COSMOS, VOL. II - World eBook Library
COSMOS, VOL. II - World eBook Library COSMOS, VOL. II - World eBook Library
INFLUENCE OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE. 559 over mere itinerary measurements by land and sea, it is, unfortunately, impossible to ascertain, amongst these uncertain positions (upwards of 2500 of which are given), the nature of the data on which they are based, and the relative probability which may be ascribed to them, from the itineraries then in existence. The entire ignorance of the polarity of the magnetic needle, and consequently of the use of the compass (which, twelve centuries and a half before the time of Ptolemy, under the Chinese Emperor Tsingwang, had been used, together with a way measurer, in the construction of the magnetic cars), caused the most perfect of the itineraries of the Greeks and Romans to be extremely uncertain, owing to the deficiency of means for learning with certainty the direction or the line which formed the angle with the meridian.* In proportion as a better knowledge has been acquired, in modern times, of the Indian and ancient Persian (or Zend) languages, we are more and more astonished to find that a great portion of the geographical nomenclature of Ptolemy may be regarded as an historical monument of the commercial relations existing between the west and the remotest regions of Southern and Central Asia.f We may reckon the know- * See a collection of the most striking instances of Greek and Roman errors, regarding the directions of different mountain chains, in the xxxvii. xl. Most satisfac- introduction to my Asie ccntrale, t. L pp. tory investigations, respecting the uncertainty of the numerical bases of Ptolemy's positions, are to be found in a treatise of Ukert, in the Rheinische Museumfur Philologie, Jahrg., vi. 1838, s. 314-324. f For examples of Zend and Sanscrit words, which have been preserved to us in Ptolemy's Geography, see Lassen, Diss. de Taprobane insula, pp. 6, 9, and 17; Burnouf's Comment,, sur le Yapia, t. i. pp. xciii. cxx. and clxxxi. clxxxv.; and my Examen crit. de VHist. de la Geogr., t. L pp. 45-49. In a few cases Ptolemy gives both the Sanscrit names and their significations, as for the island of Java " barley island," 'lapatiov, 6 ffrjjjiaivti KpiSijQ vi]
560 COSMOS. ledge of the complete insulation of the Caspian Sea as one of the most important results of these relations, but it was not until after a period of five hundred years that the accuracy of the fact was re-established by Ptolemy. Herodotus and Aris- totle entertained correct views regarding this subject, and the latter fortunately wrote his Meteorologica before the Asiatic campaigns of Alexander. The Olbiopolites, from whose lips the father of history derived his information, were well ac- quainted with the northern shores of the Caspian Sea, between Cuma, the Volga (Rha), and the Jaik (Ural), but there were no indications that could lead to the supposition of its connection with the Icy Sea. Very different causes led to the deception of Alexander's army, when passingthrough Hecatompylos (Damaghan), to the humid forests of Mazanderan, at Zadrakarta, a little to the west of the present Asterabad, they saw the Caspian Sea stretching northward in an apparently boundless expanse of waters. This sight first gave rise, as Plutarch remarks in his Life of Alexander, to the conjecture that the sea they beheld was a bay of the Euxine.^ The Macedonian expedition, although on the whole extremely favourable to the advance of geographical knowledge, nevertheless gave rise to some errors which long held their ground. The Tanais was confounded with the Jaxartes (the Araxes of Herodotus), and the Caucasus with the Paropanisus (the Hindoo Coosh). Ptolemy was enabled, during his residence in Alexandria, as well as from the expeditions of the Aorsi, whose camels brought Indian and Babylonian goods to the Don and the Black Sea,f to obtain accurate knowledge of the countries which immediately surrounded the Caspian (as, for instance, Albania, Atropateiie, and Hyrcania). If Ptolemy, in contradiction to the more correct knowledge of Herodotus, believed that the greater diameter of the Caspian Sea inclined from west to east, he might, perhaps, have been misled by a vague knowledge of the former great extension of the Scythian gulf (Karabogas), and the existence of Lake Aral, the earliest definite notice of which we find in the work of a Byzantine author, Menander, who wrote a con- tinuation of Agathias.J * See my Examen crit. de I'Hist, de la Geographic, t. ii. pp. 147-188. t Strabo, lib. xi .p. 506. J Menander, de Legationibus Barbarorum ad Romanes, et Roma-
- Page 163 and 164: 508 COSMOS. and by their furtheranc
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- Page 167 and 168: 512 COSMOS repeated fable of the gi
- Page 169 and 170: 514 COSMOS. existence has so often
- Page 171 and 172: 516 COSMOS. At Phasis, the navigato
- Page 173 and 174: 518 COSMOS. of mankind as far as it
- Page 175 and 176: 520 COSMOS. vast tracts of land tha
- Page 177 and 178: 522 COSMOS. colonial institutions o
- Page 179 and 180: 524 COSMOS. Besides the knowledge o
- Page 181 and 182: 526 COSMOS. The great work on anima
- Page 183 and 184: 528 COSMOS. the Macedonian campaign
- Page 185 and 186: 530 . COSMOS. familiar with a court
- Page 187 and 188: 532 COSMOS. The enlargement of the
- Page 189 and 190: 534 COSMOS. go furthel- back than t
- Page 191 and 192: 536 COSMOS EXTENSION OF THE CONTEMP
- Page 193 and 194: 538 COSMOS. a Roman province, Egypt
- Page 195 and 196: 540 COSMOS. which was connected wit
- Page 197 and 198: 542 COSMOS. epoch of the Ptolemies,
- Page 199 and 200: 544 COSMOS. from west to east in th
- Page 201 and 202: 546 COSMOS. by the acquisition of n
- Page 203 and 204: 548 COSMOS. the Euphrates, and the
- Page 205 and 206: 550 COSMOS. The enjoyment of a long
- Page 207 and 208: 552 COSMOS. became extinguished wit
- Page 209 and 210: 554 COSMOS. Thus there arose connec
- Page 211 and 212: 556 COSMOS. geography. He remarks,
- Page 213: 558 COSMOS. oscillations of the ear
- Page 217 and 218: 562 COSMOS. in the Catoptrica of Ar
- Page 219 and 220: 564 COSMOS. whole of antiquity noth
- Page 221 and 222: 566 COSMOS. influence exercised by
- Page 223 and 224: 568 COSMOS. Such unnatural impedime
- Page 225 and 226: 570 COSMOS ceased to be associated
- Page 227 and 228: 572 COSMOS, tions imparted a peculi
- Page 229 and 230: 574 COSMOS, tvellia thurifera of Co
- Page 231 and 232: 576 COSMOS supposed by the philolog
- Page 233 and 234: 578 COSMOS. the country people stil
- Page 235 and 236: 580 COSMOS. distilled mercury from
- Page 237 and 238: 582 COSMOS. in the short space of s
- Page 239 and 240: 584 COSMOS. the amount of knowledge
- Page 241 and 242: 5S6 COSMOS. all the adherents of Is
- Page 243 and 244: 588 COSMOS. area over which the pec
- Page 245 and 246: 590 COSMOS. advances of chemistry,
- Page 247 and 248: 592 COSMOS. Although the purity and
- Page 249 and 250: 594 COSMOS. medical knowledge of th
- Page 251 and 252: 596 COSMOS. algebra of the Arabs or
- Page 253 and 254: 598 COSMOS. problem, concerning whi
- Page 255 and 256: 600 COSMOS. more abstruse departmen
- Page 257 and 258: 602 COSMOS. was as yet unaided by t
- Page 259 and 260: 604 COSMOS. peopled from Iceland a
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INFLUENCE OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE. 559<br />
over mere itinerary measurements by land and sea, it<br />
is, unfortunately, impossible to ascertain, amongst these uncertain<br />
positions (upwards of 2500 of which are given), the<br />
nature of the data on which they are based, and the relative<br />
probability which may be ascribed to them, from the itineraries<br />
then in existence.<br />
The entire ignorance of the polarity of the magnetic needle,<br />
and consequently of the use of the compass (which, twelve centuries<br />
and a half before the time of Ptolemy, under the Chinese<br />
Emperor Tsingwang, had been used, together with a way measurer,<br />
in the construction of the magnetic cars), caused the<br />
most perfect of the itineraries of the Greeks and Romans to be<br />
extremely uncertain, owing to the deficiency of means for<br />
learning with certainty the direction or the line which formed<br />
the angle with the meridian.*<br />
In proportion as a better knowledge has been acquired, in<br />
modern times, of the Indian and ancient Persian (or Zend)<br />
languages, we are more and more astonished to find that a<br />
great portion of the geographical nomenclature of Ptolemy<br />
may be regarded as an historical monument of the commercial<br />
relations existing between the west and the remotest regions<br />
of Southern and Central Asia.f We may reckon the know-<br />
*<br />
See a collection of the most striking instances of Greek and Roman<br />
errors, regarding the directions of different mountain chains, in the<br />
xxxvii. xl. Most satisfac-<br />
introduction to my Asie ccntrale, t. L pp.<br />
tory investigations, respecting the uncertainty of the numerical bases of<br />
Ptolemy's positions, are to be found in a treatise of Ukert, in the<br />
Rheinische Museumfur Philologie, Jahrg., vi. 1838, s. 314-324.<br />
f For examples of Zend and Sanscrit words, which have been preserved<br />
to us in Ptolemy's Geography, see Lassen, Diss. de Taprobane<br />
insula, pp. 6, 9, and 17; Burnouf's Comment,, sur le Yapia, t. i. pp. xciii.<br />
cxx. and clxxxi. clxxxv.; and my Examen crit. de VHist. de la<br />
Geogr., t. L pp. 45-49. In a few cases Ptolemy gives both the Sanscrit<br />
names and their significations, as for the island of Java " barley island,"<br />
'lapatiov, 6 ffrjjjiaivti KpiSijQ vi]
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