Delphi complete works of.., p.510
Delphi Complete Works of Procopius, page 510
VI
Since we have now reached an appropriate point in the narrative, it has seemed to me not out of place to mention the opinions concerning the boundaries of Asia and Europe which are debated among those who are experts in these matters. For, on the one hand, some of them say that these two continents are separated by the Tanais River, stoutly maintaining first of all that the division must be a natural one, and further supporting their claim by the fact that, while the sea extends from the west toward the east, the Tanais River flows from the north toward the south between the two continents; similarly, they say, the Egyptian Nile proceeds in the opposite direction from the south to the north and flows between Asia and Libya. On the other hand, others taking issue directly with them maintain that their reasoning is not sound. For they say that these two continents are divided originally by the strait at Gadira, which issues from the ocean, and by the sea which extends from that point, and that the land on the right of the strait and the sea received the names of Libya and Asia, while everything on the left was called Europe approximately as far as the end of the so-called Euxine Sea.
But on this hypothesis the Tanais River rises within the limits of Europe and empties into the Maeotic Lake, which in turn discharges its waters into the Euxine Sea neither at its end nor even at its middle, but actually beyond it. Yet the land on the left of this same sea is counted as a portion of Asia. But apart from this the river Tanais rises in the so-called Rhipaean mountains, which are in the land of Europe, as, in fact, those who have written of these matters from ancient times agree. Now the Ocean is very far removed from these Rhipaean mountains; consequently all the land beyond them and the Tanais River in both directions must necessarily be European. Just at what point, then, the Tanais River begins to divide the two continents it is not easy to say. But if any river must be said to divide the two continents, that river would surely be the Phasis. For it flows in a direction opposite to that of the strait of Gadira, and so passes between the two continents; for while the strait, coming out of the ocean and forming this sea, has these two continents, one on either side, the Phasis River flows almost at the end of the Euxine Sea and empties into the middle of the crescent, obviously continuing the division of the land heretofore made by the sea. These then are the arguments which the two sides put forth as they wrangle over the question.
But not only the former argument, but also that which I have just stated, can boast, as I shall shew, of high antiquity and the support of some men of very ancient times, for I am aware that as a general thing all men, if they first discover an ancient argument, are no longer willing to devote themselves to the labour involved in the search for truth nor to learn instead some later theory about the matter in hand, but the more ancient view always seems to them sound and worthy of honour, while contemporary opinions are considered negligible and are classed as absurd. Furthermore, in the present case the investigation is not concerned with any matter to be grasped only by the mind or the intellect, or that is in any other way obscure, but with rivers and lands: these are things which time has not been able either to change or to conceal in any way. For the test is near at hand and vision can provide most satisfactory evidence, and I think no obstacle will be placed in the way of those eager to discover the truth. To proceed, then, Herodotus of Halicarnassus in the Fourth Book of his History says that the entire earth is one, but is considered to be divided into three parts, having three separate titles, Libya, Asia, and Europe. And between two of them, on the one hand, Libya and Asia namely, flows the Egyptian Nile, while Asia and Europe, on the other hand, are divided by the Colchian Phasis. But knowing as he did that some thought that the Tanais River performed this function, he mentioned this view also afterwards. And it has seemed to me not inappropriate to insert in my narrative the actual language of Herodotus, which is as follows. “Nor am I able to conjecture for what reason it is that, though the earth is one, three names are applied to it which are women’s names. And its lines of division have been established as the Egyptian Nile and the Colchian Phasis. But others name the Tanais River, which empties into the Maeotic Lake and the Cimmerian Strait.” Also the tragic poet Aeschylus in the Prometheus Unbound, at the very beginning of the tragedy, calls the Phasis River the limit of the land of both Asia and Europe.
At this point I shall also mention the fact that some of those who are versed in such matters think that the Maeotic Lake forms the Euxine Sea, and that it spreads out from this lake partly to the right and partly to the left, this being the reason why the lake is called the mother of the Pontus. And they make this statement on the basis of the observation that from the place called Hieron the outlet of this sea flows down toward Byzantium just as if it were a river, and consequently they consider this to be the limit of the Pontus. But those who oppose this view explain that the entire sea is, of course, one, coming from the ocean, and, without any other ending, extends to the land of the Lazi, unless, indeed, they say, anyone considers the mere change of name to constitute a real difference, seeing that the sea is called Pontus beyond a certain point.
But if the current does flow down from the place called Hieron to Byzantium, this has nothing to do with the matter. For the phenomena which are exhibited in all straits appear to be susceptible of no explanation, nor has anyone ever shewn himself able to account for them. Indeed it was this question which led Aristotle of Stagira, a man prominent among all others as a philosopher, to go to Chalcis on Euboea, where he observed the strait which they call Euripus in an effort to discover by careful investigation the physical reason why it is and in what manner it comes about that sometimes the current of the strait flows from the west, but at other times from the east, and the sailing of all boats there is governed by this fact; whenever, for example, the current is running from the east and the mariners have begun to sail their boats from that direction following the inflow of the water, as they are accustomed to do, if then the current turns upon itself, a thing which is wont to happen there many a time, it immediately turns these boats back in the direction from which they have started, while the other boats sail from the west to the opposite end, even though no wind has blown upon them in the least but deep calm prevails there with all winds absent; all this the Stagirite observed and pondered for a long time, until he worried himself to death with anxious thought and so reached the term of his life. But this is not an isolated case, for in the strait also which separates Italy from Sicily nature plays many strange tricks. For it appears that the current runs into this strait from the sea called the Adriatic, and this in spite of the fact that the forward movement of the sea takes place from the ocean and Gadira. But there are also numerous whirlpools which appear there suddenly from no cause apparent to us and destroy the ships. It is on account of this that the poets say that the boats are gulped down by Charybdis, when any chance to be in this strait at such a time. But the advocates of the second view think that all these exceedingly strange phenomena which present themselves in all straits come about in consequence of the two sides coming very close to each other; for the water, they say, being constrained by the limited space, is subject to some strange and unaccountable compulsion.
Consequently, if the current does actually’ seem to flow from the place called Hieron to Byzantium, no one could reasonably maintain that the sea and the Euxine end at that point. For this view rests upon no solid basis of nature, but here again the narrowness of the channel must be considered the determining factor. Indeed not even this is all that happens here; for the fishermen of the towns on the Bosphorus say that the whole stream does not How in the direction of Byzantium, but while the upper current which we can see plainly does How in this direction, the deep water of the abyss, as it is called, moves in a direction exactly opposite to that of the upper current and so flows continually against the current which is seen. Consequently, whenever in going after a catch of fish they cast their nets there anywhere, these are always carried by the force of the current in the direction of Hieron.
But at Lazica the land checks the advance of the sea on all sides and puts a stop to its course, and thus makes its first and only ending at that point, the Creator obviously having set bounds there for sea and land. For when the sea encounters that beach, it neither advances farther nor does it rise to any higher level, although it is constantly receiving the inflow of countless rivers of extraordinary size which empty into it from all sides, but it falls back and returns again and thus, while making the beach of normal width, it preserves the boundary set by the land as if fearing some law, and, through the necessity prescribed by this, checking itself with precision and taking care not to be found to have transgressed the covenant in any way. For all the other shores of the sea do not face it, but lie along its side. But concerning these matters let each man form his decision and speak as he wishes.
Ὅτου δὲ ὁ Χοσρόης ἕνεκα Λαζικῆς μεταποιεῖσθαι διὰ σπουδῆς εἶχεν ἤδη μὲν πρόσθεν μοι ἐρρήθη: ὃ δὲ δὴ αὐτόν τε καὶ Πέρσας μάλιστα πάντων ἐς τοῦτο ἤνεγκεν, ἐνταῦθα δηλώσω, ὅτι δὴ καὶ χώραν τήνδε περιηγησάμενος ξύμπασαν σαφῆ τὸν περὶ τούτου πεποίηκα λόγον. [2] πολλάκις οἱ βάρβαροι οὗτοι, Χοσρόου σφίσιν ἡγουμένου, στρατῷ μεγάλῳ ἐμβαλόντες ἐς Ῥωμαίων τὴν γῆν οὐκ εὐδιήγητα μὲν τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐπήνεγκαν πάθη, ἅπερ μοι ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν λόγοις ἐρρήθη, αὐτοῖς δὲ ὄφελος οὐδ̓ ὁτιοῦν ἀπενεγκαμένοις ἐνθένδε τοῖς τε χρήμασι καὶ τοῖς σώμασι προσκεκακῶσθαι ξυνέπεσε: πολλοὺς γὰρ ἀποβεβληκότες ἀεὶ ἀπηλλάσσοντο ἐκ Ῥωμαίων τῆς γῆς. [3] διὸ δὴ ἐς ἤθη ἐπανιόντες τὰ πάτρια Χοσρόῃ ὡς λαθραιότατα ἐλοιδοροῦντο καὶ διαφθορέα τοῦ Περσῶν γένους αὐτὸν ἀπεκάλουν. [4] καί ποτε καὶ ἐκ Λαζικῆς ἐπανήκοντες, ἐπειδὴ ἐνταῦθα πάθεσιν ἔτυχον ὡμιληκότες ἀνηκέστοις τισί, ξυστήσεσθαί τε ἐκ τοῦ ἐμφανοῦς ἐπ̓ αὐτὸν ἔμελλον καὶ διαχρήσεσθαι θανάτῳ οἰκτίστῳ, εἰ μὴ προμαθὼν ἐφυλάξατο, θωπείᾳ πολλῇ τοὺς ἐν σφίσι λογιμωτάτους περιελθών. [5] καὶ ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ ἀπολογεῖσθαι τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐθέλων μέγα τι ὄφελος Περσῶν τῇ ἀρχῇ ἐκπορίζεσθαι διὰ σπουδῆς εἶχε. Πόλει γοῦν Δάρας αὐτίκα ἐγκεχειρηκὼς ἀπεκρούσθη ἐνθένδε, ὥσπερ μοι εἴρηται, ἐς ἀπόγνωσίν τε τῆς τοῦ χωρίου ἐπικρατήσεως παντάπασιν ἦλθεν. [6] οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸ ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς ἐξαιρήσειν τὸ λοιπὸν εἶχεν, οὕτω φυλασσομένων τῶν ἐκείνῃ φρουρῶν, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ πολιορκῶν μηχανῇ τινὶ περιέσεσθαι αὐτῶν ἤλπιζε. [7] τά τε γὰρ ἄλλα τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἐσαεὶ ἐν πόλει Δάρας διαρκῶς ἐστὶν ἐξεπίτηδες ἀποκείμενα, ὅπως δὴ ἐς μέγα τι χρόνου διαρκέσειε μῆκος, καὶ πηγὴ ἄγχιστά πη φυομένη ἐν χώρῳ κρημνώδει ποταμὸν ἀπεργάζεται μέγαν ὅσπερ τῆς πόλεως εὐθὺ φέρεται, οὐ δυναμένων ῾τῶν ἐπιβουλεύειν ἐφιεμένων̓ ἑτέρωσέ πη αὐτὸν ἀποτρέπειν ἢ τρόπῳ τῳ ἄλλῳ διὰ τὴν δυσχωρίαν βιάζεσθαι. [8] ἐπειδὰν δὲ τοῦ περιβόλου ἐντὸς γένηται, τήν τε πόλιν περιιὼν ξύμπασαν καὶ τὰς ταύτῃ δεξαμενὰς ἐμπλησάμενος εἶτα ἔξεισιν, ὡς ἀγχοτάτω τε τοῦ περιβόλου ἐς χάος ἐμπεσὼν ἀφανίζεται. καὶ ὅπη [9] ποτὲ τὸ ἐνθένδε ἐκδίδωσιν οὐδενὶ γέγονε φανερὸν ἐς τόδε τοῦ χρόνου. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ χάος οὐκ ἐπὶ παλαιοῦ γεγονὸς ἔτυχεν, ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ πολλῷ ὕστερον ἢ τὴν πόλιν Ἀναστάσιος βασιλεὺς ἐδείματο ταύτην ἡ φύσις αὐτὸ τοῦ χωρίου ἀπαυτοματίσασα ἔθετο, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ξυμβαίνει τοῖς προσεδρεύειν ἐθέλουσιν ἀμφὶ πόλιν Δάρας πιέζεσθαι ὕδατος ἀπορίᾳ πολλῇ. [10] Ταύτης οὖν, ὥσπερ μοι εἴρηται, ἀποτυχὼν ὁ Χοσρόης τῆς πείρας ἐς ἔννοιαν ἦλθεν ὡς, ἢν καὶ πόλιν οἱ Ῥωμαίων ἑτέραν τινὰ παραστήσασθαι δυνατὰ εἴη, ἀλλὰ καθίζεσθαι οὐ μή ποτε οἷός τε εἴη ἐν μέσῳ Ῥωμαίων, ὀχυρωμάτων τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀπολελειμμένων ὀπίσω πολλῶν. [11] καὶ Ἀντιόχειαν γὰρ τούτου δὴ εἵνεκα ἐς ἔδαφος καθελὼν ἡνίκα ἐξεῖλεν, ἀπηλλάγη ἐκ Ῥωμαίων τῆς γῆς. διὸ δὴ μετεωρισθεὶς τὴν διάνοιαν ἐπὶ μακροτέρας ἐλπίδος ὠχεῖτο, διερευνώμενος ἀμήχανα ἔργα. [12] ἀκοῇ γὰρ ἔχων ὅντινα τρόπον ἐπ̓ ἀριστερᾷ Πόντου τοῦ Εὐξείνου οὗτοι δὴ βάρβαροι οἳ ἀμφὶ τὴν Μαιῶτιν ᾤκηνται Λίμνην ἀδεῶς κατατρέχουσι Ῥωμαίων τὴν γῆν, οὕτω καὶ Πέρσαις Λαζικὴν ἔχουσι πόνῳ οὐδενὶ δυνατὰ ἔσεσθαι ἔλεγεν, ἡνίκα ἂν βουλομένοις ᾖ, εὐθὺ Βυζαντίου ἰέναι, οὐδαμῆ διαπορθμευομένοις τὴν θάλασσαν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα βαρβαρικὰ ἔθνη ἃ ταύτῃ ἵδρυται ἐσαεὶ δρῶσι. [13] διὰ ταῦτα μὲν Λαζικῆς Πέρσαι μεταποιοῦνται. ἐγὼ δὲ ὅθεν τὴν ἐκβολὴν τοῦ λόγου ἐποιησάμην ἐπάνειμι.
VII
Now the reason why Chosroes was eager to get possession of Lazica has already been stated by me in a previous passage, but that particular consideration which above everything else impelled him and the Persians to desire this I shall here set forth, now that I have given a description of this whole country and so made clear my statement of this matter. Many times these barbarians, under the leadership of Chosroes, had invaded the Roman domain with a mighty army, and while they had indicted upon their enemy sufferings not easy to describe, as has been told by me in the books on this subject, still they gained from these invasions no advantage whatsoever and had also to bear the loss of both treasure and lives: for they always J departed from the Roman domain having lost many men. Consequently, after they had returned to their own land, they would very privately rail against Chosroes and call him the destroyer of the Persian nation. And on one such occasion when they had returned from Lazica, seeing that they had suffered terrible losses there, they were actually on the point of combining openly against him and doing away with him by a most cruel death, and would have done so had he not learned in advance and guarded against it by winning over the most notable of them by assiduous wheedling. As a result of this incident he wished to remove the sting from the accusation, and to this end was eager to gain some great advantage for the Persian Empire.
He accordingly made an attempt upon the city of Daras, but met with reverse there, as I have told, and came to a state of utter despair regarding the capture of the place. For neither could he thereafter capture it by a surprise assault, seeing that the guards of the city were so alert, nor indeed did he entertain the hope that he would by any device get the better of them in a siege. For there is always an abundant supply of all manner of provisions in the city of Daras stored away against a siege, so that it may last for a great length of time, and close by there is a spring placed by nature among precipices, forming a large river which flows straight towards the city, and those who seek to interfere with it are unable to turn it to any other course or otherwise do violence to it on account of the rough character of the terrain. But as soon as this river gets inside the circuit-wall, it flows about the entire city, filling its cisterns, and then flows out, and very close to the circuit-wall it falls into a chasm, where it is lost to sight. And where it emerges from there has become known to no man up to this time. Now this chasm was not there in ancient times, but a long time after the Emperor Anastasius built this city nature unaided fashioned and placed it there, and for this reason it comes about that those desiring to draw a siege about the city of Daras are very hard pressed by scarcity of water.
