Atlantis versus Hispaniola: Geographic and numeric information in Plato and Bartolome de las Casas
Prof. Emilio Spedicato
Italy
Summary: In two works, Timaeus and Critias, Plato has transmitted to us the story of a great empire that according to an Egyptian priest in Sais, as referred by Solon who was in Sais, had existed 9000 years before Solon time, i.e. circa 9500 BC, on the other side of the Atlantic and had been destroyed by a great tsunamitype catastrophe. The empire of Atlantis was centred on an island, about which several geographic details are given, with a beautiful capital endowed by a well priotected port wherefrom ships travelled to other places in the world. The information collected by Solon, according to the statement in Plato, should have led to a poem that Solon was unable to realize due to his many political commitments.