Strabo — Geographica

Primary-source dossier

The excerpts below are reproduced from the Ictis Anthology — a working paper produced during research for the project. Some of the results were spun off into New Perspectives on the Ictis of Pytheas of Massalia.

“The forests are their cities; for they fence in a spacious circular enclosure with trees which they have felled, and in that enclosure make huts for themselves and also pen up their cattle — not, however, with the purpose of staying a long time”​

Strabo’s source for much of his Geography is Eratosthenes’ work by the same name, who is said to have used Pytheas for his information on western Europe¹.

Book 2 Chapter 4

Strabo on his sources for the Geography of western Europe. He is very flattering of Polybius, perhaps on account of him being widely travelled and otherwise very credible and accurate with his primary information; however very critical of Dicaerchus, Eratosthenes, Pytheas and Posidonius. His criticisms are here qualified, and his particular criticism of Pytheas is extended in (Bk4.Ch2).

Text from: ToposText, Strabo — Geographica

Bill Thayer, LacusCurtius: Strabo — Geographica

Polybius, in his account of the geography of Europe, says he passes over the ancient geographers but examines the men who criticise them, namely, Dicaearchus, and Eratosthenes, who has written the most recent treatise on Geography; and Pytheas, by whom many have been misled; for after asserting that he travelled over the whole of Britain that was accessible Pytheas reported that the coast-line of the island was more than forty thousand stadia, and added his story about Thule and about those regions in which there was no longer either land properly so-called, or sea, or air, but a kind of substance concreted from all these elements, resembling a sea-lungs — a thing in which, he says, the earth, the sea, and all the elements are held in suspension; and this is a sort of bond to hold all together, which you can neither walk nor sail upon. Now, as for this thing that resembles the sea-lungs, he says that he saw it himself, but that all the rest he tells from hearsay. That, then, is the narrative of Pytheas, and to it he adds that on his return from those regions he visited the whole coast-line of Europe from Gades to the Tanaïs.

Now Polybius says that, in the first place, it is incredible that a private individual — and a poor man too — could have travelled such distances by sea and by land; and that, though Eratosthenes was wholly at a loss whether he should believe these stories, nevertheless he has believed Pytheas’ account of Britain, and the regions about Gades, and of Iberia; but he says it is far better to believe Euhemerus, the Messenian, than Pytheas. Euhemerus, at all events, asserts that he sailed only to one country, Panchaea, whereas Pytheas asserts that he explored in person the whole northern region of Europe as far as the ends of the world — an assertion which no man would believe, not even if Hermes​132 made it. And as for Eratosthenes — adds Poseidonius — though he calls Euhemerus a Bergaean,​133 he believes Pytheas, and that, too, though not even Dicaearchus believed him. Now that last remark, “though not even Dicaearchus believed him,” is ridiculous; as if it were fitting for Eratosthenes to use as a standard the man against whom he himself directs so many criticisms. And I have already stated that Eratosthenes was ignorant concerning the western and northern parts of Europe. But while we must pardon Eratosthenes and Dicaearchus, because they had not seen those regions with their own eyes, yet who could pardon Polybius and Poseidonius? Nay, it is precisely Polybius who characterises as “popular notions” the statements made by Eratosthenes and Dicaearchus in regard to the distances in those regions and many other regions, though he does not keep himself free from the error even where he criticises them.

Book 2 Chapter 5

Strabo on the trade and commerce of Britain and the motivations of Caesar’s invasion; the recent advances in geographic understanding of the far west and the exact location of the Cassiterides.

Text from: ToposText, Strabo — Geographica

§ 2.5.8 […] It would not serve any political purpose to be well acquainted with these distant places and the people who inhabit them; especially if they are islands whose inhabitants can neither injure us, nor yet benefit us by their commerce. The Romans might easily have conquered Britain, but they did not care to do so, as they perceived there was nothing to fear from the inhabitants, (they not being powerful enough to attack us,) and that they would gain nothing by occupying the land. Even now it appears that we gain more by the customs they pay, than we could raise by tribute, after deducting the wages of the soldiers necessary for guarding the island and exacting the taxes. And the other islands adjacent to this would be still more unproductive.

[…]

§ 2.5.12 Writers of the present day can describe with more certainty [than formerly] the Britons, the Germans, and the dwellers on either side of the Danube, the Getae, the Tyrigetae, the Bastarnae, the tribes dwelling by the Caucasus, such as the Albanians and Iberians.

[…]

§ 2.5.15 Sailing thence, Libya lies to the south. Its most western portions project a little beyond Gades; it afterwards forms a narrow promontory receding towards the east and south, and becoming slightly broader, till it touches upon the western Ethiopians, who are the last of the nations situated below Carthage, and adjoin the parallel of the Cinnamon Country. They, on the contrary, who sail from the Sacred Promontory, towards the Artabri, journey northwards, having Lusitania on the right hand. The remaining portion forms an obtuse angle towards the east as far as the extremities of the Pyrenees which terminate at the ocean. Northward and opposite to this are the western coasts of Britain. Northward and opposite to the Artabri are the islands denominated Cassiterides, situated in the high seas, but under nearly the same latitude as Britain. From this it appears to what a degree the extremities of the habitable earth are narrowed by the surrounding sea.

Book 3 Chapter 2

Strabo on the metal mines of the Iberian Peninsula. In this passage, he compares the evidences of Polybius in his geographical work, Posidonius and Pytheas. Later Strabo discusses the Phoenician exploitation of the peninsula.

§ 3.2.8 Of the various riches of the aforenamed country, not the least is its wealth in metals: this every one will particularly esteem and admire. Of metals, in fact, the whole country of the Iberians is full, although it is not equally fertile and flourishing throughout, especially in those parts where the metals most abound. It is seldom that any place is blessed with both these advantages, and likewise seldom that the different kinds of metals abound in one small territory. Turdetania², however, and the surrounding districts surpass so entirely in this respect, that however you may wish, words cannot convey their excellence. Gold, silver, copper, and iron, equal in amount and of similar quality, not having been hitherto discovered in any other part of the world. Gold is not only dug from the mines, but likewise collected; sand containing gold being washed down by the rivers and torrents. It is frequently met with in arid districts, but here the gold is not visible to the sight, whereas in those which are overflowed the grains of gold are seen glittering. On this account they cause water to flow over the arid places in order to make the grains shine; they also dig pits, and make use of other contrivances for washing the sand, and separating the gold from it; so that at the present day more gold is procured by washing than by digging it from the mines. The Galatae affirm that the mines along the Kemmenus mountains and their side of the Pyrenees are superior; but most people prefer those on this side. They say that sometimes amongst the grains of gold lumps have been found weighing half a pound, these they call paloe; they need but little refining. They also say that in splitting open stones they find small lumps, resembling paps. And that when they have melted the gold, and purified it by means of a kind of aluminous earth, the residue left is electrum. This, which contains a mixture of silver and gold, being again subjected to the fire, the silver is separated and the gold left [pure]; for this metal is easily dissipated and fat, and on this account gold is most easily melted by straw, the flame of which is soft, and bearing a similarity [to the gold], causes it easily to dissolve: whereas coal, besides wasting a great deal, melts it too much by reason of its vehemence, and carries it off [in vapour]. In the beds of the rivers the sand is either collected and washed in boats close by, or else a pit is dug to which the earth is carried and there washed. The furnaces for silver are constructed lofty, in order that the vapour, which is dense and pestilent, may be raised and carried off. Certain of the copper mines are called gold mines, which would seem to show that formerly gold was dug from them.

§ 3.2.9 Posidonius³, in praising the amount and excellence of the metals, cannot refrain from his accustomed rhetoric, and becomes quite enthusiastic in exaggeration.⁴ He tells us we are not to disbelieve the fable, that formerly the forests having been set on fire, the earth, which was loaded with silver and gold, melted, and threw up these metals to the surface, forasmuch as every mountain and wooded hill seemed to be heaped up with money by a lavish fortune⁵. Altogether (he remarks) any one seeing these places, could only describe them as the inexhaustible treasuries of nature, or the unfailing exchequer of some potentate; for not only, he tells us, is this land rich itself, but riches abound beneath it. So that amongst these people the subterraneous regions should not be regarded as the realms of Pluto, but of Plutus. Such is the flourished style in which he speaks on this subject, that you would fancy his turgid language had been dug from a mine itself.⁶ Discoursing on the diligence of the miners, he applies to them the remark [of Demetrius Phalareus, who, speaking of the silver mines of Attica, said that the men there dug with as much energy as if they thought they could grub up Plutus himself. He compares with these the activity and diligence of the Turdetani, who are in the habit of cutting tortuous and deep tunnels, and draining the streams which they frequently encounter by means of Egyptian screws⁷. As for the rest, they are quite different from the Attic miners, whose mining (he remarks) may be justly compared to that enigma, What I have taken up I have not kept, and what I have got I have thrown away. Whereas the Turdetanians make a good profit, since a fourth part of the ore which they extract from the copper mines is [pure] copper, while from the silver mines one person has taken as much as a Euboean talent. He says that tin is not found upon the surface, as authors commonly relate, but that it is dug up; and that it is produced both in places among the barbarians who dwell beyond the Lusitanians and in the islands Cassiterides; and that from the Britannic Islands it is carried to Marseilles. Amongst the Artabri, who are the last of the Lusitanians towards the north and west, he tells us that the earth is powdered with silver, tin, and white gold, that is, mixed with silver, the earth having been brought down by the rivers: this the women scrape up with spades, and wash in sieves, woven after the fashion of baskets. Such is the substance of what [Posidonius] tells us concerning the mines [of Iberia].

§ 3.2.10 Polybius⁸, speaking of the silver mines of New Carthage⁹, tells us that they are extremely large, distant from the city about 20 stadia, and occupy a circuit of 400 stadia, that there are 40,000 men regularly engaged in them, and that they yield daily to the Roman people [a revenue of] 25,000 drachmae. The rest of the process I pass over, as it is too long¹⁰, but as for the silver ore collected, he tells us that it is broken up, and sifted through sieves over water; that what remains is to be again broken, and the water having been strained off, it is to be sifted and broken a third time. The dregs which remain after the fifth time are to be melted, and the lead being poured off, the silver is obtained pure. These silver mines still exist; however they are no longer the property of the state, neither these nor those elsewhere, but are possessed by private individuals. The gold mines, on the contrary, nearly all belong to the state. Both at Castlon and other places there are singular lead mines worked. They contain a small proportion of silver, but not sufficient to pay for the expense of refining.¹¹

§ 3.2.11 Not far from Castlon is the mountain in which they report that the [river] Baetis takes its rise. They call it silver mountain on account of the silver mines which it contains.

[…]

§ 3.2.14 I repeat that the Phoenicians were the discoverers [of these countries], for they possessed the better part of Iberia and Libya before the time of Homer, and continued masters of those places until their empire was overthrown by the Romans.¹² This also is an evidence of the wealth of Iberia: in the expedition of the Carthaginians under Barcas, they found, according to historians, that the people of Turdetania used silver goblets and casks.¹³ One might guess too that it was on account of this great opulence that the men of the country, and their chiefs in particular, were styled long-lived.

Book 3 Chapter 5

Strabo on the Cassiterides and perhaps the Iberian tin trade more generally. He provides a history of the interest in Iberian tin, starting with the Phoenicians and transferring to the Romans after the Punic Wars.

Note, Strabo mentions Posidonius as a source in the previous chapter (4), however Posidonius only mentions the Cassiterides in 3.2.9 in passing with no real detail. Strabo’s description of the Cassiterides is the last part of Bk.3 Ch.5, concerning the islands of Iberia: e.g. Baleares, Cassiterides, Gades.

Text from: Bill Thayer, LacusCurtius: Strabo — Geographica

“The Cassiterides are ten in number, and they lie near each other in the high sea to the north of the port of the Artabrians. One of them is desert, but the rest are inhabited by people who wear black cloaks, go clad in tunics that reach to their feet, wear belts around their breasts, walk around with canes, and resemble the goddesses of vengeance in tragedies¹⁴. They live off their herds, leading for the most part a nomadic life. As they have mines of tin and lead, they give these metals and the hides from their cattle to the sea-traders in exchange for pottery, salt and copper utensils. Now in former times it was the Phoenicians alone who carried on this commerce (that is, from Gades¹⁵), for they kept the voyage hidden from every one else. And when once the Romans were closely following a certain ship-captain in order that they too might learn the markets in question, out of jealousy the ship-captain purposely drove his ship out of its course into shoal water; and after he had lured the followers into the same ruin, he himself escaped by a piece of wreckage and received from the State the value of the cargo he had lost¹⁶. Still, by trying many times, the Romans learned all about the voyage. After Publius Crassus¹⁷ crossed over to these people and saw that the metals were being dug from only a slight depth, and that the men there were peaceable, he forthwith laid abundant information before all who wished to traffic over this sea, albeit a wider sea than that which separates Britain from the continent¹⁸. So much, then, for Iberia and the islands that lie off its coast.”

Book 4 Chapter 1¹⁹

Strabo on the Massalians: how the Civil War effected trade (4.1.5) and the inland fluvial trade routes with the Atlantic seaboard (4.1.14).

§ 4.1.5 The Massilians live under a well-regulated aristocracy. […] Their prosperity has in a great measure decayed since the war of Pompey against Caesar, in which they sided with the vanquished party. Nevertheless some traces of their ancient industry may still be seen amongst the inhabitants, especially the making of engines of war and ship-building. Still as the surrounding barbarians, now that they are under the dominion of the Romans, become daily more civilized, and leave the occupation of war for the business of towns and agriculture, there is no longer the same attention paid by the inhabitants of Marseilles to these objects.

[…]

§ 4.1.14 Tolosa is situated upon the narrowest part of the isthmus which separates the ocean from the sea of Narbonne; the breadth of the [isthmus], according to Posidonius, being less than 3000 stadia. The perfect similarity maintained throughout this country both in respect to its rivers, and to the exterior and interior sea, appears to us worthy of especial notice, as we have said before. This, on reflection, will prove to be one main cause of the excellence of this country, since the inhabitants are enabled mutually to communicate, and to procure from each other the necessaries of life; this is peculiarly the case at the present time, when on account of their leisure from war they are devoting themselves to agriculture and the pursuits of social life. In this we are persuaded that we behold the work of Providence; such a disposition of these regions not resulting from chance, but from the thought of some [intelligence]. The Rhone, for instance, is navigable to a considerable distance for vessels of heavy burden, which it is capable of transmitting through various districts of the country by means of other rivers which fall into it, and are likewise fitted for the navigation of large vessels. To the Rhone succeeds the Arar, and into this latter river falls the Doubs; thence the merchandise is carried by land to the river Seine; whence it is transported to the ocean and the [countries of the] Lexovii and Caleti, the distance thence to Britain being less than a day’s journey. The navigation of the Rhone being difficult on account of the rapidity of its current, the merchants prefer to transport in waggons certain of their wares, which are destined for the Arverni, and the river Loire, notwithstanding the vicinity of the Rhone in some places, but the road being level and the distance not far, (about 800 stadia,) they do not make use of water carriage on account of the facility of the transport by land, from thence the merchandise is easily conveyed by the Loire. This river flows from the Cevennes into the ocean. From Narbonne the voyage to the Aude is short, but the journey by land to the river Garonne longer, being as much as 700 or 800 stadia. The Garonne likewise flows into the ocean. Such is what we have to say concerning the inhabitants of the Narbonnaise, who were formerly named Kelts. In my opinion the celebrity of the Kelts induced the Grecians to confer that name on the whole of the Galatae; the vicinity of the Massilians may also have had something to do with it.

Book 4 Chapter 2

Strabo on Scipio Africanus being unable to corroborate information about the British Isles from Pytheas’ voyage by speaking to the Massallians or Narbonneans. He also discusses the major trade ports (Burdegala & Corbilo), tribes and rivers.

Burdegala is securely identified as Bordeaux by Smith (1854)²⁰, however Corbilo is not identified with certainty. Corbilo is described as a “former emporium” on the river Loire; amongst the top three colonies of Greek Gaul with Narbo and Massalia. It is implied that Polybius was able to either visit himself or receive intelligence from Corbilio, that it was mentioned by Pytheas, and that Polybius’ experience differed from Pytheas’ accounts. Corbilio is often presumed to be at the mouth of the river Loire, modern day Saint-Nazaire, but this is not specified by Strabo whose text is the only surviving source on the city. Smith (1870) suggests Couëron, presumably based on placename evidence.

Strabo later (1.4.5) mentions “Kabaion” as the name of the promontory of the Ostiminoi; presumably Brittany (e.g. three days sail from the Iberian peninsula).²¹ There is likely

The Bituriges are the only foreign people²² who dwell among the Aquitani without forming a part of them. Their emporium is Burdegala, situated on a creek formed by the outlets of the river. The Liger, however, discharges its waters between the Pictones and the Namnitae. Formerly there was an emporium on this river, called Corbilo, with respect to which Polybius, calling to mind the fabulous stories of Pytheas, has said: “Although no one of all the Massiliotes who conversed with Scipio was able, when questioned by Scipio about Britain, to tell anything worth recording, nor yet any one of the people from Narbo or of those from Corbilo, though these were the best of all the cities in that country, still Pytheas had the hardihood to tell all those falsehoods about Britain.”²³

Book 4 Chapter 3²⁴

Strabo on the navigability of the Seine, Arar, Loire and Garonne rivers.

This river and the Seine embrace within their tortuosities a certain extent of country, which however is not considerable. They both flow from south to north. Britain lies opposite to them; but nearest to the Rhine, from which you may see Kent, which is the most easterly part of the island. The Seine is a little further. It was here that divus Caesar established a dock-yard when he sailed to Britain. The navigable portion of the Seine, commencing from the point where they receive the merchandise²⁵ from the Arar²⁶, is of greater extent than the [navigable portions] of the Loire and Garonne. From Lugdunum to the Seine is [a distance of] 1000 stadia²⁷, and not twice this distance from the outlets of the Rhone to Lugdunum.

Book 4 Chapter 4 Gaul: The Belgae

Strabo on the Veneti, their trade with Britain and how Caesar usurped this trade route.

§ 4.4.1 AFTER the nations mentioned come those of the Belgae, who dwell next the ocean. Of their number are the Veneti, who fought a naval battle with Caesar. They had prepared to resist his passage into Britain, being possessed of the commerce [of that island] themselves. But Caesar easily gained the victory, not however by means of his beaks, (for their ships were constructed of solid wood,) but whenever their ships were borne near to his by the wind, the Romans rent the sails by means of scythes fixed on long handles: for the sails [of their ships] are made of leather to resist the violence of the winds, and managed by chains instead of cables. They construct their vessels with broad bottoms and high poops and prows, on account of the tides. They are built of the wood of the oak, of which there is abundance. On this account, instead of fitting the planks close together, they leave interstices between them; these they fill with sea-weed to prevent the wood from drying up in dock for want of moisture; for the sea-weed is damp by nature, but the oak dry and arid.

Book 4 Chapter 5

Strabo’s chapter on the British Isles.

His last paragraph concerns Thule and remarkably, he quotes directly from Pytheas. Strabo firmly underscores the fact that Thule was an inhabited place, populated by farmers who drink beer & mead and perform a little hunting of scarce game. He even gives Pytheas credit: “he might possibly seem to have made adequate use of the facts” concerning his ethnography.

Text from: Bill Thayer, LacusCurtius: Strabo — Geographica

“Britain is triangular in shape; and its longest side stretches parallel to Celtica, neither exceeding nor falling short of the length of Celtica; for each of the two lengths is about four thousand three hundred — or four hundred — stadia: the Celtic length that extends from the outlets of the Rhenus as far as those northern ends of the Pyrenees that are near Aquitania, as also the length that extends from Cantium (which is directly opposite the outlets of the Rhenus), the most easterly point of Britain, as far as that westerly end of the island which lies opposite the Aquitanian Pyrenees. This, of course, is the shortest distance from the Pyrenees to the Rhenus, since, as I have already said, the greatest distance is as much as five thousand stadia; yet it is reasonable to suppose that there is a convergence from the parallel position which the river and the mountains occupy with reference to each other, since at the ends where they approach the ocean there is a curve in both of them.

There are only four passages which are habitually used in crossing from the mainland to the island, those which begin at the mouths of the rivers — the Rhenus, the Sequana, the Liger, and the Garumna. However, the people who put to sea from the regions that are near the Rhenus make the voyage, not from the mouths themselves, but from the coast of those Morini who have a common boundary with the Menapii. (On their coast, also, is Itium, which the Deified Caesar used as a naval station when he set sail for the island. He put to sea by night and landed on the following day about the fourth hour, thus having completed three hundred and twenty stadia²⁸ in his voyage across; and he found the grain still in the fields.) Most of the island is flat and overgrown with forests, although many of its districts are hilly. It bears grain, cattle, gold, silver, and iron. These things, accordingly, are exported from the island, as also hides, and slaves, and dogs that are by nature suited to the purposes of the chase; the Celti, however, use both these and the native dogs for the purposes of war too. The men of Britain are taller than the Celti, and not so yellow-haired, although their bodies are of looser build. The following is an indication of their size: I myself, in Rome, saw²⁹ mere lads towering as much as half a foot above the tallest people in the city, although they were bandy-legged and presented no fair lines anywhere else in their figure. Their habits are in part like those of the Celti, but in part more simple and barbaric — so much so that, on account of their inexperience, some of them, although well supplied with milk, make no cheese; and they have no experience in gardening or other agricultural pursuits. And they have powerful chieftains in their country. For the purposes of war they use chariots for the most part, just as some of the Celti do. The forests are their cities; for they fence in a spacious circular enclosure with trees which they have felled, and in that enclosure make huts for themselves and also pen up their cattle³⁰ — not, however, with the purpose of staying a long time. Their weather is more rainy than snowy; and on the days of clear sky fog prevails so long a time that throughout a whole day the sun is to be seen for only three or four hours round about midday.³¹ And this is the case also among the Morini and the Menapii and all the neighbours of the latter.

The Deified Caesar crossed over to the island twice, although he came back in haste, without accomplishing anything great or proceeding far into the island, not only on account of the quarrels that took place in the land of the Celti, among the barbarians and his own soldiers as well, but also on account of the fact that many of his ships had been lost at the time of the full moon, since the ebb-tides and the flood-tides got their increase at that time. However, he won two or three victories over the Britons, albeit he carried along only two legions of his army; and he brought back hostages, slaves, and quantities of the rest of the booty. At present, however, some of the chieftains there, after procuring the friendship of Caesar Augustus by sending embassies and by paying court to him, have not only dedicated offerings in the Capitol, but have also managed to make the whole of the island virtually Roman property³². Further, they submit so easily to heavy duties, both on the exports from there to Celtica and on the imports from Celtica (these latter are ivory chains and necklaces, and amber-gems and glass vessels and other petty wares of that sort), that there is no need of garrisoning the island; for one legion, at the least, and some cavalry would be required in order to carry off tribute from them, and the expense of the army would offset the tribute-money; in fact, the duties must necessarily be lessened if tribute is imposed, and, at the same time, dangers be encountered, if force is applied³³.

Besides some small islands round about Britain, there is also a large island, Ierne³⁴, which stretches parallel to Britain on the north, its breadth being greater than its length. Concerning this island I have nothing certain to tell, except that its inhabitants are more savage than the Britons, since they are man-eaters as well as heavy eaters³⁵, and since, further, they count it an honourable thing, when their fathers die, to devour them³⁶, and openly to have intercourse³⁷, not only with the other women, but also with their mothers and sisters; but I am saying this only with the understanding that I have no trustworthy witnesses for it; and yet, as for the matter of man-eating, that is said to be a custom of the Scythians also, and, in cases of necessity forced by sieges, the Celti, the Iberians, and several other peoples are said to have practised it³⁸.

Concerning Thule³⁹ our historical information is still more uncertain⁴⁰, on account of its outside⁴¹ position⁴²; for Thule, of all the countries that are named, is set farthest north. But that the things which Pytheas has told about Thule, as well as the other places in that part of the world, have indeed been fabricated by him, we have clear evidence from the districts that are known to us, for in most cases he has falsified them, as I have already said before, and hence he is obviously more false concerning the districts which have been placed outside the inhabited world⁴³. And yet, if judged by the science of the celestial phenomena⁴⁴ and by mathematical theory⁴⁵, he might possibly seem to have made adequate use of the facts as regards the people who live close to the frozen zone⁴⁶, when he says that, of the animals and domesticated fruits, there is an utter dearth of some and a scarcity of the others, and that the people live on millet and other herbs, and on fruits and roots; and where there are grain and honey, the people get their beverage, also, from them⁴⁷. As for the grain, he says⁴⁸, — since they have no pure sunshine — they pound it out in large storehouses, after first gathering in the ears thither; for the threshing floors become useless because of this lack of sunshine and because of the rains.⁴⁹”

Book 15 Chapter 10

In this chapter Strabo describes the geography encountered by Alexander the Great’s campaigns into the middle east and Asia. Notably the Drangae people of modern Sistan, Iran, were said to have tin mines⁵⁰. See this article for a discussion of tin in southern Mesopotamia.

“One would understand still better the accounts of the aforesaid mountainous country if one inquired further into the route which Alexander took in his pursuit of Bessus from the Parthian territory towards Bactriana; for he came into Ariana, and then amongst the Drangae, where he put to death the son of Parmenio, whom he caught in a plot; and he also sent persons to Ecbatana to put to death the father of Philotas, as an accomplice in the plot. It is said that these persons, riding on dromedaries, completed in eleven days a journey of thirty days, or even forty, and accomplished their undertaking. The Drangae, who otherwise are imitators of the Persians in their mode of life, have only scanty supplies of wine, but they have tin in their country.”