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Imagining the World: Geographic Thought and Representation in Antiquity

Module description

Ancient geographic texts are some of the most fascinating and complex works from antiquity, offering a rare glimpse into how past societies understood themselves and the world around them. These texts are not just records—they are groundbreaking, blending diverse genres and spatial imagery that still shape modern geography. In this module, you will develop the skills to analyse these texts and maps critically, uncovering their lasting impact on the history of ideas. No prerequisites are required, but you may find it especially rewarding alongside the module “Time and Relative Dimensions in Space: Historical Analysis and Visualisation with GIS”.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will introduce you to numerous influential geographic documents and genres from antiquity, examining how their legacy has shaped modern and medieval geographic thought. Through detailed case studies, the module will explore various genres, including descriptive geography, mathematical geography, and the Roman itineraries. Prominent examples include Strabo’s Geography, Ptolemy’s Geographike Hyphegesis, and the Peutinger Map. It will also raise outstanding questions regarding their construction, purpose, and subsequent use. Furthermore, the module will investigate the cross-cultural transmission and transformation of geographic thought over time.

The critical skills acquired in this course will enable you to transcend simplistic interpretations of geography as a mere backdrop for other events. Instead, you will gain an appreciation for how the structures imposed by geography shape our ability to comprehend the world around us.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Critically engage with a series of key Greek and Roman documents that established the foundations of modern geographic thought
• 2. Describe significant developments and genres in the history of geographic thought and their contemporary and later influence.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Evaluate complex ancient sources, and their potential for use and misuse as historical evidence
• 4. Identify intellectual trends and transformations across different ancient cultures, and their later re-adoption

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Appreciate the diverse ways in which geographic information can be depicted and described, and how this affects our perception of it.
• 6. Synthesise information from both visual and textual materials

Syllabus plan

The core of the module is a series of case studies of geographic themes, documents and genres which will be explored in weekly seminars. Topics may include:

• The physical & political geography of the ancient world
• Cosmology
• Descriptive geography
• Mathematical geography
• Travel and movement
• Early Greek geographers, from Homer to Hipparchus
• Ptolemy’s Geographike Hyphegesis
• Strabo’s Geography
• The Peutinger Map
• The Roman itineraries
• Roman surveyors and the Forma Urbis Romae
• Influences on Islamic geographic practice
• Influences on Medieval western geographic practice
• Influences on Modern geographic practice.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Berggren, J. L. and Jones, A. Ptolemy’s Geography – an Annotated Translation of the Theoretical Chapters. Princeton University Press. 2000.
• Dicks. D. R. (trans. & comm.) The Geographical Fragments of Hipparchus. London: Athlone Press. 1960
• Dilke, O. A. W. Greek and Roman Maps. Thames & Hudson. 1985.
• Dueck, D. Geography in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. 2012
• Dueck, D., Illiterate Geography in Classical Athens & Rome. Routledge. 2021.
• Harley. J. B. and Woodward, D. (eds.) The History of Cartography. Vol. 1: Cartography in Prehistoric, ancient and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. University of Chicago Press. 1987.
• Huntingford, W. B., The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Hakluyt Society. 1980.
• Levi, P. (trans. & comm.) Pausanias – Guide to Greece Vols. 1 & 2. Penguin. 1979
• Liddle, A. (trans. & comm.) Arrian: Periplus Ponti Euxeni. Bristol Classical Press. 2003.
• Müller, Karl, Geographi Graeci Minores. Vols. 1 & 2. Cambridge University Press 2013
• Parthey G. and Pinder, M. Itinerarivm Antonini Avgvsti et Hierosolymitanvm. Impensis F. Nicolai. 1848.
• Pothecary, Sarah. (trans.& comm.) Strabo’s Geography. Princeton University Press. 2024.
• Riese, A. Geographi Latini Minores. Georg Olms. 1995.
• Roller, D. W. Eratosthenes’ Geography. (trans. & comm.) Princeton University Press. 2010.
• Roller, D. W. Three Ancient Geographical Treatises in Translation. Hanno, The King Nikomeses Periodos and Avienus. Routledge. 2022.
• Romer, F. E. (trans. & comm.) Pomponius Mela’s Description of the World. University of Michigan Press. 1998.
• Scott, L. (trans. & comm.) Pytheas of Massalia. Routledge. 2022.
• Stoneman, R. (trans. & comm.) Megasthenes’ Indica. Routledge. 2023.
• Talbert, R. J. A. and Inger, R. W. (eds.) Cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Brill. 2008.
• Talbert, R. J. A. Rome’s World. The Peutinger Map Reconsidered. Cambridge University Press. 2010.
• Turner, B.  and Talbert, R. J. A. (trans. & comm.) Pliny the Elder’s World. Natural History, Books 2-6. Cambridge University Press. 2022.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project. https://formaurbis.stanford.edu
• Strabo the Geographer: https://www.strabo.ca/index.html
• Kiesling, B. & Isaksen, L. (trans.) Anonymous Stadiasmus of the Great Sea. ToposText. https://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=217
• Digital Periegesis:https://www.periegesis.org

Key words search

Ancient History; History; Geography; History of Geography