The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c9.78

c9.78

In the fourth century B.C. the West and East came into very close relations. As early as 330, Pytheas of Massilia (Marseilles) had explored as far north as the northern end of the British Isles and the coasts of the German Sea, while Macedon, in close touch with southern France, was also sending her armies under Alexander⁵ through Afghanistan as far east as the Punjab.⁶ Pliny tells us that Alexander the Great employed surveyors to measure the roads of India; and one of the great highways is described by Megasthenes, who in 295 b.c., as the ambassador of Seleucus, resided at Pātalīpuṭra, the present Patna.¹