Ammianus Marcellinus on the Geography of the Pontus Euxinus [1]

Jan Willem Drij ers !Department of "istory# $ni ersity of Groningen%

"Das eitle Bemhen um Allwissenheit, wie es der Fluch aller encyclopdischen Bildung ist, und vor allem der Fluch jener unseligen, auch auf dem geistigen Ge iet, in der !rmmerwelt einer gr"ssern #ergangenheit $mmerlich hausenden Generationen war, %eigt sich ei Ammian&&&auf diesem Ge iet&&&" '() !his *uotation of more than a century ago y !heodor +ommsen e,presses a harsh verdict on Ammianus +arcellinus- ac*uaintance with the geography of the world as it was $nown in his days .it is geographical $nowledge which is meant y "diesem Ge iet"/& 0n this field Ammianus had a "scheinhaftes Bescheidwissen" and empty words had to conceal his "1n$enntniss", according to the same +ommsen& +ommsen-s article, written in reaction to #& Gardthausen-s Die geographischen Quellen Ammians '2), which e,pressed a more positive opinion, had a great impact& 3oon +ommsen-s unfavoura le view of Ammianus- $nowledge of geography was widely accepted '4) and has for a long time not een seriously disputed& !he Res Gestae of the fourth5century historian Ammianus +arcellinus started where !acitus had left off, that is in the year 67 8&9& with the reign of :erva, and ended at the year 2;<& !he wor$ originally consisted of 2= oo$s, ut the first =2 oo$s have unfortunately een lost& !he =< e,tant oo$s cover only some twenty5five years of >oman history, namely the years from 2?2 to 2;<& !hus Ammianus wrote the history of his own time, of which he himself was not only a part ut also an eyewitness, since he was present at several important events of this period& A ove all, the reign of @ulian .27=5 2/ features conspicuously in the Res Gestae& !he last pagan emperor of a gradually christiani%ing empire was profoundly, though not uncritically, admired y Ammianus, who was himself also an adherent of the old cults& Although the Res Gestae was intended as a continuation of the historical wor$s of !acitus, Ammianus did not ta$e this famous historian as his primary literary or historiographical model& !he influence of 3allust and others, as well as the Gree$ tradition of the writing of history, seems to e a greater force in Ammianus- wor$&'?) 3cholarly opinion a out the Res Gestae is in general favoura le& 0t is considered a very relia le piece of wor$ from a historical point of view& 9dward Gi on in his famous Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire saluted Ammianus as "an accurate and faithful guide, who has composed the history of his own times without indulging the prejudices and passions which usually affect the mind of a contemporary"&'7) Generally spea$ing, these words of praise are justified& Ammianus- information on the historical events of his time is trustworthy, although not always unprejudiced&

As a historian, Ammianus wor$ed within the tradition of Gree$ and >oman historiography, and he followed in the footsteps of such authors as Aerodotus, !hucydides, Boly ius, 3allust, !acitus and others& But the classics of Catin literature 5 8icero, #ergil, Dvid, to name just a few 5 also left their imprint on Ammianus- wor$& +oreover, ancient historians, especially the Gree$ ones, did not only give a plain narrative of political, military and other events, ut allowed themselves to include in their historical accounts digressions on a great variety of topics& !hese $inds of discourses had een a characteristic feature of historiography from the time of Aerodotus, Father of Aistory& Ammianus, too, enlivened his Res Gestae with a great many e,cursuses& !hey were a means to supply information, e,planation or dramatic ac$ground& But they were also a way for the author to e,press his $nowledge and interests to his readers or listeners, as well as to entertain and instruct those readers and listeners&';) Ammianus was evidently very fond of digressions& :ot only are there many of them in the Res Gestae 5 more than thirty 5 ut some of them are of a length which is *uite unparalleled in ancient writing&'<) !he digressions can e shown to fall into several categories of su ject matterE military or technical mattersF science and natural phenomenaF '6) anti*uities or monumentsF religion, o ituaries or moral judgmentsF and miscellaneous e,planatory digressions& But the most ela orate digressions are on geography and ethnography& !he Res Gestae contains e,cursuses on the 3aracens .=4&4&=5;/, the provinces of the eastern part of the 9mpire .=4&<&=5=?/, on the Boden la$e .=?&4&=57/, on Gaul .=?&65=(/, on Amida, i&e& modern Diyar Ba$ir .=<&6/, on the Blac$ 3ea .((&</, on 9gypt .((&=?5=7/, on the Bersian provinces .(2&7/, on !hrace .(;&4&=5=4/ and on the Auns and Alans .2=&(&=5 (?/& Although, with the ever5growing interest in Cate Anti*uity, there has een a significant growth in Ammianean studies over the past two or three decades, not much wor$ has yet een done on the geographical and ethnographical digressions, or for that matter on the other e,cursuses&'=G) !he comparative neglect of these digressions may well e ascri ed to +ommsen-s unfavoura le opinion of Ammianus- $nowledge of geography& !he main focus of research has een, and still is, on Ammianus- historical account& !his lac$ of interest is particularly stri$ing in the latest 9nglish translation of the Res Gestae where the digressions are simply left out&'==) By way of redressing this curious im alance, 0 shall discuss in this paper one of the geographical digressions, namely that on the Blac$ 3ea or the Bontus 9u,inus, as the ancients called it& For several reasons this is an interesting digressionE it is one of the longest in Ammianus- wor$ 5 only the digression on the Bersian provinces .(2&7/ is longer 5 and the Blac$ 3ea area is a region which was rather well $nown in ancient times& !he main *uestions 0 would li$e to pose and attempt to answer are the followingE how did Ammianus gain his $nowledge a out the Blac$ 3ea, how profound was this $nowledge and how did he organise his informationH !he digression on the Blac$ 3ea is part of Boo$ (( .((&</ and covers well over ten pages in the !eu ner edition& 0n this oo$ Ammianus narrates the emperor-s @ulian stay at 8onstantinople and his departure for Antioch to prepare for the Bersian campaign of the following year .272/& !he digression is included at the moment when Ammianus has told everything he wanted to tell a out the emperor-s stay at 8onstantinople and efore he egins the narrative a out @ulian-s journey to Antioch& 0n his introduction, Ammianus

says that the em assies sent to @ulian from the remotest regions of the world, a out which he told his readers in the last paragraphs of the preceding chapter, provide a good opportunity to em ar$ upon an e,cursus on the Bontus 9u,inus&'=() From this we may also infer that the digression was intended to honour @ulian and to demonstrate that his influence went eyond the frontiers of the 9mpire& Ammianus does not deal merely with the Bontus 9u,inus& Ae egins his digression with a description of the Aegean 3ea and following the coastline of what is now north5western !ur$ey he arrives y way of the Bosporus at the Blac$ 3ea&'=2) !he structure of the e,cursus offers no great difficulties, as the following survey showsE II =5< II 65=2 II =45=6 II (G5(6 II 2G527 II 2;54? II 4754< @ourney from the Aegean to the Bontus 9u,inus .B9/ !he B9-s geography in general !he south coast From the river !hermodon to the river !anais Ca$e +aeotis .J 3ea of Asov/ and surroundings !he .north5/western coast, in three parts, a/ its general shape .I 2;/, / - eginning- .II 2<54=/, c/ end .II 4254?/ 8limate and fishes

0t is o vious from this structure that Ammianus- main course is to follow the coastline of the Blac$ 3ea in an anti5cloc$wise direction with the !hracian Bosporus as starting point& '=4) Ammianus here adopts the style of the more recent periploi, whereas those of the older type follow a cloc$wise direction& A periplus provided geographical data on sea routes naming towns, rivers, peoples etc& as well as sailing distances etween towns, rivers and suita le landing places& Periploi had therefore a practical purpose and were mainly used y sailors& Although Ammianus follows the geographical scheme of a periplus, his digression is more than just a description of the coastline of the Blac$ 3ea& Ammianus provides a great deal of other information on various su jects, as for instance on mythology, on the Ama%ons .((&<&=<5=6/, on history, and on the various nations which lived near the Blac$ 3ea& 0n comparison with true periploi, Ammianus- description of the Blac$ 3ea is disappointing and does not display an ela orate geographical and topographical $nowledge of the region& !he Blac$ 3ea, its coast and the various settlements there were in fact well $nown since the time of the great Gree$ coloni%ations, i&e& the eighth and seventh centuries B&8&9& Aerodotus wrote ela orately a out the area, even though it must e admitted that his $nowledge a out its geography was a mess& But thereafter $nowledge increased, as is shown y the periplus of 3$yla, .4th cent& B&8&9&/, and the wor$s of other Gree$s of the Aellenistic period, such as Demetrios of Kallatis, Bs& 3$ymnos, 9ratosthenes, Apollodorus and Boseidonios& 0n spite of the fact that their writings have not, or have sometimes only fragmentarily, een preserved, we can get a sound impression of their $nowledge of the Blac$ 3ea region from the Geography of 3tra o&'=?) +ost of 3tra o-s information goes ac$ to his Gree$ predecessors& 0t appears from 3tra o that the availa le geographical $nowledge of the Blac$ 3ea region was vast and pretty detailed& Le may conclude the same from authors who were active in the first centuries of our era, li$e Bomponius +ela .De Chorographia, B$& 00/, Bliny the 9lder

.Nat. Hist. esp& B$s& 0# and #0/, the geographer Btolemy, and the great historian Arrian, who wrote a Periplus Ponti Eu!ini& !hat in Ammianus- own time and thereafter the Blac$ 3ea and the regions ordering on it were well $nown appears from a si,th5century periplus composed y an Anonymus&'=7) Ammianus- geographical information is in glaring contrast with the achievements of these authors& Ais topographical information leaves much to e desired, as for instance in the case of the cities Aermonassa and Bhanagoras which he calls islands, or the naming of rivers and towns in the wrong order& '=;) From time to time, Ammianus gives the impression of not having any clear idea a out the e,act location of a town or region, as may e surmised from vague e,pressions as "not far from there" .haud procul inde, ((&<&(G/, "near y" .prope, ((&<&2G/ or "a long distance away" .longo e!inde inter"allo, ((&<&4=/& 0n contrast with the periploi and with 3tra o and Btolemy, Ammianus hardly ever indicates precise distances in stadia or miles& '=<) Apart from these matters of detail, there is a more fundamental pro lem which indicates that Ammianus only had a faint idea of the shape of the Blac$ 3ea& Ammianus li$ens the spatial form of the Blac$ 3ea to a 3cythian ow&'=6) :ow he is fully entitled, and in a sense, even o liged, to do so, since all ancient descriptions of the Bontus 9u,inus have this comparison&'(G) 3i, times in the digression he refers to this ow&'(=) Aowever, from these comparisons of the shape of the Blac$ 3ea to the 3cythian ow, the reader is led to dou t seriously whether Ammianus had a generally correct picture of the Bontus 9u,inus& '(() !hat something is wrong ecomes most o vious from the fact that Ammianus situates the 3ea of Asov .Palus #aeotis/ on the eastern side of the Blac$ 3ea and not to the north, a mista$e which is not made y the geographers or in the periploi&'(2) Ammianus- geographical ignorance and mista$es seem all the more surprising since he had indicated in the introduction to the digression .((&<&=/ that he would give an accurate description of the topography of the Blac$ 3ea ased on his own o servation and on what he had read ."isa "el lecta/& Df course, we should not judge Ammianus according to modern standards& Le now possess detailed geographical $nowledge which is laid down in accurate maps& 3ince the ancients- conceptuali%ation of geography was *uite different from that of modern men, they did not have, and therefore did not use, maps as we $now them today& !he ancients made use of what are called -mental maps-, formulated in their minds from written descriptions, oral information or their own e,perience and o servation&'(4) 0n their mental conception of geography, there was no need for a solute distances and precise locationsF a relative idea of places, rivers, distances etc& apparently sufficed& 3eemingly, a asic geographical sense and a usa le mental image of a region were what the ancients desired, instead of our modern a solute and accurate geographical descriptions and maps& !he ancient geographical conception could do very well with a ver al depiction& 0t ecomes evident that Ammianus composed his digression on the Blac$ 3ea mainly on the asis of writings& Ais claim to autopsy is merely an agreea le fiction, of a $ind far from alien to ancient historical writing& Although Ammianus had travelled e,tensively all over the >oman 9mpire, it seems that with respect to the digression under discussion his own o servation was limited to the Aegean 3ea, !hrace and the Bosporus 5 and that only partly 5 and that he had gathered

most, if not all, of his information on the Blac$ 3ea from oo$s&'(?) As an author living in Cate Anti*uity, Ammianus could have chosen from many geographical wor$s for the purpose of composing his digression on the Blac$ 3ea, since the tradition of geographical descriptions of this region went ac$ for some thousand years& Aowever, he does not seem to have used technical geographical treatises as the main sources for his e,cursus on the Blac$ 3ea littoral& 0t is in general very difficult and often even impossi le to esta lish which sources were consulted y Ammianus for the composition of his Res Gestae& !his applies to the historical narrative as well as to the digressions& !he digression on the Blac$ 3ea is generally elieved to e a compilation of various sources, '(7) ut e,actly which sources is hard to tell& Bossi ly Ammianus had Bliny-s Natural History and 3olinus- Collectanea rerum memora$ilium on his des$, as well as 3allust-s Historiae&'(;) But considering his geographical errors and his wrong impression of the shape of the Bontus 9u,inus it is highly unli$ely that he had consulted any serious geographical wor$s&'(<) !his is in spite of the fact that he mentions three famous Gree$ geographers in I =G of his digressionE 9ratosthenes, Aecataeus and BtolemyF ut these are pro a ly only mentioned to add authority to his argument on the circumference of the Blac$ 3ea&'(6) Lhich sources, then, did he useH 0t has ecome clear that to answer this *uestion we should not loo$ upon the digression as a geographical treatise ut primarily as a literary e,ercise designed to please Ammianus- readers andMor listeners& !he latter would not have een much interested in the e,act location of towns, rivers, in precise distances etc&, ut rather in the histories, myths and stories which were considered to have ta$en place in the Blac$ 3ea area and with which they would already have een familiar& 0nformation of this $ind is not to e found in geographical treatises& !he literary nature of the digression is indicated y Ammianus- own e,pression, ut poetae locuntur at ((&<&=2& !here are several poetical wor$s which come into consideration& First of all, there is Apollonius >hodius- Argonautica, perhaps the ultimate source of some of the information&'2G) !here are several places in Ammianus- digression which remind us strongly of Apollonius&'2=) Aowever, the Argonautica is not a periplus, and Ammianus had evidently used some sort of periplus as a model& !here is, however, a wor$ which Ammianus could have $nown well and used, namely the Periegesis tes oi%oumenes, a poem written y a certain Dionysius of Ale,andria in =(4 8&9&'2() Dionysius- poem was a "Cehrdicht" of ==<; he,ametric verses, ma$ing a tour of the world and telling readers a out its asic geography& 0t was composed in the Gree$ of Aomer and Aesiod& !he he,ametric form was undou tedly chosen to ma$e it easier to memorise and recite the poem& Dionysius- description of the world was a compilation of geographical $nowledge of the time& But the poem does not deal with geography and topography stricto sensu and it includes history, mythology and ethnography& 0ts purpose was to teach geography, which in Anti*uity was not considered a su ject of education on its own& !he only way to learn something a out geography was through references in literary wor$s and, once it was pu lished, through this wor$ of Dionysius& 0t is therefore not surprising that Dionysius- poem ecame very popular& !he

te,t was widely $nown in the fourth century, Ammianus- own time& 0t was translated .rather freely/ into Catin y >ufius Festus Avienus .Descriptio &r$is 'errarum/, and we $now that the famous fourth5century orator !hemistius was ac*uainted with the wor$ .&r& 2G&=<2f&/&'22) 0t is very li$ely that in Cate Anti*uity Dionysius- poem was used as a school5te,t& Ammianus may have memorised it himself when he was a school oy at Antioch&'24) >oughly spea$ing, verses 7?(5<(= deal with the Blac$ 3ea and its surroundings and thus cover a large part of the regions descri ed y Ammianus& !here are some interesting similarities etween Ammianus- digression and Dionysius- poem& !here are parallels with respect oth to form and to contentsF Dionysios mentions peoples and rivers which are also referred to y Ammianus& Furthermore, Dionysius also li$es to alternate his geographical description with stories from Gree$ mythology and history&'2?) 9ven Ammianus- wrong impression of the shape of the Blac$ 3ea with the 3ea of Asov east instead of north of the Bontus 9u,inus may go ac$ to the not altogether clear comparison of the Bontus with the 3cythian ow in Dionysius&'27) Dionysius- poem is not a geographical manual, ut is in the first place a literary wor$ presenting geographical information&'2;) !he same is true of Ammianus- digression& Both authors wrote for the same audience, an audience interested not so much in factual geographical information, ut in an image of the world or a certain region 5 as in the case of the Blac$ 3ea 5 presented in a literary form& 0t might even e that Ammianus- readers andMor listeners $new Dionysius- poem, or its Catin translation, from their own schooldays and that Ammianus- digression appealed intentionally to what they had learned from it& Ammianus- choice of Dionysius- poem as his main source '2<) shows that it was not his real intention to offer to his audience a geographical manual or a guide for travellers, li$e a -real- periplus, ut a cultural showpiece in which his readers and listeners would ta$e delight& !he general evocation of a geographical image of the Blac$ 3ea littoral could therefore suffice and Ammianus did not have to other greatly a out the correctness of his information& Ae would not e judged on that y his audience& A prere*uisite for an entertaining digression seems to have een the inclusion of mythological, historical and ethnographical themes& !his was the $ind of digression educated inha itants of the >oman 9mpire e,pected in a literary and historical wor$&'26) 0t would not ama%e me, even though 0 cannot prove it, that the geographical $nowledge of the educated >oman did not go eyond the $ind of information Dionysius and Ammianus presented& Le should therefore loo$ upon Ammianus- digression on the Blac$ 3ea as in the first place a piece of literature and not as a geographical treatise for practical use& !his puts his information in another perspective and .partly/ e,plains the author-s imprecise $nowledge& !his approach to the digression is more in $eeping with Ammianusintentions and the e,pectations of his >oman audience than +ommsen-s harsh verdict "das eitle Bemhen um Allwissenheit"&'4G)

&'(E)

'=) !his paper is an ela oration of the material in the commentary y @& den Boeft, @&L& Drijvers, D& den Aengst, A&8& !eitler, Philological and Historical Commentary on Ammianus #arcellinus (()) .Groningen =66?/ <<ff& '>eturn to te,t) '() !h& +ommsen, "Ammians Geographica", Hermes =7 .=<<=/ 7G(5727, 72?F reprinted in !h& +ommsen, Gesammelte *chriften ; .Berlin =6G6/ 26254(?& '>eturn to te,t) '2) #& Gardthausen, "Die geographischen Nuellen Ammians", +$$. f. class. Philol&, 3uppl& 7 .Ceip%ig =<;2/& '>eturn to te,t) '4) 9&g& +& 3chan%, Geschichte der R,mischen -iteratur 0# .(nd edn&, +nchen =6=4/ 67, who remar$s that in his digressions "der alte 3oldat 'i&e& Ammianus) mit seiner mhsam erwor enen Gelehrsam$eit gln%en will und daher manchmal aus seinen Nuellen Dinge a schrei t, die er sel st nicht versteht"& '>eturn to te,t) '?) @ohn +atthews, 'he Roman Empire of Ammianus .Condon =6<6/, 2(& !&D& Barnes, "Citerary 8onvention, :ostalgia and >eality in Ammianus +arcellinus", inE G& 8lar$e et al& .ed&/, Reading the Past in -ate Anti.uity .>ushcutters Bay =66G/ ?656(, 7257?& Lhereas 8&L& Fornara, "3tudies in Ammianus +arcellinus 00E Ammianus- Knowledge and 1se of Gree$ and Catin Citerature", Historia 4= .=66(/ 4(G542< emphasi%es Ammianus- -deep familiarity with the Catin literary tradition-, !&D& Barnes, in his recent monograph Ammianus #arcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality .0thacaMCondon =66</ 7?ff& argues in favour of Ammianus- Gree$ness& Dn Ammianus see furtherE 9&A& !hompson, 'he Historical /or% of Ammianus #arcellinus .8am ridge =64;F repr& Groningen =676/F >&8& Bloc$ley, Ammianus #arcellinus. A *tudy of his Historiography and Political 'hought .Brussels =6;?/F G& 3a ah, Ca m0thode d1Ammien #arcellin. Recherches sur la construction du discours histori.ue dans les Res Gestae .Baris =6;</F K& >osen, Ammianus #arcellinus, 9rtrge der Forschung Bd& =<2 .Darmstadt =6<(/F >& 3eager, Ammianus #arcellinus. *e"en *tudies in His -anguage and 'hought .8olum ia =6<7/F @an Lillem Drijvers O David Aunt .eds&/, 'he -ate Roman /orld and its Historian. )nterpreting Ammianus #arcellinus .CondonM:ew Por$ =666, forthcoming/& '>eturn to te,t) '7) 9& Gi on, 'he Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, !he Lorld-s 8lassics, ; vols& .D,ford =6G25=6G7/, vol& 2, =4? .8h& (7/& !he By%antine historian 9& 3tein, Geschichte des sp2tr,mischen Reiches, vol& = .#ienna =6(</ 22=, grossly e,aggarates when he considers Ammianus the greatest literary genius that the world produced etween !acitus and Dante& A&A&+& @ones, 'he -ater Roman Empire 3456783 .D,ford =674/ ==7, holds the view that Ammianus was a great historian who composed a full and detailed narrative& '>eturn to te,t) ';) 3ee e&g& 3a ah, -a m0thode .as in n&?/ ?(?5<& '>eturn to te,t) '<) Ae sometimes even has digressions within a digressionF 3a ah, -a m0thode .as in n&?/ ?(;E "il multiplie les digressions dans la digression"& A nice e,ample of this is the

section on the +agi in the digression on the Bersian provinces .(2&7&2(527/& '>eturn to te,t) '6) 3ee D& den Aengst, "!he scientific digressions in Ammianus- Res Gestae", inE @& den Boeft, D& den Aengst, A&8& !eitler .eds&/, Cognitio Gestorum9 'he Historiographic Art of Ammianus #arcellinus .Amsterdam =66(/ 26547& '>eturn to te,t) '=G) Besides the wor$s of Gardthausen and +ommsen referred to in notes ( and 2, 0 mention hereE A& +alotet, De Ammiani #arcellini digressioni$us .uae ad e!ternas gentes pertinant .Baris =<6</F A& 8icoch$a, "Die Kon%eption des 9,$urses im Geschichtswer$ des Ammianus +arcellinus", Eos 72 .=6;?/ 2(6524GF A&+& 9mmett, "!he Digressions in the Cost Boo$s of Ammianus +arcellinus", inE B& 8ro$e and A&+& 9mmett .ed&/, History and Historians in -ate Anti.uity .3ydney =6<(/ 4(5?2F A&+& 9mmett, "0ntroductions and 8onclusions to Digressions in Ammianus +arcellinus", #useum Philologum -ondiniense ? .=6<=/ =?522F 1& >ichter, "Die Fun$tion der Digressionen im Ler$ Ammians", /:r;$urger +ahr$:cher f:r die Altertums<issenschaft, :F =? .=6<6/ (G65(((F +& 8alta iano, "0l carattere delle digressioni nelle >es Gestae di Ammiano +arcellino", inE A& Gar%ya .ed&/, #etodologie della ricerca sulla tarda antichit=, Atti del Brimo 8onvegno dell- Associa%ione di 3tudi !ardoantichi .:aples =6<6/ (<65(67& Dn the digression on Bersia .(2&7/, there is @uan 3ignes, "9l 9,cursus de los Bersas de Amiano +arcelino .QQ000, 7/", >eleia ; .=66G/ 2?=52;?F for the e,cursus on the Auns .2=&(/, see 8& King, "!he #eracity of Ammianus +arcellinus- Description of the Auns", American +ournal of Ancient History =( .=6<; '=66?)/ ;;56?& Dn the digressions of Ammianus in general, see +atthews, 'he Roman Empire .as in n&?/ 2<6526(& For a discussion on what constitutes a formal digressionMe,cursus in Ammianus, see Barnes, Ammianus #arcellinus, (((5((4& '>eturn to te,t) '==) Ammianus +arcellinus, 'he -ater Roman Empire ?A.D. @A56@B4C 3elected and !ranslated y Lalter Aamilton with an 0ntroduction and :otes y Andrew Lallace5 Aadrill .Benguin Boo$s =6<7/& '>eturn to te,t) '=() Appositum est ut e!istimo tempus ad has partes nos occasione magni principis de"olutos super 'hraciarum e!timis situ.ue Pontici sinus "isa "el lecta .uaedam perspicua fide monstrare .((&<&=/& '>eturn to te,t) '=2) 9mmett, )ntroductions and Conclusions .as in n&=G/, (< notes that the introduction at ((&<&= is misleading& !he digression opens with a description of the Aegean 3ea, whereas the introduction promises to give information super 'raciarum e!timis situ.ue Pontici sinus& '>eturn to te,t) '=4) !his is *uite nicely mentioned y Ammianus himself in ((&<&=GE omnis autem eius "elut insularis circuitus litorea na"igatio& '>eturn to te,t) '=?) For 3tra o on the Bontus 9u,inus, see B$s& #00, Q0 and Q00& '>eturn to te,t)

'=7) For the the te,t of this Periplus Ponti Eu!ini, see A& Diller, 'he 'radition of the #inor Gree% Geographers .Amsterdam =6<7/& '>eturn to te,t) '=;) insulae sunt Phanagorus et Hermonassa &&& .((&<&2G/& Ae mentions for instance *angarius et Phyllis et -ycus et Rhe$o flu"ii .((&<&=4/ in the wrong order since this must e >he as, Bsilis, 3angarius, Cycus& 0n ((&<&=7 he mentions Heraclea et *inope et Polemonion et Amisos...et 'ios et AmastrisF the correct topographical se*uence from west to east isE Aeraclea, !ius, Amastris, 3inope, Amisus, Bolemonion& !he selection of rivers and towns is also not always comprehensi le& 3ee for more e,amples and details the commentary on ((&< in Den Boeft et al&, Commentary on Ammianus #arcellinus (()) .as in n& =/& '>eturn to te,t) '=<) Ae only does so twiceF in ((&<&=G mentioning the circumference of the Blac$ 3ea ."iginti tri$us dimensa mili$us stadiorum/ and in ((&<&(G giving the distance etween the promontory 8aram is on the south coast of the Blac$ 3ea and the opposite lying 8riumetopon, the southern promontory of the 8rimea .Haud procul inde attollitur Caram$is placide collis...cuius e regione est Criumetopon...duo$us mili$us et .uingentis stadiis disparatum/& '>eturn to te,t) '=6) ((&<&=GE in speciem *cythici arcus ner"o coagmentati geographiae totius assensione firmatur& '>eturn to te,t) '(G) 9&g& 3all& Hist& 2&72F 3tr& (&?&(( .=(?8/F Blin&, Nat. Hist. 4&;7F Bomp& +ela =&=G(F #al& Flacc& 4&;(<& '>eturn to te,t) '(=) ((&<&=G, =2, (G, 2;, 4( and 42& '>eturn to te,t) '(() !his was also already noted y A& Berger Die geographischen Fragmente des Eratosthenes .Ceip%ig =<<G/ 224522?E "R rigens e$undet die&&&Darstellung Ammians v"llige 1n$larheit&&&o schon er emht ist, die allgemeine Drientierung nach der Figur des Bogens durch%ufhren"& 3ee also 0& Gualandri, "Fonti geografiche de Ammiano +arcellino QQ00 <", Parola del Passato (2 .=67</ =665(==, (G45(G<& '>eturn to te,t) '(2) ((&<&==& @& Fontaine, Ammien #arcellin. Histoires li"res !!6!!ii .Baris =667 'BudS)/ n& 7?6 ad ((&<&==E "Ammien commet&&&une grave erreur d-orientation&&&"& '>eturn to te,t) '(4) 3ee for this especially !& Be$$er5:ielsen, "!erra 0ncognitaE the 3u jective Geography of the >oman 9mpire", inE *tudies in Ancient History and Numismatics presented to Rudi 'homsen .Aarhus =6<</ =4<5=7=F K& Brodersen, 'erra Cognita. *tudien ;ur r,mische Raumerfassung, 3pudasmata ?6 .AildesheimMTrichM:ew Por$ =66?/, with e,tensive i liography& For Ammianus as geographer, see Gavin A& 3undwall, "Ammianus Geographicus", American +ournal of Philology ==; .=667/ 7=65 742& '>eturn to te,t) '(?) Ammianus had long een a protector domesticus .=4&6&=/, a general staff officer elected to serve the emperor in person& As a military man Ammianus travelled around the

9mpire& Ae was in Gaul campaigning with the then 8aesar @ulian against the invading German tri es, he visited e&g& !hrace, Greece, 9gypt, the eastern provinces of the >oman 9mpire and Bersia& 8ontrary to 3undwall, Ammianus Geographicus .as in n& (4/ 7(757(;, 0 consider it very unli$ely that Ammianus- travel e,periences and his own authority played an important role with regard to the contents of the geographical digressionsF in fact, his description of the Blac$ 3ea littoral shows no sign at all of personal e,perience& '>eturn to te,t) '(7) 3ee on Ammianus- sources for his geographical digressionsE Gardthausen, "Die geographischen Nuellen Ammians" .as in n& 2/F Gualandri, "Fonti geografiche" .as in n& ((/& Fontaine, Ammien #arcellin .as in n& (2/ n& 7G4 ad ((&<&= argues 5 li$e +ommsen, "Ammians Geographica" .as in n& (/ and Gualandri .(==E "&&&un lavoro di mosaico, ottenuto con elementi di provenien%a diversissima&&&"/ 5 that Ammianus had used a variety of sourcesF hence the many mista$es ."Ca variStS des sources entraUne d-ailleurs des contradictions et des ruptures dans l-ordre gSographi*ue de l-e,posS"/& 8hr& Danoff, "Bontos 9u,einos", >9 3uppl& 6 .=67(/ <775==;?, 6=; thin$s that Ammianus made use of a now lost periplus& '>eturn to te,t) '(;) ((&<&4454? on the mouths on the Danu e ears a stri$ing similarity to 3olinus =2&=& 3allust had included in the third oo$ of his Aistoriae 5 a wor$ which is only fragmentarily preserved 5 a digression on the Bontus 9u,inus and Ammianus may have used it, although this cannot e proven& Aowever, throughout the >es Gestae there are many indications that Ammianus $new 3allust-s wor$& '>eturn to te,t) '(<) 0 do not agree at all with 3undwall-s opinion, "Ammianus Geographicus" .as in n& (4/ 74G, that Ammianus was an authority on geography& 8areful scrutiny of the Blac$ 3ea digression demonstrates eyond any dou t that he was not& '>eturn to te,t) '(6) Ammianus- reference to these three authorities on geography is rather clumsy, since as far as is $nown nowhere in their wor$s did Aecataeus and Btolemy give any information on the circumference of the Bontus 9u,inus& 9ratosthenes didE (G&GGG stadiaF 9ratosth& fr& 000 B 26 J A& Berger, Die geographischen Fragmente .as in n& ((/ (;G& '>eturn to te,t) '2G) Gualandri, "Fonti geografiche" .as in n& ((/ (G6E "&&&l-utili%%a%ione, da parte di Ammiano, di una fonte prosastica .parafrasi e commentario/ che ad Apollonio ora sem ra strettamente legata"& '>eturn to te,t) '2=) Dne of the clearest instances is Ammianus- phrase Haud procul inde attollitur Caram$is placide collis contra septemtrionem Helicen e!surgens in ((&<&(G which is strongly reminiscent of Apoll& >hod& (&27G5=& For more e,amples see Gualandri, "Fonti geografiche" .as in n& 2/ (G65==& '>eturn to te,t) '2() !his was already noticed y Gardthausen .as in n& 2/ ?26 and Gualandri, "Fonti geografiche".as in& ((/ (GGff& '>eturn to te,t)

'22) !he te,t was also later $nown and regularly referred to, for instance y 8assiodorus and 3tephanos of By%antion& !he latter *uotes it regularly in his Ethni%a, an encyclopaedia of geographical names& !he wor$ is also *uoted in the well5$nown By%antine encyclopaedia entitled Etymologicum Genuinum& 0ts popularity in the +iddle Ages is proved y the e,istence of more than =2G mss& :ot only was the poem appreciated for its literary *ualities, ut Dionysius himself was considered an e,pert on geography& '>eturn to te,t) '24) Although recently other places have een suggested as Ammianus- native city, 0 still thin$ that Antioch is the most li$ely optionF see @ohn +atthews, "!he Drigin of Ammianus", Classical Quarterly 44 .=664/ (?(5(76& '>eturn to te,t) '2?) ((&<&2= .on the Agathyrsi/ has a clear correspondence with Dion& Ber& 2=<F ((&<&(? .on !roy/ 5 Dion& Ber& 7<(ff&F ((&<&(; .on the Ama%ons/ 5 Dion& Ber& 7?6ff&F see further Gualandri, "Fonti geografiche" .as in n& ((/ (G4 n& =6& '>eturn to te,t) '27) Dion Ber& =?;572, esp& =7=52& 3ee also Gualandri .n& ((/ (G45<& '>eturn to te,t) '2;) 3ee for this the introduction to Dionysius- wor$ y 8& @aco , -a description de la terre ha$it0e de Denys d1Ale!andrie ou la leDon de g0ographie .Baris =66G/ and the introduction y Kai Brodersen, Dionysios "on Ale!andria. Das -ied "on der /elt .AildesheimMTrichM:ew Por$ =664/& 3ee also 0sa elle Dn& !savari, Histoire du te!te de la description de la terre de Denys de p0ri0gEte .@annina =66G/& '>eturn to te,t) '2<) Df course Ammianus must have used other sources, especially for his information on topography, ut it is impossi le to determine which sources he consulted for that& '>eturn to te,t) '26) 0t is e,tremely dou tful, at least in the case of the e,cursus on the Blac$ 3ea littoral, whether >ichter, "Die Fun$tion der Digressionen" .as in n& ?/ (=65((=, and 8alta iano, "0l carattere delle digressioni" .as in n& ?/ (6(5(64 are right in arguing that the informative aspect of the digressions was of great importance for Ammianus& 0f this was so, Ammianus would surely have presented more correct information& '>eturn to te,t) '4G) 0 am grateful to Dr David Aunt for the revision of my 9nglish& !he A03!D3 editor was @ohn +oles& '>eturn to te,t)