The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy is the sole work of ancient geography that presents an easily recognizable and rather realistic depiction of the Mediterranean Sea. The article ultimately aims to explain how Ptolemy achieved such results, given the available sources and methods of his time. It explores how Ptolemy structured the space of the Mediterranean Sea, examining how he positioned the major islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes) and two peninsulas (the Southern Balkans and the Crimea). It is argued that Ptolemy's outlines of the Mediterranean Sea can be accounted for as a result of using three theoretical tools available in his time for map construction: the so-called klimata or reference parallels, the wind rose for determining directions, and the so-called ‘opposite places’ or coastal points presumably situated on the same meridians. The overall outlines of Ptolemy's Mediterranean, and the position of Sicily in particular, are shaped by several latitudes established by earlier geographers. Two regions of Ptolemy's map, in the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, are clearly structured based on the 12-point Timosthenes' wind rose, centered at Ostia and Rhodes, respectively. The position of Crete is found to be linked to the African coast by means of the ‘opposite places’ concept. In several cases, the outlines of Ptolemy's map distinctly correspond and can even serve as illustrations to the relevant descriptions found in Strabo's Geography.

中文翻译：

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托勒密地理学中的地中海岛屿：通过几何化绘制海洋地图


《克劳狄乌斯·托勒密的地理学》是古代地理学中唯一一部对地中海进行了易于识别且相当真实的描绘的作品。本文最终旨在解释托勒密是如何在给定他那个时代的可用资源和方法下取得如此结果的。它探讨了托勒密如何构建地中海空间，研究了他如何定位主要岛屿（西西里岛、撒丁岛、科西嘉岛、克里特岛、尤维亚、罗得岛）和两个半岛（南巴尔干半岛和克里米亚）。有人认为，托勒密的地中海轮廓可以通过使用他那个时代可用的三种理论工具来构建地图来解释：所谓的 klimata 或参考纬线、用于确定方向的风向，以及所谓的“对地”或沿海点，这些点可能位于同一子午线上。托勒密地中海的整体轮廓，尤其是西西里岛的位置，是由早期地理学家确定的几个纬度决定的。托勒密地图中的两个区域，分别位于地中海的西部和东部，显然是根据蒂莫斯梯尼的 12 点风向图构建的，分别以奥斯提亚和罗得岛为中心。克里特岛的位置被发现通过“对地”的概念与非洲海岸有关。在一些情况下，托勒密地图的轮廓与斯特拉博的《地理学》中的相关描述明显对应，甚至可以作为插图。