Strabo

Born in Amasia in Pontus, in what is now Turkey, Strabo lived around the late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE. He was educated in the Greek tradition and wrote during the period when Rome was becoming the dominant power in the Mediterranean world.

His most famous work is the Geography, a large survey of the known world in seventeen books. Rather than making maps alone, he brought together history, politics, travel accounts, and observations about different regions and cultures, which is one reason his work remains so useful to historians.

Strabo also wrote a historical work, now mostly lost, and he drew on both personal travel and earlier sources in his writing. For modern readers, he offers a rare window into how an educated ancient writer understood the lands, peoples, and empires around him.