Maps

[Q Rutilius]

Maybe this topic has been covered before, but does anyone have any references, (weblinks or books) that show examples of maps that may have been used by the Roman army?<br>
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Thanks. <p></p><i></i>

[Quintius Clavus]

There was an earlier discussion in this same section on "the use of tactical maps in the late 1st C. AD-you can find it on page 4. I posted on that thread, and you can read my post as well as others' posts before and after mine.<br>
Someone else may know what might have survived other than the "Peutinger Table", which is an "itinerary" type map based on a Roman original, presumably.<br>
At someplace like Vindolanda, where a considerable amount of correspondence has actually survived, none of it, to the best of my limited knowledge was in a graphic or map form. It was writing, not drawn pictures or maps. The size of the pieces of wood they used pretty much would have limited what could be put on them, though... I have a wallet/credit card sized map of the New York City subway system. Not saying that a Roman wanting to convey directions of short term need couldn't have put a quick map to somewhere on one of those pieces of thin wood and handed it to the person who would be using it.<br>
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Marcus Quintius Clavus <p></p><i></i>

[Crispvs]

There are good indications for the existence of stations along the all of the main Roman roads which were probably under the control of beneficiarii acting away from their parent legions. I would guess that if a traveller did not already know where he was going he could have picked up directions at one of these stations, along with any other relevant local information. The only map I can think of which survives from Roman times is a fragmant of a map of Rome carved into stone found in Rome.<br>
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Crispvs <p></p><i></i>

[Q Rutilius]

Thanks. Somehow I had the impression that I had read somewhere that the Romans use two kinds of guides, one was a map although perhaps not to modern standards, and the other was a written itinerary describing what you would see as traveled along.<br>
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The Romans were excellent engineers and surveyors and I am rather surprised to find that they did not use maps. As an engineer myself I find it very difficult to think that they could have built there huge infrastructure projects without plans, and a plan is just another kind of map.<br>
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For what it's worth, my father tells me that in the 1920's his parents traveled by car using guides that were not maps but did describe what you see along your trip and gave directions accordingly. His recollection is that they had no trouble navigating. <p></p><i></i>