30 
Flint's kattjeal histoet. 
[Book VI. 
there is a mountainous district. Turning back" from this 
nation to the river Cyrus, the distance is said to be two hun- 
dred and twenty miles ; but if we go from that river as far 
down as the Caspian Gates, the distance is seven hundred 
miles. In the itineraries of Alexander the Great these gates 
were made the central or turning point in his expeditions ; 
the distance from the Caspian Gates to the frontier of India 
being there set down as fifteen thousand six hundred and 
eighty^^ stadia, to the city of Bactra,^^ commonly called Zari- 
aspa, three thousand seven hundred, and thence to the river 
Jaxartes^^ five thousand stadia. 
CHAP. 18. (16.) NATIONS SITUATE ABOUND THE HTRCANIAN SEA. 
Lying to the east of the Caspii is the region known as Apa- 
vortene,^^ in which there is a place noted for its singular fer- 
tility, called Dareium.^^ We then come to the nations of the 
Tapyri,^* the Anariaci, the Staures, and the Hyrcani, past 
whose shores and beyond the river Sideris^^ the Caspian begins 
to take the name of the ' Hyrcanian ' Sea : on this side of 
that stream are also the rivers Maxeras and Strato ; all of 
them take their rise in the Caucasian chain. Next comes 
In a northern direction, along the western shores of the Caspian. 
5^ According to Hardouin, Eratosthenes, as quoted by Strabo, makes 
the distance 5060 stadia, or about 633 miles. He has, however, mis- 
translated the passage, which gives 5600 stadia, or 700 miles exactly, 
as stated by Pliny. 
59 Or 1960 miles. 
60 Bactra, Bactrum, or Bactrium, was one of the chief cities, if not the 
capital, of the province of Bactriana. It was one of the most ancient 
cities in the world, and the modern Balkh is generally supposed to occupy 
its site. Strabo, as well as Pliny, evidently considers that Bactra and 
Zareispa were the same place, while Appian distinguishes between the 
two, though he does not clearly state their relative positions. 
61 The modern Syr-Daria, mentioned in c. 15. See p. 25. 
62 By some writers called Apavareticene, in the south-eastern part of 
Parthia. Ansart says that it is now known as Asterabad and Ghilan. 
63 Or Dara. A strongly fortified place, built by Arsaces L, and situate 
on the mountains of the Zapaorteni. 
6t According to Ansart, the district now known as Tabaristan, or 
Mazanderan, derives the first of those names from the Tapyri. 
6^ D'Anville remarks that this river still retains its " starry" name, 
being the modern Aster or Ester, on which Asterabad is situate. 
