The Massaliote Periplus or Massiliote Periplus is a theoretical reconstruction of a sixth-century BC

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 sailing manual, proposed by Adolf Schulten.The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek: The Man Who Discovered Britain (2001), Walker & Co; (2002 Penguin ed. with new post-script: ) Schulten believed a Massiliote Periplus had been versified in the lines of the '' Ora Maritima'' by

Avienius Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius (sometimes erroneously Avienus) was a Latin writer of the 4th century AD. He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria, from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi. Avienius is not identical with the historian ...

. Schulten dated it to the 6th century BC. It describes a voyage from

Oestriminis In Latin poetry Oestreminis ("Extreme West") was a name given to the territory of what is today modern Portugal and Galicia, comparable to ''Finis terrae'', the "end of the earth" from a Mediterranean perspective. Its inhabitants were named Oestri ...

, modern

Pointe du Raz The Pointe du Raz is a promontory that extends into the Atlantic from western Brittany, in France. The local Breton name is ''Beg ar Raz''. It is the western point of the ''commune'' of Plogoff, Finistère. It is named after the ''Raz de Sein' ...

, to Massalia, modern

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

. Its existence has been denied by other scholars.

References

Peripluses History of navigation Lost books Ancient Greek geography Ancient Roman geography 6th-century BC books Ancient Massalia Nautical reference works {{AncientGreece-stub