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by all other things by which the size of a city is customarily indicated. But now nothing else of them is left, except the foundations of the structure. 8.2.15 So that one might reasonably marvel at those who say that the Colchians are neighbors to the Trapezuntines. For in this way Jason, having seized the fleece along with Medea, would appear not to have fled to Greece and his ancestral customs, but on the contrary to the river Phasis and the innermost 8.2.16 barbarians. They say, then, that in the times of Trajan, the Roman emperor, registers of Roman soldiers were established both here and as far as the Lazi 8.2.17 and the Saginae. But now people live here who are subjects of neither the Roman nor the Lazic king, except that since they are Christians the 8.2.18 bishops of the Lazi appoint their priests for them. And they themselves, wishing to be allies and friends to both, have agreed to continually escort those who are always being sent from either side to the other. This, indeed, they appear 8.2.19 to be doing even in my case. For with their own skiffs they sail and escort the messengers sent from one king to the other. However, 8.2.20 they have in no way become subject to tribute up to this time. To the right of these places very steep mountains hang, and a desolate country extends for a very great distance. And above it dwell the so-called Persarmenians, and the Armenians who are subjects of the Romans, extending as far as the borders of Iberia. 8.2.21 From the city of Apsarus to the city of Petra and the borders of the Lazi, where the Euxine Pontus ends, is a journey of one day. And the Pontus, ending 8.2.22 here, forms a crescent-shaped shore. And the voyage across this crescent extends for about five hundred and fifty stades, and all the land behind 8.2.23 it is and is called Lazica. And after them, in the interior, are Scymnia and Suania. These tribes happen to be subjects of the Lazi. And while the people here have rulers from among their own kin, whenever the final day of life comes upon one of the rulers, it is the custom for another to be appointed in his place for them by the king of the Lazi forever. 8.2.24 To the side of this country, right beside Iberia, dwell the Meschi, ancient subjects of the Iberians, 8.2.25 having their homes in the mountains. The mountains of the Meschi are not harsh nor barren of fruits, but they abound with all good things, since the Meschi are also skilled farmers and there happen to be vineyards there. 8.2.26 And over this country lie mountains that are exceedingly high and vast and terribly impassable. And these extend as far as the Caucasian mountains; and behind them, towards the rising sun, is Iberia, extending as far as the Persarmenians. 8.2.27 And through the mountains which rise up here, the river Phasis comes down, beginning from the Caucasus and 8.2.28 emptying into the Pontus at the middle of the crescent. And here some think that it divides the two continents. For the parts on the left as one goes down the stream are Asia, and the 8.2.29 parts on the right are called Europe. Accordingly, in the portion of Europe, all the habitations happen to be of the Lazi, but on the other side the Lazi have neither city nor any other fortress nor any village worth mentioning, except that the Romans formerly built Petra there. 8.2.30 And somewhere in this portion of Lazica was laid away, as the natives say, that fleece, on account of which the poets tell the myth of the Argo having been fashioned. But they say these things, in my opinion, 8.2.31 speaking the truth not at all. For Jason would not, I think, have escaped the notice of Aëtes and departed from there with Medea, having the fleece, unless both the palace and the other dwellings of the Colchians were separated by the river Phasis from the place where that fleece happened to lie, which indeed the poets who have written of such things also indicate. 8.2.32 The Phasis, then, flowing in this way, as has been described by me, empties into the Euxine Pontus somewhere at its end. Of the crescent, at its one beginning, which is that of Asia, the city of Petra happened to be, but on the opposite shore in the portion of Europe 8.2.33

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ἄλλοις ἅπασιν, οἷσπερ πόλεως μέγεθος δείκνυσθαι εἴωθε. νῦν δὲ δὴ αὐτῶν ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἀπολέλειπται, ὅτι μὴ τῆς κατασκευῆς τὰ ἐδάφη. 8.2.15 Ὥστε εἰκότως θαυμάσειεν ἄν τις τῶν Κόλχους φαμένων Τραπεζουντίοις ὁμόρους εἶναι. ταύτῃ μὲν γὰρ καὶ τὸ δέρας ξὺν τῇ Μηδείᾳ συλήσας Ἰάσων οὐκ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὰ πάτρια ἤθη φυγὼν φαίνοιτο, ἀλλ' ἔμπαλιν ἐπὶ Φᾶσιν τε ποταμὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐνδοτάτω 8.2.16 βαρβάρους. λέγουσι μὲν οὖν ὡς κατὰ τοὺς Τραϊανοῦ τοῦ Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτορος χρόνους κατάλογοι Ῥωμαίων στρατιωτῶν ἐνταῦθά τε καὶ μέχρι ἐς Λαζοὺς 8.2.17 καὶ Σαγίνας ἵδρυντο. τὰ δὲ νῦν ἄνθρωποι ἐνταῦθα οἰκοῦσιν οὔτε τοῦ Ῥωμαίων οὔτε τοῦ Λαζῶν βασιλέως κατήκοοι ὄντες, πλήν γε δὴ ὅτι Χριστιανοῖς οὖσιν οἱ 8.2.18 Λαζῶν ἐπίσκοποι τοὺς ἱερεῖς καθίστανται σφίσι. καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔνσπονδοί τε καὶ φίλοι ἀμφοτέροις ἐθέλοντες εἶναι, τοὺς ἐξ ἐκατέρων παρὰ τοὺς ἑτέρους ἀεὶ στελλομένους παραπέμψειν διηνεκῶς ὡμολόγησαν. ὃ δὴ φαί8.2.19 νονται καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ δρῶντες. ἀκάτοις γὰρ ἰδίαις τοὺς παρὰ θατέρου βασιλέως ἐς τὸν ἕτερον στελλομένους ἀγγέλους ναυτιλλόμενοι παραπέμπουσι. φόρου μέντοι 8.2.20 ὑποτελεῖς οὐδαμῆ γεγένηνται ἐς τόδε τοῦ χρόνου. τούτων δὲ τῶν χωρίων ἐν δεξιᾷ ὄρη τε λίαν ἀπότομα ἀποκρέμαται καὶ χώρα ἔρημος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διήκει. καὶ αὐτῆς ὕπερθεν οἱ Περσαρμένιοι καλούμενοι ᾤκηνται, καὶ Ἀρμένιοι οἳ Ῥωμαίων κατήκοοί εἰσι μέχρι ἐς τοὺς Ἰβηρίας ὅρους διήκοντες. 8.2.21 Ἐκ δὲ Ἀψαροῦντος πόλεως ἐς Πέτραν τε πόλιν καὶ τοὺς Λαζῶν ὅρους, οὗ δὴ τελευτᾷ ὁ Εὔξεινος Πόντος, μιᾶς ἐστιν ἡμέρας ὁδός. ἀπολήγων δὲ ὁ Πόντος ἐν8.2.22 ταῦθα μηνοειδῆ τίθεται τὴν ἀκτήν. καὶ ὁ μὲν τοῦ μηνοειδοῦς τούτου διάπλους ἐς πεντήκοντά τε καὶ πεντακοσίους μάλιστα σταδίους διήκει, τὰ δὲ αὐτοῦ ὄπι8.2.23 σθεν ξύμπαντα Λαζική τέ ἐστι καὶ ὠνόμασται. μετὰ δὲ αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὴν μεσόγαιαν Σκυμνία τε καὶ Σουανία ἐστί. ταῦτα δὲ τὰ ἔθνη Λαζῶν κατήκοα τυγχάνει ὄντα. καὶ ἄρχοντας μὲν οἱ τῇδε ἄνθρωποι τῶν ὁμογενῶν τινας ἔχουσιν, ἐπειδὰν δὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων τινὶ ἐπιγένηται ἡ τέλειος ἡμέρα τοῦ βίου, ἕτερον αὐτοῖς ἀντικαθίστασθαι πρὸς τοῦ Λαζῶν βασιλέως ἐς ἀεὶ 8.2.24 εἴθισται. ταύτης δὲ τῆς χώρας ἐκ πλαγίου μὲν παρ' αὐτὴν μάλιστα τὴν Ἰβηρίαν Μέσχοι Ἰβήρων ἐκ παλαιοῦ 8.2.25 κατήκοοι ᾤκηνται, τὰ οἰκία ἐν ὄρεσιν ἔχοντες. ὄρη δὲ τὰ Μέσχων οὐ σκληρὰ οὐδὲ καρπῶν ἄφορά ἐστιν, ἀλλ' εὐθηνοῦσιν ἀγαθοῖς ἅπασιν, ἐπεὶ καὶ οἱ Μέσχοι γεωργοὶ δεξιοὶ καὶ ἀμπελῶνες τυγχάνουσιν ἐκεῖ ὄντες. 8.2.26 ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ χώρᾳ ὄρη ἐπίκεινται ἄγαν τε ὑψηλὰ καὶ ἀμφιλαφῆ καὶ δεινῶς ἄβατα. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἄχρι ἐς τὰ Καυκάσια ὄρη διήκει· ὄπισθεν δὲ αὐτῶν πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον Ἰβηρία ἐστὶ, μέχρι ἐς Περσαρμενίους 8.2.27 διήκουσα. διὰ δὲ τῶν ὀρῶν, ἃ ταύτῃ ἀνέχει, Φᾶσις ποταμὸς κάτεισιν, ἐκ τῶν Καυκασίων ἀρχόμενος καὶ 8.2.28 κατὰ μέσον τὸ μηνοειδὲς τοῦ Πόντου ἐκβάλλει. ταύτῃ τε ἤπειρον ἑκατέραν αὐτὸν διορίζειν τινὲς οἴονται. τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ κατιόντος τοῦ ῥοῦ Ἀσία ἐστὶ, τὰ 8.2.29 δὲ ἐν δεξιᾷ Εὐρώπη ὠνόμασται. κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὴν τῆς Εὐρώπης μοῖραν ξύμπαντα Λαζῶν τὰ οἰκία ξυμβαίνει εἶναι, ἐπὶ θάτερα δὲ οὔτε πόλισμα οὔτε ἄλλο τι ὀχύρωμα οὔτε κώμην τινὰ λόγου ἀξίαν Λαζοὶ ἔχουσι, πλήν γε δὴ ὅτι Πέτραν Ῥωμαῖοι ἐνταῦθα ἐδείμαντο 8.2.30 πρότερον. κατὰ ταύτην δέ που τὴν Λαζικῆς μοῖραν ἀπέκειτο, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι λέγουσι, καὶ τὸ δέρας ἐκεῖνο, οὗπερ ἕνεκα οἱ ποιηταὶ τὴν Ἀργὼ ἀποτετορνεῦσθαι μυθολογοῦσι. λέγουσι δὲ ταῦτα, ἐμὴν γνώμην, 8.2.31 ἀληθιζόμενοι ἥκιστα. οὐ γὰρ ἂν, οἶμαι, λαθὼν τὸν Αἰήτην Ἰάσων ἐνθένδε ἀπηλλάσσετο ξὺν τῇ Μηδείᾳ τὸ δέρας ἔχων, εἰ μὴ τά τε βασίλεια καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τῶν Κόλχων οἰκία τοῦ χωρίου διείργετο Φάσιδι ποταμῷ, ἵνα δὴ τὸ δέρας ἐκεῖνο κεῖσθαι ξυνέβαινεν, ὃ δὴ καὶ οἱ ποιηταὶ παραδηλοῦσιν οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀναγραψάμενοι. 8.2.32 ὁ μὲν οὖν Φᾶσις τῇδε φερόμενος, ᾗπέρ μοι δεδιήγηται, ἐς αὐτόν που λήγοντα ἐκβάλλει τὸν Εὔξεινον Πόντον. τοῦ δὲ μηνοειδοῦς κατὰ μὲν τὴν μίαν ἀρχὴν, ἣ τῆς Ἀσίας ἐστὶ, Πέτρα ἡ πόλις ἐτύγχανεν οὖσα, ἐν δὲ δὴ τῇ ἀντιπέρας ἀκτῇ κατὰ τὴν τῆς Εὐρώπης μοῖραν 8.2.33