Oritae
The Oritae or Oreitae (Greek: Ὠρεῖται, Ōreîtai) were a tribe of the sea-coast of Gedrosia, mentioned by several ancient writers.[1]
History
The Oritae were a people inhabiting the sea-coast of Gedrosia, with whom Alexander fell in on his march from the Indus to Persia.[2] Their territory appears to have been bounded on the east by the Arabis, and on the west by a mountain spur which reached the sea at Cape Moran.[1]
There is considerable variation in the manner in which their names are written in different authorities: thus they appear as Oritae in Arrian;[3] Oritai (Ὠρῖται) in Strabo,[4] Dionysius Periegetes,[5] Plutarch,[6] and Stephanus Byzantinus; as Ori or Oroi (Ὦροι) in Arrian[7] and Pliny;[8] and Horitae in Curtius.[9][1]
Arrian and Strabo have described them at some length. According to the former, they were an Indian nation,[10] who wore the same arms and dress as those people, but differed from them in manners and institutions.[11] According to the latter they were a race living under their own laws,[4] and armed with javelins hardened at the point by fire and poisoned.[12][1]
In another place Arrian appears to have given the true Indians to the river Arabis (or Purali), the eastern boundary of the Oritae;[13] and the same view is taken by Pliny.[14] Pliny calls them "Ichthyophagi Oritae";[15] Curtius "Indi maritimi".[16][1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Vaux 1857, p. 493.
- ^ Arr. Anab. vi. 21, 22, 24, &c.
- ^ Arr. Ind. 23; Anab. vi. 22.
- ^ a b Strab. xv. p. 720.
- ^ Dionys. Per. v. 1096.
- ^ Plut. Alex. c. 66.
- ^ Arr. vi. 28.
- ^ Plin. HN. vi. 23. § 26.
- ^ Curt. ix. 10. 6.
- ^ Arr. vi. 21; cf. Diod. Sic. xvii. 105.
- ^ Arr. Ind. c. 23.
- ^ Strab. xv. p. 723.
- ^ Arr. Ind. c. 22.
- ^ Plin. NH. vii. 2.
- ^ Plin. NH. vi. 23. s. 25.
- ^ Curt. ix. 10. 8.
Sources
Primary
- Rackham H. (1961). Pliny: Natural History, with an English Translation. Vol. 2. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. pp. ???–???.
- Robson, E. Iliff (1966). Arrian, with an English Translation. Vol. 2. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. ???–???.
Secondary
- Vaux, W. S. W. (1857). "Oritae". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Vol. 2: Iabadius–Zymethus. London: Walton and Maberly. p. 493.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - Vincent, William (1797). The Voyage of Nearchus from the Indus to the Euphrates. London: T. Cadell jun. and W. Davies. pp. 216–218.
- Wiesehöfer, Josef (2006). "Oreitae". In Brill's New Pauly. Brill Publishers. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
