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Arrian · Periplus of the Euxine Sea §15.1-15.3

From the Halys to Amisos, the Thermodon, and Beris

Passage 15 of 25 · Greek

Summary

After explaining the flow of the Halys and the boundary it defines, the text records the distances and coastal features from the Halys to Amisos, and further to the river Beris via the Thermodon, famous for the Amazons.

§15.1οὗτος ὁ ποταμὸς πάλαι μὲν ὅρος ἦν τῆς Κροἵ??ʼου βασιλείας καὶ τῆς Περσῶν, νῦν δὲ ὑπὸ τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἐπικρατείᾳ ῥεῖ, οὐκ ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας, ὡς λέγει Ἡρόδοτος, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ ἀνίσχοντος ἡλίου.
This river was of old the boundary of the kingdom of Croesus and that of the Persians, but now it flows under the dominion of the Romans, not from the south, as Herodotus says, but from the rising sun.
καθʼ ὅ τι δὲ ἐσβάλλει ἐς τὸν Πόντον, ὁρίζει τὰ Σινωπέων καὶ Ἀμισηνῶν ἔργα.
And at the place where it empties into the Pontus, it defines the territories of the Sinopeans and the Amiseni.
§15.2ἀπὸ δὲ Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ ἐς Ναύσταθμον στάδιοι ἐνενήκοντα, ἵναπερ καὶ λίμνη ἐστίν.
And from the river Halys to Naustathmos is ninety stades, where indeed there is also a lake.
ἐνθένδε ἐς Κωνώπιον ἄλλην λίμνην ἄλλοι αὖ πεντήκοντα.
From there to Conopion, another lake, is another fifty (stades).
ἀπὸ σὲ Κωνωπίου ἐς Εὐσήνην ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσιν.
And from Conopion to Eusene is one hundred and twenty (stades).
ἐνθένδε ἐς Ἀμισὸν §15.3ἑκατὸν καὶ ἑξήκοντα.
From there to Amisos is one hundred and sixty (stades).
Ἀμισός, πόλις Ἑλληνίς, Ἀθηναίων ἄποικος, ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ οἰκεῖται.
Amisos, a Greek city, a colony of the Athenians, is situated on the sea.
ἀπὸ δὲ Ἀμισοῦ ἐς Ἀγκῶνα λιμένα, ἵναπερ καὶ ὁ Ἶρις ἐσβάλλει ἐς τὸν Πόντον, στάδιοι ἐξήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν.
And from Amisos to the harbor of Ancon, where indeed the Iris also empties into the Pontus, is one hundred and sixty stades.
ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἴριος τῶν ἐκβολῶν ἐς Ἡράκλειον ἑξήκοντα καὶ τριακόσιοι· ὅρμος ναυσίν.
And from the mouth of the Iris to Heracleion is three hundred and sixty (stades); there is an anchorage for ships.
ἐνθένδε ἐπὶ τὸν Θερμώδοντα ποταμὸν τεσσαράκοντα.
From there to the river Thermodon is forty (stades).
οὗτος ὁ Θερμώδων ἐστίν, ἵναπερ αἱ Ἀμαζόνες οἰκῆσαι λέγονται.
This is the Thermodon where the Amazons are said to have dwelt.
ἀπὸ δὲ Θερμώδοντος ἐς Βῆριν ποταμὸν στάδιοι ἐνενήκοντα.
And from the Thermodon to the river Beris is ninety stades.

Notes

  1. 15.1Κροἵ??ʼου — This is a corrupt reading in the manuscript, but from the context and historical facts, it is clearly a corruption or omission of Κροίσου, the genitive singular of Croesus (Κροῖσος).
  2. 15.1ἀπὸ ἀνίσχοντος ἡλίου — An idiomatic expression using the participle ἀνίσχων ('rising'), meaning 'from the rising sun,' i.e., 'from the east.' This presents a geographical correction to Herodotus (1.72), who described the Halys as flowing from south to north.
  3. 15.1τὰ Σινωπέων καὶ Ἀμισηνῶν ἔργα — The neuter plural noun ἔργα (literally 'works' or 'cultivated lands') is used here in the sense of the 'territories' or 'borderlands' of the city-states.
  4. 15.2ἀπὸ σὲ Κωνωπίου — The word σέ in the manuscript is an obvious scribal error for the connective particle δέ, and it is translated here accordingly as 'And from Conopion...'.
  5. 15.3ἵναπερ αἱ Ἀμαζόνες οἰκῆσαι λέγονται — The verb λέγονται ('are said') is used in a personal construction with the subject αἱ Ἀμαζόνες (as opposed to an impersonal construction λέγεται with an accusative and infinitive), with the infinitive οἰκῆσαι depending on it.

Cite this passage

Arrian, Periplus of the Euxine Sea §15.1-15.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0074.tlg004.humanitext-grc2:15.1-15.3

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