CHAP. 9. (9.)—THE LESSER AND THE GREATER ARMENIA.
Greater Armenia,[160] beginning at the mountains known as the Paryadres,[161] is separated, as we have already stated,[162] from Cappadocia by the river Euphrates, and, where that river turns off[163] in its course, from Mesopotamia, by the no less famous river Tigris. Both of these rivers take their rise in Armenia, which also forms the commencement of Mesopotamia, a tract of country which lies between these streams; the intervening space between them being occupied by the Arabian Orei.[164] It thus extends its frontier as far as Adiabene, at which point it is stopped short by a chain of mountains which takes a cross direction; whereupon the province extends in width to the left, crossing the course of the Araxes,[165] as far as the river Cyrus;[166] while in length it reaches as far as the Lesser Armenia,[167] from which it is separated by the river Absarus, which flows into the Euxine, and by the mountains known as the Paryadres, in which the Absarus takes its rise.
CHAP. 10.—THE RIVERS CYRUS AND ARAXES.
The river Cyrus[168] takes its rise in the mountains of the Heniochi, by some writers called the Coraxici; the Araxes rises in the same mountains as the river Euphrates, at a distance from it of six miles only;[169] and after being increased by the waters of the Usis, falls itself, as many authors have supposed, into the Cyrus, by which it is carried into the Caspian Sea.
The more famous towns in Lesser Armenia are Cæsarea,[170] Aza,[171] and Nicopolis;[172] in the Greater Arsamosata,[173] which lies near the Euphrates, Carcathiocerta[174] upon the Tigris, Tigranocerta[175] which stands on an elevated site, and, on a plain adjoining the river Araxes, Artaxata.[176] According to Aufidius, the circumference of the whole of Armenia is five thousand miles, while Claudius Cæsar makes the length, from Dascusa[177] to the borders of the Caspian Sea, thirteen[178] hundred miles, and the breadth, from Tigranocerta to Iberia,[179] half that distance. It is a well-known fact, that this country is divided into prefectures, called “Strategies,” some of which singly formed a kingdom in former times; they are one hundred and twenty in number, with barbarous and uncouth names.[180] On the east, it is bounded, though not immediately, by the Ceraunian Mountains and the district of Adiabene. The space that intervenes is occupied by the Sopheni, beyond whom is the chain of mountains,[181] and then beyond them the inhabitants of Adiabene. Dwelling in the valleys adjoining to Armenia are the Menobardi and the Moscheni. The Tigris and inaccessible mountains surround Adiabene. To the left[182] of it is the territory of the Medi, and in the distance is seen the Caspian Sea; which, as we shall state in the proper place, receives its waters from the ocean,[183] and is wholly surrounded by the Caucasian Mountains. The inhabitants upon the confines of Armenia shall now be treated of.
CHAP. 11. (10.)—ALBANIA, IBERIA, AND THE ADJOINING NATIONS.
The whole plain which extends away from the river Cyrus is inhabited by the nation of the Albani,[184] and, after them,[185] by that of the Iberi,[186] who are separated from them by the river Alazon,[187] which flows into the Cyrus from the Caucasian chain. The chief cities are Cabalaca,[188] in Albania, Harmastis,[189] near a river[190] of Iberia, and Neoris; there is the region also of Thasie, and that of Triare, extending as far as the mountains known as the Paryadres. Beyond these[191] are the deserts of Colchios, on the side of which that looks towards the Ceraunian Mountains dwell the Armenochalybes;[192] and there is the country of the Moschi, extending to the river Iberus, which flows into the Cyrus; below them are the Sacassani, and after them the Macrones, upon the river Absarus. Such is the manner in which the plains and low country are parcelled out. Again, after passing the confines of Albania, the wild tribes of the Silvi inhabit the face of the mountains, below them those of the Lubieni, and after them the Diduri and the Sodii.
CHAP. 12. (11.)—THE PASSES OF THE CAUCASUS.
After passing the last, we come to the Gates of Caucasus,[193] by many persons most erroneously called the Caspian Passes; a vast work of nature, which has suddenly wrenched asunder in this place a chain of mountains. At this spot are gates barred up with beams shod with iron, while beneath the middle there runs a stream which emits a most fetid odour; on this side of it is a rock, defended by a fortress, the name of which is Cumania,[194] erected for the purpose of preventing the passage of the innumerable tribes that lie beyond. Here, then, we may see the habitable world severed into two parts by a pair of gates; they are just opposite to Harmastis, a town of the Iberi.
Beyond the Gates of Caucasus, in the Gordyæan Mountains, the Valli and the Suani, uncivilized tribes, are found; still, however, they work the mines of gold there. Beyond these nations, and extending as far away as Pontus, are numerous nations of the Heniochi, and, after them, of the Achæi. Such is the present state of one of the most famous tracts upon the face of the earth.