Res Gestae

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.

Through this land, consisting of a plain of wide extent,[*](For situ, structure, form, cf. Horace, Odes, iii. 30, 2, regalique situ pyramidum altius. As this meaning seems not to occur elsewhere, this may be a reminiscence; cf. bene numrnatum, xiv. 6, 12, note.) surrounded on all sides by precipitous cliffs, two rivers of famous name, the Oechartis and the Bautis,[*](The Selenga and the Hoang Ho.) flow in a somewhat slow course. The nature of the various tracts is unlike, being now open and flat and now descending in gentle slopes; and therefore the land overflows in grain, flocks, and orchards.

On this very fruitful soil dwell various peoples, of which the Anthropophagi, Anibi, Sizyges and Chardi lie towards the north and the snows. Towards the rising sun are the Rabannae, Asmirae, and the Essedones, the most famed of all; close to them, on the west, are the Athagorae, and the Aspacarae. In the south are the Baetae, dwelling on the slopes of high mountains. They are famed for cities which, though not numerous, are large and prosperous; the greatest of these, Asmira, Essedon, Asparata,

The Seres themselves live a peaceful life, for ever unacquainted with arms and warfare; and since to gentle and quiet folk ease is pleasurable, they are troublesome to none of their neighbours. Their climate is agreeable and healthful, the sky is clear, the winds gentle and very pleasant. There is an abundance of well-lighted woods, the trees of which produce a substance which they work with frequent sprinkling, like a kind of fleece; then from the wool-like material, mixed with water, they draw out very fine threads, spin the yarn, and make sericum,[*](Silk.) formerly for the use of the nobility, but nowadays available even to the lowest without any distinction.

The Seres themselves are frugal beyond all others, live a quiet life, and avoid intercourse with the rest of mortals. And when strangers, in order to buy threads or anything else, cross the river, their wares are laid out and with no exchange of words their value is estimated by the eye alone;[*](Cf. Hdt. iv. 196.) and they are so abstemious, that they hand over their own products without themselves getting any foreign ware in return.

Beyond the Seres live the Ariani, exposed to the blasts of the north wind; through their lands flows a river called the Arias, large enough to carry ships, which forms a great lake called by the same name. Moreover, this same Aria has many cities, among which the following are renowned: Vitaxa Sarmatina, Sotira, Nisibis, and Alexandria, from which the voyage to the Caspian Sea is reckoned as fifteen hundred stadia.

Neighbours to these places are the Paro- panisadae,[*](Or, Paropamisadae, named from Mt. Paropamisus (Hindu Kush confused with Caucasus). Their country formed the route from Persia to India.) facing the Indi on the east, and the Caucasus on the west; they themselves also dwell on the slopes of the mountains and through their country (besides some smaller rivers) flows the Gordomaris, rising in Bactria. And they also have some cities, of which the better-known are Agazaca, Naulibus, and Ortospana, from which the distance along the bank of the river to the frontiers of Media next to the Caspian Gates is 2200 stadia.

Joining the aforesaid are the Drangiani, connected with them by hills. Their land is washed by the river Arabius, so-called from the place of its rise.[*](In the country of the Arabi or Arabites, a people of Indian origin.) Among other towns they are proud of two, Prophthasia and Ariaspe, because of their wealth and fame.

Then, opposite to these, we see Arachosia, on the right facing the Indi. From a much smaller river,[*](The Arachotos, which is also the name of their capital city.) flowing out from the mighty Indus, from which the whole region takes its name, Arachosia receives an abundance of water; this river forms a lake, called Arachotoscrene.[*](ʼἀράχωτος κρήνη.) Here also among insignificant cities, are Alexandria,[*](Cf. Pliny, N.H. vi. 92.) Arbaca, and Choaspa.

Now far within Persia lies Gedrosia, on the right reaching the frontiers of the Indi; it is made fertile by the Artabius, in addition to smaller streams. Here the Arbitani mountains come to an

But we would not give a detailed account of the seacoast at the extremities of Persia, and wander too far from our subject. So it will be enough to say that the sea extending from the Caspian mountains along the northern side to the above-mentioned strait is 9000 stadia;[*](See Strabo, xi. 7 ff., who, however, does not give the distance.) but the southern frontier, from the mouths of the river Nile to where Carmania begins, is reckoned at 14,000 stadia.

Among these many men of differing tongues there are varieties of persons, as well as of places. But, to describe their bodily characteristics and their customs in general, they are almost all slender, somewhat dark, or of a leaden pallor, with eyes grim as goats’, eyebrows joined and curved in the form of a half-circle, not uncomely beards, and long, shaggy hair. All of them without exception, even at banquets and on festal days, appear girt with swords; an old Greek custom which, according to the trustworthy testimony of Thucydides,[*](i. 6, 1-3.) the Athenians were the first to abandon.

Most of them are extravagantly given to venery, and are hardly contented with a multitude of concubines;[*](Cf. Hdt. i. 135.) they are

Except for the kings’ tables, they have no fixed hours for meal-times, but every man’s belly is, as it were, his sundial;[*](Cf. the parasite in the comedy Boeotia; Gell. iii. 3, 6.) when this gives the call, they eat whatever is at hand, and no one, after he is satisfied, loads himself with superfluous food.[*](Cf. Hdt. i. 133.)

They are immensely moderate and cautious, so much so that they sometimes march through an enemy’s gardens and vineyards without coveting or touching anything, through fear of poison or magic arts.

Besides this, one seldom sees a Persian stop to pass water or step aside in response to a call of nature;[*](Cf. Hdt. i. 133; Xenophon, Cyrop. viii. 8, 11.) so scrupulously do they avoid these and other unseemly actions.

On the other hand, they are so free and easy, and stroll about with such a loose and unsteady gait, that one might think them effeminate; but, in fact, they are most gallant warriors, though rather crafty than courageous, and to be feared only at long range. They are given to empty words, and talk madly and extravagantly. They are boastful, harsh and offensive, threatening in adversity and prosperity alike, crafty, haughty, cruel, claiming the power of life and death over slaves and commons. They flay men alive, either bit by bit or all at once, and no servant who waits upon them, or stands at table, is allowed to open his mouth, either to speak or to spit; to such a degree,