Europe – Roman Empire

Romani Imperii Imagio

Engraved by Hogenberg, this map was part of the original set of 3 historical maps added to the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum from 1579. It is based on a double folio map by Ortelius from 1571. At the top left and right is a medallion: to the left of Mercury (with the text: “Rome, your destiny is to rule the world”) and Romulus (with the text: “ For Romulus, founder of the Eternal City ”). In the cartouche at the bottom right, Ortelius gives a genealogy of the kings of Rome; strange because the map gives an overview of imperial Rome.

From 1592 he added the following quote from Vitruvius: “A divine spirit placed the city of the Roman citizens in an excellent and moderate region in order to rule the world“. This quote is missing in the map of 1579/1580

In the cartouche at the bottom left, Ortelius gives a brief summary of the Roman conquests. Hibernia is not mentioned here; however, Ortelius has Ireland colored as a conquered territory. This is wishful thinking: the Romans temporarily had a small fort there, on the headland of Drumanagh, but never conquered the island. One notices the projection of longitude and latitude: the meridians are straight lined and converge at the top at a virtual point.