HYRCANIA  . (1) An

ancient district of Asia, south of the Caspian Sea, and bounded on the E. by the river Oxus, called V irkana, or " Wolf's Land," in Old Persian . It was a wide and indefinite tract . Its chief city is called Tape by Strabo, Zadracarta by Arrian (probably the modern Astarabad) . The latter is evidently the same as Carta, mentioned by Strabo as an important city . Little is known of the history of the country . Xenophon says it was subdued by the Assyrians; Curtius that 6000 Hyrcanians were in the army of Darius III . (2) Two towns named Hyrcania are mentioned, one in Hyrcania, the other in Lydia . The latter is said to have derived its name from a colony of Hyrcanians, transported thither by the Persians .