In the southern hemisphere, seasons are inverted compared to the northern hemisphere. Before the current knowledge that this is caused by Earth’s tilt compared to its rotation around the sun, how did people explain this?
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Scientists suspected the Earth was spherical as far back as the 5th century BC. By the 3rd century BC, [Eratosthenes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_circumference#Eratosthenes) had measured the circumference of the Earth within around 3% – we don’t actually know the exact length of the unit of measurement he used.
The less educated likely just did not know there were different seasons. You actually have to move a decent distance from the equator to really see the seasons start, and the equator is pretty far south on the globe – you’d need to get down towards Zimbabwe, Australia, or Bolivia area to start seeing the seasonal effects flip. Given that most people did not go more than a few dozen miles from home, unless they were sent there are part of an army, its likely very few knew there were different seasons.
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