The Dura-Europos Map
The Dura-Europos Route or "stages map" is the oldest preserved original map of (a part of) Europe, and was discovered in the submerged Tower of the Archers, Dura-Europos, in 1923. The map is a fragment (45 x 18 cm) of the painted leather cover of a laminated shield drawn by a Roman soldier that shows the travel stages of his unit's march through the Crimea.
The Cohors XX Palmyrenorum is confirmed to have been in Dura-Europos in AD 230 by a dedication to the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus. After the Roman defeat in the battle of Edessa in AD 260, the Roman presence was all but forced out of the Black Sea region. One city named in the map, Histria, already had fallen to the Goths in AD 238, after severe riots in the region following the death of Alexander Severus in March of AD 235. A military march through this region after that seems unlikely, which gives us a time frame for the creation of the route map of five years between AD 230 and 235.
A white line marks the north-western coastline of the Black Sea. The open sea is painted blue, with three ships, and the land is red. Twelve Latin place names of the route are transcribed into Greek, with distances noted in Roman miles. Two blue lines mark rivers which were crossed during the march. It is orientated to the west, whereas all other Roman maps were oriented to the east, towards the sunrise. A cartouche between the two large ships written in Latin cursive says "gill..." which might be a fragment of the owner’s signature.
The Cohors XX Palmyrenorum is confirmed to have been in Dura-Europos in AD 230 by a dedication to the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus. After the Roman defeat in the battle of Edessa in AD 260, the Roman presence was all but forced out of the Black Sea region. One city named in the map, Histria, already had fallen to the Goths in AD 238, after severe riots in the region following the death of Alexander Severus in March of AD 235. A military march through this region after that seems unlikely, which gives us a time frame for the creation of the route map of five years between AD 230 and 235.
A white line marks the north-western coastline of the Black Sea. The open sea is painted blue, with three ships, and the land is red. Twelve Latin place names of the route are transcribed into Greek, with distances noted in Roman miles. Two blue lines mark rivers which were crossed during the march. It is orientated to the west, whereas all other Roman maps were oriented to the east, towards the sunrise. A cartouche between the two large ships written in Latin cursive says "gill..." which might be a fragment of the owner’s signature.
The surviving sequence runs clockwise along the shores of Black Sea, from Odissos in Thrace to the Cimmerian Bosporus:
Παν[υσος ποτ(αμός)? μί(λια) . .] river Panysus
Οδεσ[σός μί(λια) . .] Odissos (Varna)
Βυβόνα [μί(λια) . .] Bybona (Kavarna)
Καλ[λ]ατις μί(λια) . . Kallatis (Mangalia)
Τομέα μί(λια) λγ´ Tomis - 33 miles
Ἰστρος ποτ(αμός) μί(λια) μ´ river or city of Istria - 40 miles (blue line for river)
Δάνουβις ποτ(αμός) [μί(λια) . .] river Danube (blue line for river)
Τύρα μί(λια) πδ´ Tyras - 84 miles
Βορ[υ]σ[θέν]ης [μί(λια) . .] Borysthenes (Olbia) at river Dnieper
Χερ[σ]όνησος . . . . ] Chersonesos Taurica (Peninsula)
Τραπ[εζοῦς . . . . .] Trapezus (Krymskie Gory - "tent mountain") or Trebizond?
Aρτα[ξάτα μί(λια) . .] "straits" of Pantikapeon (Kerch) or Ardabda (Theodosia) or Artaxata (Armenia)?
The first part of the march corresponds to the route between Byzantium and the mouth of the Danube known from the Peutinger Map. The Danube is crossed after modern Histria, but then advances into regions where the Peutinger Map does not record any Roman roads. It is also possible that it marks a sea route of port cities with nautical Roman miles of sailing.
Παν[υσος ποτ(αμός)? μί(λια) . .] river Panysus
Οδεσ[σός μί(λια) . .] Odissos (Varna)
Βυβόνα [μί(λια) . .] Bybona (Kavarna)
Καλ[λ]ατις μί(λια) . . Kallatis (Mangalia)
Τομέα μί(λια) λγ´ Tomis - 33 miles
Ἰστρος ποτ(αμός) μί(λια) μ´ river or city of Istria - 40 miles (blue line for river)
Δάνουβις ποτ(αμός) [μί(λια) . .] river Danube (blue line for river)
Τύρα μί(λια) πδ´ Tyras - 84 miles
Βορ[υ]σ[θέν]ης [μί(λια) . .] Borysthenes (Olbia) at river Dnieper
Χερ[σ]όνησος . . . . ] Chersonesos Taurica (Peninsula)
Τραπ[εζοῦς . . . . .] Trapezus (Krymskie Gory - "tent mountain") or Trebizond?
Aρτα[ξάτα μί(λια) . .] "straits" of Pantikapeon (Kerch) or Ardabda (Theodosia) or Artaxata (Armenia)?
The first part of the march corresponds to the route between Byzantium and the mouth of the Danube known from the Peutinger Map. The Danube is crossed after modern Histria, but then advances into regions where the Peutinger Map does not record any Roman roads. It is also possible that it marks a sea route of port cities with nautical Roman miles of sailing.
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Itineraries and Geographical Maps in the Early and Late Roman Empires
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