Navigating the Ancient World: 6 Maps that Changed How People Viewed the Earth

Navigating the Ancient World: 6 Maps that Changed How People Viewed the Earth

Stephanie Schoppert - April 18, 2017

Navigating the Ancient World: 6 Maps that Changed How People Viewed the Earth
Ptolemy World Map created in the 15th century. Wikipedia

Map of the North by Ptolemy

In 150 CE Ptolemy wrote Geography. He described the world as it was known to Hellenistic society. Using the descriptions in the book, Agathodaemon of Alexandria created what is now known as the Ptolemy world map. It was created in the 2nd century and had a number of very significant features.

One of the most monumental contributions of the Ptolemic map is the inclusion of longitudinal and latitudinal lines. The maps also give terrestrial locations in addition to celestial observations. Featured on the map are the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa (labeled as Libya). The Mediterranean and Indian are two enclosed seas on the map.

Geography and the map that was created from the writings had a tremendous impact on the expansion of the Roman Empire. After this map was created, the Empire expanded to the east, and trade throughout the Indian Ocean increased. Many of the Roman trading ports of the 2nd century were found in India and Roman embassies made their way into China.

The map created by Ptolemy’s description of the world in the 15th century was a revolution in mapmaking. The translation of Ptolemy’s Geography into Latin made each country’s size dependent on mathematical calculations and not on their relative importance to the world. Despite the fact that Ptolemy’s calculations were wrong, it forever changed how the world created maps. From then on, accurate measurement and depiction was the goal of mapmaking.

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