Beyond doubt, Arrian is best known for his Campaigns of Alexander the Great but as I mentioned in my earlier post, What do we know about Arrian of Nicomedia, he was a prolific writer. However, most of his works have now been lost.
Such was the case for his Periplus of the Euxine Sea, the Circumnavigation of the Black Sea, an official military report Arrian wrote in Latin to Emperor Hadrian, who had inspected the area before him. Additionally, he composed a series of informal letters to Hadrian using Greek.
Although Arrian was a member of the Roman
imperial administration, he also belonged to the Greek literary elite. As a
native of still very Greek
Arrian was very much
inspired by Xenophon, a philosopher,
and historian from the 4th century BC – hence his nickname of
“Second Xenophon.” In fact, Arrian picked up Xenophon’s tracks on the
Arrian’s Greek
version of the Periplus with its valuable information about the
In his days,
Cappadocia was a Roman frontier with forts along the coast of the
His Periplus covers a counter-clockwise voyage around the
His second
expedition contained in chapters 12 to 17 took him from the Bosporus to Trapezus,
and the third one is covered in chapters 18 to 25 traveling from Sebastopolis to
Much of the writing focuses on the rivers, landmarks, harbors, and cities, including the distances and other relevant information for sailors and travelers alike. It also includes information regarding the local population and the safe havens. True to himself, Arrian likes to insert local stories from Greek mythology such as Jason and the Argonauts and Prometheus, and often quotes Homer.
In short, a complete traveler’s guide that may still be helpful today!
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