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For any & all MapHisters who followed my recent debate with Giulio
about a lost Roman survey of the world, supposedly conducted from 44-7
BCE --
I just yesterday learned that a modern Eng. translation of William of
Rubruck's travelogue (written in 1255 for King Louis IX of France) was
done by William Woodville Rockhill (formerly of the Royal Geographical
Society) and printed in 1900:
Ruysbroek, Willem van. _The journey of William of Rubruck to
the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55. As narrated by
himself, with two accounts of the earlier journey of John of
Pian de Carpine. Translated from the Latin, and edited, with
an introductory notice, by William Woodville Rockhill,
Honorary Corresponding Member of the Royal Geographical
Society_. London: Printed for the Hakluyt Society, MDCCCC.
The entire text of Rockhill's edn., along with his generally strong
"Introductory Notice", is available online (in multiple formats) from
the Internet Archive at:
http://www.archive.org/details/journeywilliamr01ruysgoog
I also want to point out that Rockhill identifies the "Isidore" of
Friar William's MS. differently than did I.
Rockhill believes that William's "Isidore" refers to the 6th-century
scholar, Isidore of Seville:
"Study of [Friar William's] narrative shows his careful
preparation for his work as an explorer. Solinus and Isidorus
of Seville are, it is true, his only geographical
authorities; still he makes careful use of them, not quoting
them blindly, but comparing every statement of theirs with
the facts as he observed them...." (xxxvi)
And here I'm going to bow to Rockhill's research and authority, which
is considerable. E.g., his summary statement of William's
contributions to European science attests to that:
"Let us now note what Friar William was able to add by his
journey and careful observations to Europe's sum of general
and geographical knowledge. His principal contributions to
geographical science were the indication of the true sources
and course of the Don and Volga, the lake nature of the
Caspian[n1], the identity of Cathay with the classical
country of the Seres, a description of the Balkash and of the
inland basin of which it occupies the eastern extremity, the
first description of the city of Karakorum, the first mention
of Kaoli or Korea, and of the Tungusic tribes of Orengai, the
*Orienguts* of mediaeval Mohammedan writers. Natural history
owes to him the earliest mention in western writers of the
wild ass or *kulan* and of the *argali* or *ovis Poli*.
Ethnology is indebted to him for interesting facts too
numerous to mention. To him linguistics and anthropology owe
the first accurate information on the Goths of the Crimean
coast, on the identity of the Comans with the Kipchak, Turks
and Cangle, on the difference between the Tartars and the
Mongols, on the connexity of the languages of the Bashkirds
(*Pascatir*) and the Hungarians, on the origin of the
Danubian Bulgarians, on the affinity between the languages of
the Russians, Poles, Bohemians and Slavs and that of the
Wandals, and on that of the Turkish language with that of the
Uigurs and Comans. He was the first to give a nearly accurate
explanation of the Chinese script, to note the true
peculiarities of the Tibetan, Tangutan (Turkish), and Uigur
modes of writing. These discoveries in this special line of
research are not all we owe to this most perspicacious
traveller; but I will not prolong the list, as we have a
number of other important ones in the field of the history of
religions to credit him with. He was the first to describe
the Christian communities in the Mongol empire, and to give
details of their rituals and the tenets of their faith; we
owe to him the earliest descripition of the Lamas or northern
Buddhist monks, of their temples, their ritual, their Living
Buddhas, of their use of prayer beads, and of their favourite
formula, *Om mani padme, hum*. He shows the peculiarities of
the Uigurs' form of worship, and likewise of their dress.
Peculiarities and superstitions of the Greek and Armenian
churches did not escape him; in short, no one traveller since
his day has done half so much to give a correct knowledge of
this part of Asia." (xxxvii-xxxviii)
NOTE 1: "Albert of Bollstaedt had at about the same date
stated that the Caspian was a lake, not a gulf, but he had
simply accepted the views of Ptolemy. The fact had already
been established by the Arab geographers of the tenth century
-- by Ibn Haukal for example -- but Europe was in ignorance of
this."
As usual, my own interest in Friar William's travelogue recounting his
1253-1255 journey to the Mongol court has little to do with geography,
and was spurred instead by my studies in the history of printing (here
we have a mid-13th-century account, for a European audience, of
Chinese writing and printing, including the Mongol empire's use of
printed paper money).
Seeing as how Friar William's _Itinerarium_ is well outside my period
and subject expertise, I wanted to state for the record that my
earlier identification of the 1st-century geographer, Isidore of
Charax, as William's source re. the Caspian Sea must be in error.
However, I don't believe this changed identity for the "Isidore" of
Friar William's text invalidates my larger argument with Giulio. ;-)
Isidore of Seville's writings on the Caspian Sea (which I have not
read myself, and know nothing about other than William's account of
his speculative Central Asian geography) still indicate that the
putative world survey of 44-7 BCE was already "lost" to European
medieval scholars.
Plus, there is further corroborating evidence that it was not known
about even in the 1st century CE.
In his _Natural History_, Pliny the Elder (who was connected to all
the power centers of the Roman Empire, and certainly would have known
about a Roman world survey, had one been completed) stated that there
was no "accurate measurement" of northern Central Asia to be had:
"The breadth of the earth from south to north, is commonly
supposed to be about one-half only of its length, viz., 4490
miles; .... Beyond the Tanais the most diligent authors have
not been able to obtain any accurate measurement. Artemidorus
supposes that everything beyond is undiscovered, since he
confesses that, about the Tanais, the tribes of the Sarmatae
dwell, who extend toward the North Pole. Isidore adds 1250
miles, as the distance to Thule; but this is mere
conjecture." (Pliny, _Natural History_, II, 112)
& elsewhere: "The whole distance (of Asia) to the Tanais,
including Egypt, is, according to Artemidorus and Isidore,
6375 miles." (Pliny, _Natural History_, V, 9)
And then there's the testimony of Dionysius Periegetes, whose
geography was translated into English by Thomas Twine, and printed in
1572 by Henry Bynneman as _The Surveye of the World_. In his
translator's preface, Twine explains the origins of the work (his
account taken from Pliny):
"It is long sythence he [Dionysius] wrote in the Greeke
tongue, and hath bin translated into Latine of late yeares,
by dyvers. In whose commendation, if he had needed other than
hys owne, purchased by just deserte, since he first wrote, I
wold not have wanted to have done my endevoure. But for so
muche as he is accompted of all antiquitie, the olde writer,
for compendiousnesse and brevity in that he tooke in hand:
sufficie[n]t it shal be in prayse or authoritie to have
yealded to him his owne, & no more. Whiche what it is read
*Plinie*, and there understand howe that the author of this
woorke beeing borne in *Alexandria*, a citie in *Eegypt*,
descended of a moste noble familie, abounding in great welth
& authoritie, wrote not only this woorke, whiche wee have
interpreted, The Surveye of the habitable Worlde in
*Hexameter* verses, beeing as yet but very yong: but also
many other, both lerned and eloque[n]t. Who afterward
resorting to the courte of Rome, was sent by *Augustus* the
Emperour, to surveye & report the state & situation of
cuntries in the east parts of the worlde, when his eldest
sonne was upon expedition into *Armenia*, to the *Parthians*,
and *Arabians*. What shall I say, that ther have bin many
other worthy men of that name, who have be[n] supposed to be
the authors of this boke - howbeit, falsly in my opinion, as
by farther discourse (at this present) not necessarie, I
could declare...."
In his book, Dionysius is clear that he has surveyed the Caspian Sea
in his imagination only:
"The Sea *Caspium* commeth neare by to them, which I truste
easly and wyth expedition to discribe if God will give me
grace, not as one that hath seene those places (by traveling
thether to view the platfourme or situation of the[m], as
many men have accustomed to doe, whiche thinke there is none
other felicitie, but to heape up ryches by wandring about the
worlde, thereby to deck themselves up wyth Golde, to glyster
with Pearles and precious stones, to adorne their Palaces
with sumptuous buildings, for so muche as I was never
instructed by my Parentes in trade of marchandise,) but like
him who from his tender yeares, hath ben brought up in studie
of good learning, whereby it commeth now to passe, that those
things whiche are very farre distant, I doe beholde as
present, and can conceyve every place throughly in my mynde
and cogitation without any errour.
"*Of the Sea Caspium.*
"The fourme and fashion of the Sea *Caspium* is suche, that
it lyeth almost rounde lyke a circle [according to my modern
atlas, it's now actually shaped like a peanut ;-], for it is
most sure that it rysethe from the Ocean, which at the Northe
side, beateth upon the shoare of *Scythia* from whence
running forthe, at fyrste through desertes and places
unhabited, stretcheth forthe to the Southe in very narrowe
streits, untill that encreasing more and more in wydenesse,
at length it approcheth to y^e foote of mount *Caucasus*.
This Sea is navigable, and in that respect very commodious to
the countries nigh al times of the yeare, excepting three
moneths onely ...." (Twine's 1572 trans. from the Latin)
All of which, I think, suggests that the Roman world survey of 44-7
BCE was quite limited in scope -- probably just to what Pliny calls
"Our part of the earth".
Deborah
_____
Deborah Taylor-Pearce
[email protected]
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