Route map of Dura Europos

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Drawing of the route map of Dura Europos

The route map of Dura Europos , also a stage map of Dura Europos , is a fragment of a late antique special map that was found in Dura Europos in 1923 . The map was drawn between 230 and 235 by a Roman soldier of the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum on the leather covering of a shield . It is considered to be the oldest original road map in Europe .

Find history

The Belgian archaeologist Franz Cumont discovered the map fragment in 1923 during excavations in Dura Europos in the buried "Tower of the Archers". This is a color-painted leather or parchment fragment that was found between the remains of wooden oval shields and identified by Cumont as the laminate of a Roman shield. Remnants of wood from the shield were still adhering to the back. The map was probably made by a Roman infantryman or archer of the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum . In the years between 230 and 235, this soldier probably recorded the milestones of his unit on the march across the Crimean peninsula on the leather covering of his shield. Evidence such as geographical discrepancies can also be interpreted to the effect that the owner of the sign had commissioned the painting.

description

The map fragment obtained is 45 × 18 cm in size. Cumont reconstructed the original map to a total width of 65 cm. The image field is divided into two halves by a semicircular white line. This roughly drawn line represents the course of the west and north coast of the Black Sea . To the left of the coast, the open sea is shown in blue, on the preserved section you can still see three ships. Mainland is shown in reddish color to the right of the coastline. Twelve places in the Black Sea region are listed here, using the Latin names of the places transcribed into Greek script . To the right of the place name, similar to the Itinerarium Antonini , distance information was noted in Roman miles . The places themselves are represented symbolically . The draftsman used the same symbol for each place, a building with a gable roof. Two blue lines under the place names Ἰστρος, ποτ (αμός) and Δάνουβις ποτ (αμός) indicate rivers that were crossed on the route.

Stage reconstruction

According to Cumont, the list of stages of the map text received is as follows:

  • Παν [υσος ποτ (αμός)? μί (λια). .]
  • Οδεσ [σός μί (λια). .] (Odessus, today Varna , Bulgaria )
  • Βυβόνα [μί (λια). .] (today Kawarna , Bulgaria)
  • Καλ [λ] ατις μί (λια). . (Kallatis, now Mangalia , Romania )
  • Τομέα μί (λια) λγ´ (Tomoi, today Constanța , Romania)
  • Ἰστρος ποτ (αμός) μί (λια) μ´ (Istros, today Histria , Romania)
  • Δάνουβις ποτ (αμός) [μί (λια). .]
  • Τύρα μί (λια) πδ´ (Tyras, today Bilhorod-Dnistrowskyj , Ukraine )
  • Βορ [υ] σ [θέν] ης [μί (λια). .]
  • Χερ [σ] όν [ησος. . . . ] (Chersonesos, today Chersones , Ukraine)
  • Τραπ [εζοῦς . . . . .]
  • Aρτα [ξάτα μί (λια). .] (today Feodosiya , Ukraine)

The first part of the route stages corresponds to the route between Byzantium and the mouth of the Danube , as it is also known from the Itinerarium Antonini and the Tabula Peutingeriana . Some of the stations are also recorded in the Cosmographia of Ravenna . According to the route map of the soldier of Dura Europos, the Danube is crossed behind today's Histria in order to then advance into an area in which the Itinerarium Antonini and the Tabula Peutingeriana have no Roman roads.

Cartographic features

The fragment suggests that the map was facing west. Guidelines for this are the writing and the arrangement of the decorative elements. Also the westernmost point indicated, the river Panysus , is at the top of the map, while the easternmost point, the place Ardabda , is at the bottom of the map. A west would be unprecedented for a Roman map, as the Roman cartography was always oriented towards sunrise. Roman maps were therefore geosted.

Dating

The dating of the map fragment can be narrowed down to the first half of the 3rd century for general reasons. The Cohors XX Palmyrenorum is documented from 230 for Dura Europos by a dedicatory inscription to the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus , with which a lower date is given. After the Roman defeat in the Battle of Edessa in 260, the Romans were largely ousted from the Black Sea regions. However, the city of Histria mentioned in the route map fell to the Goths in 238, after serious unrest had already broken out in this region when Alexander Severus died in March 235. A transfer of troops through this area after 235, at the latest after 238, appears unlikely. This results in a time window of five years between 230 and 235 for the creation of the Dura Europos route map.

Perception, meaning and where to find it

After it was discovered by Cumont, the map was soon forgotten. James mentioned it in 2004, but doubted whether the fragment belonged to a Roman shield. Only Nabbefeld took up the stage map again in 2008.

In addition to its importance for the ancient map system, the map is also of military historical interest, as it provides evidence that Roman troops were present in southern Russia until the great Goth invasion (after 260) . The city of Ardabda (today Feodossija ) must have been under Roman occupation at that time.

The map is the only original road map from antiquity. Today it is in the manuscript collection of the French National Library .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cumont 1925, pp. 1f.
  2. ^ After Cumont Tower 4
  3. ↑ Cumont 1925, p. 2
  4. ↑ Cumont 1925, p. 9
  5. ↑ Equation with the mountain Chatyr-Dag deviating from Cumont after Uhden 1932, p. 118
  6. ↑ Uhden 1932, p. 121f.
  7. ↑ Nabbefeld 2008, p. 39f.
  8. ↑ Simon James: The Arms and Armor and Other Military Equipment . Excavations at Dura-Europos 1928–1937, Volume 7. British Museum Press, London 2004, p. 25
  9. ↑ Nabbefeld 2008, catalog no.712
  10. ↑ Nabbefeld 2008, p. 41
  11. ↑ Archive number GR 1354 (2) V

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