Strabo on Wine in Ancient India
Abstract
In book 15 of his Geography, Strabo presents a portrayal of Central Asia and India heavily influenced by accounts provided by Megasthenes and historians of Alexander the Great, such as Onesicritus. Strabo intermittently incorporates observations regarding winemaking and consumption in India, along with references to the association of these regions with Dionysus and his civilising influence. This contribution seeks to scrutinise the evidence presented by Strabo regarding vine cultivation and wine production in India, drawing upon the description of Musikanos’ kingdom and the utopian context in which information related to wine is situated.
Submitted: Jan. 22, 2024 | Accepted: June 13, 2024 | Published Oct. 8, 2024 | Language: en
Keywords Roman Geography • Winemaking • Greek Geography • Utopia • Onesicritus • Musikanos
Copyright © 2024 Marco Enrico. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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