Eratosthenes / Roller Eratosthenes' Geography

Core Textbook
ISBN: 978-1-4008-3221-7
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 320 Seiten

This is the first modern edition and first English translation of one of the earliest and most important works in the history of geography, the third-century Geographika of Eratosthenes. In this work, which for the first time described the geography of the entire inhabited world as it was then known, Eratosthenes of Kyrene (ca. 285-205 BC) invented the discipline of geography as we understand it. A polymath who served as librarian at Alexandria and tutor to the future King Ptolemy IV, Eratosthenes created the terminology of geography, probably including the word geographia itself. Building on his previous work, in which he determined the size and shape of the earth, Eratosthenes in the Geographika created a grid of parallels and meridians that linked together every place in the world: for the first time one could figure out the relationship and distance between remote localities, such as northwest Africa and the Caspian Sea. The Geographika also identified some four hundred places, more than ever before, from Thoule (probably Iceland) to Taprobane (Sri Lanka), and from well down the coast of Africa to Central Asia.

This is the first collation of the more than 150 fragments of the Geographika in more than a century. Each fragment is accompanied by an English translation, a summary, and commentary. Duane W. Roller provides a rich background, including a history of the text and its reception, a biography of Eratosthenes, and a comprehensive account of ancient Greek geographical thought and of Eratosthenes' pioneering contribution to it. This edition also includes maps that show all of the known places named in the Geographika, appendixes, a bibliography, and indexes.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Eratosthenes

Roller, Duane W.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Griechische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Historische Geographie, Landkarten & Atlanten
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations vii

Introduction ix

Abbreviations xiii

ERATOSTHENES AND THE HISTORY OF GEOGRAPHY

The Background 1

The Life of Eratosthenes 7

The Geographika of Eratosthenes 15

The Reception and Later History of the Geographika 30

ERATOSTHENES, GEOGRAPHIKA

Book 1 41

Book 2 58

Book 3 69

SUMMARIES AND COMMENTARIES

Commentary to Book 1 111

Commentary to Book 2 141

Commentary to Book 3 161

Gazetteer 223

Maps 249

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: On the Measurement of the Earth 263

Appendix 2: Testimonia for the Life of Eratosthenes 268

Appendix 3: Lengths of Measurement 271

Bibliography 275

Index of Passages Cited 281

General Index 289

Über Autor(innen)

Duane W. Roller is professor emeritus of Greek and Latin at Ohio State University. He is the author of, among other books, Through the Pillars of Herakles: Greco-Roman Exploration of the Atlantic.