Strabo, Geography

The size of the country is as follows: In breadth, from Pontus to the Taurus, about one thousand eight hundred stadia, and in length, from Lycaonia and Phrygia to the Euphrates towards the east and Armenia, about three thousand. It is an excellent country, not only in respect to fruits, but particularly in respect to grain and all kinds of cattle. Although it lies farther south than Pontus, it is colder. Bagadania, though level and farthest south of all (for it lies at the foot of the Taurus), produces hardly any fruit-bearing trees, although it is grazed by wild asses, both it and the greater part of the rest of the country, and particularly that round Garsauira and Lycaonia and Morimene. In Cappadocia is produced also the ruddle called "Sinopean", the best in the world, although the Iberian rivals it. It was named "Sinopean"¹ because the merchants were wont to bring it down thence to Sinope before the traffic of the Ephesians had penetrated as far as the people of Cappadocia. It is said that also slabs of crystal and of onyx stone were found by the miners of Archeläus near the country of the Galatians. There was a certain place, also, which had white stone that was like ivory in color and yielded pieces of the size of small whetstones; and from these pieces they made handles for their small swords. And there was another place which yielded such large lumps of transparent stone² that they were exported. The boundary of Pontus and Cappadocia is a mountain tract parallel to the Taurus, which has its beginning at the western extremities of Chammanene, where is situated Dasmenda, a stronghold with sheer ascent, and extends to the eastern extremities of Laviansene. Both Chammanene and Laviansene are prefectures in Cappadocia.