§14.5.1τῆς Κιλικίας δὲ τῆς ἔξω τοῦ Ταύρου ἡ μὲν λέγεται τραχεῖα ἡ δὲ πεδιάς·
Of the Cilicia that lies outside the Taurus, one part is called Rugged and the other Flat.
τραχεῖα μέν, ἧς ἡ παραλία στενή ἐστι καὶ οὐδὲν ἢ σπανίως ἔχει τι χωρίον ἐπίπεδον, καὶ ἔτι ἧς ὑπέρκειται ὁ Ταῦρος οἰκούμενος κακῶς μέχρι καὶ τῶν προσβόρρων πλευρῶν τῶν περὶ Ἴσαυρα καὶ τοὺς Ὁμοναδέας μέχρι τῆς Πισιδίας· καλεῖται δʼ ἡ αὐτὴ καὶ Τραχειῶτις καὶ οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες Τραχειῶται·
The rugged part is that of which the coast is narrow and has no flat land, or only rarely so, and above which lies the Taurus, which is sparsely inhabited even as far as its northern slopes around Isaura and the Homonadeis up to Pisidia; and this same region is also called Tracheiotis, and its inhabitants Tracheiotae.
πεδιὰς δʼ ἡ ἀπὸ Σόλων καὶ Ταρσοῦ μέχρι Ἰσσοῦ, καὶ ἔτι ἧς ὑπέρκεινται κατὰ τὸ πρόσβορρον τοῦ Ταύρου πλευρὸν Καππάδοκες· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ χώρα τὸ πλέον πεδίων εὐπορεῖ καὶ χώρας ἀγαθῆς.
On the other hand, the flat part is that which extends from Soli and Tarsus as far as Issus, and also that above which, on the northern side of the Taurus, lie the Cappadocians; for this country for the most part abounds in plains and fertile land.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τούτων τὰ μέν ἐστιν ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου τὰ δʼ ἐκτός, περὶ μὲν τῶν ἐντὸς εἴρηται, περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐκτὸς λέγωμεν ἀπὸ τῶν Τραχειωτῶν ἀρξάμενοι.
Now, since of these territories some are inside the Taurus and others outside, and we have already spoken of those inside, let us speak of those outside, beginning with the Tracheiotae.
§14.5.2πρῶτον τοίνυν ἐστὶ τῶν Κιλίκων φρούριον τὸ Κορακήσιον ἱδρυμένον ἐπὶ πέτρας ἀπορρῶγος, ᾧ ἐχρήσατο Διόδοτος ὁ Τρύφων προσαγορευθεὶς ὁρμητηρίῳ καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν ἀπέστησε τὴν Συρίαν τῶν βασιλέων καὶ διεπολέμει πρὸς ἐκείνους, τοτὲ μὲν κατορθῶν τοτὲ δὲ πταίων.
First, then, of the Cilician strongholds is Coracesium, situated on a precipitous rock, which Diodotus, called Tryphon, used as a base of operations at the time when he made Syria revolt from the kings and waged war against them, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing.
τοῦτον μὲν οὖν Ἀντίοχος ὁ Δημητρίου κατακλείσας εἴς τι χωρίον ἠνάγκασε διεργάσασθαι τὸ σῶμα· τοῖς δὲ Κίλιξιν ἀρχὴν τοῦ τὰ πειρατικὰ συνίστασθαι Τρύφων αἴτιος κατέστη καὶ ἡ τῶν βασιλέων οὐδένεια τῶν τότε ἐκ διαδοχῆς ἐπιστατούντων τῆς Συρίας ἅμα καὶ τῆς Κιλικίας· τῷ γὰρ ἐκείνου νεωτερισμῷ συνενεωτέρισαν καὶ ἄλλοι, διχοστατοῦντές τε ἀδελφοὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὑποχείριον ἐποίουν τὴν χώραν τοῖς ἐπιτιθεμένοις.
Now Antiochus, the son of Demetrius, shut him up in a certain place and forced him to destroy himself; and Tryphon became for the Cilicians the cause of their organizing pirate bands, as did also the worthlessness of the kings who then in succession ruled over Syria and at the same time Cilicia; for because of his rebellion others also rebelled at the same time, and brothers, at variance with one another, made the country easy prey for those who attacked it.
ἡ δὲ τῶν ἀνδραπόδων ἐξαγωγὴ προὐκαλεῖτο μάλιστα εἰς τὰς κακουργίας ἐπικερδεστάτη γενομένη· καὶ γὰρ ἡλίσκοντο ῥᾳδίως, καὶ τὸ ἐμπόριον οὐ παντελῶς ἄπωθεν ἦν μέγα καὶ πολυχρήματον, ἡ Δῆλος, δυναμένη μυριάδας ἀνδραπόδων αὐθημερὸν καὶ δέξασθαι καὶ ἀποπέμψαι, ὥστε καὶ παροιμίαν γενέσθαι διὰ τοῦτο
ἔμπορε, κατάπλευσον, ἐξελοῦ, πάντα πέπραται. αἴτιον δʼ ὅτι πλούσιοι γενόμενοι Ῥωμαῖοι μετὰ τὴν Καρχηδόνος καὶ Κορίνθου κατασκαφὴν οἰκετείαις ἐχρῶντο πολλαῖς· ὁρῶντες δὲ τὴν εὐπέτειαν οἱ λῃσταὶ ταύτην ἐξήνθησαν ἀθρόως, αὐτοὶ καὶ λῃζόμενοι καὶ σωματεμποροῦντες.
And the export of slaves especially incited them to evil-doing, since it became highly profitable; for not only were they easily captured, but the market, which was large and rich, was not at all far off—namely, Delos, which was able to receive and dismiss tens of thousands of slaves on the same day; so that because of this even a proverb arose: "Merchant, sail in, discharge your cargo, everything is sold." The cause was that the Romans, having become rich after the destruction of Carthage and Corinth, employed many domestic slaves; and the pirates, seeing this easy opportunity, burst into full bloom all at once, themselves both plundering and trafficking in slaves.
συνήργουν δʼ εἰς ταῦτα καὶ οἱ τῆς Κύπρου καὶ οἱ τῆς Αἰγύπτου βασιλεῖς ἐχθροὶ τοῖς Σύροις ὄντες· οὐδʼ οἱ Ῥόδιοι δὲ φίλοι ἦσαν αὐτοῖς ὥστʼ οὐδὲν ἐβοήθουν· ἅμα δὲ καὶ οἱ λῃσταὶ προσποιούμενοι σωματεμπορεῖν ἄλυτον τὴν κακουργίαν εἶχον.
And the kings of Cyprus and Egypt also co-operated with them in this, being enemies to the Syrians; and the Rhodians, too, were not friendly to them, so that they gave no help; and at the same time, because the pirates pretended to be slave-traders, they carried on their evil-doing without hindrance.
ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ Ῥωμαῖοί πω τοσοῦτον ἐφρόντιζον τῶν ἔξω τοῦ Ταύρου, ἀλλʼ ἔπεμψαν μὲν καὶ Σκιπίωνα τὸν Αἰμιλιανὸν ἐπισκεψόμενον τὰ ἔθνη καὶ τὰς πόλεις καὶ πάλιν ἄλλους τινάς, ἔγνωσαν δὲ κακίᾳ τῶν ἀρχόντων συμβαῖνον τοῦτο, εἰ καὶ τὴν κατὰ γένος διαδοχὴν τὴν ἀπὸ Σελεύκου τοῦ Νικάτορος αὐτοὶ κεκυρωκότες ᾐδοῦντο ἀφαιρεῖσθαι.
But not even the Romans as yet cared so much for the regions outside the Taurus; they did indeed send Scipio Aemilianus to inspect the nations and cities, and later certain others, and they recognized that this state of affairs was occurring due to the worthlessness of the rulers, although, since they had themselves confirmed the hereditary succession from Seleucus Nicanor, they were ashamed to deprive them of it.
τοῦτο δὲ συμβὰν τῆς μὲν χώρας ἐποίησε κυρίους Παρθυαίους, οἳ τὰ πέραν τοῦ Εὐφράτου κατέσχον, τὸ τελευταῖον δὲ καὶ Ἀρμενίους, οἳ καὶ τὴν ἐκτὸς τοῦ Ταύρου προσέλαβον μέχρι καὶ Φοινίκης, καὶ τοὺς βασιλέας κατέλυσαν εἰς δύναμιν καὶ τὸ γένος αὐτῶν σύμπαν, τὴν δὲ θάλατταν τοῖς Κίλιξι παρέδωκαν.
And this state of affairs having occurred made the Parthians masters of the country, who occupied the regions beyond the Euphrates, and finally also the Armenians, who took in addition even the region outside the Taurus as far as Phoenicia, and overthrew the kings to the best of their power and their whole race, and surrendered the sea to the Cilicians.
εἶτʼ αὐξηθέντας ἠναγκάσθησαν καταλύειν Ῥωμαῖοι πολέμῳ καὶ μετὰ στρατιᾶς οὓς αὐξομένους οὐκ ἐκώλυσαν.
Then, when they had grown powerful, the Romans were forced to destroy by war and with an army those whom they had not prevented from growing powerful.
ὀλιγωρίαν μὲν οὖν αὐτῶν χαλεπὸν καταγνῶναι· πρὸς ἑτέροις δὲ ὄντες τοῖς ἐγγυτέρω καὶ κατὰ χεῖρα μᾶλλον οὐχ οἷοί τε ἦσαν τὰ ἀπωτέρω σκοπεῖν.
Now, indeed, it is difficult to accuse them of negligence; for being occupied with other matters which were closer and more urgent, they were unable to look to those further away.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἔδοξεν ἡμῖν ἐν παρεκβάσει διὰ βραχέων εἰπεῖν.
These things, then, we have thought fit to say briefly by way of digression.