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Book 10 - Chapter 48

1
<head lang="la">VIII. Res Asiae</head><w lemma="%2Aoi%28">Οἱ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="%2A%29apasia%2Fkai">Ἀπασιάκαι</w> <w lemma="katoikou%3Dsi">κατοικοῦσι</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="a%29na%5C">ἀνὰ</w> <w lemma="me%2Fson">μέσον</w> <w lemma="%2A%29%2Focou">Ὄξου</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="%2Atana%2Fidos">Τανάιδος</w>, <w lemma="w%28%3Dn">ὧν</w> <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28urkani%2Fan">Ὑρκανίαν</w> <w lemma="e%29mba%2Fllei">ἐμβάλλει</w> <w lemma="qa%2Flattan">θάλατταν</w>, <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="%2Ata%2Fnai+s">Τάναϊς</w> <w lemma="e%29ci%2Fhsin">ἐξίησιν</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2Amaiw%3Dtin">Μαιῶτιν</w> <w lemma="li%2Fmnhn:">λίμνην·</w> <w lemma="ei%29si%5C">εἰσὶ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%28ka%2Fteroi">ἑκάτεροι</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="me%2Fgeqos">μέγεθος</w> <w lemma="plwtoi%2F">πλωτοί</w>.
2
<w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="dokei%3D">δοκεῖ</w> <w lemma="qaumasto%5Cn">θαυμαστὸν</w> <w lemma="ei%29%3Dnai">εἶναι</w> <w lemma="pw%3Ds">πῶς</w> <w lemma="oi%28">οἱ</w> <w lemma="%2Anoma%2Fdes">Νομάδες</w> <w lemma="peraiou%2Fmenoi">περαιούμενοι</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="%2A%29%2Focon">Ὄξον</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28urkani%2Fan">Ὑρκανίαν</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Frxontai">ἔρχονται</w> <w lemma="pezh%3D%7C">πεζῇ</w> <w lemma="meta%5C">μετὰ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="i%28%2Fppwn">ἵππων</w>.
3
<w lemma="ei%29si%5C">εἰσὶ</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="du%2Fo">δύο</w> <w lemma="lo%2Fgoi">λόγοι</w> <w lemma="peri%5C">περὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftou">τούτου</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="pra%2Fgmatos">πράγματος</w>, <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="e%29pieikh%2Fs">ἐπιεικής</w>, <w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%28%2Fteros">ἕτερος</w> <w lemma="para%2Fdocos">παράδοξος</w>, <w lemma="ou%29">οὐ</w> <w lemma="mh%5Cn">μὴν</w> <w lemma="a%29du%2Fnatos">ἀδύνατος</w>.
4
<w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="%2A%29%2Focos">Ὄξος</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fxei">ἔχει</w> <w lemma="me%5Cn">μὲν</w> <w lemma="e%29k">ἐκ</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="%2Akauka%2Fsou">Καυκάσου</w> <w lemma="ta%5Cs">τὰς</w> <w lemma="phga%2Fs">πηγάς</w>, <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="polu%5C">πολὺ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="au%29chqei%5Cs">αὐξηθεὶς</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="%2Abaktrianh%3D%7C">Βακτριανῇ</w>, <w lemma="surreo%2Fntwn">συρρεόντων</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="au%29to%5Cn">αὐτὸν</w> <w lemma="u%28da%2Ftwn">ὑδάτων</w>, <w lemma="fe%2Fretai">φέρεται</w> <w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="pedia%2Fdos">πεδιάδος</w> <w lemma="xw%2Fras">χώρας</w> <w lemma="pollw%3D%7C">πολλῷ</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="qolerw%3D%7C">θολερῷ</w> <w lemma="r%28eu%2Fmati">ῥεύματι</w>.
5
<w lemma="parageno%2Fmenos">παραγενόμενος</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Frhmon">ἔρημον</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%2F">ἐπί</w> <w lemma="tinas">τινας</w> <w lemma="pe%2Ftras">πέτρας</w> <w lemma="a%29porrw%3Dgas">ἀπορρῶγας</w> <w lemma="e%29cwqei%3D">ἐξωθεῖ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="r%28eu%3Dma">ῥεῦμα</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="bi%2Fa%7C">βίᾳ</w> <w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5C">τὸ</w> <w lemma="plh%3Dqos">πλῆθος</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="katafora%5Cn">καταφορὰν</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="u%28perkeime%2Fnwn">ὑπερκειμένων</w> <w lemma="to%2Fpwn">τόπων</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="tosou%3Dton">τοσοῦτον</w> <w lemma="w%28%2Fste">ὥστε</w> <w lemma="th%3Ds">τῆς</w> <w lemma="pe%2Ftras">πέτρας</w> <w lemma="e%29n">ἐν</w> <w lemma="toi%3Ds">τοῖς</w> <w lemma="ka%2Ftw">κάτω</w> <w lemma="me%2Fresi">μέρεσι</w> <w lemma="plei%3Don">πλεῖον</w> <w lemma="h%29%5C">ἢ</w> <w lemma="sta%2Fdion">στάδιον</w> <w lemma="a%29fa%2Fllesqai">ἀφάλλεσθαι</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="katafora%5Cn">καταφορὰν</w> <w lemma="au%29tou%3D">αὐτοῦ</w>.
6
<w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="dh%5C">δὴ</w> <w lemma="tou%2Ftou">τούτου</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="to%2Fpou">τόπου</w> <w lemma="fasi%5C">φασὶ</w> <w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="%2A%29apasia%2Fkas">Ἀπασιάκας</w> <w lemma="par%27">παρ᾽</w> <w lemma="au%29th%5Cn">αὐτὴν</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="pe%2Ftran">πέτραν</w> <w lemma="u%28po%5C">ὑπὸ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="katafora%5Cn">καταφορὰν</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="potamou%3D">ποταμοῦ</w> <w lemma="pezeu%2Fein">πεζεύειν</w> <w lemma="meta%5C">μετὰ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="i%28%2Fppwn">ἵππων</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28urkani%2Fan">Ὑρκανίαν</w>.
7
<w lemma="o%28">ὁ</w> <w lemma="d%27">δ᾽</w> <w lemma="e%28%2Fteros">ἕτερος</w> <w lemma="lo%2Fgos">λόγος</w> <w lemma="e%29pieikeste%2Fran">ἐπιεικεστέραν</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fxei">ἔχει</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="pro%2Fsqen">πρόσθεν</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="a%29po%2Ffasin">ἀπόφασιν</w>. <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="ga%5Cr">γὰρ</w> <w lemma="u%28pokeime%2Fnou">ὑποκειμένου</w> <w lemma="to%2Fpou">τόπου</w> <w lemma="mega%2Flous">μεγάλους</w> <w lemma="e%29%2Fxontos">ἔχοντος</w> <w lemma="platamw%3Dnas">πλαταμῶνας</w>, <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="ou%28%5Cs">οὓς</w> <w lemma="katarra%2Fttei">καταρράττει</w>, <w lemma="tou%2Ftous">τούτους</w> <w lemma="fasi%5C">φασὶ</w> <w lemma="th%3D%7C">τῇ</w> <w lemma="bi%2Fa%7C">βίᾳ</w> <w lemma="tou%3D">τοῦ</w> <w lemma="r%28eu%2Fmatos">ῥεύματος</w> <w lemma="e%29kkoilai%2Fnonta">ἐκκοιλαίνοντα</w> <w lemma="kai%5C">καὶ</w> <w lemma="diarrhgnu%2Fnta">διαρρηγνύντα</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="ba%2Fqos">βάθος</w> <w lemma="u%28po%5C">ὑπὸ</w> <w lemma="gh%3Dn">γῆν</w> <w lemma="fe%2Fresqai">φέρεσθαι</w> <w lemma="to%2Fpon">τόπον</w> <w lemma="ou%29">οὐ</w> <w lemma="polu%2Fn">πολύν</w>, <w lemma="ei%29%3Dt%27">εἶτ᾽</w> <w lemma="a%29nafai%2Fnesqai">ἀναφαίνεσθαι</w> <w lemma="pa%2Flin">πάλιν</w>.
8
<w lemma="tou%5Cs">τοὺς</w> <w lemma="de%5C">δὲ</w> <w lemma="barba%2Frous">βαρβάρους</w> <w lemma="dia%5C">διὰ</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="e%29mpeiri%2Fan">ἐμπειρίαν</w> <w lemma="kata%5C">κατὰ</w> <w lemma="to%5Cn">τὸν</w> <w lemma="dialei%2Fponta">διαλείποντα</w> <w lemma="to%2Fpon">τόπον</w> <w lemma="poiei%3Dsqai">ποιεῖσθαι</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="di%2Fodon">δίοδον</w> <w lemma="e%29pi%5C">ἐπὶ</w> <w lemma="tw%3Dn">τῶν</w> <w lemma="i%28%2Fppwn">ἵππων</w> <w lemma="ei%29s">εἰς</w> <w lemma="th%5Cn">τὴν</w> <w lemma="%2A%28urkani%2Fan">Ὑρκανίαν</w>. —
<head>VIII. Affairs of Asia</head><head>The River Oxus</head>The Apasiacae inhabit the district between the Oxus and Tanaïs, the former of which rivers falls into the Hyrcanian Sea, while the Tanaïs falls into the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Palus&groupId=830&placeId=1500">Palus</a> Maeotis. Both are large enough to be navigable,
and it is considered marvellous how the nomads passing the Oxus on foot with their horses reach <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Hyrcania&groupId=640&placeId=1172">Hyrcania</a>.
There are two stories regarding this, one reasonably probable and the other very surprising, but yet not impossible.
The Oxus, I should say, rises in the Caucasus, but in traversing Bactria greatly increases in volume owing to the number of tributaries it receives, and henceforth runs through the plain with a strong and turbid current.
Reaching in the desert a certain precipice it projects its stream, owing to the volume of the current and the height of the fall, so far from the crest of the cataract that in falling it leaps to a distance of more than a stade from the bottom of the precipice.
It is in this place that they say the Apasiacae pass dry-shod with their horses to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Hyrcania&groupId=640&placeId=1172">Hyrcania</a>, skirting the precipice under the waterfall.
There is more reasonable probability in the second account than in the first. They say there are at the foot of the cataract large slabs of rock on which the river falls, and by the force of the current hollows out and pierces these rocks for some depth and flows underground for a short distance, after which it comes to the surface again.
The barbarians are acquainted with this and cross to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Hyrcania&groupId=640&placeId=1172">Hyrcania</a> with their horses at the place where the river thus interrupts its course.

Walbank Commentary

Overview
10.48.0 - 10.48.0
<p rend="Plain Text">Antiochus in Bactria</p> <p rend="Plain Text">The date will be 208 (cf. 48 n.). Bactria, earlier a Seleucid satrapy, was now an independent kingdom.</p>
Specifics
10.48.1 - 10.48.1
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">οἱ . . . Ἀπασιάκαι</w>:</emph> probably identical with the Paesicae (Mela, iii. 42) or Pascae (Ptol. vi. 12. 4), a Scythian people living on the north shore of the lower Oxus, where it met the Caspian (see below). They were probably Sacas; Tomaschek (S.-B. Wien, 102, 1882, 218; RE, 'Apasiakai', col. 2670) suggests that their name was Apa-aka, 'Water-sacas'; cf. Tarn, Bactria, 91 n. 2. According to Step. Byz. <milestone unit="page" n="261">[261]</milestone> s.v. <w lang="el-GR">Ἀπασιάκαι</w>, P. said they were an <w lang="el-GR">ἔθνος</w> of the Massagetae. Strabo (xi. 513) records that Arsaces I of Parthia, who had seized <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Hyrcania&groupId=640&placeId=1172">Hyrcania</a> during the War of the Brothers, was at first expelled and found refuge with the Apasiacae; this was in 228/7 (Tarn, CAH, vii. 722). But he soon asserted his possession of both Parthia and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Hyrcania&groupId=640&placeId=1172">Hyrcania</a> (Iustin. xli. 4. 6–10). </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἀνὰ μέσον Ὄξου καὶ Τανάιδος</w>:</emph> these rivers are best discussed separately. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> (a) Oxus: the Amu-darya, which today flows into the Aral Sea. A strong ancient tradition brings at least one branch into the Caspian. Of this the source of Strabo, xi. 512 f. (probably Hecataeus; cf. A. Herrmann, Gött. Abh. 1914, 4, 14 ff.; RE, 'Oxos', cols. 2007–8, note) will be the earliest example, if indeed the Araxes here mentioned is the Oxus; one mouth is said to reach the Hyrcanian sea, i.e. the Caspian. Herodotus (i. 208–11) also mentions an Araxes flowing into the Caspian, but he seems to confuse the Armenian Araxes with the Oxus; Aristotle's Araxes (Meteor. i. 13. 350 a) is probably the Oxus, though he does not say what it ran into. Probably according to Aristobulus. (Arr. iii. 29. 2), the Oxus flowed <w lang="el-GR">ἐς τὴν μεγάλην θάλατταν τὴν καθ᾿? Ὑρκανίαν</w>; and Strabo (xi. 509) says that he records, on the authority of Patrocles, Seleucus Nicator's admiral, who sailed the shores of the Caspian, that there was a regular trade route from <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=India&groupId=648&placeId=1187">India</a> via the Oxus, the Hyrcanian Sea, and Albania to the Euxine. Both Ptolemy (vi. 11–12) and Mela (iii. 42) bring the Oxus into the Caspian. The earliest writer to describe it as flowing solely into the Aral Sea (Oxia palus) is Ammianus (xxiii. 6. 59); though Hecataeus (Strabo, xi. 512 f.), Herodotus, and Aristotle all describe other branches of the Araxes which appear not to flow into the Caspian. The truth of this tradition bringing waters of the Oxus into the Caspian has been much debated; but recent investigation of the geography by W. Obrutschev (summarized in Peterm. Mitt. 1914, 1. 87–88) and Feodorovitch, who led the Karakum Expedition in 1928/9conveniently summarized by A. Herrmann, RE, 'Oxos', cols. 2010–13, with mapsuggests that in classical times a branch ran from the dried-up bed of the Kalif-Uzböi along the Ungus depression north-west to join the Sarg Kamish depression, and thence flowed westward along the Uzböi, to meet the Caspian at Balkan Bay, just south of Krasnovodsk. Tarn (Bactria, 488–93) attacks this theory, assuming that Patrocles confused the Oxus and the Atrek, which does run into the Caspian (and ignoring the references to the Araxes); he has since (Alex. ii. 5–15) suggested that in Alexander's time the Sea of Aral was known and that Polycleitus, a minor historian accompanying Alexander, who argued for the identity of the Caspian and the Maeotid Lake (Strabo, xi. 509–10), was in fact calling the Sea of Aral the Caspian. This argument is far from convincing; <milestone unit="page" n="262">[262]</milestone> for some pertinent criticisms see L. C. Pearson, CQ, 1951, 80–84. But Tarn is right when he says that the question whether the Oxus (or a branch of it) once ran into the Caspian is one to be settled only by science. On present evidence probability seems strongly to favour the view that it did. For various suggestions see Thomson, 127–9. In any case, P. follows the normal ancient view. </p> <p rend="Plain Text">(b) <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Tanais&groupId=1001&placeId=503">Tanais</a>: normally the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Don&groupId=127&placeId=365">Don</a>, which was reckoned as the boun-</p> <p rend="Plain Text">dary between Europe and Asia (iii. 37. 2–8 n.; xxxiv. 7. 10). If this were so here, the Apasiacae would live around the northern shores of the Caspian through Kazakhstan to the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Don&groupId=127&placeId=365">Don</a>. But in Alexander's time the Iaxartes (Syr-darya) was confused with the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Tanais&groupId=1001&placeId=503">Tanais</a> (quite independently of Strabo's assertion, xi. 509–10, that flatterers deliberately promoted the confusion so as to suggest that Alexander had reached the north-east boundaries of Europe), and this confusion has probably played a part here, despite the fact that P. makes his <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Tanais&groupId=1001&placeId=503">Tanais</a> issue in the Maeotis and not (as Strabo, xi. 510, 518, and Arrian, iii. 30. 7–8, vii. 16. 3) in the Caspian. See Herrmann, RE, 'Iaxartes', cols. 1183–4.</p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἑκάτεροι . . . πλωτοί</w>:</emph> today the Oxus is navigable as far as the mountains at Patta-hissar, 90 km. above Kalif. In ancient times, when perhaps more water fed it, the same was apparently true of the branch running into the Caspian. This is confirmed by the reference to a trade-route from <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=India&groupId=648&placeId=1187">India</a> mentioned on the authority of Aristobulus, Eratosthenes and ultimately Patrocles by Strabo (ii. 73, xi. 509); cf. Pliny, Nat. hist. vi. 52 (based on Varro). The <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Don&groupId=127&placeId=365">Don</a>, with which P. confuses the Iaxartes, is navigable into its lower stretches. </p>
10.48.3 - 10.48.3
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">δύο λόγοι</w>:</emph> their source is unknown, but the first (about the waterfall) recalls one told <w lang="el-GR">ὑπὸ Εὐδόξου</w> (of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Cnidus&groupId=481&placeId=902">Cnidus</a>) <w lang="el-GR">καὶ ἄλλων</w> (Strabo, xi. 510; cf. Mela, iii. 5. 40): in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Hyrcania&groupId=640&placeId=1172">Hyrcania</a> rivers flow over cliffs into the sea with such violence that they leave an area on the shore where armies can pass, or natives bask at their ease, enjoying the sea, the waterfall and the shore. P. knows of Eudoxus (cf. xxxiv. 1. 3), who may be his source here (cf. Berger, 523); but there is no certainty about this and Pdech, Mthode, 568–70, suggests that here (and in v. 44. 3–11, ix. 43 and x. 27. 4–13) the source is Callisthenes. </p>
10.48.4 - 10.48.4
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐκ τοῦ Καυκάσου</w>:</emph> cf. Arr. iii. 29. 2, <w lang="el-GR">ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ Καυκάσου</w>; Ptolemy (vi. 18. 1) puts the source in the Paropamisus, Aristotle (Meteor. i. 13. 350 A) in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Parnassus&groupId=844&placeId=1523">Parnassus</a>, but these must all be variants for the Pamir or Hindu Kush. The Pyandzh, the upper stream of the Oxus, in fact rises in the Pamir. For the extension of the meaning of Caucasus to include the Hindu Kush and western Himalayas cf. xi. 34. 11; Arr. v. 3. 2 f.; Curt. vii. 3. 19, viii. 9. 3; Strabo, xi. 505 f., 511, xv. 688 f.; Iustin. xii. 5. 9; Diod. xvii. 83. 1; Herrmann, RE, <w lang="el-GR">῾Καύκασος</w> (3)', cols. 60–61. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐπὶ πολὺ δ</w>f <w lang="el-GR">αὐξηθεὶς ἐν τῇ Βακτριανῇ</w>:</emph> true as far downstream as <milestone unit="page" n="263">[263]</milestone> Kalif, where the river enters the Turanian plain; below, there are no more tributaries (Herrmann, RE, 'Oxos', col. 2010). Bactria is the area around the Oxus, including southern Sogdiana on its left bank (cf. Tomaschek, RE, 'Baktriane', col. 2805). For the form <w lang="el-GR">Βακτριάνη</w> cf. 49. 15; Tarn, Bactria, 444–5, apparently overlooks this when he asserts that Bactriane is a mistake made by 'writers of the Roman empire' for Bactria. It constitutes a further argument against his theory about eparchies (cf. v. 46. 7 n.). </p>
10.48.5 - 10.48.5
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐπὶ τινας πέτρας ἀπορρῶγας</w>:</emph> this, if anywhere, would be in the depression of Ungus and Uzböi rather than in the present bed of the Oxus; and Obrutschev discovered two dry waterfalls in the Sary Kamish and Uzböi channels, one at Igdy 3 to 5 metres high. But this is obviously too small for P.'s waterfall; and in any case P. regards the story as improbable (§ 3, <w lang="el-GR">παράδοξος, οὐ μὴν ἀδύνατος)</w>. See Tarn, Bactria, 491; Herrmann, RE, 'Oxos', cols. 2014–15. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐξωθεῖ τὸ ῥεῦμα . . . τῶν ὑπερκειμένων τόπων ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον</w>:</emph> 'it projects its stream ... so far from the point above'. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ὥστε . . . τὴν καταφορὰν αὐτοῦ</w>:</emph> 'that in its fall it takes a leap of more than a stade away from the rock at the lower level'. </p>
10.48.7 - 10.48.7
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">τοῦ ὑποκειμένου τόπου</w>:</emph> 'the spot at the foot (of the waterfall)'. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">πλαταμῶνας</w>:</emph> this word can mean a flat area, a flat reef or a rock ledge. Here the sense is most likely 'a flat ledge of rock', since flat ground would be washed away, whereas the point is that the river channels a way down under the rocks, which thus serve as a natural bridge. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ὑπὸ γῆν φέρεσθαι</w>:</emph> sc. <w lang="el-GR">τὸν πόταμον</w>. </p> <p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">εἶτ</w>f <w lang="el-GR">ἀναφαίνεσθαι πάλιν</w>:</emph> for similar examples see Strabo, vi. 275; Diod. xvii. 75. 1–2 (the Stiboetes: cf. 28. 7 n.). </p>
10.48.8 - 10.48.8
<p rend="Plain Text"> <emph rend="bold"><w lang="el-GR">ἐπὶ τῶν ἵππων</w>:</emph> 'on horseback', not merely 'with their horses' (Paton). </p>

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