Short URL for this page:
bit.ly/2PtolGeo6
mail:
Bill Thayer |
![]() Help |
![]() Up |
![]() Home |
|||
|
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, although I took the boundaries from other chapters. Thus there is no topographic information, and only 2 rivers are sketched in. This is not one of Ptolemy's better maps. Inexplicably, this picture of SW Gaul is not as good as his representation of the much remoter Ireland. Only the Loire is clearly recognizable; to a lesser degree, the Garonne and its estuary the Gironde. Relative positions are often way off: Avaricum (Bourges) and Aginnum (Agen) for example are by no means neighbors as shown here; Lugdunum Convenarum is actually on the Garumna, near its source. Ptolemy's own description does not bound the map as it does elsewhere — somewhat excusably since the part of Aquitaine offscreen south is remote mountain and even today has no major towns. Tolosa, an important city in his time, is not shown, unless it lurks under Tasta, in more or less the right place; neither are several large Atlantic islands. Finally, although I suspect manuscript corruption, the non-existent western promontory (not a 1932 mistake, since it appears on the medieval maps) is probably best viewed as an expressionistic psychological statement about the dangerous Bay of Biscay that mariners have always sought to avoid. |
Gallia is divided into four provinces, Aquitania, Lugdunensis, Belgica, and Narbonensis, and the places along its coast follow in this order:
after the western promontory, terminating the Pyrénées, which is locateda in | 15*00 | 45°50 |
mouth of the Aturis river | 16*45 | 44°30 |
mouth of the Sigmatis river | 17*00 | 45°20 |
Curianum promontory | 16*30 | 46°00 |
mouth of the Garumna | 17*30 | 46°30 |
the middle of its course | 18*00 | 45°20 |
source of the river | 19*30 | 44°15 |
Santonum harbor | 16*30 | 46°45 |
Santonum promontory | 16*00 | 47°15 |
mouth of the Canentelus river | 17*15 | 47°45 |
Pictonium promontory | 17*00 | 48°00 |
Sicor harbor | 17*30 | 48°15 |
mouth of the Liger river | 17*40 | 48°30 |
On the north it is bounded by that part of the Lugdunensis province which is along the river we call the Liger (Loire) as far as
that locality where it turns southward in | 20*00 | 48°30 |
The eastern boundary is the Lugdunensis province running along the river Liger as far as
The south is bounded in part by the Pyrénées, and extends along Narbonensis from the source of the Liger river to that terminus in the Pyrénées to which we have referred, then along that part of the Pyrénées which extends to the Oeasso promontory.
The Pictones inhabit that part of Aquitania farthest north along the river and the sea, whose towns are
Below these are the Santones, and the interior town is
Below these are the Bituriges Vibisci whose towns are
p59 Below these extending as far as the Pyrénées are the Tarbeli and their town is
Inland below the Pictones are the Limovici and the town
Below these are the Cadurci and the town
Below these are the Petrocori and the town
The Bituriges Cubi extend along the eastern border of those we have named and touch the region located across the Liger river whose town is
Below the Petrocori are the Nitiobriges and the town
Below these are the Vassari and the town
Below whom are the Gabali and the town
Below the Gabali are the Dati and the town
Below these are the Ausci and the town
From these toward the east are a part of the Averni among whom is the town
Below the Ausci are the Velauni whose town is
Below these are the Rutani and the town
Bordering on the Pyrénées are the Convenae and the town
a In Book II, Chapter 5 (Tarraconensis) the promontory at the west end of the Pyrénées, delimiting Spain from Gaul, is given as Oeasso promontory at the slightly different longitude of 15*10. On the map above, I've shown both.
UP TO: |
![]() Geography: Book II |
![]() The Geography: homepage |
![]() Topographia Antiqua |
![]() Roman Gazetteer |
![]() LacusCurtius |
![]() Home |
OFF
SITE: |
![]() Gaul in 380 AD |
|||||
A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information. |
Page updated: 27 Nov 17