第8巻 第1章

Greek Ὅσα μὲν ἄχρι τοῦδέ μοι δεδιήγηται, τῇδε ξυγγέγραπται ᾗπερ δυνατὰ ἐγεγόνει ἐπὶ χωρίων ἐφ’ ὧν δὴ ἔργα τὰ πολέμια ξυνηνέχθη γενέσθαι διελόντι τε καὶ ἁρμοσαμένῳ τοὺς λόγους, οἵπερ ἤδη ἐξενεχθέντες πανταχόθι δεδήλωνται τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς. τὸ δὲ ἐνθένδε οὐκέτι μοι τρόπῳ τῷ εἰρημένῳ ξυγκείσεται.

Dewing The narrative which I have written up to this point has been composed, as far as possible, on the principle of separating the material into parts which relate severally to the countries in which the different wars took place, and have appeared in every corner of the Roman empire. But from this point onward I shall no longer follow this principle of arrangement.

Greek γράμμασι γὰρ τοῖς ἐς τὸ πᾶν δεδηλωμένοις οὐκέτι εἶχον τὰ ἐπιγινόμενα ἐναρμόζεσθαι, ἀλλ’ ὅσα κατὰ τοὺς πολέμους τούσδε γεγονέναι ξυνέβη, ἔτι μέντοι καὶ ἐς τὸ Μήδων γένος, ἐπειδὴ τοὺς ἔμπροσθεν λόγους ἐξήνεγκα, ἐν τῷδέ μοι τῷ λόγῳ πάντα γεγράψεται, ἱστορίαν τε αὐτῶν ἐπάναγκες ποικίλην ξυγκεῖσθαι.

Dewing For after my writings had appeared before the public, I was no longer able to add to each the events which happened afterwards, but all the later developments in these wars, in the war against Persia as well, now that I have published the previous parts, will be written down in full in this present narrative, and this the record which I shall make of these events will of necessity be composite.

Greek Ἤδη μὲν οὖν ὅσα ξυνέβη ἄχρι ἐς τὸ τέταρτον ἔτος τῆς πενταετηρίδος ἐκεχειρίας ἣ Ῥωμαίοις ἐγεγόνει καὶ Πέρσαις, ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθέν μοι δεδιήγηται λόγοις· τῷ δὲ ἐπιγινομένῳ ἐνιαυτῷ Μηδικῆς στρατιᾶς πολὺς ὅμιλος ἐς γῆν τὴν Κολχίδα ἐσέβαλον.

Dewing Now all that took place up to the fourth year of the five-year truce which was made between the Romans and the Persians has already been recounted by me in the previous books.⁠ But in the succeeding year a Persian army in vast numbers invaded the land of Colchis.

Greek οἷσπερ ἐφειστήκει Πέρσης ἀνήρ, Χοριάνης ὄνομα, πολέμων ἐσάγαν πολλῶν ἔμπειρος, καὶ αὐτῷ ξύμμαχοι βάρβαροι τοῦ Ἀλανῶν γένους πολλοὶ εἵποντο.

Dewing In command of this army was a Persian, Chorianes by name, a man of wide experience, in many wars, and a large number of barbarians of the tribe of the Alani followed him as allies.

Greek οὗτος ὁ στρατὸς ἐπειδὴ ἀφίκοντο ἐς χώραν τῆς Λαζικῆς ἣ ἐπικαλεῖται Μοχήρησις, ἐν ἐπιτηδείῳ στρατοπεδευσάμενοι ἔμενον.

Dewing When this army had come to a part of Lazica, which is called Mocheresis, they made camp in a suitable position and remained there.

Greek ῥεῖ δέ πη ἐνταῦθα ποταμὸς Ἵππις, οὐ μέγας οὐδὲ ναυσίπορος. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἱππεῦσι καὶ ἀνδράσι πεζοῖς ἐσβατός, οὗ δὴ ἐν δεξιᾷ τὸν χάρακα ἐποιήσαντο, οὐ παρὰ τὴν ὄχθην, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πολὺ ἄποθεν.

Dewing Now there is a river in that place, the Hippis, not a large or navigable stream, but actually passable for both horsemen and foot-soldiers, and it was on the right of this that they made their entrenchment, not along the bank, but at a considerable distance from it.

Greek Ὅπως δὲ τοῖς τάδε ἀναλεγομένοις ἔκδηλα τὰ ἐπὶ Λαζικῆς χωρία ἔσται ὅσα τε γένη ἀνθρώπων ἀμφ’ αὐτὴν ἵδρυνται, καὶ μὴ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀφανῶν σφίσιν ὥσπερ οἱ σκιαμαχοῦντες διαλέγεσθαι ἀναγκάζωνται, οὔ μοι ἀπὸ καιροῦ ἔδοξεν εἶναι ἀναγράψασθαι ἐνταῦθα τοῦ λόγου ὅντινα δὴ τρόπον ἄνθρωποι οἰκοῦσι τὸν Εὔξεινον καλούμενον Πόντον, οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντι μὲν ὡς καὶ τῶν παλαιοτέρων τισὶ γέγραπται ταῦτα, οἰομένῳ δὲ οὐκ ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς αὐτοῖς πάντα εἰρῆσθαι·

Dewing At this point in my narrative it has seemed to me not impossible to pause a moment, in order that the geography of Lazica may be clear to those who read this history and twenty they may know what races of men inhabit that region, so that they may not be compelled to discuss matters which are obscure to them, like men fighting shadows; I shall therefore give an account of the distribution of the peoples who live about the Euxine Sea, as it is called, not that I am ignorant that these things have been written down by some of the men of earlier times also, but because I believe that not all their statements are accurate.

Greek ὧν γέ τινες Τραπεζουντίων ὁμόρους ἢ Σάνους ἔφασαν, οἳ τανῦν Τζάνοι ἐπικαλοῦνται, ἢ Κόλχους εἶναι, Λαζοὺς ἑτέρους καλέσαντες οἲ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τούτου προσαγορεύονται τοῦ ὀνόματος.

Dewing Some of these writers, for example, have stated⁠ that the territory of the Trapezuntines is adjoined either by the Sani, who at the present day are called Tzani, or by the Colchians, calling another people Lazi, who are actually addressed by this name at the present day. And yet neither of these statements is true.

Greek καίτοι ἔστι τούτων οὐδέτερον. Τζάνοι μὲν γὰρ τῆς παραλίας ὡς ἀπωτάτω ὄντες προσοικοῦσι τοὺς Ἀρμενίους ἐν τῇ μεσογείᾳ καὶ ὄρη πολλὰ μεταξὺ ἀποκρέμαται, λίαν τε ἄβατα καὶ ὅλως κρημνώδη, χώρα τε πολλὴ ἔρημος ἀνθρώπων ἐς ἀεὶ οὖσα καὶ χαράδραι ἀνέκβατοι καὶ λόφοι ὑλώδεις καὶ σήραγγες ἀδιέξοδοι, οἶς δὴ ἅπασι μὴ ἐπιθαλάσσιοι εἶναι διείργονται Τζάνοι.

Dewing For, in the first place, the Tzani live at a very great distance from the coast as neighbours of the Armenians in the interior, and many mountains stand between which are thoroughly impassable and altogether precipitous, and there is an extensive area always devoid of human habitation, cañons from which it is impossible to climb out, forested heights, and impassable chasms — all these prevent the Tzani from being on the sea.

Greek Κόλχους δὲ οὐχ οἷόν τέ ἐστι μὴ τοὺς Λαζοὺς εἶναι, ἐπεὶ παρὰ Φᾶσιν ποταμὸν ᾤκηνται· τὸ δὲ ὄνομα μόνον οἱ Κόλχοι, ὥσπερ ἀνθρώπων ἔθνη καὶ πολλὰ ἕτερα, τανῦν ἐς τὸ Λαζῶν μεταβέβληνται.

Dewing In the second place, it is impossible that the Lazi should not be the Colchians, because they inhabit the banks of the Phasis River; and the Colchians have merely changed their name at the present time to Lazi, just as nations of men and many other things do.

Greek χωρὶς δὲ τούτων καὶ μέγας αἰὼν μετὰ τοὺς ἐκεῖνα ἀναγραψαμένους ἐπιγενόμενος ἀεί τε συννεωτερίζων τοῖς πράγμασι τὰ πολλὰ τῶν καθεστώτων τὰ πρότερα νεοχμῶσαι ἴσχυσεν, ἐθνῶν τε μεταστάσεσι καὶ ἀρχόντων καὶ ὀνομάτων διαδοχαῖς.

Dewing But apart from this, a long period of time has elapsed since these accounts were witness, and has brought about constant changes along with the march of events, with the result that many of the conditions which formerly obtained have been replaced by new conditions, because of the migration of nations and successive changes of rulers and of names.

Greek ἅπερ μοι διαμετρήσασθαι ἀναγκαιότατον ἔδοξεν εἶναι, οὐ τὰ μυθώδη περὶ αὐτῶν ἀπαγγέλλοντι ἢ ἄλλως ἀρχαῖα, οὐδὲ ὅπη ποτὲ Πόντου τοῦ Εὐξείνου δεθῆναι τὸν Προμηθέα ποιηταὶ λέγουσι·

Dewing These things it has seemed to me very necessary to investigate, not relating the mythological tales about them nor other antiquated material, nor even telling in what part of the Euxine Sea the poets say Prometheus was bound

Greek μύθου γὰρ ἱστορίαν παρὰ πολὺ κεχωρίσθαι οἶμαι· ἀλλ’ ἐς τὸ ἀκριβὲς διεξιόντι τά τε ὀνόματα καὶ τὰ πράγματα, ὅσα δὴ τανῦν ἐπιχωριάζει τῶν τόπων ἐκείνων ἑκάστῳ.

Dewing (for I consider that history is very widely separated from mythology), but stating accurately and in order both the names of each of those places and the facts that apply to them at the present day.