BOOK VIII. THE GOTHIC WAR (continued)
I
The narrative which I have written up to this point has been composed, as far as possible, on the principle of separating the material into parts which relate severally to the countries in which the different wars took place, and these parts have already been published and have appeared in every corner of the Roman empire. But from this point onward I shall no longer follow this principle of arrangement. For after my writings had appeared before the public, I was no longer able to add to each the events which happened afterwards, but all the later developments in these wars, and in the war against Persia as well, now that I have published the previous parts, will be written down in full in this present narrative, and thus the record which I shall make of these events will of necessity be composite.
Now all that took place up to the fourth year of the five-year truce which was made between the Romans and the Persians has already been recounted by me in the previous books. But in the succeeding year a Persian army in vast numbers invaded the land of Colchis. In command of this army was a Persian, Chorianes by name, a man of wide experience in many wars, and a large number of barbarians of the tribe of the Alani followed him as allies. When this army had come to a part of Lazica, which is called Mocheresis, they made camp in a suitable position and remained there. Now there is a river in that place, the Hippis, not a large or navigable stream, but actually passable for both horsemen and foot-soldiers, and it was on the right of this that they made their entrenchment, not along the bank, but at a considerable distance from it.
At this point in my narrative it has seemed to me not inappropriate to pause a moment, in order that the geography of Lazica may be clear to those who read this history and that they may know what races of men inhabit that region, so that they may not be compelled to discuss matters which are obscure to them, like men fighting shadows; I shall therefore give an account of the distribution of the peoples who live about the Euxine Sea, as it is called, not that I am ignorant that these things have been written down by some of the men of earlier times also, but because I believe that not all their statements are accurate. Some of these writers, for example, have stated that the territory of the Trapezuntines is adjoined either by the Sani, who at the present day are called Tzani, or by the Colchians, calling another people Lazi, who are actually addressed by this name at the present day. And yet neither of these statements is true. For, in the first place, the Tzani live at a very great distance from the coast as neighbours of the Armenians in the interior, and many mountains stand between which are thoroughly impassable and altogether precipitous, and there is an extensive area always devoid of human habitation, canons from which it is impossible to climb out, forested heights, and impassable chasms — all these prevent the Tzani from being on the sea. In the second place, it is impossible that the Lazi should not be the Colchians, because they inhabit the banks of the Phasis River; and the Colchians have merely changed their name at the present time to Lazi, just as nations of men and many other things do. But apart from this, a long period of time has elapsed since these accounts were written, and has brought about constant changes along with the march of events, with the result that many of the conditions which formerly obtained have been replaced by new conditions, because of the migration of nations and successive changes of rulers and of names. These things it has seemed to me very necessary to investigate, not relating the mythological tales about them nor other antiquated material, nor even telling in what part of the Euxine Sea the poets say Prometheus was bound (for I consider that history is very widely separated from mythology), but stating accurately and in order both the names of each of those places and the facts that apply to them at the present day.
II
This Pontus, then, begins from Byzantium and Calchedon and ends at the land of the Colchians.
And as one sails into it, the land on the right is inhabited by the Bithynians, and next after them by the Honoriatae and the Paphlagonians, who have, besides other towns, the coast cities of Heraclea and Ainastris; beyond them are the people called Pontici as far as the city of Trapezus and its boundaries. In that region are a number of towns on the coast, among which are Sinope and Amisus, and close to Amisus is the town called Themiscyra and the river Thermodon, where they say the army of the Amazons originated. But concerning the Amazons I shall write a little later. From here the territory of the Trapezuntines extends to the village of Susurmena and the place called Rhizaeum, which is two days’ journey distant from Trapezus as one goes toward Lazica along the coast. But now that I have mentioned Trapezus, I must not omit the very strange thing which takes place there; for the honey which is produced in all the places around Trapezus is bitter, this being the only place where it is at variance with its established reputation. On the right of these places rise all the mountains of Tzanica, and beyond them are the Armenians, who are subject to the Romans.
Now from these mountains of Tzanica the Boas River descends, a stream which, after passing into innumerable jungles and traversing a mountainous region, flows along by the land of Lazica and empties into the Euxine Sea, as it is called, but no longer keeping the name of Boas. For when it gets near the sea it loses this name and thereafter bears another, which it acquires from the character which it now displays. This name which the natives apply to it for the rest of its course is Acampsis, and they so name it, obviously, because it is impossible to force a way through it after it has entered the sea, since it discharges its stream with such force and swiftness, causing a great disturbance of the water before it, that it goes out for a very great distance into the sea and makes it impossible to coast along at that point. And those who are navigating in that part of the Pontus, whether sailing toward Lazica or even putting out from there, are not able to hold a straight course in their voyage; for they are quite unable to push through the river’s current, but they must needs put out to a very great distance into the sea there, going somewhere near the middle of the Pontus, and only in this way can they escape the force of the river’s discharge. So much, then, may be said regarding the Boas River.
Beyond Rhizaeum there is found a territory occupied by independent peoples, who live between the Romans and the Lazi. And there is a certain village there named Athenae, not, as some suppose, because colonists from Athens settled there, but because a certain woman named Athenaea in early times ruled over the land, and the tomb of this woman is there even to my day. Beyond Athenae are Archabis and Apsarus, an ancient city which is about three days’ journey from Rhizaeum. This was called Apsyrtus in ancient times, having come to be named after the man on account of his catastrophe. For in that place the natives say that Apsyrtus was removed from the world by the plot of Medea and Jason, and that from this circumstance the place received its name; for he died on that spot and the place was named after him. But an extremely long time has elapsed since these events, while countless generations of men have flourished, and the mere passage of time has thus availed to efface from memory the succession of incidents from which this name arose and to transform the name of the place to the form in which it appears at the present. There is also a tomb of this Apsyrtus to the east of the city. This was a populous city in ancient times, and a great expanse of wall surrounded it, while it was adorned with a theatre and hippodrome and all the rest of those things by which the size of a city is commonly indicated. But at the present nothing of these is left except the foundations of the buildings.
It is now clear that one might with good reason wonder at those who assert that the Colchians are adjacent to the Trapezuntines. For on this hypothesis it would appear that after Jason in company with Medea had captured the fleece, he actually did not flee toward Hellas and his own land, but backward to the Phasis River and the barbarians in the most remote interior. Now they say that in the time of the Roman Emperor Trajan detachments of Roman soldiers were stationed there and as far as the Lazi and Saginae. But at the present time people live there who are neither subjects of the
Romans nor of the king of the Lazi, except indeed that the bishops of the Lazi appoint their priests, seeing they are Christians. And wishing, as they do, to live in peace and friendship with both peoples, they have made a permanent agreement to provide an escort for those who from time to time travel from the one country to the other; and it appears that they have been doing this even down to my time. For they escort the messengers despatched from the one king to the other, sailing in boats of their own. However, they have become in no way tributary down to the present time. On the right of these places very abrupt mountains tower overhead and a barren land extends to an indefinite distance. And beyond this the so-called Persarmenians dwell, as well as the Armenians who are subjects of the Romans, extending as far as the confines of Iberia.
From the city of Apsarus to Petra and the boundary of Lazica, where the Euxine Sea reaches its limit, is a journey of one day. Now as this sea comes to an end here, its coast takes the form of a crescent. And the distance across this crescent amounts to about five hundred and fifty stades, while the entire country behind it is Lazica and is known under this name. Behind them in the interior are Scymnia and Suania; these nations happen to be subjects of the Lazi. Indeed, although these peoples do have magistrates of their own blood, still, whenever any of the magistrates reaches the end of his life, it is always customary for another one to be appointed in his place by the king of the Lazi. At the side of this land and bordering upon Iberia proper for the most part dwell the Meschi, who have been from ancient times subjects of the Iberians, having their dwellings on the mountains. But the mountains of the Meschi are not rough nor unproductive of crops, but they abound in all good things, since the Meschi, for their part, are skilful farmers and there are actually vineyards in their country. However, this land is hemmed in by mountains which are very lofty and covered by forests so that they are exceedingly difficult to pass through. And these mountains extend as far as the Caucasus, while behind them toward the east is Iberia, extending as far as Persarmenia.
Now through the mountains which rise here the Phasis River emerges, having its source in the Caucasus and its mouth at the middle of the crescent of the Pontus. Because of this some consider that it forms the boundary between the two continents; for the land on the left as one goes down this stream is Asia, but that on the right is named Europe. Now it so happens that all the habitations of the Lazi are on the European side, while on the opposite side there is neither fortress nor stronghold nor any village of consequence held by the Lazi, except indeed the city of Petra which the Romans built there in earlier times. It was somewhere in this part of Lazica, as the inhabitants say, that the famous Heece was placed for safe keeping, that fleece on account of which, as the poets tell the tale, the Argo was fashioned. But in saying this they are, in my opinion, not telling the truth at all. For I think that Jason would not have eluded Aeetes and got away from there with the fleece in company with Medea, unless both the palace and the other dwellings of the Colchians had been separated by the Phasis River from the place in which that fleece was lying; indeed the poets who have recorded the story imply that this was the case. So the Phasis, flowing as I have said, empties into the Euxine Sea approximately at the very point where it comes to an end. Now at the one end of the crescent, that, namely, which is in Asia, was the city of Petra, while on the opposite coast which forms a part of Europe the territory is held by the Apsilii; these Apsilii are subjects of the Lazi and have been Christians from ancient times, just as all the other nations which I have mentioned up to this point in my narrative.
III
Above and beyond this country are the mountains of the Caucasus. This mountain range which composes the Caucasus rises to such a great height that its summits are in fact never touched either by rain or by snow; for they are indeed above all clouds. But the middle slopes are continually filled with snow down to the very base. And from this it may be inferred that the foothills are extremely high, being in no way inferior to the principal ridges of other mountains. Now the spurs of the Caucasus range extend in one direction to the north and west and continue into Illyricum and Thrace, while in the other direction they extend toward the east and south and reach as far as those very passes which provide entrance for the Hunnic nations inhabiting that region into both Persian and Roman territory. One of these passes is called Tzur, while the other has been named the Caspian Gates from ancient times. But this country which extends from the Caucasus range as far as the Caspian Gates is held by the Alani, an autonomous nation, who are for the most part allied with the Persians and march against the Romans and their other enemies. So much then may be said regarding the Caucasus.
The Huns who are called Sabiri dwell in that region, as well as certain other Hunnic tribes. And they say that the Amazons really originated here and afterwards established their camp near Themiscyra on the Thermodon River, as I have stated above, at the place where the city of Amisus is at the present time. But to-day nowhere in the vicinity of the Caucasus range is any memory of the Amazons preserved or any name connected with them, although much has been written about them both by Strabo and by some others. But it seems to me that those have spoken the truth about the Amazons at any rate better than any others, who have stated that there never was a race of women endowed with the qualities of men and that human nature did not depart from its established norm in the mountains of the Caucasus alone; but the fact was that barbarians from these regions together with their own women made an invasion of Asia with a great army, established a camp at the river Thermodon, and left their women there; then, while they themselves were overrunning the greater part of the land of Asia, they were encountered by the inhabitants of the land and utterly destroyed, and not a man of them returned to the women’s encampment; and thereafter these women, through fear of the people dwelling round about and constrained by the failure of their supplies, put on manly valour, not at all of their own will, and, taking up the equipment of arms and armour left by the men in the camp and arming themselves in excellent fashion with this, they made a display of manly valour, being driven to do so by sheer necessity, until they were all destroyed. That this is about what happened and that the Amazons did make an expedition with their husbands, I too believe, basing my judgment on what has actually taken place in my time. For customs which are handed down to remote descendants give a picture of the character of former generations. I mean this, that on many occasions when Huns have made raids into the Roman domain and have engaged in battle with those who encountered them, some, of course, have fallen there, and after the departure of the barbarians the Romans, in searching the bodies of the fallen have actually found women among them. No other army of women, however, has made its appearance in any locality of Asia or Europe. On the other hand, we have no tradition that the mountains of the Caucasus were ever devoid of men. Concerning the Amazons then let this suffice.
Beyond the Apsilii and the other end of the crescent the Abasgi dwell along the coast, and their country extends as far as the mountains of the Caucasus. Now the Abasgi have been from ancient times subjects of the Lazi, but they have always had two rulers of their own blood. One of these resided in the western part of their country, the other in the eastern part. And these barbarians even down to my time have worshipped groves and forests; for with a sort of barbarian simplicity they supposed the trees were gods. But they have suffered most cruelly at the hands of their rulers owing to the excessive avarice displayed by them.
For both their kings used to take such boys of this nation as they noted having comely features and fine bodies, and dragging them away from their parents without the least hesitation they would make them eunuchs and then sell them at high prices to any persons in Roman territory who wished to buy them. They also killed the fathers of these boys immediately, in order to prevent any of them from attempting at some time to exact vengeance from the king for the wrong done their boys, and also that there might be in the country no subjects suspected by the kings. And thus the physical beauty of th
eir sons was resulting in their destruction; for the poor wretches were being destroyed through the misfortune of fatal comeliness in their children. And it was in consequence of this that the most of the eunuchs among the Romans, and particularly at the emperor’s court, happened to be Abasgi by birth.
But during the reign of the present Emperor Justinian the Abasgi have changed everything and adopted a more civilised standard of life. For not only have they espoused the Christian doctrine, but the Emperor Justinian also sent them one of the eunuchs from the palace, an Abasgus by birth named Euphrates, and through him commanded their kings in explicit terms to mutilate no male thereafter in this nation by doing violence to nature with the knife. This the Abasgi heard gladly, and taking courage now because of the decree of the Roman emperor they began to strive with all their might to put an end to this practice. For each one of them had to dread that at some time he would become the father of a comely child. It was at that same time that the Emperor Justinian also built a sanctuary of the Virgin in their land, and appointed priests for them, and thus brought it about that they learned thoroughly all the observances of the Christians; and the Abasgi immediately dethroned both their kings and seemed to be living in a state of freedom. Thus then did these things take place.
IV
Beyond the confines of the Abasgi along the Caucasus range dwell the Bruchi, who are between the Abasgi and the Alani, while along the coast of the Euxine Sea the Zechi have their habitation. Now in ancient times the Roman emperor used to appoint a king over the Zechi, but at present these barbarians are in no way subject to the Romans. Beyond these dwell the Saginae, and the Romans had held a portion of their coast from ancient times. And they had constructed two fortresses on the coast, Sebastopolis and Pityus, two days’ journey apart, and maintained in them garrisons of soldiers from the first. For though in earlier times detachments of Roman soldiers held all the towns on the coast from the limits of Trapezus as far as the Saginae, as previously stated, it finally came about that these two fortresses were the only ones left them; and here they actually maintained their garrisons up to my day, [but no longer]; for Chosroes, the Persian king, having been brought in by invitation of the Lazi to Petra, made haste to send an army of Persians there who were to take possession of these fortresses and settle down to garrison duty in them. But the Roman soldiers succeeded in learning this in advance, and so, anticipating him, they fired the houses and razed the walls to the ground, and then with no hesitation embarked in small boats and made their way immediately to the city of Trapezus on the opposite mainland. Thus, while they did penalize the Roman empire by the destruction of the fortresses, they at the same time gained for it a great advantage in that the enemy did not become masters of the land. For as a result of their action the Persians returned baffled to Petra. Thus then did this take place.
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