Strabo

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"Strabo" was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. There are two minor figures in Classical literature by this name and one significant author (see below).

The father of Pompey was called "Strabo." A native of Sicily so clear sighted that he could see things at great distance as if they were nearby was also called "Strabo." The most significant figure by this name, however, was Strabo (born 63 BC or 64 BC, died ca. 24 AD), a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. Nowadays, Strabo is mostly famous for his Geographia, a 17-book work containing history and descriptions of people and places all over the world as known to him.

Strabo was born in a wealthy family from Amaseia (current-day Amasya) in Pontus, which became part of the Roman empire just around his birth. He studied under various geographers and philosophers, first in his own area, later in Rome. He was philosophically a stoicist, politically a proponent of Roman imperialism. Later he made extensive travels to among others Egypt and Ethiopia. It is not known when he wrote his Geographia; some place it around 7 AD, others around 18 AD.

The Geographia is an extensive work, spanning 17 volumes, and can be regarded as an encyclopedia of the geographical knowledge of his time. He also gives a history of geography, thus giving us information about various older geographers whose works have not survived.

Several different dates have been proposed for Strabo's death, most of them placing it in the first half of the 20s.

External links

• English translation of books 6-14, ed. H. L. Jones (1924), at the Perseus Digital Library
• English translation of book 15, on India - http://www.und.ac.za/und/classics/india/strabo.htm
  • Mirror at Ancient History Sourcebook