ASIA. something like order; though why he should place CHAP. I. the nations wearing the same armour as the Bactrians in the seventh satrapy, and the Saspeires in the eighteenth, instead of the satrapy immediately after the Medes, defies all attempts at explanation. As to the others, they seem to have been put down just as they came, with the exception of the Indians, who being regarded as the farthest nation towards the east, are accordingly included in the twentieth satrapy. In the following chapters we shall classify the satrapies of Persian Asia under three separate heads, viz. 1. Lower Asia, or Asia Minor, including Sat. i. iv. 2. Upper Asia as far as was personally known to Herodotus, including Sat. v., ix., and viii. 3. Unexplored Asia, including Sat. vii., x.-xx., or regions north and east of the second division. For convenience of reference we append the following table, with the diagram on the accompanying page, of the nineteen satrapies of Persian Asia in geographical order, but numbered according to Herodotus's own arrangement; and for the sake of clearness we have embodied many of the results of the following chapters, so far as they give geographical precision to the localities of the satrapies. I. ASIA MINOR. 1. Western and south-western Asia Minor, or Aeolis, Ionia, Doris, Caria, Lycia, and Pamphylia. 2. Lydian Asia Minor, or Lydia and Mysia. 3. Northern Asia Minor, or Hellespont, Phrygia, Bithynia, Paphlagonia, and Cappadocia. 4. South-eastern Asia Minor, or Cilicia. II. UPPER ASIA. 5. Syria Proper, or Phoenicia, Palestine, and Cyprus. 9. Assyria, including Babylon. 8. Cissia [and Persis]. III. UNEXPLORED ASIA. 19. Euxine districts, answering to Trebisonde, CHAP. I. Catalogue of nations Xerxes. and comprising the Moschi, Tibareni, Macrones, Mosynoeci, and Mares. 13. Armenia and Pactyica, answering to Erzroum and Kurdistan. 18. Matieni, on the mountains of Kurdistan ; Saspeires in the valley of the Aras; and Alarodii. 10. Media, including the Paricanii and Orthocorybantii. 11. South-Caspian districts, comprising the Caspii, Pausicae, Pantimathi, and Dareitae. 16. Parthia, Chorasmia, Sogdia, and Aria. 15. East-Caspian districts, comprising the Sacae and Caspii. 12. Bactria, including the Aeglae. 7. Gandara, or eastern Afghanistan, comprising the Sattagydae, Gandarii, Dadicae, and Aparytae. 14. Carmania or Kerman, comprising the Sagartii, Sarangae, Thamanaei, Utii, Myci, and Erythraean Isles. 17. Asiatic Aethiopia, or Gedrosia, including the Paricanii. 20. Northern India, or the Punjab. The geography of the twenty satrapies will rein the army ceive still further illustration from another valuable and navy of document preserved by Herodotus. This is no less than a catalogue of all the nations who served in the army and navy of Xerxes, with a description of their various dresses and arms, and the names of their leaders. Our author himself tells us, that when Xerxes reviewed his army he passed through the ranks in his chariot, and inspected the several battalions in person; and that especially he made a variety of inquiries of each separate nation, and all the answers he received were written down by his secretaries. In a similar manner also he reviewed the different ships in his fleet, asking questions and having the replies committed to writing.' Now, unless all historical probability be a delusion, Herodotus was enabled to obtain a sight of these 1 vii. 100. ASIA. writings, and from them he drew up his account of the numbers and equipment of the Persian forces. CHAP. 1. Heeren, who first made this suggestion, seems also to think that the catalogue in Herodotus is an actual copy of the Persian muster-roll; but this seems impossible, for it includes none of the Orientalisms or vivid colouring which would inevitably have found their way into a translation from a Persian original, and in fact merely consists of a plain and straightforward statement of the equipments of each nation, to which Herodotus himself has added an account of the traditionary origin of each people as far as he knew it. a Value of com the catathe list of parison of logue with satrapies. A comparison of these two documents is exceedingly interesting, and enables us to give life and colouring to our author's picture of Persian Asia. The nations march before us in every variety of costume, which in most cases is strikingly illustrative of their different modes of life and geographical positions. We shall therefore now endeavour to classify the satrapies under the three great divisions of the country already laid down, and incorporate under each head such information as can be derived from the catalogue of nations; but in a subsequent chap- Catalogue ter, when we have completed our geography of Asia, ther digestwe shall return to this catalogue, and endeavour to ed in a arrange it in such order as may be considered best ter. adapted for the requirements of the student.' Such a digest before the reader is familiarized with the geography of the several races would only confuse; when, however, the satrapies are fairly mapped out before his view, it will throw a renewed light upon the entire history and geography of the almost unknown nations of ancient Asia. to be fur future chap of the lan In concluding the present chapter, we would take a Topography brief survey of the topography, as it may be termed, guages of of the different languages of the Asia of antiquity, in which we shall be greatly assisted by the researches of the learned Heeren.2 First of all we 1 See chap. vi. 2 Cf. Heeren, (Asiat. Res. vol. i.,) to whom I must refer the student as my authority for the following statements. P ASIA. may remark, that small mountainous or maritime CHAP. I. districts frequently embraced several languages, because the former were occupied by numerous independent tribes, and the latter by foreign settlers of various origin. On the other hand, throughout the vast plains of central Asia extensive regions might be traversed where a single language was spoken, with only occasional variations in its dialects. We may also notice that the same mountain chains, or mighty rivers, which formed the boundaries of different kingdoms, became also the boundaries of different languages. One speech prevailed from the Aegean to the Halys; another from the Halys to the Tigris; and again, another from the Tigris to the Indus and the Öxus. Languages of Asia to the Halys In the interior of Asia Minor, as far as the Halys, Minor, from the prevailing speech seems to have been the anthe Ancient Phrygian, which was probably a branch of the Armenian. In the Greek colonies which lined the western coast the Greek language was habitually spoken, but the original speech of the country was apparently the Carian and its dialects, the Lydians, Mysians, and Carians all speaking dialects of the same general language. The northern half of the peninsula was occupied by colonies from Thrace, who settled in Bithynia and spoke their native tongue; their territory extending as far as the river Parthenius, (or Chati-su,) which separated them from the Paphlagonians, who spoke a language of their own, if indeed it were not a dialect of the Phrygian. In the southern half a still greater variety of languages appears to have prevailed, but with respect to these we possess no accurate information. Semitic dialects between the Tigris. Eastward of the Halys commenced the empire of a mighty language, which was spoken as far to the Halys and east as the Tigris, and from the heights of Caucasus to the most southern coasts of Arabia. This was the Semitic. Its dialects were, the Cappadocian, on the right bank of the Halys; the Syrian, between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates; the Assyrian, on the farther side of the Tigris in Kurdistan, or the |