Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 11.6.1

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Chapter

← Previous Next →

[1] THE second portion of northern Asia begins from the Caspian Sea, where the first terminates. This sea is called also the Hyrcanian Sea. We must first speak of this sea, and of the nations that live near its shores.

It is a bay extending from the Ocean to the south. At its commencement it is very narrow; as it advances further inwards, and particularly towards the extremity, it widens to the extent of about 500 stadia. The voyage from the entrance to the extremity may exceed that a little, the entrance approaching very near the uninhabited regions.

Eratosthenes says that the navigation of this sea was known to the Greeks, that the part of the voyage along the coast of the Albanians and Cadusii¹ comprised 5400 stadia; and the part along the country of the Anariaci, Mardi, [or Amardi,] and Hyrcani, as far as the mouth of the river Oxus,² 4800 stadia, and thence to the Iaxartes³ 2400 stadia.

But with respect to the places situated in this portion of Asia, and to those lying so far removed from our own country, we must not understand the accounts of writers in too literal a sense, particularly with regard to distances.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

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.) — 11.6.1 focus

[1] ἡ δὲ δευτέρα μερὶς ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης, εἰς ἣν κατέπαυεν ἡ προτέρα· καλεῖται δʼ ἡ αὐτὴ θάλαττα καὶ Ὑρκανία. δεῖ δὲ περὶ τῆς θαλάττης εἰπεῖν πρότερον ταύτης καὶ τῶν προσοίκων ἐθνῶν. ἔστι δʼ ὁ κόλπος ἀνέχων ἐκ τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἱκανῶς στενός, ἐνδοτέρω δὲ πλατύνεται προϊών, καὶ μάλιστα κατὰ τὸν μυχὸν ἐπὶ σταδίους που καὶ πεντακισχιλίους· ὁ δʼ εἴσπλους μέχρι τοῦ μυχοῦ μικρῷ πλειόνων ἂν εἴη συνάπτων πως ἤδη τῇ ἀοικήτῳ. φησὶ δʼ Ἐρατοσθένης τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων γνωριζόμενον περίπλουν τῆς θαλάττης ταύτης τὸν μὲν παρὰ τοὺς Ἀλβανοὺς καὶ τοὺς Καδουσίους εἶναι πεντακισχιλίων καὶ τετρακοσίων, τὸν δὲ παρὰ τὴν Ἀναριακῶν καὶ Μάρδων καὶ Ὑρκανῶν μέχρι τοῦ στόματος τοῦ Ὤξου ποταμοῦ τετρακισχιλίων καὶ ὀκτακοσίων· ἔνθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰαξάρτου δισχιλίων τετρακοσίων. δεῖ δὲ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ μερίδι ταύτῃ καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐκτετοπισμένοις ἁπλούστερον ἀκούειν, καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τῶν διαστημάτων.

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).) — 11.6.1 focus

[1] The second¹ portion begins at the Caspian Sea, at which the first portion ends. The same sea is also called Hyrcanian. But I must first describe this sea and the tribes which live about it.

This sea is the gulf which extends from the ocean² towards the south; it is rather narrow at its entrance, but it widens out as it advances inland, and especially in the region of its recess, where its width is approximately five thousand stadia. The length of the voyage from its entrance to its recess might be slightly more than that, since its entrance is approximately on the borders of the uninhabited world. Eratosthenes says that the circuit of this sea was known to the Greeks; that the part along the coast of the Albanians and the Cadusians is five thousand four hundred stadia; and that the part along the coast of the Anariaci and Mardi and Hyrcani to the mouth of the Oxus River is four thousand eight hundred, and thence to the Iaxartes, two thousand four hundred. But we must understand in a more general sense the accounts of this portion and the regions that lie so far removed, particularly in the matter of distances.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. The country occupied by the Cadusii of whom Eratosthenes speaks appears to have been the Ghilan, a name probably derived from the Gelae, who are constantly associated with the Cadusii.

2. The Gihon.

3. The Sihon.

Strabo Geography 11.6.1

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

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers