GEOGRAPHER

Life
A native of Thasus, Androsthenes was living in the Macedonian city of Amphipolis when Alexander the Great embarked upon his expedition to Asia. Androsthenes joined him, as captain of a trireme in the fleet commanded by Alexander's admiral, Nearchus; later, under the command of Alexander himself, he explored the coast of Arabia before finally reaching the island of Tilos in 325 BC. He is cited by Arrian, Athenaeus, Theophrastus, Strabo and Eratosthenes.


Work
His most important writings are "Coasting around India", an account of the history and geography of the countries he explored: fragments of this work, which was consulted by Theophrastus and Eratosthenes, are still extant; and "Sailing around the Persian Gulf", also surviving only in fragments. Theophrastus quotes information on the flora and fauna of the Persian Gulf from this work, while Strabo notes that Androsthenes estimated the length of the coastline of the Arabian peninsula at 10,000 stades.