Travel in the Ancient World

Lionel Casson (1914-2009) was Professor of Classics at New York University 1961-1979. He is the author of several books about ancient history, including The Ancient Mariners (hardcover 1991, paperback 1992) and Libraries in the Ancient World (hardcover 2001, paperback 2002).

The hardcover edition of his book about travel in the ancient world was published in 1974. The paperback version appeared in 1994. For the paperback version the author revised the text here and there and added some extra notes with more references, so the two editions are not identical.

The main text is divided into three sections. Here is a brief overview:

PART ONE: The Near East and Greece - Chapters 1-5

PART TWO: Travel in Roman Times - Chapters 6-13

PART THREE: Tourists and Touring in Roman Times - Chapters 14-19

At the end of the book there are notes with references, more notes with more references, and an index.

What about illustrations? In the beginning of the book there are four maps. In addition, there are 20 illustrations printed on extra pages placed throughout the book. The illustrations are well-chosen, but it is a shame they are all in black-and-white.

Casson got some good reviews. On the back cover of the paperback version there are excerpts from reviews of the hardcover edition. Here are three examples:

THE SUNDAY TIMES (LONDON): 

“A masterful summary of a fascinating subject.”

GNOMON:

“A clearly organized, instructive, concise history that is often enlivened by humor and novel turns- of-phrase.”

BIBLIOTECA ORIENTALIS: 

“A most delightful book, written by a scholar who combines a fine sense of interesting, pragmatic problems with an impressing command of scattered evidence.”

I agree: the book is well-written and well-organised. The author has an impressive knowledge of the ancient sources, giving many facts and figures, naming many persons and places. In this review I will mention five cases:

(1) Illustration # 10 (facing page 160) shows a Roman milestone from Via Appia. The caption gives the Latin text and an English translation. Milestones are mentioned in the text on page 173.

(2) Illustration # 12 (facing page 161) shows a relief of a Roman covered wagon from the cathedral of Maria Saal near Klagenfurt in the southern part of Austria. Wagons are mentioned several times in the text, for instance on page 179.

(3) Chapter 5 is devoted to the Greek author Herodotus (ca. 485-ca. 425), who is described as “The First Travel Writer.” Giving examples of the places and topics covered by Herodotus, Casson demonstrates the strong as well as the weak sides of this ancient writer.

(4) Chapter 18 is devoted to the Greek author Pausanias (ca. 120-ca. 180), who wrote the “Baedecker of the Ancient World.” Giving examples of the places and topics covered by Pausanias, Casson demonstrates the strong as well as the weak sides of this ancient writer.

(5) The giant Egyptian statues, known as the Colossi of Memnon, are presented in chapter 17. For about two hundred years, from 27 BC until around AD 206, one of them would “sing” or “talk.” It would produce a sound (almost) every day at the time of the sunrise.

Casson explains how travellers came to experience this strange phenomenon and how members of the elite would write a message, sometimes a poem, in Greek or Latin, which was later inscribed on the lower part of the monument (legs and feet). More than one hundred messages have been identified by modern scholars.

Hadrian visited the place in AD 130 (without leaving a message). But Julia Balbilla, a friend of his wife, Vibia Sabina, wrote four poems in Greek, which were inscribed on the statue. Casson does not mention Julia Balbilla by name, but he does mention “a voluble poetess who accompanied the royal entourage.”

One more detail is not given: the emperor’s visit took place in November 130, only a few weeks after Antinous – Hadrian’s young “friend” – had died under mysterious circumstances (he drowned in the Nile, but no one seemed to know just how and why it happened). Hadrian was deeply affected by this tragic event, which must have created a gloomy atmosphere during the visit to the giant statues.

[Read about Hadrian and his visit to Egypt in Elisabeth Speller, Following Hadrian: A Second-Century Journey through the Roman Empire (HC 2002, PB 2004).]

[Read about Hadrian and Antinous in Royston Lambert, Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous (HC 1984, PB 1997).]

As a classical scholar, Casson must have known the story about Antinous. Why did he leave it out? Perhaps the issue was too delicate for him. It is too late to ask him now, so I guess we will never know the answer to this question.

In the preface to the first edition (1974) Casson wrote:

 

“This book is the first full-scale treatment, in any language, of travel in the ancient world.”

In the preface to the second edition (1994) he repeated the statement, because it was still true. Since then several authors have tried to cover different parts of the topic in different ways:

** Travel and Geography in the Roman Empire (edited by Colin Adams and Ray Lawrence) was first published in 2001 and published as a paperback in 2011

** Everyday life in the ancient world: A guide to travel in ancient times was published in 2002

** Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists was published in 2003

** The journey of Theophanes, described by Casson on pp. 190-193, is the subject of a book that was published in 2006: The Journey of Theophanes: Travel, Business, and Daily Life in the Roman East

Casson was the first to cover this topic. His pioneering study is no longer the only one, but it is still important, because it is lively, comprehensive, and well-documented: a classic work about the classical world.

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Lionel Casson,

Travel in the Ancient World,

hardcover 1974, paperback 1994, 391 pages

 

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