§11.12.1ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ βόρεια μέρη τῆς Ἀσίας ποιεῖ ὁ Ταῦρος, ἃ δὴ καὶ ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου καλοῦσιν, εἰπεῖν προειλόμεθα πρῶτον· τούτων δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν αὐτοῖς ἢ ὅλα ἢ τὰ πλεῖστα.
Since the Taurus forms the northern parts of Asia, which indeed they also call "within the Taurus", we have chosen to speak of these first; and to these belong also the regions in the mountains themselves, either wholly or for the most part.
ὅσα μὲν τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν ἑωθινώτερά ἐστιν, ἁπλουστέραν ἔχει τὴν περιήγησιν διὰ τὴν ἀγριότητα, οὐ πολύ τε ἂν διαφέροι τοῦδε ἢ τοῦδε τοῦ κλίματος συγκαταλεχθέντα· τὰ δʼ ἑσπέρια πάντα δίδωσιν εὐπορίαν τοῦ λέγειν περὶ αὐτῶν, ὥστε δεῖ προάγειν ἐπὶ τὰ παρακείμενα ταῖς Κασπίαις πύλαις.
Those parts which are more to the east of the Caspian Gates have a simpler description because of their wildness, and they would not differ much whether they are classified with this or that clime; but the western parts all offer abundance of material for speaking about them, so that we must proceed to the regions adjacent to the Caspian Gates.
παράκειται δὲ ἡ Μηδία πρὸς δύσιν, χώρα καὶ πολλὴ καὶ δυναστεύσασά ποτε καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τῷ Ταύρῳ κειμένη, πολυσχιδεῖ κατὰ ταῦτα ὑπάρχοντι τὰ μέρη καὶ αὐλῶνας ἐμπεριλαμβάνοντι μεγάλους, καθάπερ καὶ τῇ Ἀρμενίᾳ τοῦτο συμβέβηκε.
And Media lies adjacent to the west, a country both large and once powerful and situated in the middle of the Taurus, which in these parts is many-branched and contains large valleys, just as this has also happened to Armenia.
§11.12.2τὸ γὰρ ὄρος τοῦτο ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς Καρίας καὶ Λυκίας, ἀλλʼ ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὔτε πλάτος οὔτε ὕψος ἀξιόλογον δείκνυσιν· ἐξαίρεται δὲ πολὺ πρῶτον κατὰ τὰς Χελιδονίας (αὗται δʼ εἰσὶ νῆσοι κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς Παμφύλων παραλίας), ἐπὶ δὲ τὰς ἀνατολὰς ἐκτεινόμενον αὐλῶνας μακροὺς ἀπολαμβάνει τοὺς τῶν Κιλίκων· εἶτα τῇ μὲν τὸ Ἀμανὸν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ σχίζεται τῇ δὲ ὁ Ἀντίταυρος, ἐν ᾧ τὰ Κόμανα ἵδρυται τὰ ἐν τοῖς ἄνω λεγομένοις Καππάδοξιν.
For this mountain begins from Caria and Lycia, but there it shows neither noteworthy width nor height; but it rises high for the first time at the Chelidoniae (these are islands at the beginning of the Pamphylian coast), and extending toward the east it encloses the long valleys of the Cilicians; then on one side the Amanus branches off from it, and on the other the Antitaurus, in which is situated Comana, the one in what are called Upper Cappadocia.
οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἐν τῇ Καταονίᾳ τελευτᾷ, τὸ δὲ Ἀμανὸν ὄρος μέχρι τοῦ Εὐφράτου καὶ τῆς Μελιτηνῆς πρόεισι, καθʼ ἣν ἡ Κομμαγηνὴ τῇ Καππαδοκίᾳ παράκειται· ἐκδέχεται δὲ τὰ πέραν τοῦ Εὐφράτου ὄρη, συνεχῆ μὲν τοῖς προειρημένοις πλὴν ὅσον διακόπτει ῥέων διὰ μέσων ὁ ποταμός, πολλὴν δʼ ἐπίδοσιν λαμβάνει εἰς τὸ ὕψος καὶ τὸ πλάτος καὶ τὸ πολυσχιδές.
This, then, ends in Cataonia, while Mount Amanus proceeds as far as the Euphrates and Melitene, opposite which Commagene lies adjacent to Cappadocia; and the mountains beyond the Euphrates succeed them, continuous indeed with those mentioned before, except in so far as the river flowing through the middle cuts them asunder, and they receive a great increase in height and width and many-branched character.
τὸ δʼ οὖν νοτιώτατον μάλιστά ἐστιν ὁ Ταῦρος ὁρίζων τὴν Ἀρμενίαν ἀπὸ τῆς Μεσοποταμίας.
At any rate, the southernmost part is especially the Taurus, bounding Armenia from Mesopotamia.
§11.12.3ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἀμφότεροι ῥέουσιν οἱ τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν ἐγκυκλούμενοι ποταμοὶ καὶ συνάπτοντες ἀλλήλοις ἐγγὺς κατὰ τὴν Βαβυλωνίαν, εἶτα ἐκδιδόντες εἰς τὴν κατὰ Πέρσας θάλατταν, ὅ τε Εὐφράτης καὶ Τίγρις.
And from here flow both the rivers that encircle Mesopotamia and join close to each other near Babylonia, then empty into the Persian Sea, namely the Euphrates and the Tigris.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ μείζων ὁ Εὐφράτης καὶ πλείω διέξεισι χώραν σκολιῷ τῷ ῥείθρῳ, τὰς πηγὰς ἔχων ἐν τῷ προσβορείῳ μέρει τοῦ Ταύρου, ῥέων δʼ ἐπὶ δύσιν διὰ τῆς Ἀρμενίας τῆς μεγάλης καλουμένης μέχρι τῆς μικρᾶς, ἐν δεξιᾷ ἔχων ταύτην ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τὴν Ἀκιλισηνήν· εἶτʼ ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς νότον, συνάπτει δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν τοῖς Καππαδόκων ὁρίοις· δεξιᾷ δὲ ταῦτα ἀφεὶς καὶ τὰ τῶν Κομμαγηνῶν, ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τὴν Ἀκιλισηνὴν καὶ Σωφηνὴν τῆς μεγάλης Ἀρμενίας πρόεισιν ἐπὶ τὴν Συρίαν καὶ λαμβάνει πάλιν ἄλλην ἐπιστροφὴν εἰς τὴν Βαβυλωνίαν καὶ τὸν Περσικὸν κόλπον.
And the Euphrates is both larger and traverses more country with its winding stream, having its sources in the northern part of the Taurus, and flowing toward the west through the so-called Armenia Major as far as Armenia Minor, having the latter on the right and Acilisene on the left; then it turns toward the south, and at this turn it connects with the boundaries of the Cappadocians; and leaving these on the right, as well as the territories of the Commagenians, and on the left Acilisene and Sophene of Armenia Major, it proceeds toward Syria, and again takes another turn toward Babylonia and the Persian Gulf.
ὁ δὲ Τίγρις ἐκ τοῦ νοτίου μέρους τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὄρους ἐνεχθεὶς ἐπὶ τὴν Σελεύκειαν συνάπτει τῷ Εὐφράτῃ πλησίον καὶ ποιεῖ τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν πρὸς αὐτόν, εἶτʼ ἐκδίδωσι καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν κόλπον.
And the Tigris, having been carried from the southern part of the same mountain toward Seleucia, joins close to the Euphrates and forms Mesopotamia with it, then itself also empties into the same gulf.
διέχουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων αἱ πηγαὶ τοῦ τε Εὐφράτου καὶ τοῦ Τίγριος περὶ δισχιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους σταδίους.
And the sources of both the Euphrates and the Tigris are distant from each other about two thousand five hundred stadia.