| Keywords |
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| ID |
5340 |
| Text |
De Bellis (530 - 560) Procopius |
| Quotation |
δίοδος γὰρ οὐδεμία τὸ λοιπὸν φαίνεται, πλήν γε δὴ ὅτι ὥσπερ τινὰ χειροποίητον πυλίδα ἐνταῦθα ἡ φύσις ἐξεῦρεν, ἣ Κασπία ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἐκλήθη. τὸ δὲ ἐνθένδε πεδία τέ ἐστιν ἱππήλατα καὶ ὑδάτων πολλῶν ἀτεχνῶς ἔμπλεα, καὶ χώρα πολλὴ ἱππόβοτός τε καὶ ἄλλως ὑπτία. οὗ δὴ τὰ Οὔννων ἔθνη σχεδόν τι ἅπαντα ἵδρυται ἄχρι ἐς τὴν Μαιῶτιν διήκοντα λίμνην. oὗtoi ἢν μὲν διὰ τῆς πυλίδος ἧς ἄρτι ἐμνήσθην ἴωσιν ἐς τὰ Περσῶν τε καὶ Ῥωμαίων ἤθη, ἀκραιφνέσι τε τοῖς ἵπποις ἴασι καὶ περιόδῳ τινὶ οὐδαμῆ χρώμενοι οὐδὲ κρημνώδεσιν ἐντυχόντες χωρίοις, ὅτι μὴ τοῖς πεντήκοντα σταδίοις ἐκείνοις οἷσπερ εἰς τοὺς Ἰβηρίους ὅρους, ὥσπερ ἐρρήθη, διήκουσιν. ἐπ᾽ ἀλλας δέ τινας ἐξόδους ἰόντες πόνῳ τε πολλῷ παραγίνονται καὶ ἵπποις οὐκέτι χρῆσθαι τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἔχοντες. περιόδους τε γὰρ αὐτοὺς περιιέναι πολλὰς ἐπάναγκες καὶ ταύτας κρημνώδεις. ὅπερ ἐπειδὴ ὁ Φιλίππου Ἀλέξανδρος κατενόησε, πύλας τε ἐν χώρῳ ἐτεκτήνατο τῷ εἰρημένῳ καὶ φυλακτήριον κατεστήσατο. |
| Translation |
For from there no way out appears, except indeed a small gate set there by nature, just as if it had been made by the hand of man, which has been called from of old the Caspian Gates. From there on there are plains suitable for riding and extremely well watered, and extensive tracts used as pasture land for horses, and level besides. Here almost all the nations of the Huns are settled, extending as far as the Maeotic lake. Now if these Huns go through the gate which I have just mentioned into the land of the Persians and the Romans, they come with their horses fresh and without making any detour or encountering any precipitous places, except in those fifty stades over which, as has been said, they pass to the boundary of Iberia. If, however, they go by any other passes, they reach their destination with great difficulty, and can no longer use the same horses. For the detours which they are forced to make are many and steep besides. When this was observed by Alexander, the son of Philip, he constructed gates in the aforesaid place and established a fortress there. |
| Summary |
In the early 6th century context of Anastasius I’s reign and his acquisition and loss of the Caspian Gates, the location of different Hunnic groups near the Caspian Gates and the legend of Alexander the Great having built the gates are recounted. |
| Quotation source |
1. 10. 4-9 Dewing (1914) (pp. 78-79) |
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| Comment |
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