Translation

This section of the book contains the English translation of the text. It contains the following sections: Introduction; Europe: Antion to Iapygia; the Adriatic; Epeiros; continuous Hellas; Peloponnese with Crete and southern Cyclades; Macedonia to the Tanaïs; the Black Sea; length of Europe; Asia: Tanaïs to Propontis; Mysia to Kilikia; Cyprus; Syria-Phoenicia to Egypt; length of Asia; Libyē: Non-Carthaginian Libyē; Carthaginian territory; length of Libyē; Beyond the Pillars of Hercules; end matter.

Introduction

The treatise known as the Periplous of Pseudo-Skylax survives on 44 pages of a 700-year-old codex in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. The manuscript as a whole comprises a set of geographical texts assembled by Markianos of Herakleia, probably in the sixth century AD. The work describes the coasts of the Mediterranean and Black Sea, beginning at Gibraltar and proceeding clockwise to return to the same place (and a little way down the Atlantic coast of Africa). We do not know the original name of the work. The introduction examines the history of the manuscript, difficulties of interpretation, and what is known about the author. It addresses date, the debate around the measurements used in the text and what its purpose may have been. Finally it discusses what sort of geography the text offers, its literary features, influences and legacy.

Commentary

This section (which constitutes over half the book), contains a detailed commentary on the text. It includes 20 maps showing ancient and modern place names. Points of linguistic, literary, geographical and cultural interest are discussed are explained and modern contemporary scholarship on the text examined.

Select Apparatus Criticus

THIS includes erasures newly identified during inspection of D in 2007. Variant readings are noted selectively. A reading may be noted because an editor reads D differently or does not note that his text differs from D. The secondary MSS have not been inspected, but ...

Text

This section of the book contains the ancient Greek text of the Periplous. Where there are lacuna in the manuscript is indicated. The text describes place and people encountered on a coastal journey. It also states journey times and measurements (stades), along with notable features of geography and communities. Pseudo-Skylax divides his text between the three continents—Europe, Asia and Libyē—marking the end of each with a summative sailing distance. With its relatively limited vocabulary and simple, yet varied, syntax, it will provide a useful text for those moving beyond the elementary study of ancient Greek language.