Book 11
6.1
It is a bay extending from the Ocean to the south. At its commencement it is very narrow; as it advances further inwards, and particularly towards the extremity, it widens to the extent of about 500 stadia. The voyage from the entrance to the extremity may exceed that a little, the entrance approaching very near the uninhabited regions.
6.1
Eratosthenes says that the navigation of this sea was known to the Greeks, that the part of the voyage along the coast of the Albanians and CadusiiThe country occupied by the Cadusii of whom Eratosthenes speaks appears to have been the Ghilan, a name probably derived from the Gelae, who are constantly associated with the Cadusii. comprised 5400 stadia; and the part along the country of the Anariaci, Mardi, [or Amardi,] and Hyrcani, as far as the mouth of the river Oxus,The Gihon. 4800 stadia, and thence to the IaxartesThe Sihon. 2400 stadia.
6.1
But with respect to the places situated in this portion of Asia, and to those lying so far removed from our own country, we must not understand the accounts of writers in too literal a sense, particularly with regard to distances.
6.2
Upon sailing into the Caspian, on the right hand, contiguous to the Europeans, Scythians and Sarmatians occupy the country between the Tanaïs and this sea; they are chiefly Normades, or shepherd tribes, of whom I have already spoken. On the left hand are the Eastern Scythian Nomades, who extend as far as the Eastern sea, and India.
