Totius Graeciae Descriptio
Totius Graeciae Descriptio refers to an early antiquarian map of Greece drawn by Renaissance humanist Nikolaos Sophianos that became a cartographical bestseller of the late 16th century. It is eight pages and shows Greece from mythical times to the founding of the Eastern Roman Empire and the establishment of Christianity. The map draws on many classical historians and thinkers, including Ptolemy, Herodotus, Thucydides, Strabo, and Pausanias. History. The map was first published during Sophianos's time in Rome in 1540. It was published by Francesco Salamanca It was often copied and plagiarized, until it was finally standardized  by inclusion in Ortelius's historical atlas, the Parergon, in 1579. The creation of the map is an example of the movement in the sixteenth century of revived studies of Ancient Greece. Sophianos also integrates an attempt to merge the classical and contemporary by using ancient geographical names on a contemporary map, which reflected a societal interest in linking many aspects together, including Greece and Rome, Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and even Paganism and Christianity. Details of the map. The map is labeled principally in Latin, and in addition Greek is given for certain seas and regions. Early editions of the  map displayed only the ancient Greek names for cities, however later editions also showed modern names. Representations of Major Cities. Certain cities are given special representation on Sohpianos's map because of their cultural, political, or historical significance: Comparisons with Ptolemy's "Geography". Initially, Sophianos's map is based on Ptolemy's "Geography". This is apparent in the shape of the coastlines, rivers, and division of Greece. However, Sophianos departed from Ptolemy's work by describing ancient Greek geography. A notable feature is how Sophianos's Greece covers the Balkans south of the Danube and western Asia Minor, whereas Ptolemy 's extends to north to Epirus and Macedonia. Also, Ptolemy limited his geographical names to the contemporary second century place names, while Sophianos takes names from all of Greek history, from the Argonauts and the Trojan War, to the late Roman period. The map also shows nearly 2,000 place names of Greek antiquity, double that of Ptolemy. Lost Editions. The first editions of the map (1540–1545) are believed to be lost. Some references were collected and published by Emile Legrand in 1885 and this data was the basis for recent bibliographical entries. From literary allusions, it was established that the  first editions were published in 1540. Examples of the 1545 edition have been rediscovered and it is now possible to reconstruct the map's history and content thus shedding light on the methodology and practice of early modern antiquarian cartography of Greece. Re-Issues. Totius Graeciae Descriptio was warmly received by contemporary cartographers, and was indirectly adopted as the definition of modern Greece. Consequently, the profound map was reprinted many times.