Chap. 10.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 19 



of the Usis, falls itself, as many authors have supposed, into 

 the Cyrus, by which it is carried into the Caspian Sea. 



The more famous towns in Lesser Armenia are Caesarea, 72 

 Aza, 73 and Mcopolis ; 74 in the Greater Arsamosata, 75 which 

 lies near the Euphrates, Carcathiocerta 76 upon the Tigris, 

 Tigranocerta 77 which stands on an elevated site, and, on a 

 plain adjoining the river Araxes, Artaxata. 78 According to 

 Aufidius, the circumference of the whole of Armenia is five 

 thousand miles, while Claudius Caesar makes the length, from 

 Dascusa 79 to the borders of the Caspian Sea, thirteen 80 hundred 

 miles, and the breadth, from Tigranocerta to Iberia, 81 half that 

 distance. It is a well-known fact, that this country is divided 

 into prefectures, called " Strategies,' 7 some of which singly 

 formed a kingdom in former times ; they are one hundred 



72 Hardouin thinks that this is Neo-Coesarea, mentioned as having been 

 built on the banks of the Euphrates. 



73 Now called Ezaz, according to D'Anville. Parisot suggests that it 

 ought to be Gaza or Gazaca, probably a colony of Median Gaza, now 

 Tauris. 



" 4 Originally called Tephrice. It stood on the river Lycus, and not far 

 from the sources of the Halys, having been founded by Pompey, where he 

 gained his first victory over Mithridates, whence its name, the " City of 

 Victory." The modern Enderez or Devrigni, probably marks its site. 



75 Bitter places it in Sophene, the modern Kharpat, and considers that 

 it may be represented by the modern Sert, the Tigranocerta of D'Anville. 



76 The capital of Sophene, one of the districts of Armenia. St. Martin 

 thinks that this was the ancient heathen name of the city of Martyropolis, 

 but Bitter shows that such cannot be the case. It was called by the 

 Syrians Kortbest ; its present name is Kharput. 



" Generally supposed, by D'Anville and other modern geographers, to 

 be represented by the ruins seen at Sert. It was the later capital of Armenia,, 

 built by Tigranes. 



78 The ancient capital of Armenia. Hannibal, who took refuge at tho 

 court of Artaxias when Antiochus was no longer able to afford him protec- 

 tion, superintended the building of it. Some ruins, called Takt Tiridate, 

 or Throne of Tiridates, near the junction of the Aras and the Zengue, 

 were formerly supposed to represent Artaxata, but Colonel Monteith has 

 fixed the site at a bend in the river lower down, at the bottom of which 

 were the ruins of a bridge of Greek or Boman architecture. 



79 A fortress in Lesser Armenia, upon the Euphrates, seventy-five miles 

 from Zimara, as mentioned in B. v. c. 20. It has been identified with the 

 modern ferry and lead mines of Kebban Ma' den, the points where the Kara 

 Su is joined by the Murad Chai, 270 miles from its source. 



80 Justin makes it only 1100, and that estimate appears to be several hun- 

 dreds too much. 



81 A country lying to the north of Armenia. 



c 2 



