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[1] As for Pontus, Mithridates Eupator established himself as king of it; and he held the country bounded by the Halys River as far as the Tibarani and Armenia, and held also, of the country this side the Halys, the region extending to Amastris and to certain parts of Paphlagonia. And he acquired, not only the seacoast towards the west a far as Heracleia, the native land of Heracleides the Platonic philosopher, but also, in the opposite direction, the seacoast extending to Colchis and lesser Armenia; and this, as we know, he added to Pontus. And in fact this country was comprised within these boundaries when Pompey took it over, upon his overthrow of Mithridates. The parts towards Armenia and those round Colchis he distributed to the potentates who had fought on his side, but the remaining parts he divided into eleven states and added them to Bithynia, so that out of both there was formed a single province. And he gave over to the descendants of Pylaemenes the office of king over certain of the Paphlagonians situated in the interior between them,
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just as he gave over the Galatians to the hereditary tetrarchs. But later the Roman prefects made different divisions from time to time, not only establishing kings and potentates, but also, in the case of cities, liberating some and putting others in the hands of potentates and leaving others subject to the Roman people. As I proceed I must speak of things in detail as they now are, but I shall touch slightly upon things as they were in earlier times whenever this is useful. I shall begin at Heracleia, which is the most westerly place in this region.
[2] Now as one sails into the Euxine Sea from the Propontis, one has on his left the parts which adjoin Byzantium (these belong to the Thracians, and are called “the Left-hand Parts” of the Pontus), and on his right the parts which adjoin Chalcedon. The first of these latter belong to the Bithynians, the next to the Mariandyni (by some also called Caucones), the next to the Paphlygonians as far as the Halys River, and the next to the Pontic Cappadocians and to the people next in order after them as far as Colchis. All these are called the Right-hand Parts of the Pontus. Now Eupator reigned over the whole of this seacoast, beginning at Colchis and extending as far as Heracleia, but the parts farther on, extending as far as the mouth of the Pontus and Chalcedon, remained under the rule of the king of Bithynia. But when the kings had been overthrown, the Romans preserved the same boundaries, so that Heracleia was added to Pontus and the parts farther on went to the Bithynians.
[3] Now as for the Bithynians, it is agreed by most writers that, though formerly Mysians, they received this new name from the Thracians—the Thracian Bithynians and Thynians—who settled the country in question, and they put down as evidences of the tribe of the Bithynians that in Thrace certain people are to this day called Bithynians, and of that of the Thynian, that the coast near Apollonia and Salmydessus is called Thynias. And the Bebryces, who took up their abode in Mysia before these people, were also Thracians, as I suppose. It is stated that even the Mysians themselves are colonists of those Thracians who are now called Moesians.
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Such is the account given of these people.
[4] But all do not give the same account of the Mariandyni and the Caucones; for Heracleia, they say, is situated in the country of the Mariandyni, and was founded by the Milesians; but nothing has been said as to who they are or whence they came, nor yet do the people appear characterized by any ethnic difference, either in dialect or otherwise, although they are similar to the Bithynians. Accordingly, it is reasonable to suppose that this tribe also was at first Thracian. Theopompus says that Mariandynus ruled over a part of Paphlagonia, which was under the rule of many potentates, and then invaded and took possession of the country of the Bebryces, but left the country which he had abandoned named after himself. This, too, has been said, that the Milesians who were first to found Heracleia forced the Mariandyni, who held the place before them, to serve as Helots, so that they sold them, but not beyond the boundaries of their country (for the two peoples came to an agreement on this), just as the Mnoan class,
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as it is called, were serfs of the Cretans and the Penestae of the Thessalians.
[5] As for the Cauconians, who, according to report, took up their abode on the seacoast next to the Mariandyni and extended as far as the Parthenius River, with Tieium as their city, some say that they were Scythians, others that they were a certain people of the Macedonians, and others that they were a certain people of the Pelasgians. But I have already spoken of these people in another place.
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Callisthenes in his treatise on
The Marshalling of the Ships was for inserting
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after the words
6
the words
for, he adds, the Cauconians extended from Heracleia and the Mariandyni to the white Syrians, whom we call Cappadocians, and the tribe of the Cauconians round Tieium extended to the Parthenius River, whereas that of the Heneti, who held Cytorum, were situated next to them after the Parthenius River, and still today certain “Cauconitae”
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live in the neighborhood of the Parthenius River.
Cromna, Aegialus, and lofty Erythini
the Cauconians were led by the noble son of Polycles—
they who lived in glorious dwellings in the neighborhood of the Parthenius River,
[6] Now Heracleia is a city that has good harbors and is otherwise worthy of note, since, among other things, it has also sent forth colonies; for both Chersonesus
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and Callatis are colonies from it. It was at first an autonomous city, and then for some time was ruled by tyrants, and then recovered its freedom, but later was ruled by kings, when it became subject to the Romans. The people received a colony of Romans, sharing with them a part of their city and territory. But Adiatorix, the son of Domnecleius, tetrarch of the Galatians, received from Antony that part of the city which was occupied by the Heracleiotae; and a little before the Battle of Actium he attacked the Romans by night and slaughtered them, by permission of Antony, as he alleged. But after the victory at Actium he was led in triumph and slain together with his son. The city belongs to the Pontic Province which was united with Bithynia.
[7] Between Chalcedon and Heracleia flow several rivers, among which are the Psillis and the Calpas and the Sangarius, which last is mentioned by the poet.
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The Sangarius has its sources near the village Sangia, about one hundred and fifty stadia from Pessinus. It flows through the greater part of Phrygia Epictetus, and also through a part of Bithynia, so that it is distant from Nicomedeia a little more than three hundred stadia, reckoning from the place where it is joined by the Gallus River, which has its beginnings at Modra in Phrygia on the Hellespont. This is the same country as Phrygia Epictetus, and it was formerly occupied by the Bithynians. Thus increased, and now having become navigable, though of old not navigable, the river forms a boundary of Bithynia at its outlets. Off this coast lies also the island Thynia. The plant called aconite grows in the territory of Heracleia. This city is about one thousand five hundred stadia from the Chalcedonian temple and five hundred from the Sangarius River.
[8] Tieium is a town that has nothing worthy of mention except that Philetaerus, the founder of the family of Attalic Kings, was from there. Then comes the Parthenius River, which flows through flowery districts and on this account came by its name;
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it has its sources in Paphlagonia itself. And then comes Paphlagonia and the Eneti. Writers question whom the poet means by “the Eneti,” when he says,
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for at the present time, they say, there are no Eneti to be seen in Paphlagonia, though some say that there is a village
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on the Aegialus
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ten schoeni
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distant from Amastris. But Zenodotus writes “from Enete,”
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and says that Homer clearly indicates the Amisus of today. And others say that a tribe called Eneti, bordering on the Cappadocians, made an expedition with the Cimmerians and then were driven out to the Adriatic Sea.
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But the thing upon which there is general agreement is, that the Eneti, to whom Pylaemenes belonged, were the most notable tribe of the Paphlagonians, and that, furthermore, these made the expedition with him in very great numbers, but, losing their leader, crossed over to Thrace after the capture of Troy, and on their wanderings went to the Enetian country,
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as it is now called. According to some writers, Antenor and his children took part in this expedition and settled at the recess of the Adriatic, as mentioned by me in my account of Italy.
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It is therefore reasonable to suppose that it was on this account that the Eneti disappeared and are not to be seen in Paphlagonia.
And the rugged heart of Pylaemenes led the Paphlagonians, from the land of the Eneti, whence the breed of wild mules;
[9] As for the Paphlagonians, they are bounded on the east by the Halys River, which, according to Herodotus,
thus clearly indicating that their abode was in Themiscyra. Themiscyra is in the territory of the Amiseni; and this territory belongs to the White Syrians, who live in the country next after the Halys River. On the east, then, the Paphlagonians are bounded by the Halys River; on the south by Phrygians and the Galatians who settled among them; on the west by the Bithynians and the Mariandyni (for the race of the Cauconians has everywhere been destroyed), and on the north by the Euxine. Now this country was divided into two parts, the interior and the part on the sea, each stretching from the Halys River to Bithynia; and Eupator not only held the coast as far as Heracleia, but also took the nearest part of the interior,
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certain portions of which extended across the Halys (and the boundary of the Pontic Province has been marked off by the Romans as far as this).
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The remaining parts of the interior, however, were subject to potentates, even after the overthrow of Mithridates. Now as for the Paphlagonians in the interior, I mean those not subject to Mithridates, I shall discuss them later,
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but at present I propose to describe the country which was subject to him, called the Pontus.
flows from the south between the Syrians and the Paphlagonians and empties into the Euxine Sea, as it is called;
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by “Syrians,” however, he means the “Cappadocians,” and in fact they are still today called “White Syrians,” while those outside the Taurus are called “Syrians.” As compared with those this side the Taurus, those outside have a tanned complexion, while those this side do not, and for this reason received the appellation “white.” And Pindar says that the Amazons
swayed a ‘Syrian’ army that reached afar with their spears,
[10] After the Parthenius River, then, one comes to Amastris, a city bearing the same name as the woman who founded it. It is situated on a peninsula and has harbors on either side of the isthmus. Amastris was the wife of Dionysius the tyrant of Heracleia and the daughter of Oxyathres, the brother of the Dareius whom Alexander fought. Now she formed the city out of four settlements, Sesamus and Cytorum and Cromna (which Homer mentions in his marshalling of the Paphlagonian ships)
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and, fourth, Tieium. This part, however, soon revolted from the united city, but the other three remained together; and, of these three, Sesamus is called the acropolis of Amastris. Cytorum was once the emporium of the Sinopeans; it was named after Cytorus, the son of Phryxus, as Ephorus says. The most and the best box-wood grows in the territory of Amastris, and particularly round Cytorum. The Aegialus is a long shore of more than a hundred stadia, and it has also a village bearing the same name, which the poet mentions when he says,
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though some write, “Cromna and Cobialus.” They say that the Erythrini of today, from their color,
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used to be called Erythini; they are two lofty rocks. After Aegialus one comes to Carambis, a great cape extending towards the north and the Scythian Chersonese. I have often mentioned it, as also Criumetopon which lies opposite it, by which the Euxine Pontus is divided into two seas.
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After Carambis one comes to Cinolis, and to Anticinolis, and to Abonuteichus,
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a small town, and to Armene, to which pertains the proverb,
It is a village of the Sinopeans and has a harbor.
Cromna and Aegialus and the lofty Erythini,
whoever had no work to do walled Armene.
[11] Then one comes to Sinope itself, which is fifty stadia distant from Armene; it is the most noteworthy of the cities in that part of the world. This city was founded by the Milesians; and, having built a naval station, it reigned over the sea inside the Cyaneae, and shared with the Greeks in many struggles even outside the Cyaneae; and, although it was independent for a long time, it could not eventually preserve its freedom, but was captured by siege, and was first enslaved by Pharnaces
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and afterwards by his successors down to Eupator
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and to the Romans who overthrew Eupator. Eupator was both born and reared at Sinope; and he accorded it especial honor and treated it as the metropolis of his kingdom. Sinope is beautifully equipped both by nature and by human foresight, for it is situated on the neck of a peninsula, and has on either side of the isthmus harbors and roadsteads and wonderful pelamydes-fisheries, of which I have already made mention, saying that the Sinopeans get the second catch and the Byzantians the third.
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Furthermore, the peninsula is protected all round by ridgy shores, which have hollowed-out places in them, rock-cavities, as it were, which the people call “choenicides”;
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these are filled with water when the sea rises, and therefore the place is hard to approach, not only because of this, but also because the whole surface of the rock is prickly and impassable for bare feet. Higher up, however, and above the city, the ground is fertile and adorned with diversified market-gardens; and especially the suburbs of the city. The city itself is beautifully walled, and is also splendidly adorned with gymnasium and marked place and colonnades. But although it was such a city, still it was twice captured, first by Pharnaces, who unexpectedly attacked it all of a sudden, and later by Leucullus and by the tyrant who was garrisoned within it, being besieged both inside and outside at the same time; for, since Bacchides, who had been set up by the king as commander of the garrison, was always suspecting treason from the people inside, and was causing many outrages and murders, he made the people, who were unable either nobly to defend themselves or to submit by compromise, lose all heart for either course. At any rate, the city was captured; and though Leucullus kept intact the rest of the city’s adornments, he took away the globe of Billarus and the work of Sthenis, the statue of Autolycus,
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whom they regarded as founder of their city and honored as god. The city had also an oracle of Autolycus. He is thought to have been one of those who went on the voyage with Jason and to have taken possession of this place. Then later the Milesians, seeing the natural advantages of the place and the weakness of its inhabitants, appropriated it to themselves and sent forth colonists to it. But at present it has received also a colony of Romans; and a part of the city and the territory belong to these. It is three thousand five hundred stadia distant from the Hieron,
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two thousand from Heracleia, and seven hundred from Carambis. It has produced excellent men: among the philosophers, Diogenes the Cynic and Timotheus Patrion; among the poets, Diphilus the comic poet; and, among the historians, Baton, who wrote the work entitled
The Persica.
[12] Thence, next, one comes to the outlet of the Halys River. It was named from the “halae,”
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past which it flows. It has its sources in Greater Cappadocia in Camisene near the Pontic country;
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and, flowing in great volume towards the west, and then turning towards the north through Galatia and Paphlagonia, it forms the boundary between these two countries and the country of the White Syrians.
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Both Sinopitis and all the mountainous country extending as far as Bithynia and lying above the aforesaid seaboard have shipbuilding timber that is excellent and easy to transport. Sinopitis produces also the maple and the mountain-nut, the trees from which they cut the wood used for tables. And the whole of the tilled country situated a little above the sea is planted with olive trees.
[13] After the outlet of the Halys comes Gazelonitis, which extends to Saramene; it is a fertile country and is everywhere level and productive of everything. It has also a sheep-industry, that of raising flocks clothed in skins and yielding soft wool,
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of which there is a very great scarcity throughout the whole of Cappadocia and Pontus. The country also produces gazelles, of which there is a scarcity elsewhere. One part of this country is occupied by the Amiseni, but the other was given to Deïotarus by Pompey, as also the regions of Pharnacia and Trapezusia as far as Colchis and Lesser Armenia. Pompey appointed him king of all these, when he was already in possession of his ancestral Galatian tetrarchy,
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the country of the Tolistobogii. But since his death there have been many successors to his territories.
[14] After Gazelon one comes to Saramene, and to a notable city, Amisus, which is about nine hundred stadia from Sinope. Theopompus says that it was first founded by the Milesians, . . .
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by a leader of the Cappadocians, and thirdly was colonized by Athenocles and Athenians and changed its name to Peiraeus. The kings also took possession of this city; and Eupator adorned it with temples and founded an addition to it. This city too was besieged by Leucullus, and then by Pharnaces, when he crossed over from the Bosporus. After it had been set free by the deified Caesar,
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it was given over to kings by Antony. Then Straton the tyrant put it in bad plight. And then, after the Battle of Actium,
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it was again set free by Caesar Augustus; and at the present time it is well organized. Besides the rest of its beautiful country, it possesses also Themiscyra, the abode of the Amazons, and Sidene.
[15] Themiscyra is a plain; on one side it is washed by the sea and is about sixty stadia distant from the city, and on the other side it lies at the foot of the mountainous country, which is well wooded and coursed by streams that have their sources therein. So one river, called the Thermodon, being supplied by all these streams, flows out through the plain; and another river similar to this, which flows out of Phanaroea, as it is called, flows out through the same plain, and is called the Iris. It has its sources in Pontus itself, and, after flowing through the middle of the city Comana in Pontus and through Dazimonitis, a fertile plain, towards the west, then turns towards the north past Gaziura itself an ancient royal residence, though now deserted, and then bends back again towards the east, after receiving the waters of the Scylax and other rivers, and after flowing past the very wall of Amaseia, my fatherland, a very strongly fortified city, flows on into Phanaroea. Here the Lycus River, which has its beginnings in Armenia, joins it, and itself also becomes the Iris. Then the stream is received by Themiscyra and by the Pontic Sea. On this account the plain in question is always moist and covered with grass and can support herds of cattle and horses alike and admits of the sowing of millet-seeds and sorghum-seeds in very great, or rather unlimited, quantities. Indeed, their plenty of water offsets any drought, so that no famine comes down on these people, never once; and the country along the mountain yields so much fruit, self-grown and wild, I mean grapes and pears and apples and nuts, that those who go out to the forest at any time in the year get an abundant supply—the fruits at one time still hanging on the trees and at another lying on the fallen leaves or beneath them, which are shed deep and in great quantities. And numerous, also, are the catches of all kinds of wild animals, because of the good yield of food.
[16] After Themiscyra one comes to Sidene, which is a fertile plain, though it is not well-watered like Themiscyra. It has strongholds on the seaboard: Side, after which Sidene was named, and Chabaca and Phabda. Now the territory of Amisus extends to this point; and the city has produced men note-worthy for their learning, Demetrius, the son of Rhathenus, and Dionysodorus, the mathematicians, the latter bearing the same name as the Melian geometer, and Tyrranion the grammarian, of whom I was a pupil.
[17] After Sidene one comes to Pharnacia, a fortified town; and afterwards to Trapezus, a Greek city, to which the voyage from Amisus is about two thousand two hundred stadia. Then from here the voyage to Phasis is approximately one thousand four hundred stadia, so that the distance from Hieron
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to Phasis is, all told, about eight thousand stadia, or slightly more or less. As one sails along this seaboard from Amisus, one comes first to the Heracleian Cape, and then to another cape called Jasonium, and to Genetes, and then to a town called Cytorus,
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from the inhabitants of which Pharnacia was settled, and then to Ischopolis, now in ruins, and then to a gulf, on which are both Cerasus and Hermonassa, moderate-sized settlements, and then, near Hermonassa, to Trapezus, and then to Colchis. Somewhere in this neighborhood is also a settlement called Zygopolis. Now I have already described
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Colchis and the coast which lies above it.
[18] Above Trapezus and Pharnacia are situated the Tibarani and Chaldaei and Sanni, in earlier times called Macrones, and Lesser Armenia; and the Appaïtae, in earlier times called the Cercitae, are fairly close to these regions. Two mountains cross the country of these people, not only the Scydises, a very rugged mountain, which joins the Moschian Mountains above Colchis (its heights are occupied by the Heptacomitae), but also the Paryadres, which extends from the region of Sidene and Themiscyra to Lesser Armenia and forms the eastern side of Pontus. Now all these peoples who live in the mountains are utterly savage, but the Heptacomitae are worse than the rest. Some also live in trees or turrets; and it was on this account that the ancients called them “Mosynoeci,” the turrets being called “mosyni.” They live on the flesh of wild animals and on nuts; and they also attack wayfarers, leaping down upon them from their scaffolds. The Heptacomitae cut down three maniples
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of Pompey’s army when they were passing through the mountainous country; for they mixed bowls of the crazing honey which is yielded by the tree-twigs, and placed them in the roads, and then, when the soldiers drank the mixture and lost their senses, they attacked them and easily disposed of them. Some of these barbarians were also called Byzeres.
[19] The Chaldaei of today were in ancient times named Chalybes; and it is just opposite their territory that Pharnacia is situated, which, on the sea, has the natural advantages of pelamydes-fishing (for it is here that this fish is first caught)
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and, on the land, has the mines, only iron-mines at the present time, though in earlier times it also had silver-mines.
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Upon the whole, the seaboard in this region is extremely narrow, for the mountains, full of mines and forests, are situated directly above it, and not much of it is tilled. But there remains for the miners their livelihood from the mines, and for those who busy themselves on the sea their livelihood from their fishing, and especially from their catches of pelamydes and dolphins; for the dolphins pursue the schools of fish—the cordyle and the tunny-fish and the pelamydes themselves;
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and they not only grow fat on them, but also become easy to catch because they are rather eager to approach the land. These are the only people who cut up the dolphins, which are caught with bait, and use their abundance of fat for all purposes.
[20] So it is these people, I think, that the poet calls Halizoni, mentioning them next the after Paphlagonians in his Catalogue.
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since the text has been changed from “Chalybe far away” or else the people were in earlier times called “Alybes” instead of “Chalybes”; for at the present time it proves impossible that they should have been called “Chaldaei,” deriving their name from “Chalybe,” if in earlier times they could not have been called “Chalybes” instead of “Alybes,” and that too when names undergo many changes, particularly among the barbarians; for instance, certain of the Thracians were called Sinties, then Sinti and then Saïi, in whose country Archilochus says he flung away his shield:
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These same people are now named Sapaei; for all these have their abode round Abdera and the islands round Lemnos. Likewise the Brygi and Bryges and Phryges are the same people; and the Mysi and Maeones and Meïones are the same; but there is no use of enlarging on the subject. The Scepsian
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doubts the alteration of the name from “Alybes” to “Chalybes”; and, failing to note what follows and what accords with it, and especially why the poet calls the Chalybians Halizoni, he rejects this opinion. As for me, let me place his assumption and those of the other critics side by side with my own and consider them.
But the Halizones were led by Odius and Epistrophus, from Alybe far away, where is the birth-place of silver,
One of the Saïi robbed me of my shield, which, a blameless weapon, I left behind me beside a bush, against my will.
[21] Some change the text and make it read “Alazones,” others “Amazones,” and for the words “from Alybe” they read “from Alope,” or “from Alobe,” calling the Scythians beyond the Borysthenes River “Alazones,” and also “Callipidae” and other names—names which Hellanicus and Herodotus and Eudoxus have foisted on us—and placing the Amazons between Mysia and Caria and Lydia near Cyme, which is the opinion also of Ephorus, who was a native of Cyme. And this opinion might perhaps not be unreasonable, for he may mean the country which was later settled by the Aeolians and the Ionians, but earlier by the Amazons. And there are certain cities, it is said, which got their names from the Amazons, I mean Ephesus, Smyrna, Cyme, and Myrina.
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But how could Alybe, or, as some call it, “Alope” or “Alobe,” be found in this region, and how about “far away,” and how about “the birthplace of silver”?
[22] These objections Ephorus solves by his change of the text, for he writes thus:
But in solving these objections he has fallen into another fiction; for Alope is nowhere to be found in this region; and, further, his change of the text, with innovations so contrary to the evidence of the early manuscripts, looks like rashness. But the Scepsian apparently accepts neither the opinion of Ephorus nor of those who suppose them to be the Halizoni near Pallene, whom I have mentioned in my description of Macedonia.
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He is also at loss to understand how anyone could think that an allied force came to help the Trojans from the nomads beyond the Borysthenes River; and he especially approves of the opinions of Hecataeus of Miletus, and of Menecrates of Elaea, one of the disciples of Xenocrates, and also of that of Palaephatus. The first of these says in his
Circuit of the Earth:
But the Halizones were led by Odius and Epistrophus, from Alope far away, where is the race of Amazons.
Near the city Alazia is the River Odrysses, which flows out of Lake Dascylitis from the west through the plain of Mygdonia and empties into the Rhyndacus.
But he goes on to say that Alazia is now deserted, and that many villages of the Alazones, through whose country the Odrysses flows, are inhabited, and that in these villages Apollo is accorded exceptional honor, and particularly on the confines of the Cyziceni. Menecrates in his work entitled
The Circuit of the Hellespont says that above the region of Myrleia there is an adjacent mountainous tract which is occupied by the tribe of the Halizones. One should spell the name with two
l’s, he says, but on account of the metre the poet spells it with only one. But Palaephatus says that it was from the Amazons who then lived in Alope, but now in Zeleia, that Odius and Epistrophus made their expedition. How, then, can the opinions of these men deserve approval? For, apart from the fact that these men also disturb the early text, they neither show us the silver-mines, nor where in the territory of Myrleia Alope is, nor how those who went from there to Ilium were “from far away,” even if one should grant that there actually was an Alope or Alazia; for these, of course, are much nearer the Troad than the places round Ephesus. But still those who speak of the Amazons as living in the neighborhood of Pygela between Ephesus and Magnesia and Priene talk nonsense, Demetrius says, for, he adds, “far away” cannot apply to that region. How much more inapplicable, then, is it to the region of Mysia and Teuthrania?[23] Yes, by Zeus, but he goes on to say that some things are arbitrarily inserted in the text, for example,
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and
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and
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Now let this be granted, but those other things are not to be granted to which Demetrius assents without even making a plausible reply to those who have assumed that we ought to read “from Chalybe far away”; for although he concedes that, even if the silver-mines are not now in the country of the Chalybians, they could have been there in earlier times, he does not concede that other point, that they were both famous and worthy of note, like the iron-mines. But, one might ask, what is there to prevent them from being famous like the iron-mines? Or can an abundance of iron make a place famous but an abundance of silver not do so? And if the silver-mines had reached fame, not in the time of the heroes, but in the time of Homer, could any person find fault with the assertion of the poet? How, pray, could their fame have reached the poet? How, pray, could the fame of the copper-mine at Temesa in Italy have reached him? How the fame of the wealth of Thebes in Egypt,
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although he was about twice as far from Thebes as from the Chaldaeans? But Demetrius is not even in agreement with those for whose opinions he pleads; for in fixing the sites round Scepsis, his birth-place, he speaks of Nea, a village, and of Argyria and Alazonia as near Scepsis and the Aesepus River. These places, then, if they really exist, would be near the sources of the Aesepus; but Hecataeus speaks of them as beyond the outlets of it; and Palaephatus, although he says that they
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formerly lived in Alope, but now in Zeleia, says nothing like what these men say. But if Menecrates does so, not even he tells us what kind of a Place “Alope” is or “Alobe,” or however they wish to write the name, and neither does Demetrius himself.
from Ascania far away,
Arnaeus was his name, for his revered mother had given him this name at his birth,
Penelope took the bent key in her strong hand.
[24] As regards Apollodorus, who discusses the same subject in his
Marshalling of the Trojan Forces, I have already said much in answer to him,
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but I must now speak again; for he does not think that we should take the Halizoni as living outside the Halys River; for, he says, no allied force came to the Trojans from beyond the Halys. First, therefore, we shall ask of him who are the Halizoni this side the Halys and
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For he will be unable to tell us. And we shall next ask him the reason why he does not concede that an allied force came also from the country on the far side of the river; for, if it is the case that all the rest of the allied forces except the Thracians lived this side the river, there was nothing to prevent this one allied force from coming from the far side of the Halys, from the country beyond the White Syrians.
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Or was it possible for peoples who fought the Trojans to cross over from these regions and from the regions beyond, as they say the Amazons and Treres and Cimmerians did, and yet impossible for people who fought as allies with them to do so? Now the Amazons would not fight on Priam’s side because of the fact that he had fought against them as an ally of the Phrygians, against the
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as Priam says,
but since the peoples whose countries bordered on that of the Amazons were not even far enough away to make difficult the Trojan summons for help from their countries, and since, too, there was no underlying cause for hatred, there was nothing to prevent them, I think, from being allies of the Trojans.
from Alybe far away, where is the birthplace of silver.
Amazons, peers of men, who came at that time,
for I too, being their ally, was numbered among them;
[25] Neither can Apollodorus impute such an opinion to the early writers, as though they, one and all, voiced the opinion that no peoples from the far side of the Halys River took part in the Trojan war. One might rather find evidence to the contrary; at any rate, Maeandrius says that the Eneti first set forth from the country of the White Syrians and allied themselves with the Trojans, and that they sailed away from Troy with the Thracians and took up their abode round the recess of the Adrias,
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but that the Eneti who did not have a part in the expedition had become Cappadocians. The following might seem to agree with this account, I mean the fact that the whole of that part of Cappadocia near the Halys River which extends along Paphlagonia uses two languages which abound in Paphlagonian names, as “Bagas,” “Biasas,” “Aeniates,” “Rhatotes,” “Zardoces,” “Tibius,” “Gasys,” “Oligasys,” and “Manes,” for these names are prevalent in Bamonitis,
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Pimolitis,
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Gazelonitis, Gazacene and most of the other districts. Apollodorus himself quotes the Homeric verse as written by Zenodotus, stating that he writes it as follows:
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and he says that Hecataeus takes Enete to be Amisus. But, as I have already stated,
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Amisus belongs to the White Syrians and is outside the Halys River.
from Enete,
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whence the breed of the wild mules;
[26] Apollodorus somewhere states, also, that the poet got an account of those Paphlagonians who lived in the interior from men who had passed through the country on foot, but that he was ignorant of the Paphlagonian coast, just as he was ignorant of the rest of the Pontic coast; for otherwise he would have named them. On the contrary, one can retort and say, on the basis of the description which I have now given, that Homer traverses the whole of the coast and omits nothing of the things that were then worth recording, and that it is not at all remarkable if he does not mention Heracleia and Amastris and Sinope, cities which had not yet been founded, and that it is not at all strange if he has mentioned no part of the interior. And further, the fact that Homer does not name many of the known places is no sign of ignorance, as I have already demonstrated in the foregoing part of my work;
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for he says that Homer was ignorant of many of the famous things round the Pontus, for example, rivers and tribes, for otherwise, he says, Homer would have named them. This one might grant in the case of certain very significant things, for example, the Scythians and Lake Maeotis and the Ister River, for otherwise Homer would not have described the nomads by significant characteristics as “Galactophagi” and “Abii” and as “men most just,” and also as “proud Hippemolgi,”
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and yet fail to call the Scythians either Sauromatae or Sarmatae, if indeed they were so named by the Greeks, nor yet, when he mentions the Thracians and Mysians, pass by the Ister River in silence, greatest of the rivers, and especially when he is inclined to mark the boundaries of places by rivers, nor yet, when he mentions the Cimmerians, omit any mention of the Bosporus or Lake Maeotis.
[27] But in the case of things not so significant, either not at that time or for the purposes of his work, how could anyone find fault with Homer for omitting them? For example, for omitting the Tanaïs River, which is well known for no other reason than that it is the boundary between Asia and Europe. But the people of that time were not yet using either the name “Asia” or “Europe,” nor yet had the inhabited world been divided into three continents as now, for otherwise he would have named them somewhere because of their very great significance, just as he mentions Libya and also the Lips, the wind that blows from the western parts of Libya. But since the continents had not yet been distinguished, there was no need of mentioning the Tanaïs either. Many things were indeed worthy of mention, but they did not occur to him; for of course adventitiousness is much in evidence both in one’s discourse and in one’s actions. From all these facts it is clear that every man who judges from the poet’s failure to mention anything that he is ignorant of that thing uses faulty evidence. And it is necessary to set forth several examples to prove that it is faulty, for many use such evidence to a great extent. We must therefore rebuke them when they bring forward such evidences, even though in so doing I shall be repeating previous argument.
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For example, in the case of rivers, if anyone should say that the poet is ignorant of some river because he does not name it, I shall say that his argument is silly, because the poet does not even name the Meles River, which flows past Smyrna, the city which by most writers is called his birth-place, although he names the Hermus and Hyllus Rivers; neither does he name the Pactolus River, which flows into the same channel as these two rivers and rises in Tmolus, a mountain which he mentions;
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neither does he mention Smyrna itself, nor the rest of the Ionian cities; nor the most of the Aeolian cities, though he mentions Miletus and Samos and Lesbos and Tenedos; nor yet the Lethaeus River, which flows past Magnesia, nor the Marsyas River, which rivers empty into the Maeander, which last he mentions by name, as also
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and the rest, most of which are no more than small streams. And when he names both many countries and cities, he sometimes names with them the rivers and mountains, but sometimes he does not. At any rate, he does not mention the rivers in Aetolia or Attica, nor in several other countries. Besides, if he mentions rivers far away and yet does not mention those that are very near, it is surely not because he was ignorant of them, since they were known to all others. Nor yet, surely, was he ignorant of peoples that were equally near, some of which he names and some not; for example he names the Lycians and the Solymi, but not the Milyae; nor yet the Pamphylians or Pisidians; and though he names the Paphlagonians, Phrygians, and Mysians, he does not name the Mariandyni; and he mentions the Amazons, but not the White Syrians, or Cappadocians, or Lycaonians, though he repeatedly mentions the Phoenicians and the Egyptians and the Ethiopians. And although he mentions the Alëian Plain and the Arimi,
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he is silent as to the tribe to which both belong. Such a test of the poet, therefore, is false; but the test is true only when it is shown that some false statement is made by him. But Apollodorus has not been proved correct in this case either, I mean when he was bold enough to say that the “proud Hippemolgi” and “Galactophagi” were fabrications of the poet. So much for Apollodorus. I now return to the part of my description that comes next in order.
the Rhesus and Heptaporus and Caresus and Rhodius,
[28] Above the region of Pharnacia and Trapezus are the Tibareni and the Chaldaei, whose country extends to Lesser Armenia. This country is fairly fertile. Lesser Armenia, like Sophene, was always in the possession of potentates, who at times were friendly to the other Armenians and at times minded their own affairs. They held as subjects the Chaldaei and the Tibareni, and therefore their empire extended to Trapezus and Pharnacia. But when Mithridates Eupator had increased in power, he established himself as master, not only of Colchis, but also of all these places, these having been ceded to him by Antipater, the son of Sisis. And he cared so much for these places that he built seventy-five strongholds in them and therein deposited most of his treasures. The most notable of these strongholds were these: Hydara and Basgoedariza and Sinoria; Sinoria was close to the borders of Greater Armenia, and this is why Theophanes changed its spelling to Synoria.
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For as a whole the mountainous range of the Paryadres has numerous suitable places for such strongholds, since it is well-watered and woody, and is in many places marked by sheer ravines and cliffs; at any rate, it was here that most of his fortified treasuries were built; and at last, in fact, Mithridates fled for refuge into these farthermost parts of the kingdom of Pontus, when Pompey invaded the country, and having seized a well-watered mountain near Dasteira in Acilisene (near by, also, was the Euphrates, which separates Acilisene from Lesser Armenia), he stayed there until he was besieged and forced to flee across the mountains into Colchis and from there to the Bosporus. Near this place, in Lesser Armenia, Pompey built a city, Nicopolis,
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which endures even to this day and is well peopled.
[29] Now as for Lesser Armenia, it was ruled by different persons at different times, according to the will of the Romans, and finally by Archeläus. But the Tibareni and Chaldaei, extending as far as Colchis, and Pharnacia and Trapezus are ruled by Pythodoris, a woman who is wise and qualified to preside over affairs of state. She is the daughter of Pythodorus of Tralles. She became the wife of Polemon and reigned along with him for a time, and then, when he died
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in the country of the Aspurgiani, as they are called, one of the barbarian tribes round Sindice, she succeeded to the rulership. She had two sons and a daughter by Polemon. Her daughter was married to Cotys the Sapaean,
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but he was treacherously slain,
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and she lived in widowhood, because she had children by him; and the eldest of these is now in power.
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As for the sons of Pythodoris, one of them
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as a private citizen is assisting his mother in the administration of her empire, whereas the other
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has recently been established as king of Greater Armenia. She herself married Archeläus and remained with him to the end;
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but she is living in widowhood now, and is in possession not only of the places above mentioned, but also of others still more charming, which I shall describe next.
[30] Sidene and Themiscyra are contiguous to Pharnacia. And above these lies Phanaroea, which has the best portion of Pontus, for it is planted with olive trees, abounds in wine, and has all the other goodly attributes a country can have. On its eastern side it is protected by the Paryadres Mountain, in its length lying parallel to that mountain; and on its western side by the Lithrus and Ophlimus Mountains. It forms a valley of considerable breadth as well as length; and it is traversed by the Lycus River, which flows from Armenia, and by the Iris, which flows from the narrow passes near Amaseia. The two rivers meet at about the middle of the valley; and at their junction is situated a city which the first man who subjugated it
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called Eupatoria after his own name, but Pompey found it only half-finished and added to it territory and settlers, and called it Magnopolis. Now this city is situated in the middle of the plain, but Cabeira is situated close to the very foothills of the Paryadres Mountains about one hundred and fifty stadia farther south than Magnopolis, the same distance that Amaseia is farther west than Magnopolis. It was at Cabeira that the palace of Mithridates was built, and also the water-mill; and here were the zoological gardens, and, near by, the hunting grounds, and the mines.
[31] Here, also, is Kainon Chorion,
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as it is called, a rock that is sheer and fortified by nature, being less than two hundred stadia distant from Cabeira. It has on its summit a spring that sends forth much water, and at its foot a river and a deep ravine. The height of the rock above the neck
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is immense, so that it is impregnable; and it is enclosed by remarkable walls, except the part where they have been pulled down by the Romans. And the whole country around is so overgrown with forests, and so mountainous and waterless, that it is impossible for an enemy to encamp within one hundred and twenty stadia. Here it was that the most precious of the treasures of Mithridates were kept, which are now stored in the Capitolium, where they were dedicated by Pompey. Pythodoris possesses the whole of this country, which is adjacent to the barbarian country occupied by her, and also Zelitis and Megalopolitis. As for Cabeira, which by Pompey had been built into a city and called Diospolis,
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Pythodoris further adorned it and changed its name to Sebaste;
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and she uses the city as a royal residence. It has also the temple of Men of Pharnaces,
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as it is called,—the village-city Ameria, which has many temples servants, and also a sacred territory, the fruit of which is always reaped by the ordained priest. And the kings revered this temple so exceedingly that they proclaimed the “royal” oath as follows: “By the Fortune of the king and by Men of Pharnaces.”
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And this is also the temple of Selene,
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like that among the Albanians and those in Phrygia,
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I mean that of Men in the place of the same name and that of Men
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Ascaeus
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near the Antiocheia that is near Pisidia
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and that of Men in the country of the Antiocheians.
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[32] Above Phanaroea is the Pontic Comana, which bears the same name as the city in Greater Cappadocia, having been consecrated to the same goddess and copied after that city; and I might almost say that the courses which they have followed in their sacrifices, in their divine obsessions, and in their reverence for their priests, are about the same, and particularly in the times of the kings who reigned before this, I mean in the times when twice a year, during the “exoduses”
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of the goddess, as they are called, the priest wore a diadem
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and ranked second in honor after the king.
[33] Heretofore
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I have mentioned Dorylaüs the tactician, who was my mother’s great grandfather, and also a second Dorylaüs, who was the nephew of the former and the son of Philetaerus, saying that, although he had received all the greatest honors from Eupator and in particular the priesthood of Comana, he was caught trying to cause the kingdom to revolt to the Romans; and when he was overthrown, the family was cast into disrepute along with him. But long afterwards Moaphernes, my mother’s uncle, came into distinction just before the dissolution of the kingdom, and again they were unfortunate along with the king, both Moaphernes and his relatives, except some who revolted from the king beforehand, as did my maternal grandfather, who, seeing that the cause of the king was going badly in the war with Leucullus, and at the same time being alienated from him out of wrath at his recently having put to death his cousin Tibius and Tibius’ son Theophilus, set out to avenge both them and himself; and, taking pledges from Leucullus, he caused fifteen garrisons to revolt to him; and although great promises were made in return for these services, yet, when Pompey, who succeeded Leucullus in the conduct of the war, went over, he took for enemies all who had in any way favored Leucullus, because of the hatred which had arisen between himself and Leucullus; and when he finished the war and returned home, he won so completely that the Senate would not ratify those honors which Leucullus had promised to certain of the people of Pontus, for, he said, it was unjust, when one man had brought the war to a successful issue, that the prizes and the distribution of the rewards should be placed in the hands of another man.
[34] Now in the times of the kings the affairs of Comana were administered in the manner already described, but when Pompey took over the authority, he appointed Archeläus priest and included within his boundaries, in addition to the sacred land, a territory of two schoeni (that is, sixty stadia) in circuit and ordered the inhabitants to obey his rule. Now he was governor of these, and also master of the temple-servants who lived in the city, except that he was not empowered to sell them. And even here
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the temple-servants were no fewer in number than six thousand. This Archeläus was the son of the Archeläus who was honored by Sulla and the Senate, and was also a friend of Gabinius,
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a man of consular rank. When Gabinius was sent into Syria, Archeläus himself also went there in the hope of sharing with him in his preparations for the Parthian War, but since the Senate would not permit him, he dismissed that hope and found another of greater importance. For it happened at that time that Ptolemaeus, the father of Cleopatra, had been banished by the Egyptians, and his daughter, elder sister of Cleopatra, was in possession of the kingdom; and since a husband of royal family was being sought for her, Archeläus proffered himself to her agents, pretending that he was the son of Mithridates Eupator; and he was accepted, but he reigned only six months. Now this Archeläus was slain by Gabinius in a pitched battle, when the latter was restoring Ptolemaeus to his kingdom.
[35] But his son succeeded to the priesthood; and then later, Lycomedes, to whom was assigned an additional territory
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of four hundred schoeni; but now that he has been deposed, the office is held by Dyteutus, son of Adiatorix, who is thought to have obtained the honor from Caesar Augustus because of his excellent qualities; for Caesar, after leading Adiatorix in triumph together with his wife and children, resolved to put him to death together with the eldest of his sons (for Dyteutus was the eldest), but when the second of the brothers told the soldiers who were leading them away to execution that he was the eldest, there was a contest between the two for a long time, until the parents persuaded Dyteutus to yield the victory to the younger, for he, they said, being more advanced in age, would be a more suitable guardian for his mother and for the remaining brother. And thus, they say, the younger was put to death with his father, whereas the elder was saved and obtained the honor of the priesthood. For learning about this, as it seems, after the men had already been put to death, Caesar was grieved, and he regarded the survivors as worthy of his favor and care, giving them the honor in question.
[36] Now Comana is a populous city and is a notable emporium for the people from Armenia; and at the times of the “exoduses”
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of the goddess people assemble there from everywhere, from both the cities and the country, men together with women, to attend the festival. And there are certain others, also, who in accordance with a vow are always residing there, performing sacrifices in honor of the goddess. And the inhabitants live in luxury, and all their property is planted with vines; and there is a multitude of women who make gain from their persons, most of whom are dedicated to the goddess, for in a way the city is a lesser Corinth,
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for there too, on account of the multitude of courtesans, who were sacred to Aphrodite, outsiders resorted in great numbers and kept holiday. And the merchants and soldiers who went there squandered all their money
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so that the following proverb arose in reference to them:
Such, then, is my account of Comana.
Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth.
[37] The whole of the country around is held by Pythodoris, to whom belong, not only Phanaroea, but also Zelitis and Megalopolitis. Concerning Phanaroea I have already spoken. As for Zelitis, it has a city Zela, fortified on a mound of Semiramis, with the temple of Anaïtis, who is also revered by the Armenians.
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Now the sacred rites performed here are characterized by greater sanctity; and it is here that all the people of Pontus make their oaths concerning their matters of greatest importance. The large number of temple-servants and the honors of the priests were, in the time of the kings, of the same type as I have stated before, but at the present time everything is in the power of Pythodoris. Many persons had abused and reduced both the multitude of temple-servants and the rest of the resources of the temple. The adjacent territory, also, was reduced, having been divided into several domains—I mean Zelitis, as it is called (which has the city Zela on a mound); for in, early times the kings governed Zela, not as a city, but as a sacred precinct of the Persian gods, and the priest was the master of the whole thing. It was inhabited by the multitude of temple-servants, and by the priest, who had an abundance of resources; and the sacred territory as well as that of the priest was subject to him and his numerous attendants.
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Pompey added many provinces to the boundaries of Zelitis, and named Zela, as he did Megalopolis, a city, and he united the latter and Culupene and Camisene into one state; the latter two border on both Lesser Armenia and Laviansene, and they contain rock-salt, and also an ancient fortress called Camisa, now in ruins. The later Roman prefects assigned a portion of these two governments to the priests of Comana, a portion to the priest of Zela, and a portion to Ateporix, a dynast of the family of tetrarchs of Galatia; but now that Ateporix has died, this portion, which is not large, is subject to the Romans, being called a province (and this little state is is a political organization of itself, the people having incorporated Carana into it, from which fact its country is called Caranitis), whereas the rest is held by Pythodoris and Dyteutus.
[38] There remain to be described the parts of the Pontus which lie between this country and the countries of the Amisenians and Sinopeans, which latter extend towards Cappadocia and Galatia and Paphlagonia. Now after the territory of the Amisenians, and extending to the Halys River, is Phazemonitis, which Pompey named Neapolitis, proclaiming the settlement at the village Phazemon a city and calling it Neapolis.
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The northern side of this country is bounded by Gazelonitis and the country of the Amisenians; the western by the Halys River; the eastern by Phanaroea; and the remaining side by my country, that of the Amaseians, which is by far the largest and best of all. Now the part of Phazemonitis towards Phanaroea is covered by a lake which is like a sea in size, is called Stephane, abounds in fish, and has all round it abundant pastures of all kinds. On its shores lies a strong fortress, Icizari, now deserted; and, near by, a royal palace, now in ruins. The remainder of the country is in general bare of trees and productive of grain. Above the country of the Amaseians are situated the hot springs of the Phazemonitae, which are extremely good for the health, and also Sagylium, with a strong hold situated on a high steep mountain that runs up into a sharp peak. Sagylium also has an abundant reservoir of water, which is now in neglect, although it was useful to the kings for many purposes. Here Arsaces, one of the sons of Pharnaces, who was playing the dynast and attempting a revolution without permission from any of the prefects, was captured and slain.
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He was captured, however, not by force, although the stronghold was taken by Polemon and Lycomedes, both of them kings, but by starvation, for he fled up into the mountain without provisions, being shut out from the plains, and he also found the wells of the reservoir choked up by huge rocks; for this had been done by order of Pompey, who ordered that the garrisons be pulled down and not be left useful to those who wished to flee up to them for the sake of robberies. Now it was in this way that Pompey arranged Phazemonitis for administrative purposes, but the later rulers distributed also
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this country among kings.
[39] My city
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is situated in a large deep valley, through which flows the Iris River. Both by human foresight and by nature it is an admirably devised city, since it can at the same time afford the advantage of both a city and a fortress; for it is a high and precipitous rock, which descends abruptly to the river, and has on one side the wall on the edge of the river where the city is settled and on the other the wall that runs up on either side to the peaks. These peaks are two in number, are united with one another by nature, and are magnificently towered.
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Within this circuit are both the palaces and monuments of the kings. The peaks are connected by a neck
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which is altogether narrow, and is five or six stadia in height on either side as one goes up from the riverbanks and the suburbs; and from the neck to the peaks there remains another ascent of one stadium, which is sharp and superior to any kind of force. The rock also has reservoirs of water inside it, A water-supply of which the city cannot be deprived, since two tube-like channels have been hewn out, one towards the river and the other towards the neck. And two bridges have been built over the river, one from the city to the suburbs and the other from the suburbs to the outside territory; for it is at this bridge that the mountain which lies above the rock terminates. And there is a valley extending from the river which at first is not altogether wide, but it later widens out and forms the plain called Chiliocomum;
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and then comes the Diacopene and Pimolisene country, all of which is fertile, extending to the Halys River. These are the northern parts of the country of the Amaseians, and are about five hundred stadia in length. Then in order comes the remainder of their country, which is much longer than this, extending to Babanomus and Ximene, which latter itself extends as far as the Halys River. This, then, is the length of their country, whereas the breadth from the north to the south extends, not only to Zelitis, but also to Greater Cappadocia, as far as the Trocmi. In Ximene there are “halae”
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of rock-salt,
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after which the river is supposed to have been called “Halys.” There are several demolished strongholds in my country, and also much deserted land, because of the Mithridatic War. However, it is all well supplied with trees; a part of it affords pasturage for horses and is adapted to the raising of the other animals; and the whole of it is beautifully adapted to habitation. Amaseia was also given to kings, though it is now a province.
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[40] There remains that part of the Pontic province which lies outside the Halys River, I mean the country round Mt. Olgassys, contiguous to Sinopis. Mt. Olgassys is extremely high and hard to travel. And temples that have been established everywhere on this mountain are held by the Paphlagonians. And round it lies fairly good territory, both Blaëne and Domanitis, through which latter flows the Amnias River. Here Mithridates Eupator utterly wiped out the forces of Nicomedes the Bithynian—not in person, however, since it happened that he was not even present, but through his generals. And while Nicomedes, fleeing with a few others, safely escaped to his home-land and from there sailed to Italy, Mithridates followed him and not only took Bithynia at the first assault but also took possession of Asia as far as Caria and Lycia. And here, too, a place was proclaimed a city, I mean Pompeiupolis
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and in this city is Mt. Sandaracurgium,
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not far away from Pimolisa, a royal fortress now in ruins, after which the country on either side of the river is called Pimolisene. Mt. Sandaracurgium is hollowed out in consequence of the mining done there, since the workmen have excavated great cavities beneath it. The mine used to be worked by publicans, who used as miners the slaves sold in the market because of their crimes; for, in addition to the painfulness of the work, they say that the air in the mines is both deadly and hard to endure on account of the grievous odor of the ore, so that the workmen are doomed to a quick death. What is more, the mine is often left idle because of the unprofitableness of it, since the workmen are not only more than two hundred in number, but are continually spent by disease and death.
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So much be said concerning Pontus.
[41] After Pompeiupolis comes the remainder of the interior of Paphlagonia, extending westwards as far as Bithynia. This country, small though it is, was governed by several rulers a little before my time, but, the family of kings having died out, it is now in possession of the Romans. At any rate, they give to the country that borders on Bithynia
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the names “Timonitis,” “the country of Gezatorix,” and also “Marmolitis,” “Sanisene,” and “ Potamia. There was also a Cimiatene, in which was Cimiata, a strong fortress situated at the foot of the mountainous country of the Olgassys. This was used by Mithridates, surnamed Ctistes,
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as a base of operations when he established himself as lord of Pontus; and his descendants preserved the succession down to Eupator. The last to reign over Paphlagonia was Deïotarus, the son of Castor, surnamed Philadelphus, who possessed Gangra, the royal residence of Morzeüs, which was at the same time a small town and a fortress.
[42] Eudoxus mentions fish that are “dug up” in Paphlagonia “in dry places,” but he does not distinguish the place; and he says that they are dug up “in moist places round the Ascanian Lake below Cius,” without saying anything clear on the subject.
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Since I am describing the part of Paphlagonia which borders on Pontus and since the Bithynians border on the Paphlagonians towards the west, I shall try to go over this region also; and then, taking a new beginning from the countries of these people and the Paphlagonians, I shall interweave my description of their regions with that of the regions which follow these in order towards the south as far as the Taurus —the regions that ran parallel to Pontus and Paphlagonia; for some such order and division is suggested by the nature of the regions.
Geography. Strabo. Horace Leonard Jones (Translator). London. 1924-1929.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.