§11.13.1ἡ δὲ Μηδία δίχα διῄρηται· καλοῦσι δὲ τὴν μὲν μεγάλην, ἧς μητρόπολις τὰ Ἐκβάτανα, μεγάλη πόλις καὶ τὸ βασίλειον ἔχουσα τῆς Μήδων ἀρχῆς·
Media is divided into two parts; and they call one Great Media, whose metropolis is Ecbatana, a great city containing the royal palace of the empire of the Medes.
διατελοῦσι δὲ καὶ νῦν οἱ Παρθυαῖοι τούτῳ χρώμενοι βασιλείῳ, καὶ θερίζουσί γε ἐνταῦθα οἱ βασιλεῖς· ψυχρὰ γὰρ ἡ Μηδία· τὸ δὲ χειμάδιόν ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἐν Σελευκείᾳ τῇ ἐπὶ τῷ Τίγριδι πλησίον Βαβυλῶνος.
And even now the Parthians continue to use this as a palace, and the kings indeed spend the summer there, for Media is cold; but their winter quarters are in Seleucia on the Tigris near Babylon.
ἡ δʼ ἑτέρα μερίς ἐστιν ἡ Ἀτροπάτιος Μηδία· τοὔνομα δʼ ἔσχεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος Ἀτροπάτου, ὃς ἐκώλυσεν ὑπὸ τοῖς Μακεδόσι γίνεσθαι καὶ ταύτην μέρος οὖσαν μεγάλης Μηδίας·
The other part is Atropatenian Media; and it got its name from the leader Atropates, who prevented this country, which was also a part of Great Media, from falling under the power of the Macedonians.
καὶ δὴ καὶ βασιλεὺς ἀναγορευθεὶς ἰδίᾳ συνέταξε καθʼ αὑτὴν τὴν χώραν ταύτην, καὶ ἡ διαδοχὴ σώζεται μέχρι νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου, πρός τε τοὺς Ἀρμενίων βασιλέας ποιησαμένων ἐπιγαμίας τῶν ὕστερον καὶ Σύρων καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Παρθυαίων.
And indeed, having been declared king, he organized this country by itself as independent, and the succession from him is preserved even to this day, since those who succeeded him made marriages with the kings of the Armenians and the Syrians, and after these with the Parthians.
§11.13.2κεῖται δὲ ἡ χώρα τῇ μὲν Ἀρμενίᾳ πρὸς ἕω τῇ δὲ μεγάλῃ Μηδίᾳ πρὸς δύσιν, πρὸς ἄρκτον δʼ ἀμφοτέραις· τοῖς δὲ περὶ τὸν μυχὸν τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάττης καὶ τῇ Ματιανῇ ἀπὸ νότου παράκειται.
The country lies to the east of Armenia and to the west of Great Media, and to the north of both; and on the south it lies adjacent to the people around the recess of the Hyrcanian Sea and to Matiane.
ἔστι δʼ οὐ μικρὰ κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν, ὥς φησιν Ἀπολλωνίδης, ἥ γε καὶ μυρίους ἱππέας δύναται παρέχεσθαι, πεζῶν δὲ τέτταρας μυριάδας.
And it is not small in power, as Apollonides says, since it can supply at least ten thousand cavalry and forty thousand infantry.
λίμνην δʼ ἔχει τὴν Καπαῦτα, ἐν ᾗ ἅλες ἐπανθοῦντες πήττονται· εἰσὶ δὲ κνησμώδεις καὶ ἐπαλγεῖς· ἔλαιον δὲ τοῦ πάθους ἄκος, ὕδωρ δὲ γλυκὺ τοῖς καπυρωθεῖσιν ἱματίοις, εἴ τις κατʼ ἄγνοιαν βάψειεν εἰς αὐτὴν πλύσεως χάριν.
And it has Lake Capauta, in which salt effloresces and solidifies; and it causes itching and pain, but olive oil is a cure for the affliction, and fresh water for the garments that have become stiff, if anyone through ignorance should dip them into it for the sake of washing.
ἔχουσι δʼ ἰσχυροὺς γείτονας τοὺς Ἀρμενίους καὶ τοὺς Παρθυαίους, ὑφʼ ὧν περικόπτονται πολλάκις· ἀντέχουσι δʼ ὅμως καὶ ἀπολαμβάνουσι τὰ ἀφαιρεθέντα, καθάπερ τὴν Συμβάκην ἀπέλαβον παρὰ τῶν Ἀρμενίων ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις γεγονότων, καὶ αὐτοὶ προσεληλύθασι τῇ φιλίᾳ τῇ πρὸς Καίσαρα· θεραπεύουσι δʼ ἅμα καὶ τοὺς Παρθυαίους.
And they have powerful neighbors, the Armenians and the Parthians, by whom they are often despoiled; but nevertheless they hold out and recover what has been taken away, just as they recovered Symbace from the Armenians when the latter fell under the power of the Romans, and they themselves have entered into friendship with Caesar; at the same time they also court the Parthians.
§11.13.3βασίλειον δʼ αὐτῶν θερινὸν μὲν ἐν πεδίῳ ἱδρυμένον Γάζακα, ἐν φρουρίῳ ἐρυμνῷ Ὀυέρα, ὅπερ Ἀντώνιος ἐπολιόρκησε κατὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Παρθυαίους στρατείαν.
Their summer palace is Gazaca, situated in a plain, and their winter stronghold is Vera, which Antony besieged during his expedition against the Parthians.
διέχει δὲ τοῦτο τοῦ Ἀράξου ποταμοῦ τοῦ ὁρίζοντος τήν τε Ἀρμενίαν καὶ τὴν Ἀτροπατηνὴν σταδίους δισχιλίους καὶ τετρακοσίους, ὥς φησιν ὁ Δέλλιος ὁ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου φίλος, συγγράψας τὴν ἐπὶ Παρθυαίους αὐτοῦ στρατείαν ἐν ᾗ παρῆν καὶ αὐτὸς ἡγεμονίαν ἔχων.
This place is distant from the Araxes River, which bounds Armenia and Atropatene, by two thousand four hundred stadia, as Dellius, the friend of Antony, says, who wrote the history of his expedition against the Parthians, in which he himself was present holding a command.
ἔστι δὲ τῆς χώρας ταύτης τὰ μὲν ἄλλα εὐδαίμονα χωρία, ἡ δὲ προσάρκτιος ὀρεινὴ καὶ τραχεῖα καὶ ψυχρά, Καδουσίων κατοικία τῶν ὀρεινῶν καὶ Ἀμάρδων καὶ Ταπύρων καὶ Κυρτίων καὶ ἄλλων τοιούτων, οἳ μετανάσται εἰσὶ καὶ λῃστρικοί.
Of this country, the other parts are fertile, but the northern part is mountainous, rugged, and cold, the dwelling place of the mountainous Cadusians, Amardians, Tapyrians, Cyrtians, and other such peoples, who are migratory and predatory.
καὶ γὰρ ὁ Ζάγρος καὶ ὁ Νιφάτης κατεσπαρμένα ἔχουσι τὰ ἔθνη ταῦτα, καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Περσίδι Κύρτιοι καὶ Μάρδοι (καὶ γὰρ οὕτω λέγονται οἱ Ἄμαρδοι) καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἀρμενίᾳ μέχρι νῦν ὁμωνύμως προσαγορευόμενοι τῆς αὐτῆς εἰσὶν ἰδέας.
For indeed the Zagros and the Niphates contain these tribes scattered about, and the Cyrtians and Mardians in Persis (for indeed the Amardians are so called) and those in Armenia who to this day are called by the same names belong to the same stock.
§11.13.4οἱ δʼ οὖν Καδούσιοι πλήθει τῷ πεζῷ μικρὸν ἀπολείπονται τῶν Ἀριανῶν, ἀκοντισταὶ δʼ εἰσὶν ἄριστοι, ἐν δὲ τοῖς τραχέσιν ἀνθʼ ἱππέων πεζοὶ διαμάχονται.
At any rate, the Cadusians in the number of their infantry fall little short of the Arians, and they are excellent javelin-throwers, and in rugged places they fight as infantry instead of cavalry.
Ἀντωνίῳ δὲ χαλεπὴν τὴν στρατείαν ἐποίησεν οὐχ ἡ τῆς χώρας φύσις, ἀλλʼ ὁ τῶν ὁδῶν ἡγεμών, ὁ τῶν Ἀρμενίων βασιλεὺς Ἀρταουάσδης, ὃν εἰκῆ ἐκεῖνος ἐπιβουλεύοντα αὐτῷ σύμβουλον ἐποιεῖτο καὶ κύριον τῆς περὶ τοῦ πολέμου γνώμης·
And for Antony, it was not the nature of the country that made the campaign difficult, but his guide of the roads, Artavasdes the king of the Armenians, whom he rashly made his adviser and master of the decision concerning the war, although that king was plotting against him.
ἐτιμωρήσατο μὲν οὖν αὐτόν, ἀλλʼ ὀψέ, ἡνίκα πολλῶν αἴτιος κατέστη κακῶν Ῥωμαίοις καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ἐκεῖνος, ὅστις τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ζεύγματος ὁδὸν τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην μέχρι τοῦ ἅψασθαι τῆς Ἀτροπατηνῆς ὀκτακισχιλίων σταδίων ἐποίησε, πλέον ἢ διπλασίαν τῆς εὐθείας, διὰ ὀρῶν καὶ ἀνοδιῶν καὶ κυκλοπορίας.
Thus indeed he punished him, but too late, when both that man and Antony himself had become the cause of many evils to the Romans—he who made the road from Zeugma on the Euphrates until reaching Atropatene eight thousand stadia long, more than double the straight route, through mountains, pathless ways, and circuitous routes.