[708] From this point Strabo, strictly speaking, commences his exposition of the principles of Geography.
[709] Strabo supposed this circle at a distance of 38,100 stadia from the equator, or 54° 25′ 42″ of latitude.
[710] The whole of what follows to the end of the section is extremely embarrassing in the original; we must therefore claim the indulgence of the reader for any obscurity he may find in the translation.
[711] The Greeks, besides the division of the equator into 360 degrees, had also another method of dividing it into sixty portions or degrees.
[712] These 21,800 stadia would give to Alexandria a latitude of 31° 8′ 34″; according to modern calculation it is 31° 11′ 20″ of latitude. The following presents Strabo’s calculations of the latitude of the preceding places in a tabular form.
| Names of places. | Particular Distance. | Total Distance. | Latitudes. |
| Stadia. | Stadia. | ||
| Equator | 0 | 0 | 0° 0′ 0″ |
| Limits of the habitable earth | 8800 | 8800 | 12° 34′ 17″ |
| Meroe | 3000 | 11800 | 16° 51′ 25″ |
| Syene and the Tropic | 5000 | 16800 | 24° 0′ 0″ |
| Alexandria | 5000 | 21800 | 31° 8′ 34″ |
[713] Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Strabo, all believed that the longitude of Rhodes was the same as that of Alexandria, although actually it is 2° 22′ 45″ west of that place. The coasts of Caria, Ionia, and the Troad incline considerably to the west, while Byzantium is about 3° east of the Troad, and the mouth of the Dnieper is above 3° 46′ east of Byzantium.
[714] The Roxolani inhabited the Ukraine. It has been thought that from these people the Russians derived their name.
[715] Strabo here alludes to Ireland, which he placed north of England, and believed to be the most northerly region fitted for the habitation of man. He gave it a latitude of 36,700 stadia, equivalent to 52° 25′ 42″, which answers to the southern portions of that island.
[716] The Sauromatæ, or Sarmatians, occupied the lands north of the sea of Azof on either side of the Don.