A Sketch of Geography

[On the geography of the ancients] Anaximander of Miletus, a pupil of Thales, was the first who dared to draw the inhabited world on a tablet; after him Hecataeus of Miletus, a much-travelled man, made it so exact that the work was admired; for Hellanicus of Lesbos, a man of wide learning, handed down his account without embellishment. Then Damastes of Sigeum, transcribing most of his material from Hecataeus, wrote a coastal survey; and after them Democritus and Eudoxus and certain others composed circuits and coastal voyages of the earth.

Now the ancients drew the inhabited world as round, with Greece lying in the middle, and Delphi in the middle of Greece; for they held it to be the navel of the earth. But Democritus, a man of much experience, was the first to perceive that the earth is oblong, its length being half as much again as its breadth; and Dicaearchus the Peripatetic agreed with him. Eudoxus made the length double the breadth, and Eratosthenes more than double; Crates made it like a half-circle, Hipparchus shaped like a trapezium, others tail-shaped, and Posidonius the Stoic sling-shaped and broad in the middle from south to north, but narrow toward east and west, the parts toward the southeast being nonetheless broader, that is, toward India.

The boundaries of the continents: between Europe and Libya, the Pillars of Heracles; between Libya and Asia, the Nile — though some make it the isthmus that runs from the Serbonian lake and the Arabian gulf; between Asia and Europe, the ancients made the river Phasis and the isthmus reaching to the Caspian, but the later writers made it the Maeotic lake and the river Tanais.

They were called "continents" — that is, "boundless lands" — out of ignorance, since they seemed to be without limit. Asia was so named from its being "nearer" to those setting out from Europe, both by land and by the islands lying in a row, of which are Euboea, Andros, Tenos, Myconos, Icaria, Samos, Mycale. Europe was named from its "breadth." Libya was quite unknown to the Greeks, but was named after a notable nation, by the Phoenicians [Libyans, that is] "lions." And the Ocean was so named from its "swiftly" accomplishing its circuit about the earth.

Dicaearchus bounds the earth not by waters, but by a straight, unbroken line drawn from the Pillars through Sardinia, Sicily, the Peloponnese, Ionia, Caria, Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia, and the Taurus, and so on as far as the Imaus range. Of the regions, then, he names the one part northern, the other southern.

[On the winds] The winds blow as follows: from the equinoctial east, the Apeliotes; from the equinoctial west, the Zephyr; from the south, the Notos; from the north, the Aparctias; from the summer solstice, the Caecias; next from the equinoctial east, the Apeliotes; and from the winter sunrise, the Eurus. The western winds: from the winter sunset, the Lips; and next again from the equinoctial west, the Zephyr; from the summer sunset, the Argestes, also called the Olympias; then the Notos and the Aparctias blowing against each other. So there are eight in all.

But Timosthenes, who wrote the coastal surveys, says there are twelve, adding, between the Aparctias and the Caecias, the Boreas; between the Eurus and the Notos, the Phoenix, also called the Euronotos; between the Notos and the Lips, the Leuconotos, also called the Libonotos; and between the Aparctias and the Argestes, the Thrascias, also called the Circius by those who dwell near it. And he says that nations inhabit the ends of the earth: toward the Apeliotes, the Bactrians; toward the Eurus, the Indians; toward the Phoenix, the Red Sea and Ethiopia; toward the Leuconotos, the Garamantes beyond the Syrtes; toward the Lips, the western Ethiopians beyond the Moors; toward the Zephyr, the Pillars and the beginnings of Libya and Europe; toward the Argestes, Iberia, now Spain; toward the Thrascias, the Celts and the bordering peoples; toward the Aparctias, the Scythians beyond Thrace; toward the Boreas, the Pontus, the Maeotis, the Sarmatians; toward the Caecias, the Caspian Sea and the Sacae.

[Coastal voyage of the seas] The Great Syrtis is 5,000 stades, and the Little Syrtis 1,600 stades; and the mouth of the Adriatic, which some call the Ionian Sea, has a crossing of 700 stades from the cape of Iapygia to the Ceraunian mountains of Epirus.

The Aegean is succeeded by the Hellespont, which ends at Abydos and Sestos; then the Propontis ends at Chalcedon and Byzantium, where the narrows are, from which the Pontus begins; then comes the Maeotic lake. Again, beginning from the start of Europe and Libya: the Iberian sea is that from the Pillars to the Pyrenees range; the Ligurian, that reaching to the limits of Tyrrhenia; the Sardinian, that above Sardinia, inclining downward toward Libya; the Tyrrhenian, that reaching to Sicily, beginning from the headlands of Liguria; then the Libyan; then the Cretan and the Sicilian, and the Ionian, also called the Adriatic, which spreads out from the Sicilian sea; and that which they call the Corinthian gulf, or the Alcyonian sea. The sea enclosed by Sunium and Scyllaeum is the Saronic; then the Myrtoan and the Icarian, in which are the Cyclades; then the Carpathian and the Pamphylian and the Egyptian; and above the Icarian the Aegean spreads out next.

The coastal passage of Europe, from the mouths of the river Tanais to the Pillars of Heracles, is 69,709 stades [six myriads and 9,709]; that of Libya, from Tingis to the Canobic mouth, is 29,252 stades [two myriads and 9,252]; that of Asia, from Canobus to the river Tanais, together with the gulfs, is 40,111 stades [four myriads and 111]. Altogether the seaboard, with the gulfs, of the inhabited world that is ours, is 139,072 stades [thirteen myriads and 9,072], the Maeotic lake being reckoned in, whose circumference is 9,000 stades; and its mouth, the Cimmerian Bosphorus, is 78 stades.

The Pontus is 23,083 stades [two myriads and 3,083]; and the Thracian Bosphorus, the narrows where Darius bridged it with his pontoon-bridge against the Scythians, is 6 stades.

The Persian Sea, being circular, drawing its mouth together at the cape of Carmania and Arabia, has a circumference of 20,000 stades [two myriads]. And the mouth between Arabia and Carmania is 400 stades.

The Hyrcanian, or Caspian, Sea, being crescent-shaped — though some say oblong — is 22,000 stades [two myriads and two thousand]; and the crossing of its mouth is 4 stades.

The Arabian gulf, being narrow and oblong, begins from the city of Heroes, runs past the Troglodyte country to Ptolemais of the Hunts, and is 9,000 stades in length; from there to the narrows at Deire is a voyage of 4,700 stades; the narrows at Deire are 60 stades; thence the voyage continues along the Red Sea as far as the Ocean, 5,000 stades; the rest is not navigated. The Arabian side, from the Aelanitic recess, is 14,000 stades [a myriad and 4,000]. And Arabia itself extends down to the Red Sea and stretches for 12,000 stades [a myriad and two thousand].

[On the length and breadth of the inhabited world] The length of the inhabited world, from the Ganges to Gades, is 68,545 stades [six myriads and 8,545], thus: from the river Ganges to Myriandros in the Issic gulf, 41,725 stades [four myriads and 1,725], thus: from the Ganges to the mouths of the river Indus, 16,000 stades [a myriad and 6,000]; from the Indus to the Caspian Gates, 15,300 stades [a myriad and 5,300]; to the Euphrates, 10,050 stades [a myriad and 50]; to Myriandros, 375 stades.

From Myriandros to Gades, 26,820 stades [two myriads and 6,820], thus: from Myriandros to the Cleidae of Cyprus, 1,400 stades; to the cape Acamas, 1,300 stades; to the Chelidoniae through the Pamphylian sea, 1,300 stades; to Patara, 800 stades; thence to Rhodes, 700 stades; to Astypalaea through the Carpathian sea, 940 stades; to Taenarum, 1,450 stades; to Pachynus of Sicily, 4,600 stades; to Lilybaeum through the Libyan sea, 1,520 stades; to Caralis of Sardinia through the Tyrrhenian sea, 2,800 stades; to Gades, sailing past the Gymnesian islands, 10,000 stades; and from Gades, by way of the Sacred Cape, to the harbour of the Artabri, 7,932 stades. Altogether these come to 76,477 stades [seven myriads and 6,477].

And by another reckoning: from the Ganges to the river Euphrates, 41,350 stades [four myriads and 1,350]; from the Euphrates to Mazaca of the Cappadocians, 1,950 stades; from Mazaca, through the mountain-skirts of Phrygia and through Greater Caria, to Ephesus, 3,170 stades. Altogether from the Ganges to Ephesus, 47,290 stades [four myriads and 7,290]; from Ephesus to Delos through the Aegean, 1,600 stades; to the Isthmus, 1,700 stades; from the Isthmus through the Corinthian gulf to Patrae, 720 stades; to Leucas, 700 stades; to Corcyra, 700 stades; to the Acroceraunian mountains, 660 stades; to Brentesium, 700 stades; from Brentesium, travelling by land to Rome, 2,880 stades; from Rome to the Alps, as far as Scingomagus, which lies beneath the Alps, 4,152 stades; then through Celtica as far as the city of Illiberis, 3,747 stades; from Illiberis, by way of the inns, as far as Gades, 6,651 stades; and the crossing to Gades, 60 stades. Altogether from the Ganges to Gades, 71,560 stades [seven myriads and 1,560].

The breadth of the inhabited world, from the Ethiopic sea to Meroe, is 5,000 stades; from Meroe to Alexandria, 10,000 stades [a myriad]; and from Alexandria to the Tanais, 18,056 stades [a myriad and 8,056] — for what lies above the mouths of the Tanais, toward the north, is unknown — thus: from Alexandria to Lindus of Rhodes, 4,500 stades; to the Thoanteion, on the right as one sails past Rhodes, 400 stades; to Telos, 260 stades; to Lacter of the Coan land, 320 stades; to Drepanon of the Coan land, 100 stades; to the island of Arcitis, 330 stades; to Corsiae, 100 stades; to Ampelos of the Samians, 30 stades; to the Aegean Argennon, through the Aegean, 500 stades; to the Erythraean Corynaeon, 25 stades; to Phlion, the cape of Chios, 50 stades; to Melanea, the cape of Lesbos, 450 stades; to Sigrion of Lesbos, 500 stades; to the island of Tenedos, 450 stades; to Sigeum, 100 stades; to the mouth of the Pontus, 2,500 stades; to Carambis, 2,800 stades; to the mouth of the Maeotis, 2,500 stades; to the Tanais, 2,200 stades.

By another reckoning, from city to city: from Alexandria to Rhodes, 4,670 stades; to Cnidus, 700 stades; to Cos, 200 stades; to Samos, 800 stades; to Chios, 750 stades; to Mytilene, 520 stades; to Tenedos, 950 stades; to Sigeum, 100 stades; to the mouth of the Pontus, 2,500 stades; to Carambis, 2,800 stades; to the mouth of the Maeotis, 2,500 stades; to the river Tanais, 2,200 stades. Altogether from Alexandria to the Tanais, 18,690 stades [a myriad and 8,690].

[Measurement of the islands] It remains for us to give the circumferences of the islands of our own region, taken from Artemidorus and Menippus and other trustworthy authorities. Gades has a length of 108 stades, a breadth of 16 stades; and the strait at the Pillars of Heracles is, at its narrowest, 80 stades. In the Iberian sea are the islands of Pityusa — the larger and inhabited one, 300 stades in length, and the smaller, 100 stades. Of the Gymnesian islands, which the Carthaginians call the Baliarides — for the slingers are so called, the Baliareis — the larger has a length of 1,200 stades and a breadth of 400 stades; the smaller, 300 stades. The Stoechades, which bear that name, lie next in a straight line before the cities of Massalia; the larger ones are three, and there are two small ones near Massalia itself. Sardinia has the shape of a footprint, hollow in the middle; its length is 2,200 stades. Cyrnus, near Sardinia but far less considerable, has a length less than half that of Sardinia. The point of departure for Sardinia and Cyrnus is Populonium in Tyrrhenia; and the crossing is 2,200 stades. The circumference of Sicily, according to Timosthenes, is 4,740 stades; its shape a scalene triangle. It has a strait, the crossing from the cape of Peloros to Italy, of 11 stades; the side of the island from Peloros to Pachynus is 1,360 stades; from Pachynus to Lilybaeum, 1,600 stades; according to Timosthenes, from Lilybaeum to the Peloriad, 701 stades; and the crossing from Lilybaeum to Aspis in Libya, near at hand, is 1,600 stades.

The island of Cercina has a length of 200 stades, a breadth of 70 stades, and where it is narrowest, 40 stades. It lies above the mainland city of Theaenae, which is situated at the beginning of the Little Syrtis. Beside Cercina lies the island Cercinitis, joined to it by a bridge, 40 stades in length and 25 stades in breadth.

From Cercina to the island Meninx, the Lotus-Eaters' island, the crossing is 600 stades, which is said to be the width of the mouth of the Little Syrtis. Meninx has a length of 200 stades and a breadth of 180 stades. There are great tides about it.

The island of Cephallenia, with its four cities, has a length of 400 stades. There are also in the Adriatic islands along Illyria, of which the more notable are Issa, the Black Corcyra, Pharos, and Melite, whose circumferences I do not know.

The coastal circuit of the Peloponnese, the gulfs being reckoned in, is 5,627 stades; without sailing into the gulfs, the circuit is 4,000 stades. Its length, from Malea to Aegium, is 1,400 stades. It has a shape like a plane-leaf, cut by great gulfs. It is drawn together toward the Isthmus of the Corinthians, with a breadth of 40 stades, by the Corinthian gulf and the Saronic. The Saronic gulf extends to the cape of Sunium on the left, and to the cape of Scyllaeum on the right, where lies, off the coast, the island of Calauria, sacred to Poseidon. Next comes the Argolic gulf, as far as the cape of Malea, which juts far out into the open sea. Then the Hermionic gulf. Next, after Malea, is the Laconian gulf as far as Taenarum on the right, which on the left bounds the Messenian gulf, on the right of which is the cape Acritas. Then juts out the cape Ichthys, off which lies Zacynthus, and another, the Chelonatas; the last cape is Araxus, facing Acarnania; after which the Corinthian gulf spreads out, closed off by a mouth of 7 stades at the cape Rhion, which belongs to the Peloponnese, while the Antirrhion belongs to Locris. From Taenarum to Phycus in Libya the crossing is 3,000 stades.

The island of Aegina is oblong, 160 stades; it lies opposite Attica. Salamis has a length of 70 stades; Ceos, 120. Of the Cyclades the greatest is Naxos, which for that reason is called "Little Sicily." On the right are the Sporades. Euboea is joined by a bridge to Boeotia; it stretches alongside Boeotia, Phocis, and the Locrians, and on the other side, for some distance, alongside Attica too; for it is long, and was therefore named Macris, having a length of 1,700 stades.

Crete, near Malea, lies close to the Peloponnese; its circumference is 4,100 stades, its length 2,300 — for it is greatly elongated. Cythera lies between Crete and Laconia. Cyprus is like a hide in shape; its circuit is 3,420 stades, its length 1,300. From Paphos to Alexandria the crossing, with the north wind, is 3,800 stades. The circumference of Rhodes is 1,300 stades; the circumference of Cos, 550 stades; Samos, 630 stades. Icaria is long and rugged, 300 stades in length. The circumference of Chios is 660 stades, the circumference of Lesbos 1,100 stades.