Expositio totius mundi (ca 360 CE)
Greek geographical treatise, ca 360, whose anonymous author was possibly a pagan from
Syria; preserved only in two distinct Latin versions under the title Expositio totius mundi. The
work begins with a description of the paradise Eden in the Far East, followed by remarks on
India and Persia. This introductory part resembles Greek hodoiporeia, the fabulous guide-
books to Eden. The author then describes “our land” (terra nostra), the Byzantine Empire,
starting with Syria and Egypt. From Asia Minor, he comes to Thrake ̄ and Macedon, Greece
and countries in the western Mediterranean, ending with the description of some famous
islands including Cyprus and Britannia. He gives distances in mansiones. The second part of
the treatise contains data on climate, commerce and treaties; the author may have been a
widely traveled merchant.
Ed.: GGM 2.513–528; J. Rougé, Sources Chrétiennes 124 (1966).
RE 6.2 (1909) 1693–1694, H. Berger; A.A. Vasiliev, Seminarium Kondakovianum, recueil d’études 8 (1936)
1 – 39; N.V. Pigulevskaja, Byzanz auf den Wegen nach Indien (1969) 46–51; HLB 1.515; ODB 771, A.
Kazhdan.
Andreas Kuelzer
EXPOSITIO TOTIUS MUNDI