A Commentary on the Peutinger Map

Peutinger地图(TP)是联合国教科文组织世界遗产的一部分，在地图学历史上是独一无二的。这幅羊皮纸卷轴绘制于公元1200年左右，是一件晚期古董原作的复制品。由于这是从古代流传下来的唯一一张大尺寸地图，很明显，它的分析对于理解古代的空间概念是多么重要。首先，它奇特的维度：大约6，80米长，但只有33厘米高，它代表了从西班牙到印度的橡树带，有着极大的扭曲。在这里，我们可以抓住非比例尺地图的难以捉摸的古老传统，这些地图起源于高度精英的数学地理学校之外，让我们能够无与伦比地深入了解罗姆上层阶级中更多的人的地理知识。由于它的独特性，它一直是250年来热烈讨论的主题，空间的转向推动了整个科学的发展，其动机是关注其文化背景下的空间形式和概念。最显著的控制存在于起源日期和发展阶段，与其他地图和书面地理来源的关系，设计，正确性和功能性，复制和中世纪修改中的错误。这一组问题需要对大约4000个地名进行最新的评论，以便为未来的研究提供基础。由于Desjardins和Miller甚至巴灵顿地图集的过时、不完整和有缺陷的作品需要补充和更正，这一要求得到了再三的提醒。预计的评注将满足这一需要，从一开始就计划作为一个交互式的开放式互联网数据库发布，并将不断更新和补充。所选择的评论和分析的前提和方法将在几个方面具有创新性，因为许多关于年代、来源和目的的主流观点将受到挑战，首先，TP的原型将被追溯到希腊早期的希腊化时期；如果这一假设被证明是正确的，古代地图学的历史将不得不被重写，因为TP将不是作为希腊-罗马制图传统的结果，而是作为该行业发展早期阶段的产物进行评估。此外，暂停一个固定的起源日期，TP应被理解为一项正在进行的工作，在此期间，其发展目标和功能可能会随着不断变化的文化和历史背景而发生变化。根据现代空间理论，TP应被评价为人类文化的文件，它说明了这种特殊的形式如何代表地理，同时社会、政治和宗教空间历来被用作知识的储存库和记忆的媒介，这将使我们能够得出关于一般知识的产生和传播形式的结论。

The Peutinger Map (TP), part of the UNESCO world heritage, is acase sui generis in the history of cartography. This parchment scroll,drawn about 1200 AD, is a replica of a late antique original. As it is theonly large-size map that passed down from antiquity, it is evident, howessential its analysis is to understand concepts of space in antiquity.Unique in the first place is its whimsical dimensions: Being about 6,80m long, but only 33 cm high, it represents the oikumene from Spain toIndia with extreme distortions. Here we can grasp the elusive antiquetradition of not-to-scale maps, originating from outside the highly elitistschools of mathematical geography, allowing an unparalleled insightinto the geographical knowledge of a somewhat larger audienceamong Rome`s upper classes. Due to its singularity it has been thesubject of a lively discussion for 250 years, fueled by the spatial turnwith its incentives to pay attention to forms and concepts of spacewithin their cultural backgrounds throughout the sciences.Controversies exist most notably about date of origin and stages ofdevelopment, relations to other maps and written geographicalsources, design, correctness and functionality, mistakes in copyingand medieval modifications. This set of problems necessitates an up-to-date commentary on the roughly 4000 toponyms in order to providea base for future research. This desideratum has been remindedrepeatedly, as the outdated, incomplete and faulty works ofDesjardins and Miller and even the Barrington Atlas require additionand correction. This need is to be met by the projected commentary,planned to be issued right from the beginning as an interactive openaccess internet database, which is going to be updated andcomplemented continuously. The premises and the methodical accesschosen for comment and analysis will be innovative in severalregards, because many of the prevailing opinions concerning dating,sources and purpose will be challenged, first of all by dating theprototype of the TP as far back as into the early Hellenistic period; ifthis hypothesis proves right, history of ancient cartography will have tobe rewritten, as the TP would have to be assessed not as a result ofGreek-Roman cartographic tradition, but rather as the product of anearly stage in that line of development. Moreover, suspending onefixed date of origin, the TP shall rather be understood as a work in progress, during whose stages of development purpose and functionmight have shifted with the changing cultural and historicalbackgrounds. Based on modern spatial theories the TP shall beevaluated as a document of human culture, which illustrates, how thisparticular form of representing a geographic, and at the same timesocial, politic and religious space has been used through the ages asa repository of knowledge and a medium of memoria, which will allowto draw conclusions about forms of generating and transmittingknowledge in general.