Voyagers from the ancient world

Classical Explorers

Voyagers from the ancient world

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  Hanno the Navigator
  500-400 BC
  This Carthaginian explorer headed a fleet of ships which left the Mediterranean and explored the northwest coast of Africa. A few colonies were established on behalf of Carthage, which at the time was a major power in the Mediterranean. En route, the expedition discovered an island where the indigenous folk didn’t take too kindly to the intrusion. According to Hanno, they were violent savages, but he then casually notes skinning three captured females, which seems somewhat hypocritical.
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  Himilco the Navigator
  500-400 BC
  Himilco was also a Carthaginian explorer, but unlike his counterpart he sailed north instead of south, tracking the Atlantic coastline of Europe as far as Albion, which is the earliest known name of the British Isles. Very little is known of the man himself, or indeed his voyage, only that he was probably trying to establish trading posts, and that he returned with terrifying tales of sea monsters encountered en route. There may have been some truth in this: have you ever seen a giant squid?
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  Scylax of Caryanda
  550-450 BC
  This Greek explorer is most famous for his 30-month voyage in which he was responsible for discovering the course of the Indus River. On the orders of Darius I, king of the Persian Empire, Scylax set sail from a place called Gandhara (the northern-most part of modern-day Pakistan) and followed the river to the Indian Ocean. From there, he sailed west, eventually reaching the Red Sea, and then as far north as Suez, at which point he doubled back for the return journey.
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  Nearchus
  400-300 BC
  Nearchus was a prolific Greek explorer who worked for Alexander the Great, who through a series of successful military campaigns established one of the largest empires of the ancient world. Among many other regions, Alexander conquered the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, at which point he dispatched Nearchus down the Indus River to explore. In the following months Nearchus and his men would explore the Persian Gulf and be the first Greeks to visit Bahrain.
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  Eudoxus of Cyzicus
  200-100 BC
  Eudoxus of Cyzicus was a Greek navigator who developed an interest in Africa after being blown off course onto its east coast from the Indian Ocean. He found the remains of a ship, which he believed had originally come from the west, meaning it had attempted to circumnavigate Africa. This inspired Eudoxus to try himself. Alas, he never returned, and was never heard from again. 1500 years would pass before anyone else attempted this extraordinary feat.
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  Hippalus
  100-0 BC
  Hippalus was a Greek navigator and explorer who is best known for his voyages from the Red Sea to the west coast of India across the Indian Ocean. In completing these journeys, he deduced that the Indian coastline ran from north to south - not, as everyone else in the ancient world had presumed, west to east. This discovery by Hippalus meant that the time it took seafaring travellers to reach India from the Red Sea was dramtically reduced.
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