Did pre-16th century Europeans call the Pacific Ocean the Atlantic?
score:9
Kind of. To the extent that Europeans were even aware that a body of water existed beyond China, it was indeed thought to be connected to the Atlantic. But this body of water was often given its own name nonetheless.
Prior to the Age of Exploration, classical geography dominated European views of the world. Ancient Greeks already had a concept of a World Ocean; in Homeric terms this was expressed as a river around the world.
Homeric view of the world, depicting the Ocean River surrounding all lands.
Herodotus wrote for instance:
For that on which the Greeks sail, and the sea beyond the pillars of Heracles, which they call Atlantic, and the Red Sea, are all one
Hdt. 1.202.4
This world encircling sea was often called Ocean. Importantly, some authors also applied the specific names given to the Atlantic to the entire body of water. Cicero, for example, wrote that:
For all of the earth with which you have any concern . . . is a mere little island, surrounded by that sea which you on earth call the Atlantic, the Great Sea, the Ocean.
Cic. Rep. 6.20
So yes, in this sense, they were calling the Pacific Atlantic.
However, just because the ocean is connected, doesn't mean that individual parts weren't given their own names. In the Herodotus example above, the Red Sea was acknowledged to be linked to the Atlantic, but still given its own names.
Accordingly, some writers also gave specific names to the sea beyond China. Pliny for instance names the Eastern Ocean after Serica, which is usually identified as North China. It is certainly considered to be the extreme end of the earth.
Aggripa bounds the Caspian Sea and the nations around it, including Armenia, on the east by the Ocean of the Seres.
Mela likewise places an ocean off the Seres on the end of Asia, which he called Eous Oceanus. His De situ orbis libri III remained in use in Europe until the 16th century.
Reconstruction of the world map according to Pomponius Mela
More post
- 📝 What is the role of towers in Romanesque architecture?
- 📝 How did the US fall behind in airplane technology from 1909-1917?
- 📝 Why and when did countries develop long names that include the form of government?
- 📝 Would the gun crews have different responsibilities aboard a 17th century ship than on the USS Constitution?
- 📝 Rape perpetrated by American soldiers during WWII?
- 📝 Why were the Marines so badly outnumbered at the critical point at Guadalcanal?
- 📝 Why is the Arch of Titus not considered to be anti-Semitic?
- 📝 Where Can I Find Historical Candidate Photos of U.S. Elections (both winners and losers)?
- 📝 What is the purpose of this Roman siege tactic as shown in this Illustration?
- 📝 Why was it Spain, not Tlaxcala, that dominated over Mesoamerica despite the Tlaxcaltecs being the major force in the conquest of Tenochtitlan?
- 📝 Did the Christians plagiarize the holy war concept?
- 📝 What kind of gas caused the end of excavations/tunneling of the "villa of the papyrii" in the 18th century?
- 📝 How dangerous was it to be a coast watcher during the Pacific War?
- 📝 What is the original German version of Bismarck's phrase about intentions and capabilities?
- 📝 What is the Greek inscription on the Nicaea gate?
- 📝 Did Germany lose World War II when/because "kill ratios" started moving "against" her?
- 📝 Sculpture identification
- 📝 How did the Emperor Titus die?
- 📝 How did the conquering Mongols and Manchus of China end up becoming part of China?
- 📝 Did Thomas Paine really give up book royalties?
- 📝 Why was Highway One routed right through Fort Ross?
- 📝 How did Henry Knox retrieve the cannons that fell into the river?
- 📝 How did the Soviet press talk about the opposing forces (mujahideens) during the Soviet-Afghan war?
- 📝 Why was Polish king Sigismund II Augustus' coronation held when his father Sigismund I was still alive?
- 📝 When did "Africa" become the name of the whole continent?
- 📝 Why didn't Turkish become an official language in former Ottoman colonies in the Middle-East and North Africa?
- 📝 Why does the US use the opposite convention to the rest of the world for colour-coding harbour buoys?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this passenger steamship with double funnels and two masts?
- 📝 How common was travelling before the invention of the steam engine?
- 📝 What was the medium for Marcus Aurelius's Meditations?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Did pre-16th century Europeans call the Pacific Ocean the Atlantic?
- 📝 Why did Europeans call Native Americans Indians in the 18th Century AD, After they had found out they were in the wrong continent?
- 📝 Did the syphilis epidemic start the 16th and 17th century wig craze?
- 📝 Why did Native Americans die from European diseases while Europeans didn't catch serious diseases from the New World?
- 📝 Did Native Americans ever fight the indigenous people living in Mexico before Europeans arrived?
- 📝 When did the hypocrisy to call a dictatorship "free, democratic, republic etc." start?
- 📝 When the Portuguese began the exploration of the West African Coast, did they believe the Indian Ocean was an enclosed sea?
- 📝 Why did life expectancy decline sharply in 16th century England?
- 📝 Why did it take so long for Europeans to adopt the moldboard plow?
- 📝 Did the aborigines of Australia and the Maoris in New Zealand know about each other's existence, before the Europeans came?
- 📝 Did Catherine the Great really call for the abolition of serfdom?
- 📝 Why did quill pens persist until the early 19th century despite the capacity to make metal dip pens?
- 📝 What did the people of the Middle Ages call their period?
- 📝 Did the US and Soviet navies really come close to blows in the Indian Ocean in 1971?
- 📝 Why did families in 6th century Mecca send their babies to be raised in the desert?
- 📝 Did Greek traders visit the Philippines in the 1st century AD?
- 📝 What did the top minds of the late 17th century have to say about Salem witch trials?
- 📝 In 19th century India, pre and post Raj, did any private British citizens actually own land in India?
- 📝 Did a Japanese medieval castle withstand US battleship fire during the Pacific War?
- 📝 When did Europeans make Sunday rather than Saturday the seventh day?
- 📝 In what ways did the rise of a true middle class in Europe during the late 19th century become apparent?
- 📝 What did the Romans call black people (sub-Saharan)?
- 📝 How much authority did a traveling lord have in England in the late 16th century?
- 📝 What did European people of the 5th century AD eat during spring and what was the availability?
- 📝 When did Europeans stop writing the month with Roman numbers?
- 📝 What did contemporary countries in Europe call the Ottoman Empire?
- 📝 Why did Japan not withdraw from China as its pacific front was crumbling and the threat of US invasion imminent?
- 📝 How did the Roman army go from constantly losing battles in the middle of the 3rd century to winning almost everything?
- 📝 Did the Welsh ever call Britain Albion?
- 📝 How did they measure speed in the 19th century so they could issue the first speeding ticket?