Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Liber De Mensura Orbis Terrae (Author: Dicuil)

p.45

Having composed my letter on ten questions of the art of grammar, I considered that a book might follow on the measurement of the provinces of the earth, according to the authority of the men whom the holy emperor Theodosius had sent to measure the said provinces; and I desire to indicate their dimensions, supplementing this information on the high authority of Plinius Secundus.
But I have two reasons for prefixing the account of the envoys of Theodosius to the words of Plinius Secundus in the order of my writing, as against the chronological order, one that the former, in their last twelve lines, assert that their work has been done more carefully than that of the ancients, and the other, that I saw beforehand that the volumes of the Natural History of Plinius Secundus which I had examined, were very much jumbled up by the scribes of recent times.
I shall, indeed, devote my attention to correcting, in so far as I can, the reports of the above-mentioned envoys, as they have been composed with fewer mistakes.
But where in the books of Plinius Secundus I find figures which I realize to be undoubtedly corrupt, I shall leave their places vacant for the moment, so that if I do not find trusty copies whoever does find them may emend them. Where I am in doubt as to whether the figures are correct or not, I shall write them down as correct, so that, as I have said, whoever finds the true figures may make the appropriate correction.
Discrepancies in the number of miles between Plinius Secundus and the emperor's envoys should occasion no surprise to anyone, since the latter truly testify, as I have said, that they accomplished their work with more care than did the ancients.

  • I. Europe.
  • II. Asia.
  • III. Africa.
  • IV. Egypt and Ethiopia with its islands.
  • V. Longitude and latitude of the earth and the verses of the envoys.
  • VI. The five rivers and others.
  • VII. Some islands in particular.
  • VIII. Latitude and longitude of the Tuscan sea.
  • IX. The six mountains.