Strabo (Ca. 58 Bc–ca. Ad 24)

Strabo, born in Amaseia, was a Greek historian and philosopher and one of the most important ancient geographers. As the author of Geographica, a 17-volume treatise that has come down to the present almost complete and is a fundamental source of information on the history of geography and cartography of that period, he [Page 2697]played an important role in the development of early geography.

The treatise offered a historical-anthropological frame and aimed to be a useful cultural instrument for Strabo's rulers. Strabo wrote it not only on the basis of the work of his predecessors (e.g., Anaximander, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus) and taking into account the epic poems attributed to Homer but also incorporating his own ideas and personal observations. Strabo founded his knowledge not only on abstract ...