Ghap. 6.] 
ACCOUNT or COUNTRIES, ETC. 
13 
destroyed by the Heniochi : behind it are the Epageritae, a 
people of Sarmatian origin, dwelling upon the range of the 
Caucasus, and beyond them, the Sauromatse. 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 the Cercetse, is the 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 Toretae 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.) Erom thence to the en- 
trance of the Cimmerian Bosporus the distance is eighty-eight 
miles and a half. 
CHAP. 6. THE CIMMERIAN BOSPORUS. 
The length of the peninsula which projects between the 
destruction by the Heniochi, it was restored, and served as an important 
frontier fortress of the Roman empire against the Scythians. 
2s 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 unknoAvn which led to his subsequent expulsion by the Eo- 
mans, who placed his younger brother Cotys on the throne in his stead. 
29 Hardouin thinks that the Thalli inhabited the present country of 
Astrakan. 
30 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. 
31 Mentioned only by Pliny. It is supposed to answer to the present 
Ukrash 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-Kala. 
32 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 
modern Kouban. The site of their capital, Sindos, or Sinda, is supposed 
to have been the modern Anapa. Parisot conjectures that this place 
was one of the ancient settlements of the Zigeunes, the modern Bohemians 
or Gypsies. He seems to found his opinion upon some observations of 
Malte Brun [Precis de Geographic., vol. vi.) upon the origin of the Gypsjr 
race, which will amply repay the perusal. 
33 The peninsula on which Taman or Timoutarakan is situate. 
