Chap. 6.] ACCOTTNT 01' COrHTEIES, ETC. 13' 



destroyed by the Heniochi : behind it are the Epageritas, a 

 people of Sarmatian origin, dwelling upon , the range of the 

 Caucasus, and beyond them, the Sauromatae. It was with 

 these people that Mithridates"' took refuge in the reign of the 

 Emperor Claudius : and from him we learn that the Thalli ^^ 

 join up to them, a people who border on the eastern side upon 

 the mouth'" of the Caspian sea : he tells us also that at the 

 reflux the channel is dry there. Upon the coast of the 

 Euxine, near the country of theCercet3e,,isthe river Icarusa,^' 

 with the town and river of Hierus, distant from Heracleium 

 one hundred and thirty-six miles. Next to this, is the pro- 

 montory of Cruni, after passing which, we find the Toretse upon 

 a lofty ridge of mountains. The city of Sindos^' is distant 

 from Hierus sixty-seven miles and a half ; after passing which, 

 we come to the river Setheries. (6.) From thence to the en- 

 trance of the Cimmerian Bosporus the distance is eighty-eight 

 miles and a half. 



CHAP. 6. THE CIMMEEIAN BOSPOKUS. 



The length of the peninsula'' which projects between the 



destruction by the Henioohi, it was restored, and served as an important 

 frontier fortress of the Roman empire against the Soythians. 



-s This was Mithridates, king of Bosporus, which sovereignty he 

 obtained by the favour of the emperor Claudius, in a.d. 41. The circum- 

 stances are unknown which led to his subsequent expulsion by the Eo- 

 mans, who placed his younger brother Cotys on the throne in his stead. 



^' Hardouin thinks that the Thalli inhabited the present country of 

 Astrakan. 



'" It was the ancient opinion, to which we shall find frequent reference 

 made in the present Book, that the northern portion of the Caspian com- 

 municated with the Scythian or Septentrional ocean. 



" Mentioned only by Pliny. It is supposed to answer to the present 

 TJkrash river ; and the town and river of Hierus are probably identical with 

 the Hieros Portus of Arrian, which has been identified with the modern 

 Sunjuk-Xala. 



'2 Inhabited by the Sindi, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia. They pro- 

 bably dwelt in and about the modern peninsula of Taman, between the 

 Sea of Azof and the Black Sea, to the south of the river Hypanis, the 

 modem Kouban. The site of their capital, Sindos, or Sinda, is supposed 

 to have been the modem Anapa. Parisot conjectures that this place 

 was one of the ancient settlements of the Zigeunes, the modern Bohemians 

 or Gjypsies. He seems to found his opinion upon some observations of 

 Malte Brun [Precis de Geographie, vol. vi.) upon the origin of the Gypsy 

 race, which will amply repay the pemsal. 



** The peninsula on^ which Taman or Timoutarakan is situate. 



