Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 16.1.2

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[2] The name of Syrians seems to extend from Babylonia as far as the Bay of Issus, and, anciently, from this bay to the Euxine.

Both tribes of the Cappadocians, those near the Taurus and those near the Pontus, are called to this time Leuco-Syrians (or White Syrians),¹ as though there existed a nation of Black Syrians. These are the people situated beyond the Taurus, and I extend the name of Taurus as far as the Amanus.²

When the historians of the Syrian empire say that the Medes were overthrown by the Persians, and the Syrians by the Medes, they mean no other Syrians than those who built the royal palaces at Babylon and Nineveh; and Ninus, who built Nineveh in Aturia, was one of these Syrians. His wife, who succeeded her husband, and founded Babylon, was Semiramis. These sovereigns were masters of Asia. Many other works of Semiramis, besides those at Babylon, are extant in almost every part of this continent, as, for example, artificial mounds, which are called mounds of Semiramis, and walls³ and fortresses, with subterraneous passages; cisterns for water; roads⁴ to facilitate the ascent of mountains; canals communicating with rivers and lakes; roads and bridges.

The empire they left continued with their successors to the time of [the contest between] Sardanapalus and Arbaces.⁵ It was afterwards transferred to the Medes.

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.) — 16.1.2 focus

[2] δοκεῖ δὲ τὸ τῶν Σύρων ὄνομα διατεῖναι ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς Βαβυλωνίας μέχρι τοῦ Ἰσσικοῦ κόλπου, ἀπὸ δὲ τούτου μέχρι τοῦ Εὐξείνου τὸ παλαιόν. οἱ γοῦν Καππάδοκες ἀμφότεροι, οἵ τε πρὸς τῷ Ταύρῳ καὶ οἱ πρὸς τῷ Πόντῳ, μέχρι νῦν Λευκόσυροι καλοῦνται, ὡς ἂν ὄντων τινῶν Σύρων καὶ μελάνων· οὗτοι δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ ἐκτὸς τοῦ Ταύρου· λέγω δὲ Ταῦρον μέχρι τοῦ Ἀμανοῦ διατείνων τοὔνομα. οἱ δʼ ἱστοροῦντες τὴν Σύρων ἀρχὴν ὅταν φῶσι Μήδους μὲν ὑπὸ Περσῶν καταλυθῆναι Σύρους δὲ ὑπὸ Μήδων, οὐκ ἄλλους τινὰς τοὺς Σύρους λέγουσιν ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι καὶ Νίνῳ κατεσκευασμένους τὸ βασίλειον· ὧν ὁ μὲν Νίνος ἦν ὁ τὴν Νίνον ἐν τῇ Ἀτουρίᾳ κτίσας, ἡ δὲ τούτου γυνή, ἥπερ καὶ διεδέξατο τὸν ἄνδρα, Σεμίραμις, ἧς ἐστι κτίσμα ἡ Βαβυλών. οὗτοι δὲ ἐκράτησαν τῆς Ἀσίας, καὶ τῆς Σεμιράμιδος χωρὶς τῶν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ἔργων πολλὰ καὶ ἄλλα κατὰ πᾶσαν γῆν σχεδὸν δείκνυται ὅση τῆς ἠπείρου ταύτης ἐστί, τά τε χώματα ἃ δὴ καλοῦσι Σεμιράμιδος, καὶ τείχη καὶ ἐρυμάτων κατασκευαὶ καὶ συρίγγων τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ὑδρείων καὶ κλιμάκων καὶ διωρύγων ἐν ποταμοῖς καὶ λίμναις καὶ ὁδῶν καὶ γεφυρῶν. ἀπέλιπον δὲ τοῖς μεθʼ ἑαυτοὺς τὴν ἀρχὴν μέχρι * τῆς Σαρδαναπάλλου καὶ Ἀρβάκου· μετέστη δʼ εἰς Μήδους ὕστερον.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. P. xii. c. iii. § 5; Herod. i. 6 and 72.

2. Al. Lucan. b. xi. c. xii. § 4; b. xiv. c. v. § 18; b. xvi. c. ii. § 8.

3. Probably walls built for the protection of certain districts. Such was the διατείχισμα σεμιοͅάμιδος, constructed between the Euphrates and the Tigris, and intended, together with canals brought from those rivers, to protect Babylon from the incursions of the Arabian Scenitee or Medes. B. ii.

4. κλίμακες, roads of steep ascent, with steps such as may be seen in the Alps of Europe; the word differs from ὁδοὶ, roads below, inasmuch as the former roads are only practicable for travellers on foot and beasts of bur-then, the latter for carriages also.

5. The union of these two names, says Kramer, is remarkable, and still more so is the insertion of the article τῆς before them: he, therefore, but with some hesitation, suggests that the word μάχης has been omitted in the text by the copyist.

Strabo Geography 16.1.2

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

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