In this book, Professor East discusses the vital relationship between history and geographical conditions. Drawing examples from ancient times up to the present, he demonstrates that a study of history must include consideration of the physical conditions under which an event occurs, and that "the particular characteristics of this setting serve not only to localise but also to influence part at least of the action." Topographical position, climate, distribution of water and minerals, the placement of routes and towns, and ease or difficulty of movement between districts and countries are among the factors which the historian must take into account. Book jacket.

The last dedicated book on ancient geography was published more than sixty years ago. Since then new texts have appeared (such as the Artemidoros palimpsest), and new editions of existing texts (by geographical authorities who include Agatharchides, Eratosthenes, Pseudo-Skylax and Strabo) have been produced. There has been much archaeological research, especially at the perimeters of the Greek world, and a more accurate understanding of ancient geography and geographers has emerged. The topic is therefore overdue a fresh and sustained treatment. In offering precisely that, Duane Roller explores important topics like knowledge of the world in the Bronze Age and Archaic periods; Greek expansion into the Black Sea and the West; the Pythagorean concept of the earth as a globe; the invention of geography as a discipline by Eratosthenes; Polybios the explorer; Strabo's famous Geographica; the travels of Alexander the Great; Roman geography; Ptolemy and late antiquity; and the cultural reawakening of antique geographical knowledge in the Renaissance, including Columbus' use of ancient sources.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

A collection of essays on current studies in ancient geography, extending over an area from ancient Mesopotamia and the prehistoric New World to the Roman Empire. Essays include examinations of ancient cosmology, ancient navigation, and literary interpretations of geography.

Brill's Companion to Ancient Geography edited by S. Bianchetti, M. R. Cataudella, H. J. Gehrke is the first collection of studies on historical geography of the ancient world that focuses on a selection of topics considered crucial for understanding the development of geographical thought. In this work, scholars, all of whom are specialists in a variety of fields, examine the interaction of humans with their environment and try to reconstruct the representations of the inhabited world in the works of ancient historians, scientists, and cartographers. Topics include: Eudoxus, Dicaearchus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Agatharchides, Agrippa, Strabo, Pliny and Solinus, Ptolemy, and the Peutinger Map. Other issues are also discussed such as onomastics, the boundaries of states, Pythagorism, sacred itineraries, measurement systems, and the Holy Land.

An introduction to the earliest ideas of geography in antiquity and how much knowledge there was of the physical world.

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.