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"Written in the first century AD, Strabo's Geographica tells us just about everything one could know about the ancient world of his day. We find instructions on how to tame elephants, information on the production of asphalt, how saffron is collected, the treatment of the aged, the practice of yoga, the lineage of obscure eastern dynasties, religious festivals, prostitution, volcanic activity - to name but a few of the topics his great work expounds upon. From his home in what is now Turkey, Strabo travelled around the Mediterranean describing the locations he visited and those he passed through. Some of the information in his great work is derived from his own travels, but most of it is the product of his reading and research. So, it is not merely a travelogue or guidebook; but rather, an intellectual journey through ancient places and the literature of antiquity, which implicitly asks: "Who are we?" and, "Where do we come from?" His answer involves a detailed description of the first century world he thought his readers should know. In this new modern translation of the complete work, translator Sarah Pothecary renders Strabo's Geographica as an invaluable resource for anyone interested in how the world today came into being. The main obstacle for readers has always been how to approach what, at first sight, is a daunting work of 300,000 words. Even when translated from ancient Greek into English, Strabo's narrative has come across as sprawling and difficult to navigate. Ancient names for modern places used by Strabo sound naturally unfamiliar to contemporary readers, making it seem as if the world he describes is remote from our own, in terms of place as well as time. Pothecary's translation addresses these problems by orientating the reader within the twenty-first century world. As she progresses through the narrative, the reader will be able to locate where he is in the modern world, as well as in the ancient world. By doing so, this book mimics what Strabo was doing two thousand years ago - relating the rapidly changing "present" of his readers to their own "ancient" past. The questions of identity and origin that underlie his work are as relevant today as two thousand years ago. It is time, Pothecary argues, the modern world got to know Strabo better"--
About the author
Strabo
Translated and introduced by Sarah Pothecary
Foreword by Peter Frankopan
Summary
A lively new translation of Strabo’s complete Geography—an encyclopedic guide to the ancient world of the first century CE—connecting it with the world of the twenty-first century
Strabo’s Geography is an encyclopedic description of the ancient world as it appeared to a contemporary observer in the early Roman empire. Information about taming elephants, collecting saffron, producing asphalt, and practicing yoga is found alongside accounts of prostitution, volcanic activity, religious festivals, and obscure eastern dynasties—all set against the shifting backdrop of political power in the first century CE. Traveling around the Mediterranean, Strabo gathered knowledge of places and people, supplementing his firsthand experiences with an immense amount of reading to create a sweeping chronicle that attempts to answer the implicit questions “Who are we?” and “Where do we come from?” Sarah Pothecary’s new translation of Strabo’s complete Geography makes this important work more accessible, relevant, and enjoyable than ever before.
Conveying the informal, lively, and almost journalistic style of Strabo’s Greek, this translation connects the ancient and modern worlds by providing modern names and maps for places mentioned in the text, a generous page layout, and marginal notes, allowing readers to appreciate Strabo’s work directly and immediately. The result mimics what Strabo was doing two thousand years ago—relating the rapidly changing present of his original readers to their own ancient past.
A remarkably modern translation of a revealing window on the ancient world, this is essential reading for anyone interested in how we look at both antiquity and the world today.
Additional text
"[An] elegant translation. . . . Sarah Pothecary is Strabo's rescuer."---Peter Stothard, Times Literary Supplement
