[2] Atropatian Media borders upon Armenia and Matiane1 towards the east, towards the west on the Greater Media, and on both towards the north; towards the south it is contiguous to the people living about the recess of the Hyrcanian Sea, and to Matiane. According to Apollonides its strength is not inconsiderable, since it can furnish 10,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. It contains a lake called Spauta,2 (Kapauta,) in which salt effloresces, and is consolidated. The salt occasions itching and pain, but oil is a cure for both, and sweet water restores the colour of clothes, which have the appearance of being burnt,3 when they have been immersed in the lake by ignorant persons for the purpose of washing them. They have powerful neighbours in the Armenians and Parthians, by whom they are frequently plundered; they resist however, and recover what has been taken away, as they recovered Symbace4 from the Armenians, who were defeated by the Romans, and they themselves became the friends of Cæsar. They at the same time endeavour to conciliate the Parthians.
1 An interpolation; probably introduced from Matiane below. Falconer. Kramer.
2 Its ancient name according to Kramer was Kapotan. Kaputan- Dzow, The Blue Lake, now the Lake Urmiah.
3 καπυοͅωθεῖσιν Kramer observes that the meaning of the word in this passage is not clear. It may possibly mean some colour to which the name of the lake was given.
4 It is uncertain whether this is a place, or a district.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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