Κάσπειρος - Stephanos Ethnika

Κάσπειρος OCR ✓ Trans ✓ Confirmed ✓

city

Entry #109
Greek source: meineke
Meineke: 364.10 | Billerbeck: Κ109
OCR: gemini-constrained (gemini-3-flash-preview) on 2025-12-19
Word count: 94
AI prompt: v1
Sources: Ἡρόδοτος (Herodotus) γ̄ (3,93,3), Διονύσιος (Dionysius) fr. 6a Livrea = fr. 5a Heitsch; fr. 6b Livrea = fr. 5b Heitsch [Βασσαρικῶν], Βασσαρικά ((work title) Bassarikōn / Bassarica) fr. 6a Livrea = fr. 5a Heitsch; fr. 6b Livrea = fr. 5b Heitsch [Βασσαρικῶν]
Entities: Κάσπειρος (Kaspeiros (Kaspeirus)) [place], Κάσπειροι (Kaspeirians / Kaspeiri people) [people], Πάρθοι (Parthians) [people], Ἰνδία (India) [place], Ἰνδοί (Indians) [people], Κοσσαῖος (Kossaean (Kossaios)) [people], Ἀρηνοί (Arenoi) [people], Στάγειρος (Stageiros / Stagira (Stageros)) [place], Σταγειρίτης (Stagirite) [people], Κασπειρίτης (Kaspeirite (inhabitant of Kaspeiros)) [people]
Etymologies: Place Transfer: They say that the Kossai are a race originating 'from Kasp(e)irit(h)en' (i.e. the Kossai descend from Kasp[e]ir).; Unclear Metalinguistic: (corrupt phrase) 'from somewhere Kaspieton among the tribes...' — text evidently claims an origin or provenance 'πόθεν' (from where) for Κασπίετον but is too corrupt to recover precisely.; Morphological Composition: But the barbarians render/compare it into Greek as 'phila Gaspí' (i.e. they equate or adapt the name to Greek elements such as φιλα- + Γασπί).
Source: e9783110219630_i0311.jpg
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Κάσπειρος, πόλις Πάρθων προσεχὴς τῇ Ἰνδικῇ. Ἡρόδοτος γʹ. τὸ ἐθνικὸν Κάσπειροι, ὡς Διονύσιος ἐν γʹ Βασσαρικῶν “ἐν δέ τε Κάσπειροι ποσσικλυτοί, ἐν δ´ Ἀριηνοί”. καὶ πάλιν Κοσσαῖος γενεὴν Κασπειρόθεν, οἵ ῥά τε πάντων Ἰνδῶν ὅσσοι ἔασιν ἀφάρτερα γούνατ´ ἔχουσιν· ὅσσον γάρ τ´ ἐν ὄρεσσιν ἀριστεύουσι λέοντες, ἢ ὁπόσον δελφῖνες ἔσω ἁλὸς ἠχηέσσης, αἰετὸς εἰν ὄρνισι μεταπρέπει ἀγρομένοισιν, ἵπποι τε πλακόεντος ἔσω πεδίοιο θέοντες, τόσσον ἐλαφρότατοισι περιπροφέρουσι πόδεσσιν Κάσπειροι μετὰ φῦλα τά τ´ ἄφθιτος ἔλλαχεν ἠώς. ἔδει οὖν ὡς Στάγειρος Σταγειρίτης, οὕτως Κάσπειρος Κασπειρίτης. ἀλλ´ οἱ βάρβαροι Ἑλληνικὴν ἀναλογίαν οὐ φυλάττουσι.

Kaspeiros: a city of the Parthians situated on the border with India. Herodotus, book 3. The ethnonym is 'Kaspeiroi', as per Dionysius in book 3 of the Bassarika: “and among them the far-famed Kaspeiroi, and the Arienoi.” And again: “a Kossaian by descent, from Kaspeiros, who indeed, out of all the Indians that exist have the swifter knees; for as much as lions excel in the mountains, or as much as dolphins within the resounding sea, as the eagle stands out among the birds that flock together, and as horses dashing across the flat plain, so much do the Kaspeiroi surpass with the lightest feet, among the tribes who the undying Dawn takes as her charge.” It therefore should be, as in 'Stageiros Stageirites', 'Kaspeiros Kaspeirites' accordingly. But barbarians do not observe Greek analogy.

Herodian overlaps

Stephanos excerpt (left) is aligned with matched Herodian passages (right). Colors indicate corresponding overlap spans.

Herodian 1.198

char LCS 36 (7.0%) · word LCS 6 (6.7%)

Stephanos

Κάσπειρος, πόλις Πάρθων προσεχὴς τῇ Ἰνδικῇ. Ἡρόδοτος γʹ. τὸ ἐθνικὸν Κάσπειροι, ὡς Διονύσιος ἐν γʹ Βασσαρικῶν “ἐν δέ τε Κάσπειροι ποσσικλυτοί, ἐν δ´ Ἀριηνοί”. καὶ πάλιν Κοσσαῖος γενεὴν Κασπειρόθεν, οἵ ῥά τε πάντων Ἰνδῶν ὅσσοι ἔασιν ἀφάρτερα γούνατ´ ἔχουσιν· ὅσσον…

Herodian

…νῶ ὄνειρος, πέπτω πέπειρος. τὸ δὲ 'αι' τῆς πρώτης συλλαβῆς γέγονεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀΐσσω κατὰ κρᾶσιν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Αἴγειρος πόλις Μεγαρίδος, ὡς Θεόπομπος πεντηκοστῇ ἕκτῃ, ἣν Στράβων Αἰγείρουσαν λέγει. σάπφειρος λίθος, Στάγειρος. Κάσπειρος πόλις Πάρθων προσεχὴς τῇ Ἰνδικῇ καὶ τὸ ἐθνικὸν ὁμοφώνως. Στάλιρος, Σίτιρος, Βίστιρος πόλις Θρᾴκης καὶ Πίστιρος τὸ ἐμπόριον. Κύστιρος, Δύσιρος, Βεδύσιρος, ἄϊρος σύνθετον ἀπὸ δισυλλάβου Ἶρος «ἦ τάχα Ἶρος ἄϊρος