ἡ δὲ δευτέρα μερὶς ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης, εἰς ἣν κατέπαυεν ἡ προτέρα· καλεῖται δʼ ἡ αὐτὴ θάλαττα καὶ Ὑρκανία. δεῖ δὲ περὶ τῆς θαλάττης εἰπεῖν πρότερον ταύτης καὶ τῶν προσοίκων ἐθνῶν. ἔστι δʼ ὁ κόλπος ἀνέχων ἐκ τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἱκανῶς στενός, ἐνδοτέρω δὲ πλατύνεται προϊών, καὶ μάλιστα κατὰ τὸν μυχὸν ἐπὶ σταδίους που καὶ πεντακισχιλίους· ὁ δʼ εἴσπλους μέχρι τοῦ μυχοῦ μικρῷ πλειόνων ἂν εἴη συνάπτων πως ἤδη τῇ ἀοικήτῳ. φησὶ δʼ Ἐρατοσθένης τὸν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων γνωριζόμενον περίπλουν τῆς θαλάττης ταύτης τὸν μὲν παρὰ τοὺς Ἀλβανοὺς καὶ τοὺς Καδουσίους εἶναι πεντακισχιλίων καὶ τετρακοσίων, τὸν δὲ παρὰ τὴν Ἀναριακῶν καὶ Μάρδων καὶ Ὑρκανῶν μέχρι τοῦ στόματος τοῦ Ὤξου ποταμοῦ τετρακισχιλίων καὶ ὀκτακοσίων· ἔνθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰαξάρτου δισχιλίων τετρακοσίων. δεῖ δὲ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ μερίδι ταύτῃ καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐκτετοπισμένοις ἁπλούστερον ἀκούειν, καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τῶν διαστημάτων.
THE second portion of northern Asia begins from the Caspian Sea, where the first terminates. This sea is called also the Hyrcanian Sea. We must first speak of this sea, and of the nations that live near its shores.
It is a bay extending from the Ocean to the south. At its commencement it is very narrow; as it advances further inwards, and particularly towards the extremity, it widens to the extent of about 500 stadia. The voyage from the entrance to the extremity may exceed that a little, the entrance approaching very near the uninhabited regions.
Eratosthenes says that the navigation of this sea was known to the Greeks, that the part of the voyage along the coast of the Albanians and Cadusii comprised 5400 stadia; and the part along the country of the Anariaci, Mardi, [or Amardi,] and Hyrcani, as far as the mouth of the river Oxus, 4800 stadia, and thence to the Iaxartes 2400 stadia.
But with respect to the places situated in this portion of Asia, and to those lying so far removed from our own country, we must not understand the accounts of writers in too literal a sense, particularly with regard to distances.
εἰσπλέοντι δʼ ἐν δεξιᾷ μὲν τοῖς Εὐρωπαίοις οἱ συνεχεῖς Σκύθαι νέμονται καὶ Σαρμάται οἱ μεταξὺ τοῦ Τανάιδος καὶ τῆς θαλάττης ταύτης, νομάδες οἱ πλείους, περὶ ὧν εἰρήκαμεν· ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δʼ οἱ πρὸς ἕω Σκύθαι, νομάδες καὶ οὗτοι, μέχρι τῆς ἑῴας θαλάττης καὶ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς παρατείνοντες. ἅπαντας μὲν δὴ τοὺς προσβόρρους κοινῶς οἱ παλαιοὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων συγγραφεῖς Σκύθας καὶ Κελτοσκύθας ἐκάλουν· οἱ δʼ ἔτι πρότερον διελόντες τοὺς μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ Εὐξείνου καὶ Ἴστρου καὶ τοῦ Ἀδρίου κατοικοῦντας Ὑπερβορέους ἔλεγον καὶ Σαυρομάτας καὶ Ἀριμασπούς, τοὺς δὲ πέραν τῆς Κασπίας θαλάττης τοὺς μὲν Σάκας τοὺς δὲ Μασσαγέτας ἐκάλουν, οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀκριβὲς λέγειν περὶ αὐτῶν οὐδέν, καίπερ πρὸς Μασσαγέτας τοῦ Κύρου πόλεμον ἱστοροῦντες. ἀλλʼ οὔτε περὶ τούτων οὐδὲν ἠκρίβωτο πρὸς ἀλήθειαν, οὔτε τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν Περσικῶν οὔτε τῶν Μηδικῶν ἢ Συριακῶν ἐς πίστιν ἀφικνεῖτο μεγάλην διὰ τὴν τῶν συγγραφέων ἁπλότητα καὶ τὴν φιλομυθίαν.
Upon sailing into the Caspian, on the right hand, contiguous to the Europeans, Scythians and Sarmatians occupy the country between the Tanaïs and this sea; they are chiefly Normades, or shepherd tribes, of whom I have already spoken. On the left hand are the Eastern Scythian Nomades, who extend as far as the Eastern sea, and India.
The ancient Greek historians called all the nations towards the north by the common name of Scythians, and Kelto-Scythians. Writers still more ancient than these called the nations living above the Euxine, Danube, and Adriatic, Hyperboreans, Sauromatae, and Arimaspi. But in speaking of the nations on the other side the Caspian Sea, they called some Sacae, others Massagetae. They were unable to give any exact account of them, although they relate the history of the war of Cyrus with the Massagetae. Concerning these nations no one has ascertained the truth, and the ancient histories of Persia, Media, and Syria have not obtained much credit on account of the credulity of the writers and their love of fable.
ὁρῶντες γὰρ τοὺς φανερῶς μυθογράφους εὐδοκιμοῦντας ᾠήθησαν καὶ αὐτοὶ παρέξεσθαι τὴν γραφὴν ἡδεῖαν, ἐὰν ἐν ἱστορίας σχήματι λέγωσιν ἃ μηδέποτε εἶδον μήτε ἤκουσαν ἢ οὐ παρά γε ἰδόντων, σκοποῦντες δὲ αὐτὸ μόνον τοῦτο ὅ τι ἀκρόασιν ἡδεῖαν ἔχει καὶ θαυμαστήν. ῥᾷον δʼ ἄν τις Ἡσιόδῳ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ πιστεύσειεν ἡρωολογοῦσι καὶ τοῖς τραγικοῖς ποιηταῖς ἢ Κτησίᾳ τε καὶ Ἡροδότῳ καὶ Ἑλλανίκῳ καὶ ἄλλοις τοιούτοις.
For these authors, having observed that those who professedly were writers of fables obtained repute and success, supposed that they also should make their writings agreeable, if, under the form of history, they related what they had never seen nor heard, (not at least from eye-witnesses,) and had no other object than to please and surprise the reader. A person would more readily believe the stories of the heroes in Hesiod, Homer, and in the tragic poets, than Ctesias, Herodotus, Hellanicus, and writers of this kind.
οὐδὲ τοῖς περὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου δὲ συγγράψασιν ῥᾴδιον πιστεύειν τοῖς πολλοῖς· καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι ῥᾳδιουργοῦσι διά τε τὴν δόξαν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ διὰ τὸ τὴν στρατείαν πρὸς τὰς ἐσχατιὰς γεγονέναι τῆς Ἀσίας πόρρω ἀφʼ ἡμῶν· τὸ δὲ πόρρω δυσέλεγκτον. ἡ δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπικράτεια καὶ ἡ τῶν Παρθυαίων πλεῖόν τι προσεκκαλύπτει τῶν παραδεδομένων πρότερον· οἱ γὰρ περὶ ἐκείνων συγγράφοντες καὶ τὰ χωρία καὶ τὰ ἔθνη, ἐν οἷς αἱ πράξεις, πιστότερον λέγουσιν ἢ οἱ πρὸ αὐτῶν· μᾶλλον γὰρ κατωπτεύκασι.
We cannot easily credit the generality of the historians of Alexander, for they practise deception with a view to enhance the glory of Alexander; the expedition also was directed to the extremities of Asia, at a great distance from our country, and it is difficult to ascertain or detect the truth or falsehood of what is remote. The dominion of the Romans and of the Parthians has added very much to former discoveries, and the writers who speak of these people describe nations and places, where certain actions were performed, in a manner more likely to produce belief than preceding historians, for they had better opportunities of personal observation.
τοὺς δʼ οὖν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ εἰσπλέοντι τὸ Κάσπιον πέλαγος παροικοῦντας νομάδας Δάας οἱ νῦν προσαγορεύουσι τοὺς ἐπονομαζομένους Πάρνους· εἶτʼ ἔρημος πρόκειται μεταξύ, καὶ ἐφεξῆς ἡ Ὑρκανία, καθʼ ἣν ἤδη πελαγίζει μέχρι τοῦ συνάψαι τοῖς Μηδικοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ τοῖς Ἀρμενίων. τούτων δʼ ἐστὶ μηνοειδὲς τὸ σχῆμα κατὰ τὰς ὑπωρείας, αἳ τελευτῶσαι πρὸς θάλατταν ποιοῦσι τὸν μυχὸν τοῦ κόλπου. οἰκεῖ δὲ τὴν παρώρειαν ταύτην μέχρι τῶν ἄκρων ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἀρξαμένοις ἐπὶ μικρὸν μὲν τῶν Ἀλβανῶν τι μέρος καὶ τῶν Ἀρμενίων, τὸ δὲ πλέον Γῆλαι καὶ Καδούσιοι καὶ Ἄμαρδοι καὶ Οὐίτιοι καὶ Ἀναριάκαι. φασὶ δὲ Παρρασίων τινὰς συνοικῆσαι τοῖς Ἀναριάκαις, οὓς καλεῖσθαι νῦν Παρσίους· Αἰνιᾶνας δʼ ἐν τῇ Οὐιτίᾳ τειχίσαι πόλιν ἣν Αἰνιάνα καλεῖσθαι, καὶ δείκνυσθαι ὅπλα τε Ἑλληνικὰ ἐνταῦθα καὶ σκεύη χαλκᾶ καὶ ταφάς· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ πόλιν Ἀναριάκην, ἐν ᾗ, φασί, δείκνυται μαντεῖον ἐγκοιμωμένων […] καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ἔθνη λῃστρικὰ καὶ μάχιμα μᾶλλον ἢ γεωργικά· ποιεῖ δὲ τοῦτο ἡ τραχύτης τῶν τόπων. τὸ μέντοι πλέον τῆς περὶ τὴν ὀρεινὴν παραλίας Καδούσιοι νέμονται, σχεδὸν δέ τι ἐπὶ πεντακισχιλίους σταδίους, ὥς φησι Πατροκλῆς, ὃς καὶ πάρισον ἡγεῖται τὸ πέλαγος τοῦτο τῷ Ποντικῷ. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τὰ χωρία λυπρά.
THE nomades, or wandering tribes, who live on the left side of the coast on entering the Caspian Sea, are called by the moderns Dahae, and surnamed Parni. Then there intervenes a desert tract, which is followed by Hyrcania; here the Caspian spreads like a deep sea till it approaches the Median and Armenian mountains. The shape of these hills at the foot is lunated. Their extremities terminate at the sea, and form the recess of the bay.
A small part of this country at the foot of the mountains, as far as the heights, if we reckon from the sea, is inhabited by some tribes of Albanians and Armenians, but the greater portion by Gelae, Cadusii, Amardi, Vitii, and Anariacae. It is said, that some Parrhasii were settled together with the Anariace, who are now called Parrhasii, (Parsii?) and that the Aenianes built a wailed city in the territory of the Vitii, which city is now called Aeniana (Aenia). Grecian armour, brazen vessels, and sepulchres are shown there. There also is a city Anariacae, in which it is said an oracle is shown, where the answer is given to those who consult it, during sleep, [and some vestiges of Greek colonization, but all these] tribes are predatory, and more disposed to war than husbandry, which arises from the rugged nature of the country. The greater part of the coast at the foot of the mountainous region is occupied by Cadusii, to the extent of nearly 5000 stadia, according to Patrocles, who thinks that this sea equals the Euxine in size. These countries are sterile.
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