Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Emperors, Frontiers, and Foreign Relations 183

port described the flora and fauna of the region, the political structure of
thekingdom,andthesizeofthearmy.Morespecifically,theygavethetotal
distancebetweenSyeneandMeroeandthelengthofthestagesfromtown
totown.^103
Thislastwasofcourseacrucialquestion,whetheritrelatedtobodiesof
troopsmarchingbylandortofleetsmovingalongacoastline.Information
onthesepointsisaconspicuousfeatureofthePeriplus of the Euxine(TheVoy-
age round the Black Sea)senttoHadrianbyArrianwhilehewasgovernorof
Cappadocia in 131/2.^104 Only the first part (chaps. 1–11) describes an actual
voyagebyArrianasgovernor,fromTrapezustoSebastopolis,thelastauxil-
iarypostontheeastcoastoftheEuxine.Hethenaddsadetailedguideto
thecoastingvoyagefromByzantiumtoTrapezus,thusoutsidehisprovince
(12–16). At this point (17) Arrian writes: ‘‘Since I have heard of the death
ofCotys,kingoftheCimmerianBosporus,Ihavetakenthetroubletode-
scribetoyouthevoyageasfarastheBosporus,sothatifyouareconsidering
mattersrelatingtotheBosporusyoumaybeinapositiontodosowithout
beingignorantofthevoyagethere.’’Theworkisthereforecompleted(18–25)
withafulldescriptionofthevoyageroundthenorthandwestcoastsfrom
SebastopolistoByzantium,withindicationsofdistancesandthecapacityof
theharbours.
Thisisnot,ofcourse,anexampleofanexploratoryexpedition.Butthein-
formationisofferedforthesamepurposeasthatgainedbythefirst-century
expeditions,asaguidetomovementinanareawhereinterventionmight
be required.The particular feature of the core of information provided—
thenamesofstoppingplacesandthedistancesbetweenthem—wasthatit
couldeitherbepresentedinliteraryformorbetabulatedintheformoflists
followingparticularroutesorrepresentedschematicallyonamapwhichdid
nothavetobeinpropertopographicalscaleorproportion.So,forinstance,
alargenumberofthemajorseaandlandroutescouldbetabulatedverbally
intheItinerarium Antonini.Onesection(123,8–147.I)liststhestagesofthe
keyroutefromRometoAntiochviatheBalkansandAsiaMinor,endlessly
traversedbyemperors,andanother(217,5–231,3)giveswhatmayhavebeen
Caracalla’sroutealongtheDanubein214.Thelistingofthelegionsintheir

103. Pliny,NH6,181–86;12,18–19;Seneca,NQ6,8,3–5.SeeJ.Desanges,Recherches sur
     l’activité des Méditerranéens aux confins de l’Afrique(1978),323–25.


104. SeetheeditionbyG.Marenghi,Arriano, Periplo del Ponto Eusino(1958).Notealso
     H. F. Pelham, ‘‘Arrian as Legate of Cappadocia,’’ inEssays(1911), 212, and P. A. Stadter,
     Arrian of Nicomedia(1980),32–41.AnEnglishtranslationanddiscussionofthisextremely
     importanttextforfrontierstudieswouldbeofgreatvalue.