XII.] DATE OF HIS ' GEOGRAPHY/ 243

such magnitude could hardly be carried on except under the
paternal supervision of one person1. So far did these opinions
carry him, that he not only regarded the harsh treatment of revolted
provinces by the Romans as a form of necessary discipline3, but
he mentions the conquest of his own fatherland, Pontus, by that
people with a singular absence of feeling3.

A considerable part of Strabo's literary life was occupied in
writing a work on history, which he called * Historical Strabo.
Memoirs' ('lo-Topt/ca ^ro^i/i^ara). This treatise, Historical

which seems to have been a continuation of the
history of the world from the point where the History of Polybius
ended, 146 B.C., is referred to by name by the author himself in
his Geography and by Plutarch4; and it was extensively used both
by Josephus and Arrian. Though it no longer exists, it is highly
probable that many of the historical notices, which so frequently
occur in the Geography, are summaries of portions of it. The
last-named work was the product of the later period DatCofCom-
of Strabo's life, but there is no need to assign it, position of his
as many writers have done, to a date as far advanced eegra* y~
as from 17 to 23 A.D. — a conclusion from which we would gladly
escape, because it involves the necessity of believing that a treatise,
which is characterised in a high degree by freshness and vigour,
was produced by an old man. If we have rightly fixed 63 B.C. as
the year of Strabo's birth, he would have been So years of age in
17 A.D. The chief argument in favour of the late date is found in
the numerous passages in which events are mentioned which took
place in the interval between 17 and 23 A.D. j but the occurrence of
these does not necessitate the conclusion that the work at large was
composed at that time. It seems more probable, especially when
we consider the magnitude of the task, that its execution extended
over a long period, and that it was brought up to date by the in-
sertion of subsequent incidents at a later period. This supposition
also may serve to some extent to account for the marked inequality
of style and treatment which is traceable in various
parts of the Geography. A more difficult question
arises whenjye attempt to determine the place at
«
1 6. 4. «/ '* - 5. 4. 13. 8 is. 3. 33.
* i, j. 23; ii. 9. 3; Plutarch, LttcvlL a8.
16— 2