This book provides a new translation of all the surviving portions of the description of India written by Megasthenes in about 310 BCE, the fullest account of Indian geography, history and customs available to the classical world. The Indica was a pioneering work of ethnography that exemplified a new direction in Hellenistic writing; India was little-known to the Greeks before the expedition of Alexander the Great in 326-325 BCE, and Megasthenes, who resided as an ambassador in the Maurya capital Pataliputra for some time, provided the classical world with most of what it knew about India.
Megasthenes' book, which became a classic in antiquity, now survives only in fragments preserved in other Greek and Latin authors. Stoneman's work offers a reliable and accessible version of all the writings that can plausibly be ascribed to Megasthenes. His subject ranges from detailed accounts of social structure and the royal household, to descriptions of elephant hunting and Indian philosophical ideas. His book is the only written source contemporary with the Maurya kingdom of Candragupta, since writing was not in use in India at this date. This translation provides a path to clearer understanding of Greek ethnography and a valuable resource on Indian history.
The book will be of value not only to classical scholars with an interest in Hellenistic history and cultural attitudes, and to their students, but also to scholars working on the early history of India, who have had to rely (unless they are also Greek scholars) on scattered and dated collections of evidence.
Autorentext
Richard Stoneman is an Honorary Visiting Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Exeter, UK. His research concentrates on the legends of Alexander the Great and on Greek knowledge of India (most of which was due to Alexander's campaign). His books include Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend (2008) and The Greek Experience of India: From Alexander to the Indo-Greeks (2019). His three-volume edition of the Alexander Romance is in the process of publication.
Inhalt
Preface Abbreviations and conventions Concordance of Fragment Numbers with the Editions of Schwanbeck and Jacoby
Introduction Life and Work The Reliability of Megasthernes What is a Fragment? Other Greek Writers on India Maps: North-west India Megasthenes' India
The Fragments
Book I: Geography and Resources 1. Summary of geography, history and society 2. The Geography of India 3. Geography and dimensions of India 4. The Himalayas ("Caucasus") 5. Controversy on the size of India 6. The size of India again 7. The northern stars 8. Rivers 9. Megasthenes' knowledge of India 10. The river Silas 11. The Fertility of India 12. Dionysus and Heracles 13. Dionysus and Heracles as civilizers 14. Pandaea 15. Taprobane 16. The kartazon 17. Pearls 18. Trees that grow in the sea 19. Poisonous fish 20. Monkeys (and other animals) 21. Snakes 22. The hoopoe (and other birds) 23. The gold-guarding ants 24. The monstrous races 25. The Reverse-feet 26. The Mouthless ones and the Dog-heads 27. Plutarch on the mouthless ones
Book II: Political Structures 28. The Seven 'Castes' 29. Funeral rites 30. Absence of slavery 31. Meals 32. Cities 33. Palibothra (Pataliputra) 34. City officials 35. Laws and customs 36. Laws and punishments 37. Elephants 38. Elephant medicine 39. Elephant ethics
Book III: The Indian Philosophers 40. The Philosophers 41. Calanus and suicide 42. Calanus and Dandamis 43. The Brahmans 44. Strabo on Indian religion and philosophy 45. Brahmans austerity 46. Brahmans and Jews
Appendix a. Other accounts of the philosophers b. Pliny's account of India
Commentary
Commentary on Book I Commentary on Book II Commentary on Book III Commentary on Appendix
Table: Pliny's Indian tribes
Bibliography Index