The Geography of Strabo: Volume I, Books 1-2 (Loeb Classical Library)
by Strabo
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The Geography of Strabo is the only surviving work of its type in Greek literature, and the major source for the history of Greek scholarship on geography and the formative processes of the earth. In addition, this lengthy and complex work contains a vast amount of information on other topics, including the journey of Alexander the Great, cultic history, the history of the eastern Mediterranean in the first century BC, and women's history. Modern knowledge of seminal geographical authors show more such as Eratosthenes and Hipparchos relies almost totally on Strabo's use of them. This is the first complete English translation in nearly a century, and the first to make use of recent scholarship on the Greek text itself and on the history of geography. The translation is supplemented by a detailed discussion of Strabo's life and his purpose in writing the Geography, as well as the sources that he used. show lessTags
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Strabo was the geographer of the Ancient World. He not only traveled, but he relied on the recorded geographies of other writers to fill the gaps in his knowledge (which was pretty extensive). It is interesting to read of those places we are familiar with but as they were two thousand years ago. Not for those who aren't interested in the ancient world.
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A native of Pontus (today central northern Turkey along the Black Sea), Strabo is the author of a multivolume Geography that gives a full sense of geographical knowledge of the Roman Empire at the time of Augustus. Although a native of Asia Minor, Strabo spent many years in Rome in circles close to the imperial family. During the course of his show more Roman stay, he adopted tenets of the Stoic philosophy. Strabo's first work, "Historical Sketches," is almost entirely lost. It is said to have recounted known history from the middle of the second century b.c. to the founding of the Roman Empire. Strabo's second work, the Geography, is extant in its entirety. In composing it, Strabo relied heavily on secondary sources, even for areas that he himself knew. He described the world from Spain and Mauritania in the West to India and Persia in the East. Strabo knew next to nothing of northern Europe and Asia or sub-Saharan Africa. In describing the eastern Mediterranean, Strabo was particularly concerned with identifying sites mentioned in Homer, a topic that has fascinated several modern writers, too. Among the many topics in the Geography, Strabo discusses the religious customs of the various areas he describes. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Geography of Strabo: Volume I, Books 1-2 (Loeb Classical Library) (Loeb Classical Library)
- Original publication date
- 17
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- Members
- 107
- Popularity
- 301,687
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.20)
- Languages
- English, Greek (Ancient), Multiple languages, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 3
