§11.2.14εὐθὺς δʼ οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς Κοροκονδάμης πρὸς ἕω μὲν ὁ πλοῦς ἐστιν.
Immediately, then, from Corocondame the voyage is towards the east.
ἐν δὲ σταδίοις ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα ὁ Σινδικός ἐστι λιμὴν καὶ πόλις, εἶτα ἐν τετρακοσίοις τὰ καλούμενα Βατὰ κώμη καὶ λιμήν, καθʼ ὃ μάλιστα ἀντικεῖσθαι δοκεῖ πρὸς νότον ἡ Σινώπη ταύτῃ τῇ παραλίᾳ, καθάπερ ἡ Κάραμβις εἴρηται τοῦ Κριοῦ μετώπῳ·
At a distance of one hundred and eighty stadia is the Sindic harbor and city, then at four hundred stadia is the place called Bata, a village and a harbor, at which Sinope seems to lie most directly opposite to the south on this coast, just as Carambis has been said to do in relation to the forehead of the Ram.
ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Βατῶν ὁ μὲν Ἀρτεμίδωρος τὴν Κερκετῶν λέγει παραλίαν ὑφόρμους ἔχουσαν καὶ κώμας ὅσον ἐπὶ σταδίους ὀκτακοσίους καὶ πεντήκοντα, εἶτα τὴν τῶν Ἀχαιῶν σταδίων πεντακοσίων, εἶτα τὴν τῶν Ἡνιόχων χιλίων, εἶτα τὸν Πιτυοῦντα τὸν μέγαν τριακοσίων ἑξήκοντα μέχρι Διοσκουριάδος·
From Bata, Artemidorus says that the coast of the Cercetae, which has anchorages and villages, extends for about eight hundred and fifty stadia, then that of the Achaeans for five hundred stadia, then that of the Heniochi for one thousand, and then the Great Pityus for three hundred and sixty, as far as Dioscurias.
οἱ δὲ τὰ Μιθριδατικὰ συγγράψαντες, οἷς μᾶλλον προσεκτέον, Ἀχαιοὺς λέγουσι πρώτους, εἶτα Ζυγούς, εἶτα Ἡνιόχους, εἶτα Κερκέτας καὶ Μόσχους καὶ Κόλχους καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τούτων Φθειροφάγους καὶ Σοάνας καὶ ἄλλα μικρὰ ἔθνη τὰ περὶ τὸν Καύκασον.
But those who wrote the histories of the Mithridatic wars, to whom we should pay more attention, say that the Achaeans come first, then the Zygi, then the Heniochi, then the Cercetae, Moschi, and Colchians, and above them the Phtheirophagi, the Soanes, and other small tribes around the Caucasus.
κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν ἡ παραλία, καθάπερ εἶπον, ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω τείνει καὶ βλέπει πρὸς νότον, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Βατῶν ἐπιστροφὴν λαμβάνει κατὰ μικρόν, εἶτʼ ἀντιπρόσωπος γίνεται τῇ δύσει καὶ τελευτᾷ πρὸς τὸν Πιτυοῦντα καὶ τὴν Διοσκουριάδα· ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ χωρία τῆς Κολχίδος συνάπτει τῇ λεχθείσῃ παραλίᾳ.
In the beginning, therefore, the coast, as I said, stretches towards the east and faces the south; but from Bata it takes a turn by degrees, then comes to face the west, and ends at Pityus and Dioscurias, for these places of Colchis join the aforementioned coast.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν Διοσκουριάδα ἡ λοιπὴ τῆς Κολχίδος ἐστὶ παραλία καὶ ἡ συνεχὴς Τραπεζοῦς καμπὴν ἀξιόλογον ποιήσασα, εἶτα εἰς εὐθεῖαν ταθεῖσά πως πλευρὰν τὴν τὰ δεξιὰ τοῦ Πόντου ποιοῦσαν τὰ βλέποντα πρὸς ἄρκτον.
After Dioscurias, the remaining coast of Colchis and the contiguous Trapezus, having made a remarkable bend, then stretches out in an approximately straight line, forming the right side of the Pontus, which faces the north.
ἅπασα δʼ ἡ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων παραλία μέχρι Διοσκουριάδος καὶ τῶν ἐπʼ εὐθείας πρὸς νότον ἐν τῇ μεσογαίᾳ τόπων ὑποπέπτωκε τῷ Καυκάσῳ.
All the coast of the Achaeans and the others as far as Dioscurias, and the places in the interior directly to the south, lie at the foot of the Caucasus.
§11.2.15ἔστι δʼ ὄρος τοῦτο ὑπερκείμενον τοῦ πελάγους ἑκατέρου τοῦ τε Ποντικοῦ καὶ τοῦ Κασπίου, διατειχίζον τὸν ἰσθμὸν τὸν διείργοντα αὐτά.
This is a mountain lying above both the Pontic and the Caspian seas, walling off the isthmus that separates them.
ἀφορίζει δὲ πρὸς νότον μὲν τήν τε Ἀλβανίαν καὶ τὴν Ἰβηρίαν, πρὸς ἄρκτον δὲ τὰ τῶν Σαρματῶν πεδία· εὔδενδρον δʼ ἐστὶν ὕλῃ παντοδαπῇ τῇ τε ἄλλῃ καὶ τῇ ναυπηγησίμῳ.
It borders Albania and Iberia on the south, and the plains of the Sarmatians on the north; it is well wooded with all kinds of timber, especially that useful for shipbuilding.
φησὶ δʼ Ἐρατοσθένης ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων καλεῖσθαι Κάσπιον τὸν Καύκασον, ἴσως ἀπὸ τῶν Κασπίων παρονομασθέντα.
Eratosthenes says that the Caucasus is called Caspius by the natives, perhaps being named after the Caspians.
ἀγκῶνες δέ τινες αὐτοῦ προπίπτουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν, οἳ τήν τε Ἰβηρίαν περιλαμβάνουσι μέσην καὶ τοῖς Ἀρμενίων ὄρεσι συνάπτουσι καὶ τοῖς Μοσχικοῖς καλουμένοις, ἔτι δὲ τῷ Σκυδίσῃ καὶ τῷ Παρυάδρῃ· ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ μέρη τοῦ Ταύρου πάντα τοῦ ποιοῦντος τὸ νότιον τῆς Ἀρμενίας πλευρόν, ἀπερρωγότα πως ἐκεῖθεν πρὸς ἄρκτον καὶ προσπίπτοντα μέχρι τοῦ Καυκάσου καὶ τῆς τοῦ Εὐξείνου παραλίας τῆς ἐπὶ Θεμίσκυραν διατεινούσης ἀπὸ τῆς Κολχίδος.
Certain branches of it project towards the south, which enclose the middle of Iberia and connect with the mountains of the Armenians and those called the Moschian, and further with Scydises and Paryadres; all of these are parts of the Taurus which forms the southern side of Armenia, being rent off from it in a way towards the north and reaching as far as the Caucasus and the coast of the Euxine which extends to Themiscyra from Colchis.
§11.2.16ἡ δʼ οὖν Διοσκουριὰς ἐν κόλπῳ τοιούτῳ κειμένη καὶ τὸ ἑωθινώτατον σημεῖον ἐπέχουσα τοῦ σύμπαντος πελάγους, μυχός τε τοῦ Εὐξείνου λέγεται καὶ ἔσχατος πλοῦς· τό τε παροιμιακῶς λεχθὲν οὕτω δεῖ δέξασθαι
"
εἰς Φᾶσιν ἔνθα ναυσὶν ἔσχατος δρόμος,
"
οὐχ ὡς τὸν ποταμὸν λέγοντος τοῦ ποιήσαντος τὸ ἰαμβεῖον, οὐδὲ δὴ ὡς τὴν ὁμώνυμον αὐτῷ πόλιν κειμένην ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ, ἀλλʼ ὡς τὴν Κολχίδα ἀπὸ μέρους, ἐπεὶ ἀπό γε τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ τῆς πόλεως οὐκ ἐλάττων ἑξακοσίων σταδίων λείπεται πλοῦς ἐπʼ εὐθείας εἰς τὸν μυχόν.
At all events, Dioscurias, situated in such a gulf and occupying the easternmost point of the entire sea, is called the recess of the Euxine and the furthest voyage; and what is proverbially said must be understood in this way: "To Phasis, where for ships is the furthest run, "not as though the author of the iambic verse was speaking of the river, nor indeed of the city of the same name situated on the river, but of Colchis by synecdoche, since from the river and the city there remains a voyage of not less than six hundred stadia in a straight line to the recess.
ἡ δʼ αὐτὴ Διοσκουριάς ἐστι καὶ ἀρχὴ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ τοῦ μεταξὺ τῆς Κασπίας καὶ τοῦ Πόντου καὶ ἐμπόριον τῶν ὑπερκειμένων καὶ σύνεγγυς ἐθνῶν κοινόν· συνέρχεσθαι γοῦν εἰς αὐτὴν ἑβδομήκοντα, οἱ δὲ καὶ τριακόσια ἔθνη φασίν, οἷς οὐδὲν τῶν ὄντων μέλει, πάντα δὲ ἑτερόγλωττα διὰ τὸ σποράδην καὶ ἀμίκτως οἰκεῖν ὑπὸ αὐθαδείας καὶ ἀγριότητος· Σαρμάται δʼ εἰσὶν οἱ πλείους, πάντες δὲ Καυκάσιοι.
This same Dioscurias is also the beginning of the isthmus between the Caspian and the Pontus, and a common emporium for the tribes lying above it and nearby; at any rate, seventy tribes assemble there, and according to some, even three hundred, who care nothing for current affairs, and all speak different languages because they live in a scattered and unmixed way through pride and wildness; most of them are Sarmatians, and all are Caucasian.
ταῦτα μὲν δὴ τὰ περὶ τὴν Διοσκουριάδα.
Such, then, are the matters concerning Dioscurias.