Geography

​They report that Armenia, which in earlier times was small, was enlarged through Artaxias and Zariadris, who were formerly generals of Antiochus the Great, but after his defeat ruled as kings—the one of Sophene, Acisene, Odomantis, and some other parts, and the other of the territory around Artaxata—and they jointly enlarged their realm by cutting off parts from the surrounding nations: from the Medes, Caspianē, Phaunitis, and Basoropeda; from the Iberians, the foothills of Paryadres, Chorzenē, and Gogarenē, which is on the far side of the Kyros; from the Chalybians and Mossynoecians, Karenitis and Xerxenē, which border on Lesser Armenia or are even parts of it; from the Cataonians, Acilisenē and the region around the Antitaurus; and from the Syrians, Taronitis; so that all now speak the same language.

​The cities of Armenia are Artaxata (which they also call Artaxiasata, Hannibal having founded it for King Artaxias) and Arxata, both on the Araxes: Arxata near the border of Atropatene, and Artaxata, situated beautifully near the Araxene plain, being the capital of the country. The wall of Artaxata lies on a peninsula-like bend of land, with the river protecting it all around except at the isthmus, and the isthmus is closed off by a trench and a palisade. Not far from the city are the treasuries of Tigranes and Artavasdes, strong fortresses, namely Babyrsa and Olanē; and there were also others on the Euphrates. Artageira indeed was made to revolt by Adon, the commander of the garrison, but Caesar’s generals took it after besieging it for a long time, and threw down its walls.

​There are several rivers in the country, but the best known are the Phasis and the Lykos, which empty into the Pontic Sea (Eratosthenes incorrectly puts the Thermodon instead of the Lykos), the Kyros and the Araxes into the Caspian, and the Euphrates and the Tigris into the Red Sea.

​There are also large lakes in Armenia; one is Lake Mantianē, translated as ‘Blue Lake’, which is, as they say, the largest after the Maeotis, consisting of salt water and extending as far as Atropatene, and it also has salt-works. The other is Lake Arsenē, which they also call Thōpitis; it is nitrous, and it ruins and shreds clothes, and for this reason the water is undrinkable. Through it flows the Tigris, starting from the mountainous region near Niphates, keeping its stream unmixed because of its swiftness, from which also its name is derived, the Medes calling an arrow ‘tigris’. This river has fish of many kinds, but the lake-fish are of only one kind. At the recess of the lake, the river falls into a chasm and, after being carried for a long distance underground, rises again near Chalonitis. From there, it flows down towards Opis and the so-called Wall of Semiramis, leaving the Gordyaeans and the whole of Mesopotamia on its right, while the Euphrates, on the contrary, flows down keeping the same country on its left. Having approached each other and formed Mesopotamia, the one flows through Seleucia into the Persian Gulf, and the other through Babylon, just as has been said somewhere in the discussions against Eratosthenes and Hipparchus.

​There are gold mines in Syspiritis near Kaballa, to which Alexander sent Menon with soldiers, but he was strangled by the inhabitants. There are also other mines, especially of the so-called ‘sandyx’, which they also call ‘Armenian colour’, resembling purple dye. The country is so extremely fertile in breeding horses, and not less so than Media, that the Nisaean horses, which the kings of the Persians used, are also bred here; and the satrap of Armenia used to send to the Persian king every year twenty thousand foals for the Mithraic festivals. Artavasdes, when he invaded Media with Antony, displayed to him, besides the other cavalry, six thousand fully armored cavalry drawn up in battle array. Of this cavalry, not only the Medes and Armenians have become zealous followers, but also the Albanians; for they too use cataphracts.