Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/118

 104 STRABO. BOOK i. very particular if they who determine boundaries by the rivers leave some districts undefined, since the rivers do not reach from sea to sea, nor leave the continents altogether as islands. 9. At the close of the book Eratosthenes blames the system of those who would divide all mankind into Greeks and Bar- barians, and likewise those who recommended Alexander to treat the Greeks as friends, but the Barbarians as enemies. 1 He suggests, as a better course, to distinguish them ac- cording to their virtues and their vices, " since amongst the Greeks there are many worthless characters, andjuanvhighly civilized are to be found amongst the Barbarians ; witness the Indians ancTArijjai^oT still better the Romans and Carthagi- "mans7 whose pqliticaJLs^stem is so beautii'nl|y perfect. Alex- fancier, considering this, disregarded the advice which had been offered him, and patronized without distinction any man he considered to be deserving." But we would inquire whether those men who thus divided the human race, abandoning one portion to contempt, and exalting to dignity the other, were not actuated to this because they found that on one side justice, knowledge, and the force of reason reigned supreme, but their contraries on the other. Alexander did not disregard the advice tendered him, but gladly embraced and followed it, respecting the wisdom of those w r ho gave it ; and so far from taking the opposite course, he closely pursued that which they pointed out. 1 Aristotle was the giver of this sage counsel. 2 A people of Asia.