ThefixthBookeof 



Likewifc the menacing commaundemcntSj and tlireatning commiflions Cent out by Nero the G 

 Emperour fortogaine and conquer thole gates j which through Iberia lead into Sarmatia^ 

 made mention of the gates Cafpia; there, which had in a manner no palfage at all to the 

 Cafpian (ea^ byreafon that the mountainc Caucafus empeached it. Howbeii in very truthj 

 there be other gates Co called, which joyn upon the Calpian nations^which we had never known 

 from the other, but by relation of thofe that accompanied Alexander iht Great in his voyage 

 ^nd expedition to thole parts. For the rcalmeandkingdomeofthePerfians, which at this day 

 wee take that the Parthians hold, lyeth aloft betwecne the Perfian and Hircane feas upon the 

 Inountaines of CaucafuSjin the very hangingand defcent thereof, on both fides confining up- 

 on Armenia the greater : and on that part which lyeth to Comagene, confronteth and joyneth 

 (as we have faid) upon Sepheniae : and upon it againe bordereth Adiabene, where the realme of H 

 the Aflyriansdoth begin: whereof Arbelitis, which boundeth next upon Syria , taketh up a 

 good part : which is the country wherein Alexander the Great difcomficed and vanquifbed Da- 

 riips. All this tra<Si,the Macedonians who entred mhi^kxariderjCviimmzd. Mygdoniajfor the 

 referablanceofthat in Greece from which they came, Townes of name there beinir,Alexan- 

 dria,and Antiochia, which they call Nifibis : andfrom Artaxatait is 75 miles. There was alfo 

 another cittie called Ninus or Ninive, feated upon the river Tygris, which regarded the Weft, 

 which in times paft was highly renowmed . B ut on the other fide, where'it iieth toward the Cat 

 pian fea,lyeth the region Atropatcne,{eparatcd by the uver Araxcs^ from Otene in Arn}enia: 

 whcrin is the citie Ga2aJ345o miles from Artaxata : and as many fromfEcbatana in Mediajwhcr^r 

 on fome part the Atropatenes doe hold. j 



Chap. XII II, 



Media^and the gates Ciif^i£, 



AS forEcbatanatheheadcicicof Mediaj^S'J^/^f/^ the king founded it ;anditisirom Seleu- 

 cia the grear 75c miles : and from the Cafpian gates 20. The other great towiies of im- 

 portancejn Media, be Phaufia, Agamzua, and Apamia, named alfo Rhaphane . And as 

 for iheftrcights there, called the Cafpian gatesjthefame reafon is there ofthat name^as of the 

 other by Caucafus, by reafon that the mountaineis cloven and broken through, and haih fo 

 narrow a lane, that hardly a waine or cart is.able to pafle by it, and that for the length of 8 miles : 

 all done by the picke-axe and mans hand. The rockcs and clitfes that hang over on the one fide 

 and the other,be like as if they were fcortched and halfe burnt : fo dry and thirftie is allthat trad, 

 and without frefh water for 3 8 miles fpace-.forall the liquor and moiflure ifTuing out of thofe 

 craggierockes, runneth through it, which letteth the paiTageand caufcth folke to avoid that 

 way. Befides, fijch a number of ferpents doe there haunt, that no nlindare paffethat way but 

 in winter onely. 



Chap. XV. 



Natiom about the Hirc&m fe^, 



VNto Adiabene, joyneth the countrey of the Carduchi, fo called in times paft, and novg 

 Corduenijby which the river Tigris runneth : and upon them thePratitre doeconfine,cal- 

 led alio Paredont, who keepe the hold of the Cafpian gates aforefaid.On the other fide of 

 ishome,you fhall mtet with the deferts of Parthia, and the mountainc Cithenus; but being paf- 

 fed tliat once, you come flreight into the mofl pleafant and beautifull traci of the fame Parthia, 

 called Choara :and there, fiand two citties of theParthians, built fbmetiraes as forts oppofite 

 againfl the Medians : namely ,Calliope and MTatis, fituate in times pafi upon another rocke. As 

 for the capitall cittie of aliParthia,Hecatompylos,it is from the Cafpian gates abovefaid 133 

 miles.Thusyoufee howthekingdomeof the Parthians alfo is limited andfepaiatedby thefe 

 mountaines and ftreights. When a man is once gotten forth of thefe gates,prefently heentreth* 

 upon the Cafpians country,which reacheth as farre as to the fea fide,and gave tlie name as well M 

 to it as to the gates afore -named.Howbeit all the region upon the left hand is ful ofmountainsi 

 from whence backward to the river Cyrus, are by report 220 miles, but from that river if you 

 would goe higher up to thofe gates, you fhall find it 700 milfeSe And in very truth from this place 

 began \^kxAnder to make the account and reckoning of his joarnies, in that voyage of his to 



India. 



