Origins & Early Life

Pomponius Mela (died c. AD 45) was the earliest known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras), wrote around AD 43, and died circa AD 45. His short work (De situ orbis libri III.) remained in use nearly to the year 1500.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

It occupies less than one hundred pages of ordinary print, and is described by the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) as "dry in style and deficient in method, but of pure Latinity, and occasionally relieved by pleasing word-pictures." Except for the geographical parts of Pliny's Historia naturalis (where Mela is cited as an important authority), the De situ orbis is the only formal treatise on the subject in Classical Latin. Little is known of Pomponius except his name and birthplace—the small town of Tingentera or Cingentera (identified as Iulia Traducta) in southern Spain, on Algeciras Bay (Mela ii. 6, § 96; but the text is here corrupt). The date of his writing may be approximately fixed by his allusion (iii. 6 § 49) to a proposed British expedition of the reigning emperor, almost certainly that of Claudius in AD 43.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

That this passage cannot refer to Julius Caesar is evidenced by several references...

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