Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 11.1.5

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[5] In passing in our geographical description from Europe to Asia, the first parts of the country which present themselves are those in the northern division, and we shall therefore begin with these.

Of these parts the first are those about the Tanaïs, (or Don,) which we have assumed as the boundary of Europe and Asia. These have a kind of peninsular form, for they are surrounded on the west by the river Tanaïs (or Don) and the Palus Maotis¹ as far as the Cimmerian Bosporus,² and that part of the coast of the Euxine which terminates at Colchis; on the north by the Ocean, as far as the mouth of the Caspian Sea; on the east by the same sea, as far as the confines of Albania and Armenia, where the rivers Cyrus³ and Araxes⁴ empty themselves; the latter flowing through Armenia, and the Cyrus through Iberia⁵ and Albania;⁶ on the south is the tract of country extending from the mouth of the Cyrus as far as Colchis, and comprising about 3000 stadia from sea to sea, across the territory of the Albani, and Iberes,⁷ so as to represent an isthmus.⁸

Those writers do not deserve attention who contract the isthmus as much as Cleitarchus, according to whom it is subject to inundations of the sea from either side. According to Posidonius the isthmus is 1500 stadia in extent, that is, as large as the isthmus from Pelusium to the Red Sea. And I think, says he, that the isthmus between the Palus Maeotis and the Ocean is not very different from this in extent.

Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.

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Current edition Perseus

Geography (English) (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 1-3. Hamilton, Hans Claude, translator; Falconer, William, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854-1857.)

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 11.1.5 focus

[5] τοῖς δὲ μεταβαίνουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς Εὐρώπης ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐν τῇ γεωγραφίᾳ τὰ πρὸς βορρᾶν ἐστι πρῶτα τῆς εἰς δύο διαιρέσεως, ὥστε ἀπὸ τούτων ἀρκτέον. αὐτῶν δὲ τούτων πρῶτά ἐστι τὰ περὶ τὸν Τάναϊν, ὅνπερ τῆς Εὐρώπης καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ὅριον ὑπεθέμεθα. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα τρόπον τινὰ χερρονησίζοντα· περιέχεται γὰρ ἐκ μὲν τῆς ἑσπέρας τῷ ποταμῷ τῷ Τανάιδι καὶ τῇ Μαιώτιδι μέχρι τοῦ Βοσπόρου καὶ τῆς τοῦ Εὐξείνου παραλίας τῆς τελευτώσης εἰς τὴν Κολχίδα· ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄρκτων τῷ Ὠκεανῷ μέχρι τοῦ στόματος τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης· ἕωθεν δὲ αὐτῇ ταύτῃ τῇ θαλάττῃ μέχρι τῶν μεθορίων τῆς τε Ἀλβανίας καὶ τῆς Ἀρμενίας, καθʼ ἃ ὁ Κῦρος καὶ ὁ Ἀράξης ἐκδιδοῦσι ποταμοί, ῥέοντες ὁ μὲν διὰ τῆς Ἀρμενίας Κῦρος δὲ διὰ τῆς Ἰβηρίας καὶ τῆς Ἀλβανίας· ἐκ νότου δὲ τῇ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκβολῆς τοῦ Κύρου μέχρι τῆς Κολχίδος, ὅσον τρισχιλίων οὔσῃ σταδίων ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἐπὶ θάλατταν, διʼ Ἀλβανῶν καὶ Ἰβήρων, ὥστε ἰσθμοῦ λόγον ἔχειν. οἱ δʼ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον συναγαγόντες τὸν ἰσθμὸν ἐφʼ ὅσον Κλείταρχος, ἐπίκλυστον φήσας ἐξ ἑκατέρου τοῦ πελάγους, οὐδʼ ἂν λόγου ἀξιοῖντο. Ποσειδώνιος δὲ χιλίων καὶ πεντακοσίων εἴρηκε τὸν ἰσθμόν, ὅσον καὶ τὸν ἀπὸ Πηλουσίου ἰσθμὸν εἰς τὴν Ἐρυθράν. δοκῶ δέ φησί μὴ πολὺ διαφέρειν μηδὲ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς Μαιώτιδος εἰς τὸν Ὠκεανόν.

Translations (1)

Geography (Books 6-14) Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).) — 11.1.5 focus

[5] As we pass from Europe to Asia in our geography, the northern division is the first of the two divisions to which we come; and therefore we must begin with this. Of this division the first portion is that in the region of the Tanaïs River, which I have taken as the boundary between Europe and Asia. This portion forms, in a way, a peninsula, for it is surrounded on the west by the Tanaïs River and Lake Maeotis as far as the Bosporus¹ and that part of the coast of the Euxine Sea which terminates at Colchis; and then on the north by the Ocean as far as the mouth of the Caspian Sea;² and then on the east by this same sea as far as the boundary between Albania and Armenia, where empty the rivers Cyrus and Araxes, the Araxes flowing through Armenia and the Cyrus through Iberia and Albania; and lastly, on the south by the tract of country which extends from the outlet of the Cyrus River to Colchis, which is about three thousand stadia from sea to sea, across the territory of the Albanians and the Iberians, and therefore is described as an isthmus. But those writers who have reduced the width of the isthmus as much as Cleitarchus³ has, who says that it is subject to inundation from either sea, should not be considered even worthy of mention. Poseidonius states that the isthmus is fifteen hundred stadia across, as wide as the isthmus from Pelusium to the Red Sea.⁴ “And in my opinion,” he says, “the isthmus from Lake Maeotis to the Ocean does not differ much therefrom.”

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. The Sea of Azoff.

2. The Straits of Kertch or Zabache.

3. The Kur or Kour.

4. Eraskh or Aras.

5. Georgia.

6. Shirvan.

7. See b. ii. c. v. § 31.

8. To understand how this part of Asia formed a peninsula, according to the ideas of our author, we must bear in mind, that (1) he supposed the source of the Don to have been situated in the neighbourhood of the Northern Ocean; (2) he imagined the Caspian Sea to communicate with the same Ocean. Thus all the territory comprehended between the Don and the Caspian formed a sort of peninsula, united to the continent by an isthmus which separated the Euxine from the Caspian and on which was situated Colchis, Iberia, and Albania. The 3000 stadia assigned to the breadth of this isthmus appears to be measured by stadia of 1111 1/2 to a degree. Gossellin.

Strabo Geography 11.1.5

Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator)

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