The Foundations of Theoretical Cartography in Archaic and Classical Greece

18 Pages·2011·6.41 MB·English

8 · The Foundations of Theoretical Cartography in
Archaic and Classical Greece
PREPARED BY THE EDITORS FROM MATERIALS SUPPLIED
BY GERMAINE AUJAe
GreekcivilizationstartedintheMinoan-Mycenaeanage Likewise, it is not always realized that the vast ma
(2100-1100 B.C.) and arguably continued to the fall of jorityofourknowledgeaboutGreekcartographyinthis
the empires ofByzantiumandTrebizondin the fifteenth early period is known from second- or third-hand ac
century. Within this span ofsome three thousandyears, counts. We have no original texts of Anaximander, Py
the main achievements in Greekcartographytookplace thagoras,orEratosthenes-allpillarsofthedevelopment
from about the sixth century B.C. to the culminating of Greek cartographic thought. In particular, there are
work of Ptolemy in the second century A.D. This sem relatively few surviving artifacts in the form of graphic
inal era can be conveniently divided into several peri representationsthatmaybeconsideredmaps. Ourcarto
ods around which the following chapters are shaped: graphic knowledge must therefore be gleaned largely
the archaic and classical period (to the fourth cen from literary descriptions, often couched in poetic lan
tury B.C.), the Hellenistic period (fourth and third guage and difficult to interpret. In addition, many other
centuries B.C.), the early Greco-Roman period (second ancient texts alluding to maps are further distorted by
century B.C. to the second century A.D.), and the age of beingwrittencenturiesaftertheperiodtheyrecord; they
Ptolemy (second century A.D.).1 too must be viewed with caution because they are sim
IthasoftenbeenremarkedthattheGreekcontribution ilarly interpretative as well as descriptive.3 Despite the
to cartography lay in the speculative and theoretical apparent continuity of some aspects of cartographic
realms rather than in the practical realm, and nowhere thought and practice, we must extrapolate over large
is this truer than in the earliest period do~nto the end gaps to arrive at our conclusions. In the account that
of the classical era. Large-scale terrestrial mapping, in follows, therefore, a largely empirical approach is
particular, lacked a firm empirical tradition of survey adopted, so that the maximum amount of information
andfirsthand observation. Evenattheendoftheperiod, aboutthe maps, collectedunderthe names ofindividual
the geographical outlines ofthe known world or oikou
menewereonlysketchilydelineated.Astronomicalmap 1.Forgeneralworksonthisperiod,seeG.E.R.Lloyd,EarlyGreek
ping, while clearly based on direct observation and de Science: Thales to Aristotle (New York: W. W. Norton, 1970); Ar
mando Cortesao, HistoryofPortuguese Cartography, 2vols. (Coim
veloped for practical astrological and calendrical
bra: Junta de Investiga~6es do Ultramar-Lisboa, 1969-71), vol. 1,
purposes, relied more on abstract geometry than on the
chap. 2; EdwardHerbertBunbury,A History ofAncientGeography
systematic art of measuring. amongthe GreeksandRomans from theEarliestAgestilltheFallof
Moreover, for the historian of cartography, the early the Roman Empire, 2d ed., 2 vols. (1883; republished with a new
period poses particular problems as much through the introduction by W. H. Stahl, New York: Dover, 1959); J. Oliver
Thomson, History ofAncient Geography (Cambridge: Cambridge
scanty nature of the evidence as through the difficulty
UniversityPress,1948;reprintedNewYork:BibloandTannen,1965);
of its interpretation. No cartographic artifacts clearly
H.F.Tozer,A HistoryofAncientGeography,2ded.(1897;reprinted
define a beginningto theperiod. Thelinks, for example, New York: Biblo and Tannen, 1964); D. R. Dicks, Early Greek As
with the earlier Babylonian and Egyptian cartography tronomy to Aristotle (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970); Otto
described in the preceding chapters can be only tenta Neugebauer, The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, 2d ed. (Providence:
Brown University Press, 1957); idem, A History ofAncient Mathe
tively established, and the extent to which the early
maticalAstronomy (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1975); G. S. Kirk,
Greeks were influenced by such knowledge remains a
J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers, 2d ed.
matterforconjecture.Whilethereissomecircumstantial (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983); W. K. C. Guthrie,
evidence for both the transmission and the reception of A HistoryofGreek Philosophy, 6vols. (Cambridge: CambridgeUni
important mathematical concepts relevant to carto versityPress, 1962-81).
2.OttoNeugebauer,"SurvivalofBabylonianMethodsintheExact
graphy-and even for the descent ofthe basic design of
SciencesofAntiquityandtheMiddleAges,"ProceedingsoftheAmer
theworldmap-directdocumentaryproofforsuchcon
ican PhilosophicalSociety 107 (1963): 528-35.
nections is lacking.2 3. Lloyd, Early Greek Science, 10 (note 1).
130
The Foundations ofTheoretical Cartography in Archaicand Classical Greece 131
authors, can be extracted in chronological order from
~\'Jer Ocean
what are often the fragments of lost works.4
The earliestliteraryreference for cartographyin early Cattle
Greece is difficult to interpret. Its contextis the descrip
tion of the shield of Achilles in the Iliad of Homer, ?\owing
thought by modern scholars to have been written in the
eighth century B.C.5 Since both Strabo (ca. 64/63 B.C.
A.D. 21) and the Stoics claimed Homer was the founder
and father of a geographical science generally under
stoodasinvolvingbothmapsandtreatises,itistempting
to start a history of Greek theoretical cartography with
Homer's descriptionofthis mythicalshield. Ifthis inter
pretation is valid, then it must also be accepted that
Homer was describing a cosmological map. Although
from theHellenisticperiodonwardtheoriginalmeaning
of the term geography was a description of the earth,
ge, written or drawn (mapping and geographical de
scriptions were thus inseparable in the Greek world), it
isequallyclearthatGreekmapmakingincludednotonly
FIG. 8.1. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SHIELD OF
the representation ofthe earth on a plane or globe, but
ACHILLES FROM HOMER'S ILIAD.
also delineations of the whole universe. The shield in After Malcolm M. Willcock, A Companion to the Iliad (Chi
Homer's poem, made for Achilles by Hephaestus, god cago: University ofChicago Press, 1976), 210.
of fire and metallurgy, was evidently such a map ofthe
universeasconceivedbytheearlyGreeksandarticulated
4. Formostofthefragments, seeH. DielsandW. Kranz,eds.,Die
by the poet.
Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 6th ed., 3 vols. (Berlin: Weidmann,
Despite the literary form of the poem, it gives us a
1951-52),andanEnglishtranslationofthefragmentsfromDielsand
clear picture of the various processes in the creation of Kranz in Kathleen Freeman, Ancillato the Pre-SocraticPhilosophers
this great work with its manifestly cartographic sym (Cambridge: HarvardUniversityPress, 1948).
bolism. We are told how Hephaestus forged a huge 5. P. R. Hardie, "ImagoMundi: CosmologicalandIdeologicalAs
pectsoftheShieldofAchilles,"JournalofHellenicStudies105(1985):
shield laminated with five layers of metal and with a
11-31; Germaine Aujac, "De quelques representations de l'espace
three-layered metal rim. The five plates that made up
geographiquedansl'Antiquite,"Bulletindu ComitedesTravauxHis
the shield consisted of a gold one in the middle, a tin toriques et Scientifiques: Section de Geographie 84 (1979): 27-38,
one on each side of this, and finally two of bronze. On esp.27-28.ThedescriptionofAchilles'shieldintheIliadisfoundin
the front bronze plate we are told that he fashioned his book 18,lines 480-610. Fora moderntranslationandfull commen
tary, see Richmond Lattimore, ed. and trans., The Iliad ofHomer
designs in a concentric pattern; a possible arrangement
(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1951),388-91,411,andbased
is suggested in figure 8.1.6 The scenes of the earth and
onthistranslation, MalcolmM. Willcock,A Companion to theIliad
heavens in the center, two cities (one at peace and one (Chicago: UniversityofChicago Press, 1976), 209-14.
at war), agricultural activity and pastoral life, and "the 6. Theconstellations aredescribedthus: "Hemadetheearth upon
Ocean, that vast and mighty river" around the edge of it,andthesky,andthesea'swater,andthetirelesssun,andthemoon
waxing into her fullness, and onitall the constellationsthatfestoon
the hard shield denote his intention ofpresenting a syn
the heavens, the Pleiades and the Hyades and the strength of Orion
thesis of the inhabited world as an island surrounded
andtheBear,whommengivealsothenameoftheWagon,whoturns
bywater. Hephaestus depictedtheuniverseinminiature aboutinafixedplaceandlooksatOrionandshealoneisneverplunged
on Achilles' shield, and Homer, in his poetry, only pro in the wash of the Ocean [never falls below the horizon]." Homer
vides a commentary on this pictorial representation. As Iliad 18.483-89; translation byLattimore, Iliad, p. 388 (note5).
The description of the Ocean Sea and Okeanos, the god of those
with the Thera fresco (discussed below), which is
waters, is as follows: "Notpowerful Acheloios matches his strength
roughly contemporaneous with the subject of Homer's
against Zeus, not the enormous strength of Ocean with his deep
poem, the juxtaposition on the shield of scenes and ac running waters, Ocean, from whom all rivers are and the entire sea
tions that in reality could not occur at the same time and all springs and all deep wells have theirwaters ofhim, yet even
shows the artist's desire to portray a syncretism of hu Ocean is afraid of the lightning of great Zeus and the dangerous
thunderbolt when it breaks from the sky crashing." Homer Iliad
man activity.
21.194-99; translation byLattimore, Iliad, p. 423 (note5).
In light of the archaeological discoveries of cultures
7.Roundshieldsandvaseswithcomparableornamentationincon
that certainly influenced Horner's poetry, the contentof centricbands have been found from thisperiod. SeeWillcock, Com
Achilles' shield seems less extraordinary.? Homer was panion, 209 (note5).
132 Cartography in AncientEurope andthe Mediterranean
writing at a time not much earlier than the first mani stellations; the limits of the known world are fixed by
festations of what is considered the beginning of Greek means ofthe ocean, real orimaginary, thatencirclesthe
science. His poem may be interpreted as the poetic inhabited world; and there is an attempt to give pride
expressionofmacrocosmic/microcosmicbeliefs, held by of place to human activity in this world scene.
a society seeking to reconcile a general view ofthe uni IncomparisonwithHomer'spoem,theearliestknown
verse with man's activity within it. Hephaestus, the di graphic representation of cartographic significance to
vine smith, is chosen to give a complete image of the have survived from the Greekworld is theThera fresco,
cosmos-earth, sea, and skytogetherwith scenesofhu fragments of which were discovered in 1971 in the
man life. The main constellations-Orion, the Hyades, course ofarchaeological excavation in the House ofthe
the Pleiades, and the Great Bear-are described, sug Admiral at Akrotiri, Santorini, formerly Thera (plate
gesting that a tradition had already developed of using 3).10 Rather than depicting the cosmos portrayed on
these groupings ofstars to identify differentparts ofthe Achilles' shield, it relates to a local area that has been
sky. The shield includes a representation ofthe sun and thought to be situated in northern Crete. It probably
moon shining simultaneously, again in an attempt to dates from late Minoan times, the period of the occu
integrate a general knowledge of the sky into one de pation of Thera, about 1500 B.C. The fresco has a pic
piction. Even in this poeticform we can glimpse the use turelike quality and can be reconstructed in detail from
of a map, almost as a heuristic device, to bring some thesurvivingfragments.Whileitsdominantpurposewas
order into concept and observation and to codify the no doubt decorative, it includes features that have been
early Greeks' reflections on the nature and constitution interpreted as parts of a map, including a coastline, a
of their world. harbor, a seaside village, a mountain with cattle and
Atthe sametime, we should be clear thatthe map on wild animals, and a winding river with plants and ani
Achilles' shield was not intended to communicate a lit mals on its banks. Ships and fish are shown in the sea.
eral view of geographical knowledge of the world as Butbesidesthesegeographicalfeatures, episodesarealso
known to the early Greeks. The scenes from rural and included from what may be the historical past of that
urban life are arranged on the surface of the shield in society. There are processions of notables going up the
no apparent geographical order. They simply present a hillside,boatsinattackingpositionsalongtheshore,and
generalized and metaphorical view of human activity battles being fought inland; and there is the departure
and of the profound interdependence of human beings of the navy and its subsequent triumphal entry into its
in spite of the variety and specialties of their pursuits. home port amid general rejoicing. As in Egyptian nar
This human unity is emphasizedbythe oceanencircling rative drawings, events are depicted as occurring si
the whole shield, rendering the world an island. Homer multaneously that are in fact successive in time.
depicts no maritimeactivityinhis socialmicrocosm: the
oceanseems to be no morethan a geometricframework
CIRCULAR MAPS AND THE FLAT EARTH:
for the knowable inhabited world, a framework W. A.
ANAXIMANDER AND HIS SUCCESSORS IN THE
Heidel considers to be the essential feature of all maps SIXTH CENTURY B.C.
from ancient Greece.8
SodetailedisHomer'sdescriptionthat,thoughclearly WiththeemergenceofGreekscienceinthesixthcentury
an imaginary map, Achilles' shield represents a useful B.C., the context for descriptions ofthe world changed.
glimpse ofthe earlyhistoryofefforts to map the world. It is of course difficult to say how far the greater fre
Probably much of it is conventional, and much also is quencyofallusionstomapsinGreeksocietybythistime
fanciful. Indeed, it was the subject of ridicule by later is due to a fuller survival ofliterary texts as opposed to
writers. Strabo summarized the view: real changes and technical advances in the theory and
Somemen,havingbelievedinthesestoriesthemselves 8. William Arthur Heidel, The Frame ofthe Ancient Greek Maps
and also in the wide learning of the poet, have ac (New York: American GeographicalSociety, 1937).
tually turned the poetry of Homer to their use as a 9. Strabo Geography 3.4.4; see The Geography ofStrabo, 8vols.,
basis of scientific investigations. . . . Other men, ed. and trans. Horace LeonardJones, Loeb Classical Library (Cam
however, have greeted all attempts ofthat sort with bridge: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann,
1917-32).
suchferocitythattheynotonlyhavecastoutthepoet
10. PeterWarren, "TheMiniatureFrescofrom theWestHouseat
. . . from the whole field ofscientific knowledge of
Akrotiri, Thera, and Its Aegean Setting,"Journal ofHellenic Studies
this kind, but also have supposed to be madmen all
99 (1979): 115-29, and Lajos Stegena, "Minoische kartenahnliche
who have taken in hand such a task as that.9
FreskenbeiAcrotiri,InselThera(Santorini),"KartographischeNach
But the description no doubt reflects elements present richten34(1984): 141-43.ThefrescowasfirstpublishedbySpyridon
Marinatos, Excavations at Thera VI (1972 Season), Bibliotheke tes
in real maps of the time, many of which were widely
en Athenais Archaiologikes Hetaireias 64 (Athens: Archailogike He
used later on. Stars are named and grouped into con- taireia, 1974).
The Foundations ofTheoretical Cartography in Archaicand Classical Greece 133
practice of mapmaking. Yet despite the fact that our losophers were asking more systematic questions about
conclusions must still rest on literary sources (often at theworldingeneralandtryingtogivenaturalisticrather
several removes from the practices they describe) rather than supernatural explanations for the phenomena they
than on map artifacts of the period, there are strong observed. Thus it may be that the Milesian natural phi
grounds for believing that for the first time natural phi- losophers were the first Greeks to attempt to map the
."
c
'"
• 2EnXdT£CNOTfTOUfftQYMI.ECKINFlUENCE MARE
ERYTHRAEUM
10'i0 20I0IJOIO 6I0'0 50I0mtl••
200 400 eoo 100km
FIG. 8.2. PRINCIPAL PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH MAPS
INTHE GREEK WORLD.
THRACIA
EUXIN
Us
\ PAPHLAGONIA........
oponlis ~ /....
1'( BITHYNIA / ....,_..../ •..{.... PONTUS /---
.... Nlc... / <I --r........//
MYSIA ,----,-........GALATIA
-- I\ \,/""..../ ---.... , ARMENIA
_~ ---?_
<": -- --.../ PHRYGIA ..\ ... .....
LYDIA / I CAPPADOCIA -1
_..... ~I (\ I/.!;YCAONIAI _-__.....-L/
",... -TL>--"'.e..:.J.9....})-...~.:::"\ I __--1'" o~-.I~oG·~_t..4..E/r~-~
CARlA PISIDIA <l'-I ,y..../.... \ c; ...
~ t•P • / L-J_/--....,>-.....1'....._/ CILICIA &) J:)\ I0~
o 50 •••'!t.A'1lHODUSLYCIA Sin"S\55' SYRIA I' _
I I
I ,0
o 75 k~m~_A MARE .Apam••
50 100mil••
INTERNUM 'I I
100km
FIG. 8.3. THE AEGEAN. Detail from the reference map In FIG. 8.4ASIAMINORFROMTHETHIRDCENTURYB.C.
figure 8.2. Detail from the reference map in figure 8.2.
134 Cartography in Ancient Europe and the Mediterranean
earth and sky according to recognizable scientific prin considered it excellent and even preferred itto the later
21
ciples. one of Hellanicus of Lesbos. Figure 8.5 is a recon
As viewed through the later Greek authors-who struction of Hecataeus's world view.
tended to adopt a heroic rather than a contextual view Thematerialsusedfortheseearlymapswereprobably
of the development of knowledge-much of the credit substantial.Thewordpinax, as definedbylaterauthors,
for these innovations was given to Anaximander (ca. couldmeanawoodenpanelusedforwritinginscriptions
610-546 B.C.), who had been a disciple of Thales at
11.TheSevenSageswerestatesmen,tyrants, andotherswholived
Miletus, a city in Asia Minor (see figs. 8.2-8.4). Thales
between 620 and550 B.C., each ofwhomwas recognizedfor awise
(ca. 624-547 B.C.), one of the Seven Sages of Greece, maxim. Thales is consistently included among the seven. See John
wasconsideredbylatercommentatorsto beanexcellent Warrington, Everyman~sClassical Dictionary (London: J. M. Dent;
astronomer.11 It was said he could predict eclipses and New York: E. P. Dutton, 1961).
12. SinceourevidenceofThales' astronomy isindirect, itmustbe
calculatethelengthofthesolaryearandthelunarmonth
regardedwith caution. Neugebauer,ExactSciencesinAntiquity, 142
so as to fix the interval between solstices and equi
12 (note1),arguesthatifThalesdidpredictthesolareclipseof584B.C.,
noxes. According to one legend, Thales was so preoc itwas not done on a scientificbasis, sincethe Babylonian theory on
cupied with the heavens that he ignored what was be whichitwassupposedlybaseddidnotexistin600B.C.Legendsabout
neath his feet, and fell into a well while looking at the Thalesaresometimescontradictory,emphasizingeitherhistheoretical
13 orhis practical abilities.
stars.
13.ThestoryaboutthewellisfoundinPlatoTheaetetus 174A;see
Anaximander, who was also known as a fine astron
James Longrigg, "Thales," in Dictionary ofScientific Biography, 16
omer, was particularlyinterested in the technical aspect vols., ed. Charles Coulston Gillispie (New York: Charles Scribner's
ofthisscience.Heisallegedtohaveinventedthegnomon Sons, 1970-80), 13:297, especiallyn. 7.
and introduced it into Sparta as part of a sundial.14 In 14. Diogenes Laertius LivesofFamous Philosophers2.1; see Vitae
philosophorum,ed.HerbertS.Long,2vols.(Oxford:ClarendonPress,
fact, as Herodotussuggests,hemayonlyhaveborrowed
1s 1964);or, for anEnglishtranslation, LivesofEminentPhilosophers,
the idea for this instrument from the Babylonians.
2vols., trans. R. D. Hicks, Loeb ClassicalLibrary (Cambridge: Har
WhetherAnaximander taught that the earth was spher vardUniversity Press; London: William Heinemann, 1925-38).
ical or cylindrical has also been a point of contention 15.HerodotusHistory2.109;seeTheHistoryofHerodotus,2vols.,
among classical and modern authors-the indirect evi trans. GeorgeRawlinson (London:J.M. Dent;NewYork: E.P.Dut
ton, 1910). See also Herodotus Histoires, 10vols., ed. P. E. Legrand
dence on his cosmology is contradictory.16 In any case,
(Paris: Belles Lettres, 1932-39). The actual level of Anaximander's
according to Diogenes Laertius, the third-century A.D. scientific knowledge was probably far less than the secondary and
compiler from whom we derive much of our biograph tertiary sources suggest; see D. R. Dicks, "Solstices, Equinoxes, and
ical information about ancient Greek philosophers, An the Presocratics,"Journal ofHellenic Studies 86 (1966): 26-40.
aximander "was the first to draw the outline of land 16. Dicks, Early Greek Astronomy, 45-46 andn. 50 (note 1).
17. DiogenesLaertius Lives2.1 (note 14).Seealso WilliamArthur
and sea and also to have constructed a globe."17 Simi
Heidel, "Anaximander's Book: The Earliest Known Geographical
larly, Agathemerus, the author of a third-century A.D. Treatise,"ProceedingsoftheAmericanAcademyofArtsandSciences
geographical treatise and a source of many otherwise 56 (1921): 237-88.
lost works, claims that Anaximander was the first "to 18.AgathemerusGeographiaeinformatio1.1,inGeographiGraeci
venture to draw the inhabited world on a map [pi minores, ed. Karl Muller, 2 vols. and tabulae (Paris: Firmin-Didot,
1855-56), 2:471-87, esp. 471, translation by O. A. W. Dilke; the
naki],"18 and Strabo calls him the author who "pub
Greek words rendered here as "on a map" are E.V 1TLvaKL. The two
lished the first geographical map [geographikon pi
most common words for a map, (ges) periodos and pinax, can have
naka]."19 It is clear that Anaximander was the first othermeanings,respectively"circuitoftheearth"and"painting."As
recorded of that long line of Greek craftsmen-philoso aresult,modernwritershavetendedtobesomewhatcautiousintheir
phers who tried to express concepts in graphic form. assessment of Greek cartography, and a proportion of the material
presentedhereisnottobefoundinpublishedaccounts;yetitshould
The construction of spheres and the drawing of maps
be seriously and scientificallyconsidered.
were to become characteristic products of the mechan
19.)'Ew'Ypa<pLKov1TLvaKa.StraboGeography1.1.11(note9),trans
ical mind of the Greeks, and their regular occurrence lated by O. A. W. Dilke. See also Strabo, Geographie, ed. Fran<;ois
reveals perhaps a more practical side than has tradi Lasserre, Germaine Aujacetal. (Paris: Belles Lettres, 1966-).
tionally been presented. 20.1TEpL08o<;'YT]<;.ThetitleofHecataeus'sworkissometimesgiven
simply as Periodos or Periegesis. Most of the extant fragments are
It is not certain that Anaximander wrote a commen
from Stephanus of Byzantium, and these are largely lists of place
tary on his map or on the construction of his sphere.
names. From the fragments in Strabo and Herodotus, however, itis
Hecataeus (fl. 500B.C.),historian,statesman,andnative evidentthat the original work was more extensive. See D. R. Dicks,
ofMiletus,isthoughttobethe authorofthefirst Circuit "HecataeusofMiletus,"inDictionaryofScientificBiography,6:212
ofthe Earth (Periodos ges).20 It was divided into two 13 (note 13),andTozer,HistoryofAncientGeography, 70-74 (note
1).
parts: oneconcernsEuropeandtheotherAsiaandLibya
21.AgathemerusGeographiaeinformatio1.1 (note18).Hellanicus
(Africa). Hecataeus's treatise is believed to have im
(ca. 480-400 B.C.), a contemporary of Herodotus, was more a his
proved greatly on Anaximander's map; Agathemerus torian than a geographer.
The Foundations ofTheoretical Cartography in Archaicand Classical Greece 135
otus confirms the regularity ofthe form of these maps:
"For my part, I cannot but laugh when I see numbers
of persons drawing maps of the world without having
anyreasontoguidethem; making,as theydo, theocean
stream to run all round the earth, and the earth itselfto
beanexactcircle,as ifdescribed byapairofcompasses,
with Europe and Asia just of the same size.,,26Itis sig
nificant that Herodotus refers here to periodoiges (cir
cuitsoftheearth),probablysimilartothatofHecataeus.
These works were supposed to be illustrated with dia
grams or were accompanied by maps engraved on
27
bronze or painted on wood.
Aristotle ridiculed his contemporaries who, in their
"circuits ofthe earth," drew the inhabitedworld as cir
28
cular, which he said was illogical. In the first century
B.C. Geminus, the Stoic philosopher and pupil of Posi
donius, complained of the artificiality of circular maps
still in use and warned against accepting relative dis
29
tances in maps of this sort. His use of the word geo
A
graphiainreferenceto mapsillustratesthedoublemean
FIG.8.5. RECONSTRUCTIONOFTHEWORLDACCORD ingoftheword.Thusthesimplecircularmapscontinued
ING TO HECATAEUS. to be in use long after it was known that the inhabited
After Edward Herbert Bunbury, A History ofAncient Geo
worldwasgreaterinlength (westtoeast)thaninbreadth
graphyamongthe GreeksandRomans from theEarliestAges
(south to north).
till the Fall ofthe Roman Empire, 2d ed., 2 vols. (1883; re
publishedwithanewintroductionbyW. H.Stahl,NewYork:
Dover, 1959), vol. 1, map facing p. 148.
THE IMPACT OF NEW THEORIES ON
CARTOGRAPHY FROM THE SIXTH TO THE
FOURTH CENTURY B.C.: PYTHAGORAS,
orpaintingportraits,landscapes,ormaps.22 Herodotus,
HERODOTUS, AND DEMOCRITUS
ontheotherhand,speaksofabronzetablet(pinax) with
an engravingofthe circuit (periodos) ofthewholeearth Although the tradition of world maps drawn as flat
with all the rivers and seas that Aristagoras of Miletus disks, reflecting a theory that the earth was also a plane
took with him when he went to Greece about 500 B.C.
in search of allies against the Persians.23 Herodotus's 22. 1TLvCtK~.These wooden panelswere used for publicexhibitions,
reference is important in showing that maps could be insertedinto thewallsofmonumentsorinporticoeswheretheywete
prominentlydisplayed.
engraved on portable bronze tablets, that general maps
23. Herodotus History5.49 (note 15). Here theword paraphrased
of the inhabited world were frequently made in Ionia,
as"circuit,"periodos,literallymeans"agoinground"andmaythere
and that they were more informative than the simple fore suggest a roughly circular shape for the map engraved on the
geometric plans such as the Babylonian clay tablet of tablet.
the same era. Aristagoras had in fact been able to show 24. The description of the Persian Royal Road is in Herodotus
History 5.52-54 (note 15). See also RobertJames Forbes, Notes on
on that map the regions to be crossed on the way from
theHistoryofAncientRoadsandTheirConstruction,Archaeologisch
Ionia to Persia, comprisingLydia, Phrygia, Cappadocia,
Historische Bijdragen 3 (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1934), 70-84.
Cilicia stretching to the sea opposite Cyprus, Armenia, 25. At Apollo's oracle in Delphi there was an omphalos (navel), a
Matiena, and Cissia with the town of Susa. All these stonethatsymbolizedthecenteroftheworld.Theoriginofthenotion
places were inscribed on the "circuit of the earth" en of the centrality of Delphi (from Greek mythology) and a general
discussion of the omphalos at Delphi are found in Oxford Classical
graved on the tablet. The map Aristagoras carried was
Dictionary, 2d ed., s.v. "omphalos." See Agathemerus Geographiae
probably originally derived from Anaximander's map,
informatio 1.2 (note 18).
somuch admiredin antiquity. Butwe maypresumethat 26. Herodotus History 4.36 (note 15).
it also drew on road measurements compiled by the 27. Seenote 22.
Persians for their imperial highways.24 28. AristotleMeteorologica 2.5.362b.13;see Meteorologica, trans.
We havealmostnodetailsofAnaximander'smap, but H. D. P. Lee,LoebClassicalLibrary(Cambridge: HarvardUniversity
Press; London: William Heinemann, 1952).
it is traditionally accepted that "ancient maps" (which
29. Geminus Introduction to Phenomena 16.4.5; see Introduction
are probably those from Ionia) were circular, with auxphenomenes,ed.andtrans.GermaineAujac(Paris: BellesLettres,
25
Greece in the middle and Delphi at the center. Herod- 1975).
136 Cartography in AncientEurope and the Mediterranean
surface, had been entrenched since the time of Homer, mechanical spheres or sphairopoiia flourished in the
the sources indicate that the concept ofthe heavens and thirdcenturyB.C. inthisgeneralregion, especiallySicily,
earth as spherical, eventually leading to cartographic reinforced by the inventive genius of Archimedes, and
representation in the form of celestial and terrestrial that this may represent the continuation of a longer
33
globes, came much later. It is very doubtful that the tradition.
theoryofsphericityoftheearthcanbedatedearlierthan It was not until the fifth century B.C. that the tradi
Pythagoras, a native ofSamos who moved to Croton in tional Homeric disk-shaped view of the world was sys
southernItalyabout530B.C.ThestatementbyDiogenes tematicallychallengedbyHerodotus (ca.489-425 B.C.).
Laetius that Anaximanderconstructeda celestialsphere Anative ofHalicarnassus (Bodrum) in Caria, butliving
30
is unsubstantiated. in Thurii in southern Italy after 444, Herodotus was a
Theobservationthatfixedstarsseemedtoturnaround friend of Pericles and Anaxagoras and had denounced,
a fixed point (later to be identified as the celestial pole) as we have seen, the traditional circularmaps heviewed
in regular procession led to the concept of a spherical as so misleading. According to him, it had not been
sky rotating on an axis whose extremities were the ce proventhatthe inhabitedworldwas surroundedbywa
31
lestialpoles. Recognitionofthesphericalnatureofthe ter on all sides. It was clear to him that Africa was
heavensin turn mayhaveledto the supposition thatthe surrounded by sea except on the side where it adjoined
earth too was a sphere. This concept appears to have Asia, because the Phoenicians sent by Necos (Necho),
been first diffused and taught in the southern Italian kingofEgypt609-594 B.C., had been abletogo around
34
cities of Magna Graecia by the Pythagoreans; the first it by boat in three years. Asia was inhabited only as
descriptionofasphericalearthhasbeenattributedsome far as India, and farther to the east there was only a
35
times to Pythagorashimself (fl. 530 B.C.) andsometimes desert about which nothing was known. Similarly for
to Parmenides, a native ofElea (Velia) in southern Italy Europe, no one knew "whether any sea girds it round
(fl. ca. 480 B.C.). It was first proposed as a simple hy either on the north or on the east.,,36 Thus Herodotus
pothesis, not verified scientifically but justified theolog refused, in the name of scientific caution, to make a
ically. In the eyes of the Pythagoreans, the geometric general map of the inhabited world when the outlines
perfection of the circle and the sphere was sufficient were so uncertain. He attacked the theoretical cartog
reason for adoptingthese ideas. Theyimagined allparts raphers who based their ideas on geometry alone and
of the cosmos to be spheres (the stars, the sky in which seems to have urged a return to empirical cartography
they were fixed, the terrestrial globe) and all the move founded on exploration and travel. Theory, in his view,
ments in the sky to be circular (the rotation of fixed should give way to experience.
stars, the combined circularmotions for the movements AnotherobjectionHerodotus madetothemapsofhis
of the planets). These theories did not, however, have day was the way they divided the inhabited world into
an immediate or dramaticimpact on cartography. Since continents: "I am astonished that men should everhave
therepresentationofasphereonasingleplaneisacircle, divided Libya, Asia, and Europe as they have, for they
it is probable that the hypothesis of a spherical earth are exceedingly unequal. Europe extends the entire
couldreinforce, by an understandable misinterpretation length of the other two, and for breadth will not even
ofthe figure, the idea of a flat, circular inhabited world (as Ithink) bear to be compared to them.,,3? Herodotus
and perpetuate this kind of representation. would thus have given the general map ofthe inhabited
The teachings of Pythagoras (who left no writings) world, had he been willing to draw it, a form similarto
are known only from what was said by his disciples or the T-O maps of the late classical period and Middle
his successors, who tended to attribute to him all the
30.Kirk,Raven,andSchofield,PresocraticPhilosophers,104(note
ideas ofthe later school. As for Parmenides, he was the
1).
author of a philosophical poem, Concerning Nature, of
31.Thepositionofthecelestialpolerelativetothestarshaschanged
whichonlyfragments remain. Posidonius,whofourcen since that time because ofthe precession ofthe equinoxes. Our Pole
turies later described the process leading to the division Star,attheendofthetailoftheLittleBear,wastwelvedegreesdistant
ofthe sky and the earth into five zones, considered Par from thepoleinHipparchus'stime.SeeThe GeographicalFragments
ofHipparchus, ed. D. R. Dicks (London: AthlonePress, 1960), 170.
menides the originator ofthis division also, and he saw
32. Strabo Geography2.2.1-2 (note 9).
the division itself as the direct result of the hypothesis
33. Sphairopoiia means the making ofa sphere; itwas considered
32
of the spherical nature of the sky and the earth. a branch of mechanics that studied the rotation of the sphere. See
There are no documents to prove whether the Pytha HansJoachim Mette, Sphairopoiia: Untersuchungen zurKosmologie
goreans in general and Parmenides in particular, other des Krates von Pergamon (Munich: Beck, 1936).
34. Herodotus History 4.42 (note 15).
than producing simple geometric diagrams, put their
35. Herodotus History 4.40 (note 15).
hypotheses into material representations in the form of
36. HerodotusHistory 4.45 (note 15).
globes. But it must be remembered that the making of 37. Herodotus History 4.42 (note 15).
The Foundations ofTheoretical Cartography in Archaicand Classical Greece 137
Ages,38 except that Europe (and not Asia), would have Republic (both ca. 380 B.C.). In the Phaedo, Socrates is
takenupthetransversepart,whileAsiaandLibyawould made to comment on the shape of the earth:
have been on each side ofthevertical line.39 Yet despite
Now there are many wondrous regions in the earth,
his awareness ofthe deficiencies ofcontemporary "geo
and the earth itself is of neither the nature nor the
metric"maps,whetheroriginatinginIoniaorelsewhere,
size supposed by those who usually describe it, as
and perhaps because of his failure to express his ideas
someonehasconvincedme.. . .I'vebeenconvinced
ingraphic form, Herodotuswas neverconsideredageo that ifit is round and in the centre ofthe heaven, it
grapher-still less a mapmaker-by his successors. needs neither airnor anyothersuch force to prevent
This was far from the case with his contemporary its falling, but the uniformity ofthe heaven in every
Democritus (ca. 460 to ca. 370 B.C.), widely acknowl directionwith itselfis enough to supportit, together
edged for his formulation of the concept that the in with the equilibrium ofthe earth itself.44
habitedworldwas oblongandthattheworldmapcould
Whether the word 1TEpL<pEPT1" (peripheres, translated as
bebetteraccommodatedinanovalratherthanacircular
"round") means circular or spherical has been the sub
frame. BornatAbderainThrace,Democrituswasagreat
jectofa controversy notwholly understandable in view
traveler with an inquiring mind. A philosopher and
of Plato's obvious spherical analogy of the earth as a
atomist like his master Leucippus, he studied with the ball in a later passage.45
Babylonian magi, the Egyptian priests, and even the In
Hethenrevealshisviewoftheearth'ssize: "Andnext,
diangymnosophists,atleastaccordingtothetradition.40
that it is of vast size, and that we who dwell between
Hewas a prolificwriter, buthis Cosmology (considered
the Phasis River and the Pillars ofHeracles inhabit only
a work of physics), Uranography, Geography, and
a smallpartofit, livingaroundthe sealike ants orfrogs
Polography(thesethreeconsideredmathematicalworks,
around a marsh, and that there are many others living
the last being perhaps a description of the pole) are all elsewhereinmanysuchplaces.,,46Therethenfollows the
now lost.
passagewhere he likens the earth to a leather ball made
TheobservationalworkofDemocritusisknownfrom
up of twelve pentagonal pieces. This is an allusion to
the fragments of his calendar preserved in Geminus's
thePythagoreantheoryofthedodecahedron,considered
Isagoge and Ptolemy's Phaseis, which gave the dates of
in classical times especially significant as the solid most
theheliacalrisingsandsettingsofthechiefconstellations nearly approaching a sphere.47 In this, Plato also em
(thePleiades,Lyra,Eagle, andOrion) andweatherprog
phasizes the variety of colors of the earth when viewed
nosticationsconnectedwiththese.41Thedescriptionand
from above:
drawing of these constellations was perhaps the main
subject of his Uranography. In geography and cartog Firstofallthetrueearth,ifoneviewsitfromabove,
issaidto looklikethosetwelve-pieceleatherballs,
raphy, however, Democritus can be assessed only
through the testimony of his successors rather than the
38. TheT-O mapswere circularmaps (hence the 0), dividedgeo
substance of his works. Strabo puts him immediately metrically into three parts by two lines (hence the T). See Marcel
afterthe IoniansAnaximanderandHecataeusonhis list Destombes, ed., Mappemondes A.D. 1200-1500: Catalogue prepare
ofthose who had most served geography and mentions par La Commission des Cartes Anciennes de I'Union Geographique
Internationale(Amsterdam:N.Israel,1964);seealsobelow,pp.296
himtogetherwithEudoxusofCnidus,Dicaearchus,and
97 and 301.
Ephorus.42Heconsideredallfourthemostdistinguished
39. AsillustratedinamanuscriptofBede'sDenaturarerum,Bay
predecessorsofEratosthenes. ItislikelythatDemocritus erischeStaatsbibliothek,Munich (Clm.210,fol. 132v),andinfigures
provided a map, or at least a plan, showing the shape 18.38 and 18.55 below.
he ascribed to the world in his Geography. As already 40. For a general review of the various traditions surrounding
Democritus, see G. B. Kerferd, "Democritus," in Dictionary ofSci
noted, it is probable thatthis was oblong, its length one
entific Biography, 4:30-35 (note 13).
and a half times its breadth.43 This proportion was ac
41. Dicks, Early Greek Astronomy, 84-85 (note 1).
cepted 150 years later by Dicaearchus. Democritus can 42. Strabo Geography 1.1.1 (note 9).
thus claim a place in the history of cartography-as 43. Agathemerus Geographiae informatio 1.2 (note 18).
amongthegeographersoftheGreekworld-onthebasis 44. Plato Phaedo 108e-109a; seethe translation by DavidGallop
(Oxford: ClarendonPress, 1975). Boththe Phaedo andthe Republic
of this new idea of an oval rather than a circular in
date to Plato's middle period when he was in close contactwith the
habited world, one that bythe third century B.C. was to
Pythagorean Archytas, who was called by Horace the "measurer of
be incorporated in the design of the world map. landandsea";seeTozer,HistoryofAncientGeography,169(note1).
While not directly concerned with geography or with 45.Onthecontroversy,seepage223oftheGalloptranslation(note
the description of Greek maps of the time, Plato (ca. 44). Forthe reference to the earth as a ball, see below, note 48.
46. Plato Phaedo 109b (note 44).
429-347 B.C.) alludedinhiswritingsto matters broadly
47.Plato,Phaedo,ed.JohnBurnet(Oxford:ClarendonPress,1911),
associatedwith cartography in both the Phaedo andthe
131 (110b6).
138 Cartography in Ancient Europe and the Mediterranean
variegated, a patchwork of colours, ofwhich our STREPSIADES(pointingtoachart):"Inthename
colours here are, as itwere, samples that painters of heaven, what's that?"
use. There the whole earth is of such colours, in STUDENT: That's for astronomy.
deed of colours far brighter still and purer than
STREPSIADES (pointing to surveying instru
these: one portion is purple, marvellous for its
ments): And what are those?
beauty, another is golden, and all that is white is
STUDENT: They're for geometry.
whiter than chalk or snow; and the earth is com
posed ofthe other colours likewise, indeedofcol STREPSIADES: Geometry? Andwhat'sthatgood
for?
ours more numerous and beautiful than any we
have seen. Even its very hollows, full as they are STUDENT: Surveying, ofcourse.
of water and air, give an appearance of colour, STREPSIADES: Surveying what? Lots?
gleaming among the variety of the other colours, STUDENT: No, the whole world.
sothatitsgeneral appearanceisofonecontinuous STREPSIADES: Whataclevergadget! Andaspa
multi-coloured surface.48 triotic as it is useful.
Inthe Republic, Plato brieflydescribestheskillsofthe Hook
navigator. He was illustrating the need for government
to be in the hands ofskilled "pilots" (philosophers).We
can perhaps interpret this as confirmation that the art
Shaft
of navigation was fully understood by his readership:
"The true pilot must give his attention to the time of
the year, the seasons, the sky, the winds, the stars, and
all that pertains to his art if he is to be a true ruler of a
Whorl
ship.,,49More directlycartographicinits allusionis Pla
to's description of a model ofthe universe within a pas
sage known as the myth ofEr. Er is depicted as a Pam
phylianwarriorwho returnedfrom the deadto describe
TheFixedStars
the afterlife. Plato believedin a geocentricuniverse with
the fixed stars on a sphere or band at the outside, and Saturn
the orbits of the sun, moon, and planets between the
Jupiter
earth and the stars. In his description of it, he used a
spindle (the Spindle of Necessity) and whorl to sym
bolize, somewhat imperfectly, its workings.5o The rims
of the whorl-illustrated in figure 8.6-are intended to
represent, from the outside in, the fixed stars and the
orbitsofSaturn,Jupiter,Mars,Mercury,Venus,thesun,
and the moon.
Despite the theoretical nature of much of Greek car
tography in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., and
Earth
though it was mainly the subject of debate among the
philosophers rather than the object of much practical
mapmaking, it does seem likely that the Greeks' aware
ness of the place of maps in their society grew in this FIG. 8.6. RECONSTRUCTION OF PLATO'S SPINDLE OF
NECESSITY. Plato used a spindle as an analogy for the uni
period. There are even a few fragments of evidence to
verse, which he believed to be geocentric.
suggestthat aknowledge ofmaps mayhavefiltered into After Plato, The Republic ofPlato, 2 vols., ed. James Adam
the experience of ordinary citizens. Three examples (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress,1902),book10,figs.
iii and iVa
show the role maps or plans played in everyday life.
Mostremarkable,perhaps,isthatinafifth-centurycom
48. Plato Phaedo 110b-d (note44).
edy by Aristophanes, The Clouds, we encounter a stage
49. Plato Republic 6.4; see Plato's Republic, 2 vols., trans. Paul
map that, just as surely as the many cartographic allu Shorey,LoebClassicalLibrary(Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress;
sions in Shakespeare, suggests that the audience was London: William Heinemann, 1935-37).
familiarwiththeform andcontentofmaps. Strepsiades, 50. Plato Republic10.14 (note49). H. D. P. Lee'stranslation, The
Republic (London: PenguinBooks, 1955),has adescription anddia
an old farmer compelled by war to take up residence in
gram ofthe "SpindleofNecessity" on pages 402-5. The diagram is
Athens, is intrigued with the paraphernalia of philoso
taken from The Republic ofPlato, ed. James Adam, 2 vols. (Cam
phy and questions a student: bridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1902), book 10,figs. iii and iVa
The Foundations ofTheoretical Cartography in Archaicand Classical Greece 139
STUDENT (pointing to a map): Now then, over immediately above the adit to mine 3, is what seems to
here we have a map ofthe entire world. You see beasmall incisedplanofthe mine (fig. 8.7).54The latter
there? That's Athens. was explored to a distance of 120 meters in 1982 by
STREPSIADES: That, Athens? Don't be ridicu membersoftheBelgianArchaeologicalMission,andthe
lous. Why, I can't see even a single lawcourt in part explored is said to correspond to the diagram. It
session. may date to the fourth century B.C. While this isolated
STUDENT: Nonetheless, it's quite true. It really exampleishardlyimpressive,thisandtheotherglimpses
is Athens. ofthe practical uses ofmaps perhaps indicate thatsome
STREPSIADES: Then where are my neighbors of caution should be exercised when defining Greek car
Kikynna? tography as a largely theoretical pursuit.
STUDENT: Heretheyare.Andyouseethisisland
squeezed along the coast? That's Euboia.
STREPSIADES: I know that place well enough.
Perikles squeezed it dry. Butwhere's Sparta?
STUDENT: Sparta? Right over here.
STREPSIADES: That's MUCH TOO CLOSE! You'd
be well advised to move it further away.
STUDENT: Butthat's utterly impossible.
STREPSIADES: You'll be sorry you didn't, by
god.51
The passage demonstrates that large-scale cadastral
mapsand mapsoftheworldwereknowntoan audience
of fifth-century Athens, and that the power of the map
as a metaphor was realized (Strepsiades thinks he can
lessen the threat from Sparta by moving it farther away
on the map). The map is thus employed to focus atten
tion on the geography of contemporary issues, and it FIG. 8.7. MINE DIAGRAM FROM THORIKOS, ATTICA.
has also become a vehicle for social criticism of that Perhaps dating to the fourth century B.C., this seems to be a
plan ofthe mine in front ofwhich it was found incisedin the
particular society.
rock.
A briefer allusion-this time to the value of maps as Length of the original: 35 cm. By permission of the Mission
propaganda-is found in Plutarch's life of Nicias, in Archeologique Beige en Grece, Ghent.
which Alcibiades, the notorious Greek statesman and
Another indication of the Greek bent in practical
general of the fifth century, is seeking to persuade the
drawing is afforded by the discovery of detailed archi
Athenians to undertake an expedition against Sicily:
tectural plans for parts of Greek buildings. It was
Before the assembly had met at all, Alcibiades had thoughtuntil recently thatnosuchplanshadsurvived,55
already corrupted the multitude and got them into butaconsiderablesetofincised drawings from the tem
hispowerbymeansofhissanguinepromises,sothat ple of Apollo at Didyma, south ofMiletus, has recently
the youth in their training-schools and the old men
in theirwork-shopsand lounging-placeswouldsitin 51. Aristophanes The Clouds 200-217; see The Clouds, by Aris
clusters drawing maps of Sicily, charts of the sea tophanes,trans.WilliamArrowsmith (New York: NewAmerican Li
about it, and plans of the harbours and districts of brary, 1962),30-32.
the island which look towards Libya.52 52.PlutarchNicias7.1-2andAlcibiades17.2-3,bothinPlutarch's
Lives,11vols.,trans.BernadottePerrin,LoebClassicalLibrary,(Cam
A story in Aelian of Socrates and his rich pupil Al
bridge: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann,
cibiades shows thatany Athenian could consulta world
1914-26).
map. Seeing Alcibiades blinded by wealth and boasting 53. Claudius Aelianus (Aelian) Varia historia 3.28, translated by
of his big estates, Socrates took him to a place in the o. A. W. Dilke; see the edition edited by Mervin R. Dilts (Leipzig:
city (Athens) where a world map [pinakion, diminutive Teubner, 1974);d. Christianjacob, "Lecturesantiques de lacarte,"
Etudes frant;aises 21, no. 2 (1985): 21-46, esp. 42-44.
of pinaxl was set up. He told Alcibiades to look for
54.H.F.Mussche,Thorikos:EineFiihrungdurchdieAusgrabungen
Attica; and when he had found it, he told him to look
(Ghentand Nuremberg: Comitedes FouillesBelgesen Grece, 1978),
carefully at his own fields. Alcibiades replied: "Butthey 44and48,fig. 53.Wemaycompareanother, undatedinscriptionthe
are not drawn in anywhere." Socrates: "Why then, you firstwordsofwhichmaybetranslated"Boundaryofhouseandshop"
are boasting of fields which are not even a part of the and that ends thus: rFf, in H. W. Carling, "Archaeology in Greece,
1979-80," ArchaeologicalReports 1979-80, no. 26 (1980): 12,col.
earth.,,53
2.
Other roles were defined in less ambitious terms. At 55.].]. Coulton, Ancient Greek ArchitectsatWork: Problems of
Thorikos, Attica,ontheedgeofthehorizontal rockface StructureandDesign (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977),53.