STRABONE A NAPOLI E LA REDAZIONE DELLA GEOGRAFIA

Abstract

The contribution re-examines the date and place of writing of Strabo’s Geography, which are still debated today. The passage of the fifth book of the Geography devoted to Naples (Strab. V 4, 7) is reconsidered, in which Strabo records the addition of musical contests in the programme of the Neapolitan Isolimpic Games, datable through other evidence, to the year 18.
Since at the end of Book VI of the Geography (Strab. VI 4, 2) Germanicus, who died on 10 October 19, is mentioned as still alive, the passage in Book V concerning Naples must have been written between 18 and 19. The up-to-date and recent information on the Neapolitan Isolimpian games - all the more significant because it is the only one of those contained in the Geography after 7 B.C. that can be referred to the West - constitutes a relevant clue to Strabo’s presence in Naples and accredits the thesis that the Geography was written there between 17 and 23/24.

Keywords : Strabo’s Geography; Naples; Neapolitan Isolimpic Games; Augustus; Tiberius