Chaps. 29-31.

Chap. 29.—The Parthian Empire.

The kingdoms [The provinces of Parthia have been already mentioned in detail in the preceding Chapters, except Susiana and Elymais, which are mentioned in c. 31.] of Parthia are eighteen in all: such being the divisions of its provinces, which lie, as we have already stated, along the Red Sea to the south, and the Hyrcanian to the north. Of this number the eleven, called the Higher provinces, begin at the frontiers of Armenia and the shores of the Caspian, and extend to the Scythians, whose mode of life is similar in every respect. The other seven kingdoms of Parthia bear the name of the Lower provinces. As to the Parthi themselves, Parthia [The original Parthia, the modern Khorassan.] always lay at the foot of the mountains [The so-called Caucasian chain. See c. of the present Book.] so often mentioned, which overhang all these nations. On the east it is bounded by the Arii, on the south by Carmania and the Ariani, on the west by the Pratitæ, a people of the Medi, and on the north by the Hyrcani: it is surrounded by deserts on every side. The more distant of the Parthi are called Nomades; [Or “Wandering Parthians,” lying far to the east.] on this side of them there are deserts. On the west are the cities of Issatis and Calliope, already mentioned, [In c. 17 of the present Book.] on the north-east Europus, [Not to be confounded with the place in Atropatene, mentioned in c. 21 of the present Book.] on the south-east Maria; in the middle there are Hecatompylos, [It has been supposed that the modern Damgham corresponds with this place, but that is too near the Portæ Caspiæ. 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.] Arsace, and Nisiæa, a fine district of Parthiene, in which is Alexandropolis, so called from its founder.

(26.) It is requisite in this place to trace the localities of the Medi also, and to describe in succession the features of the country as far as the Persian Sea, in order that the account which follows may be the better understood. Media [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.] lies crosswise to the west, and so presenting itself obliquely to Parthia, closes the entrance of both kingdoms [The Upper and the Lower, as already mentioned.] into which it is divided. It has, then, on the east, the Caspii and the Parthi; on the south, Sittacene, Susiane, and Persis; on the west, Adsiabene; and on the north, Armenia. The Persæ have always inhabited the shores of the Red Sea, for which reason it has received the name of the Persian Gulf. This maritime region of Persis has the name of Ciribo; [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.] on the side on which it runs up to that of the Medi, there is a place known by the name of Climax Megale, [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 constructor was unknown.] where the mountains are ascended by a steep flight of stairs, and so afford a narrow passage which leads to Persepolis, [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.] the former capital of the kingdom, destroyed by Alexander. It has also, at its extreme frontier, Laodicea, [Its site is unknown; but Dupinet translates it the “city of Lor.”] founded by Antiochus. To the east of this place is the fortress of Passagarda, [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.] held by the Magi, at which spot is the tomb of Cyrus; also Ecbatana, [It is most probable that he does not allude here to the Ecbatana, mentioned in c. 17 of this Book.] a city of theirs, the inhabitants of which were removed by Darius to the mountains. Between the Parthi and the Ariani projects the territory of the Parætaceni. [There were several mountainous districts called Parætacene in the Persian empire, that being the Greek form of a Persian word signifying “mountainous.”] By these nations and the river Euphrates are the Lower kingdoms of Parthia bounded; of the others we shall speak after Mesopotamia, which we shall now describe, with the exception of that angle of it and the peoples of Arabia, which have been already mentioned in a former book. [In B. v. c. 21. He returns to the description of Susiana, Elymaïs, and Characene in c. 31 of the present Book.]

Chap. 30.—Mesopotamia.

The whole of Mesopotamia formerly belonged to the Assyrians, being covered with nothing but villages, with the exception of Babylonia [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 Belshazzar, 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.] and Ninus. [Nineveh. See c. of the present Book.] The Macedonians formed these communities into cities, being prompted thereto by the extraordinary fertility of the soil. Besides the cities already mentioned, it contains those of Seleucia, [On the left bank of the Euphrates, opposite to the ford of Zeugma; a fortress of considerable importance.] Laodicea, [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.] Artemita; [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.] and in Arabia, the peoples known as the Orei [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.] and the Mardani, besides Antiochia, [This Antioch does not appear to have been identified.] founded by Nicanor, the governor of Mesopotamia, and called Arabis. Joining up to these in the interior is an Arabian people, called the Eldamani, and above them, upon the river Pallaconta, the town of Bura, and the Arabian peoples known as the Salmani and the Masei. Up to the Gordyæi [The mountains of the Gordyæi are mentioned in c. 12.] join the Aloni, through whose territory runs the river Zerbis, which falls into the Tigris; next are the Azones, the Silici, a mountain tribe, and the Orontes, to the west of whom lies the town of Gaugamela, [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..] as also Suë, situate upon the rocks. Beyond these are the Silici, surnamed Classitæ, through whose district runs the river Lycus on its passage from Armenia, the Absithris [According to Ansart, now called the Lesser Zab, and by the inhabitants the Altun-su, meaning the “Golden river.”] running south-east, the town of Accobis, and then in the plains the towns of Diospage, Polytelia, [According to Parisot, the modern name is Calicala.] Stratonice, and Anthermis. [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.] In the vicinity of the Euphrates is Nicephorion, of which we have [In B. v. c. 21.] already stated that Alexander, struck with the favourable situation of the spot, ordered it to be built. We have also similarly made mention [In B. v. c. 21.] of Apamea on the Zeugma. Leaving that city and going eastward, we come to Caphrena, a fortified town, formerly seventy stadia in extent, and called the “Court of the Satraps.” It was to this place that the tribute was conveyed; now it is reduced to a mere fortress. Thæbata is still in the same state as formerly: after which comes Oruros, which under Pompeius Magnus formed the extreme limit of the Roman Empire, distant from Zeugma two hundred and fifty miles. There are writers who say that the Euphrates was drawn off by an artificial channel by the governor Gobares, at the point where we have stated [In B. v. c. 21.] that it branches off, [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.] in order that it might not commit damage in the city of Babylonia, in consequence of the extreme rapidity of its course. The Assyrians universally call this river by the name of Narmalcha, [For Arar-Melik, meaning the “River King,” according to Parisot.] which signifies the “royal river.” At the point where its waters divide, there was in former times a very large city, called Agranis, which the Persæ have destroyed.

Babylon, the capital of the nations of Chaldæa, long enjoyed the greatest celebrity of all cities throughout the whole world: and it is from this place that the remaining parts of Mesopotamia and Assyria received the name of Babylonia. The circuit of its walls, which were two hundred feet in height, was sixty miles. These walls were also fifty feet in breadth, reckoning to every foot three fingers’ breadth beyond the ordinary measure of our foot. The river Euphrates flowed through the city, with quays of marvellous workmanship erected on either side. The temple there [As to the identity of this, see a Note at the beginning of this Chapter.] of Jupiter Belus [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.] is still in existence; he was the first inventor of the science of Astronomy. In all other respects it has been reduced to a desert, having been drained of its population in consequence of its vicinity to Seleucia, [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.] founded for that purpose by Nicator, at a distance of ninety miles, on the confluence of the Tigris and the canal that leads from the Euphrates. Seleucia, however, still bears the surname of Babylonia: it is a free and independent city, and retains the features of the Macedonian manners. It is said that the population of this city amounts to six hundred thousand, and that the outline of its walls resembles an eagle with expanded wings: its territory, they say, is the most fertile in all the East. The Parthi again, in its turn, founded Ctesiphon, [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.”] for the purpose of drawing away the population of Seleucia, at a distance of nearly three miles, and in the district of Chalonitis; Ctesiphon is now the capital of all the Parthian kingdoms. Finding, however, that this city did not answer the intended purpose, king Vologesus [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.] has of late years founded another city in its vicinity, Vologesocerta [Or the “City of Vologesus;” certa being the Armenian for “city.”] by name. Besides the above, there are still the following towns in Mesopotamia: Hipparenum, [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.] rendered famous, like Babylon, by the learning of the Chaldæi, and situate near the river Narraga, [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.] which falls into the Narroga, from which a city so called has taken its name. The Persæ destroyed the walls of Hipparenum. Orchenus also, a third place of learning of the Chaldæi, is situate in the same district, towards the south; after which come the Notitæ, the Orothophanitæ, and the Grecichartæ. [There is great doubt as to the correct spelling of these names.] From Nearchus and Onesicritus we learn that the distance by water from the Persian Sea to Babylon, up the Euphrates, is four hundred and twelve miles; other authors, however, who have written since their time, say that the distance to Seleucia is four hundred and forty miles: and Juba says that the distance from Babylon to Charax is one hundred and seventy-five. Some writers state that the Euphrates continues to flow with an undivided channel for a distance of eighty-seven miles beyond Babylon, before its waters are diverted from their channel for the purposes of irrigation; and that the whole length of its course is not less than twelve hundred miles. The circumstance that so many different authors have treated of this subject, accounts for all these variations, seeing that even the Persian writers themselves do not agree as to what is the length of their schæni and parasangæ, each assigning to them a different length.

When the Euphrates ceases, by running in its channel, to afford protection [Against the attacks of robbers dwelling on the opposite side; the Attali, for instance.] to those who dwell on its banks, which it does when it approaches the confines of Charax, the country is immediately infested by the Attali, a predatory people of Arabia, beyond whom are found the Scenitæ. [Or “dwellers in tents,” Bedouins, as we call them.] The banks along this river are occupied by the Nomades of Arabia, as far as the deserts of Syria, from which, as we have already stated, [B. v. c. 20 and 21.] it takes a turn to the south, [Towards Mahamedieh.] and leaves the solitary deserts of Palmyra. Seleucia is distant, by way of the Euphrates, from the beginning of Mesopotamia, eleven hundred and twenty -five; from the Red Sea, by way of the Tigris, two hundred and twenty; and from Zeugma, seven hundred and twenty-three, miles. Zeugma is distant from Seleucia [Near Antioch and the Orontes: now Seleukeh, or Kepse, near Suadeiah.] in Syria, on the shores of our sea, one hundred and seventy-five [See B. v. c. 13.] miles. Such is the extent of the land that lies in these parts between the two seas. [The Mediterranean and the Red Sea; the latter including the modern Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.] The length of the kingdom of Parthia is nine hundred and eighteen miles.

Chap. 31.—The Tigris.

There is, besides the above, another town in Mesopotamia, on the banks of the Tigris and near its confluence with the Euphrates, the name of which is Digba. [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.] (27.) But it will be as well now to give some particulars respecting the Tigris itself. This river rises in the region of Greater Armenia, [The modern Turcomania.] from a very remarkable source, situate on a plain. The name of the spot is Elegosine, [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.] and the stream, as soon as it begins to flow, though with a slow current, has the name of Diglito. [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.] When its course becomes more rapid, it assumes the name of Tigris, [According to Bochart, this was a corruption of the Eastern name Deghel, from which were derived the forms Deger, Teger, and ultimately Tigris.] given to it on account of its swiftness, that word signifying an arrow in the Median language. It then flows into Lake Arethusa, [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.] the waters of which are able to support all weighty substances thrown into them, and exhale nitrous vapours. This lake produces only one kind of fish, which, however, never enter the current of the river in its passage through the lake: and in a similar manner, the fish of the Tigris will never swim out of its stream into the waters of the lake. Distinguishable from the lake, both by the rapidity and the colour of its waters, the tide of the river is hurried along; after it has passed through and arrived at Mount Taurus, it disappears [Seneca, however, in his Quæst. Nat. B. vi., represents the Tigris here as gradually drying up and becoming gradually smaller, till it disappears.] in a cavern of that mountain, and passing beneath it, bursts forth on the other side; the spot bears the name of Zoroande. [This spot is considered by Parisot to be the modern city of Betlis.] That the waters on either side of the mountain are the same, is evident from the fact, that bodies thrown in on the one side will reappear on the other. It then passes through another lake, called Thospites, and once more burying itself in the earth, reappears, after running a distance of twenty-two miles, in the vicinity of Nymphæum. [A spot where liquid bitumen or naphtha was found.] Claudius Cæsar informs us that, in the district of Arrene [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.] it flows so near to the river Arsanias, [Now called the Myrád-chaï. See B. v. c. 24. Ritter considers it to be the southern arm of the Euphrates.] that when their waters swell they meet and flow together, but without, however, intermingling. For those of the Arsani, as he says, being lighter, float on the surface of the Tigris for a distance of nearly four miles, after which they separate, and the Arsanias flows into the Euphrates. The Tigris, after flowing through Armenia and receiving the well-known rivers Parthenias and Nicephorion, separates the Arabian Orei [Or Aroei, as Littré suggests. See Note to c. 30 in p..] from the Adiabeni, and then forms by its course, as previously mentioned, the country of Mesopotamia. After traversing the mountains of the Gordyæi, [See c. of the present Book.] it passes round Apamea, [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.] a town of Mesene, one hundred and twenty-five miles on this side of Babylonian Seleucia, and then divides into two channels, one [Hardouin remarks that this is the right arm of the Tigris, by Stephanus Byzantinus called Delas, and by Eustathius Sylax, which last he prefers.] of which runs southward, and flowing through Mesene, runs towards Seleucia, while the other takes a turn to the north and passes through the plains of the Cauchæ, [According to Ammianus, one of the names of Seleucia on the Tigris was Coche.] at the back of the district of Mesene. When the waters have reunited, the river assumes the name of Pasitigris. After this, it receives the Choaspes, [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.] which comes from Media; and then, as we have already stated, [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.] flowing between Seleucia and Ctesiphon, discharges itself into the Chaldæan Lakes, which it supplies for a distance of seventy miles. Escaping from them by a vast channel, it passes the city of Charax to the right, and empties itself into the Persian Sea, being ten miles in width at the mouth. Between the mouths of the two rivers Tigris and the Euphrates, the distance was formerly twenty-five, or, according to some writers, seven miles only, both of them being navigable to the sea. But the Orcheni and others who dwell on its banks, have long since dammed up the waters of the Euphrates for the purposes of irrigation, and it can only discharge itself into the sea by the aid of the Tigris.

The country on the banks of the Tigris is called Parapotamia; [Or the country “by the river.”] we have already made mention of Mesene, one of its districts. Dabithac [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.] is a town there, adjoining to which is the district of Chalonitis, with the city of Ctesiphon, [Mentioned in the last Chapter.] famous, not only for its palm-groves, but for its olives, fruits, and other shrubs. Mount Zagrus [Now called the Mountains of Luristan.] reaches as far as this district, and extends from Armenia between the Medi and the Adiabeni; above Parætacene and Persis. Chalonitis [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.] is distant from Persis three hundred and eighty miles; some writers say that by the shortest route it is the same distance from Assyria and the Caspian Sea.

Between these peoples and Mesene is Sittacene, which is also called Arbelitis [From Arbela, in Assyria, which bordered on it.] and Palæstine. Its city of Sittace [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.] is of Greek origin; this and Sabdata [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.] lie to the east, and on the west is Antiochia, [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.] between the two rivers Tigris and Tornadotus, [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.] as also Apamea, [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.] to which Antiochus [The son of Seleucus Nicator.] gave this name, being that of his mother. The Tigris surrounds this city, which is also traversed by the waters of the Archoüs. Below [More to the south, and nearer the sea.] this district is Susiane, in which is the city of Susa, [Previously mentioned in c. 26.] the ancient residence of the kings of Persia, built by Darius, the son of Hystaspes; it is distant from Seleucia Babylonia four hundred and fifty miles, and the same from Ecbatana of the Medi, by way of Mount Carbantus. [A part of Mount Zagrus, previously mentioned, according to Hardouin.] Upon the northern channel of the river Tigris is the town of Babytace, [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.] distant from Susa one hundred and thirty-five miles. Here, for the only place in all the world, is gold held in abhorrence; the people collect it together and bury it in the earth, that it may be of use to no one. [The buryer excepted, perhaps.] On the east of Susiane are the Oxii, a predatory people, and forty independent savage tribes of the Mizæi. Above these are the Mardi and the Saitæ, subject to Parthia: they extend above the district of Elymais, which we have already mentioned [In c. 28 of the present Book.] as joining up to the coast of Persis. Susa is distant two hundred and fifty miles from the Persian Sea. Near the spot where the fleet of Alexander came up [As mentioned in c. 26 of the present Book.] the Pasitigris to Susa, there is a village situate on the Chaldæan Lake, Aple by name, from which to Susa is a distance of sixty miles and a half. Adjoining to the people of Susiane, on the east, are the Cossiæi; [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.] and above them, to the north, is Mesabatene, lying at the foot of Mount Cambalidus, [Supposed to be the same as the modern Kirmánshah mountains.] a branch of the Caucasian chain: from this point the country of the Bactri is most accessible.

Susiane is separated from Elymais by the river Eulæus, which rises in Media, and, after concealing itself in the earth for a short distance, rises again and flows through Mesabatene. It then flows round the citadel of Susa [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.] and the temple of Diana, which is held in the highest veneration by all these nations; the river itself being the object of many pompous ceremonials; the kings, indeed, will drink of no other water, [Pliny says this in B. xxxi. c. 21 of both the Eulæus and the Choaspes.] and for that reason carry it with them on their journies to any considerable distance. This river receives the waters of the Hedypnos, [Most probably the Hedyphon of Strabo, supposed to be the same as that now called the Djerrabi.] which passes Asylus, in Persis, and those of the Aduna, which rises in Susiane. Magoa [Parisot thinks that this is the modern Jessed, in the vicinity of the desert of Bealbanet.] is a town situate near it, and distant from Charax fifteen miles; some writers place this town at the very extremity of Susiane, and close to the deserts.

Below the Eulæus is Elymais, [Previously mentioned in c. 28.] upon the coast adjoining to Persis, and extending from the river Orates [The modern Tab.] to Charax, a distance of two hundred and forty miles. Its towns are Seleucia [Now called Camata, according to Parisot.] and Socrate, [The modern Saurac, according to Parisot. The more general reading is “Sosirate.”] upon Mount Casyrus. The shore which lies in front of this district is, as we have already stated, rendered inaccessible by mud, [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.] the rivers Brixa and Ortacea bringing down vast quantities of slime from the interior,—Elymais itself being so marshy that it is impossible to reach Persis that way, unless by going completely round: it is also greatly infested with serpents, which are brought down by the waters of these rivers. That part of it which is the most inaccessible of all, bears the name of Characene, from Charax, [Charax Spasinu, or Pasinu, previously mentioned in c. 26 (see p.). The name Charax applied to a town, seems to have meant a fortified place.] the frontier city of the kingdoms of Arabia. Of this place we will now make mention, after first stating the opinions of M. Agrippa in relation to this subject. That author informs us that Media, Parthia, and Persis, are bounded on the east by the Indus, on the west by the Tigris, on the north by Taurus and Caucasus, and on the south by the Red Sea; that the length of these countries is thirteen hundred and twenty miles, and the breadth eight hundred and forty; and that, in addition to these, there is Mesopotamia, which, taken by itself, is bounded on the east by the Tigris, on the west by the Euphrates, on the north by the chain of Taurus, and on the south by the Persian Sea, being eight hundred miles in length, and three hundred and sixty in breadth.

Charax is a city situate at the furthest extremity of the Arabian Gulf, at which begins the more prominent portion of Arabia Felix: [Called “Eudæmon” by Pliny.] it is built on an artificial elevation, having the Tigris on the right, and the Eulæus on the left, and lies on a piece of ground three miles in extent, just between the confluence of those streams. It was first founded by Alexander the Great, with colonists from the royal city of Durine, which was then destroyed, and such of his soldiers as were invalided and left behind. By his order it was to be called Alexandria, and a borough called Pella, from his native place, was to be peopled solely by Macedonians; the city, however, was destroyed by inundations of the rivers. Antiochus, [The Great, the father of Antiochus Epiphanes.] the fifth king of Syria, afterwards rebuilt this place and called it by his own name; and on its being again destroyed, Pasines, the son of Saggonadacus, and king of the neighbouring Arabians, whom Juba has incorrectly described as a satrap of king Antiochus, restored it, and raised embankments for its protection, calling it after himself. These embankments extended in length a distance of nearly three miles, in breadth a little less. It stood at first at a distance of ten stadia from the shore, and even had a harbour [Though this passage is probably corrupt, the reading employed by Sillig is inadmissible, as it makes nothing but nonsense. “Et jam Vipsanda porticus habet;” “and even now, Vipsanda has its porticos.”] of its own. But according to Juba, it is fifty miles from the sea; and at the present day, the ambassadors from Arabia, and our own merchants who have visited the place, say that it stands at a distance of one hundred and twenty miles from the sea-shore. Indeed, in no part of the world have alluvial deposits been formed more rapidly by the rivers, and to a greater extent than here; and it is only a matter of surprise that the tides, which run to a considerable distance beyond this city, do not carry them back again. At this place was born Dionysius, [Dionysius of Charax. No particulars of him are known beyond those mentioned by Pliny.] the most recent author of a description of the world; he was sent by the late emperor Augustus to gather all necessary information in the East, when his eldest [Caius, the son of Marcus Agrippa and Julia, the daughter of Augustus. He was the adopted son of Augustus.] son was about to set out for Armenia to take the command against the Parthians and Arabians.

The fact has not escaped me, nor indeed have I forgotten, that at the beginning of this work [See B. iii. c. 1, p. 151, in vol. 1.] I have remarked that each author appeared to be most accurate in the description of his own country; still, while I am speaking of these parts of the world, I prefer to follow the discoveries made by the Roman arms, and the description given by king Juba, in his work dedicated to Caius Cæsar above-mentioned, on the subject of the same expedition against Arabia.