Kyle Tettman
HUMA 4102
Working Title: Mela and Geography in the Ancient World
Roger Batty .Mela's Phoenician Geography .The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 90 (2000), pp.
70-94
F.E. Romer. Pomponius Mela's description of the world. Ann Arbor : University of
Michigan Press, c1998
Outside of the article that I have listed above the major research paper will look at the
work of Pomponius Mela firstly as a geography itself but also at its reception and place
within the greater collection of Ancient Roman Geographers.
In order to form a better comparison and analysis geographers will taken from the First
Century AD which will also allow for maximum relevance to our course. Of these works
I will deal most with the writings of Strabo, Isidore of Charax, and Pliny the Elder.
Most fascinating about this area of work is its style and manner of writing. It is the
account of a provincial writing a sort of journeyman’s guide to the world as man who had
not travelled the world. This means he is forced to draw from other accounts, “known”
experiences and also in a small part from his own travels.