The name Albania (in the Tosk dialect Arberia, in the Gheg Arbenia), like Albania in the Caucasus, Armenia, Albany in Britain, and Auvergne (Arvenia) in France, is probably connected with the root alb, alp, and signifies "the white or snowy uplands."
Its importance is due to its command of the point where the chief trade route from Persia and Central Asia to Europe, over the table-land of Armenia by Bayezid and Erzerum, descends to the sea.
Before the extinction of the line in 1475, it had succeeded in putting a branch on the throne of Armenia.
Mithradates defeated Cotta, the Roman consul, at Chalcedon; but Lucullus worsted him, and drove him in 72 to take refuge in Armenia with his son-in-law Tigranes.
It is a rapid and muddy stream, dangerous to cross when swollen by the melting of the snows in Armenia, but fordable in its ordinary state.
