A Commentary on the Peutinger Map

• Applicants: Privatdozentin Dr. Silke Diederich; Professor Dr. Michael Rathmann
• Subject Area: Ancient History ; Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies ; Greek and Latin Philology ; Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 319254113

• Final Report Year: 2025

Final Report Abstract

The project "Commentary on the Tabula Peutingeriana" examined the only surviving largeformat map of the ancient world, which depicts the known world from Iberia to India. The Tabula Peutingeriana (TP), which contains about 3800 place names, road routes and numerous cartographic details, is an essential witness to ancient geography and stands outside the mathematical-astronomical geographical tradition. The TP's significance and its renown far beyond the sphere of specialists stood in stark contrast to the lack of a comprehensive, easily accessible presentation of this important historical source. The aim of the project was to provide a comprehensive commentary on the TP with all its toponyms, their origins and the various stages of editing in the course of its transmission history. A particular challenge was the chronological and geographical classification and interpretation of the place names, as well as the determination of the accuracy and function of the TP itself. The project adopted a new methodological approach by considering the TP as a product of a continuous work in progress that began in the Hellenistic period and developed over many generations, changing the content of the TP. The work of the project has shown that the original Hellenistic archetype of the TP has its cartographic origins around 200 BC and does not, as previously assumed, go back to the Augustan Agrippa map. The emphasis was originally placed on geographical knowledge rather than on political propaganda. Subsequent adaptations were selective and inconsistent. Their focus was exclusively on the internal entries, with the physical land mass depicted being left untouched. This cartography of the Oikumene is based on a cultural-geographical tradition that can be labelled as "chorographic". The project has, regarding the considerable public interest, created a comprehensive, publicly accessible online database that annotates the toponyms, distances, and graphic entries of the TP. This database provides modern resource management, including a GIS-based display that allows for innovative visual analysis of the map. The next step is to take multispectral images (MSI) of the TP to enhance the precision of the data. This will reveal hidden details and provide a clearer view of the TP’s development process. The use of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for material analysis is also planned. The use of this highly innovative technique promises to provide a new basis for research into the TP and to improve the collection of information that is crucial to understanding ancient geography and cartography. In addition to previous research on the TP, four Ph.D. theses are in progress. Conclusion: The "Commentary on the Tabula Peutingeriana" project provides a new basis for understanding the ancient world view through a critical, comprehensive commentary and re-assessment of previous assumptions about the TP. The freely accessible, interactive database (commentary ⇔ GIS presentation) enables an interested public and the specialist community to access the TP and explore it in new ways.

Link to the final report

https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeumdok.00006938

Publications

• Imaginationen. Die Tabula Peutingeriana. Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie, 65(5-6), 246-258.
  Schuol, Monika
  
• Kartenkompetenz und Kartenbewusstsein in den römischen Eliten, Teil 1, in: Orbis Terrarum 16, 2018, 55-136
  Silke Diederich
  
• Ins. Erkronis (Tabula Peutingeriana 4B2) – Erafronis / Otok Silba, in: Orbis Terrarum 17, 2019, ̅ 305-308.
  Silke Diederich
  
• Kartenkompetenz und Kartenbewusstsein in den römischen Eliten, Teil 2, in: Orbis Terrarum 17, 2019, 101-184.
  Silke Diederich
  
• Maps. III. Christianity. Greek and Latin Patristics and Orthodox Churches, in: Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception 17, 2019, 848-851.
  Monika Schuol
  
• Bilder, die die Welt bedeuten: Die Notitia dignitatum und die Tradition der römischen Kartographie, in: Antike Welt 3/2020, 14-18.
  Silke Diederich
  
• New perspectives on the Tabula Peutingeriana II, in: Orbis Terrarum 18, 2020, 197-251.
  Michael Rathmann
  
• Das Perserreich ohne Susa? Der iranische Raum auf der Tabula Peutingeriana, in: H. Klinkott / A. Luther / J. (Hg.), Beiträge zur Geschichte und Kultur des alten Iran und benachbarter Gebiete, Stuttgart 2021, 241-252.
  Monika Schuol
  
• Empire and Landscape in the Tabula Peutingeriana. The Impact of the Roman Empire on Landscapes, 372-397. BRILL.
  Diederich, Silke
  
• Das Horn von Afrika und der Südrand der Oikumene auf der Tabula Peutingeriana im kartographiegeschichtlichen Kontext, in: Orbis Terrarum 19, 2022, 219-291.
  Monika Schuol
  
• Der Siedlungs- und Verkehrsraum Mittelrhein-Mosel auf der Tabula Peutingeriana, in: M. Gierszewska-Noszczyńska / L. Grunwald (Hg.), Zwischen Machtzentren und Produktionsorten. Wirtschaftsaspekte von der römischen Epoche bis in das Hochmittelalter am Rhein und in seinen Nachbarregionen, Heidelberg 2022, 21-40.
  Silke Diederich
  
• Der zweigehörnte Fluss. Der Rhein und die Römer, in: K. Ehling / S. Kerschbaum (Hg.), Göttliche Größe und gezähmte Gewalt. Vom babylonischen Euphrat bis zum römischen Rhein, Darmstadt 2022, 141-148.
  Monika Schuol & E. Baltrusch
  
• Nordafrika auf der Tabula Peutingeriana, in: AKAN 32, 2022, 161-216.
  Philipp Köhner
  
• Paulus, seine Reisen und Briefe im Licht des römischen Transport- und Nachrichtenwesens, in: U. Mell / M. Tilly (Hg.), Der 1. Thessalonicherbrief und die frühe Völkermission des Paulus, Tübingen 2022, 145-154.
  Monika Schuol
  
• Tabula Peutingeriana. Die bedeutende Weltkarte der Antike, 4. Aufl., Darmstadt 2022 (grundlegend überarbeitete und um ein Gesamtregister erweiterte Buchausgabe der TP).
  Michael Rathmann
  
• Von der Herrscherresidenz in die Provinz: Konstruktionen städtischer und ländlicher Räume auf der Tabula Peutingeriana, in: M. Angelucci (Hg.), Urban Space in Historical Geography: Collective Perception and Territoriality, Sevilla 2022, 189-210.
  Monika Schuol
  
• Adulis und Aksum: Global Players im Fernhandel der Antike?, in: M.J. Olbrycht / S. Müller (Hg.), Cities, Trade, and Routes from the Mediterranean to Iran and the Indus Valley, Rzeszów 2024, 302-327.
  Monika Schuol
  
• Was geschah mit der Straße von Kertsch auf der Tabula Peutingeriana?, in: Orbis Terrarum 22, 2024, 141-164.
  Silke Diederich