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[German version] Anonymous, apparently clerical, author of the 8th cent. AD from Ravenna (4,31), also referred to as Anonymus Ravennas. His Cosmographia describes the entire world as it was known in his time in 5 bks. Bk. 1 argues ─ in observance of Biblical and patristical traditions ─ for a view of the earth as a flat disc surrounded by oceans, with the sun running along the southern rim during the day. Bks. 2-5 present lists of 5,000 place names, organized by regions and, in part, by Roman provinces (regions, cit…

[German version] Roman geographer of the 4th cent. AD.; his work was the primary model of the  Geographus Ravennas. C. is also erroneously considered the author of  Tabula Peutingeriana (see in this regard [1]). Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography 1 Miller, XIII.

[German version] (Eυθυμένης; Euthyménēs). Greek seafarer, probably of the 6th-5th cents. BC, who sailed along the north-western African Atlantic coast to the mouth of a big river (Senegal?), where he noticed areas of fresh water within the ocean, and where the  Etesians periodically caused the river water to rise; this together with the fauna of that region, which was similar to that of Egypt (crocodiles, hippopotami), led E. to conclude that the river must be the upper course of the Nile, rising f…

[German version] (Δαμάστης; Damástēs). Son of Dioxippus from Sigeum, Greek geographer and historian of the 5th cent. BC, probably a student of  Hellanicus (Agathemerus 1,1). With the exception of a few fragments, his works do not survive. Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography FGrH 5.

[German version] (Μεγασθένης; Megasthénes). Diplomat and historian (c. 350-290 BC). An envoy sent out several times between 302 and 291 under Seleucus I, especially to northern India, where Chandragupta ( Sandracottus) founded the Maurya kingdom. His geographical and ethnographical work Indiká, three or four books, preserved only in fragments, was based on observation and information uncritically received through interpreters. For a long time it was the most detailed presentation of India and was used by Diodorus [18] Siculus, Strabo …

[German version] (Κωλαῖος). A trader from Samos only mentioned in Hdt. 4,152 in connection with the founding history of Cyrene (7th cent. BC). His ship was blown off-course by the east wind beyond the Columns of Hercules (the Strait of Gibraltar) on the way to Egypt and reached  Tartessus, which was previously unknown to the Greeks.  Discovery, voyages of Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim)

[German version] Modern term for a graphical representation, albeit not to scale, of the City of Rome. It was created between AD 203 and 208 on a 235 m2 marble wall in the Forum of Vespasian in Rome. The preserved fragments are an important record of the ancient topography of the city.  Rome (Topography) Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography G. Carettoni et al., La pianta marmorea di Roma antica, 1960 E. Rodríguez-Almeida, Forma Urbis Marmorea, 1981 J. P. Heisel, Antike Bauzeichnungen, 1993, 193-197 K. Brodersen, Terra Cognita, 1995, 231-236.

[German version] List of the sights of the 14 municipal districts ( regiones) of Rome. Aside from the core Constantinian Curiosum urbis Romae, a more recent, more intensely interpolated Notitia and a Classis commixta have been passed down to us. Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography A. Nordh, Prolegomena till den romenska regionskatalogen, 1936 Id., Libellus de regionibus urbis Romae, 1949 HLL 5, 1989, § 520.

[German version] Voyages of exploration served to open up new routes and thus also new geographical spaces, which ─ even though they may long have been known to other peoples ─ still had to be discovered for the Graeco-Roman peoples of the Mediterranean; this explains why most of these voyages took place comparatively early. The opening up of routes across the Mediterranean and its subsidiary seas and the associated coastal regions was already accomplished in prehistoric times and perhaps became the subject of myths ( Odysseus;  Argonautae). Historically evident discoveries thus …

[German version] Title of an anonymous Latin didactic poem on marine life. Only the first 22 hexameters of the  praefatio survive, in some manuscripts of the works of Solinus (Anth. Lat. 1,2, no. 720 Riese). Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim)

[German version] and Descriptio totius mundi are the titles of two anonymous free Latin adaptations of a lost anonymous Greek commercial-geographical text, written in AD 459/460. This work written by an Orthodox covers Asia, Europe, and Africa as far as Egypt including the islands, and offers colourful details about the characteristics, products, trading habits, and lives of the various peoples. Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography GGM 2, 513-528 GLM, 104-126 J. Rougé, E., SChr 124, 1966 F. Martelli, Introduzione alla E., 1982 J. Drexhage, Die E., in: Münstersche Beiträg…

[German version] (Ἀγαθήμερος; Agathḗmēros). Son of Orthon (imperial Rome), author of a geographical outline ( Geography) Hypotýpōsis geōgraphías, (ὑποτύπωσις γεωγραφίας), only known from copies of the Cod. Palatinus gr. 398 (9th cent. AD) (GGM 2,471-487) [1]. A. gives a short summary of geographical science from  Thales to  Posidonius, provides definitions and etymology of the continents (ch. 1), also observations on the  wind rose (ch. 2), on the seas (ch. 3), on the length and breadth of the   oikoumene (ch. 4), and on the dimensions of the islands of the Mediterranean (ch. 5). An an…

[German version] Two anonymous lists of lands and islands of the Roman oikoumene with their length and width in Roman miles, probably created in the 5th cent. AD [1; 2]. Like similar information in Plin. HN 3-6, they can also be traced back to  Agrippa [1] [3]. Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography 1 Editions: GLM 9-20 2 K. Brodersen, C. Plinius Secundus: Naturkunde VI, 1996, 329-336 3 A. Klotz, Die geogr. commentarii des Agrippa, in: Klio 24, 1931, 38-58, 386-466. J. J. Tierney, Dicuili Liber de mensura orbis terrae, 1967, 22-26.

[English version] Zwei anon., wohl im 5. Jh.n.Chr. entstandene Verzeichnisse der Länder und Inseln der röm. Oikumene mit Angabe ihrer jeweiligen Länge und Breite in röm. Meilen [1; 2]. Wie entsprechende Angaben bei Plin. nat. 3-6 lassen sich auch diese auf Agrippa [1] zurückführen [3]. Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography 1 Ausgaben: GLM 9-20 2 K. Brodersen, C. Plinius Secundus: Naturkunde VI, 1996, 329-336 3 A. Klotz, Die geogr. commentarii des Agrippa, in: Klio 24, 1931, 38-58, 386-466. J.J. Tierney, Dicuili Liber de mensura orbis terrae, 1967, 22-26.

[English version] Titel eines anon. lat. Lehrgedichts über Meereslebewesen. Erh. sind nur die ersten 22 Hexameter der praefatio in einigen Hss. der Werke des Solinus (Anth. Lat. 1,2, Nr. 720 Riese). Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim)

[English version] (Μεγασθένης). Diplomat und Historiker (um 350-290 v.Chr.). Unter Seleukos I. zw. 302 und 291 mehrfach Gesandter, u.a. nach Nordindien, wo Chandragupta (Sandrakottos) das Maurya-Reich begründete. Sein nur in Fr. erh. geogr. und ethnograph. Werk Indiká in drei oder vier B. beruht auf Autopsie und durch Dolmetscher übermittelten, von M. unkritisch übernommenen Angaben. Es war lange die ausführlichste Darstellung von India und wurde u.a. von Diodoros [18], Strabon und Plinius d.Ä. genutzt, v.a. aber von Arrianos [2] als Hauptquelle für dessen eigene Indikḗ. FGrH…

[English version] (Entdeckerfahrten). F. dienten der Erschließung von Routen und damit von geogr. Räumen, die - auch wenn sie anderen Völkern bereits bekannt gewesen sein mögen - für die Völker der griech.-röm. Mittelmeerwelt erst noch zu entdecken waren; daraus erklärt sich, daß die meisten F. in relativ früher Zeit durchgeführt wurden. Die Erschließung der Routen im Mittelmeer und seinen Nebenmeeren und damit der zugehörigen Küstenräume fällt sogar in vorhistor. Zeit und ist vielleicht in Mythen eingegangen (Odysseus; Argonautai). Histor. faßbare Entdeckungen beziehen s…

[English version] Röm. Geograph des 4.Jh. n.Chr.; sein Werk war die Hauptvorlage des Geographus Ravennas. C. wird zu Unrecht auch als Verf. der Tabula Peutingeriana bezeichnet (so [1]). Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography 1 Miller, XIII.

[English version] Anonymer, wohl geistlicher Autor des frühen 8. Jh. n.Chr. aus Ravenna (4,31), auch als Anonymus Ravennas bezeichnet. Seine Cosmographia umfaßt in 5 B. die seinerzeit bekannte Welt. B. 1 verficht ein - biblischen und patristischen Traditionen folgendes - Weltbild der Erde als flacher, vom Ozean umflossener Scheibe, an deren Südrand die Sonne tags entlangläuft. Die B. 2-5 bieten nach Landschaften und teils nach röm. Prov. geordnete Listen von über 5000 Ortsnamen (Regionen, Städte, Flüsse) in Asien, Afrika, Europa, am Mittelmeer und auf den Inseln im Ozean. Der Auto…

[English version] (Δαμάστης). Sohn des Dioxippos aus Sigeion, griech. Geograph und Historiker des 5. Jh.v.Chr., wohl Schüler des Hellanikos (Agathemeros 1,1). Seine Werke sind bis auf geringe Fragmente verloren. Brodersen, Kai (Mannheim) Bibliography FGrH 5.