δύο δὲ μόναι στρατηγίαι πόλεις ἔχουσιν, ἡ μὲν Τυανῖτις τὰ Τύανα ὑποπεπτωκυῖαν τῷ Ταύρῳ τῷ κατὰ τὰς Κιλικίας πύλας, καθʼ ἃς εὐπετέσταται καὶ κοινόταται πᾶσίν εἰσιν αἱ εἰς τὴν Κιλικίαν καὶ τὴν Συρίαν ὑπερβολαί· καλεῖται δὲ Εὐσέβεια ἡ πρὸς τῷ Ταύρῳ […] ἀγαθὴ δὲ καὶ πεδιὰς ἡ πλείστη. τὰ δὲ Τύανα ἐπίκειται χώματι Σεμιράμιδος τετειχισμένῳ καλῶς. οὐ πολὺ δʼ ἄπωθεν ταύτης ἐστὶ τά τε Καστάβαλα καὶ τὰ Κύβιστρα, ἔτι μᾶλλον τῷ ὄρει πλησιάζοντα πολίσματα· ὧν ἐν τοῖς Κασταβάλοις ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς Περασίας Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερόν, ὅπου φασὶ τὰς ἱερείας γυμνοῖς τοῖς ποσὶ διʼ ἀνθρακιᾶς βαδίζειν ἀπαθεῖς· κἀνταῦθα δέ τινες τὴν αὐτὴν θρυλοῦσιν ἱστορίαν τὴν περὶ τοῦ Ὀρέστου καὶ τῆς Ταυροπόλου, Περασίαν κεκλῆσθαι φάσκοντες διὰ τὸ πέραθεν κομισθῆναι. ἐν μὲν δὴ τῇ Τυανίτιδι στρατηγίᾳ τῶν λεχθεισῶν δέκα ἔστι πόλισμα τὰ Τύανα (τὰς δʼ ἐπικτήτους οὐ συναριθμῶ ταύταις, τὰ Καστάβαλα καὶ τὰ Κύβιστρα καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ τραχείᾳ Κιλικίᾳ, ἐν ᾗ τὴν Ἐλαιοῦσσαν νησίον εὔκαρπον συνέκτισεν Ἀρχέλαος ἀξιολόγως, καὶ τὸ πλέον ἐνταῦθα διέτριβεν), ἐν δὲ τῇ Κιλικίᾳ καλουμένῃ τὰ Μάζακα ἡ μητρόπολις τοῦ ἔθνους· καλεῖται δʼ Εὐσέβεια καὶ αὕτη ἐπίκλησιν ἡ πρὸς τῷ Ἀργαίῳ· κεῖται γὰρ ὑπὸ τῷ Ἀργαίῳ ὄρει πάντων ὑψηλοτάτῳ καὶ ἀνέκλειπτον χιόνι τὴν ἀκρώρειαν ἔχοντι, ἀφʼ ἧς φασιν οἱ ἀναβαίνοντες (οὗτοι δʼ εἰσὶν ὀλίγοι) κατοπτεύεσθαι ταῖς αἰθρίαις ἄμφω τὰ πελάγη τό τε Ποντικὸν καὶ τὸ Ἰσσικόν. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα ἀφυῆ πρὸς συνοικισμὸν ἔχει πόλεως· ἄνυδρός τε γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἀνώχυρος διὰ τὴν ὀλιγωρίαν τῶν ἡγεμόνων καὶ ἀτείχιστος, τάχα δὲ καὶ ἐπίτηδες, ἵνα μὴ ὡς ἐρύματι πεποιθότες τῷ τείχει σφόδρα λῃστεύοιεν πεδίον οἰκοῦντες λόφους ὑπερδεξίους ἔχοντες καὶ ἀνεμβαλεῖς. καὶ τὰ κύκλῳ δὲ χωρία ἔχει τελέως ἄφορα καὶ ἀγεώργητα καίπερ ὄντα πεδινά, ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ἀμμώδη καὶ ὑπόπετρα. μικρὸν δʼ ἔτι προϊοῦσι καὶ πυρίληπτα πεδία καὶ μεστὰ βόθρων πυρὸς ἐπὶ σταδίους πολλοὺς ὥστε πόρρωθεν ἡ κομιδὴ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, καὶ τὸ δοκοῦν δὲ πλεονέκτημα παρακείμενον ἔχει κίνδυνον· ἀξύλου γὰρ ὑπαρχούσης σχεδόν τι τῆς συμπάσης Καππαδοκίας ὁ Ἀργαῖος ἔχει περικείμενον δρυμὸν ὥστε ἐγγύθεν ὁ ξυλισμὸς πάρεστιν, ἀλλʼ οἱ ὑποκείμενοι τῷ δρυμῷ τόποι καὶ αὐτοὶ πολλαχοῦ πυρὰ ἔχουσιν, ἅμα δὲ καὶ ὕφυδροί εἰσι ψυχρῷ ὕδατι, οὔτε τοῦ πυρὸς οὔτε τοῦ ὕδατος εἰς τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐκκύπτοντος, ὥστε καὶ ποάζειν τὴν πλείστην· ἔστι δʼ ὅπου καὶ ἑλῶδές ἐστι τὸ ἔδαφος καὶ νύκτωρ ἐξάπτονται φλόγες ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἔμπειροι φυλαττόμενοι τὸν ξυλισμὸν ποιοῦνται, τοῖς δὲ πολλοῖς κίνδυνός ἐστι, καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς κτήνεσιν ἐμπίπτουσιν εἰς ἀδήλους βόθρους πυρός.
Two provinces only have cities. In the Tyanitis is Tyana, lying at the foot of the Taurus at the Cilician Gates, where are the easiest and the most frequented passes into Cilicia and Syria. It is called, Eusebeia at the Taurus. Tyanitis is fertile, and the greatest part of it consists of plains. Tyana is built upon the mound of Semiramis, which is fortified with good walls. At a little distance from this city are Castabala and Cybistra, towns which approach still nearer to the mountain. At Castabala is a temple of Diana Perasia, where, it is said, the priestesses walk with naked feet unhurt upon burning coals. To this place some persons apply the story respecting Orestes and Diana Tauropolus, and say that the goddess was called Perasia, because she was conveyed from beyond (πέραθεν) sea.
In Tyanitis, one of the ten provinces above mentioned, is the city Tyana. But with these I do not reckon the cities that were afterwards added, Castabala, and Cybistra, and those in Cilicia Tracheia, to which belongs Elaeussa, a small fertile island, which Archelaus furnished with excellent buildings, where he passed the greater part of his time.
In the Cilician province, as it is called, is Mazaca, the capital of the nation. It is also called Eusebeia, with the addition at the Argaeus, for it is situated at the foot of the Argeus, the highest mountain in that district; its summit is always covered with snow. Persons who ascend it (but they are not many) say that both the Euxine and the sea of Issus may be seen from thence in clear weather.
Mazaca is not adapted in other respects by nature for the settlement of a city, for it is without water, and unfortified. Through the neglect of the governors, it is without walls, perhaps intentionally, lest, trusting to the wall as to a fortification, the inhabitants of a plain, which has hills situated above it, and not exposed to the attacks of missile weapons, should addict themselves to robbery. The country about, although it consists of plains, is entirely barren and uncultivated, for the soil is sandy, and rocky underneath. At a little distance further there are burning plains, and pits full of fire to an extent of many stadia, so that the necessaries of life are brought from a distance. What seems to be a peculiar advantage (abundance of wood) is a source of danger. For though nearly the whole of Cappadocia is without timber, the Argaeus is surrounded by a forest, so that wood may be procured near at hand, yet even the region lying below the forest contains fire in many parts, and springs of cold water; but as neither the fire nor the water break out upon the surface, the greatest part of the country is covered with herbage. In some parts the bottom is marshy, and flames burst out from the ground by night. Those acquainted with the country collect wood with caution; but there is danger to others, and particularly to cattle, which fall into these hidden pits of fire.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ ποταμὸς ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ τῷ πρὸ τῆς πόλεως Μέλας καλούμενος, ὅσον τετταράκοντα σταδίους διέχων τῆς πόλεως, ἐν ταπεινοτέρῳ τῆς πόλεως χωρίῳ τὰς πηγὰς ἔχων. ταύτῃ μὲν οὖν ἄχρηστος αὐτοῖς ἐστιν οὐχ ὑπερδέξιον ἔχων τὸ ῥεῦμα, εἰς ἕλη δὲ καὶ λίμνας διαχεόμενος κακοῖ τὸν ἀέρα τοῦ θέρους τὸν περὶ τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὸ λατομεῖον δὲ ποιεῖ δύσχρηστον καίπερ εὔχρηστον ὄν· πλαταμῶνες γὰρ εἰσίν, ἀφʼ ὧν τὴν λιθείαν ἔχειν ἄφθονον συμβαίνει τοῖς Μαζακηνοῖς πρὸς τὰς οἰκοδομίας, καλυπτόμεναι δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν ὑδάτων αἱ πλάκες ἀντιπράττουσι. καὶ ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ τὰ ἕλη πανταχοῦ πυρίληπτα. Ἀριαράθης δʼ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Μέλανος κατά τινα στενὰ ἔχοντος τὴν εἰς τὸν Ἅλυν διέξοδον ἐμφράξας ταῦτα λίμνην πελαγίαν ἀπέδειξε τὸ πλησίον πεδίον, ἐνταῦθα δὲ νησῖδάς τινας ὡς τὰς Κυκλάδας ἀπολαβόμενος διατριβὰς ἐν αὐταῖς ἐποιεῖτο μειρακιώδεις· ἐκραγὲν δʼ ἀθρόως τὸ ἔμφραγμα ἐξέκλυσε πάλιν τὸ ὕδωρ, πληρωθεὶς δʼ ὁ Ἅλυς τῆς τε τῶν Καππαδόκων πολλὴν παρέσυρε καὶ κατοικίας καὶ φυτείας ἠφάνισε πολλὰς τῆς τε τῶν Γαλατῶν τῶν τὴν Φρυγίαν ἐχόντων οὐκ ὀλίγην ἐλυμήνατο· ἀντὶ δὲ τῆς βλάβης ἐπράξαντο ζημίαν αὐτὸν τάλαντα τριακόσια Ῥωμαίοις ἐπιτρέψαντες τὴν κρίσιν. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ συνέβη καὶ περὶ Ἧρπα· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὸ τοῦ Καρμάλα ῥεῦμα ἐνέφραξεν, εἶτʼ ἐκραγέντος τοῦ στομίου καὶ τῶν Κιλίκων τινὰ χωρία τὰ περὶ Μαλλὸν διαφθείραντος τοῦ ὕδατος, δίκας ἔτισεν τοῖς ἀδικηθεῖσιν.
In the plain in front of the city, and about 40 stadia from it, is a river of the name of Melas, whose source is in ground lower than the level of the city. It is useless to the inhabitants, because it does not flow from an elevated situation. It spreads abroad in marshes and lakes, and in the summertime corrupts the air round the city. A valuable stone quarry is rendered almost useless by it. For there are extensive beds of stone, from which the Mazaceni obtain an abundant supply of materials for building, but the slabs, being covered with water, are not easily detached by the workmen. These are the marshes which in every part are subject to take fire.
Ariarathes the king filled in some narrow channels by which the Melas entered the Halys, and converted the neighbouring plain into a wide lake. There he selected some small islands like the Cyclades, where he passed his time in boyish and frivolous diversions. The barrier, however, was broken down all at once, and the waters again flowed abroad and swelled the Halys, which swept away a large part of the Cappadocian territory, and destroyed many buildings and plantations; it also damaged a considerable part of the country of the Galatians, who occupy Phrygia. In compensation for this injury he paid a fine of three hundred talents to the inhabitants, who had referred the matter to the decision of the Romans. The same was the case at Herpa; for he there obstructed the stream of the Carmalas, and, on the bursting of the dyke, the water damaged some of the places in the Cilician territories about Mallus; he was obliged to make compensation to those who had sustained injury.
ἀφυὲς δʼ οὖν κατὰ πολλὰ τὸ τῶν Μαζακηνῶν χωρίον ὂν πρὸς κατοικίαν μάλιστα οἱ βασιλεῖς ἑλέσθαι δοκοῦσιν, ὅτι τῆς χώρας ἁπάσης τόπος ἦν μεσαίτατος οὗτος τῶν ξύλα ἐχόντων ἅμα καὶ λίθον πρὸς τὰς οἰκοδομίας καὶ χόρτον, οὗ πλεῖστον ἐδέοντο κτηνοτροφοῦντες· τρόπον γάρ τινα στρατόπεδον ἦν αὐτοῖς ἡ πόλις. τὴν δʼ ἄλλην ἀσφάλειαν τὴν αὐτῶν τε καὶ σωμάτων καὶ τῶν χρημάτων εἶχον ἐν τοῖς φρουρίοις, ἃ πολλὰ ὑπάρχει τὰ μὲν βασιλικὰ τὰ δὲ τῶν φίλων. ἀφέστηκε δὲ τὰ Μάζακα τοῦ μὲν Πόντου περὶ ὀκτακοσίους σταδίους πρὸς νότον, τοῦ δʼ Εὐφράτου μικρὸν ἐλάττους ἢ διπλασίους, τῶν Κιλικίων δὲ πυλῶν ὁδὸν ἡμερῶν ἓξ καὶ τοῦ Κύρου στρατοπέδου διὰ Τυάνων· κατὰ μέσην δὲ τὴν ὁδὸν κεῖται τὰ Τύανα, διέχει δὲ Κυβίστρων τριακοσίους σταδίους. χρῶνται δὲ οἱ Μαζακηνοὶ τοῖς Χαρώνδα νόμοις, αἱρούμενοι καὶ νομῳδόν, ὅς ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἐξηγητὴς τῶν νόμων, καθάπερ οἱ παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις νομικοί. διέθηκε δὲ φαύλως αὐτοὺς Τιγράνης ὁ Ἀρμένιος, ἡνίκα τὴν Καππαδοκίαν κατέδραμεν· ἅπαντας γὰρ ἀναστάτους ἐποίησεν εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν, καὶ τὰ Τιγρανόκερτα ἐκ τούτων συνῴκισε τὸ πλέον· ὕστερον δʼ ἐπανῆλθον οἱ δυνάμενοι μετὰ τὴν τῶν Τιγρανοκέρτων ἅλωσιν.
Although the territory of the Mazaceni is destitute in many respects of natural advantages, it seems to have been preferred by the kings as a place of residence, because it was nearest the centre of those districts which supplied timber, stone for building, and fodder, of which a very large quantity was required for the subsistence of their cattle. Their city was almost a camp. The security of their persons and treasure depended upon the protection afforded by numerous fortresses, some of which belonged to the king, others to their friends.
Mazaca is distant from Pontus about 800 stadia to the south, and from the Euphrates a little less than double that distance; from the Cilician Gates and the camp of Cyrus, a journey of six days by way of Tyana, which is situated about the middle of the route, and is distant from Cybistra 300 stadia. The Mazaceni adopt the laws of Charondas, and elect a Nomōdist, (or Chanter of the Laws,) who, like the Jurisconsults of the Romans, is the interpreter of their laws. Tigranes the Armenian, when he overran Cappadocia, treated them with great severity. He forced them to abandon their settlements, and go into Mesopotamia; they peopled Tigranocerta, chiefly by their numbers. Afterwards, upon the capture of Tigranocerta, those who were able returned to their own country.
Cite This Text