SOME parts of Bactria lie along Aria to the north, but the greater part stretches beyond (Aria) to the east. It is an extensive country, and produces everything except oil. The Greeks who occasioned its revolt became so powerful by means of the fertility and advantages of the country, that they became masters of Ariana and India, according to Apollodorus of Artamita. Their chiefs, particularly Menander, (if he really crossed the Hypanis to the east and reached Isamus,)1 conquered more nations than Alexander. These conquests were achieved partly by Menander, partly by De metrius, son of Euthydemus, king of the Bactrians. They got possession not only of Pattalene,2 but of the kingdoms of Saraostus, and Sigerdis, which constitute the remainder of the coast. Apollodorus in short says that Bactriana is the ornament of all Ariana. They extended their empire even as far as the Seres and Phryni.
1 For Isamus in the text, Imaus is adopted by Groskurd considers this reading highly probable. Isamus is not found in any other passage, but Mannert, (Geogr. v. p. 295,) finding in Pliny (N. H. vi. 21, § 17) the river Iomanes, proposes to read in this passage ᾿ιομάνου, in which he recognises the Jumna
2 Tatta or Sindi.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.