Part 40 (1/2)

58. There are also cities in that country, many of them on the border of different rivers, the best of which are Chatra, Charte, Alicodra, Astacea, Menapila, and Bactra itself, which has given its name both to the region and to the people.

59. At the foot of the mountains lie a people called the Sogdians, in whose country are two rivers navigable for large vessels, the Araxates and the Dymas, which, flowing among the hills and through the valleys into the open plain, form the extensive Oxian marsh. In this district the most celebrated towns are Alexandria, Cyreschata, and Drepsa the metropolis.

60. Bordering on these are the Sacae, a fierce nation dwelling in a gloomy-looking district, only fit for cattle, and on that account dest.i.tute of cities. They are at the foot of Mount Ascanimia and Mount Comedus, along the bottom of which, and by a town called the Stone Tower, is the long road much frequented by merchants which leads to China.

61. Around the glens at the bottom of the Imanian and Tapurian mountains, and within the Persian frontier, is a tribe of Scythians, bordering on the Asiatic Sarmatians, and touching the furthest side of the Allemanni, who, like dwellers in a secluded spot, and made for solitude, are scattered over the regions at long distances from one another, and live on hard and poor food.

62. And various tribes inhabit these districts, which, as I am hastening to other topics, I think superfluous to enumerate. But this is worth knowing, that among these tribes, which are almost unapproachable on account of their excessive ferocity, there are some races of gentle and devout men, as the Jaxartae and the Galactophagi, whom Homer mentions in his verses:--

G?a?t?f????, ????te, d??a??t?t?? ?????p??.[147]

63. Among the many rivers which flow through this land, either uniting at last with larger streams, or proceeding straight to the sea, the most celebrated are the Roemnus, the Jaxartes, and the Talicus. There are but three cities there of any note, Aspabota, Chauriana, and Saga.

64. Beyond the districts of the two Scythias, on the eastern side, is a ring of mountains which surround Serica, a country considerable both for its extent and the fertility of its soil. This tribe on their western side border on the Scythians, on the north and the east they look towards snowy deserts; towards the south they extend as far as India and the Ganges. The best known of its mountains are Annib, Nazavicium, Asmira, Emodon, and Opurocarra.

65. The plain, which descends very suddenly from the hills, and is of considerable extent, is watered by two famous rivers, the OEchardes and the Bautis, which is less rapid than the other. The character too of the different districts is very varied. One is extensive and level, the other is on a gentle slope, and therefore very fertile in corn, and cattle, and trees.

66. The most fertile part of the country is inhabited by various tribes, of which the Alitrophagi, the Annibi, the Sisyges, and the Chardi lie to the north, exposed to the frost; towards the east are the Rabannae, the Asmirae, and the Essedones, the most powerful of all, who are joined on the west by the Athagorae, and the As.p.a.carae; and on the south by the Betae, who live on the highest slopes of the mountains. Though they have not many cities they have some of great size and wealth; the most beautiful and renowned of which are Asmira, Essedon, Asparata, and Sera.

67. The Seres themselves live quietly, always avoiding arms and battles; and as ease is pleasant to moderate and quiet men, they give trouble to none of their neighbours. Their climate is agreeable and healthy; the sky serene, the breezes gentle and delicious. They have numbers of s.h.i.+ning groves, the trees of which through continued watering produce a crop like the fleece of a sheep, which the natives make into a delicate wool, and spin into a kind of fine cloth, formerly confined to the use of the n.o.bles, but now procurable by the lowest of the people without distinction.

68. The natives themselves are the most frugal of men, cultivating a peaceful life, and shunning the society of other men. And when strangers cross their river to buy their cloth, or any other of their merchandise, they interchange no conversation, but settle the price of the articles wanted by nods and signs; and they are so moderate that, while selling their own produce, they never buy any foreign wares.

69. Beyond the Seres, towards the north, live the Ariani; their land is intersected by a navigable river called the Arias, which forms a huge lake known by the same name. This district of Asia is full of towns, the most ill.u.s.trious of which are Bitaxa, Sarmatina, Sotera, Nisibis, and Alexandria, from which last down the river to the Caspian Sea is a distance of fifteen hundred furlongs.

70. Close to their border, living on the slopes of the mountains, are the Paropanisatae, looking on the east towards India, and on the west towards Mount Caucasus. Their princ.i.p.al river is Ortogordomaris, which rises in Bactria. They have some cities, the princ.i.p.al being Agazaca, Naulibus, and Ortopana, from which if you coast along the sh.o.r.e to the borders of Media which are nearest to the Caspian gates, the distance is two thousand two hundred furlongs.

71. Next to them, among the hills, are the Drangiani, whose chief river is the Arabis, so called because it rises in Arabia; and their two princ.i.p.al towns are Prophthasia and Aniaspe, both wealthy and well known.

72. Next to them is Arachosia, which on the right extends as far as India. It is abundantly watered by a river much smaller than the Indus, that greatest of rivers, which gives its name to the surrounding regions; in fact their river flows out of the Indus, and pa.s.ses on till it forms the marsh known as Arachotoscrene. Its leading cities are Alexandria, Arbaca, and Choaspa.

73. In the most inland districts of Persia is Gedrosia; which on its right touches the frontier of India, and is fertilized by several rivers, of which the greatest is the Artabius. There the Barbitani mountains end, and from their lowest parts rise several rivers which fall into the Indus, losing their own names in the greatness of that superior stream. They have several islands, and their princ.i.p.al cities are Sedratyra and Gynaecon.

74. We need not detail minutely every portion of the sea-coast on the extremity of Persia, as it would lead us into too long a digression. It will suffice to say that the sea which stretches from the Caspian mountains along the northern side to the straits above mentioned, is nine thousand furlongs in extent; the southern frontier, from the mouth of the Nile to the beginning of Carmania, is fourteen thousand furlongs.

75. In these varied districts of different languages, the races of men are as different as the places. But to describe their persons and customs in general terms, they are nearly all slight in figure, swarthy or rather of a pale livid complexion; fierce-looking, with goat-like eyes, and eyebrows arched in a semicircle and joined, with handsome beards, and long hair. They at all times, even at banquets and festivals, wear swords; a custom which that excellent author Thucydides tells us the Athenians were the first of the Greeks to lay aside.

76. They are generally amazingly addicted to amatory pleasures; each man scarcely contenting himself with a mult.i.tude of concubines: from unnatural vices they are free. Each man marries many or few wives, as he can afford them, so that natural affection is lost among them because of the numerous objects of their licence. They are frugal in their banquets, avoiding immoderate indulgence and especially hard drinking, as they would the plague.

77. Nor, except at the king's table, have they any settled time for dining, but each man's stomach serves as his sun-dial; nor does any one eat after he is satisfied.

78. They are marvellously temperate and cautious, so that when sometimes marching among the gardens and vineyards of enemies, they neither desire nor touch anything, from fear of poison or witchcraft.

79. They perform all the secret functions of nature with the most scrupulous secrecy and modesty.

80. But they are so loose in their gait, and move with such correct ease and freedom, that you would think them effeminate, though they are most vigorous warriors; still they are rather crafty than bold, and are most formidable at a distance. They abound in empty words, and speak wildly and fiercely; they talk big, are proud, unmanageable, and threatening alike in prosperity and adversity; they are cunning, arrogant, and cruel, exercising the power of life and death over their slaves, and all low-born plebeians. They flay men alive, both piecemeal, and by stripping off the whole skin. No servant while waiting on them, or standing at their table, may gape, speak, or spit, so that their mouths are completely shut.

81. Their laws are remarkably severe: the most stringent are against ingrat.i.tude and against deserters; some too are abominable, inasmuch as for the crime of one man they condemn all his relations.