Eratosthenes' Geography
Fragments collected and translated, with commentary and additional material, by Duane W. Roller

Cloth | March 2010 | $49.50 / £34.95
320 pp. | 7 x 10 | 3 line illus. 7 maps.

Shopping Cart | Endorsements | Table of Contents
Introduction [PDF]

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.

Duane W. Roller is professor emeritus of Greek and Latin at Ohio State University. He is the author of, among other books, Through the Pillars of Herakles: Greco-Roman Exploration of the Atlantic.

Endorsements:

"This edition fills a real gap, long recognized by classicists, not to mention historians of geography, cartography, and ancient science. With its close attention to detail and its completeness, it will be of unquestionable value to classicists of many different stripes. Duane W. Roller has done a huge service to the field."--Grant Parker, Stanford University

"This edition is an extremely useful introduction to Eratosthenes and his work. The book is well conceived, well researched, and well executed, and it will benefit a wide range of scholars."--James Romm, Bard College

Table of Contents:

List of Illustrations vii
Introduction ix
Abbreviations xiii

ERATOSTHENES AND THE HISTORY OF GEOGRAPHY
The Background 1
The Life of Eratosthenes 7
The Geographika of Eratosthenes 15
The Reception and Later History of the Geographika 30

ERATOSTHENES, GEOGRAPHIKA
Book 1 41
Book 2 58
Book 3 69

SUMMARIES AND COMMENTARIES
Commentary to Book 1 111
Commentary to Book 2 141
Commentary to Book 3 161
Gazetteer 223
Maps 249

APPENDICES
Appendix 1: On the Measurement of the Earth 263
Appendix 2: Testimonia for the Life of Eratosthenes 268
Appendix 3: Lengths of Measurement 271
Bibliography 275
Index of Passages Cited 281
General Index 289

Subject Areas:

• Classics
• Archaeology and Ancient History

Shopping Cart:

For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Cloth: $49.50 ISBN13: 978-0-691-14267-8

For customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Cloth: £34.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-14267-8

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File created: 11/4/2009

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