Pseudo-Scymnus is the name given by

Augustus Meineke Johann Albrecht Friedrich August Meineke (also ''Augustus Meineke''; ; 8 December 179012 December 1870), Germany, German classical philology, classical scholar, was born at Soest, Germany, Soest in the Duchy of Westphalia. He was father-in-law to p ...

to the unknown author of a work on

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek, Greek: , ''geographia'', literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth and Solar System, planets. The first person t ...

written in

Classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language Greek (modern , romanized: ''Elliniká'', Ancient Greek, ancient , ''Hellēnikḗ'') is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family of languages, nati ...

, the ''Periodos to Nicomedes''. It is an account of the world (''

periegesisA periegesis (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek περιήγησις 'leading around') is a geographical survey or travelogue, sometimes also called a ''periodos'' ' journey around' 'sc.'' the world It is the name of several books: * Pausan ...

'') in 'comic'

iambic trimeter The Iambic trimeter is a meter of poetry consisting of three iambic units (each of two feet) per line. In ancient Greek poetry Ancient Greek literature is literature Literature broadly is any collection of Writing, written work, but it ...

s which is dedicated to a King Nicomedes of

Bithynia Bithynia (; Koine Greek Koine Greek (, , Greek approximately ;. , , , lit. "Common Greek"), also known as Alexandrian dialect, common Attic, Hellenistic or Biblical Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, ...

. This is either

Nicomedes II Epiphanes Nicomedes II Epiphanes (Ancient Greek, Greek: Νικομήδης ὁ Ἐπιφανής "Nicomedes God-Manifest") was the king of Bithynia from 149 to c. 127 BC. He was fourth in descent from Nicomedes I of Bithynia, Nicomedes I. Nicomedes II was t ...

who reigned from 149 BC for an unknown number of years or his son,

Nicomedes III Euergetes Nicomedes III Euergetes (the Benefactor, grc-gre, Νικομήδης Εὐεργέτης, Nikomḗdēs Euergétēs) was the king of Bithynia, from c. 127 BC to c. 94 BC. He was the son and successor of Nicomedes II of Bithynia. Life Memnon of He ...

. The author explicitly takes for his model

Apollodorus of Athens Apollodorus of Athens ( el, Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, ''Apollodoros o Athineos''; c. 180 BC – after 120 BC) son of Asclepiades, was a Greek#REDIRECT Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Gre ...

, whose chronography in trimeters was dedicated to King

Attalus II Philadelphus Attalus II Philadelphus (Greek#REDIRECT Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece Greece ( el, Ελλάδα, , ), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its population is a ...

Pergamum Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the c ...

.Prologue, ll 19-21.

Attribution of authorship

The ''Periodos to Nicomedes'' was first published at

Augsburg Augsburg ( , , ; bar, Augschburg, links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German, label=Swabian German) is a city A city is a large .Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, ...

in 1600. Because it was found together with the ''Epitomes'' of Marcianus of Heraclea it was first published under his name. Because this was clearly a mistake

Lucas Holstenius Lucas Holstenius, born Lukas Holste (1596 – 2 February 1661), was a German people, German Catholic Humanism, humanist, geographer, historian, and librarian. Life Born at Hamburg in 1596, he studied at the gymnasium of Hamburg, and later at ...

and

Isaac Vossius Isaak Vossius, sometimes anglicised Isaac Voss (1618 in Leiden – 21 February 1689 in Windsor, Berkshire) was a Dutch scholar and manuscript collector. Life He was the son of the Renaissance humanism, humanist Gerhard Johann Vossius. Isaak ...

were the first to attribute it to

Scymnus Scymnus of Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Khíos ) is the fifth largest of the Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, islands, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for ...

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Khíos ) is the fifth largest of the Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, islands, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of Mast ...

Chios

, a writer cited more than once by late grammarians as the author of a ''periegesis''. It continued to pass under his name until 1846 when

, in republishing the extant fragments, showed clearly that there were no grounds for ascribing them to that writer. The real work of Scymnus of Chios appears to have been in

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language A language is a structured system of communication Communication (from Latin ''communicare'', meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is "an apparent answer to the painful divisions ...

prose

and the few statements cited from him are not in accordance with those of Pseudo-Scymnus. In 1955, Aubrey Diller determined that Pseudo-Scymnus was most likely

Pausanias of Damascus Pseudo-Scymnus is the name given by Augustus Meineke Johann Albrecht Friedrich August Meineke Johann Albrecht Friedrich August Meineke (also ''Augustus Meineke''; ; 8 December 179012 December 1870), German classical scholar, was born at Soest in ...

. If this is true, he would have lived in

around 100 BC. In 2004 Konstantin Boshnakov argued for Semos of Delos, and consequently for a somewhat later date than is usually offered.

Content of the ''Periodos to Nicomedes''

The standard text, with a French translation, is now Didier Marcotte, ''Pseudo-Scymnos, Circuit de la terre'' (Paris, 2000). The work contains material on the coasts of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = , national_anthem = , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 ...

Spain

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Liguria

, the Euxine (Black Sea), data on various

Greek#REDIRECT Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece Greece ( el, Ελλάδα, , ), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its population is approximately 10.7 million as of ...

colonies In political science, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the metropole, metropolitan ...

, as well as information about the ancient

Umbrians The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the Regio VI Umbria, ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th ...

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation of ''Celt'' for different usages) are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples The Indo-European languages ar ...

Celts

Liburnians The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' (Raša (river), Raša) and ''Titius'' (Krka (Croatia), ...

and other peoples.

Attribution of authorship

Content of the ''Periodos to Nicomedes''

References

Further reading