Author(s):
Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld)
[German version] (νότος/
nótos, Latin
auster, and βορέας/
boréas, Latin
aquilo). Whereas the Nile's north-south-axis provided Egypt with a main compass direction, north and south were considered by the Greeks and Romans ‘as edges and border regions in an oikoumene thought of as an east-west ellipse and organised into climate zones’ ([1. 311]). The north and south winds, in contrast, were even regarded by some authors as chief winds (Strab. 1,2,21). Although there were old trade relationships far into the North (Amber, Tin), general information essentially remained determined by mythical ideas or theoretical speculation (cf. Rhipaia ore, Eridanus; even Alexander could consider the Indus as an upper part of the Nile [4] in 326 BC, cf. Arr. An. 6,1,2 f.; Nearchus FGrH 133 F 32). The north and the south were regarded as the dwelling places of wild or idealised creatures of fable (cf. Abii, Arimaspi, Hyperboreii, Pygmies). The circumnavigation of Africa under Necho (Hdt. 4,42), expeditions by the Persians and Carthaginians, discoveries by Euthymenes and Pytheas [4], and the lively sea connections with India (India, trade with) in the Roman Imperial period or the reconnaissance of the eastern coast of Africa were not reflected in a growth of systematic knowledge. For a long time they remained accessible only to certain fields (e.g. merchants, generals, geographers) and led to occasional corrections, often abandoned again, of the world view. Only…