§11.5.5καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸ ἔνδοξον θρυληθέντα οὐκ ἀνωμολόγηται παρὰ πάντων, οἱ δὲ πλάσαντες ἦσαν οἱ κολακείας μᾶλλον ἢ ἀληθείας φροντίζοντες· οἷον τὸ τὸν Καύκασον μετενεγκεῖν εἰς τὰ Ἰνδικὰ ὄρη καὶ τὴν πλησιάζουσαν ἐκείνοις ἑῴαν θάλατταν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπερκειμένων τῆς Κολχίδος καὶ τοῦ Εὐξείνου ὀρῶν· ταῦτα γὰρ οἱ Ἕλληνες καὶ Καύκασον ὠνόμαζον, διέχοντα τῆς Ἰνδικῆς πλείους ἢ τρισμυρίους σταδίους, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐμύθευσαν τὰ περὶ Προμηθέα καὶ τὸν δεσμὸν αὐτοῦ· ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ ὕστατα πρὸς ἕω ἐγνώριζον οἱ τότε.
And the things that have been reported to increase his glory are not agreed upon by all, and those who fabricated them were those who cared more for flattery than for truth; for instance, the transferring of the Caucasus to the Indian mountains and the eastern sea that is near them, from the mountains that lie above Colchis and the Euxine; for the Greeks used to call these latter mountains Caucasus, though they are more than thirty thousand stadia distant from India, and there they located the myths about Prometheus and his binding; for these were the easternmost mountains known to the people of that time.
ἡ δὲ ἐπὶ Ἰνδοὺς στρατεία Διονύσου καὶ Ἡρακλέους ὑστερογενῆ τὴν μυθοποιίαν ἐμφαίνει, ἅτε τοῦ Ἡρακλέους καὶ τὸν Προμηθέα λῦσαι λεγομένου χιλιάσιν ἐτῶν ὕστερον.
And the expedition of Dionysus and Heracles to India shows that the myth-making is of later origin, since Heracles is said to have released Prometheus also, thousands of years later.
καὶ ἦν μὲν ἐνδοξότερον τὸ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον μέχρι τῶν Ἰνδικῶν ὀρῶν καταστρέψασθαι τὴν Ἀσίαν ἢ μέχρι τοῦ μυχοῦ τοῦ Εὐξείνου καὶ τοῦ Καυκάσου· ἀλλʼ ἡ δόξα τοῦ ὄρους καὶ τοὔνομα καὶ τὸ τοὺς περὶ Ἰάσονα δοκεῖν μακροτάτην στρατείαν τελέσαι τὴν μέχρι τῶν πλησίον Καυκάσου καὶ τὸ τὸν Προμηθέα παραδεδόσθαι δεδεμένον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις τῆς γῆς ἐν τῷ Καυκάσῳ χαριεῖσθαί τι τῷ βασιλεῖ ὑπέλαβον τοὔνομα τοῦ ὄρους μετενέγκαντες εἰς τὴν Ἰνδικήν.
And while it was more glorious for Alexander to have subdued Asia as far as the Indian mountains than as far as the recess of the Euxine and the Caucasus; yet, because of the fame of the mountain and its name, and because Jason and his followers were believed to have accomplished the longest expedition, namely that as far as the neighborhood of the Caucasus, and because Prometheus was handed down as having been bound on the Caucasus at the ends of the earth, they supposed that they would do some favor to the king if they transferred the name of the mountain to India.
§11.5.6τὰ μὲν οὖν ὑψηλότατα τοῦ ὄντως Καυκάσου τὰ νοτιώτατά ἐστι τὰ πρὸς Ἀλβανίᾳ καὶ Ἰβηρίᾳ καὶ Κόλχοις καὶ Ἡνιόχοις· οἰκοῦσι δὲ οὓς εἶπον τοὺς συνερχομένους εἰς τὴν Διοσκουριάδα· συνέρχονται δὲ τὸ πλεῖστον ἁλῶν χάριν.
Now the highest parts of the real Caucasus are its southernmost parts, those near Albania, Iberia, Colchis, and the Heniochi; and there dwell the people I mentioned, who assemble at Dioscurias; they assemble mostly for the sake of salt.
τούτων δʼ οἱ μὲν τὰς ἀκρωρείας κατέχουσιν, οἱ δὲ ἐν νάπαις αὐλίζονται καὶ ζῶσιν ἀπὸ θηρείων σαρκῶν τὸ πλέον καὶ καρπῶν ἀγρίων καὶ γάλακτος.
Of these, some occupy the mountain-ridges, while others camp in glens and live mostly on the flesh of wild beasts, wild fruits, and milk.
αἱ δὲ κορυφαὶ χειμῶνος μὲν ἄβατοι, θέρους δὲ προσβαίνουσιν ὑποδούμενοι κεντρωτὰ ὠμοβόινα δίκην τυμπάνων πλατεῖα διὰ τὰς χιόνας καὶ τοὺς κρυστάλλους.
The peaks are impassable in winter, but in summer they ascend them, binding on their feet broad, spiked pieces of raw ox-hide like tambourines, on account of the snow and ice.
καταβαίνουσι δʼ ἐπὶ δορᾶς κείμενοι σὺν τοῖς φορτίοις καὶ κατολισθαίνοντες, ὅπερ καὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἀτροπατίαν Μηδίαν καὶ κατὰ τὸ Μάσιον ὄρος τὸ ἐν Ἀρμενίᾳ συμβαίνει· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ τροχίσκοι ξύλινοι κεντρωτοὶ τοῖς πέλμασιν ὑποτίθενται.
They go down by lying on hides with their baggage and sliding down, which also happens in Atropatian Media and on Mount Masius in Armenia; and there small wooden spiked wheels are also put under their soles.
τοῦ γοῦν Καυκάσου τὰ μὲν ἄκρα τοιαῦτα.
At any rate, such are the summits of the Caucasus.
§11.5.7καταβαίνοντι δʼ εἰς τὰς ὑπωρείας ἀρκτικώτερα μέν ἐστι τὰ κλίματα, ἡμερώτερα δέ· ἤδη γὰρ συνάπτει τοῖς πεδίοις τῶν Σιράκων.
To one descending into the foothills, the climate is more northerly, but milder; for here it already borders on the plains of the Siraces.
εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ τρωγλοδύται τινὲς ἐν φωλεοῖς οἰκοῦντες διὰ τὰ ψύχη, παρʼ οἷς ἤδη καὶ ἀλφίτων ἐστὶν εὐπορία· μετὰ δὲ τοὺς τρωγλοδύτας καὶ χαμαικοῖται καὶ πολυφάγοι τινὲς καλούμενοι καὶ αἱ τῶν Εἰσαδίκων κῶμαι, δυναμένων γεωργεῖν διὰ τὸ μὴ παντελῶς ὑποπεπτωκέναι ταῖς ἄρκτοις.
There are also certain troglodytes who live in caves on account of the cold, among whom there is already an abundance of barley-meal; and after the troglodytes come the "ground-sleepers" and certain people called "great-eaters", and the villages of the Isadici, who are able to farm because they are not completely subjected to the northern regions.
§11.5.8οἱ δʼ ἐφεξῆς ἤδη νομάδες οἱ μεταξὺ τῆς Μαιώτιδος καὶ τῆς Κασπίας Ναβιανοὶ καὶ Πανξανοὶ καὶ ἤδη τὰ τῶν Σιράκων καὶ Ἀόρσων φῦλα.
The next people in order are already nomads, those between Lake Maeotis and the Caspian, namely the Nabiani and the Panxani, and next the tribes of the Siraces and Aorsi.
δοκοῦσι δʼ οἱ Ἄορσοι καὶ οἱ Σίρακες φυγάδες εἶναι τῶν ἀνωτέρω καὶ προσάρκτιοι μᾶλλον Ἀόρσων.
The Aorsi and the Siraces seem to be fugitives of those higher up, and the Aorsi are more northerly.
Ἀβέακος μὲν οὖν ὁ τῶν Σιράκων βασιλεύς, ἡνίκα Φαρνάκης τὸν Βόσπορον εἶχε, δύο μυριάδας ἱππέων ἔστελλε, Σπαδίνης δʼ ὁ τῶν Ἀόρσων καὶ εἴκοσιν, οἱ δὲ ἄνω Ἄορσοι καὶ πλείονας· καὶ γὰρ ἐπεκράτουν πλείονος γῆς καὶ σχεδόν τι τῆς Κασπίων παραλίας τῆς πλείστης ἦρχον, ὥστε καὶ ἐνεπορεύοντο καμήλοις τὸν Ἰνδικὸν φόρτον καὶ τὸν Βαβυλώνιον παρά τε Ἀρμενίων καὶ Μήδων διαδεχόμενοι· ἐχρυσοφόρουν δὲ διὰ τὴν εὐπορίαν.
Now Abeacus, the king of the Siraces, when Pharnaces held the Bosporus, sent twenty thousand horsemen, and Spadines, the king of the Aorsi, even twenty ten-thousands, while the upper Aorsi sent still more; for they ruled over more land and held sway over almost most of the Caspian coast, so that they even imported on camels Indian and Babylonian merchandise, receiving it from the Armenians and Medes; and they wore gold because of their wealth.
οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἄορσοι τὸν Τάναϊν παροικοῦσιν, οἱ Σίρακες δὲ τὸν Ἀχαρδέον, ὃς ἐκ τοῦ Καυκάσου ῥέων ἐκδίδωσιν εἰς τὴν Μαιῶτιν.
The Aorsi, then, dwell along the Tanais, while the Siraces dwell along the Achardeus, which, flowing from the Caucasus, empties into Lake Maeotis.