Geography

​They send a larger army than that of the Iberians; for they equip as many as sixty thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, the number with which they risked all against Pompey. And the nomads also fight along with them against outsiders, just as they do with the Iberians, for the same reasons. At other times, however, they frequently attack the people, so that they even prevent them from farming. They are javelin-throwers and archers, wearing breastplates and large shields, and animal-skin helmets, similarly to the Iberians. To the territory of the Albanians belongs also Caspiané, named after the Caspian tribe, after whom the sea also was named, though they are now extinct. The entrance from Iberia into Albania goes through Cambysenē, which is waterless and rugged, to the Alazonios River. They themselves and their dogs are excessively fond of hunting, not so much by skill as by their eagerness for it.

​Their kings also differ; at present, indeed, one rules over all, but formerly each tribe speaking a different language was ruled by its own king. They have twenty-six languages because of their lack of easy intercourse with one another. The land also produces some of the deadly reptiles, as well as scorpions and tarantulas; of the tarantulas, some cause people to die laughing, and others crying from longing for their relatives.

​They worship as gods the Sun, Zeus, and the Moon, but especially the Moon. Her temple is near Iberia; and the priest is the person most honored after the king, having charge of the sacred land, which is extensive and populous, both of the land itself and of the temple slaves, many of whom are inspired and prophesy. Whichever of these, being possessed to a greater degree, wanders alone through the forests, the priest seizes, binds with a sacred chain, and feeds luxuriously for that year; then, having been brought forward for the sacrifice of the goddess, he is sacrificed after being anointed with unguents along with the other victims. The manner of the sacrifice is this: someone holding a sacred spear, with which it is the custom to sacrifice human beings, steps forward from the crowd and strikes through the side into the heart, being not inexperienced in such a deed. When the victim falls, they read certain omens from the fall and declare them to the public; and when the body has been carried to a certain place, they all trample upon it, using this as a purification.

​The Albanians respect old age excessively, and that of others as well, not only of their parents; but for the deceased it is not pious to care or even to remember. They bury their money with them, however, and on this account they live in poverty, having no patrimony. So much for the Albanians. It is also said that Jason, together with Armenus the Thessalian, on his voyage to the Colchians, rushed as far as the Caspian Sea, and traversed both Iberia and Albania, and many parts of Armenia and Media, as the Jasonia and several other monuments bear witness. And they say that Armenus was from Armenion, a city near Lake Boebeis between Pherae and Larissa, and that those with him settled both Acilisenē and Syspiritis as far as Calachanē and Adiabenē, and indeed left Armenia named after him.