Wondering how the Romans were able to build and maintain a powerful empire without proper maps, at a time when many of us had trouble getting to unfamiliar grocery stores without relying on GPS navigation systems. You may think so. That is Historia Militum Video above, “How did ancient people travel without a map?” More importantly, instead of using scaled maps, i.e. maps where “the distances of the map are proportional to the actual size of the real world”, like almost all the maps we currently see on our screens. , how did it move?
Extant maps of the ancient Roman world tend not to put much effort into faithfully recreating the actual geography. However, as the Roman Empire expanded and roads were built across three continents, more and more Romans engaged in long-distance travel and most likely reached their destinations.
To do so, they used not maps themselves, but “itineraries” that listed in text the towns and cities along the way and the distances between them. By the fourth century, “all the major roads and 225 stops in Rome were Antonini itinerarythe itinerary of Emperor Antony Pius.
This highly practical document includes most of the roads that “pass through large cities that provide accommodation, shopping, bathing, and other facilities suitable for the traveler’s needs.” With this information, “travelers can copy the specific distance and stops needed to reach their destination.” Even today, some 17 centuries later, “most people don’t use paper scale maps for their travels, instead subdividing their trips into lists of subway stations, bus stops, and intersections.” And if you… If you were to take a modern-day Roman Empire road trip across Europe, you would almost certainly rely on distances and points of interest provided by synthesized voices reading from the vast world. Antonini itinerary of the 21st century.
Related content:
A map showing how the ancient Romans envisioned the world in 40 AD
The world’s largest early map is assembled for the first time: see the huge, detailed and fantastic world map from 1587
Ancient maps that changed the world: See world maps of ancient Greece, Babylon, Rome, and the Islamic world
Download 131,000 historical maps from David Rumsey’s vast map collection
Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages and cultures. His projects include the Substack newsletter books about cities and a book Stateless City: A Stroll Through Los Angeles in the 21st Century. Follow him on Twitter @Colinbemust.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
