This article is about the encyclopedia. For the 2000 rock album, see Geographica (album). For the French-language magazine, see Géographica. For the lost 3rd century BC text, see Eratosthenes.
The Geographica (Greek: Γεωγραφικά, Geōgraphiká; Latin: Geographica or Strabonis Rerum Geographicarum Libri XVII, "Strabo's 17 Books on Geographical Topics") or Geography is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek in the late 1st century BC or early 1st century AD and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman Empire of Greek descent. There is a fragmentary palimpsest dating to the fifth century. The earliest manuscripts of books 1–9 date to the tenth century, with a 13th-century manuscript containing the entire text.[1]
Title page of the 1620 edition of Isaac Casaubon's Geographica, whose 840 page numbers prefixed by "C" are now used as a standard text reference.
Apart from the "outline", two words recur, "earth" and "country." Something of a theorist, Strabo explains what he means by Geography and Chorography:[7]
It is the sea more than anything else that defines the contours of the land (geōgraphei) and gives it its shape, by forming gulfs, deep seas, straits and likewise isthmuses, peninsulas, and promontories; but both the rivers and the mountains assist the seas herein. It is through such natural features that we gain a clear conception of continents, nations, favourable positions of cities and all the other diversified details with which our geographical map (chorographikos pinax) is filled.
From this description it is clear that by geography Strabo means ancient physical geography and by chorography, political geography. The two are combined in this work, which makes a "circuit of the earth" detailing the physical and political features. Strabo often uses the adjective geōgraphika with reference to the works of others and to geography in general, but not of his own work. In the Middle Ages it became the standard name used of his work.
The date of Geographica is a large topic, perhaps because Strabo worked on it along with his History for most of his adult life. He traveled extensively, undoubtedly gathering notes, and made extended visits to Rome and Alexandria, where he is sure to have spent time in the famous library taking notes from his sources.
Strabo visited Rome in 44 BC at age 19 or 20 apparently for purposes of education. He studied under various persons, including Tyrannion, a captive educated Greek and private tutor, who instructed Cicero's two sons. Cicero says:[8]
The geographical work I had planned is a big undertaking...if I take Tyrannion's views too...
If one presumes that Strabo acquired the motivation for writing geography during his education, the latter must have been complete by the time of his next visit to Rome in 35 BC at 29 years old. He may have been gathering notes but the earliest indication that he must have been preparing them is his extended visit to Alexandria 25–20 BC. In 20 he was 44 years old. His "numerous excerpts" from "the works of his predecessors" are most likely to have been noted at the library there.[9] Whether these hypothetical notes first found their way into his history and then into his geography or were simply ported along as notes remains unknown.
20th century drawing of Augustus
Most of the events of the life of Augustus mentioned by Strabo occurred 31–7 BC with a gap 6 BC – 14 AD, which can be interpreted as an interval after first publication in 7 BC.[10] Then in 19 AD a specific reference dates a passage: he said that the Carni and Norici had been at peace since they were "stopped ... from their riotous incursions ...." by Drusus 33 years ago, which was 15 BC, dating the passage 19 AD.[11] The latest event mentioned is the death of Juba at no later than 23 AD, when Strabo was in his 80s. These events can be interpreted as a second edition unless he saved all his notes and wrote the book entirely after the age of 80.
Oldest extant manuscriptsedit
"Today there are about thirty manuscripts in existence, with a fragmentary palimpsest of the fifth century the earliest (Vaticanus gr. 2306 + 2061 A). Two manuscripts in Paris provide the best extant text: Parisinus gr. 1397 of the tenth century for Books 1-9, and Parisinus gr. 1393 of the thirteenth century for the entire text. The end of Book 7 had been lost sometime in the latter Byzantine period.
A Latin translation commissioned by Pope Nicholas V appeared in 1469: this was the edition probably used by Columbus and other early Renaissance explorers. The first printed Greek edition was the Aldine of 1516, and the first text with commentary was produced by Isaac Casaubon in Geneva in 1587. The Teubner edition appeared in 1852-3 under the editorship of August Meineke." (Roller 51–52)[12]
Compositionedit
Strabo is his own best expounder of his principles of composition:[13]
In short, this book of mine should be ... useful alike to the statesman and to the public at large – as was my work on History. ... And so, after I had written my Historical Sketches ... I determined to write the present treatise also; for this work is based on the same plan, and is addressed to the same class of readers, and particularly to men of exalted stations in life. ... in this work also I must leave untouched what is petty and inconspicuous, and devote my attention to what is noble and great, and to what contains the practically useful, or memorable, or entertaining. ... For it, too, is a colossal work, in that it deals with the facts about large things only, and wholes ....
Contentedit
An outline of the encyclopedia follows, with links to the appropriate Wikipedia article.
Book I – definition and history of geographyedit
Pages C1 through C67, Loeb Volume I pages 3–249.
Chapter 1 – description of geography and this encyclopediaedit
The ecumene. Geography requires encyclopedic knowledge of celestial, terrestrial and maritime features as well as natural history and mathematics and is of strategic interest.
20
Earth is a sphere with surface curved by the law of gravity, that bodies move to the center.
21
Knowledge of geometry is required to understand geography.
Hipparchus says the equator is 252,000 stadia long; the great circle distance from equator to pole is 63,000 stadia.
8
Strabo does not believe Pytheas that Thule is farthest north at the Arctic Circle. He thinks no one is north of Ierne. He believes the Romans scorned to invade Britain as being worthless.
9
The length and width of the inhabited world are 70,000 and 30,000 stadia respectively.
10
Strabo recommends representing the Earth on a globe of no less than 10 feet in diameter or on a plane map of at least 7 feet.
11–12
Strabo says he personally travelled from Armenia to Tyrrhenia and from the Euxine Sea to the frontiers of Ethiopia. He and all other geographers receive information mostly by hearsay. He went up the Nile river with his friend Aelius Gallus, prefect of Egypt, to the edge of Ethiopia and Syene.
Representation on a modern map of Iberia according to Strabo.
Chapter 1 – Vicinity of the Sacred Capeedit
Book
Section
Description
III.1
1–3
Ibēria is poor, inhospitable and mountainous, 6000 stadia N–S, 5000 E–W. The Purēnē oros is aligned N–S and separates Ibēria from Keltikē.[14]
4
The Sacred Cape is the westernmost point of the inhabited world.[15] The country next to it is called Cuneus, "wedge", in the Latin language from its shape. It is occupied by the Ibēres across the straits from the Maurousioi.
5
Strabo repeats Poseidonius' assertion that the setting sun is larger at the coast because of a lens effect through the water vapor. He says Artemidorus is wrong in claiming a size of 100 times larger and that he could not have seen it because the cape was taboo at night.
6
South West Iberia is delimited by the Tagus river (to the north of the Sacred Cape) and the Anas river to the east. The region is populated by the Keltikoi and some Lusitanai resettled there from beyond the Tagus by the Romans. Inland are the Karpētanoi (Madrid region), the Ōrētanoi (La Mancha and eastern Sierra Morena, and the Ouettōnoi (Salamanca region). The fertile southeast, Baetica (Andalusia region), east of the Baetis river after which it is named, is occupied by the Tourdētanoi or Tourdouloi, who have writing and a literature. Other Iberians have alphabets, but not the same, as they do not all use the same languages (glōttai).
Chapter 2 – Bæticaedit
Book
Section
Description
III.2
1–2
Bætica is the region around the Bætis river, main cities are Corduba and Gadira.
3–5
Bætis river is navigable and boats go from the sea to Corduba.
6
Bætica soil is fertile, it exports a lot of wheat, wine, and oil.
7
Bætica littoral is full of fish, especially fat tuna, which eat a lot of acorns like some "sea pigs".
8
Bætica subsoil is full of gold, silver, cooper, and iron.
9–10
How gold and silver are extracted from the soil of Baetica and other regions of Hispania.
11–13
What Homer says about Bætica.
14–15
Bætica was a Phœnician colony, now it's romanised.
The towns and rivers of the Cévennes and the Rhône basin as far as Lemenna (lac Léman), including Avenio (Avignon), Arausio (Orange) and Vienna (Vienne)
12
The right bank of the Rhône, including Nemausos (Nîmes)
Some thirty manuscripts of Geographica or parts of it have survived, almost all of them medieval copies of copies, though there are fragments from papyrus rolls which were probably copied out c. 100–300 AD. Scholars have struggled for a century and a half to produce an accurate edition close to what Strabo wrote. A definitive one (by translator Stefan Radt) has been in publication since 2002, appearing at a rate of about a volume a year.[16]
Strabo (1917–1932). Horace Leonard Jones (ed.). The Loeb Classical Library: The Geography of Strabo: in Eight Volumes. Translated by Jones; John Robert Sitlington Sterrett. Cambridge, Massachusetts/London: Harvard University Press/William Heinemann. ISBN0-674-99055-2. Contains Books 1–17, Greek on the left page, English on the right. Sterrett translated Books I and II and wrote the introduction before dying in 1915. Jones changed Sterrett's style from free to more literal and finished the translation. The Introduction contains a major bibliography on all aspects of Strabo and a definitive presentation of the manuscripts and editions up until 1917.
Frenchedit
Tardieu, Amédée (1886). Géographie de Strabon: Traduction Nouvelle: Tome Premier (in French). Paris: Librairie Hachette. Books I – VI only.
Tardieu, Amédée (1873). Géographie de Strabon: Traduction Nouvelle: Tome Deuxième (in French). Paris: Librairie Hachette. Books VII – XII only.
Germanedit
Radt, Stefan (translator; critical apparatus) (2002–2011). Strabons Geographika. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Books I–XVII in ten volumes.
^Strabo, and Duane W Roller. The Geography of Strabo. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 51
^Dueck, Daniela (2000). Strabo of Amasia: A Greek Man of Letters in Augustan Rome. London, New York: Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group. p. 145. ISBN0-415-21672-9.
^Strabo rotates the Pyrenees to form the east side of Iberia, which is correspondingly distorted.
^In fact adjacent Cape St. Vincent is further west but Sagres Point was the Sacred Cape.
^"Print and online editions of the Greek text of Strabo's Geography". strabo.ca.
External linksedit
The text of Strabo online
Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Γεωγραφικά
Strabo (1924). H.L. Jones (ed.). "Strabo: The Geography". LacusCurtius. Translated by Jones. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
Strabo (1924). H.L. Jones (ed.). "Strabo, Geography". The Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 2007-11-03. Books 6–14.
Strabo (1903-06-19). H.C. Hamilton; W. Falconer (eds.). "Strabo, Geography". The Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
Strabo (1852–1853). A. Meineke (ed.). "Strabo, Geography". The Perseus Digital Library (in Greek). Tufts University. Retrieved 2007-11-03. Books 6–14.
Other links
World map as described by Strabo in Gegraphica
February 15, 2024
geographica, this, article, about, encyclopedia, 2000, rock, album, album, french, language, magazine, géographica, lost, century, text, eratosthenes, greek, Γεωγραφικά, geōgraphiká, latin, strabonis, rerum, libri, xvii, strabo, books, topics, geography, encyc. This article is about the encyclopedia For the 2000 rock album see Geographica album For the French language magazine see Geographica For the lost 3rd century BC text see Eratosthenes The Geographica Greek Gewgrafika Geōgraphika Latin Geographica or Strabonis Rerum Geographicarum Libri XVII Strabo s 17 Books on Geographical Topics or Geography is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge consisting of 17 books written in Greek in the late 1st century BC or early 1st century AD and attributed to Strabo an educated citizen of the Roman Empire of Greek descent There is a fragmentary palimpsest dating to the fifth century The earliest manuscripts of books 1 9 date to the tenth century with a 13th century manuscript containing the entire text 1 Title page of the 1620 edition of Isaac Casaubon s Geographica whose 840 page numbers prefixed by C are now used as a standard text reference Contents 1 Title of the work 2 Ascribed date 3 Oldest extant manuscripts 4 Composition 5 Content 5 1 Book I definition and history of geography 5 1 1 Chapter 1 description of geography and this encyclopedia 5 1 2 Chapter 2 contributors to geography 5 1 3 Chapter 3 physical geography 5 1 4 Chapter 4 political geography 5 2 Book II mathematics of geography 5 2 1 Chapter 1 distances between parallels and meridians 5 2 2 Chapter 2 the five zones 5 2 3 Chapter 3 distribution of plants animals civilizations 5 2 4 Chapter 4 criticisms of Polybius and Eratosthenes maps 5 2 5 Chapter 5 Strabo s view of the ecumene 5 3 Book III Iberian peninsula 5 3 1 Chapter 1 Vicinity of the Sacred Cape 5 3 2 Chapter 2 Baetica 5 3 3 Chapter 3 Iberia 5 3 4 Chapter 4 5 3 5 Chapter 5 Islands of Iberia Baleares Cassiterides Gades 5 4 Book IV Gaul Britain Ireland Thule the Alps 5 4 1 Chapter 1 Narbonitis 5 4 2 Chapter 2 Aquitania 5 4 3 Chapter 3 Celtica 5 4 4 Chapter 4 Northwest Gaul and the Belgae 5 4 5 Chapter 5 Great Britain Ireland and other islands 5 4 6 Chapter 6 The Alps 5 5 Book V Italy to Campania 5 5 1 Chapter 1 Northern Italy 5 5 2 Chapter 2 Tuscany and Umbria 5 5 3 Chapter 3 The Sabine Hills and Latium 5 5 4 Chapter 4 Picenum and Campania 5 6 Book VI south Italy Sicily 5 6 1 Chapter 1 Southern Italy 5 6 2 Chapter 2 Sicily 5 6 3 Chapter 3 Greece 5 6 4 Chapter 4 Italy summary 5 7 Book VII north east and central Europe 5 7 1 Chapter 1 Germania 5 7 2 Chapter 2 Germania 5 7 3 Chapter 3 northern Black Sea region 5 7 4 Chapter 4 Crimea 5 7 5 Chapter 5 Illyria and Pannonia 5 7 6 Chapter 6 Eastern Dacia and Thrace 5 7 7 Chapter 7 Epirus 5 8 Book VIII Greece 5 9 Book IX More on Greece 5 9 1 Chapter 1 Attica 5 9 2 Chapter 2 Boeotia 5 9 3 Chapter 3 Phocis 5 9 4 Chapter 4 Locris 5 9 5 Chapter 5 Thessaly 5 10 Book X Yet more on Greece Greek islands 5 10 1 Chapter 1 Euboea 5 10 2 Chapter 2 3 Aetolia and Acarnania 5 10 3 Chapter 4 Crete 5 10 4 Chapter 5 Archipelagos 5 11 Book XI Russia east of the Don the Transcaucasus northwest Iran Central Asia 5 11 1 Chapter 1 East of the Don 5 11 2 Chapter 2 Sarmatia 5 11 3 Chapter 3 Iberia 5 11 4 Chapter 4 Albania 5 11 5 Chapter 5 The Caucasus 5 11 6 Chapter 6 The Caspian 5 11 7 Chapter 7 East of the Caspian 5 11 8 Chapter 8 Geography of the Caspian and Iran 5 11 9 Chapter 9 Parthia 5 11 10 Chapter 10 Aria and Margiana 5 11 11 Chapter 11 Bactria 5 11 12 Chapter 12 The Taurus Mountains 5 11 13 Chapter 13 Media 5 11 14 Chapter 14 Armenia 5 12 Book XII Anatolia 5 12 1 Chapter 1 2 Cappadocia 5 12 2 Chapter 3 Pontus 5 12 3 Chapter 4 Bithynia 5 12 4 Chapter 5 7 Galatia Lycaonia and Pisidia 5 12 5 Chapter 8 Phrygia 5 13 Book XIII northern Aegean 5 13 1 Chapter 1 Troad 5 14 Book XIV eastern Aegean 5 14 1 Chapter 2 Asia Minor 5 15 Book XV Persia Ariana the Indian subcontinent 5 16 Book XVI Middle East 5 16 1 Summary 5 16 2 Chapter 1 Assyria 5 16 3 Chapter 2 Syria 5 16 4 Chapter 3 Persian Gulf 5 16 5 Chapter 4 Arabia 5 17 Book XVII North Africa 5 17 1 Chapter 1 Nile Egypt Cyrenaica 5 17 2 Chapter 2 5 17 3 Chapter 3 6 Editorial history 7 Editions and translations 7 1 Ancient Greek 7 2 Ancient Greek and English 7 3 French 7 4 German 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksTitle of the work edit nbsp Map of the world according to StraboStrabo refers to his Geography within it by several names 2 geōgraphia description of the earth 3 chōrographia description of the land periegesis an outline 4 periodos ges circuit of the earth 5 periodeia tes chōras circuit of the land 6 Apart from the outline two words recur earth and country Something of a theorist Strabo explains what he means by Geography and Chorography 7 It is the sea more than anything else that defines the contours of the land geōgraphei and gives it its shape by forming gulfs deep seas straits and likewise isthmuses peninsulas and promontories but both the rivers and the mountains assist the seas herein It is through such natural features that we gain a clear conception of continents nations favourable positions of cities and all the other diversified details with which our geographical map chorographikos pinax is filled From this description it is clear that by geography Strabo means ancient physical geography and by chorography political geography The two are combined in this work which makes a circuit of the earth detailing the physical and political features Strabo often uses the adjective geōgraphika with reference to the works of others and to geography in general but not of his own work In the Middle Ages it became the standard name used of his work Ascribed date editFurther information History of geography The date of Geographica is a large topic perhaps because Strabo worked on it along with his History for most of his adult life He traveled extensively undoubtedly gathering notes and made extended visits to Rome and Alexandria where he is sure to have spent time in the famous library taking notes from his sources Strabo visited Rome in 44 BC at age 19 or 20 apparently for purposes of education He studied under various persons including Tyrannion a captive educated Greek and private tutor who instructed Cicero s two sons Cicero says 8 The geographical work I had planned is a big undertaking if I take Tyrannion s views too If one presumes that Strabo acquired the motivation for writing geography during his education the latter must have been complete by the time of his next visit to Rome in 35 BC at 29 years old He may have been gathering notes but the earliest indication that he must have been preparing them is his extended visit to Alexandria 25 20 BC In 20 he was 44 years old His numerous excerpts from the works of his predecessors are most likely to have been noted at the library there 9 Whether these hypothetical notes first found their way into his history and then into his geography or were simply ported along as notes remains unknown nbsp 20th century drawing of AugustusMost of the events of the life of Augustus mentioned by Strabo occurred 31 7 BC with a gap 6 BC 14 AD which can be interpreted as an interval after first publication in 7 BC 10 Then in 19 AD a specific reference dates a passage he said that the Carni and Norici had been at peace since they were stopped from their riotous incursions by Drusus 33 years ago which was 15 BC dating the passage 19 AD 11 The latest event mentioned is the death of Juba at no later than 23 AD when Strabo was in his 80s These events can be interpreted as a second edition unless he saved all his notes and wrote the book entirely after the age of 80 Oldest extant manuscripts edit Today there are about thirty manuscripts in existence with a fragmentary palimpsest of the fifth century the earliest Vaticanus gr 2306 2061 A Two manuscripts in Paris provide the best extant text Parisinus gr 1397 of the tenth century for Books 1 9 and Parisinus gr 1393 of the thirteenth century for the entire text The end of Book 7 had been lost sometime in the latter Byzantine period A Latin translation commissioned by Pope Nicholas V appeared in 1469 this was the edition probably used by Columbus and other early Renaissance explorers The first printed Greek edition was the Aldine of 1516 and the first text with commentary was produced by Isaac Casaubon in Geneva in 1587 The Teubner edition appeared in 1852 3 under the editorship of August Meineke Roller 51 52 12 Composition editStrabo is his own best expounder of his principles of composition 13 In short this book of mine should be useful alike to the statesman and to the public at large as was my work on History And so after I had written my Historical Sketches I determined to write the present treatise also for this work is based on the same plan and is addressed to the same class of readers and particularly to men of exalted stations in life in this work also I must leave untouched what is petty and inconspicuous and devote my attention to what is noble and great and to what contains the practically useful or memorable or entertaining For it too is a colossal work in that it deals with the facts about large things only and wholes Content editAn outline of the encyclopedia follows with links to the appropriate Wikipedia article Book I definition and history of geography edit Pages C1 through C67 Loeb Volume I pages 3 249 Chapter 1 description of geography and this encyclopedia edit Book Section DescriptionI 1 1 Geography is a branch of philosophy 2 Homer is the founder of geography 3 The Ocean 4 The Elysian Plain 5 The Isles of the Blessed 6 The Aethiopians Definition of the Arctic Circle7 9 Tides of the Ocean Earth is an island 10 The Mediterranean the land of the Cimmerians the Ister 11 Anaximander and Hecataeus 12 Hipparchus and the climata 13 The antipodes 14 19 The ecumene Geography requires encyclopedic knowledge of celestial terrestrial and maritime features as well as natural history and mathematics and is of strategic interest 20 Earth is a sphere with surface curved by the law of gravity that bodies move to the center 21 Knowledge of geometry is required to understand geography 22 23 The purpose and plan of the encyclopedia Chapter 2 contributors to geography edit Book Section DescriptionI 2 1 Contributions of the Romans and Parthians to geography2 3 Critique of Eratosthenes4 40 Critique of Homer s and the other poets geography and various writers view of it especially Eratosthenes Chapter 3 physical geography edit Book Section DescriptionI 3 1 2 Critiques of Eratosthenes sources Damastes Euhemerus 3 Critiques of Eratosthenes geology shape of the Earth 4 7 Fossils formation of the seas 8 9 Silting 10 Volcanic action 11 12 Currents 13 15 More on the formation of the seas 16 20 Island building earthquakes21 Human migration 22 23 Hyperboreans HypernotiansChapter 4 political geography edit Book Section DescriptionI 4 1 Heaven is spherical corresponding to Earth s sphericity 2 6 Distances along lines of latitude and longitude to various peoples and places 7 8 The three continents Europe Asia Libya 9 Recommends Alexander the Great s division of people into good or bad rather than the traditional Greek barbarians and Greeks Book II mathematics of geography edit Pages C67 through C136 Loeb Volume I pages 252 521 Chapter 1 distances between parallels and meridians edit Book Section DescriptionII 1 1 3 Relates Eratosthenes description of the Tropic of Cancer which was based on Patrocles 4 5 Critiques Hipparchus criticism of Patrocles which was based on Deimachus and Megasthenes Points out that Eratosthenes used the Library of Alexandria 6 8 Critique of Patrocles 9 Fabrications of the geographers concerning India 10 41 Calculations of distances between parallels and meridians passing through various places in the habitable world according to various geographers Hipparchus Eratosthenes Pytheas Deimachus Chapter 2 the five zones edit Book Section DescriptionII 2 1 Introduces the work Oceans by Poseidonius 2 3 Critiques Poseidonius who criticises Parmenides and Aristotle on the widths and locations of the five zones Chapter 3 distribution of plants animals civilizations edit Book Section DescriptionII 3 1 3 Critiques the six zones of Polybius 4 Describes African voyages the circumnavigation by an expedition sent by Necho II another by Magus to India by Eudoxus of Cyzicus 5 Adventures and misadventures of Eudoxus Attacks the credibility of Pytheas Euhemerus Antiphanes 6 Poseidonius theory of Atlantis attributes migration of Cimbri to inundation 7 Attributes the distribution of plants animals and civilizations to chance suntuchia rather than to zones which was Poseidonius theory 8 Example of random racial distribution Ethiopians were in both Asia India and Libya Africa Strabo says his school avoids such causal connections Chapter 4 criticisms of Polybius and Eratosthenes maps edit Book Section DescriptionII 4 1 2 Polybius critique of Pytheas 3 Strabo s criticisms of Polybius European distances 4 Strabo s criticisms of Polybius critique of the distances of Eratosthenes 5 6 Strabo s corrections to various geographers descriptions of the locations of the Tanais the Tyras the Borysthenes and the Hypanis 7 Strabo criticises Polybius length of the inhabited world 8 Strabo criticises Polybius and Eratosthenes physical divisions of Europe Chapter 5 Strabo s view of the ecumene edit Book Section DescriptionII 5 1 Representation of a spherical surface as a plane requires the geographer to be a mathematician 2 The celestial sphere gravity the Earth s axis and the poles stellar paths equator tropics arctic circles ecliptic zodiac 3 The five zones terrestrial and celestial the hemispheres the ocean 4 The gnomon latitude longitude circumference of the Earth 5 6 The inhabited world is an island shaped like a truncated cone in a spherical quadrilateral formed between the equator the arctic circle and a great circle passing through the poles The island is 70 000 stadia long by 30 000 stadia wide 7 Hipparchus says the equator is 252 000 stadia long the great circle distance from equator to pole is 63 000 stadia 8 Strabo does not believe Pytheas that Thule is farthest north at the Arctic Circle He thinks no one is north of Ierne He believes the Romans scorned to invade Britain as being worthless 9 The length and width of the inhabited world are 70 000 and 30 000 stadia respectively 10 Strabo recommends representing the Earth on a globe of no less than 10 feet in diameter or on a plane map of at least 7 feet 11 12 Strabo says he personally travelled from Armenia to Tyrrhenia and from the Euxine Sea to the frontiers of Ethiopia He and all other geographers receive information mostly by hearsay He went up the Nile river with his friend Aelius Gallus prefect of Egypt to the edge of Ethiopia and Syene 13 16 The known limits of the Earth are Meroe in the Nile river Ierne the Sacred Promontory beyond the Pillars of Hercules and east of Bactriana 17 18 The sea determines the contours of the land The four largest internal seas are the Caspian sea the Persian Gulf the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea 19 25 Mediterranean Sea 26 The continents are Europe Libya Asia Europe develops excellence in men and government and has contributed the most to the others 27 33 States the locations of the countries of the three continents 34 Division of the circumference of the Earth which is 252 000 stadia by 360 gives 700 stadia per section 35 43 Equator Tropic circle Arctic circle latitude by the shadow of the gnomon and the length of the longest day Book III Iberian peninsula edit nbsp Representation on a modern map of Iberia according to Strabo Chapter 1 Vicinity of the Sacred Cape edit Book Section DescriptionIII 1 1 3 Iberia is poor inhospitable and mountainous 6000 stadia N S 5000 E W The Purene oros is aligned N S and separates Iberia from Keltike 14 4 The Sacred Cape is the westernmost point of the inhabited world 15 The country next to it is called Cuneus wedge in the Latin language from its shape It is occupied by the Iberes across the straits from the Maurousioi 5 Strabo repeats Poseidonius assertion that the setting sun is larger at the coast because of a lens effect through the water vapor He says Artemidorus is wrong in claiming a size of 100 times larger and that he could not have seen it because the cape was taboo at night 6 South West Iberia is delimited by the Tagus river to the north of the Sacred Cape and the Anas river to the east The region is populated by the Keltikoi and some Lusitanai resettled there from beyond the Tagus by the Romans Inland are the Karpetanoi Madrid region the Ōretanoi La Mancha and eastern Sierra Morena and the Ouettōnoi Salamanca region The fertile southeast Baetica Andalusia region east of the Baetis river after which it is named is occupied by the Tourdetanoi or Tourdouloi who have writing and a literature Other Iberians have alphabets but not the same as they do not all use the same languages glōttai Chapter 2 Baetica edit Book Section DescriptionIII 2 1 2 Baetica is the region around the Baetis river main cities are Corduba and Gadira 3 5 Baetis river is navigable and boats go from the sea to Corduba 6 Baetica soil is fertile it exports a lot of wheat wine and oil 7 Baetica littoral is full of fish especially fat tuna which eat a lot of acorns like some sea pigs 8 Baetica subsoil is full of gold silver cooper and iron 9 10 How gold and silver are extracted from the soil of Baetica and other regions of Hispania 11 13 What Homer says about Baetica 14 15 Baetica was a Phœnician colony now it s romanised Chapter 3 Iberia edit Book Section DescriptionIII1 Topography of Iberia2 Turdetani3 North West Spain discussed4 Seacoast from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Pyrenees amp inland5 Islands of Iberia678Chapter 4 edit Book Section DescriptionIII 1 20 Chapter 5 Islands of Iberia Baleares Cassiterides Gades edit Book Section DescriptionIII 1 Balearic Islands2 Balearic Islands cont 3 Gades4 Mythical Erytheia location5 Myths about the Pillars of Heracles6 Pillars of Heracles cibt7 Water and tides and Gades8 Water and tides and Gades cont 9 Seleucus in Gades 10 Story by Poseidonius of a tree found in Gades11 CassiteridesBook IV Gaul Britain Ireland Thule the Alps edit Chapter 1 Narbonitis edit Book Section DescriptionIV 1 Celtica beyond the Alps Gaul its inhabitants and boundaries2 The agriculture and landscapes of Gaul3 The cities and towns of Narbonitis4 The cult of Ephesian Artemis in Massalia Marseille 5 The government and society of Massalia its interactions with Rome and the founding of Aquae Sextiae Aix 6 The coastline around Massalia including the Galactic Gulf the site and trade of Narbo Narbonne 7 The mysterious rocks of the Stony Plain and the causes given by other writers8 Siltation and oyster fishing in the mouth of the Rhodanus Rhone 9 The remaining settlements of the coastline including Forum Iulium Frejus Nicaea Nice and Antipolis Antibes 10 The Stoechades Islands Iles d Hyeres and other coastal islands11 The towns and rivers of the Cevennes and the Rhone basin as far as Lemenna lac Leman including Avenio Avignon Arausio Orange and Vienna Vienne 12 The right bank of the Rhone including Nemausos Nimes 13 Historical migration from Gaul to Cappadocia14 Tolossa Toulouse and river trade in GaulChapter 2 Aquitania edit Book Section DescriptionIV 1 The geography of Aquitania between the Pyrenees and the Liger Loire via the Garumna Garonne 2 The inhabitants of Aquitania3 The history of Vercingetorix and the Arverni including the settlements of Cenabum Orleans Gergovia Gergovie and Alesia Alise Sainte Reine Chapter 3 Celtica edit Book Section DescriptionIV 1 Description of the interior of Celtica Gaul between the Rhenus Rhine Rhodanus Rhone and Liger Loire 2 Lugdunum Lyon one of the most important cities in Gaul and of local tribes and peoples including the Aedui and the Sequani 3 Description of the Rhine and a calculation of its length an account of Julius Caesar s actions along the river during the Gallic Wars4 The territory of the Helvetii and the other peoples of the Rhine including Germanic tribes and settlers such as the Treveri Nervii and Suebi 5 Northern Gaul including Durocortorum Reims the Ardouenna Ardennes and the Parisii in Lucotocia Lutetia Chapter 4 Northwest Gaul and the Belgae edit Book Section DescriptionIV 1 The coastal tribes the Veneti and the Osismii 2 A general ethnography of the Gauls3 The tribes of the Belgae and their characteristics4 Description of the three intellectual classes of the Belgae the bards vates and druids 5 The habits of the Belgae including their fondness for jewellery practice of scalping and religious sacrifice of humans6 Description of an island near the mouth of the Loire home to a Dionysiac cult and inhabited entirely by womenChapter 5 Great Britain Ireland and other islands edit Book Section DescriptionIV 1 The island of Great Britain and its dimensions2 The natural resources and inhabitants of Great Britain3 Roman attempts at the occupation of Great Britain4 Ireland and its inhabitants5 ThuleChapter 6 The Alps edit Book Section DescriptionIV 123456789101112Book V Italy to Campania edit Chapter 1 Northern Italy edit Book Section DescriptionV 1 The shape of Italy its geography and the rivers and cities of the north the River Padus Po Mediolanum Milan Comum Como Patavium Padua and Ravenna2 The places of northwestern Italy including the River Tiber the quarry at Carrara Pisa and the islands of Elba Corsica and Sardinia also ethnographies of Italian peoples including the Tyrrhenians Etruscans the Caeretanians and the mysterious Pelasgians 3456789101112Chapter 2 Tuscany and Umbria edit Book Section DescriptionV 12345678910Chapter 3 The Sabine Hills and Latium edit Book Section DescriptionV 12345678910111213Chapter 4 Picenum and Campania edit Book Section DescriptionV 12345678910111213Book VI south Italy Sicily edit Chapter 1 Southern Italy edit Book Section DescriptionVI 123456789101112131415Chapter 2 Sicily edit Book Section DescriptionVI 1234567891011Chapter 3 Greece edit Book Section DescriptionVI 1234567891011Chapter 4 Italy summary edit Book Section DescriptionVI 12Book VII north east and central Europe edit Chapter 1 Germania edit Book Section DescriptionVII 1 Overview of the lands to be covered in the rest of the text 2 Germanic peoples 3 Geography of Germania list of Germanic tribes 4 Roman conflicts with Germans 5 The Hercynian Forest the Ister river Chapter 2 Germania edit Book Section DescriptionVII 1 Correcting false tales of the Cimbri 2 Cimbri raids 3 Cimbri divination 4 Lack of knowledge of areas beyond Germany Chapter 3 northern Black Sea region edit Book Section DescriptionVII 1 Southern Germania myths about distant regions 2 The Mysians 3 Mysian culture and religion 4 Getae Different views of their culture 5 Zalmoxis his travels and his influence on the Mysians 6 Errors in other Greek accounts of Mysia 7 10 The Scythians 11 12 The Getae 13 19 Danube river Dacians Thracians Peucini Dniester river Dnepr river Roxolani Chapter 4 Crimea edit Book Section DescriptionVII 1 8 CrimeaChapter 5 Illyria and Pannonia edit Book Section DescriptionVII 1 12 Countries along the west bank of the Danube Chapter 6 Eastern Dacia and Thrace edit Book Section DescriptionVII 1 2 Continuation of countries along the western and southern banks of the Danube the Balkans Chapter 7 Epirus edit Book Section DescriptionVII 1 2 Continuation on the Balkans Book VIII Greece edit Book Section DescriptionVIII 1 1 Summary of previous chapters and intro to Greece1 2 Greek tribes and dialects Origins thereof1 3 Topography coastline and peninsulas3 9 Epeians and Eleians peoples3 12 Temples and Shrines to various gods3 17 Cauconians Origins thereof3 30 Olympia legends thereof4 11 Depopulation of Laconia area around Sparta Book IX More on Greece edit Chapter 1 Attica edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Chapter 2 Boeotia edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Chapter 3 Phocis edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Chapter 4 Locris edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Chapter 5 Thessaly edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Book X Yet more on Greece Greek islands edit Chapter 1 Euboea edit Book Section DescriptionX 12345678910111213141516Chapter 2 3 Aetolia and Acarnania edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Chapter 4 Crete edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Chapter 5 Archipelagos edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Book XI Russia east of the Don the Transcaucasus northwest Iran Central Asia edit Chapter 1 East of the Don edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 Brief Description of Asia2 The Taurus Mountains3 Measurements of the Taurus Mountains4 Brief overview of nations bordering the Taurus mountains5 The Don River Sea of Azov Strait of Kerch Strait of Zabache Kura and Arax rivers6 Brief description of Pompey s expedition7 The Caspian Sea Gates of Alexander and Halys RiverChapter 2 Sarmatia edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 The Sarmatians Aorsi Siraci Moeotae Achaei Zygii Heniochi Cercetae and Macropogones3 The city of Tanais4 The Maeotae and geography around Tanais5 The Cimmerians and the city of Cimmericum7 Monument of Satyrus8 The villages of Patraeus Corocondame and Acra9 Corocondametis Lake and the Kuban Rivers10 Phanagoria11 The Sindi Dandarii Toreatae Agri Arrhechi Tarpetes Obidiaceni Sittaceni Dosci and Maeotae12 13 The Achae Zygii and Heniochi14 Geography of Colchis15 Geography of the North Caucasus16 Phasis17 Colchis18 The Argonauts and Mithridates19 The SoanesChapter 3 Iberia edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 Description of Caucasian Iberia2 The Kura Araks Alazan Sandobanes Rhoetaces and Chanes Rivers3 Occupation of lowland and highland Iberians4 5 Entry into Iberia6 Social hierarchy of IberiaChapter 4 Albania edit Book Section DescriptionXI 2 1 The Caucasian Albanians2 The Kura River3 Agriculture of Caucasian Albania4 Features of Caucasian Albanians5 Military of Caucasian Albania The Caspians and entry into Caucasian Albania6 Rulership and fauna of Caucasian Albania7 Religion of Caucasian Albania8 Traditions of Caucasian AlbaniaChapter 5 The Caucasus edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 The Amazons Gargareans Legae and Gelae2 The Mermodas River3 4 Achievements of the Amazons5 6 Highest point of the Caucasus7 The Troglodytae Chamaecoets and Polyphagi8 The Siraces and AorsiChapter 6 The Caspian edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 The Caspian Sea2 The Sacae and Massagetae3 4 Criticisms of historical authorsChapter 7 East of the Caspian edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 The Dahae and other Scythian nomads2 Hyrcania3 The Ochus and Oxus Rivers4 5 Chapter 8 Geography of the Caspian and Iran edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 Georgaphy of the Caspian Sea2 The Bactrians Asii Pasiani Tochari Sacaruli Dahae Sacae and Massagetae3 Georgaphy of the Iranian Desert4 5 The Sacae6 7 The Massagetae8 More about the Scythian tribes9 Measurements between locations in ScythiaChapter 9 Parthia edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 Parthia2 3 History of ParthiaChapter 10 Aria and Margiana edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 Aria Drangiana Margiana and Arachosia2 MargianaChapter 11 Bactria edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 Bactria2 Cities of Bactria3 The Bactrians and Sogdians4 Cities created and destroyed by Alexander5 Rivers of Sogdiana and Bactria6 Alexander s planned expedition to Sogdiana7 12 Measurements of the regionChapter 12 The Taurus Mountains edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 Georgaphy of the Taurus MountainsChapter 13 Media edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 Media2 Atropatene3 The summer palace in Ganzaka4 The Cadusii6 7 Geography of Media8 Tributes of Medes9 11 Traditions of the MedesChapter 14 Armenia edit Book Section DescriptionXI 1 2 Armenia3 Arax River4 Geography of Armenia5 Growth of Armenia6 Artaxata7 Rivers of Armenia8 Lakes of Armenia9 Mines and Cavalry of Armenia10 Pompey and Tigranes11 Measurements of Armenia12 13 Strabo s account of the origin of the Armenians14 Tribes near Armenia15 Brief history of Armenia16 Religion of ArmeniaBook XII Anatolia edit Chapter 1 2 Cappadocia edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Chapter 3 Pontus edit Book Section DescriptionXII 1 The kingdom of Mithridates Eupator3 Bithynians5 Caucones whose domain extended from Mariandynia to the river Parthenius6 The city of Heracleia7 Rivers between Chalcedon and Heracleia15 The plain of Themiscyra16 The plain of Sidene32 Pontic ComanaChapter 4 Bithynia edit Book Section DescriptionXII 1 Surroundings of Bithynia on all four sides2 Geography of the region south of Bithynia The Astacene Gulf and the role of Bithynian kings in its history 4 On the difficulty of marking the boundaries between the territories of the Bithynians Phrygians and Mysians Chapter 5 7 Galatia Lycaonia and Pisidia edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Chapter 8 Phrygia edit Book Section DescriptionXII 1 Phrygia Mysia and Bithynia and the parts of Phrygia and Mysia2 Debate as to whether the district around Sipylus is part of Greater of Lesser Phrygia3 Lydians and other peoplesBook XIII northern Aegean edit Chapter 1 Troad edit Book Section DescriptionXII 1 Preamble to the region of the Troad with a brief discussion of sources especially Homer2 Regions of the TroadBook XIV eastern Aegean edit Chapter 2 Asia Minor edit Book Section DescriptionXIV 5 13 Description of Rhodes Commentary of the people politics and society of Rhodes Includes description of the fallen Colossus of Rhodes Book XV Persia Ariana the Indian subcontinent edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it June 2020 Book XVI Middle East edit Summary edit Chapter 1 Assyria edit Book Section DescriptionXVI 1 2 Assyria geographical extent 4 Nineveh 5 6 Babylon 7 Borsippa 8 9 Geography of Babylon10 Canal Maintaince 11 Aristobulus on Alexander 12 Eratosthenes and hydrology 13 Polycleitus and hydrology 14 Babylonia production of resources15 Asphaltus in Babylonia and its uses16 Babylonia entyonym17 Artemita and Persis22 23 Cossaei Paraetacene Elymais Chapter 2 Syria edit Book Section DescriptionXVI 1 2 Syria geography 3 General description Syria 4 5 Cities of the Seleucis of Syria 6 Rablah7 Orontes River 8 Regions of Syria 9 Laodicea in Syria 10 Apamea Syria 11 Parapotamia 12 Laodiceia and the coast13 Arwad14 Aradii15 Tyre Sidon and Aradus 16 Mountains and Rivers of Syria 17 Macras18 Massyas 19 Abraham River20 Damascus 21 Borders of Coele Syria22 Borders of Phoenicia23 Tyre24 Sidon25 26 Acre27 Caesarea Maritima28 Jaffa29 Tel Ashkelon30 Gaza City31 Raphia33 Sinai and Negev34 Judea and environs35 37 Origins of the Jews38 39 Relating Judaism to Stocism40 History of the Jews41 Jericho42 45 Dead Sea and environs46 History of the JewsChapter 3 Persian Gulf edit Book Section DescriptionXVI 1 5 Persian Gulf description 6 General description Red Sea 7 Persian Gulf Chapter 4 Arabia edit Book Section DescriptionXVI 1 Arabia description from Eratosthenes 2 3 Nabatea Sabaeans and other nations4 8 Shores of Arabia amp Africa9 16 Africa17 18 Troglodytae19 Sabeans20 Red Sea21 Nabataea22 24 History of the Romans in Arabia Gallus s expedition25 Discussion of aromatic plants and Arabian people s culture26 Nabataeans26Book XVII North Africa edit Chapter 1 Nile Egypt Cyrenaica edit Book Section Description17 1 2 Eratosthenes on the Nile and surrounding people 3 The Nile in Ethiopia The organization of Egypt nomes classes comments on the Labyrinth 4 The Nile in the Nile Delta 5 Source of the Nile Greek writers about the Nile Definition of the name Aegypt 6 Harbours of Alexandria Pharos Island Julius Caesar Founding of the city by Alexander the Great 7 Importance of Alexandria Lake Mareotis 8 Details about Alexandria Ptolemy I Soter steals Alexanders body Perdiccas is slain Roxana departes for Macedonia 9 Lighthouse of Alexandria Other temples and buildings Lochias promontory Royal palace Antirrhodos island Theatre Poseidium Emporium Timonium Caesarium Heptastadium 10 More details about Alexandria More buildings and structures The Sarapium Emperor Augustus defeats Mark Antony 11 The Ptolemaic dynasty 12 13 Egypt as a Roman province Roman Legions Polybius visit to Alexandria 14 Coastal cities from Cyrenaica to Alexandria About wine 15 Papyrus Cyperus and Cyperus papyrus in the Deltaic marshes and lakes 16 17 Road to Canopus Temple of Sarapis 18 Nile mounts in the Delta Canopic Canopus Bolbitine Rosetta Sebennytic Buto Phantnitic Damietta Mendesian Mendes Tanitic Tanis and Pelusiac Pelusium 19 sect 19 21 Interior of the mouth of the river Nile expulsion of foreigners difficulty in entering Egypt cities Xois Hermupolis Mendes 20 Athribis Tanis21 Pelusium Heroonpolis22 Lake Mareia 23 Naucratis Sais24 discord among the Egyptians over the schoenus i e a unit of distance 25 city of Arsinoe canal through the Bitter Lakes to the Gulf of Suez26 Heroonpolis Phacussa27 39 40 Cynonpolis City of Dogs overview of different animals worshipped by separate Egyptian groups or by all Egyptians in common41 Hermopolitic garrison Thebaic garrison 42 Abydus43 the oracle at Ammon visited by Alexander the Great44 temple of Osiris in Abydus city of Tentyra45 cities Berenice at the Red Sea Myus Hormus Coptus mines of smaragdus46 Thebes47 city Hermonthis a City of Crocodiles a City of Aphrodite Latopolis a City of Hawks Apollonospolis48 Syene Elephantine nilometer49 the First Cataract above Elephantine settlement Philae holding an Aethiopian bird in honour50 54 Chapter 2 edit Book Section Description17 1 3 Ethiopia4 5 Chapter 3 edit Book Section Description17 1 25 Editorial history editSome thirty manuscripts of Geographica or parts of it have survived almost all of them medieval copies of copies though there are fragments from papyrus rolls which were probably copied out c 100 300 AD Scholars have struggled for a century and a half to produce an accurate edition close to what Strabo wrote A definitive one by translator Stefan Radt has been in publication since 2002 appearing at a rate of about a volume a year 16 Editions and translations editAncient Greek edit Kramer Gustav ed Strabonis Geographica 3 vols containing Books 1 17 Berlin Friedericus Nicolaus 1844 52 Ancient Greek and English edit Strabo 1917 1932 Horace Leonard Jones ed The Loeb Classical Library The Geography of Strabo in Eight Volumes Translated by Jones John Robert Sitlington Sterrett Cambridge Massachusetts London Harvard University Press William Heinemann ISBN 0 674 99055 2 Contains Books 1 17 Greek on the left page English on the right Sterrett translated Books I and II and wrote the introduction before dying in 1915 Jones changed Sterrett s style from free to more literal and finished the translation The Introduction contains a major bibliography on all aspects of Strabo and a definitive presentation of the manuscripts and editions up until 1917 French edit Tardieu Amedee 1886 Geographie de Strabon Traduction Nouvelle Tome Premier in French Paris Librairie Hachette Books I VI only Tardieu Amedee 1873 Geographie de Strabon Traduction Nouvelle Tome Deuxieme in French Paris Librairie Hachette Books VII XII only German edit Radt Stefan translator critical apparatus 2002 2011 Strabons Geographika Gottingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht Books I XVII in ten volumes See also editPtolemy s Geography Description of Greece Bibliotheca historica Diodorus Siculus Codex Vaticanus 2061References edit Strabo and Duane W Roller The Geography of Strabo New York Cambridge University Press 2014 pp 51 Dueck Daniela 2000 Strabo of Amasia A Greek Man of Letters in Augustan Rome London New York Routledge Taylor amp Francis Group p 145 ISBN 0 415 21672 9 Book 3 chapter 1 section 1 1st sentence page C136 Book 3 chapter 4 section 5 last sentence page C158 Book 6 chapter 1 section 2 page C253 Book 9 chapter 5 section 14 page C435 Book 2 chapter 5 section 17 page C120 Jones translation Ad Att 2 6 1 Sterrett Loeb Edition pages xxii xxiii Sterrett Loeb Edition page xxvii Dueck page 146 on Strabo Book 4 Chapter 6 Book 9 page C206 Strabo and Duane W Roller The Geography of Strabo New York Cambridge University Press 2014 pp 51 52 Book I sections 22 23 Strabo rotates the Pyrenees to form the east side of Iberia which is correspondingly distorted In fact adjacent Cape St Vincent is further west but Sagres Point was the Sacred Cape Print and online editions of the Greek text of Strabo s Geography strabo ca External links editThe text of Strabo online nbsp Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article Gewgrafika Strabo 1924 H L Jones ed Strabo The Geography LacusCurtius Translated by Jones Retrieved 2007 11 03 Strabo 1924 H L Jones ed Strabo Geography The Perseus Digital Library Tufts University Retrieved 2007 11 03 Books 6 14 Strabo 1903 06 19 H C Hamilton W Falconer eds Strabo Geography The Perseus Digital Library Tufts University Retrieved 2007 11 03 Strabo 1852 1853 A Meineke ed Strabo Geography The Perseus Digital Library in Greek Tufts University Retrieved 2007 11 03 Books 6 14 Other links World map as described by Strabo in Gegraphica Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Geographica amp oldid 1189881904, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
