Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World

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Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World

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 J. A. 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 in 2000. The book was the winner of the 2000 Association of American Publishers Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Multivolume Reference Work in the Humanities.

Contents

Overview

The main (atlas) volume contains 102 color topographic maps, covering territory from the British Isles and the Azores and eastward to Afghanistan and western China. The size of the volume is 33 x 48 cm. A 45-page gazetteer 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 began in 1988 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and involved a team of 221 classicists and 22 map makers. [1] The effort was funded by $4.5 million—"an unusually large sum for a project in the humanities" [2] —in federal and private donations. The largest individual contributor was Robert B. Strassler's family philanthropy The Barrington Foundation which supported the project with over $1 million and for which, in accordance with the donor's wishes, the atlas is named. (The foundation, in turn, is named after the Strassler family's place of residence, Great Barrington, Massachusetts.) [3] : 4  [4] : 23 

The atlas provides an up-to-date reference for ancient geography, superseding William Smith's An Atlas of Ancient Geography, Biblical and Classical (London: John Murray, 1872–1874), the last successfully completed attempt to comprehensively map the Greco-Roman world and reflect the state of scholarship. [5]

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. [6]

Period coverage

The time period covered is roughly from 1000 BC up to c. AD 640, categorized as following:

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.

Atlas volume contents

Map-by-map directory contents

The two volumes [7] (and the CD-ROM) contain:

The CD-ROM also contains the gazetteer 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", [8] 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.

The map-by-map directory and the gazetteer are also available in PDF format at the Princeton University Press website. [9] Until 2013, a free download of the CD-ROM as a ZIP file was offered as well. [10]

iPad version

In November 2013, PUP released an iPad 2+ App version of the Atlas which retailed at a 95% discount from the hardcover edition making it more accessible to the average reader. [11] [12] It contains the complete contents of the atlas and is searchable. [13]

Current editions

Related Research Articles

Richard John Alexander Talbert is a British-American contemporary ancient historian and classicist on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was William Rand Kenan, Jr., Professor of History and is currently Research Professor in charge of the Ancient World Mapping Center. Talbert is a leading scholar of ancient geography and ideas of space in the ancient Mediterranean world.

Ad Turres Albas was an ancient city of Latium. Ad Turres Albas originally belonged to the Volsci, and stood on the coast and on the Via Severiana, 9 miles from Circeii and 9 miles from Astura. The location of Ad Turres Albas is not precisely known: the editors of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World place it at near the modern Lago di Caprolace in the Province of Latina, Lazio, Italy.

Deris was an ancient Greek city located in ancient Thrace, located in the region of the Thracian Chersonesus. It is cited in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax, which mentions that it was an Emporium and was located between the river Melas, which flows into the Gulf of Melas, and Cardia. It has been suggested that it would be the same as a city called Deiraeus or Deiraios (Δειραῖος), cited by Stephanus of Byzantium and appearing in an inscription according to which it belonged to the Delian League.

Tyrodiza was a Greek city in ancient Thrace, located in the region of the Propontis. It appears to have flourished between 550 BCE and 330 BCE, and is identified with the place called Tiristasis in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax and Pliny the Elder. It was a member of the Delian League and appears in the tribute lists of ancient Athens between 452/1 and 445/4 BCE. In 340 BCE, Tiristasis was taken by the Athenian general Diopeithes, who enslaved its inhabitants along with those of Crobyle.

Khirbet El-Knese, El-Knese or El Knese are two Roman temples south of Yanta, north of Rashaya in the Rashaya District of the Beqaa Governorate in Lebanon.

Orokenda was a town in ancient Pamphylia, inhabited during Roman times. Its name does not occur in ancient authors, but is inferred by epigraphic and other evidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onchestos</span> Greek town in ancient Boeotia northwest of Thebes

Onchestos or Onchestus was a Greek town in ancient Boeotia northwest of Thebes. In ancient times it was famous for its sanctuary of Poseidon. The site has been excavated intermittently since the 1960s. It was in the territory of Haliartus, said to have been founded by Onchestos, a son of Poseidon.

Nasos was a town and polis (city-state) of ancient Aeolis. The place-name "Nesos Pordoselene" appears in the list of tributes to ancient Athens of the year 422/1 BC but there are different opinions on whether Nesos and Pordoselene were a single city or if they are two different cities. On the other hand, the nickname "nasiotas" (Νασιώτας) appears in an inscription of Adramyttium dated to 319-317 BC.

Neapolis (Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις) or Caryanda Neapolis (Karyanda Neapolis) (Ancient Greek: Καρυάνδα Νεάπολις) was a coastal town of ancient Caria. It was located near ancient Myndus and modern Göl. Neapolis was successor of Caryanda, when it was moved early in the 3d century.

Chalcetor or Chalketor was a town of ancient Caria. Strabo says that the mountain range of Grion is parallel to Latmus, and extends east from the Milesia through Caria to Euromus and the Chalcetores, that is, the people of Chalcetor. In another passage, Strabo names the town Chalcetor, which some writers have erroneously altered to Chalcetora. It was a member of the Delian League. The city united in the 2d century BC with Euromus, and later in a sympolity with Mylasa.

Teimiussa, also spelt Teimioussa or Timiussa, also known as Tristomon, was a port town of ancient Lycia, near the ancient settlement Tyberissus. The name is not attested in history, but is derived from epigraphic and other evidence. This combination of harbor and inland location is the focus of archaeological exploration. Among the finds are ancient tombs.

Trysa or Tryssa was a town of ancient Lycia, located between Cyaneae and Myra. It has been archaeologically examined, and among the finds are Lycian tombs, most notably the Heroon of Trysa. Greek inscriptions which were found there show that there was a cult of Zeus Eleutherios and of Helios at Trysa. The town was also inhabited during the Byzantine period and there was a church on the acropolis.

Tymnos was a town of the Rhodian Peraea in ancient Caria, located on the bay Thymnias, which formed its harbour. It was a member of the Delian League.

Olymos or Olymon (Ὄλυμον) or Hylimos (Ὕλιμος) was a town of ancient Caria. It was a polis (city-state) and a member of the Delian League.

Naulochon, also known as Palaea Smyrna or Palaia Smyrna, was a port town of ancient Aeolis, and the original Aeolian settlement of Smyrna.

Parthenium or Parthenion was a town of ancient Mysia near ancient Pergamum.

Smintheion or Smintheum was a town in ancient Troad, near Chryse, which contained a noted sanctuary of Apollo mentioned by Homer. The sanctuary was dedicated to Apollo Smintheus, a byname of Apollo associated with mice and rats. Here, Apollo was worshiped as the protector against a plague of mice that held the region in its grip at one point.

Hermaion or Hermaeum (Latin) was a location in ancient Mysia, which formed part of the border between the city-states of Lampsacus and Parium. It was probably the same place as Hermoton, mentioned by Arrian, and may have been the site of a village or town. It was located near Çınardere, Turkey.

Pericharaxis was an inland town of ancient Mysia. Its name does not occur in ancient authors but is attested by epigraphic evidence.

Gerga or Gergas (Γεργας), also possibly called Leukai Stelai was a town of ancient Caria.

References

  1. ↑ D. J. R. Bruckner (March 4, 2001). "Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World". The New York Times Book Review . p. 22.
  2. ↑ John Noble Wilford (December 12, 2000). "An Atlas Unveils the Intricacies of Ancient Worlds". The New York Times . p. D5.
  3. ↑ Richard Talbert (October 1999). "Classical Atlas Project" (PDF). American Philological Association Newsletter . Vol. 22, no. 5. pp. 2–4.
  4. ↑ Richard J. A. Talbert (Fall 2003). "Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World: the Cartographic Fundamentals in Retrospect" (PDF). Cartographic Perspectives (46): 4–27. doi:10.14714/CP46.484.
  5. ↑ Cf. Richard J. A. Talbert (1992). "Mapping the classical world: major atlases and map series 1872-1990". Journal of Roman Archaeology . 5: 5–38. doi:10.1017/S1047759400011922.
  6. ↑ "pleiades.stoa.org". Pleiades.stoa.org. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  7. ↑ Richard J. A. Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World: Map-by-Map Directory. Princeton University Press. ISBN   0-691-04945-9.
  8. ↑ Tom Elliott. "Classical Atlas Project". Unc.edu. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  9. ↑ "Map-By-Map Directory" (PDF). Press.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  10. ↑ "Atlas". Archived from the original (ZIP) on 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  11. ↑ "Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World for iPad 2+". Ancient World Mapping Center. University of North Carolina. October 31, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
  12. ↑ J. D. Biersdorfer (August 24, 2014). "Gateways to the Classical World". The New York Times. p. BR8.
  13. ↑ "Talbert, R.J.A., ed.: Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World for iPad". Press.princeton.edu. 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2017-01-06.

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