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Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England
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Historical SummaryThe location, the shape, the surface, the climate, and the natural productions of England having remained much the same in all ages are no better described in early writers than in those of the present day. Indeed, their opportunities for observation and their scientific training in geography were so much less, that it is to modern, not to ancient, authors that we must look for accurate and full descriptions. Nevertheless, it is a matter of interest to see what was the geographical knowledge concerning England of those who lived when its history was opening. Its most prominent features were noticed and described by the earliest travelers that reached Britain from the continent. Its island character, its triangular shape, its long days in summer and long nights in winter, its high tides, its forests, its productions of tin, grain, and cattle, are mentioned by one after another of the Greek and Roman writers to whom it seemed a distant and strange land, — almost another continent. Julius Cæsar who began to make inquiries about Britain in the summer of 55 B.C., and visited it for the first time in the fall of that year, describes several of these characteristics, though he saw only its southeastern portion, and makes many mistakes.
De Bello Gallico, Lib. v, c. 13. World History
READINGS IN ENGLISH HISTORY
CHAPTER I
The Geography of England
I.
ACCOUNTS BY ANCIENT GEOGRAPHICAL OBSERVERS
1. Cæsar’s description of Britain
The island is triangular in form, one side facing Gaul. Of this side one angle, which is in Kent, where almost all the ships land from Gaul, looks toward the east; the lower angle of this same side lies towards the south. Its length is about five hundred miles. The second side of the triangle faces Spain and the west. On this side lies Ireland, an island, as is thought, only half as large as Britain, but separated from it by a distance as great as that of Britain from Gaul. Midway between the two there is an island which is called Mona. Many other islands as well are supposed to lie opposite this coast; concerning these some say that at the time of the winter solstice there is night continuously for thirty days. We found none of these things on inquiry, except we discovered by exact measurement of the water clock that the nights were longer than ours on the continent. The length of this side according to their opinion is 700 miles. The third side of the triangle faces the north. No land is directly opposite, but the angle of this side points towards Germany. This is thought to be 800 miles in length. Thus the entire island is in circumference 2000 miles.
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Chicago: Julius Caesar, "Chapter 1. The Geography of England," Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England in Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England, ed. Edward Potts Cheyney (1861-1947) (Boston: Ginn, 1935, 1922), 1. Original Sources, accessed December 4, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=T2SUC8S5LT7DR29.
MLA: Caesar, Julius. "Chapter 1. The Geography of England." Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England, in Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England, edited by Edward Potts Cheyney (1861-1947), Boston, Ginn, 1935, 1922, page 1. Original Sources. 4 Dec. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=T2SUC8S5LT7DR29.
Harvard: Caesar, J, 'Chapter 1. The Geography of England' in Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England. cited in 1922, Readings in English History Drawn from the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England, ed. , Ginn, 1935, Boston, pp.1. Original Sources, retrieved 4 December 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=T2SUC8S5LT7DR29.
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