Strabo, The Geography, 1st century AD - Part 2

Strabo (64 or 63 BC – c. AD 24) was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor in the first century AD. Based on his extensive travels, Strabo produced a remarkable treatise, Geographica ("Geography"), which contained descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known to his era. Book 11 of the Geography contains two lengthy sections on Georgia. 

Book 11, Section 2:

The greater part of Iberia is so well built up in respect to cities and farmsteads that their roofs are tiled, and their houses as well as their market-places and other public buildings are constructed with architectural skill.

2 Parts of the country are surrounded by the Caucasian Mountains; for branches of these mountains, as I said before,1 project towards the south; they are fruitful, comprise the whole of Iberia, and border on both Armenia and Colchis. In the middle is a plain intersected by rivers, the largest being the Cyrus. This river has its beginning in Armenia, flows immediately into the plain above-mentioned, receives both the Aragus, which flows from the Caucasus, and other streams, and empties through a narrow valley into Albania; and between the valley and Armenia it flows in great volume through plains that have exceedingly good pasture, receives still more rivers, among which are the Alazonius, Sandobanes, Rhoetaces, and Chanes, all navigable, and empties into the Caspian Sea. It was formerly called Corus.

3 Now the plain of the Iberians is inhabited by people who are rather inclined to farming and to peace, and they dress after both the Armenian and the Median fashion; but the major, or warlike, portion, occupy the mountainous territory, living like the Scythians and the Sarmatians, of whom they are both neighbours and kinsmen; however, they engage also in farming. And they assemble many tens of thousands, both from their own people and from the Scythians and Sarmatians, whenever anything alarming occurs.

4 There are four passes leading into their country; one through Sarapana, a Colchian stronghold, and through the narrow defiles there. Through these defiles the Phasis, which has been made passable by one hundred and twenty bridges because of the windings of its course, flows down into Colchis with rough and violent stream, the region being cut into ravines by many torrents at the time of the heavy rains. The Phasis rises in the mountains that lie above it, where it is supplied by many springs; and in the plains it receives still other rivers, among which are the Glaucus and the Hippus. Thus filled and having by now become navigable, it issues forth into the Pontus; and it has on its banks a city bearing the same name; and near it is a lake. Such, then, is the pass that leads from Colchis into Iberia, being shut in by rocks, by strongholds, and by rivers that run through ravines.

5 From the country of the nomads on the north there is a difficult ascent into Iberia requiring three days' travel; and after this ascent comes a narrow valley on the Aragus River, with a single-file road requiring a four days' journey. The end of the road is guarded by a fortress which is hard to capture. The pass leading from Albania into Iberia is at first hewn through rock, and then leads through a marsh formed by the River Alazonius, which falls from the Caucasus. The passes from Armenia into Iberia are the defiles on the Cyrus and those on the Aragus. For, before the two rivers meet, they have on their banks fortified cities that are situated upon rocks,  these being about sixteen stadia distant from each other — I mean Harmozicê on the Cyrus and Seusamora on the other river. These passes were used first by Pompey when he set out from the country of the Armenians, and afterwards by Canidius.

6 There are also four castes among the inhabitants of Iberia. One, and the first of all, is that from which they appoint their kings, the appointee being both the nearest of kin to his predecessor and the eldest, whereas the second in line administers justice and commands the army. The second caste is that of the priests, who among other things attend to all matters of controversy with the neighbouring peoples. The third is that of the soldiers and the farmers. And the fourth is that of the common people, who are slaves of the king and perform all the services that pertain to human livelihood. Their possessions are held in common by them according to families, although the eldest is ruler and steward of each estate. Such are the Iberians and their country.

Robert C. Money, Journal of a tour in Persia, during the years 1824 & 1825 (1828)

Robert Money was an officer in the British East India Company's Civil Service. In 1824 he traveled, in the company of a British colonel, from Bushire to Shiraz, Persepolis, Isfahan, Tehran, Hamadan, Kermanshaw and Baghdad. He wrote numerous letters desciribing his experiences and encounters to his parents, who later transcribed them and published as "Journal of a tour in Persia, during the years 1824 & 1825" (London, 1828). Below is an excerpt from one such letter, written in early August 1824, when Money and his companions reached Shiraz.

We found the caravanserai a good one, with private rooms where the Prince retires when he comes to

shoot and hunt, and adjoining it a small fort where the villagers live, and large hummaums. We slept there on the terrace, and remained the next day. The thermometer, in the rooms, we found to be only 82 and 83 at twelve o'clock; and we have determined therefore on living there. 

We rode back to Shiraz in the evening. A curious scene took place on the top of the caravanserai during our dinner. Ibrahim Beg came with a most grave visage, and holding, or rather lugging by one ear a Georgian slave, begged [British] Colonel S. to receive him as a present; adding, that he had educated him and looked on him as his son, that he had been twenty years in his service, knew how to read and write, &c. &c. The poor fellow seemed to wish it. S. thanked him, but said he could not possibly accept the slave. 

In the evening Ibrahim came up again, and said, "Well, my heart is much lighter: I have given the man his liberation." The Georgian soon followed with a countenance expressive of great gratitude, begged the Colonel to put his seal with several other witnesses in the presence of his former master, and then said that he had three or four hundred rupees in ready cash, and one thousand sheep, all which he left to his master Ibrahim Beg. The Beg added, "What! you'll leave me then, and the two children you have brought up?" He said, " he loved his master, but home was dearer to him: that he would go and kiss his two children, and leaving every thing he possessed to his master would go to Georgia." 

[...] Many Georgian slaves have been begging for Ibrahim Beg's intercession with their masters, since they see he is so inclined. They say they will not quit their masters; but that it is very cruel that their children should, though their mothers are Persians and free, be liable to be sold and transferred to any master a capricious man may choose to give them.

Strabo, The Geography, 1st century AD - Part 1

Strabo (64 or 63 BC – c. AD 24) was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor in the first century AD. Based on his extensive travels, Strabo produced a remarkable treatise, Geographica ("Geography"), which contained descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known to his era. Book 11 of the Geography contains two lengthy sections on Georgia. 

Book 11, Section 2:

The more trustworthy historians of the Mithridatic wars name the Achaei first, then the Zygi, then the Heniochi, and then the Cercetae and Moschi and Colchi, and the Phtheirophagi who live above these three peoples and the Soanes, and other small tribes that live in the neighbourhood of the Caucasus. Now at first the coast, as I have said, stretches towards the east and faces the south, but from Bata it gradually takes a turn, and then faces the west and ends at Pityus and Dioscurias; for these places border on the above-mentioned coast of Colchis. After Dioscurias comes the remaining coast of Colchis and the adjacent coast of Trapezus, which makes a considerable bend, and then, extending approximately in a straight line, forms the right-hand side of the Pontus, which faces the north. The whole of the coast of the Achaei and of the other peoples as far as Dioscurias and of the places that lie in a straight line towards the south in the interior lie at the foot of the Caucasus.

15 This mountain lies above both seas, both the Pontic and the Caspian, and forms a wall across the isthmus that separates the two seas. It marks the boundary, on the south, of Albania and Iberia, and, on the north, of the plains of the Sarmatae. It is  p209 well wooded with all kinds of timber, and especially the kind suitable for ship-building. According to Eratosthenes, the Caucasus is called "Caspius" by the natives, the name being derived perhaps from the "Caspii." Branches of it project towards the south; and these not only comprise the middle of Albania but also join the mountains of Armenia and the Moschian Mountains, as they are called, and also the Scydises and the Paryadres Mountains. All these are parts of the Taurus, which forms the southern side of Armenia, — parts broken off, as it were, from that mountain on the north and projecting as far as the Caucasus and that part of the coast of the Euxine which stretches from Colchis to Themiscyra.

16 Be this as it may, since Dioscurias is situated in such a gulf and occupies the most easterly point of the whole sea, it is called not only the recess of the Euxine, but also the "farthermost" voyage. And the proverbial verse, "To Phasis, where for ships is the farthermost run," must be interpreted thus, not as though the author22 of the iambic verse meant the river, much less the city of the same name situated on the river, but as meaning by a part of Colchis the whole of it, since from the river and the city of that name there is left a straight voyage into the recess of not less than six hundred stadia. 498The same Dioscurias is the beginning of the isthmus between the Caspian Sea and the Euxine, and also the common emporium of the tribes who are situated above it and in its vicinity; at any rate, seventy tribes come together in it, though others, who care nothing for the facts, actually say three hundred.  p211 All speak different languages because of the fact that, by reason of their obstinacy and ferocity, they live in scattered groups and without intercourse with one another. The greater part of them the Sarmatae, but they are all Caucasii. So much, then, for the region of Dioscurias.

17 Further, the greater part of the remainder of Colchis is on the sea. Through it flows the Phasis, a large river having its sources in Armenia and receiving the waters of the Glaucus and the Hippus, which issue from the neighbouring mountains. It is navigated as far as Sarapana, a fortress capable of admitting the population even of a city. From here people go by land to the Cyrus in four days by a wagon-road. On the Phasis is situated a city bearing the same name, an emporium of the Colchi, which is protected on one side by the river, on another by a lake, and on another by the sea. Thence people go to Amisus and Sinopê by sea (a voyage of two or three days), because the shores are soft and because of the outlets of the rivers. The country is excellent both in respect to its produce — except its honey, which is generally bitter — and in respect to everything that pertains to ship-building; for it not only produces quantities of timber but also brings it down on rivers. And the people make linen in quantities, and hemp, wax, and pitch. Their linen industry has been famed far and wide; for they used to export linen to outside places; and some writers, wishing to show forth a kinship between the Colchians and the  p213 Egyptians, confirm their belief by this. Above the aforesaid rivers in the Moschian country lies the temple of Leucothea, founded by Phrixus, and the oracle of Phrixus, where a ram is never sacrificed; it was once rich, but it was robbed in our time by Pharnaces, and a little later by Mithridates of Pergamum. For when a country is devastated, "things divine are in sickly plight and wont not even to be respected," says Euripides.23

18 The great fame this country had in early times is disclosed by the myths, which refer in an obscure way to the expedition of Jason as having proceeded as far even as Media, and also, before that time, to that of Phrixus. After this, when kings succeeded to power, the country being divided into "sceptuchies,"24 they were only moderately prosperous; but when Mithridates Eupator25 grew powerful, the country fell into his hands; and he would always send one of his friends 499 as sub‑governor or administrator of the country. Among these was Moaphernes, my mother's uncle on her father's side. And it was from this country that the king received most aid in the equipment of his naval forces. But when the power of Mithridates had been broken up, all the territory subject to him was also broken up and distributed among many persons. At last Polemon got Colchis; and since his death his wife Pythodoris has been in power, being queen, not only of the Colchians, but also of Trapezus and Pharnacia and of the barbarians who live above these places, concerning whom I shall speak later on.26 Now the Moschian country, in  p215 which is situated the temple,27 is divided into three parts: one part is held by the Colchians, another by the Iberians, and another by the Armenians. There is also a small city in Iberia, the city of Phrixus,28 the present Ideëssa, well fortified, on the confines of Colchis. And near Dioscurias flows the Chares River.

19 Among the tribes which come together at Dioscurias are the Phtheirophagi ["Lice-Eaters"] who have received their name from their squalor and their filthiness. Near them are the Soanes, who are no less filthy, but superior to them in power, — indeed, one might almost say that they are foremost in courage and in power. At any rate, they are masters of the peoples around them, and hold possession of the heights of the Caucasus above Dioscurias. They have a king and a council of three hundred men; and they assemble, according to report, an army of two hundred thousand; for the whole of the people are a fighting force, though unorganised. It is said that in their country gold is carried down by the mountain-torrents, and that the barbarians obtain it by means of perforated troughs and fleecy skins, and that this is the origin of the myth of the golden fleece — unless they call them Iberians, by the same name as the western Iberians, from the gold mines in both countries. The Soanes use remarkable poisons for the points of their missiles; and even people who are not wounded by the poisoned missiles suffer from their odour. Now in general the tribes in the neighbourhood of the Caucasus occupy barren and cramped territories, but the tribes of the Albanians and the Iberians, which occupy nearly all the isthmus above-mentioned, might also be called Caucasian tribes; and they possess territory that is fertile and capable of affording an exceedingly good livelihood.

Ivan G. Golovin, The Caucasus (1854)

Ivan Golovin (1816-1890) was a Russian publicist and writer, who had published several popular works about the Russian empire in French, German and English. After graduating from the University of Derpt in 1837, he pursued a diplomatic career and was posted abroad before making a mistake of publishing a book that was banned by the Russian secret police. Recalled back to Russia, he refused to follow orders and stayed in Britain; he was tried in absentia and condemned to an exile to Siberia. Between 1845 and 1860, Golovin wrote several popular works on the Russian empire, including The Caucasus (1854) that appeared on the eve of the Crimean War and sought to educate a British reader about the region's geography, ethnography and history. 

Georgians are an agricultural people, and their ploughs are drawn by as many as ten or twelve oxen or buffaloes; but their dwellings are wretched hovels, little better than dens. They bring up silk-worms at home, and keep numerous flocks. Their bridges, on the Kour, are constructed according to the primitive system that prevailed in the time of Cambyses. Skins, the same that are used as leathern bottles to carry wine, are sewed, inflated, and carefully shut. Then they are tied one to the other, so as to cover the water from one bank to the other. Over them planks are fitted up. Such are their bridges.

The Georgians soon reach maturity and old age; and their daughters marry and have children even when they are only eleven years old.

The Georgian costume partakes of both the Persian and the Circassian. The upper garment is called kaba, and covers the arholuh, and the sharwali, which have become fashionable in Russia. The shirts are in silk or cotton. The Georgians dye their hair, and they display, in that art, a skill equal to that of the Persians.

[...]

The Immeretians, as well as the Georgians and Mingrelians, belong to the Kartwell race, though their languages are distinguished by a striking dissimilarity. The Immeretians wear the Persian costume, except the cap, which is a piece of cloth, fitted up for the purpose, sometimes embroidered with silver, and which is tied with a string round the chin. This cap, which has the shape of a vine leaf, covers only the surface of the head, and is no protection against the cold. However, its inefficiency is supplied by long and thick hair, which is dyed red, whilst moustaches are dyed black.

The Immeretians cultivate the vine, and are still more fond of wine than the Georgians. Their libations take place amidst sacred hymns, and no other kind of singing is known to them. Their dancing, like Circassian and Persian dancing, consists not of steps but of gestures and simple motions of the feet. Though Christians, they worship ancient idols, and make sacrifices of animals, especially on the tombs of the dead.