Arrian: Periplus Ponti Euxini

by Arrian, Aidan Liddle (Translator)

Arrian, Greek man of letters and Roman senator, and best known as a philosopher and the historian of Alexander, also enjoyed a successful political and military career, and the friendship of the emperor Hadrian. His Peripus Ponti Euxini, mixing the literary forms of a friendly letter and the traditional Greek periplus, or coastal guide, describes a tour of duty around the Black Sea undertaken in his official capacity as governor of the frontier province of Cappadocia, and contains important evidence for this crucial corner of the eastern frontier of the Empire. But it also affords us a unique insight into the cultural and political background of the early second century, from a man well placed not only to understand, but also to promote the new common imperial culture being forged by the hellenophile emperor. This new edition, with a full introduction, commentary and facing-page translation, is the first in English for nearly 200 years.

Genres: History, Travel, Ancient History, Classics, Ancient, India, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2003

About the author

Arrian of Nicomedia (Latin: Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon; Greek: Ἀρριανός c. AD c. 86 – c. 160) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period. As with other authors of the Second Sophistic, Arrian wrote primarily in Attic (Indica is in Herodotus' Ionic dialect, his philosophical works in Koine Greek).

The Anabasis of Alexander is perhaps his best-known work, and is generally considered one of the best sources on the campaigns of Alexander the Great. (It is not to be confused with Anabasis, the best-known work of the Athenian military leader and author Xenophon from the 5th-4th century BC.) Arrian is also considered as one of the founders of a primarily military-based focus on history. His other works include Discourses of Epictetus and Indica.

Other language versions:
Arriano

Reviews

[Yorgos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book in Greek, published by "Stohastis" and translated-commented upon by Professor M.S.Megalommatis.

The comments by the Professor are profound, revealing deep historical knowledge and unveiling secrets ranging from practical issues of navigation to the world view and religious and political philosophy of ancient Assyrians.

[Apteris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply instructive account of trade routes between Egypt, the eastern coast of Africa, and India in the 1st century A.D. This book is what opened the eyes of modern scholars to the degree of acquaintanceship and interchange between West and East, at even so early a time.

Discussing many cities, market towns, and ports, this account goes into what was traded where, how long it took you to sail to each place, and what manner of people and political structure you might encounter on arriving.

"These places, from the Calf-Eaters to the other Berber country, are governed by Zoscales; who is miserly in his ways and always striving for more, but otherwise upright, and acquainted with Greek literature."

"Suppara, and the city of Calliena, which in the time of the elder Saraganus became a lawful market-town; but since it came into the possession of Sandares the port is much obstructed, and Greek ships landing there may chance to be taken to Barygaza under guard."

Also you will learn about more types of resins than you ever thought could have existed.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

While outdated in many of its references, the commentary in this book provides a fascinating simultaneous glimpse into the Middle East/western Indian cultural landscape of the first century and of the late nineteenth century.

[DúviAurvandil Ericsson e Pereira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable periplus, or handbook of sea routes and port guides, written in the 1st century and describing the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf (collectively the ‘Red Sea’ or Erythra Thalassa in Greek). For something intended as not much more than a technical guide to mariners, it’s quite interesting. One can feel the wonder of the Mediterranean people at seeing others peoples, their physical and psychological characteristics, and what kinds of goods their region can offer. It also provides simple but beautiful descriptions of the physical hydrography one would encounter on a trip down the Horn of Africa or riding the monsoon winds to India and back again. It also highlights how important knowledge of port geography was to ancient mariners. We now expect most ports to provide most of the same basic services and mooring arrangements, but this was not so in the Ancient Maritime World. Even today, some docks are not trustworthy, nor the depths of berthing arrangements advertised forthrightly (hence the occasional ‘suspected grounding’), but this would have been the norm and much more exaggerated in the years BC. This periplus makes sure to point out common navigational hazards, condition of the dockside facilities, and availability of shipwrights to help the wise, fore-thinking captain with keeping his ship, crew, and cargo safe.

[Jim Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is an absolute mess

Whoever put this mess of a book up for sale should consider either remove it from Amazon or edit the book by hand. What this person did was take a PDF of the book, used either acrobat or another program to turn the pdf to editable text using the edit function and then use calibre to make an ePub then try to sell this kindle. Someone not very smart tried to do this. It's so bad half of the pages have gibberish. Don't buy this book.

[Cliff-Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I wouldn't recommend to anyone without a strong historical interest, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea provides a highly unique insight into trade between Roman Egypt and India, with a particular focus on the goods that flowed between these regions.

[Øystein Brekke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating text, but not a very interesting read if not for specific research - no anecdotes or tall tales here, just the essential information for a merchant interested in trading between Egypt, Africa and India in the 1st century AD.

[Alves Vasconcellos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fui atrás mais pelos breves relances da vida de Arriano e Adriano, sua relação e o plano de fundo histórico-cultural do que pelo periplus propriamente dito (feliz ou infelizmente não tenho muito a fazer com a geografia do Ponto Euxino). Mas, por rápida que tenha sido, a leitura foi proveitosa.

[Sami Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to read as the content belong to two thousand years back.

[Jason Micallef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for research

[Misha · Rating 3 out of 5]

What makes pre-Christian historians fascinating is not only their abilty to describe events and places with varying accuracy, but the voice in which they do so. This work has plentiful of the former but is found lacking in the latter.
A guidebook written by Arrian, A Greek historian and commander of Roman Period, in the form of a letter addressed to the Emperor Hadrian; It is filled to the brim with toponimy and geography of the lands around the Black sea. The author vaguely mentions political croscurrents of his time; nevertheless, there is enough to conjure mental images of decaying Greek colonies, former glory with allusions to myth, and the ad interim tumult of regions around Sebastopolis. (Post disintegration of Colchis yet before the rise of the Kingdom of Lazica)
Restricted by its epistolary nature, the work lacks the depth and character of, say, Tacitus; but is nevertheless remedied by rare snippets of some literary merit and abundance of scientific material of varying accuracy which, nevertheless, should have been useful and hard to note down in the times of Arrian.

[Nugo]

important