Posidonius of Apamea · Philosophy

The Measure of the World

Posidonius turned his cosmic piety into hard measurement: he estimated the size and distance of the sun, took the measure of the earth’s circumference, mapped its zones and peoples, and traced the tides. One of his figures for the earth, too small, would echo down to Columbus.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Posidonius measured the world - estimating the earth’s circumference from the star Canopus (our sources report both 240,000 and 180,000 stades), gauging the sun’s size and distance, and mapping the earth’s zones and peoples - and that his smaller circumference, adopted by Ptolemy, la…

Leads to Strabo.

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