THE CONQUEST OF THE ZONES 



THE contrast between modem and ancient 

 times is strikingly suggested by reflection 

 on the limited range of geographical knowl- 

 edge of those Oriental and Classical nations who 

 dominated the scene at that remote period which we are 

 accustomed to characterize as the dawn of history. 

 The Egyptians, peopling the narrow valley of the Nile, 

 scarcely had direct dealings with any people more re- 

 mote than the Babylonians and Assyrians occupying 

 the valley of the Euphrates. Babylonians and Assy- 

 rians in turn were in touch with no Eastern civilization 

 more remote than that of Persia and India, and knew 

 nothing of any Western world beyond the borders of 

 Greece. Greeks and Romans, when in succession they 

 came to dominate the world stage, — developing a 

 civilization which even as viewed from our modem 

 vantage-ground seems marvelous, — were still confined 

 to narrow strips of territory about the shores of the 

 Mediterranean, and had but the vaguest notions as to 

 any other regions of the earth. 



In the later classical period, to be sure, the globe was 

 subjected, as we have seen, to wonderful measure- 

 ments by Eratosthenes and by Posidonius, and the 

 fact that man's abiding place is a great ball utterly 



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