Latin Texts & Translations

Below this lies the region of Pontus known as Colica, ^[Note] in

which the mountain chain of Caucasus bends away towards the Riphæan mountains, as we have previously ^[Note] mentioned; one side running down towards the Euxine and the Lake Mæotis, the other towards the Caspian and the Hyrcanian sea. The remaining portion of these shores is peopled by savage nations, the Melanchlæni, ^[Note] and the Coraxi, who formerly dwelt in Dios- curias, ^[Note] near the river Anthemus, now deserted, but once a famous city; so much so, indeed, that we learn from Timos- thenes, that three hundred nations, all of different languages, were in the habit of resorting to it, and in later times we had there one hundred and thirty interpreters for the purpose of transacting business. There are some authors who are of opinion that this place was built by Amphitus and Telchius, the charioteers ^[Note] of Castor and Pollux, from whom it is generally understood that the nation of the Heniochi sprang. After passing Dioscurias we come to the town of Heracleium, ^[Note] seventy miles distant from Sebastopolis, and then the Achæi, ^[Note] the Mardi, ^[Note] and the Cercetæ, ^[Note] and, behind them, the Cerri and the Cephalotomi. ^[Note] In the innermost part ^[Note] of this district there was Pityus, ^[Note] a city of very considerable opulence, but

destroyed by the Heniochi: behind it are the Epageritæ, a people of Sarmatian origin, dwelling upon the range of the Caucasus, and beyond them, the Sauromatæ. It was with these people that Mithridates ^[Note] took refuge in the reign of the Emperor Claudius: and from him we learn that the Thalli ^[Note] join up to them, a people who border on the eastern side upon the mouth ^[Note] of the Caspian sea: he tells us also that at the reflux the channel is dry there. Upon the coast of the Euxine, near the country of the Cercetæ, is the river Icarusa, ^[Note] with the town and river of Hierus , distant from Heracleium one hundred and thirty-six miles. Next to this, is the promontory of Cruni, after passing which, we find the Toretæ upon a lofty ridge of mountains. The city of Sindos ^[Note] is distant from Hierus sixty-seven miles and a half; after passing which, we come to the river Setheries. (6.) From thence to the entrance of the Cimmerian Bosporus the distance is eighty-eight miles and a half.