(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[503] lies crosswise to the west, and so presenting itself obliquely to Parthia, closes the entrance of both kingdoms[504] 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;[505] on the side on which it runs up to that of the Medi, there is a place known by the name of Climax Megale,[506] where the mountains are ascended by a steep flight of stairs, and so afford a narrow passage which leads to Persepolis,[507] the former capital of the kingdom, destroyed by Alexander. It has also, at its extreme frontier, Laodicea,[508] founded by Antiochus. To the east of this place is the fortress of Passagarda,[509] held by the Magi, at which spot is the tomb of Cyrus; also Ecbatana,[510] 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.[511] 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.[512]
The whole of Mesopotamia formerly belonged to the Assyrians, being covered with nothing but villages, with the exception of Babylonia[513] and Ninus.[514] 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,[515] Laodicea,[516] Artemita;[517] and in Arabia, the peoples known as the Orei[518] and the Mardani, besides Antiochia,[519] 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[520] 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,[521] 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[522] running south-east, the town of Accobis, and then in the plains the towns of Diospage, Polytelia,[523] Stratonice, and Anthermis.[524] In the vicinity of the Euphrates is Nicephorion, of which we have[525] already stated that Alexander, struck with the favourable situation of the spot, ordered it to be built. We have also similarly made mention[526] 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[527] that it branches off,[528] 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,[529] 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.