were still wider. The power which possessed Parthia, Hyrcania, and
Bactria, would rule almost of necessity over the whole tract between the
Elburz range and the Oxus, if not even over the region between the Oxus
and the Jaxartes; that which held the Caspian mountains and eastern
Media could not fail to have influence over the tribes of the Iranic
desert; while Assyria Proper would naturally follow the fortunes of
Babylonia and Susiana. Still the extent of territory thus indicated
rests only on conjecture. If we confine ourselves to what is known by
positive evidence, we can only say that the Parthian Kingdom of this
period contained, at least, twelve provinces above enumerated. It thus
stretched from east to west a distance of fifteen hundred miles between
the Suleiman mountains and the Euphrates, varying in width from three or
four hundred miles--or even more--towards the west and east, to a
narrow strip of less than a hundred miles toward the centre. It probably
comprised an area of about 450,000 square miles; which is somewhat less
than that of the modern Persia.

Unlike the modern Persia, however, the territory consisted almost
entirely of productive regions. The excellent quality of the soil
in Parthia Proper, Hyrcania, and Margiana, has been already noticed.
Bactria, the next province to Margiana towards the east, was less
uniformly fertile; but still it contained a considerable proportion of
good land along the course of the Oxus and its tributaries, which was
cultivated in vineyards and cornfields, or else pastured large herds of
cattle. The Mardian mountain territory was well wooded; and the plain
between the mountains and the Caspian was rich in the extreme. Media,
where it adjoined on the desert, was comparatively sterile; but still
even here an elaborate system of artificial irrigation brought a belt of
land under culture. Further west, in the Zagros chain, Media comprised
some excellent pasture lands, together with numerous valleys as
productive as any in Asia. Elymais was, in part, of the same character
with the mountainous portion of Media, while beyond the mountain it
sank down into a rich alluvium, not much inferior to the Babylonian.
Babylonia itself was confessedly the most fertile country in Asia. It
produced wheat, barley, millet, sesame, vetches, dates, and fruits
of all kinds. The return of the wheat crop was from fifty to a
hundred-and-fifty-fold; while that of the barley crop was three
hundred-f