[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Greek](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr) › [Roman Imperial (31 BCE – 330 CE)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman) › [Γεωγραφικά](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo) › 2.1.29 # Γεωγραφικά 2.1.29 Γεωγραφικά 2.1.29 - **Language:** Ancient Greek ### [2.1.29](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.2.1.29) ὁ δὲ ταῦτα λαβὼν ἐξ ἑτοίμου καὶ δείξας, ὡς οἴεται, διότι ἡ Βαβυλὼν κατὰ Ἐρατοσθένη Θαψάκου ἀνατολικωτέρα ἐστὶ μικρῷ πλείοσιν ἢ χιλίοις σταδίοις, πάλιν ἄλλως πλάττει λῆμμα ἑαυτῷ πρὸς τὴν ἑξῆς ἀπόδειξιν καί φησιν, ἐὰν ἐννοηθῇ ἀπὸ Θαψάκου ἐπὶ μεσημβρίαν εὐθεῖα ἀγομένη καὶ ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπὶ ταύτην κάθετος, τρίγωνον ὀρθογώνιον ἔσεσθαι, συνεστηκὸς ἔκ τε τῆς ἀπὸ Θαψάκου ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα τεινούσης πλευρᾶς καὶ τῆς ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος καθέτου ἐπὶ τὴν διὰ Θαψάκου μεσημβρινὴν γραμμὴν ἠγμένης καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς διὰ Θαψάκου μεσημβρινῆς. τούτου δὲ τοῦ τριγώνου τὴν μὲν ὑποτείνουσαν τῇ ὀρθῇ τὴν ἀπὸ Θαψάκου εἰς Βαβυλῶνα τίθησιν, ἥν φησι τετρακισχιλίων ὀκτακοσίων εἶναι, τὴν δʼ ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος εἰς τὴν διὰ Θαψάκου μεσημβρινὴν γραμμὴν κάθετον μικρῷ πλειόνων ἢ χιλίων, ὅσων ἦν ἡ ὑπεροχὴ τῆς ἐπὶ Θάψακον πρὸς τὴν μέχρι Βαβυλῶνος· ἐκ δὲ τούτων καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν τῶν περὶ τὴν ὀρθὴν συλλογίζεται πολλαπλάσιον οὖσαν τῆς λεχθείσης καθέτου· προστίθησι δὲ ταύτῃ τὴν ἀπὸ Θαψάκου πρὸς ἄρκτον ἐκβαλλομένην μέχρι τῶν Ἀρμενίων ὀρῶν, ἧς τὸ μὲν ἔφη μεμετρῆσθαι Ἐρατοσθένης καὶ εἶναι χιλίων ἑκατόν, τὸ δʼ ἀμέτρητον ἐᾷ. οὗτος δʼ ἐπὶ τοὐλάχιστον ὑποτίθεται χιλίων, ὥστε τὸ συνάμφω δισχιλίων καὶ ἑκατὸν γίγνεσθαι, ὃ προσθεὶς τῇ ἐπʼ εὐθείας πλευρᾷ τοῦ τριγώνου μέχρι τῆς καθέτου τῆς ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος πολλῶν χιλιάδων λογίζεται διάστημα τὸ ἀπὸ τῶν Ἀρμενίων ὀρῶν καὶ τοῦ διʼ Ἀθηνῶν παραλλήλου μέχρι τῆς ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος καθέτου, ἥτις ἐπὶ τοῦ διὰ Βαβυλῶνος παραλλήλου ἵδρυται. τὸ δέ γε ἀπὸ τοῦ διʼ Ἀθηνῶν παραλλήλου ἐπὶ τὸν διὰ Βαβυλῶνος δείκνυσιν οὐ μεῖζον ὂν σταδίων δισχιλίων τετρακοσίων, ὑποτεθέντος τοῦ μεσημβρινοῦ παντὸς τοσούτων σταδίων, ὅσων Ἐρατοσθένης φησίν. εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, οὐκ ἂν ἦν τὰ ὄρη τὰ Ἀρμένια καὶ τὰ τοῦ Ταύρου ἐπὶ τοῦ διʼ Ἀθηνῶν παραλλήλου, ὡς Ἐρατοσθένης, ἀλλὰ πολλαῖς χιλιάσι σταδίων ἀρκτικώτερα κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον. ἐνταῦθα δὴ πρὸς τῷ τοῖς ἀνεσκευασμένοις λήμμασι προσχρῆσθαι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ὀρθογωνίου τριγώνου τάξιν καὶ τοῦτο λαμβάνει τὸ μὴ διδόμενον, τὸ τὴν ὑποτείνουσαν τῇ ὀρθῇ γωνίᾳ τὴν ἀπὸ Θαψάκου γραμμὴν εὐθεῖαν εἶναι μέχρι Βαβυλῶνος ἐν σταδίοις τετρακισχιλίοις ὀκτακοσίοις. παρά τε γὰρ τὸν Εὐφράτην φησὶν εἶναι τὴν ὁδὸν ταύτην ὁ Ἐρατοσθένης, καὶ τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν σὺν τῇ Βαβυλωνίᾳ μεγάλῳ κύκλῳ περιέχεσθαι λέγων ὑπό τε τοῦ Εὐφράτου καὶ τοῦ Τίγριδος, τὸ πλέον δὲ τῆς περιοχῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ Εὐφράτου συμβαίνειν φησίν· ὥσθʼ ἡ ἀπὸ Θαψάκου εἰς Βαβυλῶνα εὐθεῖα οὔτʼ ἂν παρὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην εἴη οὔτʼ ἂν τοσούτων σταδίων οὐδʼ ἐγγύς. ἀνατέτραπται οὖν ὁ συλλογισμός· καὶ μὴν εἴρηταί γε, ὅτι οὐχ οἷόν τε δυεῖν δεδομένων γραμμῶν ἀπὸ τῶν Κασπίων πυλῶν κατάγεσθαι τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ Θάψακον τὴν δʼ ἐπὶ τὰ τῶν Ἀρμενίων ὄρη τὰ κατάλληλα τῇ Θαψάκῳ, ἀπέχοντα τῆς Θαψάκου τοὐλάχιστον κατʼ αὐτὸν τὸν Ἵππαρχον δισχιλίους καὶ ἑκατὸν σταδίους, ἀμφοτέρας παραλλήλους εἶναι καὶ ἀλλήλαις καὶ τῇ διὰ Βαβυλῶνος, ἣν νότιον πλευρὰν Ἐρατοσθένης ἐκάλεσεν. ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἔχων καταμεμετρημένην εἰπεῖν τὴν παρὰ τὰ ὄρη ὁδόν, τὴν δʼ ἀπὸ Θαψάκου ἐπὶ Κασπίους πύλας, ταύτην εἶπε καὶ προσέθηκε τὸ ὡς τυπωδῶς εἰπεῖν· ἄλλως τε τῷ βουλομένῳ τὸ μῆκος εἰπεῖν τῆς μετὰ τὴν Ἀριανὴν μέχρι Εὐφράτου χώρας οὐ πολὺ διέφερε ταύτην ἢ ἐκείνην καταμετρεῖν. ὁ δʼ ὡς παραλλήλους ὑπακούων λέγεσθαι τελέως ἂν δόξειε καταγινώσκειν παιδικὴν ἀμαθίαν τἀνθρώπου. > But taking this for granted, and proving, as he imagines, that, according to Eratosthenes, Babylon is east of Thapsacus rather more than 1000 stadia, he draws from this false hypothesis a new argument, which he uses to the following purpose; and says, If we suppose a right line drawn from Thapsacus towards the south, and another from Babylon perpendicular thereto, a right-angled triangle would be the result; whose sides should be, 1. A line drawn from Thapsacus to Babylon; 2. A perpendicular drawn from Babylon to the meridian of Thapsacus; 3. The meridian line of Thapsacus. The hypotenuse of this triangle would be a right line drawn from Thapsacus to Babylon, which he estimates at 4800 stadia. The perpendicular drawn from Babylon to the meridian of Thapsacus is scarcely more than 1000 stadia; the same amount by which the line drawn \[from the Caspian Gates\] to Thapsacus exceeds that \[from the common frontier of Carmania and Persia\] to Babylon. The two sides \[of the triangle\] being given, Hipparchus proceeds to find the third, which is much greater than the perpendicular aforesaid. To this he adds the line drawn from Thapsacus northwards to the mountains of Armenia, one part of which, according to Eratosthenes, was measured, and found to be 1100 stadia; the other, or part unmeasured by Eratosthenes, Hipparchus estimates to be 1000 stadia at the least: so that the two together amount to 2100 stadia. Adding this to the \[length of the\] side upon which falls the perpendicular drawn from Babylon, Hipparchus estimated a distance of many thousand stadia from the mountains of Armenia and the parallel of Athens to this perpendicular, which falls on the parallel of Babylon. From the parallel of Athens to that of Babylon he shows that there cannot be a greater distance than 2400 stadia, even admitting the estimate supplied by Eratosthenes himself of the number of stadia which the entire meridian contains; and that if this be so, the mountains of Armenia and the Taurus cannot be under the same parallel of latitude as Athens, (which is the opinion of Eratosthenes,) but many thousand stadia to the north, as the data supplied by that writer himself prove. > But here, for the formation of his right-angled triangle, Hipparchus not only makes use of propositions already overturned, but assumes what was never granted, namely, that the hypotenuse subtending his right angle, which is the straight line from Thapsacus to Babylon, is 4800 stadia in length. What Eratosthenes says is, that this route follows the course of the Euphrates, and adds, that Mesopotamia and Babylon are encompassed as it were by a great circle formed by the Euphrates and Tigris, but principally by the former of these rivers. So that a straight line from Thapsacus to Babylon would neither follow the course of the Euphrates, nor yet be near so many stadia in length. Thus the argument \[of Hipparchus\] is overturned. We have stated before, that supposing two lines drawn from the Caspian Gates, one to Thapsacus, and the other to the mountains of Armenia opposite Thapsacus, and distant therefrom, according to Hipparchus’s own estimate, 2100 stadia at the very least, neither of them would be parallel to each other, nor yet to that line which, passing through Babylon, is styled by Eratosthenes the southern side \[of the third section\]. As he could not inform us of the exact length of the route by the mountains, Eratosthenes tells us the distance between Thapsacus and the Caspian Gates; in fact, to speak in a general way, he puts this distance in place of the other; besides, as he merely wanted to give the length of the territory between Ariana and the Euphrates, he was not particular to have the exact measure of either route. To pretend that he considered the lines to be parallel to each other, is evidently to accuse the man of more than childish ignorance, and we dismiss the insinuation as nonsense forthwith. > — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, The Geography of Strabo - [Previous: 2.1.28](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.2.1.28) - [Next: 2.1.30](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.2.1.30) - [Up: 2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.2.1) ## Translations (1) - [The Geography of Strabo](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo~en-hamilton-falconer.2.1.29) — Hans Claude Hamilton & William Falconer 1854, English --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.2.1.29](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.roman.strabo.2.1.29) · Pramāṇa