Text, translated from the 1624 Latin edition of the Parergon; this text is contained in the 1641 Spanish edition as well. The introduction to these maps occurs at the end of the preceding map, Ort226, Argonautica:
Ort226.112 = Ort227.0.
{1624LParergon/1641S only{BALTHASAR MORETVS LECTORIS:
TABVLAM ITINERARIAM antiquam ordine suo hîc insero, octo distictam segmentis, & quattor folijs comprehensam. quam ORTELIVS, curã & ære suo iam pæne absolutam, patri meo: IOANNI MORETO, veteris amoris sui testimonium, moriens legauit: eã lege, vt perfici curaret; & Nobilißimo ac Doctissimo Viro MARCO VELSERO remitteret ; cuius nempe beneficio,in illustri PEVTINGERORVM Bibliotecã repertam, acceperat. Que TABVLAM illustret , ipsius VELSERI ad eius Fragmenta (quæ pleniori Libello explicauit) Præfationem meritò appono; qua de Tabulæ Auctore , ætate , usu , alijsque , eruditè atque utiliter disseruit. & quod de eadem , postquam integram nactus esset, alieno licet nomine , iudicium tulit, coronidis vicem adiungo. Vale, beneuole Lector, & præclaro Antiquitatis monumento fruere}1624LParergon/1641S}. [Balthasar Moretus to the reader: The TABVLA ITINERARIA or travel map. I here insert an ancient map in its proper order, ornated in eight distinct sections, and depicted on four sheets, which ORTELIUS with diligence, and at his own expense had almost finished, and which he, dying, dedicated to my father under the condition that he would take care of its completion, as a token of his lasting devotion, and would return it to the very honourable and learned Marcus VELSERUS, through whose generosity he discovered it in the famous PEUTINGER library, where he obtained it. Which map he would make accessible. And the remarks of VELSERUS (described by him in an exhaustive booklet) are added here with a preface, saying which author, time, application and other aspects of the map have been discussed by him learnedly and usefully, and what opinion he held about it himself, after he had received it undamaged, is added here as a counterachievement for its final shape. Farewell, Reader, and enjoy this splendid memorial of antiquity].
227.1. {1624L{Ancient Road Map
[column 1]
227.2. Preface to the map fragments by Marcus Velserus:
In which its designer, its age, its use and some other explanatory and clarificatory matters are discussed.
227.3. B[eatus] Rhenanus in his books on Germany refers various times to a map which he saw at the house of his friend Chunradus Peutingerus in Augst. At various places he calls it a regional map, a road map, or a military map.
227.4. He estimates that this map must have been designed in the time of the last Roman emperors, and that it has been retrieved by Celtis [Cunradis Celtis Peutingerus, born in Pickel, 1459-1508, readily associated with the Peutinger map] in some library or other. Its ancient nature is supposed to be beyond any doubt.
227.5. When he adduced some proofs for this view, he aroused an intense desire in many people to inspect it. Learned scholars considered this map to be a decisive factor for establishing irrefutable borders; many long-standing, unsolvable disputes among scholars of history might be settled for once and for all by this map.
227.6. It is true that Peutingerus failed to publish this map during his life time, so much is evident to me, and it has not been studied further by anyone in spite of many insistent requests. However, among the literary treasures which he left behind after his death, two sheets have been found which seem to have been drawn up on the basis of that map. One shows a larger area than the other, but none of the two shows the entire original, as becomes clear from some specific details.
227.7. When these sheets [first (right) page, column 2] came into my hands, I considered them to be worthy of publication, so as not to be envied by the public. I have therefore published them diligently to such an extent that to some this would almost seem to be exaggerated; I have devoted attention to its broad outlines as well as to its details, and I preferred to amend evident mistakes in my comments on it, rather than on the map sheets themselves. But no one is sufficiently accurate when rendering ancient monuments when in fear of thus making predictions.
227.8. It is not because of its publication that I entrust this task to many: either the manuscript has been lost, or it lies in hiding in such an unlikely place that it will not be retrieved; (if this were a prediction, it would truly be a commendable one), but anyway, I am certain that all scholars will show their gratitude when meanwhile they can enjoy the study of these fragments.
227.9. I consider it mandatory to add some comments to it. It is not my intention to act like an oracle whenever investigations cannot provide concrete evidence; many place names are now for the first time disseminated, and those which were uncorrupted are passed on by me now, but I was unable, in spite of great mental efforts, to establish which place names either in their complete form, or as parts, reminded me of something or other, and it seems to me that all the same the readers will be edified by this work.
227.10. And I ran the risk that if I would publish these sheets in a rather bare form, many who knew about their existence would dismiss them, without considering them to be worthy of a second look, and I have not avoided to perform the exacting task of correcting the mistakes of the copyists, to explain matters in a clear way which by the maker were presented obscurely, to establish with certainty what at first sight was uncertain and of dubious significance, and finally to note down when certain matters seemed to be mistakes by the author of the map.
227.11. For either I am mistaken, or it is precisely these bumps on the road to truth which prevented Peutingerus, who fostered study of the ancients with more devotion than anyone, to publish it.
227.12. I will therefore warn few people for what turns out to be considerable, without any bragging or contempt.
[next page first map sheet, column 1]
227.13. For why would I either please myself if I do not stray from such a course, or why would I simplify the devotion of others when they have strayed in such dense clouds from the past? Whatever the case might be, it would not lead them to err, nor add to my own glory. Not that I am intent on doing so, but I am convinced that my efforts only bear fruit if I, with these comments, can illuminate the road traversed by those who study these map sheets.
227.14. I will first give my verdict concerning the maker, the map, the map sheets, the roads and their numbers. I will then come to speak about individual place names.
The maker of this map was not well-versed in geography, nor was he well educated in mathematics, we have to concede that; this is self-evident, for neither the shapes of provinces and their form, nor the coast lines, nor the course of rivers, nor the distances between various places match those of the models of the [established] geographers. I hope that there will not be great distrust when among such a large amount of place names there may sometimes be one introduced by measurements of some surveyor or other which is not founded on solid science.
227.15. For land surveyors, according to Vegetius in his second book, chapter 7, are those who choose the site for the next encampment. For him [i.e. Vegetius] it is therefore the surveyors who decide about distances on behalf of the military. But it must have been the case that those who in civil circles decided on inns and guest houses [to be used for the military] were called land surveyors. In this respect I refer to the Codex of Books, Book 2, title 8 line, 3 and 5, Book 12 title 19. line 9, title 41. line 1, 2, 5, 9 and 11.
227.16. The required knowledge about routes, crossings, places, distances and numerous other matters related to the acquisition of knowledge about these matters, was clearly to be obtained from land surveyors. For I have no doubts that when deciding on routes to be followed, land surveyors were consulted by military leaders. By way of example, note what Lampridius [one of the supposed authors of the Historia Augusta, describing emperors' lives in the third century A.D.] says on the authority of Alexandrus Severus:
227.17. The route will be announced on a certain day in such a manner that two months in advance the itinerary is made public in the following manner: at that day and hour, I must leave the city and, with the help of the gods, I will pass the night in the first night quarter. Then there follows an edict list of night quarters, the encampments and the places where rations will be distributed. These itineraries can only have been drawn up by an experienced land surveyor who was well acquainted with the night quarters, their respective distances, their size and the amount of ration, on the basis of which he could prescribe which part of a military unit could appropriately be accommodated in one of the night quarters. I am also fully convinced that the Province Itinerary ascribed to Antoninus Augustus, which we are used to rely on as an authoritative work, is fully based on the knowledge of land surveyors.
227.18. For whatever Lampridius calls an edict is by D. Ambrosius in sermon 5 concerning Psalm 118 called an Itinerary. It is appropriate to quote here in full the [relevant] passage, since it illustrates our purpose: A soldier starting on a journey does not decide on his own which route to follow, nor does he take a road after his own view, nor does he take shortcuts as he likes, and he does not stray from his banner, but he receives his Itinerary from the emperor, and he sticks to it. He advances in the prescribed order, and marches carrying his weapons; he continues his journey along the road prescribed, so that he will receive support. If he would choose to follow a different route, he would not receive rations, and would not find night quarters prepared for him.
227.19. Because of the emperor's order that everything must be prepared for those following him, those had better adhere to the route prescribed. And whoever follows the emperor will receive ample reward; he will march at a reasonable pace, because the emperor will not travel at a pace which pleases him, but decides to choose a pace which everyone can follow. This is why he has ordered fixed encampments; a military unit marches for three days and will rest on the fourth day. Cities will be chosen that lie at a distance of three, four or more days of marching, provided they have sufficient water and merchant traffic. Thus the soldier's journey will be accomplished without difficulties}1624LParergon/1641S}
(Here ends the text of the first mapsheet, which will be continued on Ort228).