When pondering the question of how travelers planned their routes and made their way across the empire, scholars have long assumed that the Romans had scale maps (Sherk 1974: 559; Dilke 1985: 244; Harvey 1987: 466). But Kai Brodersen has now convincingly shown that simple lists of stations along a route (itineraria adnotata), like that found in the Bordeaux itinerary or inscribed on a variety ofsurfaces, served as the most common means of orientation in antiquity (Brodersen 2001; Salway 2001: 48-54). “Illustrated” maps (itineraria picta) were also available, of which the best known, as well as the most beautiful, is the Peutinger Table, a twelfth-century copy of a Roman civilian map. In brilliant colors, it traces the main routes of the empire, depicts major topographical features, and indicates resting stops, towns, and cities (Bosio 1983). While the sequence of stations and the distances between them are fairly accurate, there is no concern for scale or even geographical accuracy. As Brodersen comments, its utility, like that of a modern subway map, lies in the clarity with which it presents a network of roads that facilitates route selection (Brodersen 2001: 18; see Veg. Mil. 3. 6; Salway 2001: 28-32, 43-7).
Once on a main road, progress could be measured by counting off milestones, of which about 4,000 examples survive from across the empire. These were columnar markers set at intervals along the road and readily visible from a distance, since they stood some six to eight feet (2-4 m) above the ground. Inscribed with the distance to or from a perceived end point of the road, they helped travelers calculate their progress as well as plan overnight stops. Wall plaques, or tabellaria, listing distances along several routes radiating from a central point, were often positioned at major nodes (Salway 2001: 54-8). In desert regions, piles of small stones were used to mark the edges of the roadway (Adams 2001: 141; see Egeria, It. 6).
World History
