§12.3.14μετὰ δὲ τὴν Γαζηλῶνα ἡ Σαραμηνὴ καὶ Ἀμισὸς πόλις ἀξιόλογος, διέχουσα τῆς Σινώπης περὶ ἐνακοσίους σταδίους.
Next after Gazelon is Saramene and Amisus, a noteworthy city, which is about nine hundred stadia distant from Sinope.
φησὶ δʼ αὐτὴν Θεόπομπος πρώτους Μιλησίους κτίσαι Καππαδόκων ἄρχοντα, τρίτον δʼ ὑπʼ Ἀθηνοκλέους καὶ Ἀθηναίων ἐποικισθεῖσαν Πειραιᾶ μετονομασθῆναι.
Theopompus says that the Milesians were the first to found it, when the Cappadocians ruled, and that for the third time, after being colonised by Athenocles and the Athenians, it was renamed Piraeus.
καὶ ταύτην δὲ κατέσχον οἱ βασιλεῖς, ὁ δʼ Εὐπάτωρ ἐκόσμησεν ἱεροῖς καὶ προσέκτισε μέρος.
And the kings also held this city, and Eupator adorned it with temples and added a part to its building.
Λεύκολλος δὲ καὶ ταύτην ἐπολιόρκησεν, εἶθʼ ὕστερον Φαρνάκης ἐκ Βοσπόρου διαβάς· ἐλευθερωθεῖσαν δʼ ὑπὸ Καίσαρος τοῦ θεοῦ παρέδωκεν Ἀντώνιος βασιλεῦσιν· εἶθʼ ὁ τύραννος Στράτων κακῶς αὐτὴν διέθηκεν· εἶτʼ ἠλευθερώθη πάλιν μετὰ τὰ Ἀκτιακὰ ὑπὸ Καίσαρος τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ, καὶ νῦν εὖ συνέστηκεν.
Lucullus besieged this city too, and later Pharnaces after crossing over from the Bosporus; and although it had been freed by the deified Caesar, Antony delivered it to kings; then the tyrant Straton reduced it to a bad state; then it was freed again after the Actian war by Caesar Augustus, and now it is well established.
ἔχει δὲ τήν τε ἄλλην χώραν καλὴν καὶ τὴν Θεμίσκυραν τὸ τῶν Ἀμαζόνων οἰκητήριον, καὶ τὴν Σιδήνην.
And it possesses not only other fine territory but also Themiscyra, the abode of the Amazons, and Sidene.
§12.3.15ἔστι δὲ ἡ Θεμίσκυρα πεδίον τῇ μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ πελάγους κλυζόμενον, ὅσον ἑξήκοντα σταδίους τῆς πόλεως διέχον, τῇ δʼ ὑπὸ τῆς ὀρεινῆς εὐδένδρου καὶ διαρρύτου ποταμοῖς αὐτόθεν τὰς πηγὰς ἔχουσιν.
Themiscyra is a plain which on one side is washed by the sea, being about sixty stadia distant from the city, and on the other lies under a mountainous region well-wooded and well-watered by rivers that have their sources there.
ἐκ μὲν οὖν τούτων πληρούμενος ἁπάντων εἷς ποταμὸς διέξεισι τὸ πεδίον Θερμώδων καλούμενος· ἄλλος δὲ τούτῳ πάρισος ῥέων ἐκ τῆς καλουμένης Φαναροίας τὸ αὐτὸ διέξεισι πεδίον· καλεῖται δὲ Ἶρις.
Now, filled from all of these, a single river called the Thermodon flows through the plain; and another river, equal to this, flowing from the place called Phanaroea, runs through the same plain; and it is called Iris.
ἔχει δὲ τὰς πηγὰς ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Πόντῳ, ῥυεὶς δὲ διὰ πόλεως μέσης Κομάνων τῶν Ποντικῶν καὶ διὰ τῆς Δαζιμωνίτιδος εὐδαίμονος πεδίου πρὸς δύσιν, εἶτʼ ἐπιστρέφει πρὸς τὰς ἄρκτους παρʼ αὐτὰ τὰ Γαζίουρα, παλαιὸν βασίλειον, νῦν δʼ ἔρημον· εἶτα ἀνακάμπτει πάλιν πρὸς ἕω παραλαβὼν τόν τε Σκύλακα καὶ ἄλλους ποταμούς, καὶ παρʼ αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς Ἀμασείας ἐνεχθεὶς τεῖχος, τῆς ἡμετέρας πατρίδος, πόλεως ἐρυμνοτάτης, εἰς τὴν Φανάροιαν πρόεισιν·
It has its sources in Pontus itself, and after flowing through the middle of the city of Comana the Pontic, and through the fertile plain of Dazimonitis towards the west, it then turns towards the north past Gaziura itself, an ancient royal seat, but now deserted; then it bends back again towards the east, receiving both the Skylax and other rivers, and, running past the very wall of Amaseia, our native city, which is a most strongly fortified city, it advances into Phanaroea.
ἐνταῦθα δὲ συμβαλὼν ὁ Λύκος αὐτῷ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐξ Ἀρμενίας ἔχων γίνεται καὶ αὐτὸς Ἶρις· εἶθʼ ἡ Θεμίσκυρα ὑποδέχεται τὸ ῥεῦμα καὶ τὸ Ποντικὸν πέλαγος.
There, the Lycus River, which has its sources in Armenia, meeting it, becomes also the Iris; then Themiscyra receives its stream, and next the Pontic Sea.
διὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἔνδροσόν ἐστι καὶ ποάζον ἀεὶ τὸ πεδίον τοῦτο τρέφειν ἀγέλας βοῶν τε ὁμοίως καὶ ἵππων δυνάμενον, σπόρον δὲ πλεῖστον δέχεται τὸν ἐκ τῆς ἐλύμου καὶ κέγχρου, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀνέκλειπτον· αὐχμοῦ γάρ ἐστι κρείττων ἡ εὐυδρία παντός, ὥστʼ οὐδὲ λιμὸς καθικνεῖται τῶν ἀνθρώπων τούτων οὐδʼ ἅπαξ· τοσαύτην δʼ ὀπώραν ἐκδίδωσιν ἡ παρόρειος τὴν αὐτοφυῆ καὶ ἀγρίαν σταφυλῆς τε καὶ ὄχνης καὶ μήλου καὶ τῶν καρυωδῶν ὥστε κατὰ πᾶσαν τοῦ ἔτους ὥραν ἀφθόνως εὐπορεῖν τοὺς ἐξιόντας ἐπὶ τὴν ὕλην, τοτὲ μὲν ἔτι κρεμαμένων τῶν καρπῶν ἐν τοῖς δένδρεσι, τοτὲ δʼ ἐν τῇ πεπτωκυίᾳ φυλλάδι καὶ ὑπʼ αὐτῇ κειμένων βαθείᾳ καὶ πολλῇ κεχυμένῃ.
Because of this, this plain is always dewy and grassy, capable of feeding herds of oxen and horses alike, and it receives a very abundant, or rather inexhaustible, sowing of panic and millet; for the abundance of water is superior to any drought, so that not even once does famine touch these people; and the mountain-side yields so great an abundance of wild, self-grown fruit of the vine, pear, apple, and nuts, that at every season of the year those who go out into the forest have an abundant supply, sometimes with the fruits still hanging on the trees, and sometimes lying in the fallen foliage, which is deep and shed in great quantity.
συχναὶ δὲ καὶ θῆραι παντοίων ἀγρευμάτων διὰ τὴν εὐπορίαν τῆς τροφῆς.
And there are also frequent hunts of all kinds of wild animals because of the abundance of food.
§12.3.16μετὰ δὲ τὴν Θεμίσκυράν ἐστιν ἡ Σιδήνη, πεδίον εὔδαιμον, οὐχ ὁμοίως δὲ κατάρρυτον, ἔχον χωρία ἐρυμνὰ ἐπὶ τῇ παραλίᾳ, τήν τε Σίδην ἀφʼ ἧς ὠνομάσθη Σιδήνη, καὶ Χάβακα καὶ Φάβδα·
After Themiscyra is Sidene, a fertile plain, though not watered in the same way, containing fortified places on the coast, namely Side, from which Sidene was named, and Chabaca and Phabda.
μέχρι μὲν δὴ δεῦρο Ἀμισηνή.
As far as this, indeed, is the territory of Amisus.
ἄνδρες δὲ γεγόνασιν ἄξιοι μνήμης κατὰ παιδείαν ἐνταῦθα μαθηματικοὶ μὲν Δημήτριος ὁ τοῦ Ῥαθηνοῦ καὶ Διονυσόδωρος ὁμώνυμος τῷ Μηλίῳ γεωμέτρῃ, γραμματικὸς δὲ Τυραννίων οὗ ἡμεῖς ἠκροασάμεθα.
And there have been born here men worthy of memory for their learning: among mathematicians, Demetrius the son of Rhathenus, and Dionysodorus who bears the same name as the Melian geometer; and among grammarians, Tyrannion, whose lectures we ourselves attended.
§12.3.17μετὰ δὲ τὴν Σιδήνην ἡ Φαρνακία ἐστὶν ἐρυμνὸν πόλισμα, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἡ Τραπεζοῦς πόλις Ἑλληνίς, εἰς ἣν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀμισοῦ περὶ δισχιλίους καὶ διακοσίους σταδίους ἐστὶν ὁ πλοῦς· εἶτʼ ἔνθεν εἰς Φᾶσιν χίλιοί που καὶ τετρακόσιοι, ὥστε οἱ σύμπαντες ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἱεροῦ μέχρι Φάσιδος περὶ ὀκτακισχιλίους σταδίους εἰσὶν ἢ μικρῷ πλείους ἢ ἐλάττους.
After Sidene is Pharnacia, a fortified small town, and after this Trapezus, a Greek city, to which the voyage from Amisus is about two thousand two hundred stadia; then from there to Phasis it is about one thousand four hundred, so that the whole distance from the Hieron to Phasis is about eight thousand stadia, or a little more or less.
ἐν δὲ τῇ παραλίᾳ ταύτῃ ἀπὸ Ἀμισοῦ πλέουσιν ἡ Ἡράκλειος ἄκρα πρῶτον ἔστιν, εἶτʼ ἄλλη ἄκρα Ἰασόνιον καὶ ὁ Γενήτης, εἶτα Κοτύωρα πολίχνη ἐξ ἧς συνῳκίσθη ἡ Φαρνακία, εἶτʼ Ἰσχόπολις κατερηριμμένη, εἶτα κόλπος ἐν ᾧ Κερασοῦς τε καὶ Ἑρμώνασσα κατοικίαι μέτριαι, εἶτα τῆς Ἑρμωνάσσης πλησίον ἡ Τραπεζοῦς, εἶθʼ ἡ Κολχίς· ἐνταῦθα δέ που ἐστὶ καὶ Ζυγόπολίς τις λεγομένη κατοικία.
On this coast, as one sails from Amisus, first there is the Heracleium Promontory, then another promontory, Jasonium, and the Genetes, then Cotyora, a small town from which Pharnacia was colonised, then Ischopolis, now in ruins, then a gulf in which are Cerasus and Hermonassa, moderate settlements, then near Hermonassa is Trapezus, and then Colchis; and somewhere about here is also a settlement called Zygopolis.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς Κολχίδος εἴρηται καὶ τῆς ὑπερκειμένης παραλίας.
Now concerning Colchis and the coastline lying above it, we have already spoken.