that the neighbouring village Iamneia,[619]
and the settlements around, could furnish forty thousand soldiers.
Thence to Casium,[620] near Pelusium, are little more than 1000 stadia,
and 1300 to Pelusium itself.
29. In the interval is Gadaris,[621] which the Jews have appropriated to
themselves, then Azotus and Ascalon. [622] From Iamneia to Azotus and
Ascalon are about 200 stadia. The country of the Ascalonitæ produces
excellent onions; the town is small. Antiochus the philosopher, who
lived a little before our time, was a native of this place. Philodemus
the Epicurean was a native of Gadara, as also Meleagrus, Menippus the
satirist, and Theodorus the rhetorician, my contemporary.
[CAS. 759] 30. Next and near Ascalon is the harbour of the Gazæi. The
city is situated inland at the distance of seven stadia. It was once
famous, but was razed by Alexander, and remains uninhabited. There is
said to be a passage thence across, of 1260 stadia, to the city
Aila[623] (Aelana), situated on the innermost recess of the Arabian
Gulf. This recess has two branches, one, in the direction of Arabia and
Gaza, is called Ailanites, from the city upon it; the other is in the
direction of Egypt, towards Heroopolis,[624] to which from Pelusium is
the shortest road (between the two seas). Travelling is performed on
camels, through a desert and sandy country, in the course of which
snakes are found in great numbers.
31. Next to Gaza is Raphia,[625] where a battle was fought between
Ptolemy the Fourth and Antiochus the Great. [626] Then Rhinocolura,[627]
so called from the colonists, whose noses had been mutilated. Some
Ethiopian invaded Egypt, and, instead of putting the malefactors to
death, cut off their noses, and settled them at Rhinocolura, supposing
that they would not venture to return to their own country, on account
of the disgraceful condition of their faces.
32. The whole country from Gaza is barren and sandy, and still more so
is that district next to it, which contains the lake Sirbonis,[628]
lying above it in a direction almost parallel to the sea, and leaving a
narrow pass between, as far as what is called the Ecregma. [629] The
length of the pass is about 200, and the greatest breadth 50 stadia. The
Ecregma is filled up with earth. Then follows another continuous tract
of the same kind to Casium,[630] and thence to Pelusium.
33. The Casium is a sandy hill without water, and forms a promontory:
the body of Pompey the Great is buried there, and on it is a temple of
Jupiter Casius. [631] Near this place Pompey the Great was betrayed by
the Egyptians, and put to death. Next is the road to Pelusium, on which
is situated Gerrha;[632] and the rampart, as it is called, of Chabrias,
and the pits near Pelusium, formed by the overflowing of the Nile in
places naturally hollow and marshy.
Such is the nature of Phœnicia. Artemidorus says, that from Orthosia to
Pelusium is 3650 stadia, including the winding of the bays, and from
Melænæ or Melania in Cilicia to Celenderis,[633] on the confines of
Cilicia and Syria, are 1900 stadia; thence to the Orontes 520 stadia,
and from Orontes to Orthosia 1130 stadia.
34. The western extremities of Judæa towards Casius are occupied by
Idumæans, and by the lake [Sirbonis]. The Idumæans are Nabatæans. When
driven from their country[634] by sedition, they passed over to the
Jews, and adopted their customs. [635] The greater part of the country
along the coast to Jerusalem is occupied by the Lake Sirbonis, and by
the tract contiguous to it; for Jerusalem is near the sea, which, as we
have said,[636] may be seen from the arsenal of Joppa. [637] These
districts (of Jerusalem and Joppa) lie towards the north; they are
inhabited generally, and each place in particular, by mixed tribes of
Egyptians, Arabians, and Phœnicians. Of this description are the
inhabitants of Galilee, of the plain of Jericho, and of the territories
of Philadelphia and Samaria,[638] surnamed Sebaste by Herod;[639] but
although there is such a mixture of inhabitants, the report most
credited, [one] among many things believed respecting the temple [and
the inhabitants] of Jerusalem, is, that the Egyptians were the ancestors
of the present Jews. [640]
35. An Egyptian priest named Moses, who possessed a portion of the
country called the Lower [Egypt] * * * *, being dissatisfied with the
established institutions there, left it and came to Judæa with a large
body of people who worshipped the Divinity. He declared and taught that
the Egyptians and Africans entertained erroneous sentiments, [CAS. 761]
in representing the Divinity under the likeness of wild beasts and
cattle of the field; that the Greeks also were in error in making images
of their gods after the human form. For God [said he] may be this one
thing which encompasses us all, land and sea, which we call heaven, or
the universe, or the nature of things. [641] Who then of any
understanding would venture to form an image of this Deity, resembling
anything with which we are conversant? on the contrary, we ought not to
carve any images, but to set apart some sacred ground and a shrine
worthy of the Deity, and to worship Him without any similitude. [642] He
taught that those who made fortunate dreams were to be permitted to
sleep in the temple, where they might dream both for themselves and
others; that those who practised temperance and justice, and none else,
might expect good, or some gift or sign from the God, from time to time.
36. By such doctrine Moses[643] persuaded a large body of right-minded
persons to accompany him to the place where Jerusalem now stands. He
easily obtained possession of it, as the spot was not such as to excite
jealousy, nor for which there could be any fierce contention; for it is
rocky, and, although well supplied with water, it is surrounded by a
barren and waterless territory. [644] The space within [the city] is 60
stadia [in circumference], with rock underneath the surface.
Instead of arms, he taught that their defence was in their sacred things
and the Divinity, for whom he was desirous of finding a settled place,
promising to the people to deliver such a kind of worship and religion
as should not burthen those who adopted it with great expense, nor
molest them with [so-called] divine possessions, nor other absurd
practices.
Moses thus obtained their good opinion, and established no ordinary kind
of government. All the nations around willingly united themselves to
him, allured by his discourses and promises.
37. His successors continued for some time to observe the same conduct,
doing justly, and worshipping God with sincerity. Afterwards
superstitious persons were appointed to the priesthood, and then
tyrants. From superstition arose abstinence from flesh, from the eating
of which it is now the custom to refrain, circumcision, excision,[645]
and other practices which the people observe. The tyrannical government
produced robbery; for the rebels plundered both their own and the
neighbouring countries. Those also who shared in the government seized
upon the property of others, and ravaged a large part of Syria and of
Phœnicia.
Respect, however, was paid to the Acropolis; it was not abhorred as the
seat of tyranny, but honoured and venerated as a temple.
38. This is according to nature, and common both to Greeks and
barbarians. For, as members of a civil community, they live according to
a common law; otherwise it would be impossible for the mass to execute
any one thing in concert (in which consists a civil state), or to live
in a social state at all. Law is two-fold, divine and human. The ancients
regarded and respected divine, in preference to human, law; in those
times, therefore, the number of persons was very great who consulted
oracles, and, being desirous of obtaining the advice of Jupiter, hurried
to Dodona,
“to hear the answer of Jove from the lofty oak. ”
The parent went to Delphi,
“anxious to learn whether the child which had been exposed (to
die) was still living;”
while the child itself
“was gone to the temple of Apollo, with the hope of
discovering its parents. ”
And Minos among the Cretans,
“the king who in the ninth year enjoyed converse with Great
Jupiter,”
every nine years, as Plato says, ascended to the cave of Jupiter,
received ordinances from him, and conveyed them to men. Lycurgus, his
imitator, acted in a similar manner; for he was often accustomed, as it
seemed, to leave his own country to inquire of the Pythian goddess what
ordinances he was to promulgate to the Lacedæmonians.
[CAS. 762] 39. What truth there may be in these things I cannot say;
they have at least been regarded and believed as true by mankind. Hence
prophets received so much honour as to be thought worthy even of
thrones, because they were supposed to communicate ordinances and
precepts from the gods, both during their lifetime and after their
death; as for example Teiresias,
“to whom alone Proserpine gave wisdom and understanding after
death: the others flit about as shadows. ”[646]
Such were Amphiaraus, Trophonius, Orpheus, and Musæus: in former times
there was Zamolxis, a Pythagorean, who was accounted a god among the
Getæ; and in our time, Decæneus, the diviner of Byrebistas. Among the
Bosporani, there was Achaïcarus; among the Indians, were the
Gymnosophists; among the Persians, the Magi and Necyomanteis,[647] and
besides these the Lecanomanteis[648] and Hydromanteis;[649] among the
Assyrians, were the Chaldæans; and among the Romans, the Tyrrhenian
diviners of dreams. [650]
Such was Moses and his successors; their beginning was good, but they
degenerated.
40. When Judæa openly became subject to a tyrannical government, the
first person who exchanged the title of priest for that of king was
Alexander. [651] His sons were Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. While they were
disputing the succession to the kingdom, Pompey came upon them by
surprise, deprived them of their power, and destroyed their fortresses,
first taking Jerusalem itself by storm. [652] It was a stronghold,
situated on a rock, well fortified and well supplied with water[653]
within, but externally entirely parched with drought. A ditch was cut
in the rock, 60 feet in depth, and in width 250 feet. On the wall of the
temple were built towers, constructed of the materials procured when the
ditch was excavated. The city was taken, it is said, by waiting for the
day of fast, on which the Jews were in the habit of abstaining from all
work.
Saccopodes. [519]
We shall describe Mesopotamia and the nations towards the south, after
premising a short account of the customs of the Assyrians.
20. Their other customs are like those of the Persians, but this is
peculiar to themselves: three discreet persons, chiefs of each tribe,
are appointed, who present publicly young women who are marriageable,
and give notice by the crier, beginning with those most in estimation,
of a sale of them to men intending to become husbands. In this manner
marriages are contracted.
As often as the parties have sexual intercourse with one another, they
rise, each apart from the other, to burn perfumes. In the morning they
wash, before touching any household vessel. For as ablution is customary
after touching a dead body, so it is practised after sexual
intercourse. [520] There is a custom prescribed by an oracle for all the
Babylonian women to have intercourse with strangers. The women repair to
a temple of Venus, accompanied by numerous attendants and a crowd of
people. Each woman has a cord round her head. The man approaches a
woman, and places on her lap as much money as he thinks proper; he then
leads her away to a distance from the sacred grove, and has intercourse
with her. The money is considered as consecrated to Venus.
There are three tribunals, one consisting of persons who are past
military service, another of nobles, and a third of old men, besides
another appointed by the king. It is the business of the latter[521] to
dispose of the virgins in marriage, and to determine causes respecting
adultery; of another to decide those relative to theft; and of the
third, those of assault and violence.
The sick are brought out of their houses into the highways, and inquiry
is made of passengers whether any of them can give information of a
remedy for the disease. There is no one so ill-disposed as not to accost
the sick person, and acquaint [CAS. 745] him with anything that he
considers may conduce to his recovery.
Their dress is a tunic reaching to the feet, an upper garment of wool,
[and] a white cloak. The hair is long. They wear a shoe resembling a
buskin. They wear also a seal, and carry a staff not plain, but with a
figure upon the top of it, as an apple, a rose, a lily, or something of
the kind. They anoint themselves with oil of sesamum. They bewail the
dead, like the Egyptians and many other nations. They bury the body in
honey, first besmearing it with wax.
There are three communities which have no corn. They live in the
marshes, and subsist on fish. Their mode of life is like that of the
inhabitants of Gedrosia. [522]
21. Mesopotamia has its name from an accidental circumstance. We have
said that it is situated between the Euphrates and the Tigris, that the
Tigris washes its eastern side only, and the Euphrates its western and
southern sides. To the north is the Taurus, which separates Armenia from
Mesopotamia. The greatest distance by which they are separated from each
other is that towards the mountains. This distance may be the same which
Eratosthenes mentions, and is reckoned from Thapsacus,[523] where there
was the (Zeugma) old bridge of the Euphrates, to the (Zeugma) passage
over the Tigris, where Alexander crossed it, a distance, that is, of
2400 stadia. The least distance between them is somewhere about
Seleuceia and Babylon, and is a little more than 200 stadia.
The Tigris flows through the middle of the lake called Thopitis[524] in
the direction of its breadth, and after traversing it to the opposite
bank, sinks under ground with a loud noise and rushing of air. Its
course is for a long space invisible, but it rises again to the surface
not far from Gordyæa. According to Eratosthenes, it traverses the lake
with such rapidity, that although the lake is saline and without
fish,[525] yet in this part it is fresh, has a current, and abounds with
fish.
22. The contracted shape of Mesopotamia extends far in length, and
somewhat resembles a ship. The Euphrates forms the larger part of its
boundary. The distance from Thapsacus to Babylon, according to
Eratosthenes, is 4800 stadia, and from the (Zeugma)[526] bridge in
Commagene, where Mesopotamia begins, to Thapsacus, is not less than 2000
stadia.
23. The country lying at the foot of the mountains is very fertile. The
people, called by the Macedonians Mygdones, occupy the parts towards the
Euphrates, and both Zeugmata, that is, the Zeugma in Commagene, and the
ancient Zeugma at Thapsacus. In their territory is Nisibis,[527] which
they called also Antioch in Mygdonia, situated below Mount Masius,[528]
and Tigranocerta,[529] and the places about Carrhæ, Nicephorium,[530]
Chordiraza,[531] and Sinnaca, where Crassus was taken prisoner by
stratagem, and put to death by Surena, the Parthian general. [532]
24. Near the Tigris are the places belonging to the Gordyæi,[533] whom
the ancients called Carduchi; their cities are Sareisa, Satalca, and
Pinaca, a very strong fortress with three citadels, each enclosed by its
own wall, so that it is as it were a triple city. It was, however,
subject to the king of Armenia; the Romans also took it by storm,
although the Gordyæi had the reputation of excelling in the art of
building, and to be skilful in the construction of siege engines. It was
for this reason Tigranes took them into his service. The rest of
Mesopotamia (Gordyæa? ) was subject to the Romans. Pompey assigned to
Tigranes the largest and best portion of the country; for it has fine
pastures, is rich in plants, and produces evergreens and an aromatic,
the amomum. It breeds lions also. It furnishes naphtha, and the stone
called Gangitis,[534] which drives away reptiles.
25. Gordys, the son of Triptolemus, is related to have colonized
Gordyene. The Eretrians[535] afterwards, who were carried away by force
by the Persians, settled here. We shall soon speak of Triptolemus in our
description of Syria.
26. The parts of Mesopotamia inclining to the south, and [CAS. 747] at
a distance from the mountains, are an arid and barren district, occupied
by the Arabian Scenitæ, a tribe of robbers and shepherds, who readily
move from place to place, whenever pasture or booty begin to be
exhausted. The country lying at the foot of the mountains is harassed
both by these people and by the Armenians. They are situated above, and
keep them in subjection by force. It is at last subject for the most
part to these people, or to the Parthians, who are situated at their
side, and possess both Media and Babylonia.
27. Between the Tigris and the Euphrates flows a river called Basileios
(or the Royal river), and about Anthemusia another called the
Aborrhas. [536] The road for merchants going from Syria to Seleuceia and
Babylon lies through the country of the (Arabian) Scenitæ, [now called
Malii,][537] and through the desert belonging to their territory. The
Euphrates is crossed in the latitude of Anthemusia, a place in
Mesopotamia. [538] Above the river, at the distance of four schœni, is
Bambyce, which is called by the names of Edessa and Hierapolis,[539]
where the Syrian goddess Atargatis is worshipped. After crossing the
river, the road lies through a desert country on the borders of
Babylonia to Scenæ, a considerable city, situated on the banks of a
canal. From the passage across the river to Scenæ is a journey of five
and twenty days. There are (on the road) owners of camels, who keep
resting-places, which are well supplied with water from cisterns, or
transported from a distance.
The Scenitæ exact a moderate tribute from merchants, but [otherwise] do
not molest them: the merchants, therefore, avoid the country on the
banks of the river, and risk a journey through the desert, leaving the
river on the right hand at a distance of nearly three days’ march. For
the chiefs of the tribes living on both banks of the river, who occupy
not indeed a fertile territory, yet one less sterile than the rest (of
the country), are settled in the midst of their own peculiar domains,
and each exacts a tribute of no moderate amount for himself. And it is
difficult among so large a body of people, and of such daring habits, to
establish any common standard of tribute advantageous to the merchant.
Scenæ is distant from Seleuceia 18 schœni.
28. The Euphrates and its eastern banks are the boundaries of the
Parthian empire. The Romans and the chiefs of the Arabian tribes occupy
the parts on this side the Euphrates as far as Babylonia. Some of the
chiefs attach themselves in preference to the Parthians, others to the
Romans, to whom they adjoin. The Scenitæ nomades, who live near the
river, are less friendly to the Romans than those tribes who are
situated at a distance near Arabia Felix. The Parthians were once
solicitous of conciliating the friendship of the Romans, but having
repulsed Crassus,[540] who began the war with them, they suffered
reprisals, when they themselves commenced hostilities, and sent Pacorus
into Asia. [541] But Antony, following the advice of the Armenian,[542]
was betrayed, and was unsuccessful (against them). Phraates, his[543]
successor, was so anxious to obtain the friendship of Augustus Cæsar,
that he even sent the trophies, which the Parthians had set up as
memorials of [CAS. 748] the defeat of the Romans. He also invited Titius
to a conference, who was at that time præfect of Syria, and delivered
into his hands, as hostages, four of his legitimate sons, Seraspadanes,
Rhodaspes, Phraates, and Bonones, with two of their wives and four of
their sons; for he was apprehensive of conspiracy and attempts on his
life. [544] He knew that no one could prevail against him, unless he was
opposed by one of the Arsacian family, to which race the Parthians were
strongly attached. He therefore removed the sons out of his way, with a
view of annihilating the hopes of the disaffected.
The surviving sons, who live at Rome, are entertained as princes at the
public expense. The other kings (his successors) have continued to send
ambassadors (to Rome), and to hold conferences (with the Roman
præfects).
CHAPTER II.
1. Syria is bounded on the north by Cilicia and the mountain Amanus;
from the sea to the bridge on the Euphrates (that is, from the Issic Bay
to the Zeugma in Commagene) is a distance of 1400 stadia, and forms the
above-mentioned (northern) boundary; on the east it is bounded by the
Euphrates and the Arabian Scenitæ, who live on this side the Euphrates;
on the south, by Arabia Felix and Egypt; on the west, by the Egyptian
and Syrian Seas as far as Issus.
2. Beginning from Cilicia and Mount Amanus, we set down as parts of
Syria, Commagene, and the Seleucis of Syria, as it is called, then
Cœle-Syria, lastly, on the coast, Phœnicia, and in the interior, Judæa.
Some writers divide the whole of Syria into Cœlo-Syrians, Syrians, and
Phœnicians, and say that there are intermixed with these four other
nations, Jews, Idumæans, Gazæans, and Azotii, some of whom are
husbandmen, as the Syrians and Cœlo-Syrians, and others merchants, as
the Phœnicians.
3. This is the general description [of Syria]. [545]
In describing it in detail, we say that Commagene is rather a small
district. It contains a strong city, Samosata, in which was the seat of
the kings. At present it is a (Roman) province. A very fertile but small
territory lies around it. Here is now the Zeugma, or bridge, of the
Euphrates, and near it is situated Seleuceia, a fortress of Mesopotamia,
assigned by Pompey to the Commageneans. Here Tigranes confined in prison
for some time and put to death Selene, surnamed Cleopatra, after she was
dispossessed of Syria. [546]
4. Seleucis is the best of the above-mentioned portions of Syria. It is
called and is a Tetrapolis, and derives its name from the four
distinguished cities which it contains; for there are more than four
cities, but the four largest are Antioch Epidaphne,[547] Seleuceia in
Pieria,[548] Apameia,[549] and Laodiceia. [550] They were called Sisters
from the concord which existed between them. They were founded by
Seleucus Nicator. The largest bore the name of his father, and the
strongest his own. Of the others, Apameia had its name from his wife
Apama, and Laodiceia from his mother.
In conformity with its character of Tetrapolis, Seleucis, according to
Poseidonius, was divided into four satrapies; Cœle-Syria into the same
number, but [Commagene, like] Mesopotamia, consisted of one. [551]
Antioch also is a Tetrapolis, consisting (as the name implies) [CAS.
750] of four portions, each of which has its own, and all of them a
common wall. [552]
[Seleucus] Nicator founded the first of these portions, transferring
thither settlers from Antigonia, which a short time before Antigonus,
son of Philip, had built near it. The second was built by the general
body of settlers; the third by Seleucus, the son of Callinicus; the
fourth by Antiochus, the son of Epiphanes.
5. Antioch is the metropolis of Syria. A palace was constructed there
for the princes of the country. It is not much inferior in riches and
magnitude to Seleuceia on the Tigris and Alexandreia in Egypt.
[Seleucus] Nicator settled here the descendants of Triptolemus, whom we
have mentioned a little before. [553] On this account the people of
Antioch regard him as a hero, and celebrate a festival to his honour on
Mount Casius[554] near Seleuceia. They say that when he was sent by the
Argives in search of Io, who first disappeared at Tyre, he wandered
through Cilicia; that some of his Argive companions separated from him
and founded Tarsus; that the rest attended him along the sea-coast, and,
relinquishing their search, settled with him on the banks of the
Orontes;[555] that Gordys the son of Triptolemus, with some of those who
had accompanied his father, founded a colony in Gordyæa, and that the
descendants of the rest became settlers among the inhabitants of
Antioch.
6. Daphne,[556] a town of moderate size, is situated above Antioch at
the distance of 40 stadia. Here is a large forest, with a thick covert
of shade and springs of water flowing through it. In the midst of the
forest is a sacred grove, which is a sanctuary, and a temple of Apollo
and Diana. It is the custom for the inhabitants of Antioch and the
neighbouring people to assemble here to celebrate public festivals. The
forest is 80 stadia in circumference.
7. The river Orontes flows near the city. Its source is in Cœle-Syria.
Having taken its course under-ground, it reäppears, traverses the
territory of Apameia to Antioch, approaching the latter city, and then
descends to the sea at Seleuceia. The name of the river was formerly
Typhon, but was changed to Orontes, from the name of the person who
constructed the bridge over it.
According to the fable, it was somewhere here that Typhon was struck
with lightning, and here also was the scene of the fable of the Arimi,
whom we have before mentioned. [557] Typhon was a serpent, it is said,
and being struck by lightning, endeavoured to make its escape, and
sought refuge in the ground; it deeply furrowed the earth, and (as it
moved along) formed the bed of the river; having descended under-ground,
it caused a spring to break out, and from Typhon the river had its name.
On the west the sea, into which the Orontes discharges itself, is
situated below Antioch in Seleuceia, which is distant from the mouth of
the river 40, and from Antioch 120 stadia. The ascent by the river to
Antioch is performed in one day.
To the east of Antioch are the Euphrates, Bambyce,[558] Berœa,[559] and
Heracleia, small towns formerly under the government of Dionysius, the
son of Heracleon. Heracleia is distant 20 stadia from the temple of
Diana Cyrrhestis.
8. Then follows the district of Cyrrhestica,[560] which extends as far
as that of Antioch. On the north near it are Mount Amanus and Commagene.
Cyrrhestica extends as far as these places, and touches them. Here is
situated a city, Gindarus, the acropolis of Cyrrhestica, and a
convenient resort for robbers, and near it a place called Heracleium. It
was near these places that Pacorus, the eldest of the sons of the
Parthian king, who had invaded Syria, was defeated by Ventidius, and
killed.
Pagræ,[561] in the district of Antioch, is close to Gindarus. It [CAS.
751] is a strong fortress situated on the pass over the Amanus, which
leads from the gates of the Amanus into Syria. Below Pagræ lies the
plain of Antioch, through which flow the rivers Arceuthus, Orontes, and
Labotas. [562] In this plain is also the trench of Meleagrus, and the
river Œnoparas,[563] on the banks of which Ptolemy Philometor, after
having defeated Alexander Balas, died of his wounds. [564]
Above these places is a hill called Trapezon from its form,[565] and
upon it Ventidius engaged Phranicates[566] the Parthian general.
After these places, near the sea, are Seleuceia[567] and Pieria, a
mountain continuous with the Amanus and Rhosus, situated between Issus
and Seleuceia.
Seleuceia formerly had the name of Hydatopotami (rivers of water). It is
a considerable fortress, and may defy all attacks; wherefore Pompey,
having excluded from it Tigranes, declared it a free city.
To the south of Antioch is Apameia, situated in the interior, and to the
south of Seleuceia, the mountains Casius and Anti-Casius.
Still further on from Seleuceia are the mouths of the Orontes, then the
Nymphæum, a kind of sacred cave, next Casium, then follows
Poseidium[568] a small city, and Heracleia. [569]
9. Then follows Laodiceia, situated on the sea; it is a very well-built
city, with a good harbour; the territory, besides its fertility in other
respects, abounds with wine, of which the greatest part is exported to
Alexandreia. The whole mountain overhanging the city is planted almost
to its summit with vines. The summit of the mountain is at a great
distance from Laodiceia, sloping gently and by degrees upwards from the
city; but it rises perpendicularly over Apameia.
Laodiceia suffered severely when Dolabella took refuge there. Being
besieged by Cassius, he defended it until his death, but he involved in
his own ruin the destruction of many parts of the city. [570]
10. In the district of Apameia is a city well fortified in almost every
part. For it consists of a well-fortified hill, situated in a hollow
plain, and almost surrounded by the Orontes, which, passing by a large
lake in the neighbourhood, flows through wide-spread marshes and meadows
of vast extent, affording pasture for cattle and horses. [571] The city
is thus securely situated, and received the name Cherrhonesus (or the
peninsula) from the nature of its position. It is well supplied from a
very large fertile tract of country, through which the Orontes flows
with numerous windings. Seleucus Nicator, and succeeding kings, kept
there five hundred elephants, and the greater part of their army.
It was formerly called Pella by the first Macedonians, because most of
the soldiers of the Macedonian army had settled there; for Pella, the
native place of Philip and Alexander, was held to be the metropolis of
the Macedonians. Here also the soldiers were mustered, and the breed of
horses kept up. There were in the royal stud more than thirty thousand
brood mares and three hundred stallions. Here were employed
colt-breakers, instructors in the method of fighting in heavy armour,
and all who were paid to teach the arts of war.
The power Trypho, surnamed Diodotus, acquired is a proof of the
influence of this place; for when he aimed at the empire of Syria, he
made Apameia the centre of his operations. He was born at Casiana, a
strong fortress in the Apameian district, and educated in Apameia; he
was a favourite of the king and the persons about the court. When he
attempted to effect a revolution in the state, he obtained his supplies
from Apameia and from the neighbouring cities, Larisa,[572] Casiana,
Megara, Apollonia, and others like them, all of which were reckoned to
belong to the district of Apameia. He was proclaimed king of this
country, and maintained his sovereignty for a long time. Cæcilius
Bassus, at the head of two legions, caused Apameia to revolt, and was
besieged by two large Roman armies, but his resistance was so vigorous
and long that he only surrendered voluntarily and on his own
conditions. [573] For the country supplied his army with provisions,
[CAS. 753] and a great many of the chiefs of the neighbouring tribes
were his allies, who possessed strongholds, among which was Lysias,
situated above the lake, near Apameia, Arethusa,[574] belonging to
Sampsiceramus and Iamblichus his son, chiefs of the tribe of the
Emeseni. [575] At no great distance were Heliopolis and Chalcis,[576]
which were subject to Ptolemy, son of Mennæus,[577] who possessed the
Massyas[578] and the mountainous country of the Ituræans. Among the
auxiliaries of Bassus was Alchædamnus,[579] king of the Rhambæi, a tribe
of the Nomades on this side of the Euphrates. He was a friend of the
Romans, but, considering himself as having been unjustly treated by
their governors, he retired to Mesopotamia, and then became a tributary
of Bassus. Poseidonius the Stoic was a native of this place, a man of
the most extensive learning among the philosophers of our times.
11. The tract called Parapotamia, belonging to the Arab chiefs, and
Chalcidica, extending from the Massyas, border upon the district of
Apameia on the east; and nearly all the country further to the south of
Apameia belongs to the Scenitæ, who resemble the Nomades of Mesopotamia.
In proportion as the nations approach the Syrians they become more
civilized, while the Arabians and Scenitæ are less so. Their
governments are better constituted [as that of Arethusa under
Sampsiceramus, that of Themella under Gambarus, and other states of this
kind]. [580]
12. Such is the nature of the interior parts of the district of
Seleuceia.
The remainder of the navigation along the coast from Laodiceia is such
as I shall now describe.
Near Laodiceia are the small cities, Poseidium, Heracleium, and Gabala.
Then follows the maritime tract[581] of the Aradii, where are
Paltus,[582] Balanæa, and Carnus,[583] the arsenal of Aradus, which has
a small harbour; then Enydra,[584] and Marathus, an ancient city of the
Phœnicians in ruins. The Aradii[585] divided the territory by lot. Then
follows the district Simyra. [586] Continuous with these places is
Orthosia,[587] then the river Eleutherus, which some make the boundary
of Seleucis towards Phœnicia and Cœle-Syria.
13. Aradus is in front of a rocky coast without harbours, and situated
nearly between its arsenal[588] and Marathus. It is distant from the
land 20 stadia.
It is a rock, surrounded by the sea, of about seven
stadia in circuit, and covered with dwellings. The population even at
present is so large that the houses have many stories. It was colonized,
it is said, by fugitives from Sidon. The inhabitants are supplied with
water partly from cisterns containing rain water, and partly [CAS. 754]
from the opposite coast. In war time they obtain water a little in front
of the city, from the channel (between the island and the mainland), in
which there is an abundant spring. The water is obtained by letting down
from a boat, which serves for the purpose, and inverting over the spring
(at the bottom of the sea), a wide-mouthed funnel of lead, the end of
which is contracted to a moderate-sized opening; round this is fastened
a (long) leathern pipe, which we may call the neck, and which receives
the water, forced up from the spring through the funnel. The water first
forced up is sea water, but the boatmen wait for the flow of pure and
potable water, which is received into vessels ready for the purpose, in
as large a quantity as may be required, and carry it to the city. [589]
14. The Aradii were anciently governed by their own kings in the same
manner as all the other Phœnician cities. Afterwards the Persians,
Macedonians, and now the Romans have changed the government to its
present state.
The Aradii, together with the other Phœnicians, consented to become
allies of the Syrian kings; but upon the dissension of the two brothers,
Callinicus Seleucus and Antiochus Hierax, as he was called, they
espoused the party of Callinicus; they entered into a treaty, by which
they were allowed to receive persons who quitted the king’s dominions,
and took refuge among them, and were not obliged to deliver them up
against their will. They were not, however, to suffer them to embark and
quit the island without the king’s permission. From this they derived
great advantages; for those who took refuge there were not ordinary
people, but persons who had held the highest trusts, and apprehended the
worst consequences (when they fled). They regarded those who received
them with hospitality as their benefactors; they acknowledged their
preservers, and remembered with gratitude the kindness which they had
received, particularly after their return to their own country. It was
thus that the Aradii acquired possession of a large part of the opposite
continent, most of which they possess even at present, and were
otherwise successful. To this good fortune they added prudence and
industry in the conduct of their maritime affairs; when they saw their
neighbours, the Cilicians, engaged in piratical adventures, they never
on any occasion took part with them in such (a disgraceful)
occupation. [590]
15. After Orthosia and the river Eleutherus is Tripolis, which has its
designation from the fact of its consisting of three cities, Tyre,
Sidon, and Aradus. Contiguous to Tripolis is Theoprosopon,[591] where
the mountain Libanus terminates. Between them lies a small place called
Trieres.
16. There are two mountains, which form Cœle-Syria, as it is called,
lying nearly parallel to each other; the commencement of the ascent of
both these mountains, Libanus and Antilibanus, is a little way from the
sea; Libanus rises above the sea near Tripolis and Theoprosopon, and
Antilibanus, above the sea near Sidon. They terminate somewhere near the
Arabian mountains, which are above the district of Damascus and the
Trachones as they are there called, where they form fruitful hills. A
hollow plain lies between them, the breadth of which towards the sea is
200 stadia, and the length from the sea to the interior is about twice
that number of stadia. Rivers flow through it, the largest of which is
the Jordan, which water a country fertile and productive of all things.
It contains also a lake, which produces the aromatic rush and reed. In
it are also marshes. The name of the lake is Gennesaritis. It produces
also balsamum. [592]
Among the rivers is the Chrysorrhoas, which commences [CAS. 755] from
the city and territory of Damascus, and is almost entirely drained by
water-courses; for it supplies with water a large tract of country, with
a very deep soil.
The Lycus[593] and the Jordan are navigated upwards chiefly by the
Aradii, with vessels of burden.
17. Of the plains, the first reckoning from the sea is called Macras and
Macra-pedium. Here Poseidonius says there was seen a serpent lying dead,
which was nearly a plethrum in length, and of such a bulk and thickness
that men on horseback standing on each side of its body could not see
one another; the jaws when opened could take in a man on horseback, and
the scales of the skin were larger than a shield.
18. Next to the plain of Macras is that of Massyas, which also contains
some mountainous parts, among which is Chalcis, the acropolis, as it
were, of the Massyas. The commencement of this plain is at
Laodiceia,[594] near Libanus. The Ituræans and Arabians, all of whom are
freebooters, occupy the whole of the mountainous tracts. The husbandmen
live in the plains, and when harassed by the freebooters, they require
protection of various kinds. The robbers have strongholds from which
they issue forth; those, for example, who occupy Libanus have high up on
the mountain the fortresses Sinna, Borrhama, and some others like them;
lower down, Botrys and Gigartus, caves also near the sea, and the castle
on the promontory Theoprosopon. Pompey destroyed these fastnesses, from
whence the robbers overran Byblus,[595] and Berytus[596] situated next
to it, and which lie between Sidon and Theoprosopon.
Byblus, the royal seat of Cinyrus, is sacred to Adonis. Pompey delivered
this place from the tyranny of Cinyrus, by striking off his head. It is
situated upon an eminence at a little distance from the sea.
19. After Byblus is the river Adonis,[597] and the mountain Climax, and
Palæ-Byblus, then the river Lycus, and Berytus. This latter place was
razed by Tryphon, but now the Romans have restored it, and two legions
were stationed there by Agrippa, who also added to it a large portion of
the territory of Massyas, as far as the sources of the Orontes. These
sources are near Libanus, the Paradeisus, and the Egyptian
Fort near the district of Apameia. These places lie near the sea.
20. Above the Massyas is the Royal Valley, as it is called, and the
territory of Damascus, so highly extolled. Damascus is a considerable
city, and in the time of the Persian empire was nearly the most
distinguished place in that country.
Above Damascus are the two (hills) called Trachones; then, towards the
parts occupied by Arabians and Ituræans promiscuously, are mountains of
difficult access, in which were caves extending to a great depth. One of
these caves was capable of containing four thousand robbers, when the
territory of Damascus was subject to incursions from various quarters.
The Barbarians used to rob the merchants most generally on the side of
Arabia Felix,[598] but this happens less frequently since the
destruction of the bands of the robbers under Zenodorus, by the good
government of the Romans, and in consequence of the security afforded by
the soldiers stationed and maintained in Syria.
21. The whole country[599] above Seleucis, extending towards Egypt and
Arabia, is called Cœle-Syria, but peculiarly the tract bounded by
Libanus and Antilibanus, of the remainder one part is the coast
extending from Orthosia[600] as far as Pelusium,[601] and is called
Phœnicia, a narrow strip of land along the sea; the other, situated
above Phœnicia in the interior between Gaza and Antilibanus, and
extending to the Arabians, called Judæa.
22. Having described Cœle-Syria properly so called, we pass on to
Phœnicia, of which we have already described[602] the part extending
from Orthosia to Berytus.
Next to Berytus is Sidon, at the distance of 400 stadia. Between these
places is the river Tamyras,[603] and the grove of Asclepius and
Leontopolis.
Next to Sidon is Tyre,[604] the largest and most ancient city of the
Phœnicians. This city is the rival of Sidon in magnitude, fame, and
antiquity, as recorded in many fables. For although poets have
celebrated Sidon more than Tyre (Homer, however, does not even mention
Tyre), yet the colonies sent into Africa and Spain, as far as, and
beyond the Pillars, extol [CAS. 756] much more the glory of Tyre. Both
however were formerly, and are at present, distinguished and illustrious
cities, but which of the two should be called the capital of Phœnicia is
a subject of dispute among the inhabitants. [605] Sidon is situated upon
a fine naturally-formed harbour on the mainland.
23. Tyre is wholly an island, built nearly in the same manner as Aradus.
It is joined to the continent by a mound, which Alexander raised, when
he was besieging it. It has two harbours, one close, the other open,
which is called the Egyptian harbour. The houses here, it is said,
consist of many stories, of more even than at Rome; on the occurrence,
therefore, of an earthquake, the city was nearly demolished. [606] It
sustained great injury when it was taken by siege by Alexander, but it
rose above these misfortunes, and recovered itself both by the skill of
the people in the art of navigation, in which the Phœnicians in general
have always excelled all nations, and by (the export of) purple-dyed
manufactures, the Tyrian purple being in the highest estimation. The
shell-fish from which it is procured is caught near the coast, and the
Tyrians have in great abundance other requisites for dyeing. The great
number of dyeing works renders the city unpleasant as a place of
residence, but the superior skill of the people in the practice of this
art is the source of its wealth. Their independence was secured to them
at a small expense to themselves, not only by the kings of Syria, but
also by the Romans, who confirmed what the former had conceded. [607]
They pay extravagant honours to Hercules.
The great number and magnitude of their colonies and cities are proofs
of their maritime skill and power.
Such then are the Tyrians.
24. The Sidonians are said by historians to excel in various kinds of
art, as the words of Homer also imply. [608] Besides, they cultivate
science and study astronomy and arithmetic, to which they were led by
the application of numbers (in accounts) and night sailing, each of
which (branches of knowledge) concerns the merchant and seaman; in the
same manner the Egyptians were led to the invention of geometry by the
mensuration of ground, which was required in consequence of the Nile
confounding, by its overflow, the respective boundaries of the country.
It is thought that geometry was introduced into Greece from Egypt, and
astronomy and arithmetic from Phœnicia. At present the best
opportunities are afforded in these cities of acquiring a knowledge of
these, and of all other branches of philosophy.
If we are to believe Poseidonius, the ancient opinion about atoms
originated with Mochus, a native of Sidon, who lived before the Trojan
times. Let us, however, dismiss subjects relating to antiquity. In my
time there were distinguished philosophers, natives of Sidon, as
Boethus, with whom I studied the philosophy of Aristotle,[609] and
Diodotus his brother. Antipater was of Tyre, and a little before my time
Apollonius, who published a table of the philosophers of the school of
Zeno, and of their writings.
Tyre is distant from Sidon not more than 200 stadia. Between the two is
situated a small town, called Ornithopolis, (the city of birds); next a
river[610] which empties itself near Tyre into the sea. Next after Tyre
is Palæ-tyrus (ancient Tyre), at the distance of 30 stadia. [611]
[CAS. 758] 25. Then follows Ptolemaïs, a large city, formerly called
Ace. [612] It was the place of rendezvous for the Persians in their
expeditions against Egypt. Between Ace and Tyre is a sandy beach, the
sand of which is used in making glass. The sand, it is said, is not
fused there, but carried to Sidon to undergo that process. Some say that
the Sidonians have, in their own country, the vitrifiable sand;
according to others, the sand of every place can be fused. I heard at
Alexandria from the glass-workers, that there is in Egypt a kind of
vitrifiable earth, without which expensive works in glass of various
colours could not be executed, but in other countries other mixtures are
required; and at Rome, it is reported, there have been many inventions
both for producing various colours, and for facilitating the
manufacture, as for example in glass wares, where a glass bowl may be
purchased for a copper coin,[613] and glass is ordinarily used for
drinking.
26. A phenomenon[614] of the rarest kind is said to have occurred on the
shore between Tyre and Ptolemaïs. The people of Ptolemaïs had engaged in
battle with Sarpedon the general, and after a signal defeat were left in
this place, when a wave from the sea, like the rising tide, overwhelmed
the fugitives; some were carried out to sea and drowned, others perished
in hollow places; then again the ebb succeeding, uncovered and displayed
to sight the bodies lying in confusion among dead fish.
A similar phenomenon took place at Mount Casium in Egypt. The ground, to
a considerable distance, after a violent and single shock fell in parts,
at once exchanging places; the elevated parts opposed the access of the
sea, and parts which had subsided admitted it. Another shock occurred,
and the place recovered its ancient position, except that there was an
alteration (in the surface of the ground) in some places, and none in
others. Perhaps such occurrences are connected with periodical returns
the nature of which is unknown to us. This is said to be the case with
the rise of the waters of the Nile, which exhibits a variety in its
effects, but observes (in general) a certain order, which we do not
comprehend.
27. Next to Ace is the Tower of Strato, with a station for
vessels. [615] Between these places is Mount Carmel, and cities of which
nothing but the names remain, as Sycaminopolis, Bucolopolis,
Crocodeilopolis, and others of this kind; next is a large forest. [616]
28. Then Joppa,[617] where the coast of Egypt, which at first stretches
towards the east, makes a remarkable bend towards the north. In this
place, according to some writers, Andromeda was exposed to the
sea-monster. It is sufficiently elevated; it is said to command a view
of Jerusalem, the capital of the Jews,[618] who, when they descended to
the sea, used this place as a naval arsenal. But the arsenals of robbers
are the haunts of robbers. Carmel, and the forest, belonged to the Jews.
The district was so populous that the neighbouring village Iamneia,[619]
and the settlements around, could furnish forty thousand soldiers.
Thence to Casium,[620] near Pelusium, are little more than 1000 stadia,
and 1300 to Pelusium itself.
29. In the interval is Gadaris,[621] which the Jews have appropriated to
themselves, then Azotus and Ascalon. [622] From Iamneia to Azotus and
Ascalon are about 200 stadia. The country of the Ascalonitæ produces
excellent onions; the town is small. Antiochus the philosopher, who
lived a little before our time, was a native of this place. Philodemus
the Epicurean was a native of Gadara, as also Meleagrus, Menippus the
satirist, and Theodorus the rhetorician, my contemporary.
[CAS. 759] 30. Next and near Ascalon is the harbour of the Gazæi. The
city is situated inland at the distance of seven stadia. It was once
famous, but was razed by Alexander, and remains uninhabited. There is
said to be a passage thence across, of 1260 stadia, to the city
Aila[623] (Aelana), situated on the innermost recess of the Arabian
Gulf. This recess has two branches, one, in the direction of Arabia and
Gaza, is called Ailanites, from the city upon it; the other is in the
direction of Egypt, towards Heroopolis,[624] to which from Pelusium is
the shortest road (between the two seas). Travelling is performed on
camels, through a desert and sandy country, in the course of which
snakes are found in great numbers.
31. Next to Gaza is Raphia,[625] where a battle was fought between
Ptolemy the Fourth and Antiochus the Great. [626] Then Rhinocolura,[627]
so called from the colonists, whose noses had been mutilated. Some
Ethiopian invaded Egypt, and, instead of putting the malefactors to
death, cut off their noses, and settled them at Rhinocolura, supposing
that they would not venture to return to their own country, on account
of the disgraceful condition of their faces.
32. The whole country from Gaza is barren and sandy, and still more so
is that district next to it, which contains the lake Sirbonis,[628]
lying above it in a direction almost parallel to the sea, and leaving a
narrow pass between, as far as what is called the Ecregma. [629] The
length of the pass is about 200, and the greatest breadth 50 stadia. The
Ecregma is filled up with earth. Then follows another continuous tract
of the same kind to Casium,[630] and thence to Pelusium.
33. The Casium is a sandy hill without water, and forms a promontory:
the body of Pompey the Great is buried there, and on it is a temple of
Jupiter Casius. [631] Near this place Pompey the Great was betrayed by
the Egyptians, and put to death. Next is the road to Pelusium, on which
is situated Gerrha;[632] and the rampart, as it is called, of Chabrias,
and the pits near Pelusium, formed by the overflowing of the Nile in
places naturally hollow and marshy.
Such is the nature of Phœnicia. Artemidorus says, that from Orthosia to
Pelusium is 3650 stadia, including the winding of the bays, and from
Melænæ or Melania in Cilicia to Celenderis,[633] on the confines of
Cilicia and Syria, are 1900 stadia; thence to the Orontes 520 stadia,
and from Orontes to Orthosia 1130 stadia.
34. The western extremities of Judæa towards Casius are occupied by
Idumæans, and by the lake [Sirbonis]. The Idumæans are Nabatæans. When
driven from their country[634] by sedition, they passed over to the
Jews, and adopted their customs. [635] The greater part of the country
along the coast to Jerusalem is occupied by the Lake Sirbonis, and by
the tract contiguous to it; for Jerusalem is near the sea, which, as we
have said,[636] may be seen from the arsenal of Joppa. [637] These
districts (of Jerusalem and Joppa) lie towards the north; they are
inhabited generally, and each place in particular, by mixed tribes of
Egyptians, Arabians, and Phœnicians. Of this description are the
inhabitants of Galilee, of the plain of Jericho, and of the territories
of Philadelphia and Samaria,[638] surnamed Sebaste by Herod;[639] but
although there is such a mixture of inhabitants, the report most
credited, [one] among many things believed respecting the temple [and
the inhabitants] of Jerusalem, is, that the Egyptians were the ancestors
of the present Jews. [640]
35. An Egyptian priest named Moses, who possessed a portion of the
country called the Lower [Egypt] * * * *, being dissatisfied with the
established institutions there, left it and came to Judæa with a large
body of people who worshipped the Divinity. He declared and taught that
the Egyptians and Africans entertained erroneous sentiments, [CAS. 761]
in representing the Divinity under the likeness of wild beasts and
cattle of the field; that the Greeks also were in error in making images
of their gods after the human form. For God [said he] may be this one
thing which encompasses us all, land and sea, which we call heaven, or
the universe, or the nature of things. [641] Who then of any
understanding would venture to form an image of this Deity, resembling
anything with which we are conversant? on the contrary, we ought not to
carve any images, but to set apart some sacred ground and a shrine
worthy of the Deity, and to worship Him without any similitude. [642] He
taught that those who made fortunate dreams were to be permitted to
sleep in the temple, where they might dream both for themselves and
others; that those who practised temperance and justice, and none else,
might expect good, or some gift or sign from the God, from time to time.
36. By such doctrine Moses[643] persuaded a large body of right-minded
persons to accompany him to the place where Jerusalem now stands. He
easily obtained possession of it, as the spot was not such as to excite
jealousy, nor for which there could be any fierce contention; for it is
rocky, and, although well supplied with water, it is surrounded by a
barren and waterless territory. [644] The space within [the city] is 60
stadia [in circumference], with rock underneath the surface.
Instead of arms, he taught that their defence was in their sacred things
and the Divinity, for whom he was desirous of finding a settled place,
promising to the people to deliver such a kind of worship and religion
as should not burthen those who adopted it with great expense, nor
molest them with [so-called] divine possessions, nor other absurd
practices.
Moses thus obtained their good opinion, and established no ordinary kind
of government. All the nations around willingly united themselves to
him, allured by his discourses and promises.
37. His successors continued for some time to observe the same conduct,
doing justly, and worshipping God with sincerity. Afterwards
superstitious persons were appointed to the priesthood, and then
tyrants. From superstition arose abstinence from flesh, from the eating
of which it is now the custom to refrain, circumcision, excision,[645]
and other practices which the people observe. The tyrannical government
produced robbery; for the rebels plundered both their own and the
neighbouring countries. Those also who shared in the government seized
upon the property of others, and ravaged a large part of Syria and of
Phœnicia.
Respect, however, was paid to the Acropolis; it was not abhorred as the
seat of tyranny, but honoured and venerated as a temple.
38. This is according to nature, and common both to Greeks and
barbarians. For, as members of a civil community, they live according to
a common law; otherwise it would be impossible for the mass to execute
any one thing in concert (in which consists a civil state), or to live
in a social state at all. Law is two-fold, divine and human. The ancients
regarded and respected divine, in preference to human, law; in those
times, therefore, the number of persons was very great who consulted
oracles, and, being desirous of obtaining the advice of Jupiter, hurried
to Dodona,
“to hear the answer of Jove from the lofty oak. ”
The parent went to Delphi,
“anxious to learn whether the child which had been exposed (to
die) was still living;”
while the child itself
“was gone to the temple of Apollo, with the hope of
discovering its parents. ”
And Minos among the Cretans,
“the king who in the ninth year enjoyed converse with Great
Jupiter,”
every nine years, as Plato says, ascended to the cave of Jupiter,
received ordinances from him, and conveyed them to men. Lycurgus, his
imitator, acted in a similar manner; for he was often accustomed, as it
seemed, to leave his own country to inquire of the Pythian goddess what
ordinances he was to promulgate to the Lacedæmonians.
[CAS. 762] 39. What truth there may be in these things I cannot say;
they have at least been regarded and believed as true by mankind. Hence
prophets received so much honour as to be thought worthy even of
thrones, because they were supposed to communicate ordinances and
precepts from the gods, both during their lifetime and after their
death; as for example Teiresias,
“to whom alone Proserpine gave wisdom and understanding after
death: the others flit about as shadows. ”[646]
Such were Amphiaraus, Trophonius, Orpheus, and Musæus: in former times
there was Zamolxis, a Pythagorean, who was accounted a god among the
Getæ; and in our time, Decæneus, the diviner of Byrebistas. Among the
Bosporani, there was Achaïcarus; among the Indians, were the
Gymnosophists; among the Persians, the Magi and Necyomanteis,[647] and
besides these the Lecanomanteis[648] and Hydromanteis;[649] among the
Assyrians, were the Chaldæans; and among the Romans, the Tyrrhenian
diviners of dreams. [650]
Such was Moses and his successors; their beginning was good, but they
degenerated.
40. When Judæa openly became subject to a tyrannical government, the
first person who exchanged the title of priest for that of king was
Alexander. [651] His sons were Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. While they were
disputing the succession to the kingdom, Pompey came upon them by
surprise, deprived them of their power, and destroyed their fortresses,
first taking Jerusalem itself by storm. [652] It was a stronghold,
situated on a rock, well fortified and well supplied with water[653]
within, but externally entirely parched with drought. A ditch was cut
in the rock, 60 feet in depth, and in width 250 feet. On the wall of the
temple were built towers, constructed of the materials procured when the
ditch was excavated. The city was taken, it is said, by waiting for the
day of fast, on which the Jews were in the habit of abstaining from all
work.
