west corner. He also inquired of the western Greek states such
as Massilia (modern-day Marseille) what there might be of
interest beyond the limits of Roman knowledge. Although
both Carthaginians and Greeks tried to divert the Romans
from involvement in the west—the results of their own explo-
rations were considered state secrets—the Romans did learn
about the Atlantic coast, and it became part of their cultural
understanding.
In northwestern Europe, Greeks had explored the Brit-
ish Isles, the Baltic region, and parts of the Arctic and Scan-
dinavia. Romans added little to this, though the North Sea
coast, bypassed by the Greeks, was examined with great
diffi culty in the Julio-Claudian Dynasty (27–68 c.e.): Re-
peated maritime disasters led to a feeling that the Atlantic
coasts were of no interest. Nevertheless, this completed an-
cient Roman knowledge of the coast from the West African
tropics to the interior Baltic area. Th e amber trade from the
Baltic acquainted the Romans with several routes across
northern Europe, especially the connections between the
northern affl uents of the Danube River, such as the Morava
River, and the systems of the Oder and Vistula rivers, ex-
plored by a Roman merchant in the 50s c.e. Romans re-
mained only vaguely aware of the farther side of the Baltic
and Scandinavia.
Interior Africa had fi rst been penetrated from the Medi-
terranean in early Greek times, and the routes up the Nile
River or across the Sahara had been known since at least the
fi ft h century b.c.e. Th e east coast was understood as far as
Zanzibar. In the fi rst century c.e. the Romans contributed
signifi cantly to the exploration of central Africa. Th e ques-
tion of the source of the Nile was part of this interest, having
been a topic of curiosity since at least the sixth century b.c.e.
and not solved until modern times. Greeks had long tangled
with the issue, but attempts to follow the Nile upstream had
gone barely beyond the lower cataracts. Juba II, the Roman-
ized k ing of Mauretania from 29 to 25 b.c.e., believed that theTh e Dream of Scipio, by Raphael; Scipio was the Roman conqueror of Carthage, the destruction of which initiated Roman exploration. (© Th e
Trustees of the British Museum)
444 exploration: Rome