12-16-2009, 08:35 AM
I stumbled across something interesting last night.
This is wild speculation, but if they thought Spain was west of Britain could it be possible that some enterprising merchant thought of taking British tin to Spain and sailed due west around Ireland?
Quote:Britain is the largest island known to Romans: as regards its extent and situation it faces Germany on the east, Spain on the west(1)...
(1) The error of conceiving Spain as west of Britain, in spite of the testimony of the explorer Pytheas (c. 325 BC) accepted by Eratosthenes (c. 250 BC), lasted until the second century after Christ.
Tacitus, Agricola, 10, Note by Hutton and / or Ogilvie in Loeb Classic Library Tacitus I
This is wild speculation, but if they thought Spain was west of Britain could it be possible that some enterprising merchant thought of taking British tin to Spain and sailed due west around Ireland?
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
www.davidcord.com