The Caspian he
correctly
of the earth.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
It seems to us most
no doubt; but not the sort of difference which the likely that he knew his own deficiency, and that,
common notion supposes.
as has often happened in similar cases, there was
The fourth and fifth books are on the theory of on his mind a consciousness of the superiority of
the moon, and the sixth is on eclipses. As to the Hipparchus which biassed him to interpret all his
moon, Ptolemy explains the first inequality of the own results of observation into agreement with the
moon's motion, which answers to that of the sun, and predecessor from whom he feared, perhaps a great
by virtue of which (to use a mode of expression very deal more than he knew of, to differ. But nothing
common in astronomy, by which a word properly re- can prevent his being placed as a fourth geometer
presentative of a phenomenon is put for its cause) the with Euclid, Apollonius, and Archimedes. De-
motions of the sun and moon are below the average lambre has used him, perhaps, harshly ; being,
at their greatest distances from the earth, and certainly in one sense, perhaps in two, an indi:
above it at their least. This inequality was well ferent judge of the higher kinds of mathematical
known, and also the motion of the lunar apogee, as merit.
it is called ; that is, the gradual change of the As a literary work, the Almagest is entitled to
position of the point in the heavens at which the a praise which is rarely given ; and its author has
moon appears when her distance is greatest. Pto-shown abundant proofs of his conscientious fairness
lemy, probably more assisted by records of the ob- and nice sense of honour. It is pretty clear that
Bervations of Hipparchus than by his own, detected the writings of Hipparchus had never been public
that the single inequality above mentioned was not property: the astronomical works which intervene
bufficient, but that the lunar motions, as then known, between Hipparchus and Ptolemy are so poor as to
could not be explained without supposition of an make it evident that the spirit of the former had
other inequality, which has since been named the not infused itself into such a number of men as
evection. Its effect, at the new and full moon, is would justify us in saying astronomy had a scien-
to make the effect of the preceding inequality ap- tific school of followers. Under these circum-
pear different at different times; and it depends stances, it was open to Ptolemy, had it pleased
not only on the position of the sun and moon, but him, most materially to underrate, if not entirely to
on that of the moon's apogee. The disentangle- suppress, the labours of Hipparchus ; and without
ment of this inequality, the magnitude of which the fear of detection. Instead of this, it is from
depends upon three angles, and the adaptation of the former alone that we now chiefly know the
an epicyclic hypothesis to its explanation, is the latter, who is constantly cited as the authority,
greatest triumph of ancient astronomy.
and spoken of as the master. Such a spirit, shown
The seventh and eighth books are devoted to by Ptolemy, entitles us to infer that had he really
the stars. The celebrated catalogue (of which we used the catalogue of Hipparchus in the manner
have before spoken) gives the longitudes and lati- hinted at by Delambre, he would have avowed
tudes of 1022 stars, described by their positions what he had done ; still, under the circumstances
in the constellations. It seems not unlikely that of agreement noted above, we are not at liberty to
in the main this catalogue is really that of Hip- reject the suspicion. We imagine, then, that
parchus, altered to Ptolemy's own time by assum- Ptolemy was strongly biassed towards those me-
ing the value of the precession of the equinoxes (thods both of observation and interpretation, which
VANNI
ܪ
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access to
would place him in agreement, or what he took for where, would avail himself of the rich materials
agreement, with the authority whom in his own collected by Greek investigators, especially from
mind he could not disbelieve. (IIalma and De- the time of Alexander ; and this presumption is
lambre, opp. citt. ; Weidler, Hist. Astron. ; La converted into a certainty by the information which
lande, Bibliogr. Astron. ; Hoffman, Lexic. Bibliogr. ; Ptolemy gives us respecting the Greek itineraries
the editions named, except when otherwise stated ; and peripluscs which Marinus had used as autho-
Fabric. Bibh Gracc. , &c. )
[A. De M. ] rities. The whole question is thoronghly discussed
by Hecren, in his Commentatio de Fontibus Gco-
THE GEUGRAPHICAL SYSTEM OF PTOLEMY. graphicorum Ptolemaci, Tabularumque iis anncx-
arum, Gotting. 1827, which is appended to the
The rewypadıkti Torymous of Ptolemy, in cight English translation of his Ideen (Asiatic Nations,
books, may be regarded as an exhibition of the vol. iii. Append. C. ). He shows that Brehmer has
final state of geographical knowledge among the greatly overrated the geographical knowledge of
ancients, in so far as geography is the science of the Phoenicians, and that his hypothesis is alto-
determining the positions of places on the earth's gether groundless.
surface ; for of the other branch of the science, the In examining the geographical system of Pto-
description of the objects of interest connected with lemy, it is convenient to speak separately of its
different countries and places, in which the work mathematical and historical portions; that is, of his
of Strabo is so rich, that of Ptolemy contains com- notions respecting the figure of the earth, and the
paratively nothing. With the exception of the mode of determining positions on its surface, and
introductory matter in the first book, and the latter his knowledge, derived from positive information, of
part of the work, it is a mere catalogue of the the form and extent of the different countries, and
names of places, with their longitudes and lati- the actual positions and distances of the various
tudes, and with a few incidental references to ob- places in the then known world.
jects of interest. It is clear that Ptolemy made a 1. The Mathematical Geography of Plolemy.
diligent use of all the information that he had Firstly, as to the figure of the earth. Ptolemy
and the materials thus collected he assumes, what in his mathematical works he under-
arranged according to the principles of mathemati- takes to prove, that the earth is neither a plane
cal geography. His work was the last attempt surface, nor fan-shaped, nor quadrangular, nor
made by the ancients to form a complete geogra- pyramidal, but spherical. It does not belong to
phical system ; it was accepted as the text-book the present subject to follow him through the de-
of the science ; and it maintained that position tail of his proofs.
during the middle ages, and until the fifteenth The mode of laying down positions on the sur-
century, when the rapid progress of maritime dis- face of this sphere, by imagining great circles pass-
covery caused it to be superseded.
ing through the poles, and called meridians, because
The treatise of Ptolemy was based on an earlier it is mid-day at the same time to all places through
work by Marinus of Tyre, of which we derive which each of them passes ; and other circles, one
almost our whole knowledge from Ptolemy him- of which was the great circle equidistant from the
self (i. 6, &c. ). He tells us that Marinus was a poles (the equinoctial line or the equator), and
diligent inquirer, and well acquainted with all the the other small circles parallel to that one; and
facts of the science, which had been collected be the method of fixing the positions of these several
fore his time; but that his system required cor- circles, by dividing each great circle of the sphere
rection, both as to the method of delineating the into 360 equal parts (now called degrees, but by
sphere on a plane surface, and as to the compu- the Greeks “ parts of a great circle”), and imagining
tation of distances : he also informs us that the a meridian to be drawn through each division of
data followed by Marinus had been, in many cases, the equator, and a parallel through each division of
superseded by the more accurate accounts of recent any meridian ;- all this had been settled from the
travellers. It is, in fact, as the corrector of those time of Eratosthenes. What we owe to Ptolemy
points in the work of Marinus which were erro- or to Marinus (for it cannot be said with certainty
neous or defective, that Ptolemy introduces him to which) is the introduction of the terms longitude
self to his readers; and his discussion of the (uñkos) and latitude (TASTOS), the former to de-
necessary corrections occupies fifteen chapters of his scribe the position of any place with reference to
first book (cc. 6—-20). "The most important of the the length of the known world, that is, its distance,
errors which he ascribes to Marinus, is that he in degrees, from a fixed meridian, measured along
assigned to the known part of the world too small a its own parallel ; and the latter to describe the
length from east to west, and too small a breadth position of a place with reference to the breadth of
from north to south. He himself has fallen into the known world, that is, its distance, in degrees,
the opposite error.
from the equator, measured along its own meri-
Before giving an account of the system of Pto- dian. Having introduced these terms, Marinus
lemy, it is necessary to notice the theory of Breh- and Ptolemy designated the positions of the places
mer, in his Entdeckungen im Alterthum, that the they mentioned, by stating the numbers which
work of Marinus of Tyre was based upon ancient represent the longitudes and latitudes of each. The
charts and other records of the geographical re- subdivision of the degree adopted by Ptolemy is
searches of the Phoenicians. This theory finds into twelfths.
now but few defenders. It rests alınost entirely Connected with these fixed lines, is the subject
on the presumption that the widely extended com- of climates, by which the ancients understood belts
merce of the Phoenicians would give birth to of the earth's surface, divided by lines parallel to
various geographical documents, to which Marinus, the equator, those lines being determined according
living at Tyre, would have access. But against to the different lengths of the day (the longest day
this may be set the still stronger presumption, that was the standard) at different places, or, which is
a scientific Greek writer, whether at Tyre or else the same thing, by the different lengths, at different
VOL. III.
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578
PTOLEMAEUS.
PTOLEMAEUS.
ence.
places, of the shadow cast by a gnomon of the same meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude, on
altitude at noon of the same day. This system of a sphere, and on a plane surface. This subject is dis-
climates was,
in fact, an imperfect development of cussed by Ptolemy in the last seven chapters of his
the more complete system of parallels of latitude. first book (18—24), in which he points out the im-
It was, however, retained for convenience of refer- perfections of the system of delineation adopted by
For a further explanation of it, and for an Marinus, and expounds his own. Of the two kinds
account of the climates of Ptolemy, see the Dic- of delineation, he observes, that on a sphere is the
tionary of Antiquities, art. Clima, 2nd ed.
ensier to make, as it involves no method of projec-
Next, as to the size of the earth. Various at- tion, but is a direct representation ; but, on the
tempts had been made, long before the time of Pto other hand, it is inconvenient to use, as only a
lemy, to calculate the circumference of a great circle small portion of the surface can be seen at once :
of the earth by measuring the length of an arc of a while the converse is true of a map on a plane sur-
meridian, containing a known number of degrees. face. The earliest geographers had no guide for
Thus Eratosthenes, who was the first to attempt their maps but reported distances and general
any complete computation of this sort from his own notions of the figures of the masses of land and
observations, assuming Syene and Alexandria to water. Eratosthenes was the first who called in the
lie under the same meridian *, and to be 5000 aid of astronomy, but he did not attempt any com-
stadia apart, and the arc between them to be 1- plete projection of the sphere (see ERATOSTHENES,
50th of the circumference of a great circle, ob- and Ukert, vol. i. pt. 2, pp. 192, 193, and plate ii. ,
tained 250,000 stadia for the whole circumference, in which Ukert attempts a restoration of the map
and 6947 stadia for the length of a degree ; but, of Eratosthenes). Hipparchus, in his work against
in order to make this a convenient whole number, Eratosthenes, insisted much more fully on the ne
he called it 700 stadia, and so got 252,000 stadia cessary connection between geography and astro-
for the circumference of a great circle of the earth nomy, and was the first who attempted to lay
(Cleomed. Cyc. Theor. i. 8 ; Ukert, Geogr. d. Griech. down the exact positions of places according to
U. Römer, vol. i. pt. 2, pp. 42—45). The most their latitudes and longitudes. In the science of
important of the other computations of this sort projection, however, he went no further than the
were those of Poseidonius, (for he made two,) which method of representing the meridians and parallels
were founded on different estimates of the distance by parallel straight lines, the one set intersecting
between Rhodes and Alexandria : the one gave, the other at right angles. Other systems of pro-
like the computation of Eratosthenes, 252,000 jection were attempted, so that at the time of Ma-
stadia for the circumference of a great circle, and rinus there were several methods in use, all of
700 stadia for the length of a degree ; and the which he rejected, and devised a new system,
other gave 180,000 stadia for the circumference of which is described in the following manner by
a great circle, and 500 stadia for the length of a Ptolemy (i. 20, 24, 25). On account of the im-
degree (Cleomed. i. 10; Strab. ii. pp. 86,93,95, 125; portance of the countries round the Mediterranean,
Ukert, l. c. p. 48). The truth lies just between he kept as his datum line the old standard line of
the two; for, taking the Roman mile of 8 stadia as Eratosthenes and his successors, namely the pa-
1-75th of a degree, we have (75 x 8=) 600 stadia rallel through Rhodes, or the 36th degree of lati-
for the length of a degree. +
tude. He then calculated, from the length of a
Ptolemy followed the second computation of Po- degree on the equator, the length of a degree on this
seidonius, namely, that which made the earth parallel ; taking the former at 500 stadia, he reckoned
180,000 stadia in circumference, and the degree the latter at 400. Having divided this parallel into
500 stadia in length ; but it should be observed degrees, he drew perpendiculars through the points
that he, as well as all the ancient geographers, of division for the meridians ; and his parallels of
speaks of his computation as confessedly only an latitude were straight lines parallel to that through
approximation to the truth. He describes, in bk. Rhodes. The result, of course, was, as Ptolemy
i. c. 3, the method of finding, from the direct dis- observes, that the parts of the earth north of the
tance in stadia of two places, even though they be parallel of Rhodes were represented much too long,
not under the same meridian, the circumference of and those south of that line much too short ; and
the whole earth, and conversely. There having further that, when Marinus came to lay down the
been found, by means of an astronomical instrument, positions of places according to their reported dis-
two fixed stars distant one degree from each other, tances, those north of the line were too near, and
the places on the earth were sought to which those those south of it too far apart, as compared with
stars were in the zenith, and the distance between the surface of his map. Moreover, Ptolemy ob-
those places being ascertained, this distance was, of serves, the projection is an incorrect representation,
course (excluding errors), the length of a degree inasmuch as the parallels of latitude ought to be
of the great circle passing through those places, circular arcs, and not straight lines.
whether that circle were a meridian or not.
Ptolemy then proceeds to describe his own me-
The next point to be determined was the mode thod, which does not admit of an abridged state
of representing the surface of the earth with its ment, and cannot be understood without a figure.
The reader is therefore referred for it to Ptolemy's
* As we are not dealing here with the fucts of own work (i. 24), and to the accounts given by
geography, but only with the opinions of the ancient Ukert (I. c. pp. 195, &c. ), Mannert (vol. i. pp. 127,
geographers, we do not stay tu correct the errors &c. ), and other geographers. All that can be said
in the data of these computations.
of it here is that Ptolemy represents the parallele
+ It will be observed that we recognise no other of latitude as arcs of concentric circles (their centre
stadium than the Olympic, of 600 Greek feet, or representing the North Pole), the chief of which
1-8th of a Roman mile. The reasons for this are are those passing through Thule, Rhodes, and
stated in the Dictionary of Antiquities, art. Sta- Meroë, the Equator, and the one through Prasum.
diuin.
The meridians of longitude are represented by
## p. 579 (#595) ############################################
PTOLEMAEUS.
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PTOLEMAEUS.
straight lines which converge, north of the equator, | south ; a circumstance natural enough, since the
towards the common centre of the arcs which repre- methods of taking latitudes with tolerable precision
sents the parallele of latitude ; and, south of it, to- had long been known, and he was very careful to
wards a corresponding point, representing the South avail himself of every recorded observation which
Pole. Having laid down these lines, he proceeds he could discover. But his longitudes are very
to show how to give to them a curved form, so as wide of the truth, his length of the known world,
to make them a truer representation of the meri- from cast to west, being much too great. The
dians on the globe itself. The portion of the sur-westernmost of the Canaries is in a little more than
face of the earth thus delineated is, in length, a whole 18° W. long. , so that Ptolemy's easternmost meri-
hemisphere, and, in breadth, the part which lies dian (which, as just stated, is in 110° or 120° E.
between 630 of north latitude and 167° of south long. ) ought to have been that of 128 or 138°,
latitude.
or in round numbers 130° or 140°, instead of 180º;
2. The IIistoricul or Positive Geography of Pto a difference of 50° or 40°, that is, from l-7th to
lemy. —The limits just mentioned, as thoso within 1-9th of the earth's circumference.
which Ptolemy's projection of the sphere was con- It is well worthy, however, of remark in passing,
tained, were also those which he assigned to the that the modern world owes much to this error;
known world. His own account of its extent and for it tended to encourage that belief in the prac-
divisions is given in the fifth chapter of his seventh ticability of a western passage to the Indics, which
book. The boundaries which he there mentions occasioned the discovery of America by Columbus.
are, on the east, the unknown land adjacent to There has been much speculation and discussion
the eastern nations of Asia, namely, the Sinae and as to the cause of Ptoleiny's great error in this
the people of Serica ; on the south, the unknown matter ; but, after making due allowance for the
land which encloses the Indian Sea, and that adja- uncertainties attending the computations of dis-
cent to the district of Aethiopia called Agisymba, tance on which he proceeded, it seems to us that
on the south of Libya ; on the west, the unknown the chief cause of the error is to be found in the
land which surrounds the Aethiopic gulf of Libya, fact already stated, that he took the length of a
and the Western Ocean ; and on the north, the degree exactly one sixth too small, namely, 500
continuation of the ocean, which surrounds the stadia instead of 600. As we have already stated,
British islands and the norther parts of Europe, on his own authority, he was extremely careful to
and the unknown land adjacent to the northern make use of every trustworthy observation of lati-
regions of Asia, namely Sarmatia, Scythia, and tude and longitude which he could find ; but he him-
Serica.
self complains of the pancity of such observations ;
He also defines the boundaries by meridians and and it is manifest that those of longitude must havo
parallels, as follows. The southern limit is the pa- been fewer and less accurate than those of latitude,
rallel of 167° S. lat. , which passes through a point both for other reasons, and chiefly on account of
as far south of the equator, as Meroë is north of it, the greater difficulty of taking them. He had,
and which he elsewhere describes as the parallel therefore, to depend for his longitudes chiefly on
through Prasum, a promontory of Aethiopia : and the process of turning into degrees the distances
the northern limit is the parallel of 630 N. lat. , computed in stadia ; and hence, supposing the dis-
which passes through the island of Thule : so that tances to be tolerably correct, his error as to the
the whole extent from north to south is 791°, or longitudes followed inevitably from the error in
in round numbers, 80°; that is, as nearly as pos- his scale. Taking Ptolemy's own computation in
sible, 40,000 stadia. The eastern limit is the meridian stadia, and turning it into degrees of 600 stadia
which passes through the metropolis of the Sinae, each, we get the following results. The length of
which is 119° east of Alexandria, or just about the known world, measured along the equator, is
eight hours : and the western limit is the meridian 90,000 stadia ; and hence its length in degrees is
drawn through the Insulae Fortunatae (the Canaries) 28. 000 - 150° ; the error being thus reduced from
which is 60°, or four hours, west of Alexandria, 50° or 40° to 20° or 10°. But a still fairer me-
and therefore 180°, or twelve hours, west of the thod is to take the measurement along the parallel
easternmost meridian. The various lengths of the of Rhodes, namely 72,000 stadia. Now the true
earth, in itinerary measure, he reckons at 90,000 length of a degree of latitude in that parallel is
stadia along the equator (500 stadia to a degree), about 47' = of a degree of a great circle = 13
40,000 stadia along the northernmost parallel | 600 stadia = 470 stadia, instead of 400 ; and the
(2223 stadia to a degree), and 72,000 stadia along 72,000 stadia give a little over 153 degrees, a
the parallel through Rhodes (400 stadia to a de result lanjost identical with the former. The
gree), along which parallel most of the measure- remaining error of 20° at the most, or 10° at the
ments had been reckoned.
least, we think, sufficiently accounted for by
In comparing these computations with the actual the errors in the itinerary measures, which ex-
distances, it is not necessary to determine the true perience shows to be almost always on the side of
position of such doubtful localities as Thule and the making distances too great, and which, in this
metropolis of the Sinae ; for there are many other case, would of course go on increasing, the further
indications in Ptolemy's work, from which we can the process was continued eastward. Of this
ascertain nearly enough what limits he intends. We source of error Ptolemy was himself aware ; and
cannot be far wrong in placing his northern bound- accordingly he tells us that, among the various
ary at about the parallel of the Zetland Isles, and his computations of a distance, he always chose tho
eastern boundary at about the eastern coast of Co least ; but, for the reason just stated, that least
chin China, in fact just at the meridian of 110° E. one was probably still too great.
long. (from Greenwich), or perhaps at the opposite side The method pursued by Ptolemy in laying down
of the Chinese Sea, namely, at the Philippine Islands the actual positions of places has already been in-
at the meridian of 1200. It will then be seen that cidentally mentioned in the foregoing discussion.
he is not far wrong in his dimensions from north to . He fixed as many positions as possible by thoir
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PTOLEMAEUS.
PTOLEMAEUS.
1
longitudes and latitudes, and from these positions are interspersed among the lists, to which, how-
he determined the others by converting their dis- ever, they bear but a small proportion.
tances in stadia into degrees. For further details The remaining part of the seventh, and the
the reader is referred to his own work.
whole of the eighth book, are occupied with a
His general ideas of the form of the known description of a set of maps of the known world,
world were in some points more correct, in others which is introduced by a remark at the end of the
less 60, than those of Strabo. The elongation of 4th chapter of the 7th book, which clearly proves
the whole of course led to a corresponding dis- that Ptolemy's work had originally a set of maps
tortion of the shapes of the several countries. He appended to it. In c. 5 he describes the general
knew the southern part of the Baltic, but was map of the world. In ca 6, 7, he takes up the
not aware of its being an inland sea. He makes subject of spherical delineation, and describes the
the Palus Maeotis far too large and extends it far armillary sphere, and its connection with the sphere
too much to the north.
The Caspian he correctly of the earth. In the first two chapters of book
makes an inland cea (instead of a gulf of the viii. , ho explains the method of dividing the world
Northern Ocean), but he errs greatly as to its size into maps, and the mode of constructing each map ;
and form, making its length from E. to W. more and he then proceeds (cc. 3—28) to the description
than twice that from N. to S. In the southern of the maps themselves, in number twenty-six,
and south-eastern parts of Asia, he altogether fails namely, ten of Europe, four of Libya, and twelve
to represent the projection of Hindostan, while, of Asia. The 29th chapter contains a list of the
on the other hand, he gives to Ceylon (Tapro. maps, and the countries represented in each ; and
bane) more than four times its proper dimensions, the 30th an account of the lengths and breadths of
probably through confounding it with the mainland the portions of the earth contained in the respec-
of India itself, and brings down the southern tive maps. These maps are still extant, and an
part of it below the equator. He shows an ac- account of them is given under AGATHODAEMOX,
quaintance with the Malay peninsula (his Aurea who was either the original designer of them,
Chersonesus) and the coast of Cochin China ; but, under Ptolemy's direction, or the constructor of a
probably through mistaking the eastern Archi- new edition of them.
pelago for continuous land, he brings round the Enough has been already said to show the great
land which encloses his Sinus Magnus and the value of Ptolemy's work, but its perfect integrity is
gulf of the Sinae (probably either the gulf of Siam another question. It is impossible but that a
and the Chinese Sea, or both confounded together) work, which was for twelve or thirteen centuries
80 as to make it enclose the whole of the Indian the text-book in geography, should have suffered
Ocean on the south. At the opposite extremity of corruptions and interpolations; and one writer has
the known world, his idea of the western coast of contended that the changes made in it during the
Africa is very erroneous. He makes it trend almost middle ages were so great, that we can no longer
due south from the pillars of Hercules to the Hespera recognise in it the work of Ptolemy (Schlözer,
Keras in 8) N. lat. , where a slight bend to the Nord. Gesch, in the Allgem. Welthistorie, vol. xxxi.
east ward indicates the Gulf of Guinea ; but almost pp. 148, 176). Mannert has successfully defended
immediately afterwards the coast turns again to the genuineness of the work, and has shown to
the S. S. W. ; and from the expression already what an extent the eighth book may be made the
quoted, which Ptolemy uses to describe the bound- means of detecting the corruptions in the body of
ary of the known world on this side, it would the work. (vol. i. p. 174. )
seem as if he believed that the land of Africa ex- The Geograplia of Ptolemy was printed in
tended here considerably to the west. Concerning Latin, with the Maps, at Rome, 1462, 1475, 1478,
the interior of Africa he knew considerably more 1482, 1486, 1490, all in folio: of these editions,
than his predecessors. Several modern geogra- those of 1482 and 1490 are the best: numerous
phers have drawn maps to represent the views of other Latin editions appeared during the sixteenth
Ptolemy; one of the latest and best of which is that century, the most important of which is that hy
of Ukert (Geogr. d. Griech. u. Römer, vol. i. pl. 3). Michael Servetus, Lugd. 1511, folio. The Editio
Such are the principal features of Ptolemy's Princeps of the Greek text is that edited by Eras-
geographical system. It only remains to give a mus, Basil. 1533, 4to. ; reprinted at Paris, 1546,
brief outline of the contents of his work, and to 4to. The text of Erasmus was reprinted, but with
mention the principal editions of it. Enough has a new Latin Version, Notes, and Indices, edited by
already been said respecting the first, or intro- Petrus Montanus, and with the Maps restored by
ductory book. The next six books and a half | Mercator, Amst. 1605, folio ; and a still more
(ii. -vii. 4) are occupied with the description valuable edition was brought out by Petrus Ber-
of the known world, beginning with the West of tius, printed by Elzevir, with the maps coloured,
Europe, the description of which is contained in and with the addition of the Peutingerian Tables,
book'ii
. ; next comes the East of Europe, in and other important illustrative matter, Lugd. Bat.
book iii. ; then Africa, in book iv. ; then Western 1619, folio ; reprinted Antiverp, 1624, folio. The
or Lesser Asia, in book v. ; then the Greater work also forms a part of the edition of Ptolemy's
Asia, in book vi. ; then India, the Chersonesus works, undertaken by the Abbé Halmer, but left
Aurea, Serica, the Sinae, and Taprobane, in unfinished at his death, Paris, 1813–1828, 4to. ;
book vii. cc. 1–4. The form in which the de- this edition contains a French translation of the
scription is given is that of lists of places with work. For an account of the less important edi-
their longitudes and latitudes, arranged under the tions, the editions of separate parts, the versions,
heads, first, of the three continents, and then of the and the works illustrating Ptolemy's Geography,
several countries and tribes. Prefixed to each see Hoffmann, Lex. Bibliog. Script. Graec. A use-
section is a brief general description of the bound- ful little edition of the Greek text is contained in
aries and divisions of the part about to be de. three volumes of the Tauchnitz classics, Lips. 1813,
scribed ; and remarks of a miscellaneous character | 32mo.
[PS]
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PTOLEMAEUS.
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PTOLEMAEUS.
PTOLEMAEUS (IItoneuaios), king of CYPRUS, recalled from exile, and treated with the utmost
was the younger brother of Ptolemy Auletes, king distinction. It is remarkable that we do not find
of Egypt, being like him an illegitimate son of him holding any special command, or acting any
Ptolensy Lathyrus. Notwithstanding this defect important part during the first few years of the
of birth he appears to have been acknowledged as expedition to Asia, though it is clear that he ac-
king of Cyprus at the same time that his brother companied the king throughout this period. In-
Auletes obtained possession of the throne of Egypt, deed, his name is only twice mentioned previous
B. C. 80. But he unfortunately neglected the pre- to the year B. C. 330, when he obtained the ho-
caution of making interest at Rome to obtain the nourable post of Somatophylax in the place of De-
confirmation his sovereignty, and had the farther metrius, who had been implicated in the conspiracy
imprudence to give personal offence to P. Clodius, of Philotas. (Arr. ib. ii. 11, ii. 18, 27. ) But from
by neglecting to ransom him when he had fallen this period we find him continually employed on
into the hands of the Cilician pirates (Strab. xiv. the most inportant occasions, and rendering the
p. 68+; Appian, B. C. ii. 23). lle paid dearly for most valuable scrvices.
his niggardliness on this occasion, for when Clodius In the following canipaign (329), after the army
became tribune (13. c. 58), he brought forward a had crossed the Oxus, Ptoleniy was sent forward
law to deprive Ptolemy of his kingdom, and reduce with a strong detachment, to apprehend the traitor
Cyprus to a Roman province. Cato, who was en Bessus, whom he seized and brought before Alex-
trusted with the charge of carrying into execution ander. Again, in the reduction of the revolted
this nefarious decree, sent to Ptolemy, advising province of Sogdiana, and in the attack on the
him to submit, and offering him his personal safety, rock-fortress of Chorienes, he is mentioned as
with the office of high-priest at Paphos, and a taking a conspicuous part, and commanding one of
liberal maintenance. But the unhappy king, though the chief divisions of the army. (Arr. Anab. ii.
he was wholly unprepared for resistance to the 29, 30, iv. 16, 21. ). But it was especially during
Roman power, had the spirit to refuse these offers, the campaigns in India that the services of Ptolemy
and put an end to his own life, B. C. 57. (Strab. shone the most conspicuous; and we find him dis-
1. c. ; Dion Cass. xxxviii. 30, xxxix. 22; Lir. Epit
. playing on numerous occasions all the qualities of
civ. ; Plut. Cat. Min. 34-36 ; Appian, B. C. ii. an able and judicious general, in command of
23 ; Vell. Pat. ii. 45 ; Cic. pro Sext. 26–28 ; separate detachments, or of one of the divisions of
Val. Max ix. 4, ext. 1. )
the main army. In the conquest of the Aspasians
We are told that Ptolemy had disgraced himself and Assacenians, in the reduction of the fortress
by every species of vice (Vell. Pat. l. c. ), but it ap- of Aornos, at the passage of the Hydaspes and the
pears certain that it was the vast treasures that he siege of Sangala, as well as in many minor opera-
possessed, which, by attracting the cupidity of the tions, the name of Ptolemy is still among the most
Romans, became the cause of his destruction, of prominent. Nor was his personal valour less
which his vices were afterwards made the pre- remarkable than his abilities as a general ; and we
(E. H. B. ] find him on one occasion slaying with his own
PTOLEMAEUS, king of CYRENE. [PTOLE- hand the chief of one of the Indian tribes in single
WAEUS APION. )
combat. Some writers also ascribed to him a sbare
PTOLEMAEUS I. (IIroleualos), king of in the glory of saving the life of Alexander among
EGYPT, surnamed SOTER (the Preserver), but the Malli (LEONNATUS], but it appears from his
perhaps more commonly known as the son of own testimony, as reported by Arrian and Curtius,
Lagus. His father was a Macedonian of ignoble that he was absent at the time on a separate com-
birth (Lagus], but his mother Arsinoë had been mand. (Arr. Anab. iv. 24, 25, 29, v. 13, 23, 24,
a concubine of Philip of Macedon, on which ac- vi. 5, 11; Curt. viii. 10. § 2), 13. $ 18–27,
count it seems to have been generally believed that 14. § 15, ix. 5. 21. )
Ptolemy was in reality the offspring of that mo- Numerous evidences occur during the same pe-
narch (Curt. ix. 8. § 22 ; Paus. i. 6. § 2. ) This riod of the high favour and personal consideration
could, indeed, hardly have been the case if Lu- with which he was regarded by Alexander: we
cian's statement be correct (Macrob. 12), that find him constantly in close attendance upon the
Ptolemy was eighty-four years of age at the time king's person ; and on occasion of the conspiracy
of his death, as in that case he must have been of the pages it was he who, by discovering and re-
born in B. C. 367, when Philip was not sixteen vealing their treasonable designs, probably became
years old. But the authority of Lucian on this the means of saving the life of his sovereign (Arr.
point can hardly outweigh the distinct assertions iv. 8, 13; Curt. viii. 1. SS 45, 48, 6. § 22, ix. 6.
of other authors as to the existence of such a belief, $ 15; Chares ap. Athen. iv. p. 171, c. ). According
and we must therefore probably assign his birth to to a marvellous tale related by several writers
a later period. Whatever truth there may have Alexander was soon after able to return the obli-
been in this report, it is certain that Ptolemy gation and save the life of his friend and follower
early enjoyed a distinction at the Macedonian when wounded by a poisoned arrow, by applying a
court to which his father's obscurity would scarcely remedy suggested to him in a dream. (Curt. ix. 8.
have entitled him, and we find him mentioned be $ 22—27; Diod. xvii. 103; Strab. xv. p.
no doubt; but not the sort of difference which the likely that he knew his own deficiency, and that,
common notion supposes.
as has often happened in similar cases, there was
The fourth and fifth books are on the theory of on his mind a consciousness of the superiority of
the moon, and the sixth is on eclipses. As to the Hipparchus which biassed him to interpret all his
moon, Ptolemy explains the first inequality of the own results of observation into agreement with the
moon's motion, which answers to that of the sun, and predecessor from whom he feared, perhaps a great
by virtue of which (to use a mode of expression very deal more than he knew of, to differ. But nothing
common in astronomy, by which a word properly re- can prevent his being placed as a fourth geometer
presentative of a phenomenon is put for its cause) the with Euclid, Apollonius, and Archimedes. De-
motions of the sun and moon are below the average lambre has used him, perhaps, harshly ; being,
at their greatest distances from the earth, and certainly in one sense, perhaps in two, an indi:
above it at their least. This inequality was well ferent judge of the higher kinds of mathematical
known, and also the motion of the lunar apogee, as merit.
it is called ; that is, the gradual change of the As a literary work, the Almagest is entitled to
position of the point in the heavens at which the a praise which is rarely given ; and its author has
moon appears when her distance is greatest. Pto-shown abundant proofs of his conscientious fairness
lemy, probably more assisted by records of the ob- and nice sense of honour. It is pretty clear that
Bervations of Hipparchus than by his own, detected the writings of Hipparchus had never been public
that the single inequality above mentioned was not property: the astronomical works which intervene
bufficient, but that the lunar motions, as then known, between Hipparchus and Ptolemy are so poor as to
could not be explained without supposition of an make it evident that the spirit of the former had
other inequality, which has since been named the not infused itself into such a number of men as
evection. Its effect, at the new and full moon, is would justify us in saying astronomy had a scien-
to make the effect of the preceding inequality ap- tific school of followers. Under these circum-
pear different at different times; and it depends stances, it was open to Ptolemy, had it pleased
not only on the position of the sun and moon, but him, most materially to underrate, if not entirely to
on that of the moon's apogee. The disentangle- suppress, the labours of Hipparchus ; and without
ment of this inequality, the magnitude of which the fear of detection. Instead of this, it is from
depends upon three angles, and the adaptation of the former alone that we now chiefly know the
an epicyclic hypothesis to its explanation, is the latter, who is constantly cited as the authority,
greatest triumph of ancient astronomy.
and spoken of as the master. Such a spirit, shown
The seventh and eighth books are devoted to by Ptolemy, entitles us to infer that had he really
the stars. The celebrated catalogue (of which we used the catalogue of Hipparchus in the manner
have before spoken) gives the longitudes and lati- hinted at by Delambre, he would have avowed
tudes of 1022 stars, described by their positions what he had done ; still, under the circumstances
in the constellations. It seems not unlikely that of agreement noted above, we are not at liberty to
in the main this catalogue is really that of Hip- reject the suspicion. We imagine, then, that
parchus, altered to Ptolemy's own time by assum- Ptolemy was strongly biassed towards those me-
ing the value of the precession of the equinoxes (thods both of observation and interpretation, which
VANNI
ܪ
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PTOLEMAEUS.
577
PTOLEMAEUS.
access to
would place him in agreement, or what he took for where, would avail himself of the rich materials
agreement, with the authority whom in his own collected by Greek investigators, especially from
mind he could not disbelieve. (IIalma and De- the time of Alexander ; and this presumption is
lambre, opp. citt. ; Weidler, Hist. Astron. ; La converted into a certainty by the information which
lande, Bibliogr. Astron. ; Hoffman, Lexic. Bibliogr. ; Ptolemy gives us respecting the Greek itineraries
the editions named, except when otherwise stated ; and peripluscs which Marinus had used as autho-
Fabric. Bibh Gracc. , &c. )
[A. De M. ] rities. The whole question is thoronghly discussed
by Hecren, in his Commentatio de Fontibus Gco-
THE GEUGRAPHICAL SYSTEM OF PTOLEMY. graphicorum Ptolemaci, Tabularumque iis anncx-
arum, Gotting. 1827, which is appended to the
The rewypadıkti Torymous of Ptolemy, in cight English translation of his Ideen (Asiatic Nations,
books, may be regarded as an exhibition of the vol. iii. Append. C. ). He shows that Brehmer has
final state of geographical knowledge among the greatly overrated the geographical knowledge of
ancients, in so far as geography is the science of the Phoenicians, and that his hypothesis is alto-
determining the positions of places on the earth's gether groundless.
surface ; for of the other branch of the science, the In examining the geographical system of Pto-
description of the objects of interest connected with lemy, it is convenient to speak separately of its
different countries and places, in which the work mathematical and historical portions; that is, of his
of Strabo is so rich, that of Ptolemy contains com- notions respecting the figure of the earth, and the
paratively nothing. With the exception of the mode of determining positions on its surface, and
introductory matter in the first book, and the latter his knowledge, derived from positive information, of
part of the work, it is a mere catalogue of the the form and extent of the different countries, and
names of places, with their longitudes and lati- the actual positions and distances of the various
tudes, and with a few incidental references to ob- places in the then known world.
jects of interest. It is clear that Ptolemy made a 1. The Mathematical Geography of Plolemy.
diligent use of all the information that he had Firstly, as to the figure of the earth. Ptolemy
and the materials thus collected he assumes, what in his mathematical works he under-
arranged according to the principles of mathemati- takes to prove, that the earth is neither a plane
cal geography. His work was the last attempt surface, nor fan-shaped, nor quadrangular, nor
made by the ancients to form a complete geogra- pyramidal, but spherical. It does not belong to
phical system ; it was accepted as the text-book the present subject to follow him through the de-
of the science ; and it maintained that position tail of his proofs.
during the middle ages, and until the fifteenth The mode of laying down positions on the sur-
century, when the rapid progress of maritime dis- face of this sphere, by imagining great circles pass-
covery caused it to be superseded.
ing through the poles, and called meridians, because
The treatise of Ptolemy was based on an earlier it is mid-day at the same time to all places through
work by Marinus of Tyre, of which we derive which each of them passes ; and other circles, one
almost our whole knowledge from Ptolemy him- of which was the great circle equidistant from the
self (i. 6, &c. ). He tells us that Marinus was a poles (the equinoctial line or the equator), and
diligent inquirer, and well acquainted with all the the other small circles parallel to that one; and
facts of the science, which had been collected be the method of fixing the positions of these several
fore his time; but that his system required cor- circles, by dividing each great circle of the sphere
rection, both as to the method of delineating the into 360 equal parts (now called degrees, but by
sphere on a plane surface, and as to the compu- the Greeks “ parts of a great circle”), and imagining
tation of distances : he also informs us that the a meridian to be drawn through each division of
data followed by Marinus had been, in many cases, the equator, and a parallel through each division of
superseded by the more accurate accounts of recent any meridian ;- all this had been settled from the
travellers. It is, in fact, as the corrector of those time of Eratosthenes. What we owe to Ptolemy
points in the work of Marinus which were erro- or to Marinus (for it cannot be said with certainty
neous or defective, that Ptolemy introduces him to which) is the introduction of the terms longitude
self to his readers; and his discussion of the (uñkos) and latitude (TASTOS), the former to de-
necessary corrections occupies fifteen chapters of his scribe the position of any place with reference to
first book (cc. 6—-20). "The most important of the the length of the known world, that is, its distance,
errors which he ascribes to Marinus, is that he in degrees, from a fixed meridian, measured along
assigned to the known part of the world too small a its own parallel ; and the latter to describe the
length from east to west, and too small a breadth position of a place with reference to the breadth of
from north to south. He himself has fallen into the known world, that is, its distance, in degrees,
the opposite error.
from the equator, measured along its own meri-
Before giving an account of the system of Pto- dian. Having introduced these terms, Marinus
lemy, it is necessary to notice the theory of Breh- and Ptolemy designated the positions of the places
mer, in his Entdeckungen im Alterthum, that the they mentioned, by stating the numbers which
work of Marinus of Tyre was based upon ancient represent the longitudes and latitudes of each. The
charts and other records of the geographical re- subdivision of the degree adopted by Ptolemy is
searches of the Phoenicians. This theory finds into twelfths.
now but few defenders. It rests alınost entirely Connected with these fixed lines, is the subject
on the presumption that the widely extended com- of climates, by which the ancients understood belts
merce of the Phoenicians would give birth to of the earth's surface, divided by lines parallel to
various geographical documents, to which Marinus, the equator, those lines being determined according
living at Tyre, would have access. But against to the different lengths of the day (the longest day
this may be set the still stronger presumption, that was the standard) at different places, or, which is
a scientific Greek writer, whether at Tyre or else the same thing, by the different lengths, at different
VOL. III.
PP
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578
PTOLEMAEUS.
PTOLEMAEUS.
ence.
places, of the shadow cast by a gnomon of the same meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude, on
altitude at noon of the same day. This system of a sphere, and on a plane surface. This subject is dis-
climates was,
in fact, an imperfect development of cussed by Ptolemy in the last seven chapters of his
the more complete system of parallels of latitude. first book (18—24), in which he points out the im-
It was, however, retained for convenience of refer- perfections of the system of delineation adopted by
For a further explanation of it, and for an Marinus, and expounds his own. Of the two kinds
account of the climates of Ptolemy, see the Dic- of delineation, he observes, that on a sphere is the
tionary of Antiquities, art. Clima, 2nd ed.
ensier to make, as it involves no method of projec-
Next, as to the size of the earth. Various at- tion, but is a direct representation ; but, on the
tempts had been made, long before the time of Pto other hand, it is inconvenient to use, as only a
lemy, to calculate the circumference of a great circle small portion of the surface can be seen at once :
of the earth by measuring the length of an arc of a while the converse is true of a map on a plane sur-
meridian, containing a known number of degrees. face. The earliest geographers had no guide for
Thus Eratosthenes, who was the first to attempt their maps but reported distances and general
any complete computation of this sort from his own notions of the figures of the masses of land and
observations, assuming Syene and Alexandria to water. Eratosthenes was the first who called in the
lie under the same meridian *, and to be 5000 aid of astronomy, but he did not attempt any com-
stadia apart, and the arc between them to be 1- plete projection of the sphere (see ERATOSTHENES,
50th of the circumference of a great circle, ob- and Ukert, vol. i. pt. 2, pp. 192, 193, and plate ii. ,
tained 250,000 stadia for the whole circumference, in which Ukert attempts a restoration of the map
and 6947 stadia for the length of a degree ; but, of Eratosthenes). Hipparchus, in his work against
in order to make this a convenient whole number, Eratosthenes, insisted much more fully on the ne
he called it 700 stadia, and so got 252,000 stadia cessary connection between geography and astro-
for the circumference of a great circle of the earth nomy, and was the first who attempted to lay
(Cleomed. Cyc. Theor. i. 8 ; Ukert, Geogr. d. Griech. down the exact positions of places according to
U. Römer, vol. i. pt. 2, pp. 42—45). The most their latitudes and longitudes. In the science of
important of the other computations of this sort projection, however, he went no further than the
were those of Poseidonius, (for he made two,) which method of representing the meridians and parallels
were founded on different estimates of the distance by parallel straight lines, the one set intersecting
between Rhodes and Alexandria : the one gave, the other at right angles. Other systems of pro-
like the computation of Eratosthenes, 252,000 jection were attempted, so that at the time of Ma-
stadia for the circumference of a great circle, and rinus there were several methods in use, all of
700 stadia for the length of a degree ; and the which he rejected, and devised a new system,
other gave 180,000 stadia for the circumference of which is described in the following manner by
a great circle, and 500 stadia for the length of a Ptolemy (i. 20, 24, 25). On account of the im-
degree (Cleomed. i. 10; Strab. ii. pp. 86,93,95, 125; portance of the countries round the Mediterranean,
Ukert, l. c. p. 48). The truth lies just between he kept as his datum line the old standard line of
the two; for, taking the Roman mile of 8 stadia as Eratosthenes and his successors, namely the pa-
1-75th of a degree, we have (75 x 8=) 600 stadia rallel through Rhodes, or the 36th degree of lati-
for the length of a degree. +
tude. He then calculated, from the length of a
Ptolemy followed the second computation of Po- degree on the equator, the length of a degree on this
seidonius, namely, that which made the earth parallel ; taking the former at 500 stadia, he reckoned
180,000 stadia in circumference, and the degree the latter at 400. Having divided this parallel into
500 stadia in length ; but it should be observed degrees, he drew perpendiculars through the points
that he, as well as all the ancient geographers, of division for the meridians ; and his parallels of
speaks of his computation as confessedly only an latitude were straight lines parallel to that through
approximation to the truth. He describes, in bk. Rhodes. The result, of course, was, as Ptolemy
i. c. 3, the method of finding, from the direct dis- observes, that the parts of the earth north of the
tance in stadia of two places, even though they be parallel of Rhodes were represented much too long,
not under the same meridian, the circumference of and those south of that line much too short ; and
the whole earth, and conversely. There having further that, when Marinus came to lay down the
been found, by means of an astronomical instrument, positions of places according to their reported dis-
two fixed stars distant one degree from each other, tances, those north of the line were too near, and
the places on the earth were sought to which those those south of it too far apart, as compared with
stars were in the zenith, and the distance between the surface of his map. Moreover, Ptolemy ob-
those places being ascertained, this distance was, of serves, the projection is an incorrect representation,
course (excluding errors), the length of a degree inasmuch as the parallels of latitude ought to be
of the great circle passing through those places, circular arcs, and not straight lines.
whether that circle were a meridian or not.
Ptolemy then proceeds to describe his own me-
The next point to be determined was the mode thod, which does not admit of an abridged state
of representing the surface of the earth with its ment, and cannot be understood without a figure.
The reader is therefore referred for it to Ptolemy's
* As we are not dealing here with the fucts of own work (i. 24), and to the accounts given by
geography, but only with the opinions of the ancient Ukert (I. c. pp. 195, &c. ), Mannert (vol. i. pp. 127,
geographers, we do not stay tu correct the errors &c. ), and other geographers. All that can be said
in the data of these computations.
of it here is that Ptolemy represents the parallele
+ It will be observed that we recognise no other of latitude as arcs of concentric circles (their centre
stadium than the Olympic, of 600 Greek feet, or representing the North Pole), the chief of which
1-8th of a Roman mile. The reasons for this are are those passing through Thule, Rhodes, and
stated in the Dictionary of Antiquities, art. Sta- Meroë, the Equator, and the one through Prasum.
diuin.
The meridians of longitude are represented by
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PTOLEMAEUS.
579
PTOLEMAEUS.
straight lines which converge, north of the equator, | south ; a circumstance natural enough, since the
towards the common centre of the arcs which repre- methods of taking latitudes with tolerable precision
sents the parallele of latitude ; and, south of it, to- had long been known, and he was very careful to
wards a corresponding point, representing the South avail himself of every recorded observation which
Pole. Having laid down these lines, he proceeds he could discover. But his longitudes are very
to show how to give to them a curved form, so as wide of the truth, his length of the known world,
to make them a truer representation of the meri- from cast to west, being much too great. The
dians on the globe itself. The portion of the sur-westernmost of the Canaries is in a little more than
face of the earth thus delineated is, in length, a whole 18° W. long. , so that Ptolemy's easternmost meri-
hemisphere, and, in breadth, the part which lies dian (which, as just stated, is in 110° or 120° E.
between 630 of north latitude and 167° of south long. ) ought to have been that of 128 or 138°,
latitude.
or in round numbers 130° or 140°, instead of 180º;
2. The IIistoricul or Positive Geography of Pto a difference of 50° or 40°, that is, from l-7th to
lemy. —The limits just mentioned, as thoso within 1-9th of the earth's circumference.
which Ptolemy's projection of the sphere was con- It is well worthy, however, of remark in passing,
tained, were also those which he assigned to the that the modern world owes much to this error;
known world. His own account of its extent and for it tended to encourage that belief in the prac-
divisions is given in the fifth chapter of his seventh ticability of a western passage to the Indics, which
book. The boundaries which he there mentions occasioned the discovery of America by Columbus.
are, on the east, the unknown land adjacent to There has been much speculation and discussion
the eastern nations of Asia, namely, the Sinae and as to the cause of Ptoleiny's great error in this
the people of Serica ; on the south, the unknown matter ; but, after making due allowance for the
land which encloses the Indian Sea, and that adja- uncertainties attending the computations of dis-
cent to the district of Aethiopia called Agisymba, tance on which he proceeded, it seems to us that
on the south of Libya ; on the west, the unknown the chief cause of the error is to be found in the
land which surrounds the Aethiopic gulf of Libya, fact already stated, that he took the length of a
and the Western Ocean ; and on the north, the degree exactly one sixth too small, namely, 500
continuation of the ocean, which surrounds the stadia instead of 600. As we have already stated,
British islands and the norther parts of Europe, on his own authority, he was extremely careful to
and the unknown land adjacent to the northern make use of every trustworthy observation of lati-
regions of Asia, namely Sarmatia, Scythia, and tude and longitude which he could find ; but he him-
Serica.
self complains of the pancity of such observations ;
He also defines the boundaries by meridians and and it is manifest that those of longitude must havo
parallels, as follows. The southern limit is the pa- been fewer and less accurate than those of latitude,
rallel of 167° S. lat. , which passes through a point both for other reasons, and chiefly on account of
as far south of the equator, as Meroë is north of it, the greater difficulty of taking them. He had,
and which he elsewhere describes as the parallel therefore, to depend for his longitudes chiefly on
through Prasum, a promontory of Aethiopia : and the process of turning into degrees the distances
the northern limit is the parallel of 630 N. lat. , computed in stadia ; and hence, supposing the dis-
which passes through the island of Thule : so that tances to be tolerably correct, his error as to the
the whole extent from north to south is 791°, or longitudes followed inevitably from the error in
in round numbers, 80°; that is, as nearly as pos- his scale. Taking Ptolemy's own computation in
sible, 40,000 stadia. The eastern limit is the meridian stadia, and turning it into degrees of 600 stadia
which passes through the metropolis of the Sinae, each, we get the following results. The length of
which is 119° east of Alexandria, or just about the known world, measured along the equator, is
eight hours : and the western limit is the meridian 90,000 stadia ; and hence its length in degrees is
drawn through the Insulae Fortunatae (the Canaries) 28. 000 - 150° ; the error being thus reduced from
which is 60°, or four hours, west of Alexandria, 50° or 40° to 20° or 10°. But a still fairer me-
and therefore 180°, or twelve hours, west of the thod is to take the measurement along the parallel
easternmost meridian. The various lengths of the of Rhodes, namely 72,000 stadia. Now the true
earth, in itinerary measure, he reckons at 90,000 length of a degree of latitude in that parallel is
stadia along the equator (500 stadia to a degree), about 47' = of a degree of a great circle = 13
40,000 stadia along the northernmost parallel | 600 stadia = 470 stadia, instead of 400 ; and the
(2223 stadia to a degree), and 72,000 stadia along 72,000 stadia give a little over 153 degrees, a
the parallel through Rhodes (400 stadia to a de result lanjost identical with the former. The
gree), along which parallel most of the measure- remaining error of 20° at the most, or 10° at the
ments had been reckoned.
least, we think, sufficiently accounted for by
In comparing these computations with the actual the errors in the itinerary measures, which ex-
distances, it is not necessary to determine the true perience shows to be almost always on the side of
position of such doubtful localities as Thule and the making distances too great, and which, in this
metropolis of the Sinae ; for there are many other case, would of course go on increasing, the further
indications in Ptolemy's work, from which we can the process was continued eastward. Of this
ascertain nearly enough what limits he intends. We source of error Ptolemy was himself aware ; and
cannot be far wrong in placing his northern bound- accordingly he tells us that, among the various
ary at about the parallel of the Zetland Isles, and his computations of a distance, he always chose tho
eastern boundary at about the eastern coast of Co least ; but, for the reason just stated, that least
chin China, in fact just at the meridian of 110° E. one was probably still too great.
long. (from Greenwich), or perhaps at the opposite side The method pursued by Ptolemy in laying down
of the Chinese Sea, namely, at the Philippine Islands the actual positions of places has already been in-
at the meridian of 1200. It will then be seen that cidentally mentioned in the foregoing discussion.
he is not far wrong in his dimensions from north to . He fixed as many positions as possible by thoir
PP2
## p. 580 (#596) ############################################
580
PTOLEMAEUS.
PTOLEMAEUS.
1
longitudes and latitudes, and from these positions are interspersed among the lists, to which, how-
he determined the others by converting their dis- ever, they bear but a small proportion.
tances in stadia into degrees. For further details The remaining part of the seventh, and the
the reader is referred to his own work.
whole of the eighth book, are occupied with a
His general ideas of the form of the known description of a set of maps of the known world,
world were in some points more correct, in others which is introduced by a remark at the end of the
less 60, than those of Strabo. The elongation of 4th chapter of the 7th book, which clearly proves
the whole of course led to a corresponding dis- that Ptolemy's work had originally a set of maps
tortion of the shapes of the several countries. He appended to it. In c. 5 he describes the general
knew the southern part of the Baltic, but was map of the world. In ca 6, 7, he takes up the
not aware of its being an inland sea. He makes subject of spherical delineation, and describes the
the Palus Maeotis far too large and extends it far armillary sphere, and its connection with the sphere
too much to the north.
The Caspian he correctly of the earth. In the first two chapters of book
makes an inland cea (instead of a gulf of the viii. , ho explains the method of dividing the world
Northern Ocean), but he errs greatly as to its size into maps, and the mode of constructing each map ;
and form, making its length from E. to W. more and he then proceeds (cc. 3—28) to the description
than twice that from N. to S. In the southern of the maps themselves, in number twenty-six,
and south-eastern parts of Asia, he altogether fails namely, ten of Europe, four of Libya, and twelve
to represent the projection of Hindostan, while, of Asia. The 29th chapter contains a list of the
on the other hand, he gives to Ceylon (Tapro. maps, and the countries represented in each ; and
bane) more than four times its proper dimensions, the 30th an account of the lengths and breadths of
probably through confounding it with the mainland the portions of the earth contained in the respec-
of India itself, and brings down the southern tive maps. These maps are still extant, and an
part of it below the equator. He shows an ac- account of them is given under AGATHODAEMOX,
quaintance with the Malay peninsula (his Aurea who was either the original designer of them,
Chersonesus) and the coast of Cochin China ; but, under Ptolemy's direction, or the constructor of a
probably through mistaking the eastern Archi- new edition of them.
pelago for continuous land, he brings round the Enough has been already said to show the great
land which encloses his Sinus Magnus and the value of Ptolemy's work, but its perfect integrity is
gulf of the Sinae (probably either the gulf of Siam another question. It is impossible but that a
and the Chinese Sea, or both confounded together) work, which was for twelve or thirteen centuries
80 as to make it enclose the whole of the Indian the text-book in geography, should have suffered
Ocean on the south. At the opposite extremity of corruptions and interpolations; and one writer has
the known world, his idea of the western coast of contended that the changes made in it during the
Africa is very erroneous. He makes it trend almost middle ages were so great, that we can no longer
due south from the pillars of Hercules to the Hespera recognise in it the work of Ptolemy (Schlözer,
Keras in 8) N. lat. , where a slight bend to the Nord. Gesch, in the Allgem. Welthistorie, vol. xxxi.
east ward indicates the Gulf of Guinea ; but almost pp. 148, 176). Mannert has successfully defended
immediately afterwards the coast turns again to the genuineness of the work, and has shown to
the S. S. W. ; and from the expression already what an extent the eighth book may be made the
quoted, which Ptolemy uses to describe the bound- means of detecting the corruptions in the body of
ary of the known world on this side, it would the work. (vol. i. p. 174. )
seem as if he believed that the land of Africa ex- The Geograplia of Ptolemy was printed in
tended here considerably to the west. Concerning Latin, with the Maps, at Rome, 1462, 1475, 1478,
the interior of Africa he knew considerably more 1482, 1486, 1490, all in folio: of these editions,
than his predecessors. Several modern geogra- those of 1482 and 1490 are the best: numerous
phers have drawn maps to represent the views of other Latin editions appeared during the sixteenth
Ptolemy; one of the latest and best of which is that century, the most important of which is that hy
of Ukert (Geogr. d. Griech. u. Römer, vol. i. pl. 3). Michael Servetus, Lugd. 1511, folio. The Editio
Such are the principal features of Ptolemy's Princeps of the Greek text is that edited by Eras-
geographical system. It only remains to give a mus, Basil. 1533, 4to. ; reprinted at Paris, 1546,
brief outline of the contents of his work, and to 4to. The text of Erasmus was reprinted, but with
mention the principal editions of it. Enough has a new Latin Version, Notes, and Indices, edited by
already been said respecting the first, or intro- Petrus Montanus, and with the Maps restored by
ductory book. The next six books and a half | Mercator, Amst. 1605, folio ; and a still more
(ii. -vii. 4) are occupied with the description valuable edition was brought out by Petrus Ber-
of the known world, beginning with the West of tius, printed by Elzevir, with the maps coloured,
Europe, the description of which is contained in and with the addition of the Peutingerian Tables,
book'ii
. ; next comes the East of Europe, in and other important illustrative matter, Lugd. Bat.
book iii. ; then Africa, in book iv. ; then Western 1619, folio ; reprinted Antiverp, 1624, folio. The
or Lesser Asia, in book v. ; then the Greater work also forms a part of the edition of Ptolemy's
Asia, in book vi. ; then India, the Chersonesus works, undertaken by the Abbé Halmer, but left
Aurea, Serica, the Sinae, and Taprobane, in unfinished at his death, Paris, 1813–1828, 4to. ;
book vii. cc. 1–4. The form in which the de- this edition contains a French translation of the
scription is given is that of lists of places with work. For an account of the less important edi-
their longitudes and latitudes, arranged under the tions, the editions of separate parts, the versions,
heads, first, of the three continents, and then of the and the works illustrating Ptolemy's Geography,
several countries and tribes. Prefixed to each see Hoffmann, Lex. Bibliog. Script. Graec. A use-
section is a brief general description of the bound- ful little edition of the Greek text is contained in
aries and divisions of the part about to be de. three volumes of the Tauchnitz classics, Lips. 1813,
scribed ; and remarks of a miscellaneous character | 32mo.
[PS]
## p. 581 (#597) ############################################
PTOLEMAEUS.
581
PTOLEMAEUS.
PTOLEMAEUS (IItoneuaios), king of CYPRUS, recalled from exile, and treated with the utmost
was the younger brother of Ptolemy Auletes, king distinction. It is remarkable that we do not find
of Egypt, being like him an illegitimate son of him holding any special command, or acting any
Ptolensy Lathyrus. Notwithstanding this defect important part during the first few years of the
of birth he appears to have been acknowledged as expedition to Asia, though it is clear that he ac-
king of Cyprus at the same time that his brother companied the king throughout this period. In-
Auletes obtained possession of the throne of Egypt, deed, his name is only twice mentioned previous
B. C. 80. But he unfortunately neglected the pre- to the year B. C. 330, when he obtained the ho-
caution of making interest at Rome to obtain the nourable post of Somatophylax in the place of De-
confirmation his sovereignty, and had the farther metrius, who had been implicated in the conspiracy
imprudence to give personal offence to P. Clodius, of Philotas. (Arr. ib. ii. 11, ii. 18, 27. ) But from
by neglecting to ransom him when he had fallen this period we find him continually employed on
into the hands of the Cilician pirates (Strab. xiv. the most inportant occasions, and rendering the
p. 68+; Appian, B. C. ii. 23). lle paid dearly for most valuable scrvices.
his niggardliness on this occasion, for when Clodius In the following canipaign (329), after the army
became tribune (13. c. 58), he brought forward a had crossed the Oxus, Ptoleniy was sent forward
law to deprive Ptolemy of his kingdom, and reduce with a strong detachment, to apprehend the traitor
Cyprus to a Roman province. Cato, who was en Bessus, whom he seized and brought before Alex-
trusted with the charge of carrying into execution ander. Again, in the reduction of the revolted
this nefarious decree, sent to Ptolemy, advising province of Sogdiana, and in the attack on the
him to submit, and offering him his personal safety, rock-fortress of Chorienes, he is mentioned as
with the office of high-priest at Paphos, and a taking a conspicuous part, and commanding one of
liberal maintenance. But the unhappy king, though the chief divisions of the army. (Arr. Anab. ii.
he was wholly unprepared for resistance to the 29, 30, iv. 16, 21. ). But it was especially during
Roman power, had the spirit to refuse these offers, the campaigns in India that the services of Ptolemy
and put an end to his own life, B. C. 57. (Strab. shone the most conspicuous; and we find him dis-
1. c. ; Dion Cass. xxxviii. 30, xxxix. 22; Lir. Epit
. playing on numerous occasions all the qualities of
civ. ; Plut. Cat. Min. 34-36 ; Appian, B. C. ii. an able and judicious general, in command of
23 ; Vell. Pat. ii. 45 ; Cic. pro Sext. 26–28 ; separate detachments, or of one of the divisions of
Val. Max ix. 4, ext. 1. )
the main army. In the conquest of the Aspasians
We are told that Ptolemy had disgraced himself and Assacenians, in the reduction of the fortress
by every species of vice (Vell. Pat. l. c. ), but it ap- of Aornos, at the passage of the Hydaspes and the
pears certain that it was the vast treasures that he siege of Sangala, as well as in many minor opera-
possessed, which, by attracting the cupidity of the tions, the name of Ptolemy is still among the most
Romans, became the cause of his destruction, of prominent. Nor was his personal valour less
which his vices were afterwards made the pre- remarkable than his abilities as a general ; and we
(E. H. B. ] find him on one occasion slaying with his own
PTOLEMAEUS, king of CYRENE. [PTOLE- hand the chief of one of the Indian tribes in single
WAEUS APION. )
combat. Some writers also ascribed to him a sbare
PTOLEMAEUS I. (IIroleualos), king of in the glory of saving the life of Alexander among
EGYPT, surnamed SOTER (the Preserver), but the Malli (LEONNATUS], but it appears from his
perhaps more commonly known as the son of own testimony, as reported by Arrian and Curtius,
Lagus. His father was a Macedonian of ignoble that he was absent at the time on a separate com-
birth (Lagus], but his mother Arsinoë had been mand. (Arr. Anab. iv. 24, 25, 29, v. 13, 23, 24,
a concubine of Philip of Macedon, on which ac- vi. 5, 11; Curt. viii. 10. § 2), 13. $ 18–27,
count it seems to have been generally believed that 14. § 15, ix. 5. 21. )
Ptolemy was in reality the offspring of that mo- Numerous evidences occur during the same pe-
narch (Curt. ix. 8. § 22 ; Paus. i. 6. § 2. ) This riod of the high favour and personal consideration
could, indeed, hardly have been the case if Lu- with which he was regarded by Alexander: we
cian's statement be correct (Macrob. 12), that find him constantly in close attendance upon the
Ptolemy was eighty-four years of age at the time king's person ; and on occasion of the conspiracy
of his death, as in that case he must have been of the pages it was he who, by discovering and re-
born in B. C. 367, when Philip was not sixteen vealing their treasonable designs, probably became
years old. But the authority of Lucian on this the means of saving the life of his sovereign (Arr.
point can hardly outweigh the distinct assertions iv. 8, 13; Curt. viii. 1. SS 45, 48, 6. § 22, ix. 6.
of other authors as to the existence of such a belief, $ 15; Chares ap. Athen. iv. p. 171, c. ). According
and we must therefore probably assign his birth to to a marvellous tale related by several writers
a later period. Whatever truth there may have Alexander was soon after able to return the obli-
been in this report, it is certain that Ptolemy gation and save the life of his friend and follower
early enjoyed a distinction at the Macedonian when wounded by a poisoned arrow, by applying a
court to which his father's obscurity would scarcely remedy suggested to him in a dream. (Curt. ix. 8.
have entitled him, and we find him mentioned be $ 22—27; Diod. xvii. 103; Strab. xv. p.
