gems, ancient trade, commerce, exploration

The authors have described in this book the opening times, and have given a view of ancient geography in the making. The book is intended as an introduction and a companion to, but not as a substitute for, the standard works of Sir Edward Bunbury (History of Ancient Geography), H. Berger (Geschichte der wissenschaftlichen Erdkunde der Griechen, 2nd ed.), and H. F. Tozer (A History of Ancient Geography). These works deal more particularly with the results of ancient exploration, and especially with ancient geographical theories; but they provide no full or connected account of the actual explorations which produced those results and gave birth to those theories. In the present work the authors have concerned themselves with the activities of ancient travellers rather than with the speculations of ancient scholars; but they have also traced the growth of geographic knowledge which sprang from these activities, and have explained their importance as a prelude to the discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Chapters I, II, III, VI, and the second part of VIII are the work of Mr. Cary, Chapters IV, V, VII, and the first part of VIII of Mr. Warmington; Chapters IX and X are the result of their joint effort. The history of ancient sea-travels is shown in Chapters II to V, while Chapters VI to VIII tell of land-explorations continent by continent. Either author prepared the maps which illustrate his chapters and sections. The authors wish to thank all those connected with the printing and publishing of this book; and also Miss M. Price and Mr. H. Jackson, of Mill Hill, for reading through the proof sheets. Mr. Warmington, moreover, thanks the Cambridge University Press for permission to make use of material in the text and the map of his book entitled The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India, published in 1928.