Cartography is the science of map-making; a way of explaining the geography and topography of the physical world in a simplified graphical form. As explorers and soldiers, the ancient Greeks made important developments in this field. Of particular note is Hecataeus of Miletus, a Greek geographer and historian who lived in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC, around the time of the Persian invasion. As a wealthy citizen of Miletus, in Asia Minor, Hecataeus was able to leave his home city and travel the Mediterranean. Lauded as a hero on his return and given an influential position in Miletus’ government, he was able to devote much of his time to compiling what he had learned in a number of famous works, including, it is thought, “Travels round the Earth” and “World Survey”. Alongside a survey of the coastlines visited in geographical order, each volume contains an illustrative map. Building on important cartographical work by Anaximander (610-546BC), Hecataeus was able to produce a much larger version with many additions and corrections. The map depicted the known world as a flat disc surrounded by ocean, including Europe as far north as Scythia and as far west as Iberia and Gaul, Asia as far east as Persia, and Africa from Egypt to Carthage. Although most of Hecataeus’ great labour has been lost to time, 374 fragments survive as quoted in Ethnika, a more complete geographical compendium from the 6th century AD.
