Tabula Peutingeriana
Reading Time: 1:00 min
The Tabula Peutingeriana, is a cartographic representation that shows the Roman road network in the late Roman Empire, spanning from the British Isles, across the Mediterranean region and the Near East, to India and Central Asia.
The road map is named after Konrad Peutinger (1465–1547 CE) and is part of the UNESCO World Documentary Heritage. It is now preserved in the Austrian National Library in Vienna.
Created in the late 12th century CE, the Tabula is a copy of a Carolingian era map, which in turn traces back to the original Roman road map. The scroll, measuring 680 cm by 34 cm, depicts the regions of the world known to the Romans, from Britain to India, though its westernmost section has been lost.
It is designed as a schematic diagram, distorting the geographical details quite significantly. Nonetheless, it provided travellers with all the necessary information about the location of the key cities and horse-change stations in the Roman Empire’s road network, as well as the number of day stages between stopping points along the main traffic routes.
The landmasses appear as horizontal strips, separated by the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. The cities are represented by building symbols; the larger the symbol, the more significant the city. The number of day marches is depicted by hook-shaped red lines. The names of places and distances in Roman miles form the basis for road research. Today, the map is one of the most important sources for identifying and mapping ancient place names.
Late Roman Original and Medieval Copy
Reading Time: 0:55 min
Late Roman Original
The presumed original of the road map, dating from the second half of the fourth century (around 375 CE), contained a graphic representation of the known world at the time, with roads marked as connecting lines between the various locations.
This late antique original can be traced back to several possible predecessors. It is believed that the original late antique map was created after 330 CE.
Medieval Copy
The late Roman road map has survived only as a medieval copy from the 12th century CE. The humanist Conrad Celtis (1459–1508 CE) discovered the map and handed it over to his friend Konrad Peutinger around 1507 CE. After Peutinger’s death, a copy was made on the instructions of a family member, from which a complete edition was published in Antwerp in 1598 CE.
After this, Peutinger’s copy was considered lost. It was only rediscovered in 1714 CE and acquired by Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1715 CE. After his death in 1736 CE, Emperor Charles VI bought the entire Bibliotheca Eugeniana – and thus the Tabula Peutingeriana – and incorporated it into the Imperial Court Library.
In 1863 CE, the Tabula was dismantled into individual segments for conservation purposes and initially stored between glass plates, and 1977 CE onwards, between acrylic plates.
History of the Tabula Peutingeriana
375 CE
Creation of the late Roman original.
12th Century CE
A medieval copy is made, through which the map has been preserved.
1507 CE
Konrad Peutinger receives the map from Conrad Celtis.
1598 CE
Publication by Abraham Ortelius and Markus Welser.
1715 CE
The map comes into the possession of Eugene of Savoy.
1736 CE
Acquisition by Charles VI, stored in the Imperial Court Library in Vienna.
1863 CE
The map is divided into individual segments for conservation reasons.
12 Segments
The medieval map was divided into 12 segments, which can be assigned as follows:
– Pars I: Hispania, Britannia (Segment 1)
– Pars VIII: Patras (Segments 7, 8)
– Pars II: Lugdunum (Segments 1, 2)
– Pars IX: Athens (Segment 8)
– Pars III: Colonia, Treveri, Argentorate (Segments 2, 3)
– Pars X: Constantinople (Segments 8, 9)
– Pars IV: Mediolanum (Segments 3, 4)
– Pars XI: Caesarea, Trabzon (Segments 9, 10)
– Pars V: Aquileia, Regina, Lauriacum (Segments 4, 5)
– Pars XII: Antioch (Segments 10, 11)
– Pars VI: Rome (Segments 5, 6)
– Pars XIII: Urfa (Segments 11, 12)
– Pars VII: Belgrade (Segment 6)
– Pars XIV: India (Segment 12)
The Three Editions of “Tabula Peutingeriana”
