763 



STRABO. 



STRABO. 



754 



repaired the mischief done to Sardis by the great earthquake, A.D. 17. 

 (Tacit., ' Ann.,' ii. 47). There are numerous other passages in this 

 work in which he speaks of contemporary historical events, but 

 perhaps none which can with certainty be referred to a later date thau 

 the great earthquake. In a passage of the fourth book (p. 206) he 

 says that it was then the thirty-third year since the Norici had been 

 reduced to obedience by Tiberius and Drusus, which took place about 

 B.C. 15 ; according to which Strabo was writing his fourth book in the 

 year A.D. 18. 



Strabo's ' Geography ' is mentioned by few ancient writers : he is 

 cited by Marcianus of Heraclea, Athenscus, and Harpocration (Aeu/cas, 

 Ae'xaioj') ; but Pliny, who might frequently have cited him in the 

 geographical part of his work, never mentions his name ; nor does it 

 occur in Pausanias. He is mentioned by Josephus and by Plutarch, 

 not as a geographer, but as an historical writer. 



Yery different opinions have been, given of Strabo's geographical 

 work. That he was deficient in mathematical knowledge is evident, 

 and his accuracy in many cases is at least doubtful. To form a proper 

 judgment of him, we must ascertain what he proposed his work to be, 

 which may be collected from various passages. His work was to be 

 practical, that is, adapted to the use of persons of a certain amount of 

 education, and particularly personages engaged in administration. 

 He says that a " man who reads his work ought not to be so ignorant 

 as never to have seen a sphere or the circles marked on it;" and he 

 goes on to say, that a man who is ignorant of these and other like 

 matters, which he has enumerated, aud which belong to the elementary 

 parts of knowledge, cannot understand his work. " His work," he 

 says, " is, in a word, for universal use, political and profitable to all, 

 just as history is " (p. 12, 13); and "as he had written an historical 

 work (vTTofj.vfi/j.ara IcrropiKa), useful, as he supposed, both for ethical 

 and political philosophy, he determined to add to it a geographical 

 work, which was of a like kind, and addressed to the same class of 

 men, and chiefly to those in power; and, as in the former work, only 

 what related to distinguished men and to distinguished lives was 

 recorded, and things trivial and mean were omitted ; so in his geogra- 

 phical work he should dwell only on things which were of note and of 

 importance, and things in which there was something useful for 

 example, and worth recording, and agreeable." From this it appears 

 that Strabo neither designed a mathematical treatise, nor an enumera- 

 tion of astronomical positions, nor a treatise on the physical character 

 of countries. His design was to write something which should give 

 an educated man a general notion of the earth's surface, its political 

 divisions, the chief peculiarities of each, and so much of its history as 

 would enliven and explain his geographical description. 



Accordingly Strabo produced a work which contains a great mass of 

 useful information, but is not strictly a geographical work, and though 

 systematic according to his notion of system, it does not deserve the 

 name of a system of geography. Though he resided a long time at 

 Alexandria, he derived little advantage from the labours of the geo- 

 graphers and astronomers of that school for the correction of positions 

 and fixing the bearings of places with respect to one another, or for 

 determining the general form of the regions which he describes. His 

 taste indeed was for other studies than those which belong to the 

 geographer. 



The first two books of Strabo contain his general geography. In 

 the first book he treats of the advantages of the study of geography, 

 and discusses the geographical knowledge of Homer, which he rates 

 highly. He then mentions the old geographers, as Hecatseus, Demo- 

 critus, Eudoxus of Cnidos, and Ephorus of Cumse ; and the more 

 recent geographers, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Polybius, and Posi- 

 donius. He passes a critical judgment on the first two books of 

 Eratosthenes, which leads him to various discussions, and to observa- 

 tions on the changes which the earth's surface has undergone. In the 

 second book he extends his criticism to the third book of Eratos- 

 thenes, and to the three books of Hipparchus. He also discusses the 

 merits of Posidonius and Polybius. Strabo has thus preserved many 

 passages of the Greek geographical writers ; but the author's judgment 

 is often prejudiced and inaccurate. He severely criticises Hipparchus, 

 and points out many of his errors, particularly as to the latitude of 

 places. The latter part of the second book treats of the preliminary 

 knowledge which the geographer requires. Strabo was acquainted 

 with the fact of the spherical figure of the earth ; and he determines 

 the boundaries of the habitable part of it. The world is divided by 

 the equinoctial circle into the northern and the southern hemispheres. 

 The habitable portion is bounded on the north by a parallel of latitude 

 which passes through lerne (Ireland), and on the south by the parallel 

 which passes through the Cinnamon country. The parts to the north 

 of the first parallel are not habitable on account of cold, and those to 

 the south of the second parallel are uninhabited owing to excessive 

 heat. He follows Eratosthenes in his measurements, and compares 

 them with those of Hipparchus and Polybius. The habitable world 

 (olKov/j.fvri) is surrounded by water, and the Caspian Sea is a gulf of 

 the Northern Ocean, a mistake which he might have corrected by the 

 aid of Herodotus. The length of the habitable world is about double 

 its breadth. 



The third book contains the description of the Spanish Peninsula 

 and the Balearic Islands ; his principal authorities are Artemidorus, 

 Posidonius, and Polybius. The fourth treats of Gallia, Britain, the 

 BIOG. mv. VOL. v. 



Alps, and the tribes which inhabited the Alps, and the valleys belong- 

 ing to that mountain-system : in general he follows the description of 

 Caesar, and he also used Artemidorus and Polybius, and probably the 

 work of Aristotle on Political Constitutions, for his account of Massilia 

 (Marseille) : his description of Britain is exceedingly meagre ; in treating 

 of Thule he gives some account of Pytheas, but rejects his authority. 

 The fifth and six books contain the description of Italy, Sicily, and 

 the adjoining islands : he had probably seen a large part of these 

 countries himself; yet he makes great use of Polybius, Posidonius, 

 Ephorus, Eratosthenes, and many other writers : in treating of Corsica 

 and Sardinia, he quotes the ' Chorographus,' without saying who is 

 intended by the term : it has been suggested that the word has 

 reference not to any particular individual, but to the results of the 

 commission under the direction of Agrippa which made a survey of 

 the empire: it has also been conjectured that Agrippa himself is meant 

 by the Chorographus. In the seventh book Strabo treats of the coun- 

 tries on the Danube, and the parts included between the Danube, the 

 Adriatic, and the Black Sea : the parts which treat of Macedonia and 

 Thrace are lost, and in their place we have a scanty epitome. Strabo's 

 authorities for this part of his work seem to have been very defective. 

 The eighth, ninth, and tenth books contain his description of Greece 

 and the Islands, in which he makes great use of Homer : Ephorus, 

 Polybius, Posidonius, Hipparchus, Artemidorus, and Tirnosthenes, are 

 also his authorities, in addition to many other writers. With the 

 eleventh book Strabo begins his description of Asia, as to the extent 

 and dimensions of which his notions are very inaccurate. He divides 

 it into two main portions, determined by the range of Taurus. The 

 western portion comprises the countries between the Tanais, Palus 

 Mseotis, the Blac<c and the Caspian Seas; the countries east of the 

 Caspian, bordering on India ; and Media, Armenia, and Cappadocia, to 

 the Halys : these are described in the eleventh book. In the twelfth 

 and following books he treats of Asia west of the Halys and the 

 adjoining islands. His authorities for the eleventh book are, among 

 others, Artemidorus ; the historians of the Mithridatic wars ; Metro- 

 dorus of Scepsis ; and Patrocles, the admiral of Seleucus and Antiochus, 

 for the account of the Oxus and Jaxartes. The twelfth book contains 

 the description of Cappadocia, Pontus, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Galatia, 

 Lycaonia, Isauria, Pisidia, Mysia, and Phrygia, a great part of which is 

 founded on his own personal knowledge. The thirteenth and fourteenth 

 books conclude the description of Asia west of the Halys ; and compre- 

 hend also the islands of Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Rhodes, and Cyprus. 

 His description of the Troad, in the thirteenth book, is mainly 

 founded on Homer ; but he also uses Eudoxus, Charon, Scylax, and 

 Ephorus. A great number of other writers were also used for the 

 description of the several countries and places included in these two 

 books. In the fifteenth book he passes to the description of the other 

 portion of Asia, which is determined by the Taurus ; and he first 

 treats of the southern parts of the continent. In his description of 

 India he chiefly follows Eratosthenes and the historians of Alexander, 

 particularly Patrocles and Aristobulus. His notion of the form of 

 India was entirely false, and he knew nothing of the great southern 

 peninsula ; but he speaks at some length of the customs and institu- 

 tions of the people. After India he describes the Persian empire, 

 comprehending under the general name of Ariana (Iran) the country 

 bounded on the east by the Indus, and on the west by a line drawn 

 from the Caspian Gates to the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Nearchus 

 and Onesicritus are his authorities for the description of the coast : 

 for other parts he uses Aristobulus, Eratosthenes, and Polyclitus. 

 The sixteenth book contains the remainder of Asia : his authorities 

 are generally the same as for the southern and eastern parts of Asia, 

 with the addition of his own observations in Syria. The seventeenth 

 book contains the description of Libya (Africa), and concludes with a 

 brief sketch of the division of the Roman empire into provinces : 

 Eratosthenes is his principal authority, but he also uses Agatharchides 

 and Herodotus. 



The text of Strabo is often corrupt, and there are many defective 

 passages. There is extant an epitome, or Chrestomathia, of the whole 

 work, which is referred to the 10th century A.D., which is sometimes 

 useful in correcting the text. There are also extant various other 

 extracts from the geography of Strabo. The historical work (uTro^j^j^oTa 

 ia-Topind) of Strabo, which he mentions in a passage already quoted, is 

 lost : it was a continuation of Polybius, and extended at least to the 

 death of Julius Caesar. 



Strabo first appeared in a Latin version in 1472. The first edition 

 of the Greek text was printed by Aldus, at Venice, folio, in 1516. The 

 edition of Isaac Casaubon, Geneva, folio, 1587, contains the translation 

 of Xylander : this edition was reprinted after Casaubon's death, at 

 Paris, folio, 1620, with his last corrections. Siebenkees undertook a 

 new critical edition, for which purpose he collated several manuscripts : 

 he only lived to complete the first volume, which contains the first six 

 books : this edition was finished by Tzschucke, and was published at 

 Leipzig, 6 vols. 8vo, 1796-1811. The best text of Strabo at the date 

 of its publication was that by Koray, Paris, 4 vols. 8vo, 1815-19, 

 which has an index, but no translation ; but a much superior edition 

 is that by G. Kramer, 3 vols. 8vo, Berlin, 1847-52. The^ text of 

 Strabo edited by A. Meineke in 3 vols. 12mo, is included in Teubner's 

 cheap series known as the ' Leipzig Classics ;' also, Greek aud Latin, 

 in Didot's Paris Classics, under the care of C. Miiller and F. Dubner, 



3c 



