. . .North, and that at any rate some of the statements in Mela and Pliny may be derived from this source.

Mela, c. 43 A.D.

The oldest known Latin geography, “De Chorographia,” was written about 43 A.D. by an otherwise unknown[Pg 86] Pomponius Mela, of Tingentera, in Spain. With the strange mental poverty of Roman literature, Mela bases his work chiefly on older Greek sources (e.g., Herodotus and Eratosthenes) which are several centuries before his time; but in addition he gives much information not found elsewhere. Whether this is also for the most part taken from older writers it is impossible to say, as he nowhere gives his authorities. His descriptions, especially those of more distant regions, are sometimes made obscure and contradictory by his evidently having drawn upon different sources without combining them into a whole.

 

The world according to Mela

 

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