ἐνταῦθα δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ ἰσθμὸς ὁ διείργων τὴν σαπρὰν λεγομένην λίμνην ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης σταδίων τετταράκοντα καὶ ποιῶν τὴν Ταυρικὴν καὶ Σκυθικὴν λεγομένην χερρόνησον· οἱ δὲ τριακοσίων ἑξήκοντα τὸ πλάτος τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ φασιν. ἡ δὲ σαπρὰ λίμνη σταδίων μὲν καὶ τετρακισχιλίων λέγεται, μέρος δʼ ἐστὶ τῆς Μαιώτιδος τὸ πρὸς δύσιν· συνεστόμωται γὰρ αὐτῇ στόματι μεγάλῳ. ἑλώδης δʼ ἐστὶ σφόδρα καὶ ῥαπτοῖς πλοίοις μόγις πλόιμος· οἱ γὰρ ἄνεμοι τὰ τενάγη ῥᾳδίως ἀνακαλύπτουσιν, εἶτα πάλιν πληροῦσιν, ὥστε τὰ ἕλη τοῖς μείζοσι σκάφεσιν οὐ περάσιμά ἐστιν. ἔχει δʼ ὁ κόλπος νησίδια τρία καὶ προσβραχῆ τινα καὶ χοιραδώδη ὀλίγα κατὰ τὸν παράπλουν.
AT the bottom of the bay (Carcinites) commences the isthmus which separates the lake called Sapra, [or the Putrid Lake,] from the sea; it is 40 stadia in width, and forms the Tauric or Scythian Chersonese. This, according to some, is 360 stadia across. The Putrid Lake is said to extend 4000 stadia (in circumference), and forms part of the [Palus] Moeotis on its western side, with which it communicates by a large opening. It abounds in marshy tracts, and is scarcely navigable with sewn boats. The shallower parts are soon uncovered, and again covered with water, by the force of the wind; but the marsh will not bear boats of a deeper draught. In the bay are three small islands; and in sailing along the coast, some shallows are met with, and rocks which rise above water.
ἐκπλέοντι δʼ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ πολίχνη καὶ ἄλλος λιμὴν Χερρονησιτῶν. ἔκκειται γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν ἄκρα μεγάλη κατὰ τὸν παράπλουν ἐφεξῆς, μέρος οὖσα τῆς ὅλης χερρονήσου, ἐφʼ ᾗ ἵδρυται πόλις Ἡρακλεωτῶν ἄποικος τῶν ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ, αὐτὸ τοῦτο καλουμένη Χερρόνησος, διέχουσα τοῦ Τύρα παράπλουν σταδίων τετρακισχιλίων τετρακοσίων· ἐν ᾗ τὸ τῆς Παρθένου ἱερόν, δαίμονός τινος, ἧς ἐπώνυμος καὶ ἡ ἄκρα ἡ πρὸ τῆς πόλεώς ἐστιν ἐν σταδίοις ἑκατόν, καλουμένη Παρθένιον, ἔχον νεὼν τῆς δαίμονος καὶ ξόανον. μεταξὺ δὲ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς ἄκρας λιμένες τρεῖς· εἶθʼ ἡ παλαιὰ Χερρόνησος κατεσκαμμένη καὶ μετʼ αὐτὴν λιμὴν στενόστομος, καθʼ ὃν μάλιστα οἱ Ταῦροι, Σκυθικὸν ἔθνος, τὰ λῃστήρια συνίσταντο τοῖς καταφεύγουσιν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐπιχειροῦντες· καλεῖται δὲ συμβόλων λιμήν. οὗτος δὲ ποιεῖ πρὸς ἄλλον λιμένα Κτενοῦντα καλούμενον τετταράκοντα σταδίων ἰσθμόν· οὗτος δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ ἰσθμὸς ὁ κλείων τὴν μικρὰν χερρόνησον, ἣν ἔφαμεν τῆς μεγάλης χερρονήσου μέρος, ἔχουσαν ἐν αὑτῇ τὴν ὁμωνύμως λεγομένην πόλιν Χερρόνησον.
On the left in sailing out of the bay [Carcinites] there is a small town and another harbour belonging to the people of the Chersonese; for in coasting along the bay, there projects towards the south a large promontory, which is a part of the great Chersonese. Upon it stands a city of the Heracleotae, who are a colony from Heraclea in the Euxine; it bears the same name, Chersonesus, as the territory. It is distant from the Dniester, in following the coast, 4400 stadia. In this city is a temple of the Virgin, some goddess, after whom the promontory, which is in front of the city, at the distance of 100 stadia, is called Parthenium. It has a shrine of the goddess and a statue. Between the city and the promontory are three harbours; next is the Old city Chersonesus in ruins; then follows a harbour with a narrow entrance. It was called Symbolon Limen, or Signal Harbour; and here principally was carried on a system of piracy against those who took refuge in the ports. This, together with another harbour, called Ctenus, forms an isthmus of 40 stadia in extent. This isthmus locks in the Smaller Chersonesus, which we said was a part of the Great Chersonesus, having on it a city of the same name.
αὕτη δʼ ἦν πρότερον αὐτόνομος, πορθουμένη δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἠναγκάσθη προστάτην ἑλέσθαι Μιθριδάτην τὸν Εὐπάτορα, στρατηγιῶντα ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ μέχρι Βορυσθένους βαρβάρους· ταῦτα δʼ ἦν ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους παρασκευή. ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν κατὰ ταύτας τὰς ἐλπίδας ἄσμενος πέμψας εἰς τὴν Χερρόνησον στρατιὰν ἅμα πρός τε τοὺς Σκύθας ἐπολέμει Σκίλουρόν τε καὶ τοὺς Σκιλούρου παῖδας τοὺς περὶ Πάλακον, οὓς Ποσειδώνιος μὲν πεντήκοντά φησιν Ἀπολλωνίδης δὲ ὀγδοήκοντα· ἅμα δὲ τούτους τε ἐχειρώσατο βίᾳ καὶ Βοσπόρου κατέστη κύριος παρʼ ἑκόντος λαβὼν Παιρισάδου τοῦ κατέχοντος. ἐξ ἐκείνου δὴ τοῦ χρόνου τοῖς τοῦ Βοσπόρου δυνάσταις ἡ τῶν Χερρονησιτῶν πόλις ὑπήκοος μέχρι νῦν ἐστι. τὸ δʼ ἴσον ὁ Κτενοῦς διέχει τῆς τε τῶν Χερρονησιτῶν πόλεως καὶ τοῦ συμβόλων λιμένος. μετὰ δὲ τὸν συμβόλων λιμένα μέχρι Θεοδοσίας πόλεως ἡ Ταυρικὴ παραλία, χιλίων που σταδίων τὸ μῆκος, τραχεῖα καὶ ὀρεινὴ καὶ καταιγίζουσα τοῖς βορέαις ἵδρυται. πρόκειται δʼ αὐτῆς ἄκρα πολὺ πρὸς τὸ πέλαγος καὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν ἐκκειμένη κατὰ Παφλαγονίαν καὶ Ἄμαστριν πόλιν, καλεῖται δὲ Κριοῦ μέτωπον. ἀντίκειται δʼ αὐτῇ τὸ τῶν Παφλαγόνων ἀκρωτήριον ἡ Κάραμβις τὸ διαιροῦν εἰς πελάγη δύο τὸν Εὔξεινον πόντον τῷ ἑκατέρωθεν σφιγγομένῳ πορθμῷ. διέστηκε δʼ ἡ Κάραμβις τῆς μὲν τῶν Χερρονησιτῶν πόλεως σταδίους δισχιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους, τοῦ δὲ Κριοῦ μετώπου πολὺ ἐλάττους τὸν ἀριθμόν· συχνοὶ γοῦν τῶν διαπλευσάντων τὸν πορθμὸν ἅμα φασὶν ἰδεῖν ἀμφοτέρας ἑκατέρωθεν τὰς ἄκρας. ἐν δὲ τῇ ὀρεινῇ τῶν Ταύρων καὶ τὸ ὄρος ἐστὶν ὁ Τραπεζοῦς, ὁμώνυμον τῇ πόλει τῇ περὶ τὴν Τιβαρανίαν καὶ τὴν Κολχίδα· καὶ ἄλλο δʼ ἐστὶν ὄρος Κιμμέριον κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ὀρεινήν, δυναστευσάντων ποτὲ τῶν Κιμμερίων ἐν τῷ Βοσπόρῳ· καθʼ ὃ καὶ Κιμμερικὸς Βόσπορος καλεῖται τοῦ πορθμοῦ πᾶν ὃ ἐπέχει τὸ στόμα τῆς Μαιώτιδος.
It was formerly governed by its own laws, but after it was ravaged by barbarous nations, the inhabitants were obliged to elect as their protector, Mithridates Eupator, who was anxious to direct his forces against the barbarians who lived above the isthmus, and occupied the country as far as the Dnieper and the Adriatic, and thus to prepare himself against war with the Romans. Mithridates, with these views, readily despatched an expedition into the Chersonesus, and carried on war at the same time against the Scythians, Scilurus, and the sons of Scilurus, namely, Palacus and his brothers, whom Posidonius reckons to have been fifty, and Apollonides eighty, in number. By the subjugation of these enemies he became at once master of the Bosporus, which Pairisades, who held the command of it, voluntarily surrendered. From that time to the present the city of the Chersonitae has been subject to the princes of the Bosporus.
Ctenus is equally distant from the city of the Chersonitae, and from Symbolon Limen. From Symbolon Limen the Tauric coast extends 1000 stadia to the city Theodosia. The coast is rugged and mountainous, and during the prevalence of the north winds, tempestuous. From this coast a promontory projects far into the sea, and stretches out southwards towards Paphlagonia, and the city Amastris. It is called Criu-metopon, or Ram’s Head. Opposite to it is Carambis, the promontory of the Paphlagonians. Criu-metopon and Carambis together form a strait compressed between them, and divide the Euxine into two parts. Carambis is distant from the city of the Chersonesus 2500 stadia, and from Criu-metopon much less; for many persons who have sailed through the strait say, that they saw both promontories at once.
In the mountainous district of the Tauri there is a hill called Trapezus, of the same name as the city, which is near Tibarania and Colchis. There is another hill also, the Kimmerium, in the same mountainous district, for the Kimmerii were once sovereigns of the Bosporus, and hence the whole of the strait at the mouth of the [Palus] Maeotis is called the Kimmerian Bosporus.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν ὀρεινὴν τὴν λεχθεῖσαν ἡ Θεοδοσία κεῖται πόλις, πεδίον εὔγεων ἔχουσα καὶ λιμένα ναυσὶ καὶ ἑκατὸν ἐπιτήδειον· οὗτος δὲ ὅρος ἦν πρότερον τῆς τῶν Βοσποριανῶν καὶ Ταύρων γῆς· καὶ ἡ ἑξῆς δʼ ἐστὶν εὔγεως χώρα μέχρι Παντικαπαίου, τῆς μητροπόλεως τῶν Βοσποριανῶν ἱδρυμένης ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τῆς Μαιώτιδος. ἔστι δὲ τὸ μεταξὺ τῆς Θεοδοσίας καὶ τοῦ Παντικαπαίου σταδίων περὶ πεντακοσίων καὶ τριάκοντα, χώρα πᾶσα σιτοφόρος, κώμας ἔχουσα καὶ πόλιν εὐλίμενον τὸ Νύμφαιον καλούμενον. τὸ δὲ Παντικάπαιον λόφος ἐστὶ πάντη περιοικούμενος ἐν κύκλῳ σταδίων εἴκοσι· πρὸς ἕω δʼ ἔχει λιμένα καὶ νεώρια ὅσον τριάκοντα νεῶν, ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἀκρόπολιν· κτίσμα δʼ ἐστὶ Μιλησίων. ἐμοναρχεῖτο δὲ πολὺν χρόνον ὑπὸ δυναστῶν τῶν περὶ Λεύκωνα καὶ Σάτυρον καὶ Παιρισάδην αὕτη τε καὶ αἱ πλησιόχωροι κατοικίαι πᾶσαι αἱ περὶ τὸ στόμα τῆς Μαιώτιδος ἑκατέρωθεν μέχρι Παιρισάδου τοῦ Μιθριδάτῃ παραδόντος τὴν ἀρχήν. ἐκαλοῦντο δὲ τύραννοι, καίπερ οἱ πλείους ἐπιεικεῖς γεγονότες, ἀρξάμενοι ἀπὸ Παιρισάδου καὶ Λεύκωνος. Παιρισάδης δὲ καὶ θεὸς νενόμισται· τούτῳ δὲ ὁμώνυμος καὶ ὁ ὕστατος, ὃς οὐχ οἷός τε ὢν ἀντέχειν πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους φόρον πραττομένους μείζω τοῦ πρότερον Μιθριδάτῃ τῷ Εὐπάτορι παρέδωκε τὴν ἀρχήν· ἐξ ἐκείνου δʼ ἡ βασιλεία γεγένηται Ῥωμαίοις ὑπήκοος. τὸ μὲν οὖν πλέον αὐτῆς μέρος ἐστὶν ἐπὶ τῆς Εὐρώπης, μέρος δέ τι καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἀσίας.
After leaving the above-mentioned mountainous district, is the city Theodosia, situated on a plain; the soil is fertile, and there is a harbour capable of containing a hundred vessels. This formerly was the boundary of the territory of the Bosporians and of the Tauri. Then follows a fertile country extending to Panticapaeum, the capital of the Bosporians, which is situated at the mouth of the Palus Maeotis. Between Theodosia and Panticapaeum there is a tract of about 530 stadia in extent. The whole country is corn-producing; there are villages in it, and a city called Nymphaeum, with a good harbour.
Panticaepsum is a hill inhabited all round for a circuit of 20 stadia. To the east it has a harbour, and docks capable of containing about thirty vessels; there is also an acropolis. It was founded by the Milesians. Both this place and the neighbouring settlements on each side of the mouth of the Palus Maeotis were for a long period under the monarchical dynasty of Leucon, and Satyrus, and Pairisades, till the latter surrendered the sovereignty to Mithridates. They had the name of tyrants, although most of them were moderate and just in their government, from the time of Pairisades and Leucon. Pairisades was accounted even a god. The last sovereign, whose name was also Pairisades, being unable to resist the barbarians, by whom great and unusual tributes were exacted, surrendered the kingdom into the hands of Mithridates. After him it became subject to the Romans. The greater portion of it is situated in Europe, but a part of it is also situated in Asia.
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