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Thayer's Note: Stevenson's "translation" of Ptolemy, to which this page belongs, is abysmally bad. It should not be used for any serious purpose. For details and correctives, see my Ptolemy homepage.
My notes on the map:No information has been added to Ptolemy's text as I have it: there is no topographic data and the courses of the rivers remain unmapped. Considering that in outlying areas Ptolemy seems to have got most of his information from seafarers, it's interesting to note that most of the towns on his map are inland. Sure enough, this corresponds to reality: the coasts of Ireland are desolate, and the kingdoms that shared the island thru the Middle Ages had inland capitals. Two towns are in fact marked Regia = king's town; one is Dunum — Celtic for hillfort. |
A description of the north coast, beyond which is located the Hyperborean ocean:
Boreum promontory | 11*00 | 61°00 |
Vennicnium promontory | 12*50 | 61°20 |
mouth of the Vidua river | 13*00 | 61°00 |
mouth of the Argita river | 14*30 | 61°30 |
Rhobogdium promontory | 16*20 | 61°30 |
The Vennicni inhabit the west coast; next to them and toward the east are the Rhobogdi
A description of the west side, which borders on the Western ocean
from the Boreum promontory which is in | 11*00 | 61°00 |
mouth of the Ravius river | 11*20 | 60°40 |
Magnata city | 11*15 | 60°15 |
mouth of the Libnius river | 10*30 | 60°00 |
mouth of the Ausoba river | 10*30 | 59°30 |
mouth of the Senus river | 9*30 | 59°30 |
mouth of the Duris river | 9*40 | 58°40 |
mouth of the Iernus river | 8*00 | 58°00 |
Southern promontory | 7*40 | 57°45a1 |
The Erdini inhabit the coast next to the Vennicni, and between these are the Magnatae; then the Autini; and the Gangani; below whom are the Vellabori.
Description of the south coast, which adjoins the Vergionius ocean,
from the southern promontory which is in | 7*40 | 57°40a2 |
mouth of the Dabrona river | 11*15 | 57°00 |
mouth of the Birgus river | 12*30 | 57°30 |
Sacrum promontory | 14*00 | 57°50 |
A description of the east side touching the ocean which is called Hibernian,
Next to this is the Robogdium promontory.
On the side next to the Robogdi dwell the Darini, below whom are the Volunti; then the Eblani; then the Cauci; below whom are the Manapi; then the Coriondi who dwell above the Brigantes.
The following are the inland towns:
Regia | 13*00 | 60°20 |
Rhaeba | 12*00 | 59°45 |
Laberus | 13*00 | 59°15b |
Macolicum | 11*30 | 58°40 |
another Regia | 11*00 | 59°15 |
Dunum | 12*30 | 58°45 |
Hibernis | 11*00 | 58°10 |
Above Hibernia are the Ebuda islands five in number,
Toward the east of Hibernia are these islands:
Monaoeda island | 17*40 | 61°30 |
Mona island | 15*00 | 57°40 |
Adru which is barren | 15*00 | 59°30 |
Limnu which is barren | 15*00 | 59°00 |
a1 a2 The Stephenson edition lists this promontory twice at slightly different latitudes: 57°45 and 57°40. Not knowing the source of the error, I did the reasonable thing and gave the peninsula a bit of width. . . . Still, that's no way to run an atlas.
❦
b Here, the 1932 edition has 13*59 15°, clearly a modern error for 13*— 59°15, i.e., probably 13*00 59°15.
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Hibernia in 380 AD |
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Page updated: 11 Jul 20