In Fact, For Nearly
200 Years, The Ancient Historians And Geographers Drew All The Information
They Possessed Respecting The Portions Of The World Embraced In The Work Of
Agatharcides From That Work.
It has been well observed, "that when Pliny
speaks of the discoveries on the coast of Malabar in his
Own age, and adds,
that the names he mentions are new, and not to be found in previous
writers, we ought to consider him as speaking of all those who had followed
the authority of the Macedonians, or the school of Alexandria; of which, in
this branch of science, Eratosthenes and Agatharcides were the leaders."
From the circumstance that Strabo appeals very frequently to the authority
of Eratosthenes, in conjunction with that of Agatharcides, it has been
conjectured, that the work of the latter contains all that the former knew,
with the addition of his own information; and this conjecture is highly
probable, considering that Agatharcides had access to the sources whence
Eratosthenes drew his information; to the works of Eratosthenes themselves,
which of course would be deposited in the Alexandrian library; and to all
the additional works which had enriched the library from the time of
Eratosthenes, as well as the additional information which the extensive
commerce of Alexandria would supply.
The work of Agatharcides, therefore, having been in such estimation by the
ancient historians and geographers, and the only source from which, during
200 years, they drew their information, and having been compiled by a
person, who, it is probable, had better and fuller means of rendering it
accurate and complete than any of his contemporaries enjoyed; it will be
proper to give a pretty full abstract of the most interesting and important
part of its contents.
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