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172

STRABO.

BOOK II.

agreed that the voyage from Alexandria to Rhodes, and thence by Caria and Ionia to the Troad, Byzantium, and the Dnieper, is in a straight line with the course of the Nile.^[1]

Taking therefore these distances, which have been ascertained by voyages, we have only to find out how far beyond the Dnieper the land is habitable, (being careful always to continue in the same straight line,) and we shall arrive at a knowledge of the northern boundaries of our earth.

Beyond the Dnieper dwell the Roxolani,^[2] the last of the Scythians with which we are acquainted; they are nevertheless more south than the farthest nations^[3] we know of beyond Britain. Beyond these Roxolani the country is uninhabitable on account of the severity of the climate. The Sauromatæ^[4] who live around the Mæotis, and the other Scythians^[5] as far as the Scythians of the East, dwell farther south.

following presents Strabo’s calculations of the latitude of the preceding places in a tabular form.

Names of places.	Particular Distance. Stadia.	Total Distance. Stadia.	Latitudes.
Equator	0	0	0° 0′ 0″
Limits of the habitable earth	8800	8800	12° 34′ 17″
Meroe	3000	11800	16° 51′ 25″
Syene and the Tropic	5000	16800	24° 0′ 0″
Alexandria	5000	21800	31° 8′ 34″

↑ Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Strabo, all believed that the longitude of Rhodes was the same as that of Alexandria, although actually it is 2° 22′ 45″ west of that place. The coasts of Caria, Ionia, and the Troad incline considerably to the west, while Byzantium is about 3° east of the Troad, and the mouth of the Dnieper is above 3° 46′ east of Byzantium.
↑ The Roxolani inhabited the Ukraine. It has been thought that from these people the Russians derived their name.
↑ Strabo here alludes to Ireland, which he placed north of England, and believed to be the most northerly region fitted for the habitation of man. He gave it a latitude of 36,700 stadia, equivalent to 52° 25′ 42″, which answers to the southern portions of that island.
↑ The Sauromatæ, or Sarmatians, occupied the lands north of the sea of Azof on either side of the Don.
↑ The Scythians here spoken of dwelt between the Don and the Wolga; east of this last river were the Eastern Scythians, who were thought to occupy the whole north of Asia.

[1] Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Strabo, all believed that the longitude of Rhodes was the same as that of Alexandria, although actually it is 2° 22′ 45″ west of that place. The coasts of Caria, Ionia, and the Troad incline considerably to the west, while Byzantium is about 3° east of the Troad, and the mouth of the Dnieper is above 3° 46′ east of Byzantium.

[2] The Roxolani inhabited the Ukraine. It has been thought that from these people the Russians derived their name.

[3] Strabo here alludes to Ireland, which he placed north of England, and believed to be the most northerly region fitted for the habitation of man. He gave it a latitude of 36,700 stadia, equivalent to 52° 25′ 42″, which answers to the southern portions of that island.

[4] The Sauromatæ, or Sarmatians, occupied the lands north of the sea of Azof on either side of the Don.

[5] The Scythians here spoken of dwelt between the Don and the Wolga; east of this last river were the Eastern Scythians, who were thought to occupy the whole north of Asia.

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