Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/22

STRABO. BOOK i. the earth, do not say they have been prevented from con- tinuing their voyage by any opposing continent, for the sea re- mained perfectly open, but through want of resolution, and the scarcity of provision. This theory too accords better with the ebb and flow of the ocean, for the phenomenon, both in the increase and diminution, is every where identical, or at all events has but little difference, as if produced by the agita- tion of one sea, and resulting from one cause. 9. We must not credit Hipparchus, who combats this opinion, denying that the ocean is every where similarly affected ; or that even if it were, it would not follow that the Atlantic flowed in a circle, and thus continually returned into itself. Seleucus, the Babvlonian, is his authority for this assertion. For a further investigation of the ocearTand its tides we refer to Posidonius and Athenodorus, who have fully discussed this subject : we will now only remark that this view agrees better with the uni- formity of the phenomenon ; and that the greater the amount of moisture surrounding the earth, the easier would the heavenly bodies be supplied with vapours from thence. 10. Homer, besides the boundaries of the earth, which he fully describes, was likewise well acquainted with the Medi- terranean. Starting from the Pillars, 1 this sea is encom- passed by Libya, E^vpt, and Phoenicia, then by the coasts opposite Cyprus, the Solymi, 2 Lv_cia, and Caria, and then by the shore winch stretches between Mycale^and Troas, and the adjacent islands, every one of which he mentions, as well as those of the Propontis 4 and the Euxine, as far as Colchis, and the locality of Jason's expedition. Furthermore, he was acquainted with the Cimmerian Bosphorus, 5 having known the Cimmerians, 6 and that not merelyhSy name, but as being familiar with themselves. About his time, or a little be- fore, they had ravaged the whole country, from the Bos- 1 The rocks of Gibraltar and Ceuta. 2 The mountaineers of the Taurus, between Lycia and Pisidia. 3 A mountain of Ionia near To~the Meander, and opposite the Isle of Samos. <T ~the Sea of Marmora. 5 The Strait of Caffa, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof. 6 The Cimmerians, spoken of in Homer, were undoubtedly the in- habitants of Campania, not those of the Bosphorus.