6

Ancient Greek and Roman

Geography
The history of geographical idea is
civilization. It is the record of man's effortassociated with the development of human
to gain more and more
knowledge of land and people of different parts of the logical and useful
great civilizations of antiquity was the oldest is earth's surface. Which of the
still
question. Egypt and Mesopotamia were perhaps doubtful and it is sharply debated
sections in the Near East. In both areas large geographically the most favoured
antiquity have been found than in any other regions. number of artefacts of undoubted
Both of these areas experienced
considerable practical knowledge and had reached unparalleled heights in the field of
arts and sciences as early as 3000 B.C.
Of the several causes
earliest rise of civilizations in Egypt and responsible of the
valleys was definitely the most important. Mesopotamia, the existence of fertile river
In the initial stage geography
snail's pace and Egyptian and Mesopotamian marched at a
civilizations contributed
development of geographical ideas. is believed that in prehistoric period to the
flourished in Mesopotamia where the skies were mostly clear, astronomy
Egypt (Nile Valley), and physical geography in Greece and geometry developed in
diverse relief features and indented coastlines. Italy characterized by
Before the beginning of the Christian era (the rise of
Hellenic
geography was treated as the knowledge of topographical features, mountains,culture) rivers,
places etc. of one's own country and neighbouring areas. The
informations were mainly collected with the help of traders and geographical jouneymen.
Egyptians, Jews and Phoenicians initially contributed to the development of
geography or geographical knowledge. The Phoenicians who were perhaps, the first
repositories of geographical knowledge occupied Asia Minor (Coastal Turkey,
Lebanon, Syria, Israel).
"Modern geography as practised all the world over today, represents, however.,
an outgrowth of the European geographic tradition so that the historiography of
modern geography is essentially an account of the conceptual developments among
Europeans regarding the nature of the earth and its environmernt and the way it
influences man. Thus, the roots of modern geography are to be traced back to the
thought of the ancient Greeks" (Dikshit, 2006, 17).
(A) GREEK CONTRIBUTION TO GEOGRAPHY
In the history of geographical thought, the historical period between 600 B.C. to
300 A.D. is known as ancient classical pericd. It included the contributions made by
88
History of Geographical Thouolt
ancient Greek and Roman Geographers. "Among all the peoples of the ancient world,
the one whose culture most clearly exemplified the spirit of Western society was the
Greek or Hellenic" (Burns et al., 1991, 173). Greek was situated on both sides of the
Aegean sea. About 800 B.C. emerged the city state as the most famous unit of
political society developed bythe Greeks. Examples of the city states include Athens,
mainland, Sparta and Corinth on the
Thabes and Megara on the
Peloponnesus,
Miletus on the shore of Asia Minor, and Mitylene and Samos on the islands of the
Aegean sea. These city states varied enormously in both area and population. They
also varied widely in cultural evolution. Their citizens founded colonies along the
Aegean shores and even in Italy and Sicily. They also established trading centres on
Babylon.
the coast of Egypt and as far as east
1. GREEK GEOGRAPHERS
The Greeks were pioneers in many branches of knowledge including
geography. Greeks borrowed a number of ideas and concepts of astronomy,
mathematics and geometry from Egyptians and Mesopotamians. The geographical
count
knowledge for ancient Greeks was, however, limited to the islands and
Sea.
adjacent or ncar to Greece and the areas surrounding the Aegean
In ancient Greek Homer, Thales, Anaximander, Hecatacus, Herodotus. plate
Aristotle, Theophrastus, Eratosthenes, Polybius, Hipparchus, Pesidonius etc. made
significant contributions in the development of geography.
(1) Homer
Homer was one of the great poets of Greece. The most famous of the Greek
epics, the liad and the Odyssey were written by Homer at the end of prehistroic Dark
ages some times in the 9th century B.C. The lliad deals with the Trojan War and has
its theme in the wrath of Achilles. The Odyssey describes the wandering and return
of Odysseus (the main hero of the epic) to Ithaca after the down fall of Troy. He was
blown ofcourse by a strong storm and could reach home after twenty years. The epic
contains a geographical account of the distant places visited by Odysseus in course of
his long journey. These epics include valuable information about places and routes
and thus, initiated the literary tradition in the contemporary Greek geographical
thinking, Actually, Homer tried to combine the literary tradition with the topographic
description of places and the known world. These exerted an almost incalculable
influence upon later writers.
As far as known to Homer, the earth is surrounded by oceans and the sun rises
in the morring from the ocean and sets in the evening in the water of the same ocean.
(2) Thales
Thales of Miletus (640-546 B.C.) was famous philosopher and Mathematci
of Greek in the seventh and sixth century B.C. He lived in Miletus
which was bou
centre of learning and a flourishing centre of trade and commerce. Thales is rega
as first Greek to have devoted attention to the
the earth's surface. Thales himself measurement
was successful
and
businessman.location
In theofcourse
pia of a
business trip to Egypt, he had been greatly impressed by the geometrical tradition of
Ancient Greek and Roman Geography 89

the Egyptians in the measurement and computation of areas. He had introduced some
ofthese ideas among the Greeks "(Dikshit, 2006, 18). Thus, he laid the foundation of
the mathematical tradition in the contemporary Greek scholarship.
He visualized the earth as a disc floating in water. He is also known for his
cosmology based on water as the essence of all matter from which all visible features
of the earth were made.
(3) Anaximander
Anaximander (611-547 B.C.) was a contemporary of Thales and lived in
Miletus city. But he was not affected by the tradition which Thales set fourth. He is
credited with the introduction of the idea of a sundial known as 'Gnomon' into the
Greek world. It consists of a pole set vertically over a flat surface to measure the
varying position of the sun by measuring the direction and length of the shadow cast
by the pole. The shadow of the pole showed shortest at noon and provided the exact
north-south direction which was used for determining the true longitude of the
relevant place.
R
P E

a. Ister

Caspian Sea

Armenia
A S A India
Atlas Mts. R. Indu_
rabla
R. Nile

Fig. 6.1. World Map of Anaximander.

Anaximader prepared a map of known world to scale in which Greek was shown
in the centre. The map was circular in shape and was bounded on all sides by the Ocean
River. Thus, Anaximander was a pioneer cartographer. He also prepared maps of some
coastal countries of Mediterranean Sea. Thales and Anaximander have jointly been
regarded as the introducers of mathematical tradition in Greek geography.
(4) Hecataeus
Hecataeus also was a resident of Miletus city. He was a great statesman and
pioneer geographer though not much is known about his early life and date of birth.
He was born about 475 B.C. Hecataeus originated the literary tradition in the writing
of geography. His famous book Periodus Ges' (description of the earth) was
published in two volumes in 520 B.C. This book is regarded as the first known effort
90
History of Geographical Thought
to synthesize available geographical knowledge about the world. Periodus is the first
systematic description of world geography. First volume of this book includes the
Europe and second volume is devoted to Africa and Asia. In bie &
description
Hacataeus of
presented general survey of seven worlds and included factual description
of Mediterranean Sea particularly places and regions in the vicinity of the Aeo
Sea.
Hacatacus also prepared a map of MiletuS city. But his idea about the shape of
the earth was influenced by traditional idea of lonean philosophers. He alsn
considered the earth circular plane in shape and surrounded by Ocean Rivers. He
divided the known world into two parts: northern part contained geographical
information of Europe and southern part was constituted by Africa (Libya) and Asia
continents. He preferred to study history from a true geographical stand point.
(5) Herodotus
Herodotus (485-420B.C.) was great historian of Greek Golden Age. He
deserves to be called the 'Father of History. Herodotus was a native of Halicarnassus
in Asia Minor. He travelled extensively through the Persian empire, Egypt, Greek
and Italy and collected a multitude of interesting data about various peoples. "His
famous account of the great war between the Greeks and the Persians included so
much background that the work seems almost a history of the world. He regarded
that war as an epic struggle between East and West, with Zeus giving victory to the
Greeks against a mighty host of barbarians (Burns et al., 1991, 199).
EU ROPE
Ister R

Alps
ASIA

Caucasus

Mediter anean Sea

Armenia Baktri

INDIA
Aias
R
indus R
Y A
Arabla
Niles R.

IRITHIAN SEA
Ethiopia

Fig. 6.2. Known World according to

Herodotus.
Herodotus is also regarded as one of the founders of geography. In his
the Greek struggle with the Barbarians, Herodotus history e
described various places
by him. He firmly believed that all history must be treated visited
geographically and
geography must be studied historically. According to him geography provides heathat
Ancient Greek and Roman Geography
91
stage (the seting) that gives meaning to
historical events. He attempted to explain the
annual fluctuations in the flow of the River
origins of deltas at the mouth of the river at Nile and the process responsible for the
Miletus. He used the method of historical
geography to explain the process of delta formation
the Mediterranean Sea. due to deposition of Nile mud in
Holt-Jenson (1981) observed, "Like all the Greek scholars,
as a fundamental principle that the Herodotus accepted
world must be arranged symmetrically. He
accepted the Homeric view of the earth as a flat disc over
an arc from east to which the sun travelled in
west.""
Herodotus prepared a map of known world to
Sea was shown in the centre surrounded by land Greeks in which Mediterranean
of Europe, Africa and Asia adjacent to masses. The map included the areas
also drawn in the far eastern part of the Mediterranean
Sea. India and River Indus are
map.
Herodotus was first Greek scholar to have drawn a meridian on the world
It was drawn from Egypt to Cilicia (south cost of map.
Turkey),
the month of Ister (Denube). He was not interested in peninsula
of Sinope and
the
astronomical problems like the measurement of the circumference mathematical and
of the earth or the
exact location for places.
(6) Plato
Plato (429-348 B.C.) was a most distinguished pupil of great Greek
Socrates. He was born in Athens around 429 B.C. Plato was a great philosopher
political
philosopher of his time. He was made an important contribution to the development
of Geographical thought. Plato was perhaps the first scholar who put forward the
concept of a spherical earth located in the centre of the universe, and the sun, moon
and all the other heavenly bodies move around it. But he offered no
evidence as
proof that the earth is round.
Plato proposed in his book Republic'a famous plan for society which would
have divided the population into three principal classes corresponding to the
functions of the soul e.g. lowest class, middle class and highest class. The lowest
class would include the farmers, artisans and merchants. The middle class would
consist of the soldiers and the highest class would be composed of the intellectual
aristocracy. Each of these classes would perform those tasks for which it was best
fitted. The division of people into such ranks would not be made on the basis of birth
or wealth, but through a sifting process that would take into account the ability of
each individual to profit from education (Burns et al., 1991, 193).
(7) Aristotle
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), a native of Stagira was born in 384 B.C. He was the
last of the great champions of the Socratic tradition. Plato's philosophy differed from
those of Socrates and Aristotle in several outstanding respects. He had a higher
regard for the concrete and the practical. Aristotle was an empirical scientist with a
compelling interest in astronomy, physics and biology. He asserted that form and
92 History of Geographical Though
matter are of equal importance, both are eternal, and neither can exists without et
other. The union of these two gives universe its character.
Aristotle wrote much voluminously on a great variety of subjects. His nrincinst
writings include treatise on logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics and natural sciencae
His conception of the universe was teleological, that is, governed by purnoee
Aristotle also made significant contribution in the development of mathematical and
astronomical geography. He also described the shape and zones of the earth
presenting factual examples. Although Aristotle gave intellectual leads that
contributed to the development of knowledge about the earth as home of man, he
could not be identified as a geographer.
(8) Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes (276-196 B.C.) is referred to as the Father of Geography. He was
the first scholar who used the world 'geography'. Hellenistic Greek geography owed
most of its development to Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes was great astronomer, poet,
and librarian at Alexandria.
Eratosthenes was born in the Greek colony of Cyrene (Libya) in 276 B.C., He
got his early education at Cyrene and then at Athens. He was appointed chief
librarian of the renowned library at Alexandria. This post was considered to be the
highest academic honour of that period. He served there for about forty years until
his death in 196 B.C. at the age of eighty. He wrote many scientific and library books
living at Alexandria. Eratosthenes was pioneer who attempted to give the subject
geography a systematic form. He also attempted to construct the world map on more
scientific principles.

June
21 Alexandria
on
rays
Solar
Syene

250,000 Stadia

Fig. 6.3. Measurement of Circumference of the Earth by

Eratosthenes.
Eratosthenes set forth a stamp on the study of the earth's surface as the home of
man that still persists. He is regarded as the first scientific geographer. He also
uphold the mathematical tradition in geographical studies. This tradition was
introduced by Thales in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. Eratosthenes not only
Ancient Greek and Roman Geography

carriedout a remarkably 91
he also accurate
wrote a
and well
known caleulation of the
theeartl but descriptive ' dinensions
work is no longer
extant, it is work called the ol
word geography (Dickinson, 1969, 3)
known to
have contained the first Geographica
recorded
Although the
use of the
Eratosthenes regarded the carth
as a sphere
round which the celestial bodies placed in the centre of the
that the sun
and the moon had revolves every twenty four hours. He also universe,
inconformity with present day geographers.
independent
motions of their own, His these regarded
ideas are
tosthenes succecded t0 measure the length of
of the
carth. With the help of an equator or the circumference
separate observations of the indigenous apparatus known as 'gnomon', he made
position of the sun at the
time of summer solstice.
One observation was done near Syene (Aswan)
where there was a deep well. At the
time of summer solstice only for one or two days
the image of the sun was
in the water at
the bottom of the
well because at that day at noon the sun was
reflected
orhead. Syene was situated near the Line of directly
Ane in Alexandria where there was a Capricorn. The second observation
tall obelisk. Using the obelisk as a
Eratosthenes attempted to measure the length of the shadow gnomon
of obelisk at the time of
Parallel of
Thule

U R O P
R. Ister

Black Se
Parallel of
Rhodes
Taurus
A
Mountains
A
Scythia
R. Ganges
Parallel of
Alexandria Alexandria
L B Y A V Ariana India
Tropic
Southern
Arabia
limit of
habitable
worid
C
Equator
Stadia 8000 13500 Meridian 10000 14000 16000
2000 of Alexandria
3000
Fig. 6.4. World Map of Eratosthenes.

ne solstice. Thus, he measured the horizontal angle between the vertical obelisk and
theorem of Thales,
parallel rays of the sun. Eratosthenes used the well-known
The
When a diagonal line crosses two parallel lines, the opposite angles are equal."
vertical
earth's centre. The
ucal rays of the sun at Syene could be extended to the
The angle
Obeiisk at Alexandria also could be extended to the centre of the earth.
must be the same as the
tWeen the sun's ravs and the vertical obelisk at Alexandria
measured the angle at the earth's
"PPOSite angle at the centre of the earth. Eratosthenes
fiftieth (1/50) of the whole circumference.
Gmade by Syene and Alexandria as one
 History of Geographical Thought
94
5000 stadia
and Alexandria was about (500 miles).
The spatial distance between Syene of the earth was about S000
Eratosthenes calculated that the circumferencemeridianal great circle or cis
Thus, miles). Actual length of
= 250,000 stadia
(25,000 error was not much signifcan.
(39,800km.). This minor
ference is about 24, 860 miles (gnomon) was not very precise and accurate
measurement
because the instrument of the distance of the sun and moon f
measure
Eratosthenes also attempted to indigenoue
results were far from accurate. Using the then available longih1dee
the earth, but his to determine various latitudes and
Eratosthenes attempted
instruments latitude of Rhode Island which
also. With the help of gnomon he determined the
Strait of Gibraltar in the west through Thapsacus on the Euphratee
passed from the
Himalayas to as far as the eastern ocean. He drew a meridian southward
and the
through Alexandria, Syene, Meroe. It was extended north ward through
passing Boresthenes (Dniester) on the northern
Rhodes, Troad, Byzantium and the mouth of
shore of the Black Sea.
part (the ecumene) of
Eratosthenes wrotea book which describes the inhabited
relied mostly on the assumption of
the earth. In the preparation of the book he which he made use of
Aristotle and accounts of Pytheas. He prepared a world map in were not spaced
graticule (a frame of north-south and east-west lines) whichArctic circle) in the
the
regularly. Eratosthenes' ecumene extended from Thule (near
Ocean in the
nurth to Taprobane (present Ceylon) in the south and form the Atlantic
west to the Bay of Bengal in the east.
Eratosthenes also provided latitudinal boundaries to the five major climatic
zones: one torrid (tropical) zone, two temperate zones and two frigid zones. The area
24 degree north and south of the equator was calculated as torrid zone. The frigid
zones extended 24 degree north and south poles. The temperate zones were situated
between torrid zone and frigid zone. The cartographical work started by Eratosthenes
was later developed by his students and successors at the Museum in Alexandria.
(9) Hipparchus
Hipparchus was a great astronomer and mathematician of the Hellenistic Greece
who laid the foundations of both plane and spherical trigonometry. He discovered the
precession of the equinoxes and calculated the length of the year and divided the
circle into 360 degrees. After the death of Eratosthenes the post of chief librarian of
the Museum at Alexandria went to Hipparchus. The dates of his birth and death are
not known but it is known that he was working as chief librarian at Alexandria in
around 150 B.C. Thus, it is clear that Hipparchus flourished at Alexandria in the
latter half of the second country B.C. Hipparchus defined a grid of latitudes and
longitudes for the earth and pointed out that the earth makes one complete revolution
in 24 hours and thus it covers ajouney of 360 degrees in a day. In this way the earth
in its movement covers 15 degrees of longitude in one hour.
As an astronomer Hipparchus made a marked development in the field of
scientific cartography. He compiled the first known star catalogue and listed abou
850 starts, the apparent brightness of which were specified precisely. At those days
such catalogue was amonumental achievement. On the basis of latitudes, Hipparchus
 Ancient Greek and
Roman Geography
world 95
divided the into climata, the belts
circle that of latitudes. He also
was great divides the pointed out that equator
mathematical earth into two
calculations pointed out that the
shorter from equator as theey
he equal parts. On the basis of
Hipparchus invented anapproached the poles.
parallels become shorter and
determination of
latitudes and instrument Itcalled Astrolabe that was used in the
than gnomon. It was also useful longitudes. was easier to
Uitude at sea by aobserving the angle of the and made handle
in the but more accurate
open seas
possible the
the conversion of three polar star. Hipparchus is measurement
devised two kinds of dimensional sphere into a two dimensionalcredited
projections e.g. orthographic projection and plane. He
for
projection. These
(10) Posidonius
projections cover only ahemisphere, not the whole stereographic
earth.
Posidonius (135-50
ime He rejected the belietB.C.) was a famous Greek
of Aristotle that the historian and geographer of his
not habitable because of
extreme heat.
equatorial part of the torrid zone was
Posidonius
Rneratures and driest deserts were located in the insisted that the lands of highest
not near the equator. His temperate zones near the tropics
conclusion was based on
access to authentic reports, Irom anyone who had assumption because he had no
croSsed the Sahara desert.
Posidonius also calculated the
(28.800km). circumference of the earth
This figure was smaller than that of 18000 miles
actual distance of the equator or any Eratosthenes (25000miles) and
meridianal
height above the horizon of Canopus star at great circle. For this he observed the
assumed to be located on the same meridian. He Rhodes and Alexandria, which he
Rhodes and Alexandria based an average sailing time estimated
for ships.
the distance between
It is noteworthy that incorrect
estimate of Posidonius about the circumference of
the earth was widely accepted in
coming days. He
westward across the Atlantic ocean from western cast ofconcluded that a ship sailing
Europe would reach the east
coast of India after a voyage of only 7000 miles (11,200 km).
estimate, Columbus started his sea journey westward for India Following this under
but he reached West
Indies. But his correct assumption on the habitability of the
equatorial land was not
recognized by successors.
2. CONTRIBUTION OF GREEKS TO MATHMATICAL
AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
A number of Greek scholars made remarkable contribution in the field of
mathematical, physical, historical and regional geography between seventh and first
Century B.C. Their main contributions are recognized in mathematical and
aStronomical geography and physical geography. Here in the following paragraphs,
elr major contributions in the field of mathematical and physical geography have
been briefly described.
(1) Mathematical Geography
During the Golden Age of the Greek civilization, many scholars were engaged
voserving, measuring and determining the shape, size and climatic zones of the
96
History of
Geographical
carth. Eminent Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle encouraged Thnt
to make efforts to determine the distances and latitudes by astronomicaltheir
stuerts
Thales was the first Greek scholar concerned about the
measurement
observatn.
Heracleides, an associate of Plato first establishedthe rotation of the earth on its
location of objects on the face of the earth. He atternpted to and the.
mathematical and geometrical precepts with almost accurate
Anaximander, a contemporary of Thales brought into the contemporary scientificCormpreci
bine his
a Babylonian instrument known as 'gnomon' which made it Greek sweion
types of observation regarding the relative positions of the S possible to make
used to measure the position of
celestial bodies varl ious
noon-shadow of an object
Thales and Anaximander are considered as the
founders
different seasons. Thus.
of mathenatical
Thales and Aristotle established the spherical shape of the geogranh
earth,
formulations were deductions from pure theory that all observable All the
created in perfect form and that the most perfect form was things were
Martin, 1972). sphere "Jarnes and
Eratosthenes making observations at Syene
heip of indigenous instrument called 'gnomon' (Aswan) the and Alexandria with the
earth as 25,000 miles (40,000 km.). His calculated circumference of the
estimate of the earth's circumference was
remarkably accurate and thus it proved a major step forward in the
mathematical geography. He also attempted to determine the distancedevelopment of
of the sun and
moon from the earth.
Hipparchus was the first scholar to
pointed out that the earth makes one comple divide the circle into 360 degrees. He
revolution
journey 15 degrees of longitude in one hour. Among Greek in 24 hours and thus covers a
Anaximander, Hipparchus and Eratosthenes attempted to drawscholar, the
Herodotus.
latitudes. Eratosthenes was the first who drew a parallel parallels of
Hercules to the extremity of India. Other parallels of passing from the pillars of
through Thule, Phytheas, the mouth of latitudes were drawn passing
Borysthenes,
Syene, Meroe and Cinnamon region (Ethiopia). His Trod, Rhodes, Alexandria.
through the Pillar of Hercules, Carthage, Alexandria, meridians of longitudes passed
the mouth of the Indus and the
mouth of the Ganga.
Thapsacus, Caspian Gates.
the
(2) Physical Geography
Some Greek scholars made
remarkable contributions in the field of physia
geography. Greece was a country having various types of topography and phy Sia
features. A number of capes projecting into
into the mainland, and many other peculiar Aegean Sea, various straits peneua
limestone areas, volcanoes and occurrence features
of
including subterranean Strea
the Greeks to find the causes of earthquakes
their occurrence. The
etc. provided incenie
physical geography contained a number of contributions of the Grec
references to mountains, volca
earthquakes, formation of delta, change of weather, winds, rainandetc.the phenomena of
Aristotle explained the process of delta formation
expansion of land in the shallow seas. He pointed out that due to alluvial deposition
in so many coastal areas the land was gaining on the sea, especially in the Palus-
Ancient Greek and
Roman Geography 97
Maeotis(Azov Sea) which was
would be one day entirely continually becoming
filled up and shallower. He affirmed that it
the
delta of the
from
Nile which was the
result
converted
of
into dry land. He also explained
the river upper reaches. deposition of enormous silt carried by
The Greek scholars
believed that all the perennial rivers had their sources in
high mountain ranges. Plato
(Greece). He pointed out thatattempted explain some of the barren lands of Attica
to
such waste lands in the
COver and fertile soils but under
the impact of climaticpartchange
were full of vegetation
and other external
es. the natural vegetation had been
depleted and
lands. According to him, such wastelands were like soil leached resulting into barren
dhe flat and soft earth had been the skeleton of a sick man as all
moved away and only the bare framework of the land
wAs left. Plato was a pioneer Greek who
considered man an active agent who was
able to change the face of the earth.
Abook on oceanography namely The Ocean' was written by
was considered an authority on this subject. In his book Posidonius and he
had explained the tidal movements and considered the winds 'Meteoralogica', Aristotle
the actual cause of tidal
waves. Herodotus observed the phenomena of tides in the Red Sea and the
Matiac
Gulf. Similarly, Nearchus studied the tides in the Arabian Sea and Pytheas in the
Atlantic Ocean. Phytheas, a Greek scientist made observations on the regular
recurrence of tides and established the connection between their diurnal recurrence
and movement of the moon.
Posidonius pointed out that at the new moon and full moon when the sun and
the moon were in a strait line the tides were the highest (spring tides) and at the first
and last quarters they were the lowest (neap tides). The Greeks including Aristotle
divided the world into three zones e.g. torrid, temperate and frigid zones. Aristotle
stated that the parts of the earth near to the equator (the torrid zone) were uninhabited
owing to high temperature. Similarly the zone far away from the equator being very
cold and frigid were also uninhabitable. Thus the Greek scholars attempted to
establish a relationship between distribution of temperature and population on the
surface of the earth.
Some Greek scholars attempted to express their ideas about the occurrence of
earthquakes. Anaximander described earthquakes as fractures of crust of the earth
Nnch were produced by its passing through a process of drying, after having
and
Previously been saturated with moisture. Aristotle believed that earthquakes
earth's surface,
Oicanoes were produced by gases which were confined below the
and were trying to find a vent.
different plants and
Theophrastus, a pupil of Aristotle described the habitat of vegetation. Many
natural
empted to establish correlation between climate and and animals
vegetation (flora)
reek scholars also recognized differences in natural
of the world.
(fauna) of the different partsCONTRIBUTION TO GEOGRAPHY
(B) ROMAN
begun to fade, another civilization.
Wellbefore the glory that was Greece had started its growth in the west on
culture, had
much influenced by Greek
ultimately