Strabo
Strabo
62 av. J.-C. — 23
Greek geographer, historian, and philosopher born around 62 BC in Amaseia (modern-day Turkey). He is the author of the Geography in 17 books, a description of the known world of his time. An heir to the Stoic tradition, he traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean and the East.
Famous Quotes
« Geography is a subject that belongs to the philosopher. »
« Travel is the best school in the world. »
Key Facts
- Born around 62 BC in Amaseia in Pontus (modern-day Turkey)
- Wrote the Geography in 17 books, the only work of his to survive in full
- Spent time in Rome and Alexandria, the great intellectual centers of the ancient world
- Described the inhabited world (oikoumene) from Ireland to India
- Died around 23 AD, after a long life devoted to scholarship
Works & Achievements
A monumental work in 17 books describing the entire known inhabited world of the Greeks and Romans, from Ireland to India. It is the only major ancient geographical work to have survived nearly intact to the present day.
A vast historical compilation in 47 books, now almost entirely lost, which served as a continuation of Polybius's work. A few fragments have survived through citations by later authors.
Anecdotes
Strabo traveled from Ethiopia to the shores of the Black Sea, and from the Iberian Peninsula to India — at least according to the sources he compiled. He claimed to have covered more ground than anyone before him, which gave him particular authority to describe the inhabited world, which he called the "oikoumene."
In his Geography, Strabo describes Britain with surprising accuracy for a man who may never have set foot there. He drew on accounts from merchants and Roman soldiers, demonstrating that ancient geography was also a science of gathering human intelligence, not merely direct observation.
Strabo was an ardent admirer of Homer, whom he considered the first geographer in history. He devoted lengthy passages to arguing that the voyages of Odysseus corresponded to real geographical locations, seeking to reconcile Greek mythology with the reality of the Mediterranean world.
Born in Amasia of Pontus (present-day Amasya in Turkey), Strabo grew up in an influential family close to the kings of Pontus. His hometown, perched in the gorges of the Iris River, left a deep impression on him: he produced one of the most detailed urban descriptions in his entire work about it, with a pride that is clearly personal.
Strabo's historical work, his Historical Memoirs in 47 books, has been almost entirely lost. Only his Geography has survived more or less complete, making it one of the major sources for ancient geography — a true miracle of manuscript transmission across the centuries.
Primary Sources
Geography, which I have set out to treat, seems to me, like other sciences, to be a branch of philosophy; it is of particular interest to statesmen.
The inhabited world is an island: for wherever men have been able to advance by land or sea, they have encountered the Ocean.
All of Gaul is divided into three parts: Celtic Gaul, Aquitania, and Belgica. These peoples differ from one another in language, customs, and laws.
Egypt is watered by the Nile from the borders of Ethiopia to the sea; the width of the country scarcely extends beyond the valley the river has carved.
Amaseia, my homeland, is a city admirably fortified by nature; a deep river encircles it with a double barrier, and sheer cliffs rise on all sides.
Key Places
Strabo's hometown, nestled in the gorges of the Iris River (Yeşilırmak). He left a detailed and affectionate description of it in Book XII of his Geography.
The great intellectual center of the ancient world, home to the famous Library. Strabo stayed there around 25 BC and describes its architecture, harbor, and institutions in Book XVII.
Capital of the Empire where Strabo lived for several years and moved in learned circles close to Augustus. The city gave him access to invaluable geographical and historical sources.
A city on the border of Egypt and Ethiopia that Strabo visited during his expedition with Aelius Gallus. There he observed the famous well where the sun is reflected straight down at the summer solstice.
The Greek city rebuilt by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, which Strabo describes as a major commercial crossroads of the eastern Mediterranean in Book VIII of his Geography.
Gallery
Portret van de kunstenaar Jan van der Straet (Johannes Stradanus), RP-P-OB-10.161
Wikimedia Commons, CC0 — Rijksmuseum
Portret van de kunstenaar Jan van der Straet (Johannes Stradanus), RP-P-OB-10.162
Wikimedia Commons, CC0 — Rijksmuseum
Gazette des beaux-arts.
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Inconnu
Firenze - Florence - Palazzo Vecchio - 2nd Floor - Sala di Gualdrada - View Up on the Ceiling - Paintings by Stradano III
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Txllxt TxllxT
Firenze - Florence - Palazzo Vecchio - 2nd Floor - Sala di Gualdrada - View Up on the Ceiling - Paintings by Stradano IV
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Txllxt TxllxT
AT 13766 Strabon - Roof figure at the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna 8921-Bearbeitet
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Hubertl
Histoire de la sculpture grecque
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Collignon, Maxime, 1849-1917
Catalogue des antiquités chaldéennes, sculpture et gravure à la pointe
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Musée du Louvre. Département des antiquités orientales et de la céramique antique Heuzey, Léon Alexandre, 1831-1922
La sculpture attique avant Phidias
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Lechat, Henri, 1862-
Greuze, sa vie et son oeuvre : Sa statue, le musee Greuze
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Houssaye, Arsene, 1815-1896