Ancient Geography: The Discovery of the World in Classical Greece and Rome

by Duane W. Roller

The last dedicated book on ancient geography was published more than sixty years ago. Since then new texts have appeared (such as the Artemidoros palimpsest), and new editions of existing texts (by geographical authorities who include Agatharchides, Eratosthenes, Pseudo-Skylax and Strabo) have been produced. There has been much archaeological research, especially at the perimeters of the Greek world, and a more accurate understanding of ancient geography and geographers has emerged. The topic is therefore overdue a fresh and sustained treatment. In offering precisely that, Duane Roller explores important topics like knowledge of the world in the Bronze Age and Archaic periods; Greek expansion into the Black Sea and the West; the Pythagorean concept of the earth as a globe; the invention of geography as a discipline by Eratosthenes; Polybios the explorer; Strabo’s famous Geographica; the travels of Alexander the Great; Roman geography; Ptolemy and late antiquity; and the cultural reawakening of antique geographical knowledge in the Renaissance, including Columbus’ use of ancient sources

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Geography

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 27, 2015

About the author

Historian, archaeologist, and classical scholar, Duane W. Roller is Professor Emeritus of Greek and Latin at The Ohio State University, and currently lives in Santa Fe, NM. He has excavated in Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the Levant. He is a three-time Fulbright scholar, most recently the Karl-Franzens Distinguished Chair of Cultural Studies at the University of Graz, Austria.

Reviews

[Cezar Alexandru]

Extremely interesting. I have learnt a lot about Greeks and Romans' knowledge of the world around them. Sometimes it was hard to follow some of the trips described because many Ancient names are different from the modern ones, but I assume this is normal for most books about ancient history.

[Natalya Delsante]

great synthesis of ancient perception of the oikoumene. i knew nothing of the classics previous to my reading of this and it was still very easy to follow!

[Ron Orr]

A solid introduction to the development of ancient geography. Roller begins with the pre-Socratics and proceeds through geography in Greek and then Roman authors.

[Elentarri]

This book provides a summary and brief analysis of what the Classical Greeks and Romans knew or thought about the world around them in terms of geography and exploratory journeys. The book basically does what it says on the cover, so there isn't much to comment on. This book would make a useful addition for someone researching geography during the Classical Greek & Roman age. For the non-researcher this book may eventually get a bit tedious, even though it is interesting in parts.