The status of geographical knowledge up to the time of Augustus

Abstract

The beginning of geography, like that of some other scientific subjects, is more or less shrouded in mystery.1 Perhaps it first originated with the Chinese, then came by the way of India and Babylonia to Egypt, and from there to the Greeks and Romans.2 The Graeco-Roman civilization was the center of exploration which has revealed the world and has rendered possible the present worldwide civilization.3 It is true that the Phoenicians were the first nation of discoverers of whom there is definite record.4 Their ships sailed in all the Mediterranean waters and in those of the Black Sea. They discovered Spain about 1050 B.C.,6 and brought from there many of the metals and native products. As early as 1000 B.C. traders came to them from India and from lands beyond the Red Sea.6 Both Hebrew and Greek literature represent them as daring navigators capable of conducting long voyages and bringing back the products of distant countries.7 Tyre, one of the principal Phoenician cities, is mentioned in the Bible as a mart of the nations.8 By the time of Herodotus (484-424 B.C.) the Phoenicians had established colonies on the northwest coast of Africa, had brought tin from Cornwall, and had made valuable contributions to the exact knowledge of geography by their travels. They sailed to the Malabar coast of India and to Ultima Thule. Some historians claim that this latter region is what is now known as the Shetland Islands ;9 others suggest that Iceland might have been meant ;10 and yet others think that it might have been the southern coast of Norway. In all these explorations the Phoenicians were strictly commercial people. They had only the desire for personal or national gain.12