Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/188

174 STRABO. BOOK 11. midst. 1 Navigators tell us that the greatest distance from Keltica to Libya, starting from the bottom of the Galatic Bay, is 5000 stadia, and that this is likewise the greatest breadth of the Mediterranean. Consequently from the said line to the bottom of the bay is 2500 stadia ; but to Marseilles the dis- tance is rather less, in consequence of that city being more to the south than the bottom of the bay. 2 But since from Rhodes to Byzantium is about 4900 3 stadia, it follows that Byzantium must be far north of Marseilles. 4 The distance from this latter city to Britain is about the same as from By- zantium to the Dnieper. 5 How far it may be from Bri- tain to the island of lerne is not known. As to whether beyond it there may still be habitable lands, it is not our bu- siness to inquire, as we stated before. It is sufficient for our science to determine this in the same manner that we did the southern boundaries. We there fixed the bounds of the ha- bitable earth at 3000 stadia south of Meroe (not that these were its exact limits, but because they were sufficiently near) ; so in this instance they should be placed about the same num- ber of stadia north of Britain, certainly not more than 4000. 6 1 This mistake of Strabo caused the derangement in his chart of the whole contour of this portion of the Mediterranean, and falsifies the posi- tion of the surrounding districts. 2 Strabo having allowed 25,400 stadia, or 36 17' 8", for the latitude of Rhodes and the Strait of Messina, determined the latitude of Marseilles at 27,700 stadia, or 39 34' 17"; its real latitude being 43 17' 45", as exactly stated by Pytheas. 3 Or about 7. The actual difference in latitude between Rhodes and Byzantium is 4 32' 54". 4 On the contrary, Marseilles is 2 16' 21" north of Byzantium. 5 3800 stadia, or 5o 25' 43". 6 The following is a tabular form of the latitudes as stated by Strabo : Stadia. Latitude. From the equator to Alexandria 21,800 31 8' 34" From Alexandria to Rhodes, he computes in this ' instance 3600 stadia 25,400 36<> 17' 8" From the parallel of Rhodes to Marseilles, about 2300 stadia 27,700 39 34' 1 7" From the parallel of Rhodes to the bottom of the Galatic Gulf, 2500 stadia 27,900 39o 51' 25" From Marseilles to the northern extremity of Gaul, or the southern extremity of Britain, 3800 stadia 31,500 45 0' 0" From Marseilles to the middle of Britain, 50ft) stadia 32,700 46o 42' 51"