To register ancienttravelwriting is to plunk into a treasure treasure trove rich in both the fantastic and the conversant . Nearly two millennia before a dog - eared variant ofLonely Planetbecame the ubiquitous backpacker ’s bible , a Greek geographer , Pausanias ( c.110–180 CE ) , was publish what has become known as the Earth ’s first guide . Descriptions of Greece(c.155–175 CE ) contains accounts of treasures familiar to mod reader — those of the Parthenon , for example — alongside far - fetched tales of nymphs , ocean monsters , and myriad othermythicalbeasts . Travel drop a line from classical antiquity abounds with these form of examples , and overflows with pearls of wisdom both relatable and wildly exotic .
1. To get away from the crowds, skip the beach resorts.
The swollenappetitesof the Ancient Romans — forwine , banquets , festivals , and all the other luxuries of life history — are legendary , so it ’s no surprise that they were fond to a holiday too . Then as now , those who could give to flock to the seaside during the summer months . Many Romans , even the only middling wealthy , owned villa in popular getaway spots . The original and favored papist beach resort was Baiae , around 10 miles west of Naples , where unconstipated visitors included the likes of Emperor Augustus and the politico Cicero . However , just like advanced - dayvacationhotspots , popularity brought a pestilence of its own to Baiae : overcrowding . The philosopher Seneca , writingin the first century CE , grumbled about the raucous holidaymakers who descended on the town every summer : “ Baiae is a place to be quash , because , though it has certain born advantages , luxury has claimed it for her own exclusive resort … Why must I count at drunkard staggering along the shore or noisy boating parties ? Who wants to hear to the tiff of nocturnal serenaders ? ”
2. Don’t rent a room above a bathhouse.
When Seneca was n’t complaining about the crowds at the seaside , he was finding exit with the racket emanating from the localpublic baths — an issue with which any gym - departer will likely empathize . On guide rooms in a young town above the bathhouse , Senecawrote :
As well as gymnasium , public bath contain peach salons , which emit their own selection of sound to grind on Seneca ’s sensitive ears : “ Do n’t draw a blank the hair - remotion expert incessantly forcing out that fragile shriek of his to advertize his services and only keep out up when he ’s plucking a client ’s armpits and can make someone else do the yelping for him . ”
3. If you get caught in a storm, hang your gold around your neck.
move in the ancient existence was fraught with peril , and many brave souls were lost to the waves on perilous ocean journeys . Synesius , a Hellenic bishop of the 4th century CE , recalledone such trip , and how his ship ’s crew panic when a foul storm closed in :
“ Someone called out that all who had any gold should flow it around their neck opening … This is a time - honored practice , and the reason for it is this : you must provide the corpse of someone lost at ocean with the money to compensate for a funeral so that whoever recovers it , profiting by it , wo n’t bear in mind giving it a small attention . ”
This grim precaution turned out to be unneeded — the violent storm eventually unclutter , and theshipmade landfall . “ When we touch beloved land , ” Synesius publish , “ we encompass it like a living mother . ”
4. Don’t try to hoodwink an oracle.
Pausanias filledDescriptions of Greecewith accounts of historic situation , natural wonder , and spiritual rituals — with the latter including descriptions of the far-famed oracles , who people would visit to receive advice or vaticination about the future .
Pausanias’saccount , which he assures us is firsthand , makes exculpated that a trip to the prophesier at Livadeia was no walkover . First , the pilgrim must expend several twenty-four hour period purify himself in the river Herknya and sacrificing animate being to the gods . Then he is taken to a spring , where he “ must drink the water of Forgetfulness , to forget everything in his mind until then . ” Finally , wearing heavy bang and a tunic wed with ribbons , he ascend a wooded mountainside to the shrine of the oracle , where he swing his feet into a hole in the dry land .
All ’s well that finish well , then — unless , that is , your aim on visiting the vaticinator are less than complete . Pausanias relates the tale of a man who died at the shrine after “ he observed none of the rite of the sanctuary , and kick the bucket down not to consult the god but in the Leslie Townes Hope of bringing out Au and silver grey from the holy place . They say his dead body reappeared elsewhere ; it was not throw up through the sanctified sass . ”
5. Wherever possible, take a Roman road.
All roads lead to Rome , the old byword fit , and certainly the best 1 did in classic Europe . It ’s strong to indicate with Seneca ’s statement that , “ Travel and change of place impart vigor to the nous , ” but all too often , travel was far more physically vigorous than anyone would choose . Chuntering along nation backroads in ahorseand wagon could be a spine - rattle , teeth - chattering experience , but to take avia Romana — the major highways of the Roman Empire — was an entirely more pleasant affair . The first - century Greek philosopher Plutarchwroteof theRoman roads :
6. Guidebooks are no substitute for personal experience …
“ Experience , travel — these are an pedagogy in themselves . ” The wise words of the Athenian playwright Euripides show that even back in 400 BCE , certain armchair traveller were guilty of prioritise book smarting over the real deal . Thelisticlemight be seen as a forward-looking mannikin of travelling writing , but travelers in the distant past tense were channelise by one of their own : the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . This antiquarian pail list include structures that , remarkably , still stand today , in the form of theGreat Pyramid at Giza ; those which may never have existed at all , namely the Hanging Gardens of Babylon ; and masterpieces since lost to the ravages of prison term . The latter class let in the Statue of Zeus at Olympia , Greece , which by all account was mightily impressive . Depicting Zeus seated on a throne , the statue was tell to measure 41 feet . In the first hundred BCE , the geographer Strabowrotethat , “ It seems that if Zeus were to stand up , he would unroof the tabernacle . ” Pausanias also give avivid descriptionof the statue , but refused to outline its dimensions , insist that they do not do justice to the experience of witness it in the flesh .
7. … But don’t believe everything your tour guide tells you.
With a account dating back 7000 year , the metropolis of Argos in Greece ’s Peloponnese region is one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the earth , and was already a pop holidaymaker attracter in Pausanias ’s mean solar day . Among the treasures he was shown there were a burial mound said to contain the head of the monstrous Gorgon Medusa and the tomb of the mythical king Argus — but even the mythologically apt Pausanias could not keep up his suspension of unbelief . He take down : “ The guides at Argos have intercourse very well that not all the story they tell are true , but they secernate them anyway . ” As Lionel Casson says inTravel in the Ancient World , the Assyrian satirist Lucian was even more scathing . “ Abolish mythic tales from Greece , ” he wrote , “ and the guides there would all cash in one’s chips of starvation . ”
The most famed of the Hellenic historians was surely Herodotus , who last in the fifth century BCE . Despite his groovy influence , even in his own time Herodotus was renowned for his laissez - faire approach to fact - checking , and he developed a reputation as someone who never let the truth get in the way of a estimable history . Even so , hisreportsof the nomadic multitude who lived in the forests north of Scythia ( corresponding to New - day southern Russia and Belarus ) would have been of interest to ancient traveler :
While this may seem like one of Herodotus ’s flights of fancy , his account was corroborated , several centuries later , by Pliny the senior , whodescribedthe same people as “ drinking out of human skulls , and point the scalps , with the tomentum attached , upon their breasts , like so many diaper . ”
It should be noted that the vast bulk of written accounts from Europe in Graeco-Roman antiquity come from Hellenic orRomanwriters — neighboring civilizations , like the Gauls , Goths , and Slavonic peoples , did not get out much survive written civilisation . As a result , ancient depictions of them as " savage " should be taken with a pinch of table salt , come as they did from the uncongenial Greeks or Romans . And even Herodotus drew the production line at believing some of the tale he heard about this region : “ [ It ’s said ] the mountains are inhabited by men with caprine animal ’ feet , and that beyond these are men who sleep for six months of the twelve . This I can not swallow at all . ”
8. Be gastronomically open-minded (or consider going vegetarian).
Food being mislabeled is hardly a thing consigned to ancient history — as recently as 2013,huge numbersof European squawk intersection were found to hold gymnastic horse pith . However , the maxim “ you are what you eat ” was sometimes taken to an unwelcome extreme in the dining establishments of Ancient Rome . The far-famed popish Dr. Galenwrotethat he “ knows of many innkeepers and butchers who have been caught sell human build as pork , and the diners were totally incognizant of any difference . ”Popinae(wine bars ) were another minefield when it came to being victimize . Although the Romans , like the Greeks , always watered down theirwine , it seems some bartender were a little too miserly when it come to their ratios . Lionel Casson describes some graffiti left by a disgruntled but poetic patron in a Pompeiipopina :
9. Travel is no panacea.
To travel is to escape the stricture of monotony casual life and enjoy a taste of dangerous undertaking and romance — but that does n’t mean it will figure out all your job . Our one-time Quaker Seneca , in all his curmudgeonly wiseness , compose : “ All this hurrying from place to place wo n’t fetch you any relief , for you ’re go in the fellowship of your own emotion , follow by your fuss all the style . ”
This oecumenical sentiment was echoed some 850 geezerhood later by one of the 20th century ’s great travelers , Ernest Hemingway , in hisassertionthat , “ You ca n’t get out from yourself by move from one place to another”—a accuracy that place upright the trial of fourth dimension .
