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1 Or the "Hospitable" Sea, now the Black Sea.
2 Or the "Inhospitable."
3 The streams which discharge their waters into the Palus Mæotis, or Sea of Azof.
4 Straits of the Dardanelles or of Gallipoli, spoken of in B. iv. c. 18, as seven stadia in width.
5 The Thracian Bosporus, now the Channel or Straits of Constantinople, and the Cimmerian Bosporus or Straits of Kaffa, or Yeni Kale.
6 From βοῦς, an ox, andπορός, "a passage." According to the legend, it was at the Thracian Bosporus that the cow Io made her passage from one continent to the other, and hence the name, in all probability, celebrated alike in the fables and the history of antiquity. The Cimmerian Bosporus not improbably borrowed its name from the Thracian. See Æsch. Prom. Vine. 1. 733.
7 This sentence seems to bear reference to the one that follows, and not, as punctuated in the Latin, to the one immediately preceding it.
8 It is not probable that this is the case at the Straits of Kaffa, which are nearly four miles in width at the narrowest part.
9 Now the Riva, a river of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, falling into the Euxine north-east of Chalcedon.
10 Probably an obscure town.
11 On the river Calpas or Calpe, in Bithynia. Xenophon, in the Anabasis, describes it as about half way between Byzantium and Heraclea. The spot is identified in some of the maps as Kirpeh Limán, and the promontory as Cape Kirpeh.
12 Still known as the Sakaria.
13 Now called the Sursak, according to Parisot.
14 Now the Lef-ke. See the end of c. 42 of the last Book.
15 The modern Gulf of Sakaria. Of the Mariandyni, who gave the ancient name to it, little or nothing is known.
16 Its site is now known as Harakli or Eregli. By Strabo it is erroneously called a colony of Miletus. It was situate a few miles to the north of the river Lycus.
17 Now called the Kilij.
18 Stephanus Byzantinus speaks of this place as producing whetstones, or ἀκοναὶ, as well as the plant aconite.
19 This name was given to the cavern in common with several other lakes or caverns in various parts of the world, which, like the various rivers of the name of Acheron, were at some time supposed to be connected with the lower world.
20 Now called Falios (or more properly Filiyos), according to D'Anville, from the river of that name in its vicinity, supposed by him and other geographers to be the same as the ancient Billis, here mentioned by Pliny. By others of the ancient writers it is called Billæus.
21 Paphlagonia was bounded by Bithynia on the west, and by Pontus on the east, being separated from the last by the river Halys; on the south it was divided by the chain of Mount Olympus from Phrygia in the earlier times, from Galatia at a later period; and on the north it bordered on the Euxine.
22 In the Homeric catalogue we find Pylæmenes leading the Paphlagonians as allies of the Trojans; from this Pylæmenes the later princes of Paphlagonia claimed their descent, and the country was sometimes from them called Pylæmenia.
23 Suspected by Hardouin to have been the same as the Moson or Moston mentioned by Ptolemy as in Galatia.
24 It is mentioned by Homer, Il. ii. 855, as situate on the coast of Paphlagonia.
25 Strabo also, in B. xii., says that these people afterwards established themselves in Thrace, and that gradually moving to the west, they finally settled in the Italian Venetia, which from them took its name. But in his Fourth Book he says that the Veneti of Italy owe their origin to the Gallic Veneti, who came from the neighbourhood known as the modern Vannes.
26 This city, ninety stadia east of the river Parthenius, occupied a peninsula, and on each side of the isthmus was a harbour. The original city, as here mentioned, seems to have had the name of Sesamus or Sesamum, and it is spoken of by that name in Homer, Il. ii. 853, in conjunction with Cytorus. The territory of Amastris was famous for its growth of the best box-wood, which grew on Mount Cytorus. The present Amasra or Hanasserall occupies its site.
27 See the last Note.
28 Otherwise called "Cinolis." There is a place called Kinla or Kinoglu in the maps, about half-way between Kerempeh and Sinope, which is the Kinuli of Abulfeda, and probably the Cirolis or Cimolis of the Greek geographers.
29 The modern Estefan or Stefanos.
30 Now known by the name of Bartin, a corruption of its ancient appellation.
31 It still retains its ancient appellation in its name of Cape Kerempeh: of the ancient town nothing is known.
32 Now called Sinope, or Sinoub. Some ruins of it are still to be seen. The modern town is but a poor place, and has probably greatly declined since the recent attack upon it by the Russian fleet. Diogenes, the Cynic philosopher, was a native of ancient Sinope.
33 The boundary, according to Stephanus Byzantinus, also of the nations of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia. As Parisot remarks, this is an error, arising from the circumstance of a small tribe bearing the name of Cappadocians, having settled on its banks, between whom and the Paphlagonians it served as a limit.
34 On the river Iris. It was the ancient residence of the kings of Pontus, but in Strabo's time it was deserted. It has been suggested that the modern Azurnis occupies its site.
35 In the north-west of Pontus, in a fertile plain between the rivers Halys and Amisus. It is also called Gadilon by Strabo. D'Anville makes it the modern Aladgiam; while he calls Gaziura by the name of Guedes.
36 Now called the Kisil Irmak, or Red River. It has been remarked that Pliny, in making this river to come down from Mount Taurus and flow at once from south to north, appears to confound the Halys with one of its tributaries, now known as the Izchel Irmak.
37 Its site is now called Kiengareh, Kangreh, or Changeri. This was a town of Paphlagonia, to the south of Mount Olgasys, at a distance of thirty-five miles from Pompeiopolis.
38 A commercial place to the south of Sinope. Its site is the modern Gherseh on the coast.
39 Now called Eski Samsun; on the west side of the bay or gulf, anciently called Sinus Amisenus. According to Strabo, it was only 900 stadia from Sinope, or 112 1/2 Roman miles. The walls of the ancient city are to be seen on a promontory about a mile and a half from the modern town.
40 He means the numerous indentations which run southward into the coast, from the headland of Sinope to a distance of about one degree to the south.
41 On examining the map, we shall find that the distance is at least 300 miles across to the gulf of Issus or Iskenderoon.
42 Not speaking the Greek language.
43 A part of it only was added to Eupatoria; and it was separated from the rest by a wall, and probably contained a different population from that of Amisus. This new quarter contained the residence of the king, Mithridates Eupator, who built Eupatoria.
44 The boundaries of Cappadocia varied under the dominion of the Persians, after the Macedonian conquest, and as a Roman province under the emperors.
45 Founded by Archelaüs, the last king of Cappadocia. In Hamilton's Researches, the site has been assumed to be the modern Ak-serai, but that place is not on the river Halys, as Leake supposes. It is, however, considered that Ak-serai agrees very well with the position of Archelais as laid down in the Itineraries, and that Pliny may have been misled in supposing that the stream on which it stood was the Halys.
46 Also called by the name of Chryse, or "Golden," to distinguish it from another place of the same name in Pontus. It is generally supposed that the town of Al-Bostan, on the Sihoon or Sarus, is on or near the site of this Comana.
47 Now called Niksar, according to D'Anville, though Hardouin says that it is Tocat. Parisot remarks, that this place belonged rather to Pontus than to Cappadocia.
48 A small tributary of the Iris, or Yeshil-Irmak, mentioned in the next Chapter.
49 Both to the west of Neo-Cæsarea. According to Tavernier, as quoted by Hardouin, the modern name of Sebastia is Sivas.
50 Still called Amasia, or Amasiyeh, and situate on the river Iris, or Yeshil Ermak. It was at one time the residence of the princes of Pontus, and the birth-place of the geographer Strabo. The remains of antiquity here are very considerable, and extremely interesting.
51 Which gave name to the district of Melitene, mentioned in c. 20 of the last Book.
52 Near Nazianzus, in Cappadocia, the birth-place of Gregory Nazianzen. The traveller Ainsworth, on his road from Ak Serai to Kara Hissar, came to a place called Kaisar Koi, and he has remarked that by its name and position it might be identified with Diocæsarea. Some geographers, indeed, look upon Diocæsarea and Nazianzus as the same place.
53 Its ruins are still to be seen at Kiz Hisar. It stood in the south of Cappadocia, at the northern foot of Mount Taurus. Tyana was the native place of Apollonius, the supposed worker of miracles, whom the enemies of Christianity have not scrupled to place on a par with Jesus Christ.
54 Some ruins, nineteen geographical miles from Ayas, are supposed to denote the site of ancient Castabala or Castabulum.
55 This place was first called Eupatoria, but not the same which Mithridates united with a part of Amisus. D'Anville supposes that the modern town of Tchenikeb occupies its site.
56 Or Ziela, now known as Zillah, not far south of Amasia. It was here that Julius Cæsar conquered Pharnaces, on the occasion on which he wrote his dispatch to Rome, "Veni, vidi, vici."
57 Still known by the name of Ardgeh-Dagh.
58 Its site is still called Kaisiriyeh. It was a city of the district Cilicia, in Cappadocia, at the base of the mountain Argæus. It was first called Mazaca, and after that, Eusebeia. There are considerable remains of the ancient city.
59 Hardouin remarks, that the district of Sargarausene was not situate in front of Phrygia, but lay between Morimene and Colopenene, in the vicinity of Pontus.
60 Now known as the Konax, a tributary of the Halys, rising in Mount Littarus, in the chain of Paryadres.
61 Or "White Syrians." Strabo says that in his time both the Cappadocian peoples, those situate above the Taurus and those on the Euxine, were called Leucosyri, or White Syrians, as there were some Syrians who were black, and who dwelt to the east of the Amanus.
62 It is doubtful whether this is the name of a river or a town. Notwithstanding its alleged celebrity, nothing is known of it.
63 Hecatæus, as quoted by Stephanus Byzantinus, speaks of Chadisia as a city of the Leucosyri, or Cappadocians. Neither the river nor the town appears to have been identified.
64 Probably on the river of that name, which has been identified with the Mers Imak, a river two or three miles east of the Acropolis of Amisus.
65 The extensive plain on the coast of Pontus, extending east of the river Iris, beyond the Thermodon, and celebrated as the country of the Amazons. At the mouth of the Thermodon was a city of the same name, which had been destroyed by the time of Augustus. It is doubtful whether the modern Thermeh occupies its site.
66 The same place apparently as is mentioned in the last Chapter under the name of Zela.
67 Valerius Triarius, one of the legates of Lucullus, in the war against Mithridates. Plutarch tells us that Lucullus was obliged to conceal Triarius from the fury of his troops.
68 Over Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates.
69 Now called the Thermea.
70 Still called Mason-Dagh.
71 He alludes to Comana, in Pontus, the site of which is now called Gumenek, near to which, on the Tocat-su, the modern name of the Iris, Hamilton found some remains of a Roman town, and part of a bridge apparently of Roman construction. The language of Pliny seems to imply that it had become in his day nothing beyond a manteium or seat of an oracle.
72 Strabo speaks of a promontory called Genetes; and Stephanus Byzantinus mentions a river and port of the same name.
73 Strabo places the Chaldei, who, he says, were originally called Chalybes, in that part of the country which lies above Pharnacia (the modern Kerasunt).
74 Or Cotyora. According to Xenophon, this was a colony of Sinope, which furnished supplies for the Ten Thousand in their retreat. The place was on a bay called after the town. Hamilton, in his Researches, &c., Vol. i., is of opinion that Cotyorum may have stood on the site of Ordou, where some remains of an ancient port, cut out of the solid rock, are still visible. He remarks, however, that some writers suppose that Cotvora was the modern bay of Pershembah, which is more sheltered than Ordou. Cotyora was the place of embarkation of the Ten Thousand.
75 Similar to what we call tatooing. Parisot suggests that these people may have been the ancestors of the Mongol tribes who still dwell in tents similar to those mentioned by Mela as used by the Mossyni.
76 Or the "long-headed people."
77 Its site is not improbably that of the modern Kheresoun, on the coast of Asia Minor, and west of Trebizond. Lucullus is said to have brought thence the first cherry-trees planted in Europe.
78 It has been remarked, that Pliny's enumeration of names often rather confuses than helps, and that it is difficult to say where he intends to place the Bechires. We may perhaps infer from Mela that they were west of Trapezus and east of the Thermodon.
79 Now the Kara Su, or Black River, still retaining its ancient appellation. It rises in Cappadocia, in the chain of Mount Argæus.
80 Still called by the same name, according to Parisot, though sometimes it is called the river of Vatisa. More recent authorities, however, call it Poleman Chai.
81 On the coast of Pontus, built by king Polémon, perhaps the Second,
82 Probably near the promontory of Jasonium, 130 stadia to the northeast of Polemonium. It was believed to have received its name from Jason the Argonaut having landed there. It still bears the name of Jasoon, though more commonly called Bona or Vona.
83 Sixty stadia, according to arrian, from the town of cotyora
84 Supposed to have stood on almost the same site as the modern Kheresoun or Kerasunda. It was built near, or, as some think, on the site of Cerasus.
85 Still known by the name of Tireboli, on a river of the same name, the Tireboli Su.
86 Now called Tarabosan, Trabezun, or Trebizond. This place was originally a colony of Sinope, after the loss of whose independence Trapezus belonged, first to Lesser Armenia, and afterwards to the kingdom of Pontus. In the middle ages it was the seat of the so-called empire of Trebizond. It is now the second commercial port of the Black Sea, ranking next after Odessa.
87 The "Chalybes of Armenia." See p. 21.
88 Theodoret says that the Sanni, and the Lazi, subsequently mentioned, although subdued by the Roman arms, were never obedient to the Roman laws. The Heniochi were probably of Grecian origin, as they were said to have been descended from the charioteers of the Argonauts, who had been wrecked upon these coasts.
89 Or Apsarus, or Absarum. Several geographers have placed the site of this town near the modern one known as Gonieh. Its name was connected with the myth of Medea and her brother Absyrtus. It is not improbable that the names Acampsis and Absarus have been given to the same river by different writers, and that they both apply to the modern Joruk.
90 It is suggested by Hardouin that these are the same as the Zydretæ mentioned in the Periplus of Arrian, and by him placed between the Heniochi and the Lazi.
91 See note 91.
92 Supposed to be the same as the modem Tshorok.
93 Or "Deep" River. This stream may possibly be identified by observing that Pliny places only one river between it and the Phasis.
94 Probably the Madia of Ptolemy, who places it in the interior.
95 At the present day called Eraklia, according to Parisot.
96 Now called the Faz or Poti.
97 Still called El Faz or Poti.
98 This place was in reality thirty-seven miles and a half from the sea. It was said to have been the native place of the enchantresses Circe and Medea.
99 The rivers Hippos and Cyaneos do not appear to have been identified.
100 In the previous page.
101 Now called the Tehorocsu.
102 It is doubtful whether this is the same river as that mentioned by Strabo under the name of Chares. D'Anville says that its modern name is Enguri.
103 Or "Feeders on Lice;" so called, according to Strabo, from the extreme filthiness of their habits.
104 There is a nation in this vicinity still called by a similar name. Professor Pallas, who visited them, says that nothing can equal their dishonesty, rapacity, and voracity. Parisot suggests that they are probably the descendants of the Phthirophagi of Pliny.
105 Now called the Khalira, according to D'Anville.
106 Now called the Hati-Scari, according to D'Anville.
107 Now the Okhum, according to D'Anville.
108 Now the Mosti-Skari, according to D'Anville.
109 Still called Savastopoli, according to Hardouin.
110 This must not be confounded with the other place of the same name mentioned in the present Chapter. See p. 10.
111 Hermoläus suggests Pityus as the correct reading.
112 The Sanni Heniochi; one of these nations has been already mentioned in the last page.
113 16 Inhabited anciently by the Coli, and constituting the northern portion of ancient Colchis.
114 In B. v. c. 27.
115 Or nation "with the black cloaks," from some peculiarity in their dress.
116 This was the great trading-place of the wild tribes in the interior; and so numerous were they, that the Greeks asserted that there were seventy different languages spoken in the market of Dioscurias.
117 Whence the appellation Heniochi, from the Greek ἡνιοχὸς.
118 There were two places called Heracleium on this coast, one north and the other south of the river Achæus: probably the latter is here meant.
119 Probably meaning the "martial people," or the "people of Mars."
120 Said to have been descended from the Achæns or Greeks who accompanied Jason in the Argonautic Expedition, or, according to Ammianus, who resorted thither after the conclusion of the Trojan war.
121 This was the title, not of a single nation, but of a number of peoples distinguished for their predatory habits.
122 This people occupied the N.E. shore of the Euxine, between the Cimmerian Bosporus and the frontier of Colchis. Their name is still in existence, and is applied to the whole western district of the Caucasus, in the forms of Tcherkas, as applied to the people, and Tcherkeskaia or Circassia, to the country.
123 Meaning, nearly in the extreme corner of Pontus.
124 In the time of Strabo this was a considerable sea-port, and after its destruction by the Heniochi, it was restored, and served as an important frontier fortress of the Roman empire against the Scythians.
125 This was Mithridates, king of Bosporus, which sovereignty he obtained by the favour of the emperor Claudius, in A.D. 41. The circumstances are unknown which led to his subsequent expulsion by the Romans, who placed his younger brother Cotys on the throne in his stead.
126 Hardouin thinks that the Thalli inhabited the present country of Astrakan.
127 It was the ancient opinion, to which we shall find frequent reference made in the present Book, that the northern portion of the Caspian communicated with the Scythian or Septentrional ocean.
128 Mentioned only by Pliny. It is supposed to answer to the present Ukrash river; and the town and river of Hierus are probably identical with the Hieros Portus of Arrian, which has been identified with the modern Sunjuk-Kala.
129 Inhabited by the Sindi, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia. They probably dwelt in and about the modern peninsula of Taman, between the Sea of Azof and the Black Sea, to the south of the river Hypanis, the modern Kouban. The site of their capital, Sindos, or Sinda, is supposed to have been the modern Anapa. Parisot conjectures that this place was one of the ancient settlements of the Zigeunes, the modern Bohemians or Gypsies. He seems to found his opinion upon some observations of Malte Brun (Précis de Geographie, vol. vi.) upon the origin of the Gypsy race, which will amply repay the perusal.
130 The peninsula on which Taman or Timoutarakan is situate.
131 The jugerum was 100 Grecian or 104 Roman feet in length.
132 Signifying in Greek the "sea-shore."
133 Lying between Singa and Phanagoria. Rennell fixes it at the opening of the lake into which the Kouban flows.
134 Or the "gardens," from the Greek κῆποι. A town of the Cimmerian Bosporus, founded by the Milesians. Dr. Clarke identifies the modern Sienna with it, and the curious Milesian sculptures found there confirm the supposition.
135 Its ruins are supposed to be those near Taman, on the eastern side of the Straits of Kaffa. It was the great emporium for all the traffic between the coasts of the Palus Mæotis and the countries on the south of the Caucasus, and was chosen by the kings of Bosporus as their capital in Asia.
136 A town of the Sindæ; it possessed, like Phanagoria, a celebrated temple of Aphrodite Apaturos, or Venus "the Deceiver," whence probably its name.
137 Clarke identifies it with the modern Temruk, but Forbiger with Eskikrimm.
138 See B. iv. c. 24.
139 That lying on the east of the Sea of Azof. It seems impossible to identify the spot inhabited by each of these savage tribes. Hardouin says that the modern name of that inhabited by the Mæotici is Coumania.
140 Parisot suggests that this tribe afterwards emigrated to the west, and after establishing themselves in Macedonia, finally gave its name to modern Servia. He remarks, that most of these names appear to have been greatly mutilated, through the ignorance or carelessness of the transcribers, no two of the manuscripts agreeing as to the mode in which they should be spelt.
141 Or Don. It flows into the Sea of Azof by two larger mouths and several smaller ones. Strabo says that the distance between the two larger mouths is sixty stadia. several smaller ones. Strabo says that the distance between the two larger mouths is sixty stadia.
142 From the Greek γυναικοκρατουμενοὶ, "ruled over by women." It is not improbable that this name was given by some geographer to these Sarmatian tribes on finding them, at the period of his visit, in subjection to the rule of a queen. Parisot remarks, that this passage affords an instance of the little care bestowed by Pliny upon procuring the best and most correct information, for that the Roman writers had long repudiated the use of the term "Sauromatæ." He also takes Pliny to task for his allusion to these tribes as coupling with the Amazons, the existence of such a people being in his time generally disbelieved.
143 Hardouin suggests from εὑάζω, "to celebrate the orgies of Bacchus."
144 Perhaps from κοίτν, a "den" or "cavern," their habitation.
145 Parisot suggests that they may have been a Caucasian or Circassian tribe, because in the Circassian language the word zig has the meaning of "man." He also suggests that they were probably a distinct race from the Zingi previously mentioned, whom he identifies with the ancestors of the Zingari or Bohemians, the modern Gypsies.
146 The more common reading is "Tureæ" a tribe also mentioned by Mela, and which gave name to modern Turkistan.
147 The Argippæi of Herodotus and other ancient authors. These people were bald, flat-nosed, and long-chinned. They are again mentioned by Pliny in C. 14, who calls them a race not unlike the Hyperborei, and then, like Mela, abridges the description given by Herodotus. By different writers these people have been identified with the Chinese, the Brahmins or Lamas, and the Calmucks. The last is thought to be the most probable opinion, or else that the description of Herodotus, borrowed by other writers, may be applied to the Mongols in general. The mountains, at the foot of which they have been placed, are identified with either the Ural, the western extremity of the Altai chain, or the eastern part of the Altai.
148 Generally regarded as the western branch of the Ural Mountains.
149 The former editions mostly have "there was," implying that in the time of Pliny it no longer existed. The name of this place was Tanais; its ruins are still to be seen in the vicinity of Kassatchei. It was founded by a colony from Miletus, and became a flourishing seat of trade. The modern town of Azof is supposed to occupy nearly its site.
150 The people of Panticapæum, on the opposite side of the Palus Mæotis, occupying the site of the present Kertch. It was founded by the Milesians B.C. 541, and took its name from the neighbouring river Panticapes.
151 The Ceraunian mountains were a range belonging to the Caucasian chain, and situate at its eastern extremity; the relation of this range to the chain has been variously stated by the different writers.
152 He may possibly allude to a range of mountains in the Punjaub and the vicinity of the modern Lahore, by his reference to the Cathei, who are supposed to have been the ancient inhabitants of that district. The localities of the various races here mentioned are involved in great obscurity.
153 Or Mediterranean.
154 See Vol. i. p. 497.
155 He includes under the term "Cappadocia," the northern part originally called "Cappadocia ad Pontum," and in later times simply Pontus, and the southern part, originally called "Cappadocia ad Taurum," and more recently simply Cappadocia.
156 Running from the shores of the Euxine to the borders of Syria.
157 I. e. on the eastern side.
158 Meaning that part of Asia which we now call Asia Minor.
159 This ill agrees with what he has said in c. 2, that the distance across from Sinope to the Gulf of Issus is but 200 miles.
160 Greater Armenia, now known as Erzeroum, Kars, Van, and Erivan, was bounded on the north-east and north by the river Cyrus, or Kur of the present day; on the north-west and west by the Moschian mountains, the prolongation of the chain of the Anti-Taurus, and the Euphrates, or Frat of the present day; and on the south and south-east by the mountains called Masius, Niphates, and Gordiæi (the prolongation of the Taurus), and the lower course of the Araxes. On the east the country comes to a point at the confluence of the Syrus and Araxes.
161 Now known as the Kara-bel-Dagh, or Kut-Tagh, a mountain chain running south-west and north-east from the east of Asia Minor into the centre of Armenia, and forming the chief connecting link between the Taurus and the mountains of Armenia.
162 In B. v. c. 20.
163 He means, where the river Euphrates runs the farthest to the west.
164 Littré suggests that the reading should be "Aroei."
165 The modern Eraskh or Aras.
166 The modern Kur.
167 This district was bounded on the east by the Euphrates, on the north and north-west by the mountains Scodises, Paryadres, and Anti-Taurus, and on the south by the Taurus.
168 This river is said by Ammianus to have taken its name from Cyrus. It appears, however, to have been a not uncommon name of the rivers of Persia.
169 It is probable that these rivers take their rise near each other, but it is not improbable that the intervening distance mentioned in the present passage is much too small.
170 Hardouin thinks that this is Neo-Cæsarea, mentioned as having been built on the banks of the Euphrates.
171 Now called Ezaz, according to D'Anville. Parisot suggests that it ought to be Gaza or Gazaca, probably a colony of Median Gaza, now Tauris.
172 Originally called Tephrice. It stood on the river Lycus, and not far from the sources of the Halys, having been founded by Pompey, where he gained his first victory over Mithridates, whence its name, the "City of Victory." The modern Enderez or Devrigni, probably marks its site.
173 Ritter places it in Sophene, the modern Kharpat, and considers that it may be represented by the modern Sert, the Tigranocerta of D'Anville.
174 The capital of Sophene, one of the districts of Armenia. St. Martin thinks that this was the ancient heathen name of the city of Martyropolis, but Ritter shows that such cannot be the case. It was called by the Syrians Kortbest; its present name is Kharput.
175 Generally supposed, by D'Anville and other modern geographers, to be represented by the ruins seen at Sert. It was the later capital of Armenia, built by Tigranes.
176 The ancient capital of Armenia. Hannibal, who took refuge at the court of Artaxias when Antiochus was no longer able to afford him protection, superintended the building of it. Some ruins, called Takt Tiridate, or Throne of Tiridates, near the junction of the Aras and the Zengue, were formerly supposed to represent Artaxata, but Colonel Monteith has fixed the site at a bend in the river lower down, at the bottom of which were the ruins of a bridge of Greek or Roman architecture.
177 A fortress in Lesser Armenia, upon the Euphrates, seventy-five miles from Zimara, as mentioned in B. v. c. 20. It has been identified with the modern ferry and lead mines of Kebban Ma'den, the points where the Kara Su is joined by the Murad Chaï, 270 miles from its source
178 Justin makes it only 1100, and that estimate appears to be several hundreds too much.
179 81 A country lying to the north of Armenia.
180 We find in Strabo the names of some of them mentioned, such as Sophene, Acilisene, Gorgodylene, Sacassene, Gorgarene, Phanene, Comisene, Orchestene, Chorsene, Cambysene, Odomantis, &c.
181 The Ceraunian Mountains. Parisot remarks that in this description, Pliny, notwithstanding his previous professions, does not appear to have made any very great use of the list drawn up by Corbulo.
182 That is, looking towards the south.
183 The Septentrional Ocean, with which the ancients imagined that the northern part of the Caspian Sea is connected. See c. 15.
184 According to Strabo, Albania was bounded on the east by the Caspian, and on the north by the Caucasus. On the west it joined Iberia, while on the south it was divided from the Greater Armenia by the river Cyrus. By later writers, the northern and western boundaries are differently given. It was found to be the fact that the Albani occupied the country on both sides of the Caucasus, and accordingly Pliny, in c. 15, carries the country further north, as far as the river Casius, while in this Chapter he makes the river Alazon, the modern Alasan, the western boundary towards Iberia. To the west of Albania.
185 To the west of Albania
186 Iberia lay south of the great chain of the Caucasus, forming an extensive tract bounded on the west by Colchis, on the east by Albania, and on the south by Armenia, and watered by the river Cyrus. It corresponded very nearly with modern Georgia.
187 The modern Alasan.
188 Now called Kablas-Var, according to Parisot.
189 Parisot says that this can be no other than Harmoza on the river Cyrus, in the vicinity of the modern Akhalzik.
190 Probably meaning "of the same name."
191 To the west.
192 "The Armenian workers in iron," or "Chalybes of Armenia." See p. 9.
193 There are two chief passes over the chain of the Caucasus, both of which were known to the ancients. The first is between the eastern extremity of its chief north-eastern spur and the Caspian sea, near the modern Derbend. This was called "Albaniæ," and sometimes, "Caspiæ Pylie," the "Albanian" or "Caspian Gates." The other, which was nearly in the centre of the Caspian range, was called "Caucasiæ" or "Sarmaticæ Pylæ," being the same as the modern pass of Dariyel, and probably the one here referred to.
194 Probably the same as the present fortress of Dariyel.
195 The first instance was that of the narrow isthmus to which the continent of Asia is reduced from Sinope across to the Gulf of Issus, as mentioned in c. 2.
196 The shortest distance across, in a straight line, is in reality little less than 600 miles.
197 The ancestor of the Seleucidæ, kings of Syria, treacherously slain by Ptolemy Ceraunus, brother of Ptolemy Philadelphus.
198 Already mentioned in B. iv. c. 27.
199 Mentioned in c. 44 of the last Book.
200 The one lying at the mouth of the Danube, and mentioned in B. iv. c. 27.
201 Mentioned in c. 4 of the present Book. See p. 9.
202 Or "Mars' Island," also called Aretias; at this island, in the south of the Euxine, the two queens of the Amazons, Otrere and Antiope, built a temple in honour of Ares or Mars. It is thought to be the rocky islet called by the Turks Kerasunt Ada, between three and four miles from Kerasunt, the ancient Pharnacea.
203 It is difficult to say what chain of mountains, if indeed any in particular, he would designate by this name. Parisot remarks that these mountains would seem to belong rather to the region of poetry and fable than of fact, and states that it is pretty clear that the Balkan chain, the districts in which the Danube takes its rise, the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Hercynian mountains, and even the chain of Taurus and Caucasus, have at different times been described or mentioned under the name of Riphæan Mountains. It was evidently Pliny's belief that the great Northern or Scythian Ocean skirted the northern shores of Asia, a little above the latitude perhaps of the northern extremity of the Caspian. In B. iv. c. 26, we find him crossing these, perhaps imaginary, mountains, and then proceeding to the left, along, as he supposes, the extreme northern shores of Europe; here he seems to start from the same point, but turns to the right, and proceeds along the northern, eastern, and southern shores of Asia.
204 North-east.
205 I. e. more to the west.
206 See B. iv. c. 26.
207 The extremity of the supposed shores of the Hyperborei
208 D'Anville supposes that he means the headland called Cande-Noss or Kanin-Noss, in the White Sea. Parisot, who thinks that Pliny had no idea of the regions which lie in those high latitudes, supposes that he refers to Domnes-Ness in the Baltic, and that by the Carambucis he means the river Niemen.
209 Ansart thinks that he means the Dwina, which falls into the Gulf of Archangel.
210 Previously mentioned in c. 7.
211 For a full description of them, see B. iv. c. 26.
212 See the Note to c. 7, p. 15. This description is borrowed from that given by Herodotus. Their sacred character has been explained as referring to the class or caste of priests among this Eastern people, whoever they may have been.
213 Ansart thinks that the Cicianthi, the Georgi, and the Amazons, inhabited the modern governments of Archangel and Vologda. It seems almost akin to rashness to hazard a conjecture.
214 It has been already stated that the Caspian Sea was, in one portion of it, so called, and in another the Hyrcanian Sea .
215 His meaning is, that the Scythian ocean communicates on the northern shores of Asia with the Caspian Sea. Hardouin remarks, that Patrocles, the commander of the Macedonian fleet, was the first to promulgate this notion, he having taken the mouth of the river Volga for a narrow passage, by means of which the Scythian or Northern Ocean made its way into the Caspian Sea.
216 The country of the Cadusii, in the mountainous district of Media Atropatene, on the south-west shores of the Caspian Sea, between the parallels of 390 and 370 north latitude. This district probably corresponds with the modern district of Gilan.
217 Now the Syr-Daria or Yellow River, and watering the barren steppes of the Kirghiz-Cossacks. It really discharges itself into the Sea of Aral, and not the Caspian.
218 The supposed Eastern Ocean of the ancients.
219 The imaginary passage by which it was supposed to communicate with the Scythian Ocean.
220 This being in reality the mouth of the Rha or Volga, as mentioned in Note 18, p. 24.
221 On the eastern side.
222 Across the mouths of the Volga.
223 On a promontory, on the right or eastern side of the mouth of the river Volga.
224 He here means the western shores of the Caspian, after leaving the mouth of the Volga.
225 In c. 11.
226 See the end of c. 14.
227 The Cæsius of Ptolemy, and the Koisou of modern times.
228 Probably the modern river Samour.
229 It is difficult to determine the exact locality of this river, but it would seem to have been near the Amardus, the modern Sefid-Rúd.
230 In c. 10.
231 See the beginning of c. 12, and the Note, p. 21.
232 35 See c. 10.
233 He alludes to the town of Arbela, where, as it is generally said, the army of Darius was defeated by Alexander the Great; by which engage- ment the conflict was terminated. It was the fact, however, that Darius left his baggage and treasures at Arbela, while the battle really took place near the village of Gaugamela, about twenty miles to the north-west of Arbela. This place still retains its name of Arbil.
234 A district in the east of Macedonia, bordering on the Thermaic gulf and the Chalcidic peninsula.
235 Nothing is known of this place. Hardouin suggests that it may have been built on the spot where Alexander defeated Darius.
236 Also known as Antiochia Mygdoniæ, the capital of Mygdonia. Its ruins are still to be seen near a place called Nisibin. It stood on the river Mygdonius, now the Nahral Huali.
237 Or Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian monarchy, destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians about B.C. 606.
238 There is great difficulty in ascertaining, from the accounts given by the ancient writers, the exact limits of this district, but it is supposed to have included a considerable portion of the province now known by the name of Azerbaijan. It derived its name from Atropates or Atropes, who was governor of this district under the last Darius.
239 Most probably the place now known as Gazæa, the royal residence of the Parthian kings, and, as its name would imply, their treasure city. Colonel Rawlinson thinks that this place underwent many changes of name according to the rulers who successively occupied it; among other names, it appears to have borne that of Ecbatana.
240 A city of great magnitude, pleasantly situate near the foot of Mount Orontes, in the northern part of Greater Media. Its original foundation was attributed by Diodorus Siculus to Semiramis, and by Herodotus to Deioces. It was the capital of the Median kingdom, and afterwards the summer residence of the Persian and Parthian kings. The genuine orthography of the name seems to be Agbatana. The ruins seen at the modern Hamadan are generally supposed to represent those of the ancient Ecbatana; but it is most probable that at different times, if not contemporaneously, there were several cities of this name in Media.
241 Pliny in this statement, as also in the distances which he here assigns to Ecbatana, is supposed to have confounded Ecbatana with Europus, now Veramin, rebuilt by Seleucus Nicator.
242 This was a city in the vicinity of Rhagæ, which was distant about 500 stadia from the Caspian Gates. It was built by the Greeks after the Macedonian conquest of Asia. The other places here mentioned do not appear to have been identified.
243 See the beginning of c. 12, p. 21.
244 This was the name of the wild tribes which occupied the high mountainous district between the great upland of Persia and the low plains of Mesopotamia. In addition to the name mentioned by Pliny, they were called Gordyæ, Cardaces, and Curtii. The present Kurds, inhabiting Kurdistan, are supposed to be descended from them.
245 The Greek παρ᾽ ὁδὸν, "on the road"—meaning, probably, to the Caspian Gates. Hardouin says that the Pratitæ were so called from the Greek πρατῖται, "merchants."
246 Although dwelling at a considerable distance, the custody of these gates was delivered to them, Hardouin says, by the kings of Media.
247 To the south-east of them.
248 Mentioned in c. 29 of the present Book.
249 Or Choarene.
250 Its site is unknown; but it is mentioned by Appian as one of the many towns erected by Seleucus.
251 By the use of the word "quondam," he implies that in his time it was in ruins.
252 A place of considerable importance, which seems to have derived its name from its "hundred gates." It was one of the capitals of the Arsacidan princes; but, extensive though it may have been, there is great doubt where it was situate, the distance recorded by ancient writers not corresponding with any known ruins.
253 In a northern direction, along the western shores of the Caspian.
254 According to Hardouin, Eratosthenes, as quoted by Strabo, makes the distance 5060 stadia, or about 633 miles. He has, however, mistranslated the passage, which gives 5600 stadia, or 700 miles exactly, as stated by Pliny.
255 Or 1960 miles.
256 Bactra, Bactrum, or Bactrium, was one of the chief cities, if not the capital, of the province of Bactriana. It was one of the most ancient cities in the world, and the modern Balkh is generally supposed to occupy its site. Strabo, as well as Pliny, evidently considers that Bactra and Zareispa were the same place, while Appian distinguishes between the two, though he does not clearly state their relative positions.
257 The modern Syr-Daria, mentioned in c. 15. See p. 25.
258 By some writers called Apavareticene, in the south-eastern part of Parthia. Ansart says that it is now known as Asterabad and Ghilan.
259 Or Dara. A strongly fortified place, built by Arsaces I., and situate on the mountains of the Zapaorteni.
260 According to Ansart, the district now known as Tabaristan, or Mazanderan, derives the first of those names from the Tapyri.
261 D'Anville remarks that this river still retains its "starry" name, being the modern Aster or Ester, on which Asterabad is situate.
262 This district occupied the southern part of modern Khiva, the southwestern part of Bokhara, and the north-eastern part of Khorassan. This province of the ancient Persian empire received its name from the river Margus, now the Moorghab. It first became known to the Greeks by the expeditions of Alexander and Antiochus I.
263 Antiochus Soter, the son of Seleucus Nicator.
264 The meaning of this, which has caused great diversity of opinion among the Commentators, seems to be, that on rebuilding it, he preferred giving it a name borne by several cities in Syria, and given to them in honour of kings of that country. To this he appears to have been prompted by a supposed resemblance which its site on the Margus bore to that of Antiochia on the Orontes.
265 The modern Moorghab; it loses itself in the sands of Khiva.
266 Its remains are supposed to be those of an ancient city, still to be seen at a spot called Merv, on the river Moorghab.
267 The people of modern Bokhara.
268 This appears to mean the nations of "Chariot horse-breeders."
269 In former editions, called the 'Gridinus.' It is impossible to identify many of these nations and rivers, as the spelling varies considerably in the respective MSS.
270 An extensive tribe of Sogdiana, now represented by the district of Khawarezm, in the desert country of Khiva.
271 A tribe in the north-western part of Sogdiana. They appear to have been situate to the east of the district of Khawarezm. It has been suggested that they derived their name from the Sanscrit Gandharas, a tribe beyond the Indus.
272 The chief seat of the Aorsi, who appear to have been a numerous and powerful people both of Europe and Asia, was in the country between the Tanais, the Euxine, the Caspian, and the Caucasus. It seems doubtful, however, whether it is these people who are alluded to in the present passage.
273 These would almost seem to be a different people from those mentioned in c. 15 of the present Book, as dwelling in Atropatene. The present appears to have been a tribe of Sogdiana.
274 Strabo mentions a town of this name, which he places, together with Apamea, in the direction of Rhagæ. If Pliny has observed anything like order in his recital of nations and places, the Heraclea here mentioned cannot be that spoken of by Strabo, but must have been distant nearly 1000 miles from it.
275 This was a tribe, apparently of Scythian origin, settled in Margiana, on the left bank of the Oxus. Strabo says that they worshipped the earth, and forbore to sacrifice or slay any female; but that they put to death their fellow-creatures as soon as they had passed their seventieth year, it being the privilege of the next of kin to eat the flesh of the deceased person. The aged women, however, they used to strangle, and then consign them to the earth.
276 The modern Jihoun or Amou. It now flows into the Sea of Aral, but the ancients universally speak of it as running into the Caspian; and there are still existing distinct traces of a channel extending in a southwesterly direction from the sea of Aral to the Caspian, by which at least a portion, and probably the whole of the waters of the Oxus found their way. into the Caspian; and not improbably the Sea of Aral itself was connected with the Caspian by this channel.
277 Most probably under this name he means the Sea of Aral.
278 The Bactrus. This river is supposed to be represented by the modern Dakash. Hardouin says that Ptolemy, B. vi. c. 11, calls this river the Zariaspis, or Zariaspes. See the Note at the end of c, 17, p. 30.
279 Now known as the Hindoo-Koosh; a part of the great mountainchain which runs from west to east through the centre of the southern portion of the highlands of Central Asia, and so divides the part of the continent which slopes down to the Indian ocean from the great central table-land of Tartary and Thibet. The native term, Hindoo-Koosh, is only a form of the ancient name "Indicus Caucasus," which was sometimes given to this chain. The ancient name was derived probably from the Persian word paru,a "mountain."
280 Flowing from the north side of the Paropanisus. According to Pliny and Ptolemy, this river flowed through Bactria into the Oxus; but ac- cording to Strabo, through Iyrcania into the Caspian Sea. Some suppose it to have been only another name for the Oxus. Ansart suggests that it may have been the river now known as the Bash.
281 D'Anville says that there is still the valley of Al Sogd, in Tartary, beyond the Oxus. The district called Sogdiana was probably composed of parts of modern Turkistan and Bokhara. The site of Panda does not appear to be known.
282 It was built on the Jaxartes, to mark the furthest point reached by Alexander in his Scythian expedition. It has been suggested that the modern Kokend may possibly occupy its site.
283 The "twin," of the same birth with Diana.
284 The Sacæ probably formed one of the most numerous and most powerful of the Scythian Nomad tribes, and dwelt to the east and north-east of the Massagetæ, as far as Servia, in the steppes of Central Asia, which are now peopled by the Kirghiz Cossacks, in whose name that of their ancestors, the Sacæ, is traced by some geographers.
285 Meaning the "Great Getæ." They dwelt beyond the Jaxartes and the Sea of Aral, and their country corresponds to that of the Khirghiz Tartars in the north of Independent Tartary.
286 The Dahæ were a numerous and warlike Nomad tribe, who wandered over the vast steppes lying to the east of the Caspian Sea. Strabo has grouped them with the Sacæ and Massagetæ, as the great Scythian tribes of Inner Asia, to the north of Bactriana.
287 See also B. iv. c. 20, and B. vi. c. 7. The position of the Essedones, or perhaps more correctly, the Issedones, may probably be assigned to the east of Ichim, in the steppes of the central border of the Kirghiz, in the immediate vicinity of the Arimaspi, who dwelt on the northern declivity of the Altaï chain. A communication is supposed to have been carried on between these two peoples for the exchange of the gold that was the produce of those mountain districts.
288 They dwelt, according to Ptolemy, along the southern banks of the Jaxartes.
289 Or the Mardi, a warlike Asiatic tribe. Stephanus Byzantinus, following Strabo, places the Amardi near the Hyrcani, and adds, "There are also Persian Mardi, without the a;" and, speaking of the Mardi, he mentions them as an Hyrcanian tribe, of predatory habits, and skilled in archery.
290 D'Anville supposes that the Euchatæ may have dwelt at the modern Koten, in Little Bukharia. It is suggested, however, by Parisot, that they may have possibly occupied a valley of the Himalaya, in the midst of a country known as "Cathai," or the "desert."
291 The first extant notice of them is in Herodotus; but before him there was the poem of Aristeas of Proconnesus, of which the title was 'Arimaspea;' and it is mainly upon the statements in it that the stories told relative to this people rest—such as their being one-eyed, and as to their stealing the gold from the Gryphes, or Griffins, under whose custody it was placed. Their locality is by some supposed to have been on the left bank of the Middle Volga, in the governments of Kasan, Simbirsk, and Saratov: a locality which is sufficiently near the gold districts of the Uralian chain to account for the legends connecting them with the Gryphes, or guardians of the gold.
292 The former reading was, "The Napæi are said to have perished as well as the Apellæi." Sillig has, however, in all probability, restored the correct one. "Finding," he says, "in the work of Diodorus Siculus, that two peoples of Scythia were called, from their two kings, who were brothers, the Napi and the Pali, we have followed close upon the footsteps of certain MSS. of Pliny, and have come to the conclusion that some disputes arose between these peoples, which ultimately led to the destruction of one of them."
293 Of the Caspian Sea.
294 Said on the supposition that it is a bay or gulf of the Scythian or Septentrional Ocean.
295 Ansart suggests that this is the modern Rocsha.
296 From the Oxus.
297 Ansart suggests that this island is that now called Idak, one of the Ogurtchinski group.
298 This would apply to the north-eastern coasts of Siberia, if Pliny had had any idea of land situate in such high latitudes; but, on the contrary, as already remarked, he appears to have supposed that the continent of Asia terminated a little above the northern extremity of the Caspian. It would be a loss of time to guess what locality is meant by the Scythian Promontory.
299 Or "man-eaters."
300 This, it would appear, he looks upon as the extreme north-eastern point of Asia. Parisot suggests that the word Tabis is allied to the Mongol Daba, which signifies "mountain;" or else that it may have some affinity with Thibet."
301 The people of Serica, which country with Ptolemy corresponds to the north-western part of China, and the adjacent portions of Tibet and Chinese Tartary. The capital, Sera, is by most supposed to be Singan, on the Hoang-ho, but by some Peking. Pliny evidently refers to the same people, and has some notion of the locality of their country.
302 This is generally supposed to bear reference to the cloths exported by the Seres, as Serica, and corresponding to our silks. On examination, however, it will appear that he rather refers to some textures of cotton, such as calicos or muslins; it being not unknown to Pliny that silks or bombycina were the produce of the bombyx or silk-worm; see B. xi. c. 22. The use of the word "canities" points strongly to cotton as being the substance meant.
303 Whether it is silk or cotton that is here referred to, Pliny seems in this passage to allude to some peculiarity in the texture, which was perhaps so close, that when brought to the Western world it was the custom to draw out a portion of tie threads. In such case it perhaps strongly resembled the Chinese crapes of the present day. Speaking of Cleopatra in B. x. 141, of the Pharsalia, Lucan says, "Her white breasts are resplendent through the Sidonian fabric, which, wrought in close texture by the sley of the Seres, the needle of the workman of the Nile has separated, and has loosened the warp by stretching out the web."
304 He either refers to dresses consisting of nothing but open work, or what we may call fine lace, and made from the closely woven material imported from China, or else to the 'Coan vestments' which were so much worn by the Roman women, especially those of light character, in the Augustan age. This Coan tissue was remarkable for its extreme transparency. It has been supposed that these dresses were made of silk, as in the island of Cos silk was spun and woven at an early period, so much so as to obtain a high celebrity for the manufactures of that island. Seneca, B. vii. De Benef. severely censures the practice of wearing these thin garments. For further information on this subject, see B. xi. c. 26, 27, and B. xii. c. 22.
305 Meaning that they do not actively seek intercourse with the rest of the world, but do not refuse to trade with those who will take the trouble of resorting to them. This coincides wonderfully with the character of the Chinese even at the present day.
306 Ptolemy speaks of it as the Œchordas.
307 The headland of Malacca, in the Aurea Chersonnesns, was also called by this name, but it is hardly probable that that is the place here meant.
308 See B. iv. c. 18.
309 The Emodi Montes (so called probably from the Indian hemâdri, or the "golden") are supposed to have formed that portion of the great lateral branch of the Indian Caucasus, the range of the Himalaya, which extends along Nepaul, and probably as far as Bhotan.
310 In c. 14 of the present Book.
311 The whole of this passage seems very intricate, and it is difficult to make sense of it. His meaning, however, is probably this: that the coast of India, running from extreme north-east to south-east, relatively to Greece, the country of Eratosthenes, is exactly opposite to the coast of Gaul, running from extreme north-west to south-west—India thus lying due west of Gaul, without any intervening land. This, it will be remembered, was the notion of Columbus, when contemplating the possibility of a western passage to India.
312 This appears also to be somewhat obscure. It is clear that if India lies to the west of Gaul, it cannot be Pliny's meaning that it is refreshed by the west wind blowing to it from Gaul. He may possibly mean that the west wind, which is so refreshing to the west of Europe, and Gaul in particular, first sweeps over India, and thus becomes productive of that salubrity which Posidonius seems to have discovered in India, but for which we look in vain at the present day. Amid, however, such multiplied chances of a corrupt text, it is impossible to assume any very definite position as to his probable meaning. The French translators offer no assistance in solving the difficulty, and Holland renders it, "This west wind which from behind Gaul bloweth upon India, is very healthsome," &c.
313 As to the Etesian winds, see 1. ii. c. 48.
314 In the geographical work which Patrocles seems to have published, he is supposed to have given some account of the countries bordering on the Caspian Sea, and there is little doubt that, like other writers of that period, he regarded that sea as a gulf or inlet of the Septentrional Ocean, and probably maintained the possibility of sailing thither by sea from the Indian Ocean. This statement, however, seems to have been strangely misinterpreted by Pliny in his present assertion, that Patrocles had himself accomplished this circumnavigation.
315 See B. v. c. 36.
316 Or Bacchus.
317 Or seventy-five miles.
318 This is the statement of Arrian.
319 Among the lost works of that philosopher.
320 In c. 17 of the present Book.
321 See c. 25 of the present Book.
322 See c. 25 of the present Book.
323 See c. 25 of the present Book.
324 A town placed by Strabo on the confines of Bactriana, and by Ptolemy in the county of the Paropanisidæ.
325 See c. 25 of the present Book.
326 See c. 24 of the present Book.
327 The present Attok, according to D'Anville.
328 One of the principal rivers of that part of India known as the Punjaub. It rises in the north-western Himalayah mountains in Kashmere, and after flowing nearly south, falls into the Acesines or Chenab. Its present most usual name is the Jhelum.
329 The most eastern, and most important of the five rivers which water the country of the Punjaub. Rising in the western Himalaya, it flows in two principal branches, in a course nearly south-west (under the names respectively of Vipasa and Satadru), which it retains till it falls into the Indus at Mittimkote. It is best known, however, by its modern name of Sutlej, probably a corrupt form of the Sanscrit Satadru.
330 See c. 18 of the present Book. The altars there spoken of, as consecrated by Alexander the Great, appear to have been erected in Sogdiana, whereas those here mentioned were dedicated in the Indian territory.
331 It does not appear that this river has been identified. In most of the editions it is called Hesidrus; but, as Sillig observes, there was a town of India, near the Indus, called Sydros, which probably received its name from this river.
332 It has been suggested that this place is the modern Kanouge, on the Ganges.
333 The modern Jumna. It must be borne in mind by the reader, that the numbers given in this Chapter vary considerably in the different MSS.
334 See the next Chapter.
335 The Sanscrit for "snowy" is "himrarat." The name of Emodus, combined with Imaiis, seems here to be a description of the knot of mountains formed by the intersections of the Himalaya, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Bolor range; the latter having been for many ages the boundary between the empires of China and Turkistan. It is pretty clear, that, like Ptolemy, Pliny imagined that the Imaiis ran from south to north; but it seems hardly necessary, in this instance at least, to give to the word "promontorium" the meaning attached to our word "promontory," and to suppose that he implies that the range of the Imaüs runs down to the verge of the eastern ocean.
336 A name evidently given to numerous tribes of India, from the circumstance that Alexander and his followers found it borne by the Brahmins or priestly caste of the Hindoos.
337 Still called the Cane, a navigable river of India within the Ganges, falling into the Ganges, according to Arrian as well as Pliny, though in reality it falls into the Jumna.
338 The Calingæ, who are further mentioned in the next Chapter, probably dwelt in the vicinity of the promontory of Calingon, upon which was the town of Dandaguda, mentioned in c. 23 of the present Book. This promontory and city are usually identified with those of Calinapatnam, about half-way between the rivers Mahanuddy and Godavery; and the territory of the Calingæ seems to correspond pretty nearly to the district of Circars, lying along the coast of Orissa.
339 By the Malli, Parisot is of opinion that the people of Moultan are meant.
340 So much so, indeed, that its sources were unknown to the learned world till the beginning of the present century, although the Chinese emperor Tang-Hi on one occasion sent a body of Llamas for the purpose of inquiring into the subject. It is now ascertained that the river Ganges is the result of the confluence of three separate streams, which bear the respective names of the Gannavi, the Bhagirathi, and the Alakananda. The second is of the most sacred character, and is the one to which the largest concourse of pilgrims resort. The ancients held various opinions as to the sources of the river.
341 The Cainas and the Jomanes, mentioned in the last Chapter.
342 The modern Gandaki or Gundûk is generally supposed to be represented by the Condochates.
343 Represented as flowing into the Ganges at Palimbothra, the modern Patna. There has been considerable discussion among the learned as to what river is indicated by this name. It has, however, been considered most probable that it is the same as the Sonus of Pliny, the modern Soane, though both that author, as well as Arrian, speaks of two rivers, which they call respectively Erannoboas and Sonus. The name was probably derived from the Sanscrit Hyranyavahas, the poetical name of the Sonus.
344 Supposed to be the same as the river Cosi or Coravaha.
345 The wide diffusion of the Calingæ and their close connection with the Gangaridæ, are shown by the fact that Pliny here calls them "Calingæ; Gangarides," and mentions the Modogalingæ on a large island in the Ganges, and the Maccocalingæ on the upper course of that river. See note 43, p. 42.
346 Called Parthalis in most of the editions.
347 Or castes, as we call them. These institutions prevail equally at the present day, and the divisions of the duties of the respective castes are pretty much as Pliny states them to be, except that the husbandmen and merchants form one class, called the Vaisya, the Brahmins being the ministers of religion, the Kshatriya forming the warlike class, the Sudra constituting the menial or servant class. Pliny here represents the rulers and councillors as forming a distinct class. Such, however, does not appear to be the fact; for we find that the sovereign is chosen from the Kshatriya or military class, while from the Brahmins are selected the royal councillors, judges, and magistrates of the country.
348 He alludes to the Brahmins, who seem to have been called by the Greek writers "Gymnosophists," or "naked wise men." The Brahmin Calanus is a memorable example of this kind of self-immolation.
349 It is extremely doubtful if, even in his own day, Pliny was correct in venturing upon so sweeping an assertion.
350 The Sudra or menial caste.
351 He is incorrect here; these duties devolve on the Vaisya class.
352 Inhabited, probably, by a branch of the Calingæ previously mentioned.
353 Ansart suggests that this may be the modern kingdom of Pegu. He thinks also that the preceding kingdom may be that now called Arracan.
354 These may possibly be the Daradræ of Ptolemy, but it seems impossible to guess their locality.
355 Probably the present Patna. D'Anville, however, identifies it with Allahabad, while Welford and Wahl are inclined to think it the same as Radjeurah, formerly called Balipoutra or Bengala. The Prasii are probably the race of people mentioned in the ancient Sanscrit books under the name of the "Pragi" or the Eastern Empire, while the Gangarides are mentioned in the same works under the name of "Gandaressa" or Kingdom of the Ganges.
356 Hardouin is of opinion that these nations dwelt in the localities occupied by the districts of Gwalior and Agra.
357 The Septentriones or "Seven Trions," in the original. Parisot is of opinion that under this name of Mount Maleus he alludes to the Western Ghauts, and that the name still survives in the word Malabar. He also remarks that this statement of Pliny is not greatly exaggerated.
358 Ansart says that this is the same as the modern town of Muttra or Matra upon the Jumna, and to the north of Agra.
359 Or Clisobora, according to Hardouin. It does not appear to have been identified.
360 In the Indian Peninsula, constituting more especially the presidency of Madras.
361 It is clear that he looks upon the countries of the Indus as lying to the south of the Ganges.
362 Or Hindoo Koosh. In this statement he is supported by Arrian, Strabo, Mela, and Quintus Curtius. It rises, however, a considerable distance on the north-east side of the Himalaya.
363 The modern Jhelum.
364 Some writers suppose that this must be the same as the Hydraotes, or modern Ravi, because the latter is not otherwise found mentioned in the list given by Pliny. The name, however, leaves but little doubt that Pliny had heard of the Acesines under its Indian name of Chandabragha, and out of it has made another river.
365 The modern Sutlej.
366 Probably in the vicinity of the modern Calingapatam; none of the other places seem to be identified.
367 Ansart suggests that the Cesi may be the same race as the modern Sikhs.
368 Perhaps the people of modern Ajmere.
369 These peoples are supposed by Hardouin to have occupied the southern parts of the peninsula now known as Bisnagar, Calicut, and the Deccan, with the Malabar and Coromandel coasts.
370 Hardouin suggests that this people dwelt on the present peninsula of Guzerat.
371 None of these appear to have been identified; indeed, it appears to be next to impossible, owing to the corrupt state in which they have come down to us.
372 Built on the Hydaspes by Alexander after his victory over Porus, B. C. 326, at the spot where he had crossed the river before the battle, and in memory of his celebrated charger Bucephalus, who had expired during the battle from fatigue and old age, or from wounds. The exact site of this place is not known, but the probabilities appear in favour of Jhelum, at which place is the usual passage of the river, or else of Jellapoor, about sixteen miles lower down. 78 Probably the same that is mentioned in c. 21 of the present Book.
373 Parisot supposes that these were the inhabitants of the district which now bears the name of Pekheli.
374 Gedrosia comprehended probably the same district as is now known by the name of Mekran, or, according to some, the whole of modern Beloochistan.
375 The people of the city and district of Arachotus, the capital of Ara- ehosia. M. Court has identified some ruins on the Argasan river, near Kandahar, on the road to Shikarpur, with those of Arachotus; but Professor Wilson considers them to be too much to the south-east. Colonel Rawlinson thinks they are those to be seen at a place called Ulan Robat. He states that the most ancient name of the city, Cophen, (mentioned by Pliny in c. 25 of the present Book), has given rise to the territorial desig- nation. See p. 57.
376 The people of Aria, consisting of the eastern part of Khorassan, and the western and north-western part of Afghanistan. This was one of the most important of the eastern provinces or satrapies of the Persian empire.
377 This was the collective name of several peoples dwelling on the southern slopes of the Hindoo Koosh, and of the country which they inhabited which was not known by any other name. It corresponded to the eastern part of modern Afghanistan and the portion of the Punjaub lying to the west of the Indus.
378 It is supposed that the Cophes is represented by the modern river of Kabul.
379 The place here alluded to was in the district of Goryræa, at the north-western corner of the Punjaub, near the confluence of the rivers Cophen and Choaspes being probably the same place as Nagara or Dionysopolis, the modern Nagar or Naggar.
380 The word μν́ρος, in Greek, signifying a "thigh."
381 Supposed by some to have been Lower Scinde, and the vicinity of Kurrachee, with its capital Potala.
382 Ansart suggests that these may be the Laccadives. Their name means the "gold" and "silver" islands.
383 Probably an island near the mouths of the Indus.
384 Probably the same as the Bibacta of Arrian. The present name of it is Chilney Isle.
385 Although Poinsinet will not admit its identity, it is now universally agreed among the learned that the island of Taprobana is the modern Ceylon. As Gosselin observes, in the accounts said to have been given of Ceylon by the ambassadors to Claudius, great allowance must be made for the wrong interpretation which, owing to their ignorance of the language, the Romans must have given to much of their narrative.
386 From ἀντι, "opposite," and χθών, "the earth." Its people being supposed to be the antipodes of those of Europe.
387 "The ancient race." As Ansart observes, the island contains a mountain, the name of which is "Adam's" Peak.
388 Ælian makes the villages to be 750 in number.
389 A general term probably, as already stated, for the great peninsula of India, below the Ganges.
390 This expression has been relied upon by those who do not admit that Ceylon is identical with the ancient Taprobana. But it is not improbable that the passage here referred to is from Cape Comorin to Ceylon, and not from Cape Ramanan Cor, the nearest part of the continent. In such case, the distance would be sixty-five or sixty-six leagues, and we can easily conceive that Greek vessels, sailing from nine to ten leagues per day, might occupy seven days in making the passage from Cape Comorin, past Ramanan Cor, to the coasts of Ceylon.
391 The amphora, as a measure, contained eight congii, or forty-eight sextarii.
392 Or "Septentrio;" "the Seven Trions," which was more especially employed by the nations of Europe for the purposes of navigation.
393 Parisot suggests that the word "Radijah," or "Rajah," denoting the rank which he held, may have been here taken by Pliny for his name.
394 Ptolemy says that the ancient name of the island was Simundi, or Palæsimundi, but speaks of no such city as the one here mentioned, nor indeed of any other of the localities described by Pliny.
395 It is difficult to say whether by this name is meant the modern Cape Comorin, or that known as Ramanan Cor, which is in reality the nearest point to the coast of Ceylon. Perhaps the latter is meant; in which case it is not improbable that the Island of the Sun will be represented by the islet called Rameserum in the maps, or else the one adjoining called Manaar. It must not be confounded with the Island of the Sun, mentioned in c. 26. See p. 60.
396 It is not improbable that he alludes to coral reefs.
397 This assertion Gosselin would either reject as a fabulous falsehood, or as having originated in some misconception on the part of the Romans; for, as he remarks, it is quite impossible that the Pleiades should be a constellation unknown at that time to the people of Ceylon; but, on the other hand, it would be equally true that the Greater Bear was concealed from them.
398 This was also a fable, or else originated in misapprehension of their language on the part of the Romans.
399 Gosselin remarks that their story may have been that for about seven months in the year the shadows fell to the north, and during the remaining five to the south, which would not have been inconsistent with the truth.
400 This also is classed by Gosselin under the head either of fabulous stories or misapprehensions.
401 "Scras—ab ipsis aspici." It is difficult to say whether this does not mean that they were in sight of the coast of the Seræ.-Under any circumstances, the Seræ here spoken of must not be taken for the Seres or supposed Chinese. Gosselin remarks that under this name the people of a district called Sera are probably referred to, and that in fact such is the name of a city and a whole province at the present day, situate on the opposite coast, beyond the mountains which terminate the plains of the Carnatic. It is equally impossible that under the name of "Emodi" Pliny can allude to the Himalaya chain, distant more than 2000 miles. The mountains, on the verge of the plains of the Carnatic, are not improbably those here referred to, and it is not impossible that they may be discerned from the shores of Ceylon. Gosselin is of opinion that the name of the ancient Seræ may still be traced in that of Seringapatam, and of the city of Seringham, situate on the river Godavery.
402 Relative to the Seræ, or inhabitants of the opposite shores.
403 Or "Bacchus." This means that he wears a long robe with a train; much like the dress, in fact, which was worn on the stage by tragic actors.
404 "Festa venatione absumi, gratissimam earn tigribus elephantisque constare." Holland gives this sentence quite a different meaning, fancying that it bears reference to the mode in which the guilty king comes to his end, which, indeed, otherwise does not appear to be stated. "But to doe him to death in the end, they appoint a solemne day of hunting, right pleasant and agreable unto tigres and elephants, before which beasts they expose their king, and so he is presently by them devoured." It is difficult to say, however, where he finds all this.
405 It is much more probable that they used the shells for the purpose of making roofs for their habitations.
406 Mentioned already, towards the conclusion of c. 23 of the present Book. See p. 51.
407 This place was included in the district of the Paropanisus or Hindoo Koosh. It is doubtful whether Pliny is correct in saying that it was destroyed by Cyrus, as we have no reason for supposing that he ever advanced so far to the north-east. It is supposed by some that Capisene represents the valley of the Kabul river, and Capisa the town on the Indus, now known as Peshawar. Lassen, in his researches, has found in the Chinese annals a kingdom called Kiapiche, in the valley of Ghurbend, to the east of Bamian. It is not improbable that Capisa and Kiapiche were different forms of the same name.
408 See the Notes in p. 50.
409 The principal river of Drangiana, which rises in the lower range of the Paropanisus or Hindoo Koosh, and enters Lake Zarah. Its present name is Ilmend or Helmend. Burnouf has supposed it to be the same as the Arachotus; but Professor Wilson is of opinion that the Arachotus was one of the tributaries of the Erymanthus or Erymandrus, and probably the modern Arkand-Ab.
410 Parisot takes the meaning of this word to be "valley," and is of opinion that it is the modern Chabul; not to be confounded, however, with the country of Cabul, to the east of which it is situate.
411 Now called Birusen, according to Parisot, and not the city of Cabul, as supposed by Hardouin.
412 Or the "four-cornered city."
413 This place has not been identified. It has been suggested that it is the same as the modern city of Candahar; but that was really Alexandria of the Paropanisadæ, quite a different place.
414 Inhabiting the district now called Arassen, according to Parisot.
415 Inhabiting the modern Danra, according to Parisot.
416 Inhabitants of the modern Parasan, according to Parisot.
417 The modern Candahar is generally supposed to occupy its site.
418 Pliny is thought to have here confounded the extensive district of Ariana with the smaller province of Aria, which only formed a portion of it. Ariana comprehended nearly the whole of what had been previously ancient Persia
419 The river known in modern times as the Ilincut, according to Parisot.
420 This is supposed by Forbiger to be the modern Arghasan, one of the tributaries of the Helmend. Parisot says that it was the same as the modern Sat.
421 27 Supposed to be the same as the "Aria civitas," or "city of Aria" of other authors, which, however, is most probably represented by Alexandria, the modern Herat, situate on the small stream now called the Heri-Rud. At all events, Artacoana (proved by M. Court to be a word of Persian origin —Arde Koun) was, if not the same place, at a very small distance from it. M. Barbie de Bocage is of opinion that it occupied the site of Fushing, a town on the Heri river, one stage from Herat; and by M. Court it is thought to have been at Obeh, near the same place.
422 Now called the Heri-Rud, which runs to the west of Herat.
423 It is said that, judging from a traditional verse still current among the people of Herat, that town is believed to unite the claims of the ancient capital built by Alexander the Great, or indeed, more properly, repaired by him, as he was but a short time in Aria. The distance also from the Caspian Gates to Alexandria favours its identification with the modern Herat.
424 This place does not appear to have been identified.
425 Ansart suggests that the river Pharnacotis is the same as the modern Ferrichround, and the Ophradus probably the Kouchround.
426 Ansart suggests that the modern name is Zarang. Parisot says that it is Corcharistan.
427 The inhabitants of Drangiana, a district at the eastern end of the modern kingdom of Persia, and comprehending part of the present Sejestan or Seistan.
428 They gave its name to the modern Eudras, according to Parisot.
429 It is doubtful whether these are the same as the Gedrosi, mentioned by Pliny in c. 23, 24. Parisot censures Hardouin for confounding them, and says that these inhabited the modern Bassar. In Dr. Smith's Dic- tionary, they are looked upon as the same people.
430 Parisot says that this is the desert region now known as Eremaier, to the east of Mount Maugracot.
431 As Parisot remarks, our author is now approaching the sea-shore; these places, however, do not appear to have been identified.
432 Not the same as the river Cophen or Cophes mentioned in c. 24, the modern Kabul. Hardouin takes it to be the same as the Arbis or Arabius of Ptolemy, the modern Hilmend or Ilmend.
433 Parisot seems to think that the modern names of these rivers are the Sal, the Ghir, and the Ilmentel, which, according to him, flow into the Ilmend.
434 Situate, according to Ptolemy, in the eastern parts of Media.
435 For this measurement see c. 21.
436 Meaning the "Fish-eating Mountaineers." According to Parisot they occupied the site of the modern Dulcidan, and Goadel, which are bounded by mountains, whence the name.
437 Not only the Oritæ, but all those mentioned in the following Chapter. For further particulars as to the Ichthyophagi, see B. vii. c. 2.
438 See the Notes at the end of this Book.
439 By descending the Indus, and going up the Persian Gulf.
440 Near the mouth of the Indus, Hardouin says.
441 One of Alexander's most distinguished officers, and a native of Pella. He commanded the division of cavalry and light-armed troops which ac- companied the fleet of Alexander down the Indus, along the right bank of the river. The Alexandria here mentioned does not appear to have been identified. It is not to be confounded with Alexandria in Arachosia, nor yet with a place of the same name in Carmania, the modern Kerman.
442 A river Tomerus is spoken of by Arrian as lying between the Indus and the river Arabis or Arbis.
443 They seem to have dwelt along the shores of the modern Mukran, south of Beloochistan, and probably part of Kerman.
444 Called Nosala by Arrian. Ansart suggests that it is the island now known by the name of Sengadip. It lay probably off the promontory or headland of the Sun, on the eastern coast of Arabia.
445 Mela suggests the reason, but gives to the island a different locality— "over against the mouth of the Indus." He says that the air of the island is of such a nature as to take away life instantaneously, and appears to imply that the heat is the cause.
446 Possibly that now known as the Rud Shur.
447 Properly the "Seven Trions."
448 The Persian kings, descendants of Achæmenes. He was said to have been reared by an eagle.
449 Called the Promontory of Harmozon by Strabo. Hardouin says that the modern name is Cape Jash, but recent writers suggest that it is represented by the modern Cape Bombaruk, nearly opposite Cape Mussendom.
450 Perhaps the modern Kishon, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf; or that may be one of the four islands next mentioned.
451 The story of Pontoppidan's Kraken or Korven, the serpent of the Norwegian Seas, is as old as Pliny, we find, and he derived his information from older works.
452 Forbiger has suggested that this may be the same as the modern Djayrah.
453 Mentioned again in c. 29 of the present Book. Its modern name is Pasa or Fasa-Kuri, according to Parisot.
454 Supposed to be the stream called by D'Anville and Thevenot the Boschavir, the river of Abushir or Busheer.
455 A river of ancient Susiana, the present name of which is Karun. Pliny states, in c. 31 of the present Book, that the Eulæus flowed round the citadel of Susa; he mistakes it, however, for the Coprates, or, more strictly speaking, for a small stream now called the Shapúr river, the ancient name of which has not been preserved. He is also in error, most probably, in making the river Eulæus flow through Messabatene, it being most likely the present Mah-Sabaden, in Laristan, which is drained by the Kerkbah, the ancient Choaspes, and not by the Eulæus.
456 Called, for the sake of distinction, Charax Spasinu, originally founded by Alexander the Great. It was afterwards destroyed by a flood, and rebuilt by Antiochus Epiphanes, under the name of Antiochia. It is mentioned in c. 31.
457 The Shushan of Scripture, now called Shu. It was the winter residence of the kings of Persia, and stood in the district Cersia of the province Susiana, on the eastern bank of the river Choaspes. The site of Sisa is now marked by extensive mounds.
458 The island of Patala or Patale, previously mentioned in c. 23.
459 Most probably the Cape Ras-el-Bad, the most easterly peninsula of Arabia.
460 35,000,000 francs, according to Ansart, which would amount to £1,400,000 of our money.
461 Pliny is the only writer that mentions this place among the towns of Lower Egypt. Some suppose it to have been Nicopolis, or the City of Victory, founded by Augustus B.C. 29, partly to commemorate the reduction of Egypt to a Roman province, and partly to punish the Alexandrians for their adhesion to the cause of Antony and Cleopatra. Mannert, however, looks upon it as having been merely that suburb of Alexandria which Strabo (B. xvii.) calls Eleusis.
462 From the Greek ὕδρευμα, a "watering-place."
463 From Coptos, the modern Kouft or Keft. Ptolemy Philadelphus, when he constructed the port of Berenice, erected several caravansaries or watering-places between the new city and Coptos. Coptos was greatly enriched by the commerce between Lybia and Egypt on the one hand, and Arabia and India on the other.
464 Belzoni found traces of several of the stations here mentioned. The site of Berenice, as ascertained by Moresby and Carless, 1830–3, was nearly at the bottom of the inlet known as the Sinus Immundus, or Foul Bay. Its ruins still exist.
465 Now called Gehla, a harbour and emporium at the south-western point of Arabia Felix.
466 An emporium or promontory on the southern coast of Arabia, in the country of the Adramitæ, and, as Arrian says, the chief port of the increase-bearing country. It has been identified by D'Anville with Cava Canim Bay, near a mountain called Hissan Ghorab, at the base of which there are ruins to be seen.
467 Probably the modern Mosch, north of Mokha, near the southern extremity of Arabia Felix.
468 Its ruins are now known as Dhafar. It was one of the chief cities of Arabia, standing near the southern coast of Arabia Felix, opposite the modern Cape Guardafui.
469 Or Favonius, the west wind, previously mentioned in the present Chapter.
470 The modern Mangalore, according to Du Bocage.
471 Or canoes.
472 The Cottiara of Ptolemy, who makes it the chief city of the Æi, a tribe who occupied the lower part of the peninsula of Hindostan. It has been supposed to be represented by the modern Calicut or Travancore. Cochin, however, appears to be the most likely.
473 Marcus observes that we may conclude that either Pliny or the author from whom he transcribed, wrote this between the years of the Christian era 48 and 51; for that the coincidence of the 6th of the month Mechir with the Ides of January, could not have taken place in any other year than those on which the first day of Thoth or the beginning of the year fell on the 11th of August, which happened in the years 48, 49, 50, and 51 of the Christian era.
474 An extensive province of Asia, along the northern shores of the Persian Gulf, supposed to have comprehended the coast-line of the modern Laristan, Kirman, and Moghostan.
475 Ptolemy mentions an inland town of Carmania of the same name.
476 Supposed to be that known now as the Ibrahim Rud, which falls into the Persian Gulf.
477 These sites are unknown.
478 Forms two bays or gulfs in succession.
479 He gives this name to the whole expanse of sea that lies between Arabia and Africa on the west, and India on the east, including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
480 Or Erythrus. In all probability entirely a mythical personage. The sea having been called in Greek ἐρυθραῖα, or "red"—the legend most probably thence took its rise. No very satisfactory reason has vet been given for its being so called. The Hebrew name of it signifies the "Sedgy Sea."
481 From Azania in Æthiopia, mentioned again in c. 34 of the present Book.
482 The maps appear to make it considerably more.
483 The only feature of resemblance appears to be its comparative narrowness at the neck.
484 Or "turtle-eaters."
485 Different probably from the Cophis mentioned in c. 25, which was also called Arabius or Arbis, and probably represented by the modern Purali.
486 Of Harmozon, probably the modern Bombareek.
487 Their district is supposed to denote the vicinity of the modern Ormuz, an island off this coast, which is now known as Moghostan.
488 Taking their name probably from the river Arbis, previously men- tioned.
489 The "Port of the Macedonians."
490 Now the Tab, falling into the Persian Gulf.
491 A district of Susiana, extending from the river Euleus on the west, to the Oratis on the east, deriving its name perhaps from the Elymæi, or Elymi, a warlike people found in the mountains of Greater Media. In the Old Testament this country is called Elam.
492 Ptolemy says that this last bore the name of "Alexander's Island."
493 Persis was more properly a portion only or province of the ancient kingdom of Persia. It gave name to the extensive Medo-Persian kingdom under Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, B.C. B.C. 559.
494 The Parthi originally inhabited the country south-east of the Caspian, now Khorassan. Under Arsaces and his descendants, Persis and the other provinces of ancient Persia became absorbed in the great Parthian empire. Parthia, with the Chorasmii, Sogdii, and Arii, formed the sixteenth satrapy under the Persian empire. See c. 16 of this Book.
495 The provinces of Parthia have been already mentioned in detail in the preceding Chapters, except Susiana and Elymais, which are mentioned in c. 31.
496 The original Parthia, the modern Khorassan.
497 The so-called Caucasian chain. See c. 16 of the present Book.
498 Or "Wandering Parthians," lying far to the east.
499 In c. 17 of the present Book.
500 Not to be confounded with the place in Atropatene, mentioned in c. 21 of the present Book.
501 It has been supposed that the modern Damgham corresponds with this place, but that is too near the Portæ Caspie. It is considered most probable that the remains of Hecatompylos ought to be sought in the neighbourhood of a place now known as Jah Jirm. It is mentioned in c. 17 and 21 of the present Book.
502 Media occupied the extreme west of the great table-land of the modern Iran. It corresponded very nearly to the modern province of Irak-Ajemi.
503 The Upper and the Lower, as already mentioned.
504 Hardouin suggests that this should be Syrtibolos. His reasons for so thinking will be found alluded to in a note to c. 31. See p. 80, Note 98.
505 Or the "Great Ladder." The Baron de Bode states, in his Travels in Luristan and Arabistan, that he discovered the remains of a gigantic causeway, in which he had no difficulty in recognizing one of the most ancient and most mysterious monuments of the East. This causeway, which at the present day bears the name of Jaddehi-Atabeg, or the "road of the Atabegs," was looked upon by several historians as one of the wonders of the world, who gave it the name of the Climax Megale or "Great Ladder." At the time even of Alexander the Great the name of its con- structor was unknown.
506 Which was rebuilt after it was burnt by Alexander, and in the middle ages had the name of Istakhar; it is now called Takhti Jemsheed, the throne of Jemsheed, or Chil-Minar, the Forty Pillars. Its foundation is sometimes ascribed to Cyrus the Great, but more generally to his son, Cambyses. The ruins of this place are very extensive.
507 Its site is unknown; but Dupinet translates it the "city of Lor."
508 The older of the two capitals of Persia, Persepolis being the later one. It was said to have been founded by Cyrus the Great, on the spot where he gained his victory over Astyages. Its exact site is doubtful, but most modern geographers identify it with Murghab, to the north-east of Persepolis, where there are the remains of a great sepulchral monument of the ancient Persians, probably the tomb of Cyrus. Others place it at Farsa or at Dorab-Gherd, both to the south-east of Persepolis, the direction mentioned by Strabo, but not in other respects answering his description so well as Murghab.
509 It is most probable that he does not allude here to the Ecbatana, mentioned in c. 17 of this Book.
510 There were several mountainous districts called Parætacene in the Persian empire, that being the Greek form of a Persian word signifying "mountainous."
511 In B. v. c. 21. He returns to the description of Susiana, Elymais, and Characene in c. 31 of the present Book.
512 The great seat of empire of the Babylonio-Chaldæan kingdom. It either occupied the site, it is supposed, or stood in the immediate vicinity of the tower of Babel. In the reign of Labynedus, Nabonnetus, or Bel- shazzar, it was taken by Cyrus. In the reign of Augustus, a small part only of Babylon was still inhabited, the remainder of the space within the walls being under cultivation. The ruins of Babylon are found to commence a little south of the village of Mohawill, eight miles north of Hillah.
513 Nineveh. See c. 16 of the present Book.
514 On the left bank of the Euphrates, opposite to the ford of Zeugma; a fortress of considerable importance.
515 Its site is unknown. Dupinet confounds it with the place of this name mentioned in the last Chapter, calling them by the name of Lor.
516 Pliny is wrong in placing Artemita in Mesopotamia. It was a city of Babylonia, in the district of Apolloniatis. The modern Sherbán is supposed to occupy its site.
517 Burnouf, having found the name of these people, as he supposes, in a cuneiform inscription, written "Ayura," would have them to be called Aroei. The Orei are also mentioned in B. v. c. 20.
518 This Antioch does not appear to have been identified.
519 The mountains of the Gordyæi are mentioned in c. 12.
520 This, as previously mentioned in a Note to c. 16, was the scene of the last great battle between Alexander and Darius, and known as the battle of Arbela. It has been suggested that it may perhaps be represented by a place now called Karnelis. See p. 27.
521 According to Ansart, now called the Lesser Zab, and by the inhabitants the Altun-su, meaning the "Golden river."
522 According to Parisot, the modern name is Calicala.
523 Strabo speaks of the Aborras, or modern Khabur, as flowing in the vicinity of Anthemusia, the district probably in which the town of Anthermis was situate. According to Isidorus of Charax, it lay between Edessa and the Euphrates. Its site does not appear to have been any further identified. It is called Anthemusia in B. v. c. 21.
524 In B. v. c. 21.
525 In B. v. c. 21.
526 In B. v. c. 21.
527 This canal, leading from the Euphrates to the Tigris, is by some thought, according to Hardouin, to have been the river Chobar, mentioned in Ezekiel, c. i. v. 3.
528 For Arar-Melik, meaning the "River King," according to Parisot.
529 As to the identity of this, see a Note at the beginning of this Chapter.
530 Meaning Jupiter Uranius, or "Heavenly Jupiter," according to Parisot, who observes that Eusebius interprets baal, or bel, "heaven." According to one account, he was the father of king Ninus and son of Nimrod. The Greeks in later times attached to his name many of their legendary fables.
531 The city of Seleucia ad Tigrin, long the capital of Western Asia, until it was eclipsed by Ctesiphon. Its site has been a matter of considerable discussion, but the most probable opinion is, that it stood on the western bank of the Tigris, to the north of its junction with the royal canal (probably the river Chobar above mentioned), opposite to the mouth of the river Delas or Silla (now Diala), and to the spot where Ctesiphon was afterwards built by the Parthians. It stood a little to the south of the modern city of Baghdad; thus commanding the navigation of the Tigris and Euphrates, and the whole plain formed by those two rivers.
532 Ammianus, like Pliny, has ascribed its foundation to the Parthians under Varanes, or Vardanes, of whom, however, nothing is known. It stood in the south of Assyria, on the eastern or left bank of the Tigris. Strabo speaks of it as being the winter residence of the Parthian kings, who lived there at that season, owing to the mildness of the climate. In modern times the site of this place has been identified with that called by the Arabs Al Madain, or the "two cities."
533 Or Vologeses. This was the name of five kings of Parthia, of the race of the Arsacidæ, Arsaces xxiii., xxvii., xxviii., xxix., xxx. It was the first of these monarchs who founded the place here mentioned by Pliny.
534 Or the "City of Vologesus;" certa being the Armenian for "city."
535 Nothing appears to be known of this place; but Hardouin thinks that it is the same with one called Maarsares by Ptolemy, and situate on the same river Narraga.
536 Parisot says that this river is the one set down in the maps as falling into the Tigris below its junction with the Euphrates, and near the mouths of the two rivers. He says that near the banks of it is marked the town of Nabrahan, the Narraga of Pliny.
537 There is great doubt as to the correct spelling of these names.
538 Against the attacks of robbers dwelling on the opposite side; the Attali, for instance.
539 Or "dwellers in tents," Bedouins, as we call them.
540 B. v. c. 20 and 21
541 Towards Mahamedieh.
542 Near Antioch and the Orontes: now Seleukeh, or Kepse, near Suadeiah.
543 See B. v. c. 13.
544 The Mediterranean and the Red Sea; the latter including the modern Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
545 Forbiger is of opinion that this is the same as the Didigua or Didugua of Ptolemy. It was situate below Alpamea. D'Anville takes it to be the modern Corna.
546 The modern Turcomania.
547 Now known as the Plain of Chelat, according to Parisot, extending between Chelat, a city situate on a great lake and the river Rosso, falling into the Caspian Sea.
548 Called Diglith by Josephus. Hardouin states that in his time the name given to the river by the natives was Daghela. This name is also supposed to be another form of the Hiddekel of Scripture. See Genesis ii. 14.
549 According to Bochart, this was a corruption of the Eastern name Deghel, from which were derived the forms Deger, Teger, and ultimately Tigris.
550 Ritter has identified this with the modern lake Nazuk, in Armenia, about thirteen miles in length and five in breadth. The water at the present day is said to be sweet and wholesome.
551 Seneca, however, in his Quæst. Nat. B. vi., represents the Tigris here as gradually drying up and becoming gradually smaller, till it disappears.
552 This spot is considered by Parisot to be the modern city of Betlis.
553 A spot where liquid bitumen or naphtha was found.
554 Or probably Arzarene, a province of the south of Armenia, situate on the left bank of the Tigris. It derived its name from the lake Arsene, or the town Arzen, situate on this lake. It is comprehended in the modern Pashalik of Dyár Bekr.
555 Now called the Myrád-chaï. See B. v. c. 24. Ritter considers it to be the southern arm of the Euphrates.
556 Or Aroei, as Littré suggests. See Note to c. 30 in p. 71.
557 See c. 17 of the present Book.
558 The site of this place seems to be unknown. It has been remarked that it is difficult to explain the meaning of this passage of Pliny, or to determine the probable site of Apamea.
559 Hardouin remarks that this is the right arm of the Tigris, by Stephanus Byzantinus called Delas, and by Eustathius Sylax, which last he prefers.
560 According to Ammianus, one of the names of Seleucia on the Tigris was Coche.
561 A river of Susiana, which, after passing Susa, flowed into the Tigris, below its junction with the Euphrates. The indistinctness of the ancient accounts has caused it to be confused with the Eulæus, which flows nearly parallel with it into the Tigris. It is pretty clear that they were not identical. Pliny here states that they were different rivers, but makes the mistake below, of saying that Susa was situate upon the Eulæus, instead of the Choaspes. These errors may be accounted for, it has been suggested, by the fact that there are two considerable rivers which unite at Bund-i- Kir, a little above Ahwaz, and form the ancient Pasitigris or modern Karun. It is supposed that the Karun represents the ancient Eulæus, and the Kerkhah the Choaspes.
562 In c. 26 of the present Book. The custom of the Persian kings drinking only of the waters of the Eulæus and Choaspes, is mentioned in B. xxxi. c. 21.
563 Or the country "by the river."
564 Pliny is the only writer who makes mention of this place. Parisot is of opinion that it is represented by the modern Digil-Ab, on the Tigris, and suggests that Digilath may be the correct reading.
565 Mentioned in the last Chapter.
566 Now called the Mountains of Luristan.
567 The name of the district of Chalonitis is supposed to be still preserved in that of the river of Holwan. Pliny is thought, however, to have been mistaken in placing the district on the river Tigris, as it lay to the east of it, and close to the mountains.
568 From Arbela, in Assyria, which bordered on it.
569 A great and populous city of Babylonia, near the Tigris, but not on it, and eight parasangs within the Median wall. The site is that probably now called Eski Baghdad, and marked by a ruin called the Tower of Nimrod. Parisot cautions against confounding it with a place of a similar name, mentioned by Pliny in B. xii. c. 17, a mistake into which, he says, Hardouin has fallen.
570 Now called Felongia, according to Parisot. Hardouin considers it the same as the Sambana of Diodorus Siculus, which Parisot looks upon as the same as Ambar, to the north of Felongia.
571 Of this Antiochia nothing appears to be known. By some it has been supposed to be the same with Apollonia, the chief town of the district of Apolloniatis, to the south of the district of Arbela.
572 Also called the Physcus, the modern Ordoneh, an eastern tributary of the Tigris in Lower Assyria. The town of Opis stood at its junction with the Tigris.
573 D'Anville supposes that this Apamea was at the point where the Dijeil, now dry, branched off from the Tigris, which bifurcation he places near Samurrah. Lynch, however, has shown that the Dijeil branched off near Jibbarah, a little north of 34° North lat., and thinks that the Dijeil once swept the end of the Median wall, and flowed between it and Jebbarah. Possibly this is the Apamea mentioned by Pliny in c. 27.
574 The son of Seleucus Nicator.
575 More to the south, and nearer the sea.
576 Previously mentioned in c. 26.
577 A part of Mount Zagrus, previously mentioned, according to Hardouin.
578 Its site appears to be unknown. According to Stephanus, it was a city of Persia. Forbiger conjectures that it is the same place as Badaca, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, B. xix. c. 19; but that was probably nearer to Susa.
579 The buryer excepted, perhaps.
580 In c. 28 of the present Book.
581 As mentioned in c. 26 of the present Book,
582 A warlike tribe on the borders of Susiana and the Greater Media. In character they are thought to have resembled the Bakhtiara tribes, who now roam over the mountains which they formerly inhabited. It has been suggested that their name may possibly be connected with the modern Khuzistan.
583 Supposed to be the same as the modern Kirmánshah mountains.
584 As mentioned in a previous Note, (67 in p. 77), Pliny mistakes the Eulæus for the Choaspes. In c. 26 he says that Susa is on the river Tigris.
585 Pliny says this in B. xxxi. c. 21 of both the Eulæus and the Choaspes.
586 Most probably the Hedyphon of Strabo, supposed to be the same as that now called the Djerrabi.
587 Parisot thinks that this is the modern Jessed, in the vicinity of the desert of Bealbanet.
588 Previously mentioned in c. 28.
589 The modern Tab.
590 Now called Camata, according to Parisot.
591 The modern Saurac, according to Parisot. The more general reading is "Sosirate."
592 Our author has nowhere made any such statement as this, for which reason Hardouin thinks that he here refers to the maritime region mentioned in c. 29 of the present Book (p. 69), the name of which Sillig reads as Ciribo. Hardouin would read it as Syrtibolos, and would give it the meaning of the "muddy district of the Syrtes." It is more likely, however, that Pliny has made a slip, and refers to something which, by inadvertence, he has omitted to mention.
593 Charax Spasinu, or Pasinu, previously mentioned in c. 26 (see p. 62). The name Charax applied to a town, seems to have meant a fortified place.
594 Called "Eudemon" by Pliny.
595 The Great, the father of Antiochus Epiphanes.
596 Though this passage is probably corrupt, the reading employed by Sillig is inadmissible, as it makes nothing but nonsense. "Et jam Vip sanda porticus habet;" "and even now, Vipsanda has its porticos."
597 Dionysius of Charax. No particulars of him are known beyond those mentioned by Pliny.
598 Caius, the son of Marcus Agrippa and Julia, the daughter of Augustus. He was the adopted son of Augustus.
599 See B. iii. c. 1, p. 151, in vol. 1.
600 In B. v. c. 21 and 22.
601 Who called himself the King of kings, and was finally conquered by Pompey.
602 The Mediterranean.
603 See B. v. c. 12.
604 Salmasius thinks that this should be written "Nombei;" but Hardouin remarks that the Nombæi were not of Arabian but Jewish extraction, and far distant from Mount Libanus.
605 The only resemblance between them is, that each is a peninsula; that of Arabia being of far greater extent than Italy. It will be remarked that here, contrary to his ordinary practice, Pliny makes a distinction between the Red Sea and the Persian Sea or Gulf.
606 "In eandem etiam cœli partem nulla differentia spectat." A glance at the map will at once show the fallacy of this assertion.
607 In B. v. c. 12 and 21.
608 In c. 30 of the present Book.
609 Mentioned in B. v. c. 21, if, indeed, that is the same Petra.
610 Omana or Omanum was their chief place, a port on the north-east coast of Arabia Felix, a little above the promontory of Syagros, now Ras el Had, on a large gulf of the same name. The name is still preserved in the modern name Oman.
611 In Sitacene, mentioned in the preceding Chapter.
612 Or rather, as Hardouin says, the shore opposite to Charax, and on the western bank of the river.
613 Called Core Boobian, a narrow salt-water channel, laid down for the first time in the East India Company's chart, and separating a large low island, off the mouth of the old bed of the Euphrates, from the mainland.
614 The great headland on the coast of Arabia, at the entrance of the bay of Doat-al-Kusma from the south, opposite to Pheleche Island.
615 This is the line of coast extending from the great headland last mentioned to the river Khadema, the ancient Achenus.
616 So called from the city of Arabia Felix, built on its shores. Strabo says of this city "The city of Gerra lies in a deep gulf, where Chaldæan exiles from Babylon inhabit a salt country, having houses built of salt, the walls of which, when they are wasted by the heat of the sun, are repaired by copious applications of sea-water." D'Anville first identified this place with the modern El Khatiff. Niebuhr finds its site on the modern Koneit of the Arabs, called "Gran" by the Persians; but Foster is of opinion that he discovered its ruins in the East India Company's Chart, situate where all the ancient authorities had placed it, at the end of the deep and narrow bay at the mouth of which are situated the islands of Bahrein. The gulf mentioned by Pliny is identified by Foster with that of Bahrein.
617 The modern island of Bahrein, according to Brotier, still famous for its pearl-fishery.
618 Now Samaki, according to Ansart. Its ancient name was Aradus.
619 Hardouin takes this to be that which by the Arabians is called by the name of Falg.
620 On the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf.
621 Considered by modern geographers to be identical in situation with the Black Mountains and the Cape of Asabi, and still marked by a town and district named Sabee, close to Cape Mussendom.
622 In the modern district still called Oman.
623 On the opposite coast.
624 He calls it Canis, evidently thinking that "Cynos" was its Greek appellation only: as meaning the "Dogs'" river.
625 Or the mountain "with the Three Peaks."
626 Stephanus mentions this as an island of the Erythræan Sea. Hardly any of these places appear to have been identified; and there is great uncertainty as to the orthography of the names.
627 From which came the myrrh mentioned by Pliny in B. xii. c. 36.
628 Or the Tent-Dwellers, the modern Bedouins.
629 By some geographers identified with the Ocelis or Ocila, mentioned in c. 26, the present Zee Hill or Ghela, a short distance to the south of Mocha, and to the north of the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. Hardouin says, however, that it was a different place, Acila being in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf, in which he appears to be correct.
630 Nothing relative to Numenius beyond this fact has been recorded.
631 Hardouin and Ansart think that under this name is meant the island called in modern times Mazira or Maceira.
632 There seem to have been three mythical personages of this name; but it appears impossible to distinguish the one from the other.
633 Or "Dioscoridis Insula," an island of the Indian Ocean, of considerable importance as an emporium or mart, in ancient times. It lay between the Syagrus Promontorium, in Arabia, and Aromata Promontorium, now Cape Guardafui, on the opposite coast of Africa, somewhat nearer to the former, according to Arrian, which cannot be the case if it is rightly identified with Socotorra, 200 miles distant from the Arabian coast, and 110 from the north-east promontory of Africa.
634 So called from Azania, or Barbaria, now Ajan, south of Somauli, on the mainland of Africa.
635 Now Cape Fartash, in Arabia.
636 Their country is supposed to have been the Sheba of Scripture, the queen of which visited king Solomon. It was situate in the south-western corner of Arabia Felix, the north and centre of the province of Yemen, though the geographers before Ptolemy seem to give it a still wider extent, quite to the south of Yemen. The Sabæi most probably spread originally on both sides of the southern part of the Red Sea, the shores of Arabia and Africa. Their capital was Saba, in which, according to their usage, their king was confined a close prisoner.
637 The Persian Gulf to the Rd Sea.
638 The modern district of Hadramaut derives its name from this people, who were situate on the coast of the Red Sea to the east of Aden. Sabota, their capital, was a great emporium for their drugs and spices.
639 Still known as Mareb, according to Ansart.
640 Hardouin is doubtful as to this name, and thinks that it ought to be Elaitæ, or else Læanitæ, the people again mentioned below.
641 A name which looks very much like "fraud," or "cheating," as Hardouin observes, from the Greek ἀπάτη.
642 Off the Promontory of Ras-el-Had.
643 Probably in the district now known as Akra. It was situate on the eastern coast of the Red Sea, at the foot of Mount Hippus.
644 See B. v. c. 12, where this town is mentioned.
645 Whose chief city was Petra, previously mentioned.
646 Supposed by some writers to have been the ancestors of the Saracens, so famous in the earlier part of the middle ages. Some of the MSS., indeed, read "Sarraceni."
647 Their town is called Arra by Ptolemy.
648 Their district is still called Thamud, according to Ansart.
649 Still called Cariatain, according to Ansart.
650 A ridiculous fancy, probably founded solely on the similarity of the name.
651 A story as probable, Hardouin observes, as that about the descendants of Minos.
652 The Arabs of Yemen, known in Oriental history by the name of Himyari, were called by the Greeks Homeritæ.
653 An inland city, called Masthala by Ptolemy.
654 Agatharchides speaks of a town on the sea coast, which was so called from the multitude of ducks found there. The one here spoken of was in the interior, and cannot be the same.
655 Hardouin observes, that neither this word, nor the name Riphearma, above mentioned, has either a Hebrew or an Arabian origin.
656 Probably the same place as we find spoken of by Herodotus as Ampe, and at which Darius settled a colony of Miletians after the capture of Miletus, B. C. 494.
657 Hardouin remarks that Mariaba, the name found in former editions, has no such meaning in the modern Arabic.
658 Mentioned by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, B. v. 1. 165, et seq. Sillig, however, reads "Ciani."
659 An intimate friend of the geographer Strabo. He was prefect of Egypt during part of the reign of Augustus, and in the years B. C. 24 and 25. Many particulars have been given by Strabo of his expedition against Arabia, in which he completely failed. The heat of the sun, the badness of the water, and the want of the necessaries of life, destroyed the greater part of his army.
660 By adoption, as previously stated.
661 The town of the Calingii, mentioned above.
662 Or wandering tribes.
663 Its uses in medicine are stated at length in the last Chapter of B. xxi.
664 Another form of the name of Atramitæ previously mentioned, the ancient inhabitants of the part of Arabia known as Hadramant, and settled, as is supposed, by the descendants of the Joctanite patriarch Hazarmaveth.
665 Arabia at the present day yields no gold, and very little silver. The queen of Sheba is mentioned as bringing gold to Solomon, 1 Kings, x. 2, 2 Chron. ix. i. Artemidorus and Diodorus Siculus make mention, on the Arabian Gulf, of the Debæ, the Alilæi, and the Gasandi, in whose territories native gold was found. These last people, who did not know its value, were in the habit of bringing it to their neighbours, the Sabæi, and exchanging it for articles of iron and copper.
666 B. xii.
667 The "mitra," which was a head-dress especially used by the Phrygians, was probably of varied shape, and may have been the early form of the eastern turban.
668 The Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.
669 Or Heroöpolis, a city east of the Delta, in Egypt, and situate near the mouth of the royal canal which connected the Nile with the Red Sea. It was of considerable consequence as a trading station upon the arm of the Red Sea, which runs up as far as Arsinoë, the modern Suez, and was called the "Gulf" or "Bay of the Heroes." The ruins of Heroöpolis are still visible at Abu-Keyscheid.
670 This place, as here implied, took its name from Cambyses, the son of Cyrus.
671 In c. 9 of the preceding Book. "Dictum," however, may only mean, "called" the Delta.
672 Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Tzetzes, mention this, not with reference to Sesostris, but Necho, the grandson of Sesostris.
673 Ptolemy Philadelphus, son of Ptolemy Soter, or Lagides.
674 Now known by the name of Scheib. They derived their name from the saline flavour and deposition of their waters. These springs were strongly impregnated with alkaline salts, and with muriate of lime washed from the rocks which separated the Delta from the Red Sea. The salt which they produced being greatly valued, they were on that account regarded as the private property of the kings.
675 The "not thirsty" route, so called by way of antiphrasis.
676 See B. v. c. 9.
677 In c. 26 of the present Book.
678 Or "narrow necks," apparently, from the Greek στηναὶ δειραὶ. If this be the correct reading, they were probably so called from the narrow strait which ran between them.
679 An island called Halonnesus has been already mentioned in B iv. c. 23. None of these islands appear to have been identified.
680 See B. xxxvii. c. 32.
681 This seems to be the meaning, though, literally translated, it would be, "These were the prefects of kings."
682 It obtained this title ofπάνχρυσος, or "all golden," from its vicinity to the gold mines of Jebel Allaki, or Ollaki, from which the ancient Egyptians drew their principal supply of that metal, and in the working of which they employed criminals and prisoners of war.
683 Or ἐπὶ δειρῆς, "upon the neck." It was situate on the western side of the Red Sea, near the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.
684 Ansart suggests that the modern island of Mehun is here meant. Gosselin is of opinion that Pliny is in error in mentioning two islands in the Red Sea as producing the topaz.
685 Called Theron, as well as Epitheras. It was an emporium on the coast of the Red Sea for the trade with India and Arabia. It was chiefly remarkable for its position in mathematical geography, as, the sun having been observed to be directly over it forty-five days before and after the summer solstice, the place was taken as one of the points for determining the length of a degree of a great circle on the earth's surface.
686 From the Greek ἐπὶ θήρας, "for hunting."
687 In B. ii. c. 75.
688 In the same Chapter.
689 So called from Azania, the adjoining coast of Africa, now known as that of Ajan. It was inhabited by a race of Æthiopians, who were engaged in catching and taming elephants, and supplying the markets of the Red Sea coast with hides and ivory.
690 Now called Seyrman, according to Gosselin.
691 Its name was Adule, being the chief haven of the Adulitæ, of mixed origin, in the Troglodytic region, situate on a bay of the Red Sea, called Aduliticus Sinus. It is generally supposed that the modern Thulla or Zulla, still pronounced Azoole, occupies its site, being situate in lat. 15' 35' N. Ruins are said to exist there. D'Anville, however, in his map of the Red Sea, places Adule at Arkeeko, on the same coast, and considerably to the north of Thulla. According to Cosmas, Adule was about two miles in the interior.
692 Pliny gives a further description of this ape in B. viii. c. 21., and B. x. c. 72. They were much valued by the Roman ladies for pets, and very high prices were given for them.
693 Now called Dahal-Alley, according to Gosselin.
694 Hardouin, from Strabo, suggests that the reading ought to be Co- racios.
695 The "False Gates."
696 The "Gates."
697 D'Anville and Gosselin think that this is the island known as the French Island.
698 Ansart thinks that this promontory is that known as Cape de Meta, and that the port is at the mouth of the little river called Soul or Soal.
699 In his Ethiopian expedition. According to Strabo, he had altars and pillars erected there to record it.
700 Under the impression entertained by the ancients, that the southern progress of the coast of Africa stopped short here, and that it began at this point to trend away gradually to the north-west.
701 Coro. Salmasius seems with justice, notwithstanding the censures of Hardouin, to have found considerable difficulty in this passage. If it is Pliny's meaning that by sea round the south of the Promontory of Mossylum there is a passage to the extreme north-western point of Africa, it is pretty clear that it is not by the aid of a north-west wind that it could be reached. "Euro," "with a south-east wind," has been very properly suggested.
702 By this name he means the Æthiopian Troglodytæ. Of course it would be absurd to attempt any identification of the places here named, as they must clearly have existed only in the imagination of the African geographer.
703 The supposed commencement of the Atlantic, to the west of the Promontory of Mossylum.
704 From the Greek ἀσκὸς, a "bladder," or "inflated skin." It is not improbable that the story as to their mode of navigation is derived only from the fancied origin of their name.
705 Apparently meaning in the Greek the "jackal-hunters," θηροθῶες. For an account of this animal, see B. viii. c. 52, and B. xv. c. 95.
706 Heliopolis, described in B. v. c. 4.
707 Considering it as part of Asia.
708 Conformably with the usage of modem geographers, and, one would almost think, with that of common sense.
709 Of the river Nile.
710 As to Syene and the Catadupi, see B. v. c. 10.
711 This place was also called in later times Contrapselcis. It was situate in the Dodecaschœnus, the part of Æthiopia immediately above Egypt, on an island near the eastern bank of the river, a little above Pselcis, which stood on the opposite bank. It has been suggested that this may have been the modern island of Derar. The other places do not appear to have been identified, and, in fact, in no two of the MSS. do the names appear to agree.
712 Or the "Great Wall."
713 Meaning, "the people who live in seventy villages."
714 Or western side of the Nile, between Syene and Meroë.
715 υπατὸν, the "supreme," or perhaps the "last."
716 Dion Cassius also mentions this expedition. From Seneca we learn that Nero dispatched two centurions to make inquiry into the sources; f the Nile.
717 Dion Cassius calls him Caius Petronius. He carried on the war in B.c. 22 against the Æthiopians, who had invaded Egypt under their queen Candace. He took many of their towns.
718 Du Bocage is of opinion that this place stood not far from the present Ibrim.
719 Supposed by Du Bocage to have stood in the vicinity of the modern Dongola.
720 He was clearly a mythical personage, and nothing certain is known with respect to him. Tombs of Memnon were shown in several places. as at Ptolemais in Syria, on the Hellespont, on a hill near the mouth of the river Æsepus, near Palton in Syria, in Æthiopia, and elsewhere.
721 Her story has been alluded to in the account of Joppa, B. v. c. 34. Cepheus, the father of Andromeda, though possessing the coasts of Syria, was fabled to have been king of Æthliop.
722 See B. v. c. 10, where Meroë is also mentioned.
723 Or the sacred "sycamore tree."
724 Situate beyond the Great Cataract, and on the western bank.
725 See the Notes to the preceding Chapter, in p. 95.
726 Or dog's-headed ape, described in B. viii. c. 80. It is supposed to be the baboon.
727 Hesychius says that it was also called Aëria, probably from the time of its king Ægyptus, who was called Aërius.
728 "Ubi desiimus." This appears to be a preferable reading to "ubi desinit," adopted by Sillig, and apparently referring to the river Nile. It is not improbable that our author here alludes, as Hardouin says, to his words in the preceding Chapter, "Hinc in ora Æthiopæ," &c. See p. 96.
729 Ansart thinks that the country of this people was the modem Kor- dofan. This however, could not be the case, if the Macrobii, opposite to them, dwelt on the African side of the river.
730 Or "long-livers."
731 Mentioned again in c. 2 of the next Book.
732 Who is mentioned again in B. xxxvi. c. 19.
733 Ptolemy, however, speaks of Esar and Daron as the names of towns situate on the island of Meroë.
734 On the eastern side of the Nile, and hearing no reference, as Har- douin remarks, to the people of modern Nubia.
735 There is considerable doubt as to the correctness of these names, as they are differently spelt in the MSS.
736 Marcus thinks that these mountains are those which lie to the west of the Nile, in Darfour, and Dar-Sale, or Dizzela, mentioned by Salt, in his Travels in Abyssinia.
737 From this it would appear that Pliny, with Dalion, supposed that the Nile ran down to the southern ocean, and then took a turn along the coast in a westerly direction; the shore being skirted by Syrtes, or quicksands, similar to those in the north of Africa.
738 So called from the Greek—"Eaters of wild beasts."
739 The "all-eaters."
740 Or the "livers on the milk of the dog."
741 In c. 8 of the preceding Book.
742 They were thence called by the Greeks "Acridophagi." According to Agatharchides, these people dwelt in what is modern Nubia, where Burkhardt found the people subsisting on lizards.
743 Hardouin remarks, that the length is measured from south-east to south-west; and the breadth from south to north.
744 The supposed Southern Ocean, which joins the Atlantic on the west.
745 Or the "Chariot of the gods," mentioned also in Book ii. c. 110, and B. v. c. 1. It is supposed to have been some portion of the Atlas chain; but the subject is involved in the greatest obscurity.
746 Or the "Western Horn." It is not known whether this was Cape de Verde, or Cape Roxo. Ansart thinks that it is the same as Cape Non. It is mentioned in c. 1 of B. v. as the "promontorium Hesperium."
747 See notes to B. v. c. 1, in vol. i. p. 378.
748 Marcus says that these islands are those called the "Two Sisters," situate to the west of the Isle of Socotra, on the coast of Africa. They are called by Ptolemy, Cocionati.
749 The position of this island has been much discussed by geographers, as being intimately connected with the subject of Hanno's voyage to the south of Africa. Gosselin, who carries that voyage no further south than Cape Non, in about 28° north lat., identifies Cerne with Fedallah, on the coast of Fez, which, however, is probably much too far to the north. Major Rennell places it as far south as Arguin, a little to the south of the southern Cape Blanco, in about 20° 5′ North latitude. Heeren, Mannert, and others, adopt the intermediate portion of Agadir, or Souta Cruz, on the coast of Morocco, just below Cape Ghir, the termination of the main chain of the Atlas. If we are to trust to Pliny's statement, it is pretty clear that nothing certain was known about it in his day.
750 The "Pillars." Marcus thinks that these were some small islands near the Isle of Socotra.
751 Hardouin says that this is not the Atlantis rendered so famous by Plato, whose story is distantly referred to in B. ii. c. 92 of this work. It is difficult to say whether the Atlantis of Plato had any existence at all, except in the imagination.
752 Medusa and her sisters, the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. The identity of their supposed islands seems not to have been ascertained. For the poetical aspect of their story, see Ovid's Met., B. iv.
753 It is not improbable that these were the skins of a species of uran- outang, or large monkey.
754 The Purpurariæ, or "Purple Islands," probably the Madeira group.
755 Or Islands of the Blessed—the modern Canaries.
756 Supposed to be the modern island of Fuerteventura.
757 Supposed to be that now called Ferro.
758 Probably the modern Gomera. In B. iv. c. 36, Pliny mentions them as six in number, there being actually seven.
759 He does not appear on this occasion to reckon those already men- tioned as belonging to the group of the Fortunatæ Insulæ.
760 The present Isle of Teneriffe.
761 Supposed to be that now called Gran Canaria.
762 The smoothness of its surface.
763 It is impossible to see clearly what he means. Littré says that it has been explained by some to mean, that from the Purpurariæ, or Madeira Islands, it is a course of 250 miles to the west to the Fortunate or Canary Islands; but that to return from the Fortunatæ to the Purpurariæ, required a more circuitous route in an easterly direction.
764 Or Pluvialia, the Rainy Island, previously mentioned.
765 Salmasius thinks that the sugar-cane is here alluded to. Hardouin says that in Ferro there still grows a tree of this nature, known as the "holy tree."
766 Or the Lesser Junonia; supposed to be the same as the modern Lanzarote.
767 Or "Snow Island," the same as that previously called Invallis, the modern Teneriffe, with its snow-capped peak.
768 So called from its canine inhabitants.
769 As to the silurus, see B. ix. c. 17.
770 Hardouin takes this to mean, both as to the continent, with the places there situate, and the seas, with the islands there found; the continent being the interior, and the seas the exterior part. It is much more likely, however, that his description of the interior of the earth is that given in the 2nd Book, while the account of the exterior is set forth in the geographical notices contained in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th.
771 The Straits of Gades or Cadiz.
772 The Straits of Gades.
773 Littré has the following remark: "Is it possible that Pliny can have imagined that the extent of a surface could be ascertained by adding the length to the breadth?" It is just possible that such may not have been his meaning; but it seems quite impossible to divine what it was.
774 He means to say that the interior is not inhabited beyond a distance of 250 miles from the sea-coast.
775 See B. v. c. 9.
776 He is probably speaking only of that part of Asia which included Egypt, on the eastern side of the river Nile, according to ancient geography. His mode, however, of reckoning the breadth of Asia, i.e. from south to north, is singular. See p. 104.
777 On a rough calculation, these aliquot parts in all would make 4/4 2/2 6/9 4/0 3/0 parts of the unit. It is not improbable that the figures given above as the dimensions are incorrect, as they do not agree with the fractional results here given by Pliny.
778 B. iv. c. 26.
779 In p. 111.
780 See end of B. iii.
781 See end of B. ii.
782 See end of B. iii.
783 See end of B. ii.
784 See end of B. iii.
785 See end of B. iii.
786 See end of B. iii.
787 See end of B. v.
788 See end of B. ii.
789 See end of B. v.
790 See end of B. iii.
791 See end of B. ii.
792 See end of B. iii.
793 The famous Roman historian, a native of Padua. He died at his native town, in the year A.D. 17, aged 76. Of his Annals, composed in 142, only 35 Books have come down to us.
794 L. Annæus Seneca, the Roman philosopher and millionnaire. He was put to death by Nero.
795 P. Nigidius Figulus, a Roman senator, and Pythagorean philosopher, skilled in astrology and other sciences. He was so celebrated for his knowledge, that Aulus Gellius pronounces him, next to Varro, the most learned of the Romans. He was an active partisan of Pompey, and was compelled by Cæsar to live at a distance from Rome. He died in exile, R. C. 44. There is a letter of consolation addressed to him by Cicero in his Epistles "ad Familiares," which contains a warm tribute to his worth and learning.
796 See end of B. v.
797 For Hecatæus of Miletus, see end of B. iv. Hecatæus of Abdera was a contemporary of Alexander the Great and Ptolemy Lagides. He is thought to have accompanied the former in his Asiatic expedition as far as Syria. He was a pupil of the sceptic Pyrrho, and is called a philosopher, critic, and grammarian. He was the author of a History of Egypt, a work on the Hyperborei, and a History of the Jews.
798 See end of B. iv.
799 See end of B. iv.
800 For Eudoxus of Cnidos, see end of B. ii. Eudoxus of Cyzicus was a geographer and a native of Egypt, who was employed by Ptolemy Euergetes and his wife Cleopatra in voyages to India. He made attempts to circumnavigate Africa by sailing to the south, but without success. He is supposed to have lived about B.C. 130. See B. ii. c. 67 of the present work.
801 See end of B. ii.
802 See end of B. v.
803 See end of B. iv.
804 He commanded the fleets of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and of Seleucus Nicator, by whose orders he paid a visit to the coasts of India. Strabo speaks of his account of India as the best guide to the geography of that country.
805 A native of Miletus—see the tenth Chapter of this Book. He appears to have written a geographical work on Asia, from which Pliny derived considerable assistance.
806 Son of Deinon, the historian; he accompanied Alexander in his Asiatic expedition, and wrote a history of it. Quintus Curtius censures him for his inaccuracy. Cicero, Quintilian, and Longinus, also speak in slighting terms of his performance.
807 See end of B. ii.
808 He alludes to the letters of that monarch, and the journals which were kept on the occasion of his expeditions. In the middle ages several forged works were current under his name.
809 See end of B. iv.
810 See end of B. ii.
811 See end of B. v.
812 See end of B. iv.
813 See end of B. ii.
814 See end of B. iv.
815 See end of B. iv.
816 See end of B. iv.
817 See end of B. iv.
818 See end of B. iv.
819 See end of B. iii.
820 See end of B. ii.
821 A Greek writer of uncertain date, who wrote, as Pliny tells us, (c. 20 of the present Book), a work on the people called Attaci, or Attacori. He also wrote another, describing a voyage, commenced at Memphis in Egypt.
822 See end of B. iii.
823 See end of B. ii.
824 See end of B. ii.
825 The admiral of Alexander, who sailed down the river Indus, and up the Persian Gulf. It is not known when or where he died. After the death of Alexander, he supported the cause of Antigonus. He left a history or journal of his famous voyage.
826 See end of B. v.
827 Mentioned by Pliny in c. 21. He measured the distances of the marches of Alexander the Great, and wrote a book on the subject.
828 See end of B. v.
829 A native of Soli. He is mentioned by Diogenes Lærtius, as the author of a work on Æthiopia, of which some few fragments are preserved. Varro and Pliny mention him, also, as a writer on agriculture.
830 A writer on geography and botany, again mentioned by Pliny in B. xx. c. 73. He is supposed to have lived in the first century after Christ. See also c. 35.
831 Said to have been a native of Meroë, and to have written a History of Æthiopia; nothing else seems to be known of him.
832 The author of a work on India, of which the second Book is quoted by Athenæus. From what Pliny says, in c. 35, he seems to have also written on Æthiopia. He is mentioned by Agatharchides as one of the writers on the East: but nothing more seems to be known of him.
833 See end of B. iii.
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