Although strabo quotes it himself, and other classical authors mention that it existed, the only surviving document is a fragment of papyrus now in possession of the university of milan renumbered papyrus 46. Strabos cultural geography strabo of amasia, a greek geographer of the augustotiberian period, observed the roman world of his time. Geographika, or geography, is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 books, written in greek by strabo, an educated citizen of the. Full text of strabo, geography, books 117 in 8 volumes. Between the beginning of the seventh century bce and the third century bce egypt was invaded about thirty times. It is curious that a classic of so much renown and intrinsic value should have remained a comparatively sealed book to this country for so many centuries. The geography of strabo, books 15 translated by hamilton and falconer, text taken from the bell edition of 1903, now in the public domain, and books 614 translated by horace leonard jones, the geography of strabo harvardheinemann 1924 digitized by the perseus project, licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 3. Themiscyra is a plain, partly washed by the sea, and distant about 60 stadia from the city amisus. Perdiccas first attacked ptolemy on the pelusiac branch. Strabo provides us with location of people and rivers, mountains. Strabo s historical work is lost, but his most important geography in seventeen books has survived. In the seventh book strabo describes the remaining portions of europe. He collected his observationsinhismagnumopus,thegeography,whichhedescribed as a kolossourgia, a colossal statue of a work. He began geography in 3025 bc and probably revised it in his old age around 15 18 ad.
Strabos historical work is lost, but his most important geography in seventeen books has survived. The present translation of strabo, the great geographer of antiquity, is the first which has been laid before the english public. Different approaches are offered to the study of strabo, from traditional literary and historical perspectives to newer material and feminist readings. The pirates then collected together, attacked the merchants at sea, and. The geography of strabo, volume 1 loeb classical library loeb classical library. Author of geography, volume i, geography, volume ii, and geographika. Strabo geography books 1012 free ebook download as pdf file.
Geography book xii chapter 3 section 15, amaseia, my. This is a selective summary of translations of strabos work from ancient greek into modern languages. Strabo was born in amesia, 50 miles to the south of black sea coast in turkey in about 64 b. The project gutenberg ebook of the geography of strabo vol. This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. Strabo was born to an affluent family from amaseia in pontus in presentday turkey in around 64 bc. Book 555 book 14 599 book 15 645 book 16 689 book 17 731 appendix 1. The geography of strabo is the only surviving work of its type in greek literature, and the major source for the history of greek scholarship on.
The date of geographica is a large topic, perhaps because strabo worked on it along with his history for most of his adult life. These diverse approaches inform each other to provide a wideranging exploration of strabo s work, making the book essential reading for students of ancient history and ancient geography. Pdf egypt is difficult to enter strabo, geography, 17. Greek geographer and historian whose geography is the only extant work covering the whole range of peoples and countries known to both greeks and romans during the reign of augustus 27 bce14 ce.
Some place its first drafts around 7 bc, others around ad 17 or 18. Some, as we know, have divided it into three parts, calling its inhabitants aquitani, belgae, and celtae. Several other family members, including his paternal grandfather had served mithridates vi during the mithridatic wars. The sources of the fragments 782 bibliography 789 list of passages cited 793. Geographica strabo strabo is mostly famous for his 17volume work geographica, which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known to his era. Full text of the geography of strabo internet archive. Dacia was bounded in the south approximately by the danubius river, in greek sources the istros, or at its greatest extent, by the haemus mons. Geography, volume viii strabo harvard university press. How did strabo contribute to the study of geography. Lacuscurtius strabos geography book xv chapter 1 1. An abridgement of this work was made by marcianus, of which some portions still exist, relating to the black sea and its southern shore. Moesia, a region southeast of the danube, was a core area where the getae lived and interacted with the ancient greeks.
His family had been involved in politics since at least the reign of mithridates v. Strabo, greek geographer and historian whose geography is the only extant. The omission of the name is remarkable, as artemidorus is one of the geographers most frequently quoted by strabo. With an english translation by horace leonard jones. We have enlarged on the subject of the parthian customs in the sixth book of historical commentaries, and in the second of those, which are a sequel to polybius. Strabo was born, from a rich family, in amaseia currentday amasya in pontus, which became part of the roman empire just around his birth. Modern editions of strabos geography are based on the thirty or so manuscripts that have survived from the middle ages. Each entry starts with the number of books of the geography translated, as translators sometimes stall out before completing all seventeen books. The rest of the 15 books are a heavily romancentric description of the known world. Oct 03, 2019 open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. The project gutenberg ebook of the geography of strabo, vol. Strabo was related to dorylaeus on his mothers side. Strabo states the width of persia 4,400 stadia or about 800 km and its length towards the caspian to be 8,000 stadia or about 1,500 km.
The first two books deal with the principals of geography. Geography is a vital source for ancient geography and informative about ancient geographers. It is not known precisely when strabo s geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of emperor tiberius. That on the east is the country beyond the rhine, as far as the don1 and the mouth of the sea of azof.
Strabo is mostly famous for his geographia, a 17 book work containing history and descriptions of people and places all over the known world. The parts still left of asia are those outside the taurus. This helps clarify what the historians were saying, which sometimes. For ebooks, where available, click on the volume number. Now that i have given the first general outline of geography, it is proper for me to discuss next the several parts of the inhabited world. After two introductory books, numbers 3 and 4 deal with spain and gaul, 5 and 6 with italy and sicily, 7 with north and east europe, 810 with greek lands, 1114 with the main regions of asia and with asia minor, 15 with india and iran, 16. The country next in order after the aquitanian division and narbonitis reaches as far as the whole of the rhenus, extending from the liger river and also from the rhodanus at the point where the rhodanus, after it runs down from its source, touches lugdunum.
A stadia is said to be 7,290 inches18,662 cm or 607. Mar 31, 2014 buy the geography of strabo by translated by duane w. There remains of iberia the seaboard of our sea from the pillars to the pyrenees mountains, and also the whole of the interior above it, which is unequal in breadth but slightly more than four thousand stadia in length, though the length of the seaboard has been given as still greater than that by as much as two thousand stadia. This is a very good source of information about history although it is geography. Tese invasions are documented in many sources of varied genres, origins, languages. India and persia book xv were described according to information given by the. The present translation of strabo, the great geographer of antiquity, is the first. Full text of strabo, geography, books 117 in 8 volumes loeb classical library see other formats.
Top american libraries canadian libraries universal library community texts project gutenberg biodiversity heritage library childrens library. Print and online editions of the greek text of strabos geography. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Among other fertile spots is themiscyra, 72 the abode of the amazons, and sidene. These manuscripts are not identical, each containing errors that have arisen in the process of transcription. Greek authors the geography of strabo, john robert sitlington sterrett volume 1 of the geography of strabo. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Project gutenbergs the geography of strabo, volume iii of 3, by strabo this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions. 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 simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In the 15th book, strabo describes india and persia, the latter in two chief divisions, viz. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages.
It appeared from the former discussion, that in the summary given by eratosthenes, in the third book of his geography, is contained the most credible account of the country considered as india at the time of its invasion by alexander. I have already indicated roughly both the shape and the size of this country. I began my description by going over all the western parts of europe comprised between the inner and the outer sea. The roman writer strabo wrote what is often considered as the first attempt to synthesise a universal geography. Its numerous quotations from technical literature, moreover, provide a remarkable account of the state of greek geographical. Based in part upon the unfinished version of john robert sitlington sterrett, john robert sitlington. Amesia is in the interior of asia minor and still retains its ancient name fig. A native of sicily so clearsighted that he could see things at great distance as if they were nearby was also called strabo. Strabo squinty was a term employed by the romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. Strabos geography, written under augustus and in the early years.
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