previous next

CHAP. 67. (67.)—WHETHER THE OCEAN SURROUNDS THE EARTH.

The whole of the western ocean is now navigated, from Gades and the Pillars of Hercules, round Spain and Gaul. The greater part of the northern ocean has also been navigated, under the auspices of the Emperor Augustus, his fleet having been carried round Germany to the promontory of the Cimbri1; from which spot they descried an immense sea, or became acquainted with it by report, which extends to the country of the Scythians, and the districts that are chilled by excessive moisture2. On this account it is not at all probable, that the ocean should be deficient in a region where moisture so much abounds. In like manner, towards the east, from the Indian sea, all that part which lies in the same latitude3, and which bends round towards the Caspian4, has been explored by the Macedonian arms, in the reigns of Seleucus and Antiochus, who wished it to be named after themselves, the Seleucian or Antiochian Sea. About the Caspian, too, many parts of the shores of the ocean have been explored, so that nearly the whole of the north has been sailed over in one direction or another. Nor can our argument be much affected by the point that has been so much discussed, respecting the Palus Mæotis, whether it be a bay of the same ocean5, as is, I understand, the opinion of some persons, or whether it be the overflowing of a narrow channel connected with a different ocean6. On the other side of Gades, proceeding from the same western point, a great part of the southern ocean, along Mauritania, has now been navigated. Indeed the greater part of this region, as well as of the east, as far as the Arabian Gulf, was surveyed in consequence of Alexander's victories. When Caius Cæsar, the son of Augustus7, had the conduct of affairs in that country, it is said that they found the remains of Spanish vessels which had been wrecked there. While the power of Carthage was at its height, Hanno published an account of a voyage which he made from Gades to the extremity of Arabia8; Himilco was also sent, about the same time, to explore the remote parts of Europe. Besides, we learn from Corn. Nepos, that one Eudoxus, a contemporary of his9, when he was flying from king Lathyrus, set out from the Arabian Gulf, and was carried as far as Gades10. And long before him, Cælius Antipater11 informs us, that he had seen a person who had sailed from Spain to Æthiopia for the purposes of trade. The same Cornelius Nepos, when speaking of the northern circumnavigation, tells us that Q. Metellus Celer, the colleague of L. Afranius in the consulship, but then a proconsul in Gaul12, had a present made to him by the king of the Suevi, of certain Indians, who sailing from India for the purpose of commerce, had been driven by tempests into Germany13. Thus it appears, that the seas which flow com- pletely round the globe, and divide it, as it were, into two parts14, exclude us from one part of it, as there is no way open to it on either side. And as the contemplation of these things is adapted to detect the vanity of mortals, it seems incumbent on me to display, and lay open to our eyes, the whole of it, whatever it be, in which there is nothing which can satisfy the desires of certain individuals.

1 The voyage which is here alluded to was probably that performed by Drusus; it is mentioned by Dio, lib. iv., Suetonius, Claud. § 1, Vel. Paterculus, ii. 106, and by Tacitus, Germ. § 34.

2 What is here spoken of we may presume to have been that part of the German Ocean which lies to the N.W. of Denmark; the term Scythian was applied by the ancients in so very general a way, as not to afford any indication of the exact district so designated.

3 "Sub eodem sidere;" "which lies under the same star."

4 The ancients conceived the Caspian to be a gulf, connected with the northern ocean. Our author gives an account of it, vi. 15.

5 That is, of the Caspian Sea.

6 The remarks which our author makes upon the Palus Mæotis, in the different parts of his work, ii. 112 and vi. 7, appear so inconsistent with each other, that we must suppose he indiscriminately borrowed them from various writers, without comparing their accounts, or endeavouring to reconcile them to each other. Such inaccuracies may be thought almost to justify the censure of Alexandre, who styles our author, "indiligens plane veri et falsi compilator, et ubi dissentiunt auctores, nunquam aut raro sibi constans." Lemaire, i. 378.

7 The son of Agrippa, whom Augustus adopted. Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 378.

8 See Beloe's Herodotus, ii. 393, 394, for an account of the voyage round Africa that was performed by the Phœnicians, who were sent to explore those parts by Necho king of Egypt.

9 It is generally supposed that C. Nepos lived in the century previous to the Christian æra. Ptolemy Lathyrus commenced his reign U.C. 627 or B.C. 117, and reigned for 36 years. The references made to C. Nepos are not found in any of his works now extant.

10 We have previously referred to Eudoxus, note3, p. 78.

11 We have a brief account of Antipater in Hardouin's Index Auctorum; Lemaire, i. 162.

12 We are informed by Alexandre that this was in the year of the City 691, the same year in which Cicero was consul; see note in Lemaire, i. 379.

13 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the account here given must be incorrect; the reader who may be disposed to learn the opinions of the commentators on this point, may consult the notes in Poinsinet and Lemaire in loco.

14 Dividuo globo; "Eoas partes a vespertinis dividente oceano." Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 380.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus Latin (Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff, 1906)
hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
117 BC (1)
hide References (7 total)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: