The paper summarizes and discusses the main theses exposed in a previous book
(L’America dimenticata, Mondadori Università, 2013; in Italian) in light of more
recent results. Specifically, the work addresses the problem of explaining the origin of
the systematic error on longitudes in Ptolemy’s
Geographia and its logical relation
with the reduced estimate for the dimension of the Earth given there. The
thesis is sustained that, contrary to a frequently advanced conjecture, the
shrinking of the dimension of the Earth is a consequence of a scale error
in longitudes, which, in turn, was originated by a misidentification of the
Islands of the Blessed. The location of the Islands of the Blessed according
to the source of Ptolemy is identified in the Caribbean. The analysis of a
passage of Pliny provides an independent and quantitative confirmation of the
proposed identification, which sheds new light on possible contact among
civilizations.
Keywords
Hellenistic geography, Ptolemy, Fortunate Islands, Islands
of the Blessed
