This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of Hipparchos of Nikaia (active 162–128 BC), arranged as 46 extracts. The chapter introduction reviews Hipparchos’ wide-ranging and original achievements in mathematics, astronomy, and climatology, his rigorous (but occasionally over-sceptical) criticisms of Eratosthenes’ geographical work, and his development of superior models of climatic zones and latitude. Though not a geographer as such, his advances in the mathematical underpinnings of geography were influential.

This chapter presents a new, annotated translation of an unusual treatise, commonly known by the Latin name De fluviis, preserved among the works of Plutarch and probably written between AD 100 and 250. The chapter introduction discusses the work’s date and authorship; notes the author’s preference for stories about Greece and places to the east as far afield as India, as well as his tendency to misidentify his literary sources when he does not actually invent them; and explains the repetitive organization of its 25 sections. These offer mythological explanations (often erotic, homicidal, or suicidal) for changes of names in rivers and mountains, as shaped by the recurrent themes of retribution and vindication of those who suffer injustice. On a factual level, the geography is lamentable, but the author’s examples of stones and plants with miraculous properties—often related to the fates of the individuals in the stories, though sometimes to the intrinsic properties of the rivers they feature—are sometimes confirmed by other sources. Presumably ‘the author knew his audience’.

This chapter presents a new, annotated translation of the short Hypotypōsis (Outline) of Geography by one Agathemeros son of Orthon, written around AD 125–50, probably as a new preface to Arrian’s collection of geographical works (like the later Hypotypōsis in Chapter 35). The chapter introduction identifies its value as a summative account of hellenistic views of geography, showing as yet no influence from Ptolemy and citing no sources later than Poseidonios. The work outlines the succession of geographers, different versions of the wind rose, and the main parts of the inhabited world and its dimensions, and closes with a catalogue of islands. It is important as a source of information about Artemidoros and other earlier writers.

This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the extensive summaries and paraphrases of books 1 and 5 of Agatharchides’ lost work On the Erythraian Sea (written c.145 BC) that were made by Diodoros (book 3), Strabo (book 16), and especially Photios (Bibliotheke, codices 213 and 250). Additional testimonia and fragments are arranged as five extracts. The chapter introduction reviews Agatharchides’ career, his writings, and his scholarly milieux in Alexandria and later (probably) Athens, and upholds the view that On the Erythraian Sea was a self-contained work, not part of a larger whole. The geographical and ethnographic material in this work–a historical work–is distinctive for being based on information from Ptolemaic commanders and explorers, and remarkable for its sympathy with some of the Ptolemies’ oppressed subjects. Agatharchides’ depiction of these peoples implies an evolutionary scheme of development–from hunter-gatherers to pastoralists to farmers–such as Dikaiarchos (Chapter 9 of this volume) had suggested in his philosophical works. The surviving summaries include remarkable passages on elephant-hunting and the sufferings of gold-miners; but Agatharchides’ work was more often accessed through its reworking by Artemidoros (Chapter 18) than read in its own right. A new map highlights the principal places and peoples mentioned by Agatharchides in East Africa and Arabia.

This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of the much-travelled Poseidonios of Apameia (c.135–c.51 BC), selected for their geographical content and arranged as 75 extracts. (Translations of passages of Strabo are adapted with permission from the work of D. W. Roller, and a lengthy passage of Priscianus Lydus from the translation by I. G. Kidd.) The chapter introduction notes the bias introduced into our understanding of Poseidonios’ geography by the particular interests of Strabo and Athenaios, the commonest sources of extracts; and demonstrates Poseidonios’ achievement in integrating cosmology, philosophy, and geographical thought. Prominent advances made by his writing are in areas such as the tides, climatic zones, and the interaction of humankind with the natural environment.

This chapter presents a new, annotated translation of the Ora maritima, a poem in Latin iambics preserved incompletely under the name of Avienus (or rather Avienius), who can be identified with a Roman aristocrat of the mid-4th century AD. The translation approximates a metrical form. The extant portion of the poem describes the coast from Brittany to Massalia, citing early sources (not necessarily consulted at first hand) including Himilco of Carthage. The chapter introduction examines the identification of the author with a known aristocrat, and sees the Ora as part of a systematic exposition of the earth, sea, and heavens; it is, furthermore, not a translation but a development of the available material. Avienus adds observations from his reading, or in one place from autopsy, but seems usually to be working off one earlier source, perhaps Apollodoros of Athens (2nd century BC) or the archaic ‘Massaliote periplous’ whose existence has been deduced. If this be the case, the poem preserves valuable knowledge of the Atlantic coasts in early times. A new map shows the principal locations in Iberia that are named in the poem.

This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the scanty testimonia and fragments of Skymnos of Chios (early 2nd century BC), arranged as eight extracts. The introduction reviews his outputs: works on Europe and Asia totalling at least 16 books, perhaps following an anti-clockwise sequence; possibly also on Libye (Africa). His work extends to Britain and the Black Sea, and evinces an interest in colonial origins, mythical geography, and botany. He has plausibly been identified with a known Skymnos of Chios alive in the 180s. His inclusion is justified because in the 17th century he was proposed as the poet of the Nikomedean Periodos (Chapter 17 of this volume), for which association there is, however, no manuscript evidence and which is impossible on chronological grounds.

This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of Timosthenes of Rhodes (active 282–246 BC), arranged as 37 extracts. An appendix contains a new translation of Aristotle’s discussion of the winds at Meteorologika, 2. 6. The chapter introduction addresses the difficulty of linking references to Timosthenes to the various book titles of which we have reports, but argues that we should not automatically divorce him from the Timosthenes who wrote about the Pythian Melody of Delphi. His distinctive contribution to geography was in assembling detailed navigational data, particularly specific local topography useful to ship-captains. Typically of literary writers, however, he enlivened his technical material with information about local cultures. His legacy was considerable, probably visible, for example, in the Roman-period Stadiasmos (Chapter 31 of this volume).

This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of Pytheas of Massalia (active c.330–c.320 BC), arranged as 32 extracts. (Translations of passages from Strabo are adapted with permission from the work of D. W. Roller.) The chapter introduction observes the difficulty of assessing Pytheas accurately, given the dominance of Strabo’s testimony, to which alone we owe our knowledge of the criticisms of the Massaliote by Polybios, perhaps arising from class prejudice; but defends his reputation, as recent scholarship has tended to do, and relates him to contemporary activity in Aristotle’s Peripatos (Lyceum). Although Pytheas owed much to earlier Massaliote voyagers, he is an important and original figure, particularly for his application of mathematical astronomy to questions of latitude and the tides. A new map shows the key points in his travels around northern Atlantic coasts and the British Isles, including the possible locations of Thule.

This chapter presents a new, annotated translation of the anonymous Stadiasmos, written no later than the 3rd century AD but possibly as early as the 1st, whose surviving extracts add up to a gazetteer of towns, harbour facilities, and distances from Tunisia around the eastern Mediterranean as far as the southern Aegean. The chapter introduction discusses the author’s use of technical terms and their meanings, and the work’s relationship to the Latin Maritime Itinerary, suggesting that in light of its detailed navigational content it was probably a ‘piloting manual’ rather than a desk-based study for an ‘armchair geographer’ or an administrative document. Four new maps show a selection of places along the coasts described.

This chapter presents a new, annotated translation melding the two Latin versions of one text: first, the Expositio totius mundi et gentium (Account of the Whole World and its Peoples); second, the Orbis descriptio (Description of the Globe) preserved under the name of Iunior Philosophus, which includes additional material. The chapter introduction shows how the work, dating to around the mid-4th century AD, is an impressionistic outline of world geography region by region, focused upon the East and characterized by subjective judgements about non-Roman peoples; maybe originally written in Greek or a third language; possibly by someone with commercial interests and a home in the eastern Mediterranean area. The value of the work may lie in what it tells us about semi-popular knowledge of world geography.

This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of the much-travelled Artemidoros of Ephesos (active 104–100 BC), arranged as 167 extracts. (Translations of passages from Strabo are adapted with permission from the work of D. W. Roller.) This is the first complete collection of the remains of Artemidoros’ geographical writing since the mid-19th century. Extract 167 is a new translation of the so-called Artemidoros Papyrus of early Roman date, which probably preserves a damaged passage from his description of Iberia, but whose authenticity has been challenged (unconvincingly, in the present writer’s view). An appendix contains, for completeness’ sake, the so-called Munich fragment on the Nile, preserved in a 16th-century manuscript but no longer attributed to Artemidoros. The chapter introduction restores Artemidoros to his leading position among Hellenistic geographers, reflected in the frequency of citations by later writers; and argues that the distances within Iberia reported in the Papyrus are related to measurements in Roman miles. A new map shows the Iberian places mentioned in the Papyrus.

This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the surviving passage of Isidoros of Charax’s Parthian Stations (written around AD 1–14), together with testimonia and fragments (mostly from Pliny the Elder) arranged as 21 extracts. The chapter introduction shows that Isidoros’ geographical work on the far east of the Roman world, commissioned by Augustus, was far more wide-ranging that the short text we have, which lists stathmoi (stations, stopping-points) within Parthia alone. Partly based upon Artemidoros, it is ‘the only surviving example in Greek of a type of record commonly found in Latin’. New maps show the western and eastern halves of this part of Isidoros’ itinerary, spanning from Mesopotamia to eastern Afghanistan.

This chapter presents a new, annotated translation of the purported Circumnavigation by Hanno of Carthage, preserved in one of the two major manuscript collections of Greek geography. It narrates an expedition round the coast of north-western Africa, perhaps as far as Cameroon. Selected testimonia and fragments are arranged as nine extracts. The chapter introduction outlines the main controversies surrounding the text–whether it is a genuine 5th-century BC work; whether it was translated from the Punic; whether it records an actual voyage–while the notes assess details of the content, such as the apparent description of an encounter with gorillas. A new map illustrates the possible extent of the journey.