From ancient maps to Web-GIS systems for the future of Tabula Imperii Romani

This paper traces the history of the International Map of the World (IMW), starting from the first attempts made by humans to represent the world in which they lived, including the difficulties faced in representing the spherical earth (Anaximander), until the well-known Tabula Peutingeriana, a map which documents the oikoumene. In 1928 Crawford highlighted the importance of a European historical map, choosing the International Map of the World (IMW) as the cartographic base for the Tabula Imperii Romani, subdividing this into sheets at a scale of 1:1,000,000. In more recent times, the TIR has tackled the transition from a printed to a digital format and the last part of this paper deals with the complex mechanism of transposing the data from printed maps to the most modern GIS and WebGIS systems. This issue reveals numerous critical topics, including accurate positioning and the problem of varying scale ratios.