Historical itinerary
Introduction
The so-called Antonine Itinerary, or Itinerary of Antoninus Augustus Caracalla, is a document from Ancient Rome, supposedly written in the 1st century, in which the routes of the Roman Empire are compiled.
Copies
Of this itinerary, only the copy from the time of Diocletian (19th century) is preserved. Despite its name, it does not seem to be related to the emperor Antoninus Pius, but rather to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, known as Caracalla, who ruled from 211 to 217, and in whose times the itinerary began to be compiled, which underwent numerous modifications over the centuries, which is why it is also known as "Antonine Itineraries."
Content
Mansions, correspondence and miles were identified on each route. Due to its characteristics and indications, it seems more designed to facilitate the location of population centers for fundraising purposes than to help travelers. Despite this, the indications on distances of the aforementioned itinerary have made it possible to locate a large multitude of missing locations throughout the ancient network of Roman roads, as well as some Roman roads not documented by other sources.[1].
This document indicates 372 routes, of which 34 correspond to the provinces of Hispania (from No. I to No. XXXIV). The Antonine Itinerary only includes the roads that appeared in the praetor's register, or as we would say today, state roads, missing all the local roads of which we have references by Pliny the Elder, Strabo and other writers. That is why the Itinerary is not a complete compilation of the Roman roads, although it does include some of the main ones.
Examples
The attached table shows an example for one of the routes described in the Itinerary. In the left column the original Latin text is shown and on the right its current equivalent, approximate in some cases.