October 12, 2004

Tabula Peutingeriana - a Map of the Roman World - Ever wonder what form maps took in Imperial Roman times? Probably something like this one.

It's a cartogram, rather than a map as we would know it. It's not an original, but a faithful copy of it, now in Vienna, purportedly made in 1265, but etymology indicates it was based on much older originals from ca. 250, themselves possibly even derived from the world map of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, buddy of Augustus Caesar. There are various copies. You may like it, or you may not.