286 STRABO. CASAUB. 541. the east, the country extending to Colchis, and the Lesser Armenia. Pompey, after the overthrow of Mithridates, found the kingdom comprised within these boundaries. He dis- tributed the country towards Armenia and towards Colchis among the princes who had assisted him in the war ; the re- mainder he divided into eleven governments, and annexed them to Bithynia, so that out of both there was formed one province. Some people in the inland parts he subjected to the kings descended from PylaBmenes, in the same manner as he delivered over the Galatians to be governed by tetrarchs of that nation. In later times the Roman emperors made different divisions of the same country, appointing kings and rulers, making some cities free, and subjecting others to the authority of rulers, others again were left under the dominion of the Roman people. As we proceed in our description according to the present state of things, we shall touch slightly on their former con- dition, whenever it may be useful. I shall begin from Heracleia, 1 which is the most westerly of these places. 2. In sailing out of the Propontis into the Euxine Sea, on the left hand are the parts adjoining to Byzantium, (Con- stantinople,) and these belong to the Thracians. The parts on the left of the Pontus are called Aristera (or left) of Pon- tus ; the parts on the right are contiguous to Chalcedon. Of these the first tract of country belongs to the Bithynians, the next to the Mariandyni, or, as some say, to the Caucones ; next is that of the Paphlagonians, extending to the Halys, then that of the Cappadocians near the Pontus, and then a district reaching to Colchis. 2 All this country has the name of the Dexia (or right) of Pontus. This whole coast, from Col- chis to Heracleia, was subject to Mithridates Eupator. But the parts on the other side to the mouth of the Euxine and Chalcedon, remained under the government of the king of Bithynia. After the overthrow of the kings the Romans pre- served the same boundaries of the kingdoms ; Heracleia was 1 Erekli. 2 The Bithynians, or rather Thyni, occupied the sea-coast from the Bosphorus to the river Sagaris (Sakaria). The Mariandyni extended to Heracleia (Erekli); and the Caucones to the east as far as the river Parthenius (Tschati-su).
