Arrian, to the Emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, greetings. We came to Trapezus, a Greek city, as Xenophon says, founded on the sea, a colony of the Sinopeans; and gladly we looked down on the Euxine Sea from the very same spot as both Xenophon and you.
With these words, Arrian starts his letter to Hadrian introducing the first part of his report, Tour of Colchis: From Trapezus to Sebastopolis.
As mentioned in my previous blog, About Arrian’s Periplus of the Euxine Sea, Arrian started his journey in Trapezus. Here he visited the sanctuary of Hermes, which was also devoted to Emperor Hadrian. Arrian tells the emperor that his statue needs to be replaced with a better resemblance to the original. He also shared his critiques on the rough stone altars and the “incorrectly written” inscriptions.
From Trapezus, Arrian sailed east to inspect the garrison of Hyssus. Here, he organized a display of javelin throwing and reminded the soldiers of Hadrian’s observations and address made in 128 AD at Lambaesis, Numidia (modern Algeria) which survived on a column found northwest of its parade ground.
His next stop
was at the
When it was safe
to travel onwards, he anchored at the fortress of Apsarus (Gonio in modern
At this point in
his letters, Arrian provides a list
of all the rivers between Trapezus and Phasis that flow into the
These details
are helpful to follow the governor as he moved on to Phasis (see: The many colonies of Miletus), some
Arrian’s interest and respect for the history of Jason is tickled when the locals show him an iron anchor claiming it belonged to Jason’s ship, the Argo. However, he was skeptical as it looked too recent. It seems that even in ancient times, people liked to spread tales and myths!
The last leg of
this trip took Arrian to Dioscurias,
another colony of
He further inspected Sebastopolis, including the grain supply vital to the army’s survival. He paid the soldiers and watched the cavalry in their exercises leaping upon horses.
From that
harbor, the governor could see the highest peak of the Caucasus, the Strobilus,
where according to myth Prometheus was bound and an eagle ate his liver that
grew back overnight. The mountain was
This completed Arrian’s mission and he returned to the
naval base of
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