An ''itinerarium'' (plural: ''itineraria'') was an

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

travel guide in the form of a listing of cities, villages ( ''vici'') and other stops on the way, including the distances between each stop and the next. Surviving examples include the Antonine Itinerary and the Bordeaux Itinerary. The term later evolved and took wider meanings (see later meanings below).

Ancient practice

The Romans and ancient travelers in general did not use maps. While illustrated maps existed as specialty items, they were hard to copy and not in general use. On the

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

system, however, the traveller needed some idea of where he or she was going, how to get there, and how long it would take. The ''itinerarium'' filled this need. In origin, it was simply a list of cities along a road: "at their most basic, ''itineraria'' involve the transposition of information given on milestones, which were an integral feature of the major

s, to a written script." It was only a short step from lists to a master list. To sort out the lists, the Romans drew diagrams of parallel lines showing the branches of the roads. Parts of these were copied and sold on the streets. The very best featured symbols for cities, way stations, water courses, and so on. The maps did not represent landforms but they served the purpose of a simple schematic diagram for the user. The Roman government from time to time undertook to produce a master itinerary of all Roman roads.

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

and

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

commissioned the first known such effort in 44 BC. Zenodoxus, Theodotus, and Polyclitus, three Greek geographers, were hired to survey the system and compile a master itinerary. This task required over 25 years. The result was a stone engraved master ''itinerarium'' set up near the Pantheon, from which travelers and itinerary sellers could make copies.

Vicarello cups

Archaeology has turned up some itinerary material in unexpected places. The four Vicarello Cups, made of silver and dated to 1st century AD, were found in 1852 by workmen excavating a foundation at (near Bracciano), northwest of Rome. They are engraved with the names and distances of 104 stations on the road between Gades (modern-day Cadiz) and Rome, covering in total a distance of 1,840 Roman miles (). Believed to be a votive offering by merchants travelling from Gades to Rome, the inscription is a valuable source of information about the road network at the time, and scholars refer to this artefact as the '' Itinerarium Gaditanum''. Similarly, the '' Itinerarium Burdigalense'' (Bordeaux Itinerary) is a description of a route taken by a pilgrim from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in France to the Holy Land in AD 333.

Later meanings

The term changed meaning over the centuries. For example, the '' Itinerarium Alexandri'' is a list of the conquests of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. In the medieval period, the term was applied to guide-books written by travelers, most of which were accounts of pilgrimages to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

References

{{Authority control Roman itineraries Map types Maps

Ancient practice

Vicarello cups

Later meanings

See also

References