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Geographica (Strabo)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Geographica is a 17-volume encyclopedia of geographical knowledge written in ancient Greek by Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman empire of Greek and Georgian descent. Work can have begun on it no earlier than 20 BC. A first edition was published in 7 BC followed by a gap, resumption of work and a final edition no later than 23 AD in the last year of Strabo's life. Strabo probably worked on his Geography and now missing History concurrently, as the Geography contains a considerable amount of historical data. Except for parts of Book 7, it has come down to us complete.
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Strabo refers to his Geography within it by several names:[1]
- geōgraphia, "description of the earth"[2]
- chōrographia, "description of the land"
- periēgēsis, "an outline"[3]
- periodos gēs, "circuit of the earth"[4]
- periodeia tēs chōrās, "circuit of the land"[5]
Apart from the "outline", two words recur, "earth" and "country." Something of a theorist, Strabo explains what he means by Geography and Chorography:[6]
It is the sea more than anything else that defines the contours of the land (geōgraphei) and gives it its shape, by forming gulfs, deep seas, straits and likewise isthmuses, peninsulas, and promontories; but both the rivers and the mountains assist the seas herein. It is through such natural features that we gain a clear conception of continents, nations, favourable positions of cities and all the other diversified details with which our geographical map (chorographikos pinax) is filled.
From this description it is clear that by geography Strabo means ancient physical geography and by chorography, political geography. The two are combined in this work, which makes a "circuit of the earth" detailing the physical and political features. Strabo often uses the adjective geōgraphika with reference to the works of others and to geography in general, but not of his own work. In the middle ages it became the standard name used of his work.
The date of Geographica is a large topic, perhaps because Strabo worked on it along with his History for most of his adult life. He traveled extensively, undoubtedly gathering notes, and made extended visits to Rome and Alexandria, where he is sure to have spent time in the famous library taking notes from his sources.
Strabo visited Rome in 44 BC at age 19 or 20 apparently for purposes of education. He studied under various persons, including Tyrannion, a captive educated Greek and private tutor, who instructed Cicero's two sons. Says Sterrett:
Tyrannion was also a distinguished geographer, and he may have guided Strabo into the paths of geographical study.
If one presumes that Strabo acquired the motivation for writing geography during his education, the latter must have been complete by the time of his next visit to Rome in 35 BC at 29 years old. He may have been gathering notes but the earliest indication that he must have been preparing them is his extended visit to Alexandria 25-20 BC. In 20 he was 44 years old. His "numerous excerpts" from "the works of his predecessors" are most likely to have been noted at the library there. Whether these hypothetical notes first found their way into his history and then into his geography or were simply ported along as notes remains unknown.
Most of the events of the life of Augustus mentioned by Strabo occurred 31-7 BC with a gap 6 BC - 14 AD, which can be interpreted as an interval after first publication in 7 BC. Then in 19 AD a specific reference dates a passage: he said that the Carni and Norici had been at peace since they were "stopped ... from their riotous incursions ...." by Drusus 33 years ago, which was 15 BC, dating the passage 19 AD.[7] The latest event mentioned is the death of Juba at no later than 23 AD, when Strabo was in his 80's. These events can be interpreted as a second edition unless he saved all his notes and wrote the book entirely after the age of 80.
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It does cover the entire world known to the Greeks and Romans of his time. These byways do provide modern scholars with valuable historical information on the methods of ancient geography and on many older geographers whose works have not come down to us.
The work suffers from several major flaws: a constant and very intrusive defense of the poet Homer as a geographical source, leading the author to dismiss more recent writers, such as Herodotus, who were often eyewitnesses to what they reported; a preoccupation with minute, often captiously argumentative, criticism of these other writers; a peculiarly Greek aprioristic attitude to facts, seeking to derive them from the pure exercise of reason: in sum, one would prefer more geography and less argumentation.
Some thirty manuscripts of Geographika or parts of it have survived, almost all of them medieval copies of copies, though there are fragments from papyrus rolls which were probably copied out ca AD 100‑300. Scholars have struggled for a century and a half to produce an accurate edition close to what Strabo wrote. A definitive one has been in publication since 2002, appearing at a rate of about a volume a year.
- ^ Dueck, Daniela (2000). Strabo of Amasia: A Greek Man of Letters in Augustan Rome. London, New York: Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group, page 145. ISBN 0415216729.
- ^ Book 3 chapter 1 section 1 1st sentence, page C136.
- ^ Book 3 chapter 4 section 5 last sentence, page C158.
- ^ Book 6 chapter 1 section 2, page C253.
- ^ Book 9 chapter 5 section 14, page C435.
- ^ Book 2 chapter 5 section 17, page C120, Jones translation.
- ^ Dueck page 146 on Strabo Book 4, Chapter 6, Book 9 ( C206).
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- Kramer, Gustav, ed., Strabonis Geographica, 3 vols, containing Books 1-17. Berlin: Friedericus Nicolaus, 1844-52.
- Jones, Horace L., ed. and tr. The Geography of Strabo. 8 vols, containing Books 1-17. Harvard University Press and Heinemann, 1917-32
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- Strabo; H.L. Jones (Editor) (1924). The Geography of Strabo (html). LacusCurtius Books 1‑9, 15‑17. Bill Thayer. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. English text.
- Strabo; H.L. Jones (Editor) (1924). The Geography of Strabo (html). The Perseus Digital Library Books 6‑14. Tufts University. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. English text.
- Strabo; H.C. Hamilton & W. Falconer (Editors) (1903-1906). Strabo, Geography (html). The Perseus Project complete. Tufts University. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. English text.
- Strabo; A. Meineke (Editor) (1852-53). Geographica (html). The Perseus Project Books 6-14. Tufts University. The Greek and Greek transliterated texts.
- Pothecary, Sarah (2005). Editions of Strabo's Geographia (html). Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
- Pothecary, Sarah (2005). Getting started with Strabo (html). Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
- Pothecary, Sarah (2005). Strabo: Papyri (html). Retrieved on 2007-11-03.