Res Gestae

Beyond the frontier of this people Greater Carmania rises with lofty peaks, extending as far as the Indian Sea, supplied with products of the soil and fruit trees, but far inferior in fame and in extent to the lands of the Arabs; however, the country is no less rich in rivers, and equally blest with a fertile soil.

The rivers better known than the rest are the Sagareus, Saganis, and Hydriacus. There are also cities which, though few in number, are very rich in all that contributes to the maintenance and enjoyment of life. Conspicuous among them are Carmana, mother city of them all, Portospana, Alexandria, and Hermupolis.

Proceeding inland, one meets with the Hyrcanians, whose coast the sea of the same name washes.[*](A part of the Caspian.) Among them, since the leanness of their soil kills the seeds, less attention is given to agriculture, but they live upon game, of which there is a monstrous great variety and abundance. There are also many thousand tigers, and numerous other wild beasts, and by what kind of devices they are usually taken I recall that I gave an account long ago.[*](In a lost book. Cf. Mela, iii. 5, 43; Pliny, N.H. viii. 66; Ambros., Hexam. vi. 4.)

But for all that, they are not unacquainted with the plough-tail, but some districts, where the soil is richer, are covered over with sown fields. Groves of trees,

Here are two rivers well known by name, the Oxus and the Maxera, over which tigers, driven by hunger, sometimes swim and unexpectedly cause great losses to the neighbouring places. They also have some strong cities, among lesser towns; two are on the sea, Socanda and Saramanna, and others inland, Asmurna, Sale, and, better known than these, Hyrcana.

Over against this people to the north the Abii are said to dwell, a most kindly race, accustomed to trample on all mortal things, on whom, as Homer sings as part of his tale, Jupiter looks with favour from the mountains of Ida.[*](Cf. Iliad, xiii. 6, quoted in § 62.)

Next after the Hyrcanians the Margiani have found homes, a people all but wholly surrounded by lofty hills, and thus separated from the sea. And although the greater part of their soil, from dearth of water, is a desert, they nevertheless have some towns; but Iasonion, Antiochia,[*](Founded by Antiochus, son of Seleucus.) and Nigaea[*](Modern Herat.) are better known than the others.

The lands next to these the Bactriani possess, a nation formerly warlike and very powerful, and always at odds with the Persians, until they reduced all the peoples about them to submission and incorporated them under their own name. In ancient times they were ruled by kings who were

Many parts of this land, like Margiana, are widely separated from the coast, but rich in vegetation; and the herds which graze on their plains and mountains are thickset, with strong limbs, as appears from the camels brought from there by Mithridates and seen for the first time by the Romans at the siege of Cyzicus.[*](Sallust, Hist. iii. 42, Maur.; but cf. Plut., Lucull. 11, 4, σαλλουστίου δὲ θαυμάζω τότε πρῶτον ὦφθαι ʽρωμαίοις καμήλους λέγοντος. )

Several peoples are subject to these same Bactrians, notably the Tochari, and like Italy the country is watered by many rivers. Of these, the Artamis and Zariaspes first unite, as well as the Ochus and Orgomanes, and when joined they increase the mighty flow of the Oxus with their combined[*](Cf. xv, 5, 25.) waters.

There are also cities here which are laved by other rivers, but they recognise these as their betters: namely, Chatracharta, Alicodra, Astatia, Menapila, and Bactra itself, from which the kingdom and the nation have derived their name.

Next the Sogdiani dwell at the foot of the mountains which they call the Sogdii, through whose territories two rivers flow which are navigable by ships, the Araxates[*](Probably for Iaxartes; Curtius, vii. 6, 19-21.) and the Dymas. These streams rush headlong over mountains and valleys into a level plain and form a lake, Oxia by name, which is both long and broad. Here among other towns Alexandria, Cyreschata,[*](By others called Cyropolis, destroyed by Alexander the Great; cf. Arrian, Anab, iv. 2, 2 f.) and the metropolis, Drepsa, are famous.

Next to these are the Sacae, a tribe of savages, inhabiting a rough country rich only for cattle, and hence without cities. It is overhung by the mountains Ascanimia and Comedus, along the base of which and through a village, which they call Lithinos Pyrgos,[*](The Stone Tower.) a very long road extends, which is the route taken by the traders who journey from time to time to the land of the Seres.

Along the slopes and at the foot of the mountains which they call Imavi and Apurii, various Scythian tribes dwell within the Persian territories, bordering on the Asiatic Sarmatians and reaching to the outermost side of the Halani. These, as if living in a nook of the world, and brought up in solitude, are widely scattered, and are accustomed to common and poor food.

And various other tribes dwell in these parts, which at present I think it superfluous to enumerate, since I am hastening on to another topic. It is necessary only to know, that among these nations, which because of the extreme roughness of their land are almost inaccessible, there are some mild and kindly folk, such as the Iaxartae and the Galactophagi,[*](Milk-eaters.) whom the bard Homer mentions in this verse[*](Iliad, xiii. 6):

1. Of the Galactophagi and Abii, righteous men.

Now, among the many rivers of this land, which nature either joins with larger streams or by their own flow carries on to the sea, the Rhymmus, Iaxartes and Daicus are celebrated. But there are only three cities which the region is known to have, namely, Aspabota, Chauriana, and Saga.

Beyond these lands of both Scythias,[*](European and Asiatic.) towards the east, the summits of lofty walls[*](Doubtless including the famous Chinese Wall.) form a circle and enclose the Seres,[*](The Chinese.) remarkable for the richness and extent of their country. On the west they are bounded by the Scythians, and on the north and the east they extend to a snowclad waste; on the south they reach India and the Ganges. There are mountains there, called Anniba, Nazavicium, Asmira, Emodon, and Opurocorra.