Navigating the Roman Empire with Orbis

I recently came across a wonderful mapping initiative—Orbis: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman Empire—on my Twitter feed.

Figure 1: Orbis' Application Interface. Source: Stanford's Orbis

Orbis is a Geospatial Network Model of the Roman Empire that depicts 600+ historical sites and 1,000+ maritime routes spanning three continents, representing their operational state during that era. A network model is essentially a navigation simulation tool, and this one incorporates parameters as granular as wind speed and wave height into its computations. Using these inputs, one can estimate not only how long it would have taken to travel from Point A to Point B using the modes of travel available at the time—donkey, carriage, ship, and eleven other transportation mediums—but also the cost of undertaking that journey, calculated in the ancient currency Denarius).

Route optimization capabilities are also embedded within the model-

Figure 2: Google Map-esque routing capabilities of Orbis helps bring new perspectives about logistical intricacies involved in managing this hemisphere-straddling empire

One can only imagine the monumental effort required to bring this project to life. The model’s Graphical User Interface (GUI) resembles a computer game for history aficionados, while still being remarkably user friendly. As a Geographic Information System (GIS) enthusiast, I find that Orbis beautifully demonstrates the power of a robust location-analytics and visualization web application.

If only the Romans had access to Orbis! I’m sure they would have enjoyed using it to identify time-efficient and cost-efficient ways to move their battle units—or to transport food grains—across continents.

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