Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/189

 CHAP. v. 9. INTRODUCTION. 175 It would not serve any political purpose to be well ac- quainted with these distant places and the people who inhabit them; especially if they are islands whose inhabitants can neither injure us, nor yet benefit us by their commerce. The Romans might easily have conquered Britain, but they did not care to do so, as they perceived there was nothing to fear from the inhabitants, (they not being powerful enough to at- tack us,) and that they would gain nothing by occupying the land. Even now it appears that we gain more by the customs they pay, than we could raise by tribute, after deducting the wages of the soldiers necessary for guarding the island and exacting the taxes. And the other islands adjacent to this would be still more unproductive. 9. If, then, to the distance between Rhodes and the Dnie- per be added four thousand stadia north of the latter place, the whole would come to 12,700 stadia; and since from Rhodes to the southern limit of the habitable earth there are 16,600 stadia, its total breadth from north to south would be under 30.000 stadia. 1 Its length from west to east is stated at 70,000 stadia, the distance being measured from the ex- tremities of Iberia to those of India, partly over the land and partly across the sea. That this length is contained within the quadrilateral aforesaid, is proved by the proportion borne by these parallels to the equator. Thus the length of the habit- able earth is above twice its breadth. It has been compared From the northern extremity of Gaul to the parallel Stadia. Latitude. of the northern extremity of Britain, 2500 stadia 34,000 48 34' 17" From the northern extremity of Gaul to lerne, 5000 stadia 36,500 52 8' 34" From the northern extremity of Britain to the limits of the habitable earth, 4000 stadia 38,000 54 17' 9" 1 Namely, 29,300. stadia. From Rhodes to Byzantium Strabo estimated 4900 From Byzantium to the Dnieper 3800 8700 From the Dnieper to the northern limits of the habitable earth 4000 12,700 From Rhodes to the southern limits of the habitable earth 16,600 Total 29,300