BOOK VI. IX. 2 5-\. 28 



into the Black Sea, and by thc Parihedri Mountains in 

 which the Absarrus rises. 



X. The source of the Kur is in the Heniochi The river 

 Mountains, which are called by some persons the ^"^" 

 Coraxici ; while the Aras rises in the same moun- 

 tains as the Euphratcs, at a distance of six miles from 

 it, and after being augmented by tlie river Usis, 

 itself also, in the opinion of the majority of writers, 

 joins the Kur and is carried by it down into the 

 Caspian Sea." 



The notable towns in Lesser Armenia are Caesarea, f.essrr 

 Ezaz and Nicopohs; those in Greater Armenia are •'"'"'""'• 

 Arsamosata, which is near the Euphrates, Kharput on 

 the Tigris and Sert on the high ground, with Artaxata 

 in the plains adioining the Araxes. Aufidius gives 

 the circumference of the whole of Armenia as 5000 

 miles, while Claudius Caesar makes its length from 

 Dascusa to the edge of the Caspian Sea 1300 miles 

 and its breadth from Sert to Hiberia half that amount. 

 It is a well-known fact that it is divided into 120 

 administrative districts with native names, called 

 in Greek military commands, some of wliich were 

 formerly actual separate kingdoms. It is shut in on 

 the east, but not immediately, by the Ceraunian 

 Mountains and similarly by the Adiabene district. 

 The intcrvening space is occupied by the Cepheni, 

 and next to them the mountain district beyond is 

 occupied by the Adiabeni, while along the valleys the 

 peoples adjoining Armenia are the Menobardi and 

 Moscheni. Adiabene is encircled by the Tigris and 

 by impassable mountains. The district on the left 

 of Adiabene belongs to the Medcs, as far as the point 

 where the Caspian Sea comes into view ; this sea 

 derives its water from the Ocean, as we shall say in 



357 



