Geography

​On the south, Armenia is bordered by the Taurus, which separates it from the whole of the country between the Euphrates and the Tigris, which they call Mesopotamia; on the east, it borders on Great Media and Atropatene; on the north are the mountains of Parachoathras lying above the Caspian Sea, and the Albanians and Iberians, and the Caucasus, which surrounds these nations and borders on the Armenians, and also borders on the Moschian and Colchian mountains as far as the so-called Tibarani; on the west are these nations, and Mount Paryadres and Mount Skydises, extending as far as Lesser Armenia and the river-land of the Euphrates, which separates Armenia from Cappadocia and Commagene.

​For the Euphrates, having its sources on the northern side of the Taurus, flows first to the west through Armenia, then turns to the south and cuts through the Taurus between the Armenians and the Cappadocians and Commagenians, and having burst out and come into Syria, it turns towards the winter sunrise as far as Babylon, and with the Tigris creates Mesopotamia; and both rivers end in the Persian Gulf. The surroundings, then, are of such a character, being nearly all mountainous and rugged, except for a few parts sloping towards Media. To resume, where the aforementioned Taurus starts from the opposite side of Commagene and Melitene which the Euphrates forms, Mount Masius is the mountain lying above, on the south, of the Mygdonians in Mesopotamia, in whose territory Nisibis is located; and on the northern parts lies Sophene, between Masius and Antitaurus. This latter, starting from the Euphrates and the Taurus, ends towards the eastern parts of Armenia, enclosing Sophene in its middle, and having on its other side Acilisene, situated between the Taurus and the river-land of the Euphrates before the river bends to the south. The capital of Sophene is Karkathiokerta. And above Mount Masius, far to the east in the region of Gordyene, lies Mount Niphates; then Mount Abos, from which both the Euphrates and the Araxes flow, the former to the west, the latter to the east; then Mount Nibaros extends as far as Media.

​The course of the Euphrates has been described; but the Araxes, having run towards the east as far as Atropatene, bends towards the west and north, and flows past first Azara, and then Artaxata, cities of the Armenians; then through the Araxene plain it empties into the Caspian Sea.

​In Armenia itself there are many mountains and many plateaus, where not even a vine easily grows, but also many valleys, some moderately, others highly fertile, such as the Araxene plain, through which the river Araxes flows and empties into the extremities of Albania and the Caspian Sea; and next to this, Sakasene, this too adjacent to Albania and the river Kyros, then Gogarene. For all this country teems with fruits, cultivated trees, and evergreens, and it also bears the olive. There is also Phauene, a province of Armenia, and Komisene, and Orchistene which provides the largest number of cavalry; and Chorzene and Kambysene are the most northerly and most snowy parts, bordering on the Caucasian mountains and Iberia and Colchis, where they say that on the mountain passes whole caravans are often swallowed up in the snow when blizzards occur to an unusual degree; and that they carry staffs against such dangers, thrusting them up to the surface both for the sake of breathing and to signal to those who come after, so that they may obtain help, be dug out, and saved. And they say that in the snow hollow lumps freeze, containing good water as if in a tunic, and that animals are generated in it; Apollonides calls them worms, and Theophanes calls them wood-worms; and in these also good water is enclosed, which is drunk when the tunics are torn open; and they liken the generation of these animals to that of gnats from the flame in mines and the sparks.