C.; and in the reign of Ptolemy
Lathyrus, if, according to Dodwell, he did not flourish till 104 A.C.
The only work of his which is preserved, is a Treatise on the Erythraean
Sea; and this we possess only in the Bibliotheca of Photius, and
incorporated in the history of Diodorus Siculus. The authority of
Agatharcides was very high among the ancients. Strabo, Pliny, and Diodorus,
always mention him with the utmost respect, and place implicit confidence
in his details. Diodorus expressly states that Agatharcides and Artemidorus
(who, as we have already mentioned, was merely his copyist) are the only
authors who have written truth concerning Egypt and Ethiopia; and Strabo
follows him in all that relates to the latter country, the countries lying
to the south of Egypt, and the western coast of Arabia. In fact, for nearly
200 years, the ancient historians and geographers drew all the information
they possessed respecting the portions of the world embraced in the work of
Agatharcides from that work. It has been well observed, "that when Pliny
speaks of the discoveries on the coast of Malabar in his own age, and adds,
that the names he mentions are new, and not to be found in previous
writers, we ought to consider him as speaking of all those who had followed
the authority of the Macedonians, or the school of Alexandria; of which, in
this branch of science, Eratosthenes and Agatharcides were the leaders.
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