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| Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations | |
|---|---|
| Name | Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations |
| Abbreviation | DARMC |
| Established | 2005 |
| Developer | Harvard University Center for Geographic Analysis; Tufts University Department of Classics |
| Country | United States |
| Discipline | Classical studies; Medieval studies; Historical geography |
Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations is a digital historical atlas that provides geospatial data for the study of Ancient Rome, Byzantine Empire, Late Antiquity, and Medieval Europe at multiple chronological stages. It aggregates place‑names, administrative boundaries, road networks, and thematic layers to support research on topics such as urbanization in Rome, trade routes involving Constantinople, pilgrimage paths to Santiago de Compostela, and monastic networks associated with Benedict of Nursia and Cistercian Order. The project is used by scholars linked to institutions such as Harvard University, Tufts University, Stanford University, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge.
The atlas presents georeferenced datasets that map archaeological sites like Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Leptis Magna, administrative units such as Roman provinces and Byzantine themata, and infrastructure including the Appian Way, the Via Egnatia, and medieval river ports such as Ravenna. Its interface enables visualization of spatial relationships among actors and places appearing in primary sources like the works of Tacitus, Livy, Procopius, Bede, and Adam of Bremen as well as in modern syntheses by scholars affiliated with projects at The British Museum and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The atlas complements corpora such as Tabula Peutingeriana and datasets produced for the Pelagios Network and the Pleiades gazetteer.
Data are drawn from archaeological reports for sites like Vindolanda and Baiae, epigraphic corpora such as the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum and Inscriptiones Graecae, cartographic materials including the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, and textual evidence from authors including Ammianus Marcellinus and Gregory of Tours. Secondary sources include monographs on the Carolingian Empire, studies of Islamic Golden Age maritime trade in the Mediterranean Sea, and catalogues from the Vatican Library and Bibliothèque nationale de France. The atlas also integrates modern archaeological surveys conducted by teams from University College London, Dumbarton Oaks, and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
The project employs historical GIS methods grounded in scholarship on Edward Gibbon-era historiography and contemporary spatial analysis practices used at centers like the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA). Place‑name reconciliation uses authority files such as Pleiades and the Geonames dataset, while chronological modeling follows frameworks advanced by researchers studying the Late Roman Army and the transition to the Early Middle Ages. Road network reconstruction uses route data tested against the Antonine Itinerary and the Tabula Peutingeriana. Provenance metadata references editors linked to publishers like Cambridge University Press and Brill Publishers.
The atlas covers regions from the British Isles and Iberian Peninsula to the Levant and North Africa across periods including the Roman Republic, Roman Empire, Migration Period, and High Middle Ages. Layered data depict ecclesiastical structures such as Archdiocese of Canterbury and monastic foundations like Cluny Abbey and Monte Cassino, military sites including Hadrian's Wall and Saxon Shore Forts, and commercial hubs such as Alexandria and Antioch. The atlas includes temporal slices that reflect events like the Battle of Adrianople (378), the Sack of Rome (410), the Norman Conquest of England, and the Crusades.
DARMC uses GIS software platforms and standards common at Harvard Geospatial Library and research computing centers; backend systems rely on spatial databases such as PostGIS and map servers compatible with OpenLayers and Leaflet. Data exchange follows standards promulgated by the Open Geospatial Consortium and uses APIs similar to those produced by Pelagios Commons. Persistent identifiers draw on authority systems developed by Pleiades, Digital Object Identifier practices, and cataloging approaches at libraries including Bodleian Libraries and the Library of Congress.
Scholars employ the atlas for research on topics connected to figures like Justinian I, Charlemagne, Alaric I, and Harald Fairhair; studies of economic networks tied to Venice and Carthage; and inquiries into mobility exemplified by pilgrim narratives to Canterbury Cathedral and Santiago de Compostela. Educators at institutions such as Yale University and Brown University use maps in courses on Roman law and Medieval Latin; cultural heritage professionals at English Heritage and ICOMOS consult the datasets for conservation planning. Digital humanists integrate the atlas with projects like ORBIS and text annotation platforms used by teams at Perseus Digital Library.
The initiative began as a collaboration among scholars at Harvard University and Tufts University and expanded through partnerships with organizations including the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, Dumbarton Oaks, and the American Academy in Rome. Key phases include initial data aggregation influenced by the Barrington Atlas Project, migration to web GIS in the late 2000s, and ongoing dataset updates informed by archaeological discoveries from excavations at Ostia Antica, Trier, and Volubilis. Funding and support have come from agencies and foundations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and university grants.
Category:Historical atlases Category:Digital humanities