Page:Arrian's Voyage Round the Euxine Sea Translated.djvu/172

Rh Archimedes, who was contemporary with Eratothenes, mentions that 300,000 tadia was the number aigned by ome for the circumference of the earth in his time.

The proportion therefore, which Mr. Barré remarks between the numbers of Aritotle and thoe of Pofidonius, was in all probability cafual, and erves only to confirm the remark of Dr. Blair, above cited, "that nothing is more common than to find a confuion of numbers in the meaurements given us by ancient authors.”

In order to prove the ancient Greek Radium to be only $3⁄5$ of the length of the one ued in later times, by which Mr. Barré means thoe ubequent to the age of Alexander, he oberves, that it had been before remarked, that a Roman mile did not always contain eight tadia, but ometimes only even and a half. This might prove that there was a difference in the length of the mile, but proves nothing repecting that of the Radium. Strabo ays, that in his time the uual computation was eight tadia, but that ome reckoned only even and a half. This difference eems however to have been provincial only.

Polybius, as I have before' remarked, reckons in general eight tadia to a mile; which, he ays, was according to the Roman meaurement. Livy appears to have ued the ame computation with Polybius. Thus, what Polybius calls, lib. iii: ect. 47. 7. Livy calls viginti guingue millia, lib. xxi. ect. 28.

quaginta, duonzm millium tadiorum pro- didit. Quæ menura, Romana computatione, efficit trecenties quindecies centena millia paum. Plin. lib. ii. cap. 128. 31.500 × 8 = 2 52.000. What