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The ''Periplus of the Euxine Sea'' ( grc, Περίπλους τοῦ Εὐξείνου Πόντου, ', modern Greek transliteration ', la, Periplus Ponti Euxini) is a
pp. 133-167
*''Geographi graeci minores'', Karl Müller, Paris, editoribus Firmin-Didot et sociis, 1882
vol. 1 pp. 370-401
{{Authority control History of navigation 2nd-century books Travel guide books Geography books Works by Arrian Ancient Greek military books Roman-era Greek historiography Ancient Roman geography Correspondences Foreign relations of ancient Rome Roman itineraries Texts in Koine Greek 2nd century in international relations Ancient international relations Peripluses in Greek Black Sea
The ''Periplus of the Euxine Sea'' ( grc, Περίπλους τοῦ Εὐξείνου Πόντου, ', modern Greek transliteration ', la, Periplus Ponti Euxini) is a periplus
A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...
or guidebook detailing the destinations visitors encounter when traveling about the shore of the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
. It was written by Arrian of Nicomedia
Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; )
was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period.
'' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...
from AD 130–131.
Background
It is in the form of a letter, from Arrian to the EmperorHadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, who was particularly attached to geographical research and had visited in person a large portion of his extensive dominions. It contains an accurate topographical survey of the coasts of the Euxine (Black Sea), from Trapezus
Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...
to Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
, and was written probably while Arrian held his office of legate of Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...
, a short time before war broke out against the Alani; and it was doubtless at the same time that he drew up his instructions for the march of the Roman army against the barbarians, which are found in a short but imperfect fragment annexed to the ''Techne Taktika
In philosophy, techne (; , ) is a term that refers to making or doing, which in turn is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "Teks-" meaning "to weave," also "to fabricate". As an activity, ''technē'' is concrete, variable, and context-depe ...
'', written, as he states himself, in the twentieth year of the reign of the emperor, and containing, after a brief account of former writers on the same subject, a description of the order and arrangement of an army in general.
Its purpose was to inform the emperor of the "lay of the land" and provide him with necessary information such as the distances between cities and the locations that would provide safe harbor for ships in a storm in the eventuality that Hadrian should mount a military expedition to the region.
The ''Periplus'' contains, according to Gibbon
Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...
's epigrammatic expression in his 42nd chapter, "whatever the governor of Cappadocia had seen from Trebizond to Dioscurias; whatever he had heard, from Dioscurias to the Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
; and whatever he knew, from the Danube to Trebizond." Thus, while Arrian gives much information upon the south and east side of the Euxine, in going round the north shore his intervals become greater, and his measurements less precise..
Notes
References
* .See also
*Bithynia and Pontus
Bithynia and Pontus ( la, Provincia Bithynia et Pontus, Ancient Greek ) was the name of a province of the Roman Empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). It was formed during the late Roman Republic by the amalgamation of the ...
*Cappadocia (Roman province)
Cappadocia was a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia (modern central-eastern Turkey), with its capital at Caesarea. It was established in 17 AD by the Emperor Tiberius (ruled 14–37 AD), following the death of Cappadocia's last king, Arch ...
*Roman Armenia
Roman Armenia refers to the rule of parts of Greater Armenia by the Roman Empire, from the 1st century AD to the end of Late Antiquity. While Armenia Minor had become a client state and incorporated into the Roman Empire proper during the 1st c ...
*Roman Crimea The Crimean Peninsula (at the time known as ''Taurica'') was under partial control of the Roman Empire during the period of 47 BC to c. 340 AD.
The territory under Roman control mostly coincided with the Bosporan Kingdom (although under Nero, from ...
*Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
*Thracia
Thracia or Thrace ( ''Thrakē'') is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical and Hellenistic eras, and briefly by the Greek D ...
External links
*''Hecataei Milesii fragmenta. Scylacis caryandensis periplus'', Rudolf Heinrich Klausen (ed.), Berolini, impensis G. Reimeri, 1831pp. 133-167
*''Geographi graeci minores'', Karl Müller, Paris, editoribus Firmin-Didot et sociis, 1882
vol. 1 pp. 370-401
{{Authority control History of navigation 2nd-century books Travel guide books Geography books Works by Arrian Ancient Greek military books Roman-era Greek historiography Ancient Roman geography Correspondences Foreign relations of ancient Rome Roman itineraries Texts in Koine Greek 2nd century in international relations Ancient international relations Peripluses in Greek Black Sea