A Guide to the Geography of Pliny the Elder

Duane W. Roller

Jul 2022 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

This is the first thorough English commentary on the geographical books of Pliny the Elder, written in the AD 70s. Pliny's account is the longest in Latin, and represents the geographical knowledge of that era, when the Roman Empire was the dominant force in the Mediterranean world. The work serves both cultural and ideological functions: much of it is topographical, but it also demonstrates the political need to express a geographical basis for the importance of the Roman state. In five books, Pliny covers the entire world as it was known in his era and includes some of the first information on the extremities of the inhabited region, including Scandinavia and the Baltic, eastern Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. The commentary provides a detailed analysis of all the points Pliny raises: his sources, toponyms, and understanding of the place of the earth in the cosmos.

About the author

Duane W. Roller is Professor Emeritus of Classics at the Ohio State University. He is the author of numerous books, including The Geography of Strabo (Cambridge, 2014), A Historical and Topographical Guide to the Geography of Strabo (Cambridge, 2018), Cleopatra: A Biography (2010), and Empire of the Black Sea (2020).