Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (with Map-by-Map Directory on CD-ROM)

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In 99 full-color maps spread over 175 pages, the "Barrington Atlas" re-creates the entire world of the Greeks and Romans from the British Isles to the Indian subcontinent and deep into North Africa. It spans the territory of more than 75 modern countries. Its large format (13 1/4 x 18 in. or 33.7 x 46.4 cm) has been custom-designed by the leading cartographic supplier, MapQuest.com, Inc., and is unrivaled for range, clarity, and detail. Over 70 experts, aided by an equal number of consultants, have worked from satellite-generated aeronautical charts to return the modern landscape to its ancient appearance, and to mark ancient names and features in accordance with the most up-to-date historical scholarship and archaeological discoveries. Chronologically, the Barrington Atlas spans archaic Greece to the Late Roman Empire, and no more than two standard scales (1:500,000 and 1:1,000,000) are used to represent most regions.

Since the 1870s, all attempts to map the classical world comprehensively have failed. The "Barrington Atlas" has finally achieved that elusive and challenging goal. It began in 1988 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, under the direction of the distinguished ancient historian Richard Talbert, and has been developed with approximately $4.5 million in funding support.

The resulting "Barrington Atlas" is a reference work of permanent value. It has an exceptionally broad appeal to everyone worldwide with an interest in the ancient Greeks and Romans, the lands they penetrated, and the peoples and cultures they encountered in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. Scholars and libraries should find it essential. It is also for students, travelers, lovers of fine cartography, and anyone eager to retrace Alexander's eastward marches, cross the Alps with Hannibal, traverse the Eastern Mediterranean with St. Paul, or ponder the roads, aqueducts, and defense works of the Roman Empire. For the new millennium the "Barrington Atlas" brings the ancient past back to life in an unforgettably vivid and inspiring way.

Map-by-Map Directory

A Map-by-Map Directory to the Barrington Atlas is available online (http: //press.princeton.edu/B_ATLAS/B_ATLAS.PDF) and in a separate two-volume print edition of close to 1,500 pages. The Directory is designed to provide information about every place or feature in the Barrington Atlas. The section for each map comprises: a concise text drawing attention to special difficulties in mapping a region, such as extensive landscape change since antiquity, or uneven modern exploration.a listing of every name and feature on the map, with basic data about the period of occupation, the modern equivalents of ancient placenames, the modern country within which they are located, and brief references to relevant ancient testimony or modern studies.a bibliography of works cited.

The Map-by-Map Directory is an essential accompaniment to the "Barrington Atlas." As a uniquely rich, comprehensive, up-to-date distillation of evidence and scholarship, it has no match elsewhere and opens the way to an immense variety of further research initiatives

This is a great work, all the detailed knowledge about location of cities, shrines, roads, etc, etc., etc., that has been gathered about Roman and Greek sites has been put together in just one atlas. Even individual estates are placed on maps, when convenient.

Seamlessly, from one map to another you can trace any route, find any name, and look into the neighboring area.

The map by map directory provides further insight into the sources of information, variant ancient names and modern place names (if any),

Obviously there's no such a thing as a telescope/microscope. You have to know what you are looking for, because details can sometimes shield the big picture. You need to know the original spelling of a name, or some variant. This book is invaluable when looking for names and places that are nowhere else printed in a map, at least a map that covers an area that places them in context.

Now, what else could be useful?

Basically, I would have liked three things:

- an 'inverse' gazetteer or 'name dictionary'. Look for modern place names and find ancient equivalents.

To look for a modern name is difficult. The book is not intended for this. You have to use the search engine in Acrobat, which means that you have to be using a computer. And scroll though the results. There is no straightforward way. So, a 'Modern Names Gazetteer' with ancient equivalents is something I'd like to have. Could a database fulfill this purpose? PDF formats do not allow data management, but the editor must have the data. Someone will provide this.

- a different altitude color-coded scale

As for the altitude color-coded tints, to my taste, there is at least a brown shade too many. The tinted scale is such, that some maps look a little brownish, because everything above 1000 feet has that background color. Of course, there are contour lines, but you have to look at them and read the numbers. Coding is not very useful in such a situation. Printed names over brown background are not easily readable.

- a heavy paper o plastic loose-leaf with the Map Key

The Map Key appears only on map 1, on the reverse side of the page, a good idea since the maps are not clogged with repetitive information and space is used for the essential purpose. But then you have to return to it for a reference. Thence, either it will wear out or hopefully you will remember usual references. Not for the casual reader. I've already photocopied it.

Overall, an outstanding achievement. Four stars, could have been five if some of the above items had been included.