οὕτω δὲ διακειμένων τὸ πρῶτον μέρος οἰκοῦσιν ἐκ μὲν τῶν πρὸς ἄρκτον μερῶν καὶ τὸν Ὠκεανὸν Σκυθῶν τινὲς νομάδες καὶ ἁμάξοικοι, ἐνδοτέρω δὲ τούτων Σαρμάται, καὶ οὗτοι Σκύθαι, Ἄορσοι καὶ Σιρακοὶ μέχρι τῶν Καυκασίων ὀρῶν ἐπὶ μεσημβρίαν τείνοντες, οἱ μὲν νομάδες οἱ δὲ καὶ σκηνῖται καὶ γεωργοί, περὶ δὲ τὴν λίμνην Μαιῶται· πρὸς δὲ τῇ θαλάττῃ τοῦ Βοσπόρου τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Σινδική· μετὰ δὲ ταύτην Ἀχαιοὶ καὶ Ζυγοὶ καὶ Ἡνίοχοι Κερκέται τε καὶ Μακροπώγωνες. ὑπέρκειται δὲ τούτων καὶ τὰ τῶν Φθειροφάγων στενά· μετὰ δὲ τοὺς Ἡνιόχους ἡ Κολχὶς ὑπὸ τοῖς Καυκασίοις ὄρεσι κειμένη καὶ τοῖς Μοσχικοῖς. ἐπεὶ δʼ ὅριον ὑπόκειται τῆς Εὐρώπης καὶ τῆς Ἀσίας ὁ Τάναϊς ποταμός, ἐντεῦθεν ἀρξάμενοι τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστα ὑπογράψομεν.
ACCORDING to this disposition, the first portion towards the north and the Ocean is inhabited by certain tribes of Scythians, shepherds, (nomades,) and Hamaxoeci (or those who live in waggon-houses). Within these tribes live Sarmatians, who also are Scythians, Aorsi, and Siraci, extending as far as the Caucasian Mountains towards the south. Some of these are Nomades, or shepherd tribes, others Scenitae, (or dwellers in tents,) and Georgi, or tillers of the ground. About the lake Maeotis live the Moeotae. Close to the sea is the Asiatic portion of the Bosporus and Sindica. Next follow Achaei, Zygi, Heniochi, Cercetae, and Macropogones (or the longbeards). Above these people are situated the passes of the Phtheirophagi (or Lice-eaters). After the Heniochi is Colchis, lying at the foot of the Caucasian and Moschic mountains. Having assumed the Tanaïs as the boundary of Europe and Asia, we must begin our description in detail from this river.
φέρεται μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρκτικῶν μερῶν, οὐ μὴν ὡς ἂν κατὰ διάμετρον ἀντίρρους τῷ Νείλῳ, καθάπερ νομίζουσιν οἱ πολλοί, ἀλλὰ ἑωθινώτερος ἐκείνου, παραπλησίως ἐκείνῳ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀδήλους ἔχων· ἀλλὰ τοῦ μὲν πολὺ τὸ φανερὸν χώραν διεξιόντος πᾶσαν εὐεπίμικτον καὶ μακροὺς ἀνάπλους ἔχοντος, τοῦ δὲ Τανάιδος τὰς μὲν ἐκβολὰς ἴσμεν (δύο δʼ εἰσὶν εἰς τὰ ἀρκτικώτατα μέρη τῆς Μαιώτιδος ἑξήκοντα σταδίους ἀλλήλων διέχουσαι), τοῦ δʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐκβολῶν ὀλίγον τὸ γνώριμόν ἐστι διὰ τὰ ψύχη καὶ τὰς ἀπορίας τῆς χώρας, ἃς οἱ μὲν αὐτόχθονες δύνανται φέρειν σαρξὶ καὶ γάλακτι τρεφόμενοι νομαδικῶς, οἱ δʼ ἀλλοεθνεῖς οὐχ ὑπομένουσιν. ἄλλως τε οἱ νομάδες δυσεπίμικτοι τοῖς ἄλλοις ὄντες καὶ πλήθει καὶ βίᾳ διαφέροντες ἀποκεκλείκασιν εἰ καί τι πορεύσιμον τῆς χώρας ἐστὶν ἢ εἴ τινας τετύχηκεν ἀνάπλους ἔχων ὁ ποταμός. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς αἰτίας ταύτης οἱ μὲν ὑπέλαβον τὰς πηγὰς ἔχειν αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς Καυκασίοις ὄρεσι, πολὺν δʼ ἐνεχθέντα ἐπὶ τὰς ἄρκτους εἶτʼ ἀναστρέψαντα ἐκβάλλειν εἰς τὴν Μαιῶτιν (τούτοις δὲ ὁμοδοξεῖ καὶ Θεοφάνης ὁ Μιτυληναῖος), οἱ δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄνω μερῶν τοῦ Ἴστρου φέρεσθαι· σημεῖον δὲ φέρουσιν οὐδὲν τῆς πόρρωθεν οὕτω ῥύσεως καὶ ἀπʼ ἄλλων κλιμάτων, ὥσπερ οὐ δυνατὸν ὂν καὶ ἐγγύθεν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρκτων.
The Tanaïs or Don flows from the northern parts. It does not however flow in a direction diametrically opposite to the Nile, as some suppose, but its course is more to the east than that of the latter river; its sources, like those of the Nile, are unknown. A great part of the course of the Nile is apparent, for it traverses a country the whole of which is easy of access, and its stream is navigable to a great distance from its mouth. We are acquainted with the mouths of the Don, (there are two in the most northerly parts of the Maeotis, distant 60 stadia from each other,) but a small part only of the tract above the mouths is explored, on account of the severity of the cold, and the destitute state of the country; the natives are able to endure it, who subsist, like the wandering shepherd tribes, on the flesh of their animals and on milk, but strangers cannot bear the climate nor its privations. Besides, the nomades dislike intercourse with other people, and being a strong and numerous tribe have excluded travellers from every part of the country which is accessible, and from all such rivers as are navigable. For this reason some have supposed that the sources of the river are among the Caucasian mountains, that, after flowing in a full stream towards the north, it then makes a bend, and discharges itself into the Maeotis. Theophanes of Mitylene is of the same opinion with these writers. Others suppose that it comes from the higher parts of the Danube, but they do not produce any proof of so remote a source, and in other climates, though they seem to think it impossible for it to rise at no great distance and in the north.
ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ τῇ λίμνῃ πόλις ὁμώνυμος οἰκεῖται Τάναϊς, κτίσμα τῶν τὸν Βόσπορον ἐχόντων Ἑλλήνων. νεωστὶ μὲν οὖν ἐξεπόρθησεν αὐτὴν Πολέμων ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπειθοῦσαν, ἦν δʼ ἐμπόριον κοινὸν τῶν τε Ἀσιανῶν καὶ τῶν Εὐρωπαίων νομάδων καὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Βοσπόρου τὴν λίμνην πλεόντων, τῶν μὲν ἀνδράποδα ἀγόντων καὶ δέρματα καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῶν νομαδικῶν, τῶν δʼ ἐσθῆτα καὶ οἶνον καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα τῆς ἡμέρου διαίτης οἰκεῖα ἀντιφορτιζομένων. πρόκειται δʼ ἐν ἑκατὸν σταδίοις τοῦ ἐμπορίου νῆσος Ἀλωπεκία, κατοικία μιγάδων ἀνθρώπων· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλα νησίδια πλησίον ἐν τῇ λίμνῃ. διέχει δὲ τοῦ στόματος τῆς Μαιώτιδος εὐθυπλοοῦσιν ἐπὶ τὰ βόρεια δισχιλίους καὶ διακοσίους σταδίους ὁ Τάναϊς, οὐ πολὺ δὲ πλείους εἰσὶ παραλεγομένῳ τὴν γῆν.
Upon the river, and on the lake, stands a city Tanaïs, founded by the Greeks, who possess the Bosporus; but lately the King Polemon laid it waste on account of the refractory disposition of the inhabitants. It was the common mart both of the Asiatic and of the European nomades, and of those who navigate the lake from the Bosporus, some of whom bring slaves and hides, or any other nomadic commodity; others exchange wine for clothes, and other articles peculiar to a civilized mode of life. In front of the mart at the distance of 100 stadia is an is land Alopecia, a settlement of a mixed people. There are other small islands not far off in the lake. The city Tanaïs, to those who sail in a direct line towards the north, is distant from the mouth of the Maeotis 2200 stadia, nor is the distance much greater in sailing along the coast (on the east).
ἐν δὲ τῷ παράπλῳ τῷ παρὰ γῆν πρῶτον μέν ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Τανάιδος προϊοῦσιν ἐν ὀκτακοσίοις σταδίοις ὁ μέγας καλούμενος Ῥομβίτης, ἐν ᾧ τὰ πλεῖστα ἁλιεύματα τῶν εἰς ταριχείας ἰχθύων· ἔπειτα ἐν ἄλλοις ὀκτακοσίοις ὁ ἐλάττων Ῥομβίτης ἄκρα ἔχουσα καὶ αὐτὴ ἁλιείας ἐλάττους· ἔχουσι δὲ οἱ μὲν […] πρότερον νησία ὁρμητήρια, οἱ δʼ ἐν τῷ μικρῷ Ῥομβίτῃ αὐτοί εἰσιν οἱ Μαιῶται ἐργαζόμενοι· οἰκοῦσι γὰρ ἐν τῷ παράπλῳ τούτω παντὶ οἱ Μαιῶται, γεωργοὶ μὲν οὐχ ἧττον δὲ τῶν νομάδων πολεμισταί. διῄρηνται δὲ εἰς ἔθνη πλείω τὰ μὲν πλησίον τοῦ Τανάιδος ἀγριώτερα, τὰ δὲ συνάπτοντα τῷ Βοσπόρῳ χειροήθη μᾶλλον. ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ μικροῦ Ῥομβίτου στάδιοί εἰσιν ἑξακόσιοι ἐπὶ Τυράμβην καὶ τὸν Ἀντικείτην ποταμόν· εἶθʼ ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσιν ἐπὶ τὴν κώμην τὴν Κιμμερικήν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἀφετήριον τοῖς τὴν λίμνην πλέουσιν· ἐν δὲ τῷ παράπλῳ τούτῳ καὶ σκοπαί τινες λέγονται Κλαζομενίων.
In the voyage along the coast, the first object which presents itself to those who have proceeded to the distance of 800 stadia from the Tanaïs, is the Great Rhombites, as it is called, where large quantities of fish are captured for the purpose of being salted. Then at the distance of 800 stadia more is the Lesser Rhombites, and a promontory, which has smaller fisheries. The [nomades] at the former have small islands as stations for their vessels, those at the Lesser Rhombites are the Maeotae who cultivate the ground. For along the whole of this coasting voyage live Maeotae, who are husbandmen, but not less addicted to war than the nomades. They are divided into several tribes; those near the Tanaïs are more savage, those contiguous to the Bosporus are more gentle in their manners.
From the Lesser Rhombites to Tyrambe, and the river Anticeites, are 600 stadia; then 120 to the Cimmerian village, whence vessels set out on their voyage along the lake. In this coasting voyage we meet with some look-out places, (for observing the fish,) said to belong to the Clazomenians.
τὸ δὲ Κιμμερικὸν πόλις ἦν πρότερον ἐπὶ χερρονήσου ἱδρυμένη, τὸν ἰσθμὸν τάφρῳ καὶ χώματι κλείουσα· ἐκέκτηντο δʼ οἱ Κιμμέριοι μεγάλην ποτὲ ἐν τῷ Βοσπόρῳ δύναμιν, διόπερ καὶ Κιμμερικὸς Βόσπορος ὠνομάσθη. οὗτοι δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ τοὺς τὴν μεσόγαιαν οἰκοῦντας ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς μέρεσι τοῦ Πόντου μέχρι Ἰωνίας ἐπιδραμόντες. τούτους μὲν οὖν ἐξήλασαν ἐκ τῶν τόπων Σκύθαι, τοὺς δὲ Σκύθας Ἕλληνες οἱ Παντικάπαιον καὶ τὰς ἄλλας οἰκίσαντες πόλεις τὰς ἐν Βοσπόρῳ.
Cimmericum was formerly a city built upon a peninsula, the isthmus of which it enclosed with a ditch and mound. The Cimmerii once possessed great power in the Bosporus, whence it was called the Cimmerian Bosporus. These are the people who overran the territory of the inhabitants of the inland parts, on the right of the Euxine, as far as Ionia. They were dislodged from these places by Scythians, and the Scythians by Greeks, who founded Panticapaeum, and the other cities on the Bosporus.
εἶτʼ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀχίλλειον κώμην εἴκοσιν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ Ἀχιλλέως ἱερόν· ἐνταῦθα δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ στενώτατος πορθμὸς τοῦ στόματος τῆς Μαιώτιδος ὅσον εἴκοσι σταδίων ἢ πλειόνων, ἔχων ἐν τῇ περαίᾳ κώμην τὸ Μυρμήκιον (πλησίον δʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλείου) καὶ τὸ Παρθένιον.
Next to the village Achilleium, where is the temple of Achilles, are 20 stadia. Here is the narrowest passage, 20 stadia or more, across the mouth of the Maeotis; on the opposite continent is Myrmecium, a village. Near are Heracleium and Parthenium.
ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τὸ Σατύρου μνῆμα ἐνενήκοντα στάδιοι· τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν ἐπʼ ἄκρας τινὸς χωστὸν ἀνδρὸς τῶν ἐπιφανῶς δυναστευσάντων τοῦ Βοσπόρου.
Thence to the monument of Satyrus are 90 stadia; this is a mound raised on a promontory, in memory of one of the illustrious princes of the Bosporus.
πλησίον δὲ κώμη Πατραεύς, ἀφʼ ἧς ἐπὶ κώμην Κοροκονδάμην ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα· αὕτη δʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ Κιμμερικοῦ καλουμένου Βοσπόρου πέρας. καλεῖται δὲ οὕτως ὁ στενωπὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος τῆς Μαιώτιδος ἀπὸ τῶν κατὰ τὸ Ἀχίλλειον καὶ τὸ Μυρμήκιον στενῶν διατείνων μέχρι πρὸς τὴν Κοροκονδάμην καὶ τὸ ἀντικείμενον αὐτῇ κώμιον τῆς Παντικαπαίων γῆς ὄνομα Ἄκραν ἑβδομήκοντα σταδίων διειργόμενον πορθμῷ· μέχρι γὰρ δεῦρο καὶ ὁ κρύσταλλος διατείνει, πηττομένης τῆς Μαιώτιδος κατὰ τοὺς κρυμοὺς ὥστε πεζεύεσθαι. ἅπας δʼ ἐστὶν εὐλίμενος ὁ στενωπὸς οὗτος.
Near it is Patraeus, a village, from which to Corocondame, a village, are 130 stadia. This is the termination of the Cimmerian Bosporus, as it is called. The narrow passage at the mouth of the Moeotis derives its name from the straits opposite the Achilleium, and the Myrmecium; it extends as far as Corocondame and a small village opposite to it in the territory of the Panticapaeans, called Acra, and separated by a channel of 70 stadia in width. The ice reaches even to this place, for the Maeotis is frozen during severe frost so as to become passable on foot. The whole of this narrow passage has good harbours.
ὑπέρκειται δὲ τῆς Κοροκονδάμης εὐμεγέθης λίμνη, ἣν καλοῦσιν ἀπʼ αὐτῆς Κοροκονδαμῖτιν· ἐκδίδωσι δʼ ἀπὸ δέκα σταδίων τῆς κώμης εἰς τὴν θάλατταν· ἐμβάλλει δὲ εἰς τὴν λίμνην ἀπορρώξ τις τοῦ Ἀντικείτου ποταμοῦ, καὶ ποιεῖ νῆσον περίκλυστόν τινα ταύτῃ τε τῇ λίμνῃ καὶ τῇ Μαιώτιδι καὶ τῷ ποταμῷ. τινὲς δὲ καὶ τοῦτον τὸν ποταμὸν Ὕπανιν προσαγορεύουσι, καθάπερ καὶ τὸν πρὸς τῷ Βορυσθένει.
Beyond Corocondame is a large lake which is called from the place Corocondametis. It discharges itself into the sea at the distance of 10 stadia from the village. A branch of the river Anticeites empties itself into the lake, and forms an island, which is surrounded by the waters of the lake, of the Maeotis, and of the river. Some persons give this river the name of Hypanis, as well as to that near the Borysthenes.
εἰσπλεύσαντι δʼ εἰς τὴν Κοροκονδαμῖτιν ἥ τε Φαναγόρειά ἐστι πόλις ἀξιόλογος καὶ Κῆποι καὶ Ἑρμώνασσα καὶ τὸ Ἀπάτουρον τὸ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱερόν· ὧν ἡ Φαναγόρεια καὶ οἱ Κῆποι κατὰ τὴν λεχθεῖσαν νῆσον ἵδρυνται εἰσπλέοντι ἐν ἀριστερᾷ, αἱ δὲ λοιπαὶ πόλεις ἐν δεξιᾷ πέραν Ὑπάνιος ἐν τῇ Σινδικῇ. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Γοργιπία ἐν τῇ Σινδικῇ, τὸ βασίλειον τῶν Σινδῶν πλησίον θαλάττης, καὶ Ἀβοράκη. τοῖς δὲ τοῦ Βοσπόρου δυνάσταις ὑπήκοοι ὄντες ἅπαντες Βοσπορανοὶ καλοῦνται· καὶ ἔστι τῶν μὲν Εὐρωπαίων Βοσπορανῶν μητρόπολις τὸ Παντικάπαιον, τῶν δʼ Ἀσιανῶν τὸ Φαναγόρειον (καλεῖται γὰρ καὶ οὕτως ἡ πόλις), καὶ δοκεῖ τῶν μὲν ἐκ τῆς Μαιώτιδος καὶ τῆς ὑπερκειμένης βαρβάρου κατακομιζομένων ἐμπόριον εἶναι τὰ Φαναγόρεια, τῶν δʼ ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ἀναφερομένων ἐκεῖσε τὸ Παντικάπαιον. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ Φαναγορείᾳ τῆς Ἀφροδίτης ἱερὸν ἐπίσημον τῆς Ἀπατούρου· ἐτυμολογοῦσι δὲ τὸ ἐπίθετον τῆς θεοῦ μῦθόν τινα προστησάμενοι, ὡς ἐπιθεμένων ἐνταῦθα τῇ θεῷ τῶν γιγάντων ἐπικαλεσαμένη τὸν Ἡρακλέα κρύψειεν ἐν κευθμῶνί τινι, εἶτα τῶν γιγάντων ἕκαστον δεχομένη καθʼ ἕνα τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ παραδιδοίη δολοφονεῖν ἐξ ἀπάτης.
Upon sailing into the Corocondametis, we meet with Phanagoria, a considerable city, Cepi, Hermonassa, and Apa turum, the temple of Venus (Apatura). Of these cities Phanagoria and Cepi are situated in the above-mentioned island on the left hand at the entrance of the lake; the others are on the right hand in Sindica beyond the Hypanis. There is Gorgipia, but the royal seat of the Sindi is in Sindica near the sea, and Aborace.
All those who are subject to the princes of the Bosporus are called Bosporani. The capital of the European Bosporani is Panticapaeum, and of the Asian Bosporani, the city of Phanagorium, for this is the name given to it. Phanagoria seems to be the mart for those commodities which are brought down from the Maeotis, and from the barbarous country lying above it; and Panticapaeum, the mart for the commodities which are transported thither from the sea. There is also in Phanagoria a magnificent temple of Venus Apatura, the Deceitful. This epithet of the goddess is derived from a fable, according to which the giants assaulted her in this place. Having obtained the assistance of Hercules she hid him in a cave, and then admitted the giants one by one into her presence, and delivered them over to Hercules, thus craftily to be put to death.
τῶν Μαιωτῶν δʼ εἰσὶν αὐτοί τε οἱ Σινδοὶ καὶ Δανδάριοι καὶ Τορέται καὶ Ἄγροι καὶ Ἀρρηχοί, ἔτι δὲ Τάρπητες Ὀβιδιακηνοὶ Σιττακηνοὶ Δόσκοι, ἄλλοι πλείους· τούτων δʼ εἰσὶ καὶ οἱ Ἀσπουργιανοὶ μεταξὺ Φαναγορείας οἰκοῦντες καὶ Γοργιπίας ἐν πεντακοσίοις σταδίοις, οἷς ἐπιθέμενος Πολέμων ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ προσποιήσει φιλίας οὐ λαθὼν ἀντεστρατηγήθη καὶ ζωγρίᾳ ληφθεὶς ἀπέθανε. τῶν τε συμπάντων Μαιωτῶν τῶν Ἀσιανῶν οἱ μὲν ὑπήκουον τῶν τὸ ἐμπόριον ἐχόντων τὸ ἐν τῷ Τανάιδι οἱ δὲ τῶν Βοσπορανῶν· τοτὲ δʼ ἀφίσταντο ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλοι. πολλάκις δʼ οἱ τῶν Βοσπορανῶν ἡγεμόνες καὶ τὰ μέχρι τοῦ Τανάιδος κατεῖχον καὶ μάλιστα οἱ ὕστατοι, Φαρνάκης καὶ Ἄσανδρος καὶ Πολέμων. Φαρνάκης δέ ποτε καὶ τὸν Ὕπανιν τοῖς Δανδαρίοις ἐπαγαγεῖν λέγεται διά τινος παλαιᾶς διώρυγος ἀνακαθάρας αὐτὴν κατακλύσαι τὴν χώραν.
The Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrhechi, and besides these, the Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, Dosci, and many others, belong to the Maeotae; to this people belong the Aspurgiani also, who live between Phanagoria and Gorgipia, at the distance of 500 stadia [from the Maeotis?]. Polemon, the king, entered the country of these people under a show of friendship, but his design was discovered, and they on their part attacked him unawares. He was taken prisoner, and put to death.
With respect to the Asian Maeotae in general, some of them were the subjects of those who possessed the mart on the Tanaïs; others, of the Bosporani; and different bodies have revolted at different times. The princes of the Bosporani were frequently masters of the country as far as the Tanaïs, and particularly the last princes, Pharnaces, Asander, and Polemon.
Pharnaces is said to have once brought even the river Hypanis over the territory of the Dandarii through some ancient canal, which he had caused to be cleared, and inundated the country.
Cite This Text