The Roman Empire and the Writings of Paul circa 80 A.D.

U.S. Army Geospatial Center

This map shows the ancient Roman Empire and the places (cities, towns, regions, physical features) mentioned in the thirteen letters of Paul (“books”) in the New Testament. The size of the circular symbols is proportional to the number of times a place is mentioned, and the color corresponds to whether these mentions are in books whose authorship by Paul is either disputed or undisputed.

The map was created in a nineteenth century style to draw the viewer into spending more time studying both the data and geography. Before modern printing techniques, shorelines on a map were created using hash marks, lines, and dots for instance. ArcGIS software gives the cartographer the ability to create lines and patterns that mimic this style of mapping.

Courtesy of S. T. Benzek.

Map Book Page [PDF]