"…For a price
They measured round so much of Afric soil
As one bull's hide encircles…" (Bk. 1, ll. 71-3)
"There we are," said Dido proudly. "Forty stadia of fine leather cord out of a single ox-hide. We can enclose a fair amount of earth within this, can't we?"
"Absolutely," said Anna eagerly. "Over five hundred square cubits, if we lay it in a perfect circle. How far inland shall we go, do you think?"
Dido coughed. "Actually," she said, "I was thinking of letting it follow the shore. Maximum territory is nice, but control of a natural harbor is better, don't you think?"
Anna colored. "See, Dido," she murmured, "this is why Jove made you the elder of us."
Disclaimer: The Aeneid belongs to Publius Vergilius Maro; the proof of the isoperimetric problem belongs to Leonhard Euler. And the tendency to exalt mathematical models over common sense belongs to all too many rulers, ancient and modern, who lack the wisdom of Elissa of Tyre.