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STRABOPontos, approx. 65 B.C. - 23 A.D. |
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Greek geographer and historian. On his mother's side, Strabo came from a well-known family that had served the Pontic kings Mithridates V (c. 150 - 120 BC) and Mithridates VI (132 - 63 BC). His first teacher was Aristodemus (historian and rhetorician of the 1st century BC), from whom Strabo was taught rhetoric in Nysa (present-day Sultanhisar, Turkey). In 44 BC he went to Rome to attend the lessons of Tyrannion (former teacher of Cicero) and Xenarchus, two philosophers of the Aristotelian school. He was later influenced by Octavian's former teacher Athenodorus - who probably introduced him to the later emperor's circle - and was introduced to Stoic philosophy.
In 29 BC Strabo visited Gyaros (Aegean Sea), while on his way to Corinth, where Augustus resided. On the 25th or 24th he sailed up the Nile to the island of Philae, following the proconsul of Egypt Aelius Gallus on his campaign in Arabia. There is no further information about Strabo until 17 AD, when he attended the triumph of the Roman general Germanicus (15 BC - 19 AD) in Rome. He devoted the last years of his life to Geography. Judging from the dates of his personal notes, it seems that he started writing the book after his stay in Egypt, stopped it after 2(?) BC. and continued it in AD 14, completing the final version in AD 23.
As it turns out, Strabo's travel notes were only a small part of the material he used in this important work, although he was proud to say that he had traveled from Armenia to the Tuscan regions across the Black Sea to the border of Ethiopia. Even in the chapters on Italy, where he had lived for a long time, his personal contribution is limited to a few scattered impressions.
Works
- Geographic