SCIENCE OF THE ROMAN PERIOD 



dark valleys of the Middle Ages. Yet we cannot 

 quite disregard the efforts of such workers as those we 

 have just named. Let us take a more specific glance 

 at their accomplishments. 



STRABO THE GEOGRAPHER 



The earliest of these workers in point of time is 

 Strabo. This most famous of ancient geographers 

 was born in Amasia, Pontus, about 63 B.C., and lived 

 to the year 24 A.D., living, therefore, in the age of 

 Caesar and Augustus, during which the final transfor- 

 mation in the political position of the kingdom of 

 Egypt was effected. The name of Strabo in a modi- 

 fied form has become popularized through a curious 

 circumstance. The geographer, it appears, was afflict- 

 ed with a peculiar squint of the eyes, hence the name 

 strabismus, which the modern oculist applies to that 

 particular infirmity. 



Fortunately, the great geographer has not been 

 forced to depend upon hearsay evidence for recogni- 

 tion. His comprehensive work on geography has 

 been preserved in its entirety, being one of the few ex- 

 pansive classical writings of which this is true. The 

 other writings of Strabo, however, including certain 

 histories of which reports have come down to us, are 

 entirely lost. The geography is in many ways a re- 

 markable book. It is not, however, a work in which 

 any important new principles are involved. Rather 

 is it typical of its age in that it is an elaborate com- 

 pilation and a critical review of the labors of Strabo' s 

 predecessors. Doubtless it contains a vast deal of new 

 information as to the details of geography precise 



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