Tabula Peutingeriana (Road Map of the Roman Empire, 4th century AD).

The Peutinger Table (Tabula Peutingeriana) is a copied road map of the Cursus Publicus, the Roman road network, and its origins are from maps that potentially date from the 4th century AD. It may have been derived from the Porticus Vipsaniae monument of ancient Rome, or they could share a similar origin. The current available copy is a 16th century printed copy of a 13th century manuscript, it is named after the Peutinger family who kept the map until 1714. The last surviving member of the Peutinger family Desiderius Ignatius Peutinger "parted with it to a bookseller of Augsburg of the name of Kutz" (Valpy & Barker (Editors) 53 : 1821) .

Section of Mediterranean, showing parts of Italy, Sicily, North Africa and Dalmatia.

A scan of the whole Peutinger table, with reconstructions of the Iberian peninsula is below.

Reconstructed Peutinger Table.

The road network covers most of the Mediterranean basin and contains representations of travel times in days by hook marks and the location of rest stops. The map also contains representations of the Near East,  India and the Ganges River and an indication of the far East. The elaborate decoration of the three major Roman cities of Rome, Constantinople and Antioch and the prominence of Ravenna assist in a chronology of the iteration of its copies. The presence of Pompeii, destroyed in 79 AD is potentially anachronistic.

The twelfth century copy of this map is described by Emily Albu (2011) as being part of an argument against the centrality of  papal Rome by placing ancient Rome as a center piece of the Byzantine world view oikoumene, which suited the Swabian producers of the twelfth century version of the map (Albu 495 : 2011). Medieval Catholics tended to see Jerusalem as the religious center of the world, Medieval Orthodox Christians perceived Constantinople as their religious center but perceived a heritage descending from ancient Rome. Emily Albu (498 : 2011) presents evidence of this in a quote from Anna Comnene in the Alexiad (I.13.4),

"The truth is that when power was transferred from Rome to our country and the Queen of Cities, not to mention the senate and the whole administration, the senior archbishopiric was also transferred here. From the beginning the emperors have acknowledged the primacy of the Constantinopolitan bishop and the Council of Chalcedon especially raised that bishop to the place of highest honour and subordinated to him all diocese throughout the world" (Alexiad 1.13.4) (Albu 498 : 2011).

This was part of a argument against Pope Gregory VII (1073 -1085) who was allied with Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia and Calabria and the Norman enemy of Alexios Komnenos and the Byzantine Empire. Anna Comnene describes them both sarcastically as "the man of peace, too, and the disciple of the Man of Peace" (Alexiad 1.13.7) (Albu 500 : 2011).

Emily Albu indicates (2011) that Anna Comnene's regrettably venomous prose represents the prevailing views of twelfth century Constantinople (Albu 501 : 2011), with significant anti papal sentiments, inflamed by increasing papal power and an assertion of universal (Catholicism) claims of authority over Christian diocese. Lars Brownworth, in a December 2009 lecture at the Smithsonian Institute, during an interesting digression, speculated that because the Western Roman Empire had only one major city, Rome, which was the Western Roman Empires dominant diocese that the decision making network associated with the Catholic Pope tended to reach more autocratic conclusions, while the Eastern Roman Empire had four major Roman cities, each a separate diocese, so that despite the authoritarian nature of the power structure of Eastern Roman Empire, the decision making network may have been more about discussion and the development of consensus, but this was a conjecture only. A major theme in Lars Brownworth's December 2009 Smithsonian Institute lecture was, Byzantines during the Crusades were diplomatic, while the Western Crusaders were engaged in "Holy War", not so much about diplomacy and thus this theme may have influenced his digression. The political situation of Pope Gregory VII may actually be used to argue against this conjecture, Henry IV, the Holy Roman Emperor of the Salian line (1024 -1125), appointed Clement III as an oppositional Pope.

The script on the Peutinger Table indicates a writer educated in Swabia working between 1175 and 1225, the domain of the Hohestaufen German " Holy Roman" Emperors who struggled against the Papacy of Rome. Frederick Barbarossa was elected "King of the Romans" by German princes in 1152 and this Hohenstaufen line sought legitimacy for this title by claiming the imperial title held by Charlemagne and Otto the Great (Albu 507 : 2011). Though Frederick Barbarossa was reluctantly coronated by Pope Adrian IV in 1155 the Hohestaufen line eventually found itself in opposition to the papacy, significantly Pope Innocent III (1198 -1216). This would eventually lead to the puplic execution of Conradin, the last of the Hohenstaufen line in 1268 (Albu 508 : 2011). Internal evidence on the map suggests that the map was made during Pope Innocent III's papacy (1198 -1216), after the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the fourth Crusade lead by Boniface of Montferrat (Albu 508 : 2011). Jerusalem is designated Aelia Capitolina, its Roman name but the map also features a depiction of the Mount of Olives, a Christian feature (Albu 509 : 2011). The swabian scriptorium has capitalized place names that have lost their opening letters (Albu 497 : 2011) and the tyche, personifications of fortune associated with the major cities of Rome and Constantinople resemble medieval emperors (Albu 509 : 2011).

The referred lecture/ talk at the Smithsonian Institute is a  you tube video of a lecture by Lars Brownworth. Lars Brownworth is the author of "Lost to the West : The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that rescued Western Civilization" (2010). The lecture provides a historical narrative that stretches from the 7th century of Heraclitus to the inclusion of the double headed eagle in the flag of the current Russian Federation. Lars Brownworth is the creator of "12 Byzantine Rulers" a popular series of lectures available as audio files on line, also described as "Podcast", "Webcast" educational lectures.

Bibliography

Albu, Emily. (2011). Viewing Rome from the Roman Empires. From Medieval Encounters. Volume 17. Pages 495 -511.

Brownworth, Lars. (prior 2006). 12 Byzantine Rulers : The History of the Byzantine Empire. @ http://12byzantinerulers.com. Uploaded prior 2006.  Last viewed 10-7-2013.

Brownworth, Lars. (December 2009). Lars Brownworth - Smithsonian Institute - Byzantium. @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ4ilVj1xLE. Approx 70 minutes long. Uploaded May 2011. Last viewed 10-7-2013.

Valpy, Abraham John & Barker, Edmund Henry. (Editors). (1821). The Classical Journal. Volume 23, March to June 1821. Published by the Cambridge Literary Collection. Page 53.