Note 384 — SECOND PART. The Astronomy of Dante. (continued 2)

As this is the value given by Alfraganus, we must here understand Arabian miles. The distances from Rome to the north and south pole are therefore probably equal to 3500 to 9750 English miles, and both are a little too large, because the half circumference of Earth is too large. The proportion is about right, however, for Rome is nearly three times as far from the south pole as the north, her latitude being 42° N. Alfraganus placed her in the fifth climate, at the northern boundary of which he said the pole was elevated 43½°.