12th Century Copy of Roman Map Displayed

Hola darlings, and happy Sunday!

I survived the first winter storm that hit the area yesterday about 11:30 a.m. I had things to do yesterday and was out and about, hoping to make it home before the first blast of winter hit - which was forecast for 1:00 p.m. Didn't make it, unfortunately. I got pelted with icy little beads of snow blowing out of the southeast (!) and the half mile walk home from the bus stop was pretty miserable. But once I was home, I was settled in for the nonce. The storm got increasingly worse as the day wore on, and I felt only pity for anyone caught outside in it.

Of course there were the usual fender-benders and spin-offs because idiots in their cars insist on driving at "dry pavement" speeds. One person was killed in a vehicle accident, and two jets skidded off runways - one in Milwaukee and one in Madison. Fortunately, no one was injured in those incidents. Lots of flights were cancelled and travellers were stranded. There is a window of opportunity for them to leave MKE and MAD this morning before the weather turns frigid and everything freezes rock hard, if the places they are going to are still open; the storm has headed east, promising to wreck havoc all the way to the Atlantic.

There is a lot of icy, water-filled snow outside now, and I dread the thought of shovelling out. I shovelled off the front porch in the dark this morning before skating my way down the driveway to fetch the Sunday newspaper. Half a shovel-full of slush weighs about a ton. After I make this post, I'll be headed to the store to stock up on more mixed nuts for the squirrels; they were banging on the doors and windows this morning demanding something more than peanuts and sunflower seeds - spoiled little brats! They have me so well trained, I will risk life and limb on the ice-crusted snow to go get them some more vittles!

(Map above: Visitors walk on a carpet depicting the "Tabula Peutingeriana" as they look at original fragments of the ancient roadmap of the Roman Empire dating back to the late 12th or early 13th century in the national library in Vienna November 26, 2007.
REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader)

I am fascinated by ancient maps and eagerly read any news that comes out about anything related to the topic. I always wonder if there might not be some obscure hint on one of the ancient maps that might steer us in the direction of finding the origins of chess. Unfortunately, when images of such maps are published in the press, they are too small to study. Perhaps someday I wil be able to study full-size facsimiles. Here is a feature article about a copy of an ancient Roman map - a beautiful map, by the way:

From Reuters UK
Twelfth-century copy of Roman map displayed
Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:07pm GMT

By Karin Strohecker
VIENNA (Reuters) - An 800-year-old map, the sole surviving copy of a chart used by the Roman Empire's courier service, was put on show for just one day on Monday after being accorded "Memory of the World" status by UNESCO.

The parchment scroll, nearly 7 metres (yards) long, could only be displayed briefly because too much light would damage it, before it was returned to storage at Austria's National Library, where it has been since 1738.

Named Tabula Peutingeriana after the German antiquarian who owned it in the 16th century, the map shows roads linking some 4,000 settlements as well as mountains, rivers and forests from Spain in the west to China in the east.

From north to south, the map covers the British Isles to north Africa. But because the scroll is just over 30 cms (12 inches) high, the north-south axis is greatly compressed, depicting the Mediterranean Sea as a small stretch of blue squeezed between today's Croatia and Italy.

"It's a bit like when you look at a map of the Vienna underground system -- it's not accurate but it gives you a good idea of how to get around," Andreas Fingernagel of the National Library told journalists at the showing.

The document, preserved in 11 segments, was written on parchment at the end of the 12th century as a medieval facsimile imitating the book scroll used in Roman antiquity.

The original would have been used by Roman administrators and couriers, telling them the choice of roads, how long it would take to go somewhere and, through a series of icons, how comfortable their next rest stop would be.

The copy was probably made in southern Germany at the end of the 12th century, said Fingernagel.

The missing original -- none are known to have survived -- probably dated from the first half of the 5th century, and so far only half of the 4,000 settlements have been identified, said Fingernagel.

Globally, 158 documents have UNESCO Memory of the World status, which aims to preserve and disseminate valuable archive treasures and library collections. UNESCO also grants World Heritage status to historic architecture.
(Editing by Tim Pearce)