BBC World Histories Magazine Issue 24

Welcome to this special issue of BBC World Histories magazine, following in the footsteps of some of history’s greatest pioneers. Combining features originally published between 2016 and 2019 with new pieces, the articles collected here offer the chance to vicariously experience the sights and sounds, hopes and disappointments of centuries of epic expeditions. "These travels, arranged chronologically and spanning a vast expanse of time and space, include an ancient Greek mission to the Arctic, a 15th-century grand tour of Spain and Portugal, and a daring Victorian bid to discover the source of the Nile. Of course, it’s not only the journeys themselves that are interesting, but also the motivations that fuelled them: from conquest to scientific discovery, each has something to say about the period in which it was undertaken.…

MORE FROM US historyextra.com The website of BBC World Histories and our sister magazines, BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed, is packed with thought-provoking world history content. The History Extra podcast New episodes of our award-winning podcast are published each week, and feature discussions on everything from overlooked Islamic history to the American civil rights movement. Every episode is available free via iTunes and other providers, or at historyextra.com/podcasts. BBC History Magazine Britain’s bestselling history magazine is available around the world, and is published 13 times a year in print and a wide range of digital editions. Turn to page 53 for the latest subscription offer. Social media twitter.com/historyextra facebook.com/historyextra This issue on sale: 10 September CONTACT US EDITORIAL Email worldhistories@historyextra.com Website historyextra.com/worldhistories SUBSCRIPTIONS Email www.buysubscriptions.com/contactus Phone UK: 03330…

On the outer facade of the Palais de la Bourse in Marseille, France, a statue of a man stands high on a plinth. Flanked by columns and protected by a pedimental roof, his body is wrapped in layers of clothing as if to ward off the chill. His face is framed by neat hair and a trim beard. But it is his eyes that capture the attention: they stare out unflinchingly from the stone above a strong projecting nose, their intensity emphasised by furrowed eyebrows. Coupled with his set, pursed lips, the overall sense is of steely determination, unfaltering in the face of any adversity. This man is Pytheas, one of Marseille’s ancient heroes. He lived in the fourth and early third century BC, around the same time as Alexander…

We know almost no hard facts about Pytheas (c350–c285 BC). He is believed to have been born in the early to mid-fourth century BC in Massalia (now Marseille), on the Mediterranean coast of France, which at the time was a Greek colony. The Greek historian Strabo, writing some three centuries later, described Pytheas as a poor man, though that might simply mean that he was not an aristocrat. In any case, Pytheas’s skill and ability as a seafarer must have been impressive. How else could he have survived a journey such as he is reported to have made around Britain, and recorded it, obviously in great detail, in later writings? We must imagine a man accustomed to life on the ocean, coming as he did from a colony with seafaring…

When Pliny the Younger set out from Rome to what’s now Turkey in the baking-hot summer of AD 111, he must have experienced at least a hint of trepidation. One trait rarely attributed to this Roman author is bravery. Today, he is best known for what he saw rather than what he did. In AD 79, while he was still a teenager, he was staying with his uncle, writer Pliny the Elder, when they noticed a strange cloud in the sky above Pompeii. It was tall, branching – and puzzling. What was it? We know now, of course, that it was Vesuvius clearing its mighty throat. At the time, though, there was no ‘of course’ about it. Pliny’s uncle, brave and insatiably curious, decided to board a ship to take…

Born in lakeside Como in northern Italy, Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 61 or 62 – c113) was probably tutored at home before being taken under the wing of his uncle, Pliny the Elder. This would be the defining relationship of the younger man’s life. The elder Pliny instilled in him a deep respect for hard work and intellectual endeavour. A commander in the army and the navy, Pliny the Elder also found time to write numerous books on natural history. He was relentlessly active. “The only time he took from his work was for his bath,” wrote Pliny the Younger later, “and by bath I mean actual immersion, for while he was being rubbed down and dried he had a book read to him or dictated notes”. Pliny the Elder…