Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World
Encyclopedia
The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World is a large-format English language atlas of ancient Europe
, Asia
, and North Africa
, edited by Richard Talbert
. The time period depicted is roughly from archaic Greek civilization (pre-550 BC) through Late Antiquity
(640 AD
). The atlas was published by Princeton University
press, copyright 2000. The book was the winner of the 2000 Association of American Publishers Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Multivolume Reference Work in the Humanities.
and the Azores
and eastward to Afghanistan
and western China
. The size of the volume is 33 x 48 cm. A 45 page gazeteer is also included in the atlas volume. The atlas is accompanied by a map-by-map directory on CD-ROM, in PDF
format, including a search index. The map-by-map directory is also available in print as a two-volume, 1,500 page edition.
According to the editor, the purpose of each map is to offer an up-to-date presentation of the important physical and covered features of the area, using all available literal, epigraphic, and archaeological data.
Most of the maps are of the scale 1:1,000,000 or 1:500,000. However, the environs of the three greater centers (Athens
, Rome
, Byzantium
-Constantinople
) are presented in 1:150,000. Some remote regions, where Greeks and Romans mostly explored and traded rather than settled (i.e. Baltic
, Arabia, East Africa
, India
, Sri Lanka
), are of the scale 1:5,000,000. Due to the nature of the base maps used for the background and time–cost restrictions, elevation lines (contours) were left in feet except for the 1:150,000 maps where they are in meters. The projection
of the maps is Lambert Conformal Conic
. Again due to time and cost restrictions, geo-referencing
of the maps was left as a future separate project.
Effort was spent to show the physical landscape in its ancient rather than modern aspect. As expected, this task often met insurmountable difficulties, due to the lack of data. In those cases, at least an effort was made to eliminate known modern features and to restore the affected landscapes.
The atlas' production involved a project of 12 years' duration and a team of over 200 scholars, The effort was funded by $4.5 million in federal and private donations. It provides an up-to-date reference for ancient geography, superseding William Smith
's work, An historical atlas of ancient geography, biblical and classical (London: John Murray, 1872–1874).
An ongoing wiki-like on-line large scale collaboration for maintaining and diversifying the Barrington Atlas data-set is carried on by the Pleiades Project.
All eras are covered in every map (i.e. there are not separate maps for different periods of the same region).
Inside maps, ancient names are underlined with specific colors, when they are applicable only to a specific era. Where modern names are used, they are printed in different (sans-serif) font. For the physical features, standard Latin descriptive terms are usually used (e.g. Lacus for Lake, Mons for Mountain). Explanations for these terms are given in the Map Key. When there is doubt whether the name correctly applies to a feature or area, it is followed by a question mark. When only the approximate location is known, the name is italicized.
The CD-ROM also contains the gazeteer in PDF format and an installer of the version 4 of Adobe
Acrobat Reader with Search for Microsoft Windows
and Mac OS X
. However, on Windows systems with the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed, installation of the version 4 might lead to incompatibility problems.
The supplied PDF index file BATLINDX.PDX is readable for Acrobat Reader versions up to and including version 9.
For version X and later, using the "Use Advanced Search Options" item in the "Edit" menu may be a workaround.
However, searching the complete index directory will take a while and with each new search the scanning of PDF files starts again from scratch. In general it will be faster to look for a name in the index.
So, though the atlas claims to be "a reference work of permanent value", a simple Acrobat reader update will cripple its usability even for users who have the printed version of the map-by-map directory available, because the index shows only the main entries for each object.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and North Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, edited by Richard Talbert
Richard Talbert
Richard John Alexander Talbert is a contemporary British-American ancient historian and classicist on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professor of Ancient History and Classics. Talbert is a leading scholar of ancient geography...
. The time period depicted is roughly from archaic Greek civilization (pre-550 BC) through Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
(640 AD
640
Year 640 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Tulga succeeds his father Suinthila as king...
). The atlas was published by Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
press, copyright 2000. The book was the winner of the 2000 Association of American Publishers Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Multivolume Reference Work in the Humanities.
Overview
The main (atlas) volume contains 102 color topographic maps, covering territory from the British IslesBritish Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
and the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
and eastward to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and western China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The size of the volume is 33 x 48 cm. A 45 page gazeteer is also included in the atlas volume. The atlas is accompanied by a map-by-map directory on CD-ROM, in PDF
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
format, including a search index. The map-by-map directory is also available in print as a two-volume, 1,500 page edition.
According to the editor, the purpose of each map is to offer an up-to-date presentation of the important physical and covered features of the area, using all available literal, epigraphic, and archaeological data.
Most of the maps are of the scale 1:1,000,000 or 1:500,000. However, the environs of the three greater centers (Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
-Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
) are presented in 1:150,000. Some remote regions, where Greeks and Romans mostly explored and traded rather than settled (i.e. Baltic
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
, Arabia, East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
), are of the scale 1:5,000,000. Due to the nature of the base maps used for the background and time–cost restrictions, elevation lines (contours) were left in feet except for the 1:150,000 maps where they are in meters. The projection
Map projection
A map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other three-dimensional body on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
of the maps is Lambert Conformal Conic
Lambert conformal conic projection
A Lambert conformal conic projection is a conic map projection, which is often used for aeronautical charts. In essence, the projection superimposes a cone over the sphere of the Earth, with two reference parallels secant to the globe and intersecting it. This minimizes distortion from projecting...
. Again due to time and cost restrictions, geo-referencing
Georeference
To georeference something means to define its existence in physical space. That is, establishing its location in terms of map projections or coordinate systems. The term is used both when establishing the relation between raster or vector images and coordinates, and when determining the spatial...
of the maps was left as a future separate project.
Effort was spent to show the physical landscape in its ancient rather than modern aspect. As expected, this task often met insurmountable difficulties, due to the lack of data. In those cases, at least an effort was made to eliminate known modern features and to restore the affected landscapes.
The atlas' production involved a project of 12 years' duration and a team of over 200 scholars, The effort was funded by $4.5 million in federal and private donations. It provides an up-to-date reference for ancient geography, superseding William Smith
William Smith (lexicographer)
Sir William Smith Kt. was a noted English lexicographer.-Early life:Born at Enfield in 1813 of Nonconformist parents, he was originally destined for a theological career, but instead was articled to a solicitor. In his spare time he taught himself classics, and when he entered University College...
's work, An historical atlas of ancient geography, biblical and classical (London: John Murray, 1872–1874).
An ongoing wiki-like on-line large scale collaboration for maintaining and diversifying the Barrington Atlas data-set is carried on by the Pleiades Project.
Period coverage
The time period covered is roughly from 1000 BC up to c. AD 640, categorized as following:- Archaic periodArchaic period in GreeceThe Archaic period in Greece was a period of ancient Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages. This period saw the rise of the polis and the founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre in the form of tragedies performed during Dionysia, and written...
(pre-550 BC] - Classical periodClassical antiquityClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
(550-330 BC) - Hellenistic periodHellenistic periodThe Hellenistic period or Hellenistic era describes the time which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was so named by the historian J. G. Droysen. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia...
/ Middle to Late Republican at Rome (330 - 30 BC) - Early Roman EmpirePrincipateThe Principate is the first period of the Roman Empire, extending from the beginning of the reign of Caesar Augustus to the Crisis of the Third Century, after which it was replaced with the Dominate. The Principate is characterized by a concerted effort on the part of the Emperors to preserve the...
(30 BC - AD 300) - Late Antique (AD 300 - 640)
All eras are covered in every map (i.e. there are not separate maps for different periods of the same region).
Naming conventions
The Latin titles given to the regional categories and to the individual maps (see below) are no more than generalized identifications. E.g. Internum Mare (literally, "Internal Sea") is the region around Mediterranean Sea.Inside maps, ancient names are underlined with specific colors, when they are applicable only to a specific era. Where modern names are used, they are printed in different (sans-serif) font. For the physical features, standard Latin descriptive terms are usually used (e.g. Lacus for Lake, Mons for Mountain). Explanations for these terms are given in the Map Key. When there is doubt whether the name correctly applies to a feature or area, it is followed by a question mark. When only the approximate location is known, the name is italicized.
Accuracy controversy
Some readers have criticized the atlas for sloppy accuracy in the ancient maps, such as missing Roman roads (e.g., the Kunkels bypass in Switzerland), river courses that show their paths after modern river rechanneling (e.g., the Linth's path to the Walensee, the Kander), and numerous lakes which are in fact reservoirs created in the 20th century (e.g., the Sihi, Wägitaler, Lac de la Gruyère).Atlas Volume contents
- Contributors, Reviewers, Cartographers
- Preface, Introduction, Guidelines for Reference
- MapQuestMapQuestMapQuest is an American free online web mapping service owned by AOL. The company was founded in 1967 as Cartographic Services, a division of R.R. Donnelley & Sons in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1969. When it became an independent company in 1994, it was...
Production Data, Map Bases
- Six small-scale overview maps at 1:5,000,000:
- Map Key, Internum Mare (Mediterranean SeaHistory of the Mediterranean regionThe history of the Mediterranean region is the history of the interaction of the cultures and people of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea —the central superhighway of transport, trade and cultural exchange between diverse peoples...
) - HiberniaHiberniaHibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. The name Hibernia was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe , Pytheas of Massilia called the island Ierne . In his book Geographia Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of...
-ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,... - Asia Occidentalis (Southwest AsiaSouthwest AsiaWestern Asia, West Asia, Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia are terms that describe the westernmost portion of Asia. The terms are partly coterminous with the Middle East, which describes a geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than its location within Asia...
) - ArabiaSouth ArabiaSouth Arabia as a general term refers to several regions as currently recognized, in chief the Republic of Yemen; yet it has historically also included Najran, Jizan, and 'Asir which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and Dhofar presently in Oman...
-AzaniaAzaniaAzania is the name that has been applied to various parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In Roman times—and perhaps earlier—the name referred to a portion of the Southeast African coast south of the Horn of Africa, extending south perhaps as far as modern Tanzania.... - IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
- Asia Orientalis (BactriaBactriaBactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
, SogdianaSogdianaSogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...
, ArachosiaArachosiaArachosia is the Latinized form of the Greek name of an Achaemenid and Seleucid governorate in the eastern part of their respective empires, around modern-day southern Afghanistan. The Greek term "Arachosia" corresponds to the Iranian land of Harauti which was between Kandahar in Afghanistan and...
, Indus valley)
- Map Key, Internum Mare (Mediterranean Sea
- Then 93 maps are divided into six regional categories :
- Part 1: Europa Septentrionalis (Northern EuropeNorthern EuropeNorthern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
) - Part 2: HispaniaHispaniaAnother theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
-LibyaAncient LibyaThe Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements.... - Part 3: ItaliaItalia (Roman province)Italia was the name of the Italian peninsula of the Roman Empire.-Under the Republic and Augustan organization:During the Republic and the first centuries of the empire, Italia was not a province, but rather the territory of the city of Rome, thus having a special status: for example, military...
- Part 4: GraeciaGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
-Asia MinorAsia MinorAsia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey... - Part 5: SyriaGreater SyriaGreater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
-MeroeMeroëMeroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah... - Part 6: Pontus Euxinus-Persicus SinusPersian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
-Bactria
- Part 1: Europa Septentrionalis (Northern Europe
- Then the provinces of the Roman Empire are presented in three 1:10,000,000 maps:
- Provinces at the death of TrajanTrajanTrajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
(AD 117) - Dioceses and provinces according to the Verona ListVerona ListThe Laterculus Veronensis or Verona List is a list of Roman provinces from the times of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Constantine I. The list is transmitted only in a 7th-century manuscript, which is preserved in the Chapter House Library in Verona. The most recent critical edition is that of...
(c. AD 303-324) - Dioceses and provinces according to SynecdemusSynecdemusThe Synecdemus or Synekdemos is a geographic text, attributed to Hierocles, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of the cities of each. The work is dated to the reign of Justinian but prior to 535, as it divides the 912 listed cities in the Empire...
of HieroclesHierocles (author of Synecdemus)Hierocles or Hierokles was a Byzantine geographer of the sixth century and the attributed author of the Synecdemus or Synekdemos, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of the cities of each...
(late 5th - early 6th cent. AD)
- Provinces at the death of Trajan
- Gazeteer
Map-by-map Directory contents
The two volumes (and the CD-ROM) contain:- Guidelines
- Abbreviations
- A separate directory for each map whose main components are:
- an introductory text
- a listing of names and features (with period, modern name and literature reference information)
- a bibliography
The CD-ROM also contains the gazeteer in PDF format and an installer of the version 4 of Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
Acrobat Reader with Search for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
. However, on Windows systems with the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed, installation of the version 4 might lead to incompatibility problems.
The supplied PDF index file BATLINDX.PDX is readable for Acrobat Reader versions up to and including version 9.
For version X and later, using the "Use Advanced Search Options" item in the "Edit" menu may be a workaround.
However, searching the complete index directory will take a while and with each new search the scanning of PDF files starts again from scratch. In general it will be faster to look for a name in the index.
So, though the atlas claims to be "a reference work of permanent value", a simple Acrobat reader update will cripple its usability even for users who have the printed version of the map-by-map directory available, because the index shows only the main entries for each object.
Current editions
- Hardback (cloth) with CD-ROM Map-by-Map Directory, 2000, ISBN 0-691-03169-X
- Hardback (cloth) with CD-ROM & two-volume 1,500 page Map-by-Map Directory, 2000, ISBN 0-691-04962-9
- Hardback (cloth) two-volume Map-by-Map Directory, 2000, ISBN 0-691-04945-9
Literature
- Paul Cartledge: [Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World by Richard Talbert] (Review) In: The Classical Journal, Vol. 97, No. 2 (Dec., 2001 - Jan., 2002), pp. 193-195
- Kai Brodersen: Mapping (In) the Ancient World. In: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 94, (2004), pp. 183-190