Strabo Geography 11.14.9

[9] There are gold mines in Syspiritis near Caballa, to which Menon was sent by Alexander with soldiers, and he was led up ¹ to them by the natives. There are also other mines, in particular those of sandyx, ² as it is called, which is also called “Armenian” color, like chalce ³ The country is so very good for “horse-pasturing,” not even inferior to Media, ⁴ that the Nesaean horses, which were used by the Persian kings, are also bred there. The satrap of Armenia used to send to the Persian king twenty thousand foals every year at the time of the Mithracina. ⁵ Artavasdes, ⁶ at the time when he invaded Media with Antony, showed him, apart from the rest of the cavalry, six thousand horses drawn up in battle array in full armour. Not only the Medes and the Armenians pride themselves upon this kind of cavalry, but also the Albanians, for they too use horses in full armour.