NATIONS IN THE VICINITY OF THE SCYTHIAN OCEAN

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

Nunc omnibus quae sunt Asiae interiora dictis Ripaeos montes transcendat animus extraque litore oceani incedat. tribus hic partibus caeli adluens Asiam Scythicus a septentrione, ab oriente Eous, a meridie Indicus vocatur varieque per sinus et accolarum conplura nomina dividitur. verumn Asiae quoque magna portio adposita septentrioni iniuria sideris rigens vastas solitudines habet. ab extremo aquilone ad initium orientis aestivi Scythae sunt. extra eos ultraque aquilonis initia Hyperboreos aliqui posuere, pluribus in Europa dictos. primum inde noscitur promunturium Celticae Lytharmis, fluvius Carambucis, ubi lassata cum siderum vi Ripaeorum montium deficiunt iuga, ibique Arimphaeos quosdam accepimus, haut dissimilem Hyperboreis gentem. sedes illis nemora, alimenta bacae, capillus iuxta feminis virisque in probro existimatus, ritus clementes. itaque sacros haberi narrant inviolatosque esseetiam feris accolarum populis, nec ipsos modo, sed illos quoque qui ad eos profugerint. ultra eos plane iam Scythae, Cimmerii, Cissi, Anthi, Georgi et Ama- zonum gens, haec usque ad Caspium et Hyrcanium mare.

Nam et inrumpit e Scythico oceano in aversa Asiae; pluribus nominibus accolaram appellatum celeberrimum est duobus, Caspium et Hyrcanium. non minus hoc esse quam Pontum Euxinum Clitarchus putat, Eratosthenes ponit et mensuram ab exortu et meridie per Cadusiae et Albaniae oram V???.CCCC stadia, inde per Anariacos, Amardos, Hyrcanos ad ostium Zoni fluminis IIII. DCCC, ab eo ad ostium Iaxartis MM.CCCC, quae summa efficit XV. LXXV p. Artemidorus hinc detrahit XXV p. Agrippa Caspium mare gentesque quae circa sunt et cum iis Armeniam, determinatas ab oriente oceano Serico, ab occidente Caucasi iugis, a meridie Tauri, a septentrione oceano Scythico, patere qua cognitum est CCCCLXXX in longitudinem, in latitudinemCCXC prodidit. non desunt vero qui eius maris universum circuitum a freto XXV p. tradunt.

Inrumpit autem artis faucibus et in longitudinem spatiosis atque, ubi coepit in latitudinem pandi, lunatis obliquatur cornibus, velut ad Maeotium lacum ab ore descendens, sicilis, ut auctor est M. Varro, similitudine. primus sinus appellatur Scythicus; utrimque enim accolunt Scythae angustias et inter se commeant, hinc Nomades et Sauromatae multis nominibus, illinc Abzoae non paucioribus. ab introitu dextra mucronem ipsum faucium tenent Vdini, Scytharum populus, dein per oram Albani, ut ferunt, ab Iasoneorti, unde quod mareibi est Albanum nominatur. haec gens superfusa montibus Caucasis ad Cyrum amnem, Armeniae confinium atque Hiberiae, descendit, ut dictum est. supra maritima eius Vdinorumque gentem Sarmatae, Vti, Aorsi, Aroteres praetenduntur, quorum a tergo indicatae iam Amazones Sauromatides. flumina per Albaniam decurrunt in mare Casus et Albanus, dein Cambyses, in Caucasis ortus montibus, mox Cyrus, in Coraxicis, uti diximus. oram omnem a Caso praealtis rupibus accessumnegare perCCCCXXV p. auctor est Agrippa. a Cyro Caspium mare vocari incipit; accolunt Caspi.

Corrigendus est in hoc loco error multorum, etiam qui in Armenia res proxime cum Corbulone gessere. namque ii Caspias appellavere Portas Hiberiae, quas Caucasias diximus vocari, situsque depicti et inde missi hoc nomen inscriptum habent. et Neronis principis comminatio ad Caspias Portas tendere dicebatur, cum peteret illas, quae per Hiberiam in Sarmatas tendunt, vix ullo propter oppositos montes aditu ad Caspium mare. sunt autem aliae Caspiis gentibus iunctae, quod dinosci non potest nisi comitatu rerum Alexandri Magni.

Namque Persarum regna, quae nunc Parthorum intellegimus, inter duo maria Persicum et Hyrcanium Caucasi iugis attolluntur. utrimque per devexa laterum Armeniae Maiori a frontis parte, quae vergit in Commagenen, Cephenia, ut diximus, copulatur eique Adiabene, Assyriorum initium, cuius pars est Arbilitis, ubi Darium Alexander debellavit, proxime Syriae. totam eam Macedones Mygdoniam cognominaverunt a similitudine. oppida Alexandria, item Antiochia quam Nesebin vocant; abest ab ArtaxatisDCCL p. fuit et Ninos, inposita Tigri, ad solis occasum spectans, quondam clarissima. reliqua vero fronte, quae tendit ad Caspium mare, Atrapatene, ab Armeniae Otene regione discreta Araxe. oppidum eius Gazae, ab ArtaxatisCCCCL p., totidem ab Ecbatanis Medorum, quorum pars sunt Atrapateni.

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

Having now stated all that bears reference to the interior of Asia, let us cross in imagination the Riphæan Mountains, and traverse the shores of the ocean to the right. On three sides does this ocean wash the coasts of Asia, as the Scythian Ocean on the north, the Eastern Ocean on the east, and the Indian Ocean on the south; and it is again divided into various names, derived from the numerous gulfs which it forms, and the nations which dwell upon its shores. A great part of Asia, however, which lies exposed to the north, through the noxious effects of those freezing climates, consists of nothing but vast deserts. From the extreme north north-east to the point where the sun rises in the summer, it is the country of the Scythians. Still further than them, and beyond the point where north north-east begins, some writers have placed the Hyperborei, who are said, indeed, by the majority to be a people of Europe. After passing this point, the first place that is known is Lytarmis, a promontory of Celtica, and next to it the river Carambucis, where the chain of the Riphæan Mountains terminates, and with it the extreme rigour of the climate; here, too, we have heard of a certain people being situate, called the Arimphæi, a race not much unlike the Hyperborei. Their habitations are the groves, and the berries their diet; long hair is held to be disgraceful by the women as well as the men, and they are mild in their manners. Hence it is that they are reported to be a sacred race, and are never molested even by the savage tribes which border upon them, and not only they, but such other persons as well as may have fled to them for refuge. Beyond these we come straight to the Scythians, the Cimmerii, the Cisianthi, the Georgi, and a nation of Amazons. These last extend to the Caspian and Hyrcanian Sea.

Bursting through, this sea makes a passage from the Scythian Ocean into the back of Asia, receiving various names from the nations which dwell upon its banks, the two most famous of which are the Caspian and the Hyrcanian races. Clitarchus is of opinion that the Caspian Sea is not less in area than the Euxine. Eratosthenes gives the measure of it on the south-east, along the coast of Cadusia and Albania, as five thousand four hundred stadia; thence, through the territories of the Anariaci, the Amardi, and the Hyrcani, to the mouth of the river Zonus he makes four thousand eight hundred stadia, and thence to the mouth of the Jaxartes two thousand four hundred; which makes in all a distance of one thousand five hundred and seventy-five miles. Artemidorus, however, makes this sum smaller by twenty-five miles. Agrippa bounds the Caspian Sea and the nations around it, including Armenia, on the east by the Ocean of the Seres, on the west by the chain of the Caucasus, on the south by that of Taurus, and on the north by the Scythian Ocean; and he states it, so far as its extent is known, to be four hundred and eighty miles in length, and two hundred and ninety in breadth. There are not wanting, however, some authors who state that its whole circumference, from the Straits, is two thousand five hundred miles.

Its waters make their way into this sea by a very narrow mouth, but of considerable length; and where it begins to enlarge, it curves obliquely with horns in the form of a crescent, just as though it would make a descent from its mouth into Lake Mæotis, resembling a sickle in shape, as M. Varro says. The first of its gulfs is called the Scythian Gulf; it is inhabited on both sides, by the Scythians, who hold communication with each other across the Straits, the Nomades being on one side, together with the Sauromatæ, divided into tribes with numerous names, and on the other, the Abzoæ, who are also divided into an equal number. At the entrance, on the right hand side, dwell the Udini, a Scythian tribe, at the very angle of the mouth. Then along the coast there are the Albani, the descendants of Jason, it is said; that part of the sea which lies in front of them, bears the name of ‘Albanian.’ This nation, which lies along the Caucasian chain, comes down, as we have previously stated, as far as the river Cyrus, which forms the boundary of Armenia and Iberia. Above the maritime coast of Albania and the nation of the Udini, the Sarmatæ, the Utidorsi, and the Aroteres stretch along its shores, and in their rear the Sauromatian Amazons, already spoken of.

The rivers which run through Albania in their course to the sea are the Casius and the Albanus, and then the Cambyses, which rises in the Caucasian mountains, and next to it the Cyrus, rising in those of the Coraxici, as already mentioned. Agrippa states that the whole of this coast, inaccessible from rocks of an immense height, is four hundred and twenty-five miles in length, beginning from the river Casius. After we pass the mouth of the Cyrus, it begins to be called the ‘Caspian Sea;’ the Caspii being a people who dwell upon its shores.

In this place it may be as well to correct an error into which many persons have fallen, and even those who lately took part with Corbulo in the Armenian war. The Gates of Iberia, which we have mentioned as the Caucasian, they have spoken of as being called the ‘Caspian,’ and the coloured plans which have been sent from those parts to Rome have that name written upon them. The menaced expedition, too, that was contemplated by the Emperor Nero, was said to be designed to extend as far as the Caspian Gates, whereas it was really intended for those which lead through Iberia into the territory of the Sarmatæ; there being hardly any possibility of approach to the Caspian Sea, by reason of the close juxtaposition of the mountains there. There are, however, other Caspian Gates, which join up to the Caspian tribes; but these can only be distinguished from a perusal of the narrative of those who took part in the expedition of Alexander the Great.

The kingdom of the Persians, by which we now understand that of Parthia, is elevated upon the Caucasian chain between two seas, the Persian and the Hyrcanian. To the Greater Armenia, which in the front slopes towards Commagene, is joined Sophene, which lies upon the descent on both sides thereof, and next to it is Adiabene, the most advanced frontier of Assyria; a part of which is Arbelitis, where Alexander conquered Darius, and which joins up to Syria. The whole of this country was called Mygdonia by the Macedonians, on account of the resemblance it bore to Mygdonia in Europe. Its cities are Alexandria, and Antiochia, also called Nisibis; this last place is distant from Artaxata seven hundred and fifty miles. There was also in former times Ninus, a most renowned city, on the banks of the Tigris, with an aspect towards the west. Adjoining the other front of Greater Armenia, which runs down towards the Caspian Sea, we find Atropatene, which is separated from Otene, a region of Armenia, by the river Araxes; Gazæ is its chief city, distant from Artaxata four hundred and fifty miles, and the same from Ecbatana in Media, to which country Atropatene belongs.