Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Emperors, Frontiers, and Foreign Relations 185

ifconceivedofasgivingavisualimpressionoftheactualtopographicalre-
lationshipsoftheplaces,itwouldbewhollymisleading.^109
We need not doubt that itineraries, whether in the form of sequential
listsofplacesorofschematicmaps,couldbeusedformilitarymovements
within the Empire and (where towns, roads, and information about them
existed)outsideit.Vegetiusindeedadvisesthatitinerariesshouldbeissued
foralltroopmovementsshowingdistances,typesofroads,short-cuts,stop-
pingplaces,mountains,andrivers.But,writinginaneraofdefensivewarfare
(probablyunderTheodosiusI),heassumesthatsuchmovementswillhave
takenplacethroughexistingRomanprovinces—‘‘somuchsothatthemore
carefulgeneralsareclaimedtohavehadtheitinerariaofprovinceswherethey
neededtooperatenotmerelylistedbutalsopictured.’’^110
Visualrepresentationthusseemstohavebeensecondarytoschematic,or
evenpurelyverbal,tabulationoftownsandstages.Wecannot,unfortunately,
formanyclearconceptionofthemap(?)—geōgraphia—intheformofatab-
let(pinakion)andcontainingdiagrammata(plans?),forwhichJulianwroteto
thank Alypius,who may then have beenvicariusof the provinces of Brit-
ain.^111 Thatsuggeststhepossibilitythatoffice-holderscouldusevisualmeans
toinformemperors—thoughthevicariatewasacivil,notamilitary,office,
and we do not know what region the map represented. But it still leaves
a more fundamental question: if the Roman maps of which we can form
anyclearconceptiondidnotprovidearealisticprojectionofland-masses(or
stilllessofseasorthemutualrelationsofislandsinseas),wasitinprinciple
possibleforanemperor,oranyoneelse,toconceiveoftheoverallmilitary
situationinglobalstrategicterms,ortoconsiderforinstancewhetherafron-
tierontheElbemighthaveprovidedshorterlinesofcommunicationthan
oneontheRhine?^112 Allthatcanbesaidisthatourexplicitevidencedoes
not seem to provide anyclear instances of the use of maps in strategic or

109. F. Cumont, ‘‘Fragment de bouclier portant une liste d’étapes,’’Syria6 (1925): 1;
     Fouilles de Dura-Europos(1926),323–24.


110. Vegetius,Epit. rei mil. 3, 6. See T. D. Barnes, ‘‘The Date of Vegetius,’’Phoenix 33
     (1979):254.Theremarkabledescriptionofthearrangementsforthemarchofanarmyunit
     inAmbrose,In Psalmum CXVIII,Sermo5,2(Migne,PL15,1250–51),alsoreferstomove-
     ments through provincial territory. I owe this reference to G. M. Koeppel, ‘‘A Military
     ItinerariumontheColumnofTrajan:SceneL,’’Röm. Mitt.87(1980):302,onp.305,n.24.


111. Julian,Ep.30Hertlein;10Bidez-Cumont;7.SeeRivetandSmith(n.105),71.


112. This is, as need hardly be said, the theory put forward in the classic chapter of
     R. Syme, ‘‘The Northern Frontiers under Augustus,’’CAHX, 340–81, esp. 353–54. Fora
     differentview,P.A.Brunt,JRS53(1963):172–73.