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lief that the known world (ecumene) was surrounded by the ocean, otherwise, he would, as his predecessor Ptolemy, put east of Tzinitza (or Tzinista) a “terra incognita”.
In conclusion, we are strongly inclined to believe that Cosmas had a more or less correct idea of the position of China, although in a dim way, and he therefore can be supposed to be the first Greek or Roman who speaks of China in a matter-to-fact, and not as a land enveloped in half mythical haze.[33]
[1] Cosmas, The Christian Topography of Cosmas, an Egyptian Monk, tr. by J. W. McCrindle, New York, 1897, pp. 47-48.
[2] Cosmas, The Christian Topography, pp. 48-49.
[3] Cosmas, The Christian Topography, Introduction, p. viii; M.L.W. Laistner, The Decay of Geographical knowledge and the Decline of Exploration, A.D. 300-500, In A. Newton (ed.), Travel and Travellers of the Middle Ages, London and New York, 1996, p. 34; J Bury, The Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian, vol. II, Dover, 1958, p. 320.
[4] Cosmas, The Christian Topography, pp. 365-366.
[5] G. << 上一页 [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] ... 下一页 >> |
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