| Understanding Ptolemy |
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The Geographia |
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Geographia(Geography) is a book with lists of places across the world known in Roman times, with Latitude and Longitude measurements to pinpoint the locations, plus the names of tribes and their major towns.
Originally written by Claudius Ptolemy in Greek at Alexandria around AD 150, the work was a revision of a now-lost atlas by Marinus of Tyre using additional Roman and Persian gazetteers and new principles.
Based on an inscription in several of the earliest surviving manuscripts, it is traditionally credited to Agathodaemon of Alexandria.
Ptolemy's work probably originally came with maps, but none have been discovered. Instead, the present form of the map(shown below) was reconstructed from Ptolemy's coordinates by Byzantine monks under the direction of Maximus Planudes shortly after 1295AD.
| 1295AD Map of the Geographia |
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This is fairly accurate especially in the Mediterranean, but England and Ireland appear offset, and Scotland appears rotated by about 60 degrees.
India appears too small and Sri-Lanka appears too large, but again that's comparing against modern map making.
The information contained in the Geographia would have let the Romans understand their empire, and the tribes and where they were located, so this would provide excellent reconnaisance for conquering those tribes.
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Further analysis of the Geographia |
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![Saxon Standard Bearer](javascript:launch_resize("/images/1066AD/saxon_standard_bearer_lft.png", 900, 1000);)
