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from Part III - Hellenistic Period
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 March 2024
This chapter presents new, annotated translations of the testimonia and fragments of the geographical writings of the philosopher Dikaiarchos of Messana (late 4th BC), arranged into 15 extracts. The chapter introduction identifies his innovative focus upon physical geography. A new map illustrates Dikaiarchos’ concept of a central parallel of latitude bisecting the inhabited portion of the world; in devising this, he may have been building upon Eudoxos of Knidos (Chapter 6 of this volume). He may have pioneered the measurement of the heights of mountains using triangulation, and the use of noonday shadows to estimate the circumference of the Earth, a technique which Eratosthenes famously took further (Chapter 12) and which in effect adopts the concept of a meridian of longitude.
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