Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 2.djvu/258

250 STRABO. CASAUB. 514. We must regard as continuous with this distance, in a straight line, the length of India, reckoned from the Indus to the Eastern Sea. Thus much then respecting the Sacae. CHAPTER IX. 1. PARTHIA is not an 'extensive tract of country; for thi^ reason it was united with the Hyrcani for the purpose of pay- ing tribute under the Persian dominion and afterwards, during a long period when the Macedonians were masters of the coun- try. Besides its small extent, it is thickly wooded, moun- tainous, and produces nothing ; so that the kings with their multitude of followers pass with great speed through the country, which is unable to furnish subsistence for such num- bers even for a short time. At present it is augmented in extent. Comisene 1 and Chorene are parts of Parthiene, and perhaps also the country as far as the Caspian Gates, Rhagce, and the Tapyri, which formerly belonged to Media. Apameia and Heracleia are cities in the neighbourhood of Rhagae. From the Caspian Gates to Rhagae are 500 stadia accord- ing to Apollodorus, and to Hecatompylos, the royal seat of the Parthians, 1260 stadia. Rhagse 2 is said to have had its name from the earthquakes which occurred in that country, by which many cities and two thousand villages, as Poseidonius relates, were overthrown. The Tapyri are said to live be- tween the Derbices and the Hyrcani. Historians say, that it is a custom among the Tapyri to surrender the married women to other men, even when the husbands have had two or three children by them, as Cato surrendered Marcia in our times, according to an ancient custom of the Romans, to Hortensius, at his request. 2. Disturbances having arisen in the countries beyond the Taurus in consequence of the kings of Syria and Media, who possessed the tract of which we are speaking, being en- gaged in other affairs, 3 those who were intrusted with the 1 Its present name is said to be Comis. 2 The Rents. 3 Adopting Tyrwhitt's conjecture, Trpbg doiQ.