This prince was born and
brought up in this city, on which he conferred distinguished honour, and
made it a capital of the kingdom.
brought up in this city, on which he conferred distinguished honour, and
made it a capital of the kingdom.
Strabo
There is also an
extraordinary fissure in the mountain, through which the stream is
carried. For, as in rocks which have burst and split in two [CAS. 536]
parts, the projections in one correspond so exactly with the hollows in
the other that they might even be fitted together, so here I have seen
the rocks at the distance of two or three plethra, overhanging the river
on each side, and nearly reaching to the summit of the mountain, with
hollows on one side answering to projections on the other. The bed
between (the mountains) is entirely rock; it has a deep and very narrow
fissure through the middle, so that a dog and a hare might leap across
it. This is the channel of the river; it is full to the margin, and in
breadth resembles a canal. [1085] But on account of the winding of its
course, the great contraction of the stream, and the depth of the
ravine, a noise, like that of thunder, strikes at a distance on the ears
of those who approach it. In passing out through the mountains, it
brings down from Cataonia, and from the Cilician plains, so great a
quantity of alluvial soil to the sea, that an oracle to the following
effect is reported to have been uttered respecting it:
“The time will come, when Pyramus, with its deep whirlpools,
by advancing on the sea-shore, will reach the sacred Cyprus. ”
Something similar to this takes place in Egypt. The Nile is continually
converting the sea into continent by an accumulation of earth;
accordingly Herodotus calls Egypt a gift of the river, and Homer says,
that the Pharos was formerly out at sea, not as it is at present
connected with the mainland of Egypt.
5. [The third[1086] in rank is the Dacian priesthood of Jupiter,
inferior to this, but still of importance. ] There is at this place a
body of salt water, having the circumference of a considerable lake. It
is shut in by lofty and perpendicular hills, so that the descent is by
steps. The water it is said does not increase in quantity, nor has it
anywhere an apparent outlet.
6. Neither the plain of the Cataonians nor Melitene have any city, but
strongholds upon the mountains, as Azamora, and Dastarcum, round which
runs the river Carmalas. [1087] There is also the temple of the Cataonian
Apollo, which is venerated throughout the whole of Cappadocia, and
which the Cappadocians have taken as a model of their own temples. Nor
have the other provinces, except two, any cities. Of the rest,
Sargarausene has a small town Herpa, and a river Carmalas, which also
discharges itself into the Cilician sea. [1088] In the other provinces is
Argos, a lofty fortress near the Taurus, and Nora, now called Neroassus,
in which Eumenes sustained a long siege. In our time it was a
treasure-hold of Sisinus, who attempted to take possession of the
kingdom of Cappadocia. To him belonged Cadena, a royal seat, built after
the form of a city. Situated upon the borders of Lycaonia is Garsauira,
a village town, said to have been formerly the capital of the country.
In Morimene, among the Venasii, is a temple of Jupiter, with buildings
capable of receiving nearly three thousand servants of the temple. It
has a tract of sacred land attached to it, very fertile, and affording
to the priest a yearly revenue of fifteen talents. The priest is
appointed for life like the priest at Comana, and is next to him in
rank.
7. Two provinces only have cities. In the Tyanitis is Tyana,[1089] lying
at the foot of the Taurus at the Cilician Gates,[1090] where are the
easiest and the most frequented passes into Cilicia and Syria. It is
called, “Eusebeia at the Taurus. ” Tyanitis is fertile, and the greatest
part of it consists of plains. Tyana is built upon the mound of
Semiramis, which is fortified with good walls. At a little distance from
this city are Castabala and Cybistra, towns which approach still nearer
to the mountain. At Castabala is a temple of Diana Perasia, where, it is
said, the priestesses walk with naked feet unhurt upon burning coals. To
this place some persons apply the story respecting Orestes and Diana
Tauropolus, and say that the goddess was called Perasia, because she was
conveyed from beyond (πέραθεν) sea.
In Tyanitis, one of the ten provinces above mentioned, is the city
Tyana. But with these I do not reckon the cities that were afterwards
added, Castabala, and Cybistra, and those in Cilicia Tracheia, to which
belongs Elæussa, a small [CAS. 538] fertile island, which Archelaus
furnished with excellent buildings, where he passed the greater part of
his time.
In the Cilician province, as it is called, is Mazaca,[1091] the capital
of the nation. It is also called “Eusebeia,” with the addition “at the
Argæus,” for it is situated at the foot of the Argæus,[1092] the highest
mountain in that district; its summit is always covered with snow.
Persons who ascend it (but they are not many) say that both the Euxine
and the sea of Issus may be seen from thence in clear weather.
Mazaca is not adapted in other respects by nature for the settlement of
a city, for it is without water, and unfortified. Through the neglect of
the governors, it is without walls, perhaps intentionally, lest,
trusting to the wall as to a fortification, the inhabitants of a plain,
which has hills situated above it, and not exposed to the attacks of
missile weapons, should addict themselves to robbery. The country about,
although it consists of plains, is entirely barren and uncultivated, for
the soil is sandy, and rocky underneath. At a little distance further
there are burning plains, and pits full of fire to an extent of many
stadia, so that the necessaries of life are brought from a distance.
What seems to be a peculiar advantage (abundance of wood) is a source of
danger. For though nearly the whole of Cappadocia is without timber, the
Argæus is surrounded by a forest, so that wood may be procured near at
hand, yet even the region lying below the forest contains fire in many
parts, and springs of cold water; but as neither the fire nor the water
break out upon the surface, the greatest part of the country is covered
with herbage. In some parts the bottom is marshy, and flames burst out
from the ground by night. Those acquainted with the country collect wood
with caution; but there is danger to others, and particularly to cattle,
which fall into these hidden pits of fire.
8. In the plain in front of the city, and about 40 stadia from it, is a
river of the name of Melas,[1093] whose source is in ground lower than
the level of the city. It is useless to the inhabitants, because it
does not flow from an elevated situation. It spreads abroad in marshes
and lakes, and in the summer-time corrupts the air round the city. A
valuable stone quarry is rendered almost useless by it. For there are
extensive beds of stone, from which the Mazaceni obtain an abundant
supply of materials for building, but the slabs, being covered with
water, are not easily detached by the workmen. These are the marshes
which in every part are subject to take fire.
Ariarathes the king filled in some narrow channels by which the Melas
entered the Halys, and converted the neighbouring plain into a wide
lake. There he selected some small islands like the Cyclades, where he
passed his time in boyish and frivolous diversions. The barrier,
however, was broken down all at once, and the waters again flowed abroad
and swelled the Halys, which swept away a large part of the Cappadocian
territory, and destroyed many buildings and plantations; it also damaged
a considerable part of the country of the Galatians, who occupy Phrygia.
In compensation for this injury he paid a fine of three hundred talents
to the inhabitants, who had referred the matter to the decision of the
Romans. The same was the case at Herpa; for he there obstructed the
stream of the Carmalas, and, on the bursting of the dyke, the water
damaged some of the places in the Cilician territories about Mallus; he
was obliged to make compensation to those who had sustained injury.
9. Although the territory of the Mazaceni is destitute in many respects
of natural advantages, it seems to have been preferred by the kings as a
place of residence, because it was nearest the centre of those districts
which supplied timber, stone for building, and fodder, of which a very
large quantity was required for the subsistence of their cattle. Their
city was almost a camp. The security of their persons and treasure[1094]
depended upon the protection afforded by numerous fortresses, some of
which belonged to the king, others to their friends.
Mazaca is distant from Pontus[1095] about 800 stadia to the south, and
from the Euphrates a little less than double that distance; from the
Cilician Gates and the camp of Cyrus, a [CAS. 539] journey of six days
by way of Tyana,[1096] which is situated about the middle of the route,
and is distant from Cybistra 300 stadia. The Mazaceni adopt the laws of
Charondas, and elect a Nomōdist, (or Chanter of the Laws,) who, like the
Jurisconsults of the Romans, is the interpreter of their laws. Tigranes
the Armenian, when he overran Cappadocia, treated them with great
severity. He forced them to abandon their settlements, and go into
Mesopotamia; they peopled Tigranocerta, chiefly by their numbers.
Afterwards, upon the capture of Tigranocerta, those who were able
returned to their own country.
10. The breadth of the country from Pontus to the Taurus is about 1800
stadia; the length from Lycaonia and Phrygia, as far as the Euphrates to
the east, and Armenia, is about 3000 stadia. The soil is fertile, and
abounds with fruits of the earth, particularly corn, and with cattle of
all kinds. Although it lies more to the south than Pontus, it is colder.
Bagadania, although a plain country, and situated more towards the south
than any district in Cappadocia, (for it lies at the foot of the
Taurus,) produces scarcely any fruit-bearing trees. It affords pasture
for wild asses, as does a large portion of the other parts of the
country, particularly that about Garsauira, Lycaonia, and Morimene.
In Cappadocia is found the red earth called the Sinopic, which is better
than that of any other country. The Spanish only can rival it. It had
the name of Sinopic, because the merchants used to bring it down from
Sinope, before the traffic of the Ephesians extended as far as the
people of Cappadocia. It is said that even plates of crystal and of the
onyx stone were discovered by the miners of Archelaus near the country
of the Galatians. There was a place where was found a white stone of the
colour of ivory in pieces of the size of small whetstones, from which
were made handles for small swords. Another place produced large masses
of transparent stone for windows, which were exported.
The boundary of Pontus and Cappadocia is a mountainous range parallel
to the Taurus, commencing from the western extremities of Chammanene,
(where stands Dasmenda, a fortress built upon a precipice,) and
extending to the eastern parts of Laviansene. Both Chammanene and
Laviansene are provinces of Cappadocia.
11. When the Romans, after the defeat of Antiochus, first governed Asia,
they made treaties of friendship and alliance both with the nations and
with the kings. This honour was conferred upon the other kings
separately and independently, but upon the king of Cappadocia in common
with the nation. On the extinction of the royal race, the Romans
admitted the independence of the Cappadocians according to the treaty of
friendship and alliance which they had made with the nation. The
deputies excused themselves from accepting the liberty which was offered
to them, declaring that they were unable to bear it, and requested that
a king might be appointed. The Romans were surprised that any people
should be unwilling to enjoy liberty, but permitted[1097] them to elect
by suffrage any one they pleased from among themselves. They elected
Ariobarzanes. The race became extinct in the third generation.
Archelaus, who was not connected with the nation, was appointed king by
Antony.
So much respecting the Greater Cappadocia.
With regard to Cilicia Tracheia, which was annexed to the Greater
Cappadocia, it will be better to describe it when we give an account of
the whole of Cilicia.
CHAPTER III.
1. Mithridates Eupator was appointed King of Pontus. His kingdom
consisted of the country bounded by the Halys,[1098] extending to the
Tibareni,[1099] to Armenia, to the territory within the Halys, extending
as far as Amastris,[1100] and to some parts of Paphlagonia. He annexed
to (the kingdom of) Pontus the sea-coast towards the west as far as
Heracleia,[1101] the birth-place of Heracleides the Platonic philosopher,
and towards [CAS. 541] the east, the country extending to Colchis, and
the Lesser Armenia. Pompey, after the overthrow of Mithridates, found
the kingdom comprised within these boundaries. He distributed the
country towards Armenia and towards Colchis among the princes who had
assisted him in the war; the remainder he divided into eleven
governments, and annexed them to Bithynia, so that out of both there was
formed one province. Some people in the inland parts he subjected to the
kings descended from Pylæmenes, in the same manner as he delivered over
the Galatians to be governed by tetrarchs of that nation.
In later times the Roman emperors made different divisions of the same
country, appointing kings and rulers, making some cities free, and
subjecting others to the authority of rulers, others again were left
under the dominion of the Roman people.
As we proceed in our description according to the present state of
things, we shall touch slightly on their former condition, whenever it
may be useful.
I shall begin from Heracleia,[1102] which is the most westerly of these
places.
2. In sailing out of the Propontis into the Euxine Sea, on the left hand
are the parts adjoining to Byzantium, (Constantinople,) and these belong
to the Thracians. The parts on the left of the Pontus are called
Aristera (or left) of Pontus; the parts on the right are contiguous to
Chalcedon. Of these the first tract of country belongs to the
Bithynians, the next to the Mariandyni, or, as some say, to the
Caucones; next is that of the Paphlagonians, extending to the Halys,
then that of the Cappadocians near the Pontus, and then a district
reaching to Colchis. [1103] All this country has the name of the Dexia
(or right) of Pontus. This whole coast, from Colchis to Heracleia, was
subject to Mithridates Eupator. But the parts on the other side to the
mouth of the Euxine and Chalcedon, remained under the government of the
king of Bithynia. After the overthrow of the kings the Romans preserved
the same boundaries of the kingdoms; Heracleia was annexed to Pontus,
and the country beyond assigned to the Bithynians.
3. It is generally acknowledged by writers, that the Bithynians, who
were formerly Mysians, received this name from Bithynians and Thyni,
Thracian people, who came and settled among them. They advance as a
proof of their statement, first as regards the Bithynians, that there
still exists in Thrace a people called Bithynians, and then, as regards
the Thyni, that the sea-shore, near Apollonia[1104] and
Salmydessus,[1105] is called Thynias. The Bebryces, who preceded them as
settlers in Mysia, were, as I conjecture, Thracians. We have said[1106]
that the Mysians themselves were a colony of those Thracians who are now
called Mæsi.
Such is the account given of these people.
4. There is not, however, the same agreement among writers with regard
to the Mariandyni, and the Caucones. For they say that Heracleia is
situated among the Mariandyni, and was founded by Milesians. [1107] But
who they are, or whence they came, nothing is said. There is no
difference in language, nor any other apparent national distinction
between them and the Bithynians, whom they resemble in all respects. It
is probable therefore the Mariandyni were a Thracian tribe.
Theopompus says that Mariandynus, who governed a part of Paphlagonia,
which was subject to many masters, invaded and obtained possession of
the country of the Bebryces, and that he gave his own name to the
territory which he had before occupied. It is also said that the
Milesians who first founded Heracleia, compelled the Mariandyni, the
former possessors of the place, to serve as Helots, and even sold them,
but not beyond the boundaries of their country. For they were sold on
the same conditions as the class of persons called Mnoans, who were
slaves to the Cretans, and the Penestæ,[1108] who were slaves of the
Thessalians.
5. The Caucones, who, according to history, inhabited the line of
sea-coast which extends from the Mariandyni as far as the river
Parthenius, and to whom belonged the city Tieium,[1109] [CAS. 542] are
said by some writers to be Scythians, by others a tribe of Macedonians,
and by others a tribe of Pelasgi. We have already spoken of these people
elsewhere. [1110] Callisthenes in his comment upon the enumeration of the
ships inserts after this verse,
“Cromna, Ægialus, and the lofty Erythini,”[1111]
these lines,
“The brave son of Polycles led the Caucones,
Who inhabited the well-known dwellings about the river Parthenius,”
for the territory extends from Heracleia, and the Mariandyni as far as
the Leucosyri, whom we call Cappadocians. But the tribe of the Caucones
about Tieium extends to the Parthenius; that of the Heneti, who occupy
Cytorum,[1112] immediately follows the Parthenius, and even at present
some Caucones are living about the Parthenius.
6. Heracleia is a city with a good harbour, and of importance in other
respects. It has sent out colonies, among which are the
Cherronesus,[1113] and the Callatis. [1114] It was once independent,
afterwards for some time it was under the power of tyrants; it again
recovered its freedom; but at last, when subject to the Romans, it was
governed by kings. It received a colony of Romans, which was settled in
a portion of the city, and of its territory. A little before the battle
of Actium, Adiatorix, the son of Domnecleius the tetrarch of Galatia,
who had received from Antony that portion of the city of which the
Heracleiotæ were in possession, attacked the Romans by night, and put
them to death by the command, as he said, of Antony; but after the
victory at Actium, he was led in triumph, and put to death together with
his son. The city belongs to the province of Pontus, which was annexed
to Bithynia.
7. Between Chalcedon and Heracleia are several rivers, as the
Psillis,[1115] the Calpas, and the Sangarius, of which last the poet
makes mention. [1116] It has its source at the village Sangias, at the
distance of 150 stadia from Pessinus. It flows through the greater part
of Phrygia Epictetus, and a part also of Bithynia, so that it is distant
from Nicomedia a little more than 300 stadia, where the river Gallus
unites with it. The latter river has its source at Modra in Phrygia on
the Hellespont, which is the same country as the Epictetus, and was
formerly occupied by the Bithynians.
The Sangarius thus increased in bulk, and navigable, although not so
formerly, is the boundary of Bithynia at the part of the coast where it
discharges itself. In front of this coast is the island Thynia.
In the territory of Heracleia grows the aconite.
This city is distant from the temple at Chalcedon about 1500, and from
the Sangarius 500, stadia.
8. Tieium is now a small town and has nothing remarkable belonging to
it, except that it was the birth-place of Philetærus, the founder of the
family of the Attalic kings.
Next is the river Parthenius, flowing through a country abounding with
flowers; from these it obtained its name. [1117] Its source is in
Paphlagonia. Then succeeded Paphlagonia, and the Heneti. It is a
question what Heneti the poet means, when he says,
“the brave Pylæmenes led the Paphlagonians out of the country
of the Heneti, where they have a race of wild mules;”[1118]
for at present, they say, no Heneti are to be found in Paphlagonia.
Others say that it is a village on the shore distant ten schœni from
Amastris. But Zenodotus writes the verse in this manner, “From Heneta,”
and says that it means the present Amisus. According to others it was a
tribe bordering upon the Cappadocians, which engaged in an expedition
with the Cimmerians, and were afterwards driven away into Adria. But the
account most generally received is, that the Heneti were the most
considerable tribe of the Paphlagonians; that Pylæmenes was descended
from it; that a large body of this people accompanied him to the Trojan
war; that when they had lost their leader they passed over to Thrace
upon the capture of Troy; and in the course of their wanderings arrived
at the present Henetic territory.
Some writers say that both Antenor and his sons participated in this
expedition, and settled at the inner recess of the [CAS. 544] gulf of
Adria, as we have said in the description of Italy. [1119] It is probable
that this was the cause of the extinction of the Heneti, and that they
were no longer to be found in Paphlagonia.
9. The boundary of the Paphlagonians to the east is the river Halys,
which flows from the south between the Syrians and the Paphlagonians;
and according to Herodotus,[1120] (who means Cappadocians, when he is
speaking of Syrians,) discharges itself into the Euxine Sea. Even at
present they are called Leuco-Syrians, (or White Syrians,) while those
without the Taurus are called Syrians. In comparison with the people
within the Taurus, the latter have a burnt complexion; but the former,
not having it, received the appellation of Leuco-Syrians (or White
Syrians). Pindar says that
“the Amazons commanded a Syrian band, armed with spears with
broad iron heads;”
thus designating the people that lived at Themiscyra. [1121] Themiscyra
belongs to the Amiseni,[1122] and the district of the Amiseni to the
Leuco-Syrians settled beyond the Halys.
The river Halys forms the boundary of the Paphlagonians to the east;
Phrygians and the Galatians settled among that people, on the south; and
on the west Bithynians and Mariandyni (for the race of the Caucones has
everywhere entirely disappeared); on the north the Euxine. This country
is divided into two parts, the inland, and the maritime, extending from
the Halys as far as Bithynia. Mithridates Eupator possessed the maritime
part as far as Heracleia, and of the inland country he had the district
nearest to Heracleia, some parts of which extended even beyond the
Halys. These are also the limits of the Roman province of Pontus. The
remainder was subject to chiefs, even after the overthrow of
Mithridates.
We shall afterwards speak of those Paphlagonians in the inland parts,
who were not subject to Mithridates; we propose at present to describe
the country which he governed, called Pontus.
10. After the river Parthenius is Amastris, bearing the same name as the
princess by whom it was founded. It is situated upon a peninsula, with
harbours on each side of the isthmus. Amastris was the wife of
Dionysius, the tyrant of Heracleia, and daughter of Oxyathres, the
brother of the Darius who fought against Alexander. She formed the
settlement out of four cities, Sesamus, Cytorum, Cromna, (mentioned by
Homer in his recital of the Paphlagonian forces,[1123]) and Tieium,
which city however soon separated from the others, but the rest
continued united. Of these, Sesamus is called the citadel of Amastris.
Cytorum was formerly a mart of the people of Sinope. It had its name
from Cytorus, the son of Phrixus, according to Ephorus. Box-wood of the
best quality grows in great abundance in the territory of Amastris, and
particularly about Cytorum.
Ægialus is a line of sea-coast, in length more than 100 stadia. On it is
a village of the same name,[1124] which the poet mentions in these
lines,
“Cromna, and Ægialus, and the lofty Erythini;”[1125]
but some authors write,
“Cromna and Cobialus. ”
The Erythini are said to be the present Erythrini, and to have their
name from their (red) colour. They are two rocks. [1126]
Next to Ægialus is Carambis, a large promontory stretching towards the
north, and the Scythian Chersonesus. We have frequently mentioned this
promontory, and the Criu-metopon opposite it, which divides the Euxine
into two seas. [1127]
Next to Carambis is Cinolis,[1128] and Anti-Cinolis, and
Aboniteichos,[1129] a small city, and Armene,[1130] which gave rise to
the common proverb;
“He who had nothing to do built a wall about Armene. ”
It is a village of the Sinopenses, with a harbour.
11. Next is Sinope itself, distant from Armene 50 stadia, the most
considerable of all the cities in that quarter. It was founded by
Milesians, and when the inhabitants had established a naval force they
commanded the sea within the Cyanean [CAS. 545] rocks, and were allies
of the Greeks in many naval battles beyond these limits. Although this
city was independent for a long period, it did not preserve its liberty
to the last, but was taken by siege, and became subject first to
Pharnaces, then to his successors, to the time when the Romans put an
end to the power of Mithridates Eupator.
This prince was born and
brought up in this city, on which he conferred distinguished honour, and
made it a capital of the kingdom. It has received advantages from nature
which have been improved by art. It is built upon the neck of a
peninsula; on each side of the isthmus are harbours, stations for
vessels, and fisheries worthy of admiration for the capture of the
pelamydes. Of these fisheries we have said[1131] that the people of
Sinope have the second, and the Byzantines the third, in point of
excellence.
The peninsula projects in a circular form; the shores are surrounded by
a chain of rocks, and in some parts there are cavities, like rocky pits,
which are called Chœnicides. These are filled when the sea is high. For
the above reason, the place is not easily approached; besides which,
along the whole surface of rock the road is covered with sharp-pointed
stones, and persons cannot walk upon it with naked feet. The lands in
the higher parts and above the city have a good soil, and are adorned
with fields dressed as gardens, and this is the case in a still greater
degree in the suburbs. The city itself is well secured with walls, and
magnificently ornamented with a gymnasium, forum, and porticos.
Notwithstanding these advantages for defence, it was twice taken; first
by Pharnaces, who attacked it unexpectedly; afterwards by Lucullus, who
besieged it while it was harassed by an insidious tyrant within the
walls. For Bacchides,[1132] who was appointed by the king commander of
the garrison, being always suspicious of treachery on the part of those
within the city, had disgraced and put many to death. He thus prevented
the citizens both from defending themselves with bravery, although
capable of making a gallant defence, and from offering terms for a
capitulation. The city was therefore captured. Lucullus took away the
Sphere of Billarus,[1133] and the Autolycus,[1134] the workmanship of
Sthenis, whom the citizens regarded as a founder, and honoured as a god;
he left the other ornaments of the city untouched. There was there an
oracle of Sthenis. He seems to have been one of the companions of Jason
in his voyage, and to have got possession of this place. In after times
the Milesians, observing the natural advantages of the city, and the
weakness of the inhabitants, appropriated it as their own, and sent out
colonists. It has at present a Roman colony, and a part of the city and
of the territory belongs to the Romans. It is distant from Hieron[1135]
3500, from Heracleia 2000, and from Carambis 700, stadia. It has
produced men distinguished among philosophers, Diogenes the Cynic, and
Timotheus surnamed Patrion; among poets, Diphilus, the writer of comedy;
among historians, Baton,[1136] who wrote the history of Persia.
12. Proceeding thence, next in order is the mouth of the river Halys. It
has its name from the _hales_, or salt mines,[1137] near which it flows.
It has its source in the Greater Cappadocia, near the territory of
Pontus, in Camisene. It flows in a large stream towards the west, then
turning to the north through the country of the Galatians and
Paphlagonians, forms the boundary of their territory, and of that of the
Leuco-Syrians. The tract of land belonging to Sinope and all the
mountainous country as far as Bithynia, situated above the sea-coast,
which has been described, furnishes timber of excellent quality for
ship-building, and is easily conveyed away. The territory of [CAS. 546]
Sinope produces the maple, and the mountain nut tree, from which wood
for tables is cut. The whole country is planted with the olive, and
cultivation begins a little above the sea-coast.
13. Next to the mouth of the Halys is Gadilonítis, extending as far as
the Saramene; it is a fertile country, wholly consisting of plains, and
produces every kind of fruit. It affords also pasture for flocks of
sheep which are covered[1138] with skins, and produce a soft wool; very
little of this wool is to be found throughout Cappadocia and Pontus.
There are also deer,[1139] which are rare in other parts.
The Amiseni possess one part of this country. Pompey gave another to
Deïotarus, as well as the tract about Pharnacia and Trapezus as far as
Colchis and the Lesser Armenia. Pompey appointed him king of these
people and countries: he had already inherited the tetrarchy of the
Galatians, called the Tolistobogii. Upon his death various persons
succeeded to the different parts of his kingdom.
14. Next to Gadilon[1140] are the Saramene,[1141] and Amisus, a
considerable city distant from Sinope about 900 stadia. Theopompus says
that the Milesians were the first founders, * * * * * * *[1142] [then by]
a chief of the Cappadocians; in the third place it received a colony of
Athenians under the conduct of Athenocles, and its name was changed to
Piræeus.
This city also was in the possession of the kings. Mithridates Eupator
embellished it with temples, and added a part to it. Lucullus, and
afterwards Pharnaces, who came from across the Bosporus, besieged it.
Antony surrendered it to the kings of Pontus, after it had been declared
free by Divus Cæsar. Then the Tyrant Strato oppressed the inhabitants,
who again recovered their liberty under Cæsar Augustus after the battle
of Actium. They are now in a prosperous condition. Among other fertile
spots is Themiscyra,[1143] the abode of the Amazons, and Sidene. [1144]
15. Themiscyra is a plain, partly washed by the sea, and distant about
60 stadia from the city (Amisus); and partly situated at the foot of a
mountainous country, which is well wooded, and intersected with rivers,
which have their source among the mountains. A river, named Thermodon,
which receives the water of all these rivers, traverses the plain.
Another river very similar to this, of the name of Iris,[1145] flowing
from a place called Phanarœa,[1146] traverses the same plain. It has its
sources in Pontus. Flowing westward through the city of Pontic
Comana,[1147] and through Dazimonitis,[1148] a fertile plain, it then
turns to the north beside Gaziura,[1149] an ancient seat of the kings,
but now deserted; it then again returns to the east, where, uniting with
the Scylax[1150] and other rivers, and taking its course beside the
walls of my native place, Amaseia,[1151] a very strongly fortified city,
proceeds to Phanarœa. There when joined by the Lycus,[1152] which rises
in Armenia, it becomes the Iris. It then enters Themiscyra, and
discharges itself into the Euxine. This plain, therefore, is well
watered with dews, is constantly covered with herbage, and is capable of
affording food to herds of cattle as well as to horses. The largest
crops there consist of panic and millet, or rather they never fail, for
the supply of water more than counteracts the effect of all drought;
these people, therefore, never on any occasion experience a famine. The
country at the foot of the mountains produces so large an autumnal crop
of spontaneous-grown wild fruits, of the vine, the pear, the apple, and
hazel, that, in all seasons of the year, persons who go into the woods
to cut timber gather them in large quantities; the fruit is found either
yet hanging upon the trees or lying beneath a deep covering of fallen
leaves thickly strewed upon the ground. Wild animals of all kinds, which
resort here on account of the abundance of food, are frequently hunted.
16. Next to Themiscyra is Sidene, a fertile plain, but not watered in
the same manner by rivers as Themiscyra. It has strongholds on the
sea-coast, as Side,[1153] from which Sidene has [CAS. 548] its name,
Chabaca and Phabda (Phauda). [1154] Amisene extends as far as this place.
Among the natives of Amisus[1155] distinguished for their learning were
the mathematicians Demetrius, the son of Rathenus, and Dionysodorus, of
the same name as the Ionian (Milesian? ) geometrician, and Tyrannion the
grammarian, whose lessons I attended.
17. Next to Sidene is Pharnacia[1156] a small fortified city, and then
follows Trapezus,[1157] a Greek city, to which from Amisus is a voyage
of about 2200 stadia; thence to the Phasis about 1400 stadia, so that
the sum total of stadia from the Hieron[1158] to the Phasis is about
8000 stadia, either more or less.
In sailing along this coast from Amisus we first come to the Heracleian
promontory;[1159] then succeeds another promontory, Jasonium,[1160] and
the Genetes;[1161] then Cytorus (Cotyorus) a small city,[1162] from
which Pharnacia received a colony; then Ischopolis, which is in ruins.
Next is a bay on which are situated Cerasus, and Hermonassa,[1163] small
settlements. Near Hermonassa is Trapezus, then Colchis. Somewhere about
this place is a settlement called Zygopolis.
I have already spoken of Colchis, and of the sea-coast beyond. [1164]
18. Above Trapezus and Pharnacia are situated Tibareni, Chaldæi, Sanni,
(who were formerly called Macrones,[1165]) and the Lesser Armenia. The
Appaïtæ also, formerly called Cercitæ, are not far from these places.
Through the country belonging to these people stretches the
Scydises,[1166] a very rugged mountain, contiguous to the Moschic
mountains[1167] above Colchis. The heights of the Scydises are occupied
by the Heptacometæ. [1168] This country is likewise traversed by the
Paryadres,[1169] which extends from the neighbourhood of Sidene and
Themiscyra to the Lesser Armenia, and forms the eastern side of the
Pontus.
All the inhabitants of these mountains are quite savage, but
the Heptacometæ are more so than all the others. Some of them live among
trees, or in small towers, whence the ancients called them
Mosynœci,[1170] because the towers were called mosȳnes. Their food
consists of the flesh of wild animals and the fruits of trees. They
attack travellers, leaping down from the floors of their dwellings among
the trees. The Heptacometæ cut off three of Pompey’s cohorts, as they
were passing through the mountains, by placing on their road vessels
filled with maddening honey, which is procured from the branches of
trees. The men who had tasted the honey and lost their senses were
attacked and easily despatched. Some of these barbarians were called
Byzeres.
19. The present Chaldæi were anciently called Chalybes. It is in their
territory chiefly that Pharnacia is situated. On the sea-coast it has
natural advantages for the capture of the pelamydes. For this fish is
first caught at this place. On the mainland there are at present mines
of iron; formerly there were also mines of silver. The sea-shore along
all these places is very narrow, for directly above it are hills, which
abound with mines and forests; much, however, of the country is not
cultivated. The miners derive their subsistence from the mines, and the
fishermen from the fisheries, especially from the capture of pelamydes
and dolphins. The dolphins pursue shoals of fish, the cordyla, the
tunny, and even the pelamys; they grow fat on them, and as they approach
the land incautiously, are easily taken. They are caught with a bait and
then cut into pieces; large quantities of the fat are used for all
purposes.
20. These I suppose are the people who are called by Homer Halizoni, who
in his Catalogue follow the Paphlagonians.
“But Odius and Epistrophus led the Halizoni
Far from Alybe, where there are silver mines;”[1171]
whether the writing was changed from “far from Chalybe,” or whether the
people were formerly called Alybes instead of Chalybes. We cannot at
present say that it is possible that Chaldæi should be read for
Chalybes, but it cannot be maintained that formerly Chalybes could not
be read for Alybes, especially [CAS. 549] when we know that names are
subject to many changes, more especially among barbarians. For example,
a tribe of Thracians were called Sinties, then Sinti, then Saii, in
whose country Archilochus is said to have thrown away his shield:
“one of the Saii exults in having a shield, which, without
blame, I involuntarily left behind in a thicket. ”
This same people have now the name of Sapæi. For all these people were
settled about Abdera, they also held Lemnos and the islands about
Lemnos. Thus also Brygi, Briges, and Phryges are the same people; and
Mysi, Mæones, and Meones are the same people. But it is unnecessary to
multiply instances of this kind.
The Scepsian (Demetrius) throws some doubt on the alteration of the name
from Alybes to Chalybes, but not understanding what follows, nor what
accords with it, nor, in particular, why the poet calls the Chalybes
Alizoni, he rejects the opinion that there has been an alteration of
name. In comparing his opinion with my own I shall consider also the
hypotheses entertained by others.
21. Some persons alter the word to Alazones, others to Amazons, and
“Alybe” to “Alope,” or “Alobe,” calling the Scythians above the
Borysthenes Alazones and Callipidæ, and by other names, about which
Hellanicus, Herodotus, and Eudoxus have talked very absurdly; some say
that the Amazons were situated between Mysia, Caria, and Lydia near
Cyme, which is the opinion also of Ephorus, who was a native of the
latter place. And this opinion may not be unreasonable, for he may mean
the country which in later times was inhabited by the Æolians and
Ionians, but formerly by Amazons. There are some cities, it is said,
which have their names from the Amazons; as Ephesus, Smyrna, Cyme, and
Myrina. But would any one think of inquiring in these places after
Alybe, or, according to some writers, Alope, or Alobe; what would be the
meaning of “from afar,” or where is the silver mine?
22. These objections he solves by an alteration in the text, for he
writes the verses in this manner,
“But Odius and Epistrophus led the Amazons,
Who came from Alope, whence the tribe of the Amazonides. ”
But by this solution he has invented another fiction. For Alope is
nowhere to be found in that situation, and the alteration in the text,
itself a great change, and contrary to the authority of ancient copies,
looks like an adaptation formed for the occasion.
The Scepsian (Demetrius) does not adopt the opinion of Ephorus, nor does
he agree with those who suppose them to be the Halizoni about Pallene,
whom we mentioned in the description of Macedonia. He is at a loss also
to understand how any one could suppose that auxiliaries could come to
the Trojans from the Nomades situated above the Borysthenes. He much
approves of the opinion of Hecatæus the Milesian, and of Menecrates of
Elea, disciples of Xenocrates, and that of Palæphatus. The first of
these says in his work entitled “the Circuit of the Earth,” “near the
city Alazia is the river Odrysses, which after flowing through the plain
of Mygdonia from the west, out of the lake Dascylitis, empties itself
into the Rhyndacus. ” He further relates that Alazia is now deserted, but
that many villages of the Alazones through which the Odrysses flows are
inhabited. In these villages Apollo is worshipped with peculiar honours,
and especially on the confines of the Cyziceni.
Menecrates, in his work “the Circuit of the Hellespont,” says that above
the places near Myrleia there is a continuous mountain tract occupied by
the nation of the Halizoni. The name, he says, ought to be written with
two l’s, Hallizoni, but the poet uses one only on account of the metre.
Palæphatus says that Odius and Epistrophus levied their army from among
the Amazons then living in Alope, but at present in Zeleia. [1172]
Do the opinions of these persons deserve approbation? For besides their
alteration of the ancient text, and the position of this people, they
neither point out the silver mines, nor where in Myrleatis Alope is
situated, nor how they, who came thence to Troy, came “from afar,”
although it should be granted that there existed an Alope, or an Alazia.
For these are much nearer Troy than the places about Ephesus. Those,
however, are triflers, in the opinion of Demetrius, who speak of the
existence of Amazons near Pygela, between Ephesus, Magnesia, and Priene,
for the words “from afar” do not agree with the spot; much less will
they agree with a situation about Mysia, and Teuthrania.
23. [CAS. 551] This may be true, says he, but some expressions are to be
understood as loosely applied, such as these,
“Far from Ascania,”[1173]
and
“His name was Arnæus, given to him by his honoured mother,”[1174]
and
“Penelope seized the well-turned key with her firm hand. ”[1175]
But admitting this, the other assertions are not to be allowed to which
Demetrius is disposed to attend; nor has he refuted in a convincing
manner those persons who maintain that we ought to read “far from
Chalybe. ” For having conceded that, although at present there are not
silver mines among the Chalybes, they might formerly have existed, he
does not grant that they were far-famed, and worthy of notice, like the
iron mines. But some one may say, what should prevent them from being as
famous as the iron mines, or does an abundance of iron make a place
celebrated, and not an abundance of silver? Again, if the silver mines
had obtained celebrity in the age of Homer, but not in the heroic times,
can any one blame the poet’s representation? How did their fame reach
him? How did the fame of the copper mines at Temesa in Italy, or of the
wealth of Thebes in Egypt, reach his ears, although Egyptian Thebes was
situated almost at double the distance of the Chaldæi.
But Demetrius does not altogether agree with those whose opinions he
espouses. For when he is describing the neighbourhood of Scepsis his own
birth-place, he mentions Enea, a village, Argyria, and Alazonia, as near
Scepsis, and the Æsepus;[1176] but if these places exist at all, they
must be near the sources of the Æsepus. Hecatæus places them beyond the
mouths of that river. Palæphatus, who says that the Amazons formerly
occupied Alope, and at present Zeleia, does not advance anything in
agreement with these statements. But if Menecrates agrees with
Demetrius, neither does Menecrates say what this Alope, or Alobe, is,
(or, in whatever manner they please to write the name,) nor yet does
Demetrius himself.
24. With regard to Apollodorus, who mentions these places in his
discourse on the array of the Trojan forces, we have said much before
in reply to him, and we must now speak of him again. [1177] He is of
opinion that we ought not to understand the Halizoni without the Halys,
for no auxiliaries came to Troy from the country on the other side of
the Halys. First, then, we will inquire of him who are the Halizoni
within the Halys, and situated
“far from Alybe, where are silver mines? ”
He will not be able to reply. Next we will ask the reason why he does
not admit that some auxiliaries came from the country on the other side
of the Halys. For if it was the case, that all the rest were living on
this side the Halys, except the Thracians, nothing prevented this one
body of allies from coming from afar, from the country beyond the
Leuco-Syrians? Or, was it possible for the persons immediately engaged
in the war to pass over from those places, and from the country beyond
them, as the Amazons, Treres, and Cimmerians, but impossible for allies
to do so?
The Amazons were not allies, because Priam had fought in alliance with
the Phrygians against them:
“at that time, says Priam, I was among their auxiliaries on
that day, when the Amazons came to attack them. ”[1178]
The people also who were living on the borders of the country of the
Amazons were not situated at so great a distance that it was difficult
to send for them from thence, nor did any animosity exist, I suppose, at
that time to prevent them from affording assistance.
25. Nor is there any foundation for the opinion, that all the ancients
agree that no people from the country beyond the Halys took part in the
Trojan war. Testimony may be found to the contrary. Mæandrius at least
says that Heneti came from the country of the Leuco-Syrians to assist
the Trojans in the war; that they set sail thence with the Thracians,
and settled about the recess of the Adriatic; and that the Heneti, who
had no place in the expedition, were Cappadocians. This account seems to
agree with the circumstance, that the people inhabiting the whole of
that part of Cappadocia near the Halys, which extends along Paphlagonia,
speak two dialects, and that their language abounds with Paphlagonian
names, as [CAS. 553] Bagas, Biasas, Æniates, Rhatotes, Zardoces,
Tibius, Gasys, Oligasys, and Manes. For these names are frequently to be
found in the Bamonitis, the Pimolitis, the Gazaluïtis, and Gazacene, and
in most of the other districts. Apollodorus himself quotes the words of
Homer, altered by Zenodotus;
“from Henete, whence comes a race of wild mules,”
and says, that Hecatæus the Milesian understands Henete to mean Amisus.
But we have shown that Amisus belongs to the Leuco-Syrians, and is
situated beyond the Halys.
26. He also somewhere says that the poet obtained his knowledge of the
Paphlagonians, situated in the interior, from persons who had travelled
through the country on foot, but that he was not acquainted with the
sea-coast any more than with the rest of the territory of Pontus; for
otherwise he would have mentioned it by name. We may, on the contrary,
after the description which has just been given of the country, retort
and say that he has traversed the whole of the sea-coast, and has
omitted nothing worthy of record which existed at that time. It is not
surprising that he does not mention Heracleia, Amastris, or Sinope, for
they were not founded; nor is it strange that he should omit to speak of
the interior of the country; nor is it a proof of ignorance not to
specify by name many places which were well known, as we have shown in a
preceding part of this work.
He says that Homer was ignorant of much that was remarkable in Pontus,
as rivers and nations, otherwise he would have mentioned their names.
This may be admitted with respect to some very remarkable nations and
rivers, as the Scythians, the Palus Mæotis, and the Danube. For he would
not have described the Nomades, by characteristic signs, as living on
milk, Abii, a people without certain means of subsistence, “most just”
and “renowned Hippemolgi,” (milkers of mares,) and not distinguished
them as Scythians, or Sauromatæ, or Sarmatæ, if, indeed, they had these
names among the Greeks (at that time). Nor in mentioning the Thracians
and Mysians, who live near the Danube, would he have passed over in
silence the Danube itself, one of the largest rivers, particularly as,
in other instances, he is inclined to mark the boundaries of places by
rivers; nor in speaking of the Cimmerians would he have omitted the
Bosporus, or the Mæotis.
27. With respect then to places not so remarkable, or not famous at that
time, or not illustrating the subject of his poem, who can blame the
poet for omitting them? As, for example, omitting to mention the Don,
famed only as it is for being the boundary of Asia and Europe. The
persons however of that time were not accustomed to use the name either
of Asia or Europe, nor was the habitable earth divided into three
continents; otherwise he would have mentioned them by name on account of
their strong characteristic marks, as he mentioned by name Libya
(Africa), and the Libs (the south-west wind), blowing from the western
parts of Africa. But as the continents were not yet distinguished, it
was not necessary that he should mention the Don. There were many things
worthy of record, which did not occur to him. For both in actions and in
discourse much is done and said without any cause or motive, by merely
spontaneously presenting itself to the mind.
It is evident from all these circumstances that every person who
concludes that because a certain thing is not mentioned by the poet he
was therefore ignorant of it, uses a bad argument; and we must prove by
several examples that it is bad, for many persons employ this kind of
evidence to a great extent. We must refute them therefore by producing
such instances as these which follow, although we shall repeat what has
been already said.
If any one should maintain that the poet was not acquainted with a river
which he has not mentioned, we should say that his argument is absurd,
for he has not mentioned by name even the river Meles, which runs by
Smyrna, his birth-place according to many writers, while he has
mentioned the rivers Hermus and Hyllus by name, but yet not the
Pactolus,[1179] which discharges itself into the same channel as these
rivers, and rises in the mountain Tmolus. [1180] He does not mention
either Smyrna itself, or the other cities of the Ionians, or most of
those of the Æolians, although he specifies Miletus, Samos, Lesbos, and
Tenedos. He does not mention the Lethæus, which flows beside
Magnesia,[1181] nor the Marsyas, which rivers empty themselves into the
Mæander,[1182] which he mentions by name, as well as [CAS. 554]
“the Rhesus, Heptaporus, Caresus, and Rhodius,”[1183]
and others, many of which are not more than small streams. While he
specifies by name many countries and cities, sometimes he makes an
enumeration of rivers and mountains, sometimes he does not do so. He
does not mention the rivers in Ætolia and Attica, nor many others. And
if, in mentioning people that live afar off, he does not mention those
who are very near, it is certainly not through ignorance of them, for
they were well known to other writers. With respect to people who were
all equally near, he does not observe one rule, for some he mentions,
and not others, as for instance he mentions the Lycii, and Solymi, but
not the Milyæ, nor Pamphylians, nor Pisidians; the Paphlagonians,
Phrygians, and Mysians, but not the Mariandyni, nor Thyni, nor
Bithynians, nor Bebryces; the Amazons, but not the Leuco-Syrians, nor
Syrians, nor Cappadocians, nor Lycaonians, while he frequently speaks of
the Phœnicians, Ægyptians, and Æthiopians. He mentions the Aleian plain,
and the Arimi mountains, but not the nation among which these are
situated.
The argument drawn from this is false; the true argument would have been
to show that the poet has asserted what is not true. Apollodorus has not
succeeded in this attempt, and he has more particularly failed when he
ventures to call by the name of fiction “the renowned Hippemolgi and
Galactophagi. ”[1184] So much then in reply to Apollodorus. I now return
to the part of my description which follows next in order.
28. Above the places about Pharnacia and Trapezus are the Tibareni, and
Chaldæi, extending as far as the Lesser Armenia.
The Lesser Armenia is sufficiently fertile. Like Sophene it was always
governed by princes who were sometimes in alliance with the other
Armenians, and sometimes acting independently. They held in subjection
the Chaldæi and Tibareni. Their dominion extended as far as Trapezus and
Pharnacia. When Mithridates Eupator became powerful, he made himself
master of Colchis, and of all those places which were ceded to him by
Antipater the son of Sisis. He bestowed however so much care upon them,
that he built seventy-five strongholds, in which he deposited the
greatest part of his treasure.
extraordinary fissure in the mountain, through which the stream is
carried. For, as in rocks which have burst and split in two [CAS. 536]
parts, the projections in one correspond so exactly with the hollows in
the other that they might even be fitted together, so here I have seen
the rocks at the distance of two or three plethra, overhanging the river
on each side, and nearly reaching to the summit of the mountain, with
hollows on one side answering to projections on the other. The bed
between (the mountains) is entirely rock; it has a deep and very narrow
fissure through the middle, so that a dog and a hare might leap across
it. This is the channel of the river; it is full to the margin, and in
breadth resembles a canal. [1085] But on account of the winding of its
course, the great contraction of the stream, and the depth of the
ravine, a noise, like that of thunder, strikes at a distance on the ears
of those who approach it. In passing out through the mountains, it
brings down from Cataonia, and from the Cilician plains, so great a
quantity of alluvial soil to the sea, that an oracle to the following
effect is reported to have been uttered respecting it:
“The time will come, when Pyramus, with its deep whirlpools,
by advancing on the sea-shore, will reach the sacred Cyprus. ”
Something similar to this takes place in Egypt. The Nile is continually
converting the sea into continent by an accumulation of earth;
accordingly Herodotus calls Egypt a gift of the river, and Homer says,
that the Pharos was formerly out at sea, not as it is at present
connected with the mainland of Egypt.
5. [The third[1086] in rank is the Dacian priesthood of Jupiter,
inferior to this, but still of importance. ] There is at this place a
body of salt water, having the circumference of a considerable lake. It
is shut in by lofty and perpendicular hills, so that the descent is by
steps. The water it is said does not increase in quantity, nor has it
anywhere an apparent outlet.
6. Neither the plain of the Cataonians nor Melitene have any city, but
strongholds upon the mountains, as Azamora, and Dastarcum, round which
runs the river Carmalas. [1087] There is also the temple of the Cataonian
Apollo, which is venerated throughout the whole of Cappadocia, and
which the Cappadocians have taken as a model of their own temples. Nor
have the other provinces, except two, any cities. Of the rest,
Sargarausene has a small town Herpa, and a river Carmalas, which also
discharges itself into the Cilician sea. [1088] In the other provinces is
Argos, a lofty fortress near the Taurus, and Nora, now called Neroassus,
in which Eumenes sustained a long siege. In our time it was a
treasure-hold of Sisinus, who attempted to take possession of the
kingdom of Cappadocia. To him belonged Cadena, a royal seat, built after
the form of a city. Situated upon the borders of Lycaonia is Garsauira,
a village town, said to have been formerly the capital of the country.
In Morimene, among the Venasii, is a temple of Jupiter, with buildings
capable of receiving nearly three thousand servants of the temple. It
has a tract of sacred land attached to it, very fertile, and affording
to the priest a yearly revenue of fifteen talents. The priest is
appointed for life like the priest at Comana, and is next to him in
rank.
7. Two provinces only have cities. In the Tyanitis is Tyana,[1089] lying
at the foot of the Taurus at the Cilician Gates,[1090] where are the
easiest and the most frequented passes into Cilicia and Syria. It is
called, “Eusebeia at the Taurus. ” Tyanitis is fertile, and the greatest
part of it consists of plains. Tyana is built upon the mound of
Semiramis, which is fortified with good walls. At a little distance from
this city are Castabala and Cybistra, towns which approach still nearer
to the mountain. At Castabala is a temple of Diana Perasia, where, it is
said, the priestesses walk with naked feet unhurt upon burning coals. To
this place some persons apply the story respecting Orestes and Diana
Tauropolus, and say that the goddess was called Perasia, because she was
conveyed from beyond (πέραθεν) sea.
In Tyanitis, one of the ten provinces above mentioned, is the city
Tyana. But with these I do not reckon the cities that were afterwards
added, Castabala, and Cybistra, and those in Cilicia Tracheia, to which
belongs Elæussa, a small [CAS. 538] fertile island, which Archelaus
furnished with excellent buildings, where he passed the greater part of
his time.
In the Cilician province, as it is called, is Mazaca,[1091] the capital
of the nation. It is also called “Eusebeia,” with the addition “at the
Argæus,” for it is situated at the foot of the Argæus,[1092] the highest
mountain in that district; its summit is always covered with snow.
Persons who ascend it (but they are not many) say that both the Euxine
and the sea of Issus may be seen from thence in clear weather.
Mazaca is not adapted in other respects by nature for the settlement of
a city, for it is without water, and unfortified. Through the neglect of
the governors, it is without walls, perhaps intentionally, lest,
trusting to the wall as to a fortification, the inhabitants of a plain,
which has hills situated above it, and not exposed to the attacks of
missile weapons, should addict themselves to robbery. The country about,
although it consists of plains, is entirely barren and uncultivated, for
the soil is sandy, and rocky underneath. At a little distance further
there are burning plains, and pits full of fire to an extent of many
stadia, so that the necessaries of life are brought from a distance.
What seems to be a peculiar advantage (abundance of wood) is a source of
danger. For though nearly the whole of Cappadocia is without timber, the
Argæus is surrounded by a forest, so that wood may be procured near at
hand, yet even the region lying below the forest contains fire in many
parts, and springs of cold water; but as neither the fire nor the water
break out upon the surface, the greatest part of the country is covered
with herbage. In some parts the bottom is marshy, and flames burst out
from the ground by night. Those acquainted with the country collect wood
with caution; but there is danger to others, and particularly to cattle,
which fall into these hidden pits of fire.
8. In the plain in front of the city, and about 40 stadia from it, is a
river of the name of Melas,[1093] whose source is in ground lower than
the level of the city. It is useless to the inhabitants, because it
does not flow from an elevated situation. It spreads abroad in marshes
and lakes, and in the summer-time corrupts the air round the city. A
valuable stone quarry is rendered almost useless by it. For there are
extensive beds of stone, from which the Mazaceni obtain an abundant
supply of materials for building, but the slabs, being covered with
water, are not easily detached by the workmen. These are the marshes
which in every part are subject to take fire.
Ariarathes the king filled in some narrow channels by which the Melas
entered the Halys, and converted the neighbouring plain into a wide
lake. There he selected some small islands like the Cyclades, where he
passed his time in boyish and frivolous diversions. The barrier,
however, was broken down all at once, and the waters again flowed abroad
and swelled the Halys, which swept away a large part of the Cappadocian
territory, and destroyed many buildings and plantations; it also damaged
a considerable part of the country of the Galatians, who occupy Phrygia.
In compensation for this injury he paid a fine of three hundred talents
to the inhabitants, who had referred the matter to the decision of the
Romans. The same was the case at Herpa; for he there obstructed the
stream of the Carmalas, and, on the bursting of the dyke, the water
damaged some of the places in the Cilician territories about Mallus; he
was obliged to make compensation to those who had sustained injury.
9. Although the territory of the Mazaceni is destitute in many respects
of natural advantages, it seems to have been preferred by the kings as a
place of residence, because it was nearest the centre of those districts
which supplied timber, stone for building, and fodder, of which a very
large quantity was required for the subsistence of their cattle. Their
city was almost a camp. The security of their persons and treasure[1094]
depended upon the protection afforded by numerous fortresses, some of
which belonged to the king, others to their friends.
Mazaca is distant from Pontus[1095] about 800 stadia to the south, and
from the Euphrates a little less than double that distance; from the
Cilician Gates and the camp of Cyrus, a [CAS. 539] journey of six days
by way of Tyana,[1096] which is situated about the middle of the route,
and is distant from Cybistra 300 stadia. The Mazaceni adopt the laws of
Charondas, and elect a Nomōdist, (or Chanter of the Laws,) who, like the
Jurisconsults of the Romans, is the interpreter of their laws. Tigranes
the Armenian, when he overran Cappadocia, treated them with great
severity. He forced them to abandon their settlements, and go into
Mesopotamia; they peopled Tigranocerta, chiefly by their numbers.
Afterwards, upon the capture of Tigranocerta, those who were able
returned to their own country.
10. The breadth of the country from Pontus to the Taurus is about 1800
stadia; the length from Lycaonia and Phrygia, as far as the Euphrates to
the east, and Armenia, is about 3000 stadia. The soil is fertile, and
abounds with fruits of the earth, particularly corn, and with cattle of
all kinds. Although it lies more to the south than Pontus, it is colder.
Bagadania, although a plain country, and situated more towards the south
than any district in Cappadocia, (for it lies at the foot of the
Taurus,) produces scarcely any fruit-bearing trees. It affords pasture
for wild asses, as does a large portion of the other parts of the
country, particularly that about Garsauira, Lycaonia, and Morimene.
In Cappadocia is found the red earth called the Sinopic, which is better
than that of any other country. The Spanish only can rival it. It had
the name of Sinopic, because the merchants used to bring it down from
Sinope, before the traffic of the Ephesians extended as far as the
people of Cappadocia. It is said that even plates of crystal and of the
onyx stone were discovered by the miners of Archelaus near the country
of the Galatians. There was a place where was found a white stone of the
colour of ivory in pieces of the size of small whetstones, from which
were made handles for small swords. Another place produced large masses
of transparent stone for windows, which were exported.
The boundary of Pontus and Cappadocia is a mountainous range parallel
to the Taurus, commencing from the western extremities of Chammanene,
(where stands Dasmenda, a fortress built upon a precipice,) and
extending to the eastern parts of Laviansene. Both Chammanene and
Laviansene are provinces of Cappadocia.
11. When the Romans, after the defeat of Antiochus, first governed Asia,
they made treaties of friendship and alliance both with the nations and
with the kings. This honour was conferred upon the other kings
separately and independently, but upon the king of Cappadocia in common
with the nation. On the extinction of the royal race, the Romans
admitted the independence of the Cappadocians according to the treaty of
friendship and alliance which they had made with the nation. The
deputies excused themselves from accepting the liberty which was offered
to them, declaring that they were unable to bear it, and requested that
a king might be appointed. The Romans were surprised that any people
should be unwilling to enjoy liberty, but permitted[1097] them to elect
by suffrage any one they pleased from among themselves. They elected
Ariobarzanes. The race became extinct in the third generation.
Archelaus, who was not connected with the nation, was appointed king by
Antony.
So much respecting the Greater Cappadocia.
With regard to Cilicia Tracheia, which was annexed to the Greater
Cappadocia, it will be better to describe it when we give an account of
the whole of Cilicia.
CHAPTER III.
1. Mithridates Eupator was appointed King of Pontus. His kingdom
consisted of the country bounded by the Halys,[1098] extending to the
Tibareni,[1099] to Armenia, to the territory within the Halys, extending
as far as Amastris,[1100] and to some parts of Paphlagonia. He annexed
to (the kingdom of) Pontus the sea-coast towards the west as far as
Heracleia,[1101] the birth-place of Heracleides the Platonic philosopher,
and towards [CAS. 541] the east, the country extending to Colchis, and
the Lesser Armenia. Pompey, after the overthrow of Mithridates, found
the kingdom comprised within these boundaries. He distributed the
country towards Armenia and towards Colchis among the princes who had
assisted him in the war; the remainder he divided into eleven
governments, and annexed them to Bithynia, so that out of both there was
formed one province. Some people in the inland parts he subjected to the
kings descended from Pylæmenes, in the same manner as he delivered over
the Galatians to be governed by tetrarchs of that nation.
In later times the Roman emperors made different divisions of the same
country, appointing kings and rulers, making some cities free, and
subjecting others to the authority of rulers, others again were left
under the dominion of the Roman people.
As we proceed in our description according to the present state of
things, we shall touch slightly on their former condition, whenever it
may be useful.
I shall begin from Heracleia,[1102] which is the most westerly of these
places.
2. In sailing out of the Propontis into the Euxine Sea, on the left hand
are the parts adjoining to Byzantium, (Constantinople,) and these belong
to the Thracians. The parts on the left of the Pontus are called
Aristera (or left) of Pontus; the parts on the right are contiguous to
Chalcedon. Of these the first tract of country belongs to the
Bithynians, the next to the Mariandyni, or, as some say, to the
Caucones; next is that of the Paphlagonians, extending to the Halys,
then that of the Cappadocians near the Pontus, and then a district
reaching to Colchis. [1103] All this country has the name of the Dexia
(or right) of Pontus. This whole coast, from Colchis to Heracleia, was
subject to Mithridates Eupator. But the parts on the other side to the
mouth of the Euxine and Chalcedon, remained under the government of the
king of Bithynia. After the overthrow of the kings the Romans preserved
the same boundaries of the kingdoms; Heracleia was annexed to Pontus,
and the country beyond assigned to the Bithynians.
3. It is generally acknowledged by writers, that the Bithynians, who
were formerly Mysians, received this name from Bithynians and Thyni,
Thracian people, who came and settled among them. They advance as a
proof of their statement, first as regards the Bithynians, that there
still exists in Thrace a people called Bithynians, and then, as regards
the Thyni, that the sea-shore, near Apollonia[1104] and
Salmydessus,[1105] is called Thynias. The Bebryces, who preceded them as
settlers in Mysia, were, as I conjecture, Thracians. We have said[1106]
that the Mysians themselves were a colony of those Thracians who are now
called Mæsi.
Such is the account given of these people.
4. There is not, however, the same agreement among writers with regard
to the Mariandyni, and the Caucones. For they say that Heracleia is
situated among the Mariandyni, and was founded by Milesians. [1107] But
who they are, or whence they came, nothing is said. There is no
difference in language, nor any other apparent national distinction
between them and the Bithynians, whom they resemble in all respects. It
is probable therefore the Mariandyni were a Thracian tribe.
Theopompus says that Mariandynus, who governed a part of Paphlagonia,
which was subject to many masters, invaded and obtained possession of
the country of the Bebryces, and that he gave his own name to the
territory which he had before occupied. It is also said that the
Milesians who first founded Heracleia, compelled the Mariandyni, the
former possessors of the place, to serve as Helots, and even sold them,
but not beyond the boundaries of their country. For they were sold on
the same conditions as the class of persons called Mnoans, who were
slaves to the Cretans, and the Penestæ,[1108] who were slaves of the
Thessalians.
5. The Caucones, who, according to history, inhabited the line of
sea-coast which extends from the Mariandyni as far as the river
Parthenius, and to whom belonged the city Tieium,[1109] [CAS. 542] are
said by some writers to be Scythians, by others a tribe of Macedonians,
and by others a tribe of Pelasgi. We have already spoken of these people
elsewhere. [1110] Callisthenes in his comment upon the enumeration of the
ships inserts after this verse,
“Cromna, Ægialus, and the lofty Erythini,”[1111]
these lines,
“The brave son of Polycles led the Caucones,
Who inhabited the well-known dwellings about the river Parthenius,”
for the territory extends from Heracleia, and the Mariandyni as far as
the Leucosyri, whom we call Cappadocians. But the tribe of the Caucones
about Tieium extends to the Parthenius; that of the Heneti, who occupy
Cytorum,[1112] immediately follows the Parthenius, and even at present
some Caucones are living about the Parthenius.
6. Heracleia is a city with a good harbour, and of importance in other
respects. It has sent out colonies, among which are the
Cherronesus,[1113] and the Callatis. [1114] It was once independent,
afterwards for some time it was under the power of tyrants; it again
recovered its freedom; but at last, when subject to the Romans, it was
governed by kings. It received a colony of Romans, which was settled in
a portion of the city, and of its territory. A little before the battle
of Actium, Adiatorix, the son of Domnecleius the tetrarch of Galatia,
who had received from Antony that portion of the city of which the
Heracleiotæ were in possession, attacked the Romans by night, and put
them to death by the command, as he said, of Antony; but after the
victory at Actium, he was led in triumph, and put to death together with
his son. The city belongs to the province of Pontus, which was annexed
to Bithynia.
7. Between Chalcedon and Heracleia are several rivers, as the
Psillis,[1115] the Calpas, and the Sangarius, of which last the poet
makes mention. [1116] It has its source at the village Sangias, at the
distance of 150 stadia from Pessinus. It flows through the greater part
of Phrygia Epictetus, and a part also of Bithynia, so that it is distant
from Nicomedia a little more than 300 stadia, where the river Gallus
unites with it. The latter river has its source at Modra in Phrygia on
the Hellespont, which is the same country as the Epictetus, and was
formerly occupied by the Bithynians.
The Sangarius thus increased in bulk, and navigable, although not so
formerly, is the boundary of Bithynia at the part of the coast where it
discharges itself. In front of this coast is the island Thynia.
In the territory of Heracleia grows the aconite.
This city is distant from the temple at Chalcedon about 1500, and from
the Sangarius 500, stadia.
8. Tieium is now a small town and has nothing remarkable belonging to
it, except that it was the birth-place of Philetærus, the founder of the
family of the Attalic kings.
Next is the river Parthenius, flowing through a country abounding with
flowers; from these it obtained its name. [1117] Its source is in
Paphlagonia. Then succeeded Paphlagonia, and the Heneti. It is a
question what Heneti the poet means, when he says,
“the brave Pylæmenes led the Paphlagonians out of the country
of the Heneti, where they have a race of wild mules;”[1118]
for at present, they say, no Heneti are to be found in Paphlagonia.
Others say that it is a village on the shore distant ten schœni from
Amastris. But Zenodotus writes the verse in this manner, “From Heneta,”
and says that it means the present Amisus. According to others it was a
tribe bordering upon the Cappadocians, which engaged in an expedition
with the Cimmerians, and were afterwards driven away into Adria. But the
account most generally received is, that the Heneti were the most
considerable tribe of the Paphlagonians; that Pylæmenes was descended
from it; that a large body of this people accompanied him to the Trojan
war; that when they had lost their leader they passed over to Thrace
upon the capture of Troy; and in the course of their wanderings arrived
at the present Henetic territory.
Some writers say that both Antenor and his sons participated in this
expedition, and settled at the inner recess of the [CAS. 544] gulf of
Adria, as we have said in the description of Italy. [1119] It is probable
that this was the cause of the extinction of the Heneti, and that they
were no longer to be found in Paphlagonia.
9. The boundary of the Paphlagonians to the east is the river Halys,
which flows from the south between the Syrians and the Paphlagonians;
and according to Herodotus,[1120] (who means Cappadocians, when he is
speaking of Syrians,) discharges itself into the Euxine Sea. Even at
present they are called Leuco-Syrians, (or White Syrians,) while those
without the Taurus are called Syrians. In comparison with the people
within the Taurus, the latter have a burnt complexion; but the former,
not having it, received the appellation of Leuco-Syrians (or White
Syrians). Pindar says that
“the Amazons commanded a Syrian band, armed with spears with
broad iron heads;”
thus designating the people that lived at Themiscyra. [1121] Themiscyra
belongs to the Amiseni,[1122] and the district of the Amiseni to the
Leuco-Syrians settled beyond the Halys.
The river Halys forms the boundary of the Paphlagonians to the east;
Phrygians and the Galatians settled among that people, on the south; and
on the west Bithynians and Mariandyni (for the race of the Caucones has
everywhere entirely disappeared); on the north the Euxine. This country
is divided into two parts, the inland, and the maritime, extending from
the Halys as far as Bithynia. Mithridates Eupator possessed the maritime
part as far as Heracleia, and of the inland country he had the district
nearest to Heracleia, some parts of which extended even beyond the
Halys. These are also the limits of the Roman province of Pontus. The
remainder was subject to chiefs, even after the overthrow of
Mithridates.
We shall afterwards speak of those Paphlagonians in the inland parts,
who were not subject to Mithridates; we propose at present to describe
the country which he governed, called Pontus.
10. After the river Parthenius is Amastris, bearing the same name as the
princess by whom it was founded. It is situated upon a peninsula, with
harbours on each side of the isthmus. Amastris was the wife of
Dionysius, the tyrant of Heracleia, and daughter of Oxyathres, the
brother of the Darius who fought against Alexander. She formed the
settlement out of four cities, Sesamus, Cytorum, Cromna, (mentioned by
Homer in his recital of the Paphlagonian forces,[1123]) and Tieium,
which city however soon separated from the others, but the rest
continued united. Of these, Sesamus is called the citadel of Amastris.
Cytorum was formerly a mart of the people of Sinope. It had its name
from Cytorus, the son of Phrixus, according to Ephorus. Box-wood of the
best quality grows in great abundance in the territory of Amastris, and
particularly about Cytorum.
Ægialus is a line of sea-coast, in length more than 100 stadia. On it is
a village of the same name,[1124] which the poet mentions in these
lines,
“Cromna, and Ægialus, and the lofty Erythini;”[1125]
but some authors write,
“Cromna and Cobialus. ”
The Erythini are said to be the present Erythrini, and to have their
name from their (red) colour. They are two rocks. [1126]
Next to Ægialus is Carambis, a large promontory stretching towards the
north, and the Scythian Chersonesus. We have frequently mentioned this
promontory, and the Criu-metopon opposite it, which divides the Euxine
into two seas. [1127]
Next to Carambis is Cinolis,[1128] and Anti-Cinolis, and
Aboniteichos,[1129] a small city, and Armene,[1130] which gave rise to
the common proverb;
“He who had nothing to do built a wall about Armene. ”
It is a village of the Sinopenses, with a harbour.
11. Next is Sinope itself, distant from Armene 50 stadia, the most
considerable of all the cities in that quarter. It was founded by
Milesians, and when the inhabitants had established a naval force they
commanded the sea within the Cyanean [CAS. 545] rocks, and were allies
of the Greeks in many naval battles beyond these limits. Although this
city was independent for a long period, it did not preserve its liberty
to the last, but was taken by siege, and became subject first to
Pharnaces, then to his successors, to the time when the Romans put an
end to the power of Mithridates Eupator.
This prince was born and
brought up in this city, on which he conferred distinguished honour, and
made it a capital of the kingdom. It has received advantages from nature
which have been improved by art. It is built upon the neck of a
peninsula; on each side of the isthmus are harbours, stations for
vessels, and fisheries worthy of admiration for the capture of the
pelamydes. Of these fisheries we have said[1131] that the people of
Sinope have the second, and the Byzantines the third, in point of
excellence.
The peninsula projects in a circular form; the shores are surrounded by
a chain of rocks, and in some parts there are cavities, like rocky pits,
which are called Chœnicides. These are filled when the sea is high. For
the above reason, the place is not easily approached; besides which,
along the whole surface of rock the road is covered with sharp-pointed
stones, and persons cannot walk upon it with naked feet. The lands in
the higher parts and above the city have a good soil, and are adorned
with fields dressed as gardens, and this is the case in a still greater
degree in the suburbs. The city itself is well secured with walls, and
magnificently ornamented with a gymnasium, forum, and porticos.
Notwithstanding these advantages for defence, it was twice taken; first
by Pharnaces, who attacked it unexpectedly; afterwards by Lucullus, who
besieged it while it was harassed by an insidious tyrant within the
walls. For Bacchides,[1132] who was appointed by the king commander of
the garrison, being always suspicious of treachery on the part of those
within the city, had disgraced and put many to death. He thus prevented
the citizens both from defending themselves with bravery, although
capable of making a gallant defence, and from offering terms for a
capitulation. The city was therefore captured. Lucullus took away the
Sphere of Billarus,[1133] and the Autolycus,[1134] the workmanship of
Sthenis, whom the citizens regarded as a founder, and honoured as a god;
he left the other ornaments of the city untouched. There was there an
oracle of Sthenis. He seems to have been one of the companions of Jason
in his voyage, and to have got possession of this place. In after times
the Milesians, observing the natural advantages of the city, and the
weakness of the inhabitants, appropriated it as their own, and sent out
colonists. It has at present a Roman colony, and a part of the city and
of the territory belongs to the Romans. It is distant from Hieron[1135]
3500, from Heracleia 2000, and from Carambis 700, stadia. It has
produced men distinguished among philosophers, Diogenes the Cynic, and
Timotheus surnamed Patrion; among poets, Diphilus, the writer of comedy;
among historians, Baton,[1136] who wrote the history of Persia.
12. Proceeding thence, next in order is the mouth of the river Halys. It
has its name from the _hales_, or salt mines,[1137] near which it flows.
It has its source in the Greater Cappadocia, near the territory of
Pontus, in Camisene. It flows in a large stream towards the west, then
turning to the north through the country of the Galatians and
Paphlagonians, forms the boundary of their territory, and of that of the
Leuco-Syrians. The tract of land belonging to Sinope and all the
mountainous country as far as Bithynia, situated above the sea-coast,
which has been described, furnishes timber of excellent quality for
ship-building, and is easily conveyed away. The territory of [CAS. 546]
Sinope produces the maple, and the mountain nut tree, from which wood
for tables is cut. The whole country is planted with the olive, and
cultivation begins a little above the sea-coast.
13. Next to the mouth of the Halys is Gadilonítis, extending as far as
the Saramene; it is a fertile country, wholly consisting of plains, and
produces every kind of fruit. It affords also pasture for flocks of
sheep which are covered[1138] with skins, and produce a soft wool; very
little of this wool is to be found throughout Cappadocia and Pontus.
There are also deer,[1139] which are rare in other parts.
The Amiseni possess one part of this country. Pompey gave another to
Deïotarus, as well as the tract about Pharnacia and Trapezus as far as
Colchis and the Lesser Armenia. Pompey appointed him king of these
people and countries: he had already inherited the tetrarchy of the
Galatians, called the Tolistobogii. Upon his death various persons
succeeded to the different parts of his kingdom.
14. Next to Gadilon[1140] are the Saramene,[1141] and Amisus, a
considerable city distant from Sinope about 900 stadia. Theopompus says
that the Milesians were the first founders, * * * * * * *[1142] [then by]
a chief of the Cappadocians; in the third place it received a colony of
Athenians under the conduct of Athenocles, and its name was changed to
Piræeus.
This city also was in the possession of the kings. Mithridates Eupator
embellished it with temples, and added a part to it. Lucullus, and
afterwards Pharnaces, who came from across the Bosporus, besieged it.
Antony surrendered it to the kings of Pontus, after it had been declared
free by Divus Cæsar. Then the Tyrant Strato oppressed the inhabitants,
who again recovered their liberty under Cæsar Augustus after the battle
of Actium. They are now in a prosperous condition. Among other fertile
spots is Themiscyra,[1143] the abode of the Amazons, and Sidene. [1144]
15. Themiscyra is a plain, partly washed by the sea, and distant about
60 stadia from the city (Amisus); and partly situated at the foot of a
mountainous country, which is well wooded, and intersected with rivers,
which have their source among the mountains. A river, named Thermodon,
which receives the water of all these rivers, traverses the plain.
Another river very similar to this, of the name of Iris,[1145] flowing
from a place called Phanarœa,[1146] traverses the same plain. It has its
sources in Pontus. Flowing westward through the city of Pontic
Comana,[1147] and through Dazimonitis,[1148] a fertile plain, it then
turns to the north beside Gaziura,[1149] an ancient seat of the kings,
but now deserted; it then again returns to the east, where, uniting with
the Scylax[1150] and other rivers, and taking its course beside the
walls of my native place, Amaseia,[1151] a very strongly fortified city,
proceeds to Phanarœa. There when joined by the Lycus,[1152] which rises
in Armenia, it becomes the Iris. It then enters Themiscyra, and
discharges itself into the Euxine. This plain, therefore, is well
watered with dews, is constantly covered with herbage, and is capable of
affording food to herds of cattle as well as to horses. The largest
crops there consist of panic and millet, or rather they never fail, for
the supply of water more than counteracts the effect of all drought;
these people, therefore, never on any occasion experience a famine. The
country at the foot of the mountains produces so large an autumnal crop
of spontaneous-grown wild fruits, of the vine, the pear, the apple, and
hazel, that, in all seasons of the year, persons who go into the woods
to cut timber gather them in large quantities; the fruit is found either
yet hanging upon the trees or lying beneath a deep covering of fallen
leaves thickly strewed upon the ground. Wild animals of all kinds, which
resort here on account of the abundance of food, are frequently hunted.
16. Next to Themiscyra is Sidene, a fertile plain, but not watered in
the same manner by rivers as Themiscyra. It has strongholds on the
sea-coast, as Side,[1153] from which Sidene has [CAS. 548] its name,
Chabaca and Phabda (Phauda). [1154] Amisene extends as far as this place.
Among the natives of Amisus[1155] distinguished for their learning were
the mathematicians Demetrius, the son of Rathenus, and Dionysodorus, of
the same name as the Ionian (Milesian? ) geometrician, and Tyrannion the
grammarian, whose lessons I attended.
17. Next to Sidene is Pharnacia[1156] a small fortified city, and then
follows Trapezus,[1157] a Greek city, to which from Amisus is a voyage
of about 2200 stadia; thence to the Phasis about 1400 stadia, so that
the sum total of stadia from the Hieron[1158] to the Phasis is about
8000 stadia, either more or less.
In sailing along this coast from Amisus we first come to the Heracleian
promontory;[1159] then succeeds another promontory, Jasonium,[1160] and
the Genetes;[1161] then Cytorus (Cotyorus) a small city,[1162] from
which Pharnacia received a colony; then Ischopolis, which is in ruins.
Next is a bay on which are situated Cerasus, and Hermonassa,[1163] small
settlements. Near Hermonassa is Trapezus, then Colchis. Somewhere about
this place is a settlement called Zygopolis.
I have already spoken of Colchis, and of the sea-coast beyond. [1164]
18. Above Trapezus and Pharnacia are situated Tibareni, Chaldæi, Sanni,
(who were formerly called Macrones,[1165]) and the Lesser Armenia. The
Appaïtæ also, formerly called Cercitæ, are not far from these places.
Through the country belonging to these people stretches the
Scydises,[1166] a very rugged mountain, contiguous to the Moschic
mountains[1167] above Colchis. The heights of the Scydises are occupied
by the Heptacometæ. [1168] This country is likewise traversed by the
Paryadres,[1169] which extends from the neighbourhood of Sidene and
Themiscyra to the Lesser Armenia, and forms the eastern side of the
Pontus.
All the inhabitants of these mountains are quite savage, but
the Heptacometæ are more so than all the others. Some of them live among
trees, or in small towers, whence the ancients called them
Mosynœci,[1170] because the towers were called mosȳnes. Their food
consists of the flesh of wild animals and the fruits of trees. They
attack travellers, leaping down from the floors of their dwellings among
the trees. The Heptacometæ cut off three of Pompey’s cohorts, as they
were passing through the mountains, by placing on their road vessels
filled with maddening honey, which is procured from the branches of
trees. The men who had tasted the honey and lost their senses were
attacked and easily despatched. Some of these barbarians were called
Byzeres.
19. The present Chaldæi were anciently called Chalybes. It is in their
territory chiefly that Pharnacia is situated. On the sea-coast it has
natural advantages for the capture of the pelamydes. For this fish is
first caught at this place. On the mainland there are at present mines
of iron; formerly there were also mines of silver. The sea-shore along
all these places is very narrow, for directly above it are hills, which
abound with mines and forests; much, however, of the country is not
cultivated. The miners derive their subsistence from the mines, and the
fishermen from the fisheries, especially from the capture of pelamydes
and dolphins. The dolphins pursue shoals of fish, the cordyla, the
tunny, and even the pelamys; they grow fat on them, and as they approach
the land incautiously, are easily taken. They are caught with a bait and
then cut into pieces; large quantities of the fat are used for all
purposes.
20. These I suppose are the people who are called by Homer Halizoni, who
in his Catalogue follow the Paphlagonians.
“But Odius and Epistrophus led the Halizoni
Far from Alybe, where there are silver mines;”[1171]
whether the writing was changed from “far from Chalybe,” or whether the
people were formerly called Alybes instead of Chalybes. We cannot at
present say that it is possible that Chaldæi should be read for
Chalybes, but it cannot be maintained that formerly Chalybes could not
be read for Alybes, especially [CAS. 549] when we know that names are
subject to many changes, more especially among barbarians. For example,
a tribe of Thracians were called Sinties, then Sinti, then Saii, in
whose country Archilochus is said to have thrown away his shield:
“one of the Saii exults in having a shield, which, without
blame, I involuntarily left behind in a thicket. ”
This same people have now the name of Sapæi. For all these people were
settled about Abdera, they also held Lemnos and the islands about
Lemnos. Thus also Brygi, Briges, and Phryges are the same people; and
Mysi, Mæones, and Meones are the same people. But it is unnecessary to
multiply instances of this kind.
The Scepsian (Demetrius) throws some doubt on the alteration of the name
from Alybes to Chalybes, but not understanding what follows, nor what
accords with it, nor, in particular, why the poet calls the Chalybes
Alizoni, he rejects the opinion that there has been an alteration of
name. In comparing his opinion with my own I shall consider also the
hypotheses entertained by others.
21. Some persons alter the word to Alazones, others to Amazons, and
“Alybe” to “Alope,” or “Alobe,” calling the Scythians above the
Borysthenes Alazones and Callipidæ, and by other names, about which
Hellanicus, Herodotus, and Eudoxus have talked very absurdly; some say
that the Amazons were situated between Mysia, Caria, and Lydia near
Cyme, which is the opinion also of Ephorus, who was a native of the
latter place. And this opinion may not be unreasonable, for he may mean
the country which in later times was inhabited by the Æolians and
Ionians, but formerly by Amazons. There are some cities, it is said,
which have their names from the Amazons; as Ephesus, Smyrna, Cyme, and
Myrina. But would any one think of inquiring in these places after
Alybe, or, according to some writers, Alope, or Alobe; what would be the
meaning of “from afar,” or where is the silver mine?
22. These objections he solves by an alteration in the text, for he
writes the verses in this manner,
“But Odius and Epistrophus led the Amazons,
Who came from Alope, whence the tribe of the Amazonides. ”
But by this solution he has invented another fiction. For Alope is
nowhere to be found in that situation, and the alteration in the text,
itself a great change, and contrary to the authority of ancient copies,
looks like an adaptation formed for the occasion.
The Scepsian (Demetrius) does not adopt the opinion of Ephorus, nor does
he agree with those who suppose them to be the Halizoni about Pallene,
whom we mentioned in the description of Macedonia. He is at a loss also
to understand how any one could suppose that auxiliaries could come to
the Trojans from the Nomades situated above the Borysthenes. He much
approves of the opinion of Hecatæus the Milesian, and of Menecrates of
Elea, disciples of Xenocrates, and that of Palæphatus. The first of
these says in his work entitled “the Circuit of the Earth,” “near the
city Alazia is the river Odrysses, which after flowing through the plain
of Mygdonia from the west, out of the lake Dascylitis, empties itself
into the Rhyndacus. ” He further relates that Alazia is now deserted, but
that many villages of the Alazones through which the Odrysses flows are
inhabited. In these villages Apollo is worshipped with peculiar honours,
and especially on the confines of the Cyziceni.
Menecrates, in his work “the Circuit of the Hellespont,” says that above
the places near Myrleia there is a continuous mountain tract occupied by
the nation of the Halizoni. The name, he says, ought to be written with
two l’s, Hallizoni, but the poet uses one only on account of the metre.
Palæphatus says that Odius and Epistrophus levied their army from among
the Amazons then living in Alope, but at present in Zeleia. [1172]
Do the opinions of these persons deserve approbation? For besides their
alteration of the ancient text, and the position of this people, they
neither point out the silver mines, nor where in Myrleatis Alope is
situated, nor how they, who came thence to Troy, came “from afar,”
although it should be granted that there existed an Alope, or an Alazia.
For these are much nearer Troy than the places about Ephesus. Those,
however, are triflers, in the opinion of Demetrius, who speak of the
existence of Amazons near Pygela, between Ephesus, Magnesia, and Priene,
for the words “from afar” do not agree with the spot; much less will
they agree with a situation about Mysia, and Teuthrania.
23. [CAS. 551] This may be true, says he, but some expressions are to be
understood as loosely applied, such as these,
“Far from Ascania,”[1173]
and
“His name was Arnæus, given to him by his honoured mother,”[1174]
and
“Penelope seized the well-turned key with her firm hand. ”[1175]
But admitting this, the other assertions are not to be allowed to which
Demetrius is disposed to attend; nor has he refuted in a convincing
manner those persons who maintain that we ought to read “far from
Chalybe. ” For having conceded that, although at present there are not
silver mines among the Chalybes, they might formerly have existed, he
does not grant that they were far-famed, and worthy of notice, like the
iron mines. But some one may say, what should prevent them from being as
famous as the iron mines, or does an abundance of iron make a place
celebrated, and not an abundance of silver? Again, if the silver mines
had obtained celebrity in the age of Homer, but not in the heroic times,
can any one blame the poet’s representation? How did their fame reach
him? How did the fame of the copper mines at Temesa in Italy, or of the
wealth of Thebes in Egypt, reach his ears, although Egyptian Thebes was
situated almost at double the distance of the Chaldæi.
But Demetrius does not altogether agree with those whose opinions he
espouses. For when he is describing the neighbourhood of Scepsis his own
birth-place, he mentions Enea, a village, Argyria, and Alazonia, as near
Scepsis, and the Æsepus;[1176] but if these places exist at all, they
must be near the sources of the Æsepus. Hecatæus places them beyond the
mouths of that river. Palæphatus, who says that the Amazons formerly
occupied Alope, and at present Zeleia, does not advance anything in
agreement with these statements. But if Menecrates agrees with
Demetrius, neither does Menecrates say what this Alope, or Alobe, is,
(or, in whatever manner they please to write the name,) nor yet does
Demetrius himself.
24. With regard to Apollodorus, who mentions these places in his
discourse on the array of the Trojan forces, we have said much before
in reply to him, and we must now speak of him again. [1177] He is of
opinion that we ought not to understand the Halizoni without the Halys,
for no auxiliaries came to Troy from the country on the other side of
the Halys. First, then, we will inquire of him who are the Halizoni
within the Halys, and situated
“far from Alybe, where are silver mines? ”
He will not be able to reply. Next we will ask the reason why he does
not admit that some auxiliaries came from the country on the other side
of the Halys. For if it was the case, that all the rest were living on
this side the Halys, except the Thracians, nothing prevented this one
body of allies from coming from afar, from the country beyond the
Leuco-Syrians? Or, was it possible for the persons immediately engaged
in the war to pass over from those places, and from the country beyond
them, as the Amazons, Treres, and Cimmerians, but impossible for allies
to do so?
The Amazons were not allies, because Priam had fought in alliance with
the Phrygians against them:
“at that time, says Priam, I was among their auxiliaries on
that day, when the Amazons came to attack them. ”[1178]
The people also who were living on the borders of the country of the
Amazons were not situated at so great a distance that it was difficult
to send for them from thence, nor did any animosity exist, I suppose, at
that time to prevent them from affording assistance.
25. Nor is there any foundation for the opinion, that all the ancients
agree that no people from the country beyond the Halys took part in the
Trojan war. Testimony may be found to the contrary. Mæandrius at least
says that Heneti came from the country of the Leuco-Syrians to assist
the Trojans in the war; that they set sail thence with the Thracians,
and settled about the recess of the Adriatic; and that the Heneti, who
had no place in the expedition, were Cappadocians. This account seems to
agree with the circumstance, that the people inhabiting the whole of
that part of Cappadocia near the Halys, which extends along Paphlagonia,
speak two dialects, and that their language abounds with Paphlagonian
names, as [CAS. 553] Bagas, Biasas, Æniates, Rhatotes, Zardoces,
Tibius, Gasys, Oligasys, and Manes. For these names are frequently to be
found in the Bamonitis, the Pimolitis, the Gazaluïtis, and Gazacene, and
in most of the other districts. Apollodorus himself quotes the words of
Homer, altered by Zenodotus;
“from Henete, whence comes a race of wild mules,”
and says, that Hecatæus the Milesian understands Henete to mean Amisus.
But we have shown that Amisus belongs to the Leuco-Syrians, and is
situated beyond the Halys.
26. He also somewhere says that the poet obtained his knowledge of the
Paphlagonians, situated in the interior, from persons who had travelled
through the country on foot, but that he was not acquainted with the
sea-coast any more than with the rest of the territory of Pontus; for
otherwise he would have mentioned it by name. We may, on the contrary,
after the description which has just been given of the country, retort
and say that he has traversed the whole of the sea-coast, and has
omitted nothing worthy of record which existed at that time. It is not
surprising that he does not mention Heracleia, Amastris, or Sinope, for
they were not founded; nor is it strange that he should omit to speak of
the interior of the country; nor is it a proof of ignorance not to
specify by name many places which were well known, as we have shown in a
preceding part of this work.
He says that Homer was ignorant of much that was remarkable in Pontus,
as rivers and nations, otherwise he would have mentioned their names.
This may be admitted with respect to some very remarkable nations and
rivers, as the Scythians, the Palus Mæotis, and the Danube. For he would
not have described the Nomades, by characteristic signs, as living on
milk, Abii, a people without certain means of subsistence, “most just”
and “renowned Hippemolgi,” (milkers of mares,) and not distinguished
them as Scythians, or Sauromatæ, or Sarmatæ, if, indeed, they had these
names among the Greeks (at that time). Nor in mentioning the Thracians
and Mysians, who live near the Danube, would he have passed over in
silence the Danube itself, one of the largest rivers, particularly as,
in other instances, he is inclined to mark the boundaries of places by
rivers; nor in speaking of the Cimmerians would he have omitted the
Bosporus, or the Mæotis.
27. With respect then to places not so remarkable, or not famous at that
time, or not illustrating the subject of his poem, who can blame the
poet for omitting them? As, for example, omitting to mention the Don,
famed only as it is for being the boundary of Asia and Europe. The
persons however of that time were not accustomed to use the name either
of Asia or Europe, nor was the habitable earth divided into three
continents; otherwise he would have mentioned them by name on account of
their strong characteristic marks, as he mentioned by name Libya
(Africa), and the Libs (the south-west wind), blowing from the western
parts of Africa. But as the continents were not yet distinguished, it
was not necessary that he should mention the Don. There were many things
worthy of record, which did not occur to him. For both in actions and in
discourse much is done and said without any cause or motive, by merely
spontaneously presenting itself to the mind.
It is evident from all these circumstances that every person who
concludes that because a certain thing is not mentioned by the poet he
was therefore ignorant of it, uses a bad argument; and we must prove by
several examples that it is bad, for many persons employ this kind of
evidence to a great extent. We must refute them therefore by producing
such instances as these which follow, although we shall repeat what has
been already said.
If any one should maintain that the poet was not acquainted with a river
which he has not mentioned, we should say that his argument is absurd,
for he has not mentioned by name even the river Meles, which runs by
Smyrna, his birth-place according to many writers, while he has
mentioned the rivers Hermus and Hyllus by name, but yet not the
Pactolus,[1179] which discharges itself into the same channel as these
rivers, and rises in the mountain Tmolus. [1180] He does not mention
either Smyrna itself, or the other cities of the Ionians, or most of
those of the Æolians, although he specifies Miletus, Samos, Lesbos, and
Tenedos. He does not mention the Lethæus, which flows beside
Magnesia,[1181] nor the Marsyas, which rivers empty themselves into the
Mæander,[1182] which he mentions by name, as well as [CAS. 554]
“the Rhesus, Heptaporus, Caresus, and Rhodius,”[1183]
and others, many of which are not more than small streams. While he
specifies by name many countries and cities, sometimes he makes an
enumeration of rivers and mountains, sometimes he does not do so. He
does not mention the rivers in Ætolia and Attica, nor many others. And
if, in mentioning people that live afar off, he does not mention those
who are very near, it is certainly not through ignorance of them, for
they were well known to other writers. With respect to people who were
all equally near, he does not observe one rule, for some he mentions,
and not others, as for instance he mentions the Lycii, and Solymi, but
not the Milyæ, nor Pamphylians, nor Pisidians; the Paphlagonians,
Phrygians, and Mysians, but not the Mariandyni, nor Thyni, nor
Bithynians, nor Bebryces; the Amazons, but not the Leuco-Syrians, nor
Syrians, nor Cappadocians, nor Lycaonians, while he frequently speaks of
the Phœnicians, Ægyptians, and Æthiopians. He mentions the Aleian plain,
and the Arimi mountains, but not the nation among which these are
situated.
The argument drawn from this is false; the true argument would have been
to show that the poet has asserted what is not true. Apollodorus has not
succeeded in this attempt, and he has more particularly failed when he
ventures to call by the name of fiction “the renowned Hippemolgi and
Galactophagi. ”[1184] So much then in reply to Apollodorus. I now return
to the part of my description which follows next in order.
28. Above the places about Pharnacia and Trapezus are the Tibareni, and
Chaldæi, extending as far as the Lesser Armenia.
The Lesser Armenia is sufficiently fertile. Like Sophene it was always
governed by princes who were sometimes in alliance with the other
Armenians, and sometimes acting independently. They held in subjection
the Chaldæi and Tibareni. Their dominion extended as far as Trapezus and
Pharnacia. When Mithridates Eupator became powerful, he made himself
master of Colchis, and of all those places which were ceded to him by
Antipater the son of Sisis. He bestowed however so much care upon them,
that he built seventy-five strongholds, in which he deposited the
greatest part of his treasure.
