Geography

​There remains of the Pontic province the country outside the Halys, that around Olgassys, which borders on the territory of Sinope. Olgassys is an exceedingly high and inaccessible mountain, and the Paphlagonians have temples of this mountain established everywhere. Around it lies a sufficiently fertile country, both Blaene and Domanitis, through which flows the Amnias River. Here Mithridates Eupator utterly destroyed the forces of Nicomedes the Bithynian, not being present himself but acting through his generals; and the former, fleeing with a few companions, escaped to his own country and from there sailed to Italy, while the latter pursued him and captured Bithynia at the first onset, and held Asia as far as Caria and Lycia. And here too a city was established, Pompeiopolis; and in this city, or not far from it, is the sandarac mine, near Pimolisa, a demolished royal fortress, after which the country on both sides of the river is called Pimolisene. The mountain containing the sandarac mine is hollowed out by mining, the workmen having penetrated into it with large galleries; it was worked by publicans, who used as miners slaves purchased from among those condemned for crimes; for they say that in addition to the painfulness of the labor, the air in the mines is deadly and hard to bear because of the heavy odor of the ore, so that their bodies are short-lived. And indeed, it often happens that the mining is abandoned because of its unprofitableness, although there are more than two hundred workmen, who are continually consumed by diseases and deaths. Let so much be said about Pontus.

​After Pompeiopolis comes the rest of inland Paphlagonia for those going westward towards Bithynia. Of this country, although it is small, several rulers held sway a little before our time, but now the Romans possess it, the royal lineage having failed. At any rate, they call the territory bordering on Bithynia by the names Timonitis, the land of Gezatorix, Marmolitis, Sanisene, and Potamia. There was also a certain Cimiatene, in which was Cimiata, a strong fortress situated at the foot of the mountainous country of Olgassys, which Mithridates, surnamed the Founder, used as a base of operations and made himself master of Pontus, and his successors preserved the succession down to Eupator. The last ruler of Paphlagonia was Deiotarus, son of Castor, surnamed Philadelphus, who held the royal residence of Morzeus, Gangra, which is at once a small town and a fortress.

​Eudoxus, when speaking of “dug-up fish” in Paphlagonia in dry places, does not specify the place, and for wet places he says they are around Lake Ascania near Cius, saying nothing clear. But since we have described Paphlagonia which borders on Pontus, and on the west the Bithynians border on the Paphlagonians, we shall attempt to go over their territory also; then, taking another starting point from these and the Paphlagonians, we shall weave together the parts next to these towards the south as far as the Taurus, parallel to Pontus and Cappadocia; for the nature of the places outlines some such order and division.