Pytheas of Massilia (Ancient Greek Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης), 4th century BC, was a Greek geographer and explorer from the Greek colony, Massilia (modern day Marseille). He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe at about 325 BC. He travelled around and visited a considerable part of Great Britain. Some of his observations may be the earliest report of Stonehenge. Pytheas is the first person on record to describe the Midnight Sun, polar ice, Germanic and possibly Finnic tribes. He is the one who introduced the idea of distant Thule to the geographic imagination. His account of the tides is the earliest to state they are caused by the moon.

Dates

Pliny says that Timaeus (born about 350 BC) believed Pytheas' story of the discovery of amber.Natural History . Strabo says that Dicaearchus (died about 285 BC) did not trust the stories of Pytheas. That is all the information that survives concerning the date of Pytheas' voyage. Presuming that Timaeus would not have written until after he was 20 years old at about 330 BC and Dicaearchus would have needed time to write his most mature work, after 300 BC, there is no reason not to accept Tozer's window of 330 BC – 300 BC for the voyage.Tozer (1897) page xxi. Some would give Timaeus an extra 5 years, bringing the voyage down to 325 BC at earliest. There is no further evidence.

If one presumes that Pytheas would not have written prior to being 20 years old, he would have been a contemporary and competitor of Timaeus and Dicaearchus. As they read his writings he must have written toward the earlier years of the window.

Record

Pytheas described his travels in a work that has not survived; only excerpts remain, quoted or paraphrased by later authors, most familiarly in Strabo's Geographica, Pliny's Natural History and passages in Diodorus of Sicily's history. Most of the ancients, including the first two just mentioned, refer to his work by his name: "Pytheas says ...." Two late writers give titles: the astronomical author, Geminus of Rhodes, mentions (ta peri tou Okeanou), literally "things about the Ocean", sometimes translated as "Description of the Ocean", "On the Ocean" or "Ocean;" Marcianus, the scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes, mentions a (periodos gēs), a "trip around the earth" or περίπλους (periplous), "sail around."

Scholars of the 19th century tended to interpret these titles as the names of distinct works covering separate voyages; for example, Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology hypothesizes a voyage to Britain and Thule written about in "Ocean" and another from Cadiz to the Don river, written about in "Sail Around." As is common with ancient texts, multiple titles may represent a single source, for example, if a title refers to a section rather than the whole. The mainstream today recognizes periplus as a genre of navigational literature and concedes that there was only one work, "on the Ocean," which was based on a periplus.

Diodorus does not mention Pytheas by name. The connection is made as follows: Pliny reportsNatural History . that "Timaeus says there is an island named Mictis ... where tin is found, and to which the Britains cross...." Diodorus says that tin is brought to the island of Ictis, where there is an emporium. The last link is supplied by Strabo, who says that an emporium on the island of Corbulo in the mouth of the Loire was associated with the Britain of Pytheas by Polybius. Assuming that Ictis, Mictis and Corbulo are the same, Diodorus appears to have read Timaeus, who must have read Pytheas, whom Polybius also read. An implication is that Strabo did not read Pytheas, or he would not have had to resort to Polybius.

Circumstances of the voyage

Pytheas was not the first Mediterranean mariner to reach the British Isles. The Massaliote Periplus is a more extensive fragment preserved in paraphrase in the Ora Maritima, a poem of the 4th century AD written by the Roman, Avienus. This periplus of a ship from Marseille on which the poem relies is uncertain in date, but is believed to be possibly from the 6th century BC, not long after the founding of the city. It primarily describes the coasts of southern Spain and Portugal, but makes brief mention of a visit to "the sacred isle" (Ireland, Ierne) located across from Albion (an early name for Britain).

The start of Pytheas's voyage is unknown. The Carthaginians had closed the Strait of Gibraltar to all ships from other nations. Some historians, mainly of the late 19th century and before, therefore speculated (on no evidence) that he traveled overland to the mouth of the Loire or the Garonne. Others believed that, to avoid the Carthaginian blockade, he may have stuck close to land and sailed only at night. It is also possible he took advantage of a temporary lapse in the blockade.

Detailed scholarship of the 20th century superseded these early views. By the 4th century BC the western Greeks, especially the Massilotes, were on amicable terms with Carthage. First, Massilia was militarily superior to Carthage. It had defeated the empire in the late 6th century BC and again in 490; not caring to test the issue any further, Carthage had made an early independent treaty with Massilia. The latter city had no trouble placing and keeping colonies on the Mediterranean Iberian coast. Archaeologically the sites of the western Mediterranean show no diminishment of Greek pottery at any time (a good indication of trade). It coexisted with Carthaginian artifacts.

Second, Massilia was a close ally of Rome even before the Roman republic, according to Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus. Massilia helped Rome defeat Veii in 396 BC and when Rome was sacked by the Gauls in 390 BC the Massiliotes took up a subscription to buy its freedom. Massiliotes sat in the closed sessions of the Roman Senate.

In 348 BC Carthage and Rome came to terms over the Sicilian Wars making a treaty defining their mutual interests. Rome could use Sicilian markets and Carthage could buy and sell at Rome. Slaves taken by Carthaginians from allies of Rome were to be set free. Rome was to stay out of the western Mediterranean, but these terms did not apply to Massilia, which had its own treaty. During the last half of the 4th century BC, the time of Pytheas' voyage, relations between Rome and its allies and the Carthaginian empire were completely amicable. Massiliotes were free to operate as they pleased. Certainly, there is no evidence of a Carthaginian problem in any of the sources concerning the voyage.

The early part of Pytheas' voyage is outlined by statements of Eratosthenes that Strabo says are false because taken from Pytheas. Apparently Pytheas said that tides ended at the "sacred promontory" (Ieron akrōtērion), meaning Sagres Point. From there to Gades is said to be 5 days' sail. Quibbling about this distance Strabo complains about Pytheas' portrayal of the exact location of Tartessos. Mention of these places in a journal of the voyage indicates Pytheas passed through the Straits of Gibraltar and sailed north along the coast of Portugal.

Discovery of Britain

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http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit%C4%97jas

Pitėjas Masilietis (sen. gr. Ὑπατία; gyveno IV a. pr. m. e.) – senovės graikų geografas, keliautojas, astronomas bei matematikas, kilęs iš Graikijos kolonijos Masilėjos (dabartinio Marselio).

Maždaug 325 m. pr. m. e. atliko tiriamąją ekspediciją į šiaurės vakarų Europą. Savo keliones aprašė darbe, kuris iki šių dienų neišliko; yra likę tik fragmentai perpasakoti kitų autorių. Pitėjas – pirmasis, apibūdinęs Vidurnakčio Saulę, poliarinį ledą, pirmasis, paminėjęs Britanijos vardą.

Įrodė, kad Mėnulis lemia jūrų potvynius bei atoslūgius. Atrado, jog Šiaurinė žvaigždė iš tiesų nėra ties pačiu šiaurės ašigaliu.^[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pytheas