Papers by Pierre Schneider
Cosmas Indicopleustês vécut dans la première moitié du 6e siècle ap. J.-C. Son surnom (« qui a na... more Cosmas Indicopleustês vécut dans la première moitié du 6e siècle ap. J.-C. Son surnom (« qui a navigué en mer Indienne », ou « qui navigué vers les contrées de l’Inde ») est en lien direct avec ce qui dut être l’une de ses principales activités : celle de marchand circulant en mer Rouge et dans la mer d’Oman. Sa Topographie chrétienne (un traité destiné à combattre les idées des chrétiens qui adoptaient les théories grecques de l’univers sphérique) est parsemée de diverses digressions - généralement à visée démonstrative – dans lesquelles Cosmas se réfère à ses propres souvenirs de marchand-navigateur dans l’océan Indien. Celle qui suit est d’un intérêt exceptionnel pour l’histoire de la navigation antique dans l’océan Indien.
A thorough study of the Bab al-Mandab area as known to Greeks and Romans
Overview
1) The historic... more A thorough study of the Bab al-Mandab area as known to Greeks and Romans
Overview
1) The historical background: the Greeks and Romans in the area of Bab al-Mandab (from early times to the 2nd century A.D.).
2) From "stoma" to "stena" : the making of the Greco-Roman body of knowledge.
3) The "Greco-Roman Bab al-Mandab": a synthetic review of the Greco-Roman body of knowledge.
4) The local trade network in the area of Bab al-Mandab.
5) Crossing the strait and mapping the strait: two perceptions of space.
6) Imperialism and space; power and glory: the rulers/conquerors and Bab al-Mandab.
Oriental landscapes and Mediterranean landscapes: a comparative study of the description of p... more Oriental landscapes and Mediterranean landscapes: a comparative study of the description of places in ancient geography. Account of the first two workshops.
In Pliny’s description of Ariana there is a brief mention of the fish-eating Orites, a tribe dwel... more In Pliny’s description of Ariana there is a brief mention of the fish-eating Orites, a tribe dwelling on the coast of Makran – the Orites were encountered by Alexander during his march from the Indus river to Persia. Having reported some facts relating to their countries, Pliny adds this puzzling observation: «Alexander made an order forbidding a fish diet to all the Fish-eaters». This story which we know only from Pliny (Solinus and Martianus Capella paraphrase the HN) may derive from Cleitarchus. Most historians and even philosophers (such as Montesquieu) suggest that this ban on fish diet applied to the Gedrosian Fish-eaters, i.e. the famous Ichthyophagi discovered by Nearchus; they believe that Alexander wanted to bring «civilization» to these destitute tribes. This paper shows that this decision actually applied to the Orite Ichthyophagi. They were probably deported in the Alexandria founded by Alexander in the hinterland of Orites’ country, where they were forced to pratice agriculture. As a matter of fact, a great number of Orites were killed following the fights with Alexander’s army. This demographic deficit may well explain why these Fish-eaters were forced to abandon their traditional life-style.
Report of the first workshop held at the Ecole normale supérieure (Paris) and organized by Jean ... more Report of the first workshop held at the Ecole normale supérieure (Paris) and organized by Jean Trinquier and Pierre Schneider / Compte-rendu de la première journée d'études organisée par Jean Trinquier et Pierre Schneider le 10 novembre 2014, à l'École normale supérieure de Paris
Klio 93/1 (2015) 135-156
This article deals with an excerpt from Tacitus’ Annals which has often been commented on. The fa... more This article deals with an excerpt from Tacitus’ Annals which has often been commented on. The famous account of Germanicus’ Egyptian tour contains a puzzling remark about Syene (claustra olim Romani imperii quod nunc Rubrum ad mare patescit): the adverb nunc refers in an allusive way to a recent expansion of the Roman Empire. Several scholars have rightly pointed to the Nabataean kingdom, a conclusion which seems to be the best one. The mare Rubrum therefore was not seen by Tacitus and his public as a limit of Roman Egypt. In contrast, from Tacitus’ point of view, it is the southern part of Arabia, bordered by the mare Rubrum, that became the new frontier of the Roman Empire after the annexation of the Nabataean kingdom. How this event was considered as a major expansion of the imperium Romanum is examined in the last section of the present paper.
Phoenix 66 (2012) , 2012
A l' epoque hell enistique, la construction d'une image royale rayonnante est indissociable de ... more A l' epoque hell enistique, la construction d'une image royale rayonnante est indissociable de l'exercice de la royauté : il faut rendre visibles, voire spectaculaires, les qualités royales. Certains animaux ont servi cet objectif (e.g., l'éléphant de guerre), certaines plantes aussi : des souverains hellénistiques ont transplanté des plantesà aromates dans leur territoire. Quelles significations accorderà ces actes ? J'essaierai d'abord d'établir au mieux les faits. J'évaluerai ensuite leur portée historique, dans le contexte de la basileia hellénistique.
Geographia antiqua 20-21, 2011
An attempt to translate Pliny's circuli (= klimata; paralleloi ; geographical locations through w... more An attempt to translate Pliny's circuli (= klimata; paralleloi ; geographical locations through which the main parallels pass) into cartographic drawings
M. Molin (éd.), Les régulations sociales dans l’Antiquité, Rennes, 2006, p. 43-53, 2006
Detailed summary of the article entitled : “L’élimination des vieillards et des malades : regard ... more Detailed summary of the article entitled : “L’élimination des vieillards et des malades : regard grec sur les sociétés des confins de l’oikoumenê”
Revue des études grecques 114/2, 2001
An inquiry into the names of the Indian Ocean at the time of Alexander the Great
For a detailed... more An inquiry into the names of the Indian Ocean at the time of Alexander the Great
For a detailed summary in English please download the specific file.
Geographia Antiqua 22, 2013
How and why the Fish Eaters (Ichtyophagi), far from staying obscure people, became
famous in the... more How and why the Fish Eaters (Ichtyophagi), far from staying obscure people, became
famous in the Greco-Roman world, is the subject of this paper. The Fish Eaters appear for the
first time in Herodotus’ narrative. The historian refers to two tribes. In particular he describes in a
vivid manner how the king Cambyses sent several Ichtyophagi to spy on the king of Ethiopia. Like
most of educated Greeks, Alexander and his companions were certainly aware of this famous story
involving the Fish Eaters. As a matter of fact, Nearchus gave this name to some destitute tribes
of Fish Eaters that he observed while skirting the barren coast of Gedrosia (in today’s Iran and Pakistan).
No doubt the amazing description that he published became quickly famous among his audience.
This fact is established by an extremely short fragment of Ennius, in which the poet vaguely
alludes to sheep eating fish somewhere near the sea. In reality this obscure line shows that Ennius
was referring to a marvellous fact (a paradoxon) borrowed from Nearchus and related to the Ichtyophagi:
according to Alexander’s admiral, the Fish Eaters were forced to feed their livestock with dried
fish, because of the lack of grasslands. Some time before the Italian poet, when the Ptolemaic explorers
of the Red Sea depicted in detail the various tribes of African Ichtyophagi, they certainly had
in mind their famous Gedrosian counterparts. Be that as it may, from the late Hellenistic period till
the end of Antiquity the Ichtyophagi were well known, as is shown by many texts. As a consequence
of this fame, Arrian may have emphasized the description of the Fish Eaters in his Indica, being
aware of his audience’s literary taste.
Chronique d'Egypte 84, 2009
The Journal of the Hakluyt Society, Feb 2011
Mangrove forests are seriously endangered and have recently become the focus of considerable atte... more Mangrove forests are seriously endangered and have recently become the focus of considerable attention. While nowadays ecological and biological questions tend to predominate, few scholars have paid attention to the discovery of mangrove in the Graeco-Roman period. In this article the author examines where and when mangroves were observed by the Greeks and the Romans during their early voyages in the Indian Ocean, and he demonstrates the remarkable degree of scientific accuracy achieved in the writings of Theophrastus and in the observations of the associates of Alexander the Great. The author helps us to understand the major features of the mangrove as a landscape from the Graeco-Roman point of view.
The Journal of the Hakluyt Society, Jul 2014
Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the early twent... more Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the early twenty-first century, but what we are witnessing today may appear as the latest manifestation of a phenomenon which already existed in antiquity. This paper collects together and analyses all surviving textual evidence relating to ancient piracy in the Indian Ocean in the Hellenistic, Roman and early Byzantine periods.
J. M. Candau Morón, F. J. González Ponce, A. Chávez Reino (edd.), Libyae lustrare extrema. Estudios en honor del Profesor Jehan Desanges, Sevilla, p. 253-270. , 2008
Conference Presentations by Pierre Schneider
Uploads
Papers by Pierre Schneider
Overview
1) The historical background: the Greeks and Romans in the area of Bab al-Mandab (from early times to the 2nd century A.D.).
2) From "stoma" to "stena" : the making of the Greco-Roman body of knowledge.
3) The "Greco-Roman Bab al-Mandab": a synthetic review of the Greco-Roman body of knowledge.
4) The local trade network in the area of Bab al-Mandab.
5) Crossing the strait and mapping the strait: two perceptions of space.
6) Imperialism and space; power and glory: the rulers/conquerors and Bab al-Mandab.
For a detailed summary in English please download the specific file.
famous in the Greco-Roman world, is the subject of this paper. The Fish Eaters appear for the
first time in Herodotus’ narrative. The historian refers to two tribes. In particular he describes in a
vivid manner how the king Cambyses sent several Ichtyophagi to spy on the king of Ethiopia. Like
most of educated Greeks, Alexander and his companions were certainly aware of this famous story
involving the Fish Eaters. As a matter of fact, Nearchus gave this name to some destitute tribes
of Fish Eaters that he observed while skirting the barren coast of Gedrosia (in today’s Iran and Pakistan).
No doubt the amazing description that he published became quickly famous among his audience.
This fact is established by an extremely short fragment of Ennius, in which the poet vaguely
alludes to sheep eating fish somewhere near the sea. In reality this obscure line shows that Ennius
was referring to a marvellous fact (a paradoxon) borrowed from Nearchus and related to the Ichtyophagi:
according to Alexander’s admiral, the Fish Eaters were forced to feed their livestock with dried
fish, because of the lack of grasslands. Some time before the Italian poet, when the Ptolemaic explorers
of the Red Sea depicted in detail the various tribes of African Ichtyophagi, they certainly had
in mind their famous Gedrosian counterparts. Be that as it may, from the late Hellenistic period till
the end of Antiquity the Ichtyophagi were well known, as is shown by many texts. As a consequence
of this fame, Arrian may have emphasized the description of the Fish Eaters in his Indica, being
aware of his audience’s literary taste.
Conference Presentations by Pierre Schneider
Overview
1) The historical background: the Greeks and Romans in the area of Bab al-Mandab (from early times to the 2nd century A.D.).
2) From "stoma" to "stena" : the making of the Greco-Roman body of knowledge.
3) The "Greco-Roman Bab al-Mandab": a synthetic review of the Greco-Roman body of knowledge.
4) The local trade network in the area of Bab al-Mandab.
5) Crossing the strait and mapping the strait: two perceptions of space.
6) Imperialism and space; power and glory: the rulers/conquerors and Bab al-Mandab.
For a detailed summary in English please download the specific file.
famous in the Greco-Roman world, is the subject of this paper. The Fish Eaters appear for the
first time in Herodotus’ narrative. The historian refers to two tribes. In particular he describes in a
vivid manner how the king Cambyses sent several Ichtyophagi to spy on the king of Ethiopia. Like
most of educated Greeks, Alexander and his companions were certainly aware of this famous story
involving the Fish Eaters. As a matter of fact, Nearchus gave this name to some destitute tribes
of Fish Eaters that he observed while skirting the barren coast of Gedrosia (in today’s Iran and Pakistan).
No doubt the amazing description that he published became quickly famous among his audience.
This fact is established by an extremely short fragment of Ennius, in which the poet vaguely
alludes to sheep eating fish somewhere near the sea. In reality this obscure line shows that Ennius
was referring to a marvellous fact (a paradoxon) borrowed from Nearchus and related to the Ichtyophagi:
according to Alexander’s admiral, the Fish Eaters were forced to feed their livestock with dried
fish, because of the lack of grasslands. Some time before the Italian poet, when the Ptolemaic explorers
of the Red Sea depicted in detail the various tribes of African Ichtyophagi, they certainly had
in mind their famous Gedrosian counterparts. Be that as it may, from the late Hellenistic period till
the end of Antiquity the Ichtyophagi were well known, as is shown by many texts. As a consequence
of this fame, Arrian may have emphasized the description of the Fish Eaters in his Indica, being
aware of his audience’s literary taste.
This programme is a joint project between the University of Artois, the Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, and the University of Reims
Organisation : Emmanuelle Vagnon, Jean-Charles Ducène et Eric Vallet.