Geography by Strabo

Strabo, a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian, was born in Asia Minor towards the end of the first century BC. He traveled extensively through most of the Roman Empire, from Italy to the Near East, and lived for a while in Rome and Alexandria.

His concept of geography cannot be compared to our modern look at the world, and one needs a good map to follow his steps as he describes his route from one city to the next, across mountains and rivers, treating us to pretty reliable distances (in stadia) between the main features.

On the way, he likes to include some local history, informing us of notable people who lived there and sharing their accomplishments or bringing particular facts and figures to the attention of the reader. It makes a far from dull reading and instead demands our full attention as he juggles with many names of people and cities.

Strabo wrote his Geography in seventeen separate books, which in the edition from the Loeb Classical Library (also containing the original Greek text), are published in eight volumes altogether.

My edition is in a translation by Horace Leonard Jones, and I limited myself to those volumes that are somehow connected to Alexander the Great - of course. These are:

Volume 4, Book VIII handling Macedon and Greece, and Book IX on Athens, Boeotia, Thessaly

Volume 5, Book X is about Aetolia, Crete, Other Islands; Book XI for Asia Minor including Caucasian areas and Armenia, and Book XII on Asia Minor (continued): Cappadocia, Galatia, Bithynia, etc. Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia.

Volume 6, Book XIII treats Asia Minor (continued): from Propontis onward. Lesbos, Troad, and Book XIV on Asia Minor (continued): Ionia, Caria, Islands of Samos, Chios, Rhodes; Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia; Cyprus.

Volume 7, Book XV covers India and Parthia (Persia) = Iran, and Book XVI on Assyria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Arabia.

At the end of each Volume, we find maps and an extensive but not always complete Index, which are valuable tools when doing specific research.

In any case, these books make excellent reference material.