ROME’S OLDEST MAP
Comprising 150 marble slabs, the Severan marble plan was a giant carved map of Rome displayed on the wall of the city’s Temple of Peace. The detailed engraving measured 18 by 13 metres and had an orientation opposite to today’s common practice, with the northernmost points at the bottom. Only about 10 to 15 per cent of the original map is still preserved today, broken up into 1,186 parts. Carved across these substantial slabs is a plan of all the monuments and every ground-floor room of buildings in the centre of Rome. Some buildings are even mapped with interior details such as staircases and columns. The exact purpose of the map is still debated. Due to it being on display next to government offices, some historians believe it was used for administrative purposes. However, the scale and impractical hanging of the map makes others doubt this theory.
The map was created under the orders of emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211 CE. Unlike the maps of today, in which areas are plotted based on geographical and political borders and onto readily available paper, the boundary of this map was determined by the limits of accessible marble. Sadly, in the Middle Ages, the map was partially destroyed in order to use the material for building. Putting together the pieces of this hefty stone jigsaw raised significant challenges. However, in 1999 the Digital Forma Urbis Romae project was launched, which digitised the fragment carvings and the pieces that were preserved only as drawings. The project enables people to view a complete version of this map.