CHAPTER IV.
AT the bottom of the bay (Carcinites) commences the
isthmus
1 which separates the lake called Sapra, [or the Putrid
Lake,] from the sea; it is 40 stadia in width, and forms the
Tauric or Scythian Chersonese.
2 This, according to some, is
360 stadia across. The Putrid Lake
3 is said to extend 4000
stadia (in circumference), and forms part of the [Palus]
Mœotis on its western side, with which it communicates by a
large opening. It abounds in marshy tracts, and is scarcely
navigable with ‘sewn’
4 boats. The shallower parts are
soon uncovered, and again covered with water, by the force
of the wind; but the marsh will not bear boats of a deeper
draught. In the bay are three small islands; and in sailing
along the coast, some shallows are met with, and rocks which
rise above water.
[
2]
On the left in sailing out of the bay [Carcinites] there
is a small town and another harbour
5 belonging to the people
of the Chersonese; for in coasting along the bay, there projects towards the south a large promontory, which is a part
of the great Chersonese. Upon it stands a city of the Heracleotæ, who are a colony from Heraclea
6 in the Euxine; it
bears the same name, Chersonesus, as the territory. It is distant from the Dniester,
7 in following the coast, 4400 stadia. In
this city is a temple of the Virgin, some goddess,
8 after whom
the promontory, which is in front of the city, at the distance
of 100 stadia, is called Parthenium. It has a shrine of the
goddess and a statue. Between the city
9 and the promontory
are three harbours; next is the Old city Chersonesus in ruins;
then follows a harbour with a narrow entrance. It was called
Symbolon Limen, or Signal Harbour; and here principally
was carried on a system of piracy against those who took
refuge in the ports. This, together with another harbour,
called Ctenus,
10 forms an isthmus of 40 stadia in extent. This
isthmus locks in the Smaller Chersonesus, which we said was
a part of the Great Chersonesus, having on it a city of the
same name.
[
3]
It was formerly governed by its own laws, but after it
was ravaged by barbarous nations, the inhabitants were
obliged to elect as their protector, Mithridates Eupator, who
was anxious to direct his forces against the barbarians who
lived above the isthmus, and occupied the country as far as
the Dnieper and the Adriatic, and thus to prepare himself
against war with the Romans. Mithridates, with these views,
readily despatched an expedition into the Chersonesus, and
carried on war at the same time against the Scythians, Scilurus, and the sons of Scilurus, namely, Palacus and his brothers,
whom Posidonius reckons to have been fifty, and Apollonides
eighty, in number. By the subjugation of these enemies he
became at once master of the Bosporus, which Pairisades, who
held the command of it, voluntarily surrendered. From that
time to the present the city of the Chersonitæ has been subject to the princes of the Bosporus.
Ctenus is equally distant from the city of the Chersonitæ,
and from Symbolon Limen. From Symbolon Limen the
Tauric coast extends 1000 stadia to the city Theodosia.
11 The
coast is rugged and mountainous, and during the prevalence
of the north winds, tempestuous. From this coast a promontory projects far into the sea, and stretches out southwards towards Paphlagonia, and the city Amastris. It is
called Criu-metopon, or Ram's Head. Opposite to it is Ca-
rambis,
12 the promontory of the Paphlagonians. Criu-metopon
and Carambis together form a strait compressed between
them, and divide the Euxine into two parts. Carambis is
distant from the city of the Chersonesus 2500 stadia, and
from Criu-metopon much less; for many persons who have
sailed through the strait say, that they saw both promontories
at once.
13
In the mountainous district of the Tauri there is a hill
called Trapezus,
14 of the same name as the city,
15 which is near
Tibarania and Colchis. There is another hill also, the Kimmerium,
16 in the same mountainous district, for the Kimmerii
were once sovereigns of the Bosporus, and hence the whole
of the strait at the mouth of the [Palus] Mæotis is called the
Kimmerian Bosporus.
[
4]
After leaving the above-mentioned mountainous district,
is the city Theodosia, situated on a plain; the soil is fertile,
and there is a harbour capable of containing a hundred vessels. This formerly was the boundary of the territory of the
Bosporians and of the Tauri. Then follows a fertile country
extending to Panticapæum,
17 the capital of the Bosporians,
which is situated at the mouth of the Palus Mæotis.
18 Between
Theodosia
19 and Panticapæum there is a tract of about 530
stadia in extent. The whole country is corn-producing; there
are villages in it, and a city called Nymphæum, with a good
harbour.
Panticæpsum is a hill inhabited all round for a circuit of
20 stadia. To the east it has a harbour, and docks capable
of containing about thirty vessels; there is also an acropolis.
It was founded by the Milesians. Both this place and the
neighbouring settlements on each side of the mouth of the
Palus Mæotis were for a long period under the monarchical
dynasty of Leucon, and Satyrus, and Pairisades, till the latter
surrendered the sovereignty to Mithridates. They had the
name of tyrants, although most of them were moderate and
just in their government, from the time of Pairisades and
Leucon. Pairisades was accounted even a god. The last
sovereign, whose name was also Pairisades, being unable to
resist the barbarians, by whom great and unusual tributes
were exacted, surrendered the kingdom into the hands of
Mithridates. After him it became subject to the Romans.
The greater portion of it is situated in Europe, but a part of
it is also situated in Asia.
[
5]
The mouth of the [Palus] Mæotis is called the Kimmerian Bosporus. The entrance, which at the broadest part
is about 70 stadia across, where there is a passage from the
neighbourhood
20 of Panticapæum to Phanagoria, the nearest
city in Asia. The [Palus] Mæotis closes in an arm of the
sea which is much narrower. This arm of the sea and the
Don
21 separate Europe from Asia. Then the Don flows from
the north opposite into the lake, and into the Kimmerian
Bosporus. It discharges itself into the lake by two mouths,
22
which are distant from each other about 60 stadia. There
is also a city of the same name as the river; and next to
Panticapæum it is the largest mart belonging to the barbarians.
On sailing into the Kimmerian Bosporus,
23 on the left hand
is
Myrmecium,
24 a small city, 20 stadia from Panticapæum,
and 40 stadia from Parthenium;
25 it is a village where is the
narrowest entrance into the lake, about 20 stadia in breadth;
opposite to it is a village situated in Asia, called Achilleum.
Thence to the Don, and to the island at its mouths, is a voyage
in a direct line of 2200 stadia. The distance is somewhat
greater if the voyage is performed along the coast of Asia, but
taking the left-hand side, (in which direction the isthmus of the
Chersonese is fallen in with,) the distance is more than tripled.
This latter course is along the desert shore of Europe, but the
Asiatic side is not without inhabitants. The whole circum-
ference of the lake is 9000 stadia.
The Great Chersonesus resembles Peloponnesus both in
figure and size. The kings of the Bosporus possess it, but
the whole country has been devastated by continual wars.
They formerly possessed a small tract only at the mouth of
the [Palus] Mæotis near Panticapæum, extending as far as
Theodosia. The largest part of the territory, as far as the
isthmus and the Gulf Carcinites, was in possession of the
Tauri, a Scythian nation. The whole of this country, comprehending also a portion on the other side of the isthmus as
far as the Dnieper, was called Little Scythia. In consequence of the number of people who passed from thence
across the Dniester and the Danube, and settled there, no
small part of that country also bore the name of Little
Scythia. The Thracians surrendered a part of it to superior
force, and a part was abandoned on account of the bad quality
of the ground, a large portion of which is marshy.
[
6]
Except the mountainous tract of the Chersonesus on the
sea-coast, extending as far as Theodosia, all the rest consist of
plains, the soil of which is rich, and remarkably fertile in corn.
It yields thirty-fold, when turned up by the most ordinary
implements of husbandry. The tribute paid to Mithridates
by the inhabitants, including that from the neighbourhood of
Sindace in Asia, amounted to 180,000 medimni of corn, and
200 talents of silver. The Greeks in former times imported
from this country corn, and the cured fish of Palus Mæotis.
Leucon is said to have sent to the Athenians 2,100,000 medimni of corn from Theodosia.
26
The name of Georgi, or husbandmen, was appropriately
given to these people, to distinguish them from the nations
situated above them, who are nomades, and live upon the
flesh of horses and other animals, on cheese of mares' milk,
milk, and sour milk. The latter, prepared in a peculiar manner, is a delicacy.
27 Hence the poet designates all the nations
in that quarter as Galactophagi, milk-eaters.
The nomades are more disposed to war than to robbery.
The occasion of their contests was to enforce the payment of
tribute. They permit those to have land who are willing to
cultivate it. In return for the use of the land, they are satisfied with receiving a settled and moderate tribute, not such
as will furnish superfluities, but the daily necessaries of life.
If this tribute is not paid, the nomades declare war. Hence
the poet calls these people both just, and miserable, (Abii,)
28
for if the tribute is regularly paid, they do not have recourse
to war. Payment is not made by those, who have confidence
in their ability to repel attacks with ease, and to prevent the
incursion of their enemies. This course was pursued, as
Hypsicrates relates, by Ansander, who fortified on the isthmus of the Chersonesus, at the Palus Mæotis, a space of 360
stadia, and erected towers at the distance of every 10 stadia.
29
The Georgi (husbandmen) are considered to be more civilized and mild in their manners than the other tribes in this
quarter, but they are addicted to gain. They navigate the
sea, and do not abstain from piracy, nor from similar acts of
injustice and rapacity.
[
7]
Besides the places in the Chersonesus already enumerated, there are the fortresses Palacium, and Chabum, and
Neapolis,
30 which Scilurus and his sons constructed, from
which they sallied out against the generals of Mithridates.
There was also a fortress called Eupatorium, built by
Diophantus, one of the generals of Mithridates.
31
There is a promontory, distant about 15 stadia from the
wall of Chersonesus, which forms a large bay, which bends
towards the city. Above this bay is a sea-lake, where there
are salt pits. Here was the harbour Ctenus. The generals
of the king, in order to strengthen their means of resistance
in case of siege, stationed a garrison on the above-mentioned
promontory, which was further protected by a fortification.
The mouth of the Gulf was closed by an embankment which
extended to the city, and was easily traversed on foot. The
garrison and the city were thus united. The Scythians were
afterwards easily repulsed. They attacked that part of the
wall built across the isthmus which touches upon Ctenus, and
filled the ditch with straw. The kind of bridge thus formed
by day, was burnt at night by the king's generals, who continued their resistance and defeated the enemy. At present
the whole country is subject to whomsoever the Romans may
appoint as king of the Bosporus.
[
8]
It is a custom peculiar to all the Scythian and Sarmatian
tribes, to castrate their horses, in order to make them more
tractable, for although they are small, yet they are spirited,
and difficult to manage. Stags and wild boars are hunted in
the marshes, and wild asses and roes
32 in the plains. It is a
peculiarity of this country, that no eagles are to be found in
it. Among the quadrupeds there is an animal called Colus,
in size between a deer and a ram; it is white, and swifter in
speed than either of those animals. It draws up water into
the head through the nostrils; from this store it can supply
itself for several days, and live without inconvenience in
places destitute of water.
Such is the nature of the whole of the country beyond the
Danube, lying between the Rhine and the Don, and extending as far as the Pontic Sea and the Palus Mæotis.
