Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
uplifting mountains. Aristotle observed the unequal distribution of mountains, the sig-
nificance of springs flowing from mountainsides, and the changes in climate that oc-
curred with altitude. He believed that earthquakes and volcanoes were closely related
and that they were involved in the formation of mountains. One of Aristotle's students,
Theophrastus, investigated mountain plants; another, Dicaearchus, attempted to calcu-
late the heights of mountains. In his famous geography, Strabo described mountains of
the ancient world, distinguishing them from plateaus (Sengor 2003).
ROMANS
Italy, like Greece, is a mountainous country: The Apennines run its entire length and the
Alps form its northern border. Although some Romans—notably the philosopher Seneca
and the encyclopedist Pliny—made important observations concerning mountains, on
the whole the Romans did not share the Greeks' appreciation of mountains, except per-
haps as distant vistas to be seen from the porches of their villas. Among the Latin po-
ets, only Lucretius discerned a sublime beauty in the Alps (Geikie 1912; Nicolson 1959).
These practical people viewed mountains primarily as wastelands and as obstacles to
commerce and conquest. The Romans were regularly crossing the Alps by Caesar's
time, but apparently never overcame their initial dread of them. To appease the primar-
ily Celtic deities of the Alpine passes and to commemorate safe journeys, they made
offerings of coins and small bronze tablets inscribed with the names of the deity and
the traveler. The hospice museum at the Great St. Bernard Pass has gathered a large
collection of these offerings from the surrounding area (Bernbaum 1997; personal ob-
servation).
The prevailing Roman attitude toward mountains was aptly expressed by Silius
Italicus in his description of Hannibal's famous crossing of the Alps in 218 B.C.:
Here everything is wrapped in eternal frost, white with snow, and held in the
grip of primeval ice. The mountain steeps are so stiff with cold that although
they tower up into the sky, the warmth of the sunshine cannot soften their
hardened rime. Deep as the Tartarean abyss of the underworld lies beneath the
ground, even so far does the earth here mount into the air, shutting out with its
shade the light of heaven. No Spring comes to this region, nor the charms of
Summer. Misshapen Winter dwells alone on these dread crests, and guards them
as her perpetual abode. Thither from all sides she gathers the sombre mists and
the thunder-clouds mingled with hail. Here, too, in this Alpine home, have the
winds and the tempests fixed their furious dominion. Men grow dizzy amidst the
lofty crags, and the mountains disappear in the Clouds, (PUNICA 111: 479-495, in
GEIKIE 1912)
Literally thousands of pages have been written concerning Hannibal's crossing,
many of which debate the question of his exact route. DeBeer (1946: 405) mused:
I often wonder whether Polybius and Livy realized what a blessing they con-
ferred on humanity by couching their accounts of Hannibal's passage of the Alps
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