Index and Sources

The complete Ancient Greece map contains over 1400 places, each hand-crafted and cross-checked.

A general list of sources can be found in the bibliography, while the map index (περιεχόμενα) contains place-specific sources.

Base Map

1:10,000,000 (1:10m)
1″ = 158 miles
1 cm = 100 km

The base map was made with Natural Earth
https://www.naturalearthdata.com (NE2_LR_LC_SR_W_DR version 2.0.0, 1/30/2025)

Legend & Design Notes

One dot at a time

It is fun making maps the old-fashioned way: moving around the ancient landscape, discovering facts, and placing each settlement on the right spot, with the right symbology, nudging it repeatedly a few pixels this way and that. It is like a real-life video game where you traverse the map, using skills you learn along the way to discover clues toward the conclusion of a story. In the end, what really matters is the joy of a long journey of exploration. This journey started in 2002 CE.

Placemarks & Timemarks

One of the main priorities of the map is to show with a quick glance, during which periods a place was inhabited, and its relative importance. In a cluster of cities, the more ancient ones will have hexagons active on the left, while in the later settlements, the right hexagons will be tinted.

The central hexagon indicates the location, which is marked either “certain” (white) when supported by archaeological and authoritative sources, or “approximate” (gray) when relying on other sources.

All placemarks are the same size. Relative importance in each era is indicated by the corresponding timemark fill, and the overall influence is indicated by the text size and weight (bold text).

The ring of hexagons surrounding the central place mark indicates influence in each ancient era. They are marked as “major” (black), “minor” (gray), or “unverified/uninhabited” (no fill).

Starting with the bottom left (Stone Age) hexagon and moving clockwise, each hexagon represents a period of time.

Timemarks are relative and should be taken only as a general indication of activity at the site for each era. The sources which are included in the index with each placemark provide the main guidance to determine each era’s importance.

Some timemarks are tricky to implement. For example, Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BCE by Cassander. So in the timemarks for Hellenistic and Roman eras may be filled with black to indicate the city’s importance in these eras. But the city was created by uniting over 26 villages that pre-existed on the site. Given the impossibility of adding them all in such tight space, the question arises: should the timemark account for their existence in the preceding Classical and Archaic eras when they were not part of Thessaloniki? Similar problems arise for places that were inhabited but not “Hellenic” during part of their existence. There are several possible solutions, and each place is different, so intuition is the best guide: some places have pre-existing settlements included in the timemarks, some do not.

Place Names

Ancient Greek history spans three thousand years and, naturally, many settlements changed their name over time.

To fit as many places as possible on the map, only one of the known names for each place is given on the map where space is tight. All other names are listed in the map index.

The following naming conventions are used on the maps to reflect a places’ name variations over the centuries:

Name*: Additional name variations in the index
Name (Name): Other spellings in same era
Name, Name: Name variation in same era
Name / Name: Name different through eras

Typography

Type size and weight denote the relative importance of each place, but in areas of tight space, a smaller font has been used.

Fonts: Helvetica Neue and Baskerville.

The following typography guidelines give a good approximation of a place’s importance:

12 pt, Name: Place of Renown

10 pt, Name: Place of Influence

8 pt, Name: Place of Importance

7 pt, Name: Place of Note

6 – 4.5 pt, Name: Place of note, important, or influence in tight space

In general, when space is tight, fonts get a click smaller; when space is ample, the largest possible fonts for each significance is used.

For example, it can be argued that, overall, Knossos in Crete is as, or more important than Sparta in the Peloponnese. However, there is plenty of space around Sparta for a larger font, while in Crete where space is tight a smaller font is used.

Τα Ονόματα στα Ελληνικά είναι γραμμένα με κλίση για να διαφοροποιούνται από τα Αγγλικά όταν παρουσιάζονται μαζί στον χάρτη. (Translation: names in Greek are italicized)

Colors

The color palette induces the following colors:

Scale Bar

The scale is very approximate and not to be trusted with precise measurements.

Stadia calculated by measuring the reported ancient distance from Athens to Dekeleia of 120 stadia (Thucidydes).

Visualizations

Routes

Routes on sea and land are approximate. They indicate a general idea of the direction and reach of travel .

Local Radius

This feature is not yet published

In an effort to introduce the human scale on the map, a “circle of influence” surrounds each placemark. It represents a reasonable radius of a settlement’s local interactions and influence.

It is a very general mark to enhance the visibility of the area, and to highlight settlement clusters and trends, especially when zoomed-out.

The radius represents approximate walking distance in a day (accepted here as 32 kilometers, or 20 miles, which can be traversed in about 6-8 hours at walking pace), assessed to be the maximum distance most locals would interact with the land, each other, and their neighbors within overlapping areas during a day. Most activity around a city would probably be taking place around a radius of 6-8 miles, which is a distance a person could cover in a couple of hours on foot (though most would use either a horse/mule or a cart). Travel would of course be affected by the terrain, weather, and other conditions, which are not accounted for on this map.

In ancient Greece, a city’s center itself, as well as the surrounding countryside, farms, and villages that provided resources and supported the city’s population, or its polis, extended to a radius of approximately 15-20 kilometers (9-12 miles). The specific radius would vary depending on factors like terrain, population density, and the presence of other nearby city-states. An average person can walk about 25 miles in a day.

The radius does not factor a settlement’s renown at all, so all radii are equal.

Design Notes: Affinity Designer Multiply Fx on placemark layer gives a nice effect with D3D7CE color on “outline” (and Style” Outline), and 0D79F2 radius outline. A modified gradient fill softens the interior and provides the sharp outline.

Approximate px measurements for city radius (change in “outline” Fx): 41px = 20 mi, 42 km chosen as most appropriate for overall average distance based on approximate maximum walking distance in half a day.

Local Radius Era Color Key

Visibility Horizon

This feature is not yet published

A “shaded” blue area extending out from each island and shoreline indicates an approximate distance of how far a human can see.

Approximate visibility distance on the map is set at 16 km, or 10 mi. This distance would change with the observer’s elevation and atmospheric conditions, so it is a generalization to provide a sense of human proportion to the map. Hopefully it is useful to gauge distances, especially between the islands.

This is also along the efforts to introduce “human scale” to the map visuals to help gauge distances better.

Design Notes: Affinity Designer Fx: Outline (20px = 10 miles)

Design tools used

Natural Earth, QGIS, Affinity Designer, PDF. The PDF format was chosen as final output for its simplicity, usability, versatility, and printability.

---

Satellite Map

Ancient Greece on Google Maps
Ancient Greece on Google Earth

A generalized placemark provides chronological information on Google Maps and Google Earth:

Multiple eras	Stone Age	Bronze Age	Dark/Archaic Age	Classical Age	Hellenistic Age	Late Hellenistic / Roman
	8000 – 3000 BCE	3000 – 1000 BCE	1000 – 480 BCE	480 – 323 BCE	323 – 146 BCE	146BCE+

Satellite Images and Accuracy of Placemarks

In the Google Maps and Earth versions, the major and minor cities are classified based on the certainty of location. You will find these designations in the pop-up window after clicking on each map place.

Accurate Placemarks: If neither “approximate” nor “general” appear in the pop-up window, the placemark indicates the exact location on the map of the ancient Greek place. Most often, the ruins of the place are visible in satellite view under or near the placemark after zooming in. By “accurate” is meant “as accurately as possible”. While the placemark is located on the ancient excavations, the excavated ruins could be a small part of the actual ancient location that might have relocated several times in the area during the past 4 millennia.

“Approximate Location” The placemark is on the most commonly accepted location based on at least three verified sources, but no ruins or other visual evidence can be seen on the map. They should be considered accurate within the vicinity of the pin on the map.

“General Location” means that the particular ancient Greek place cannot be pinpointed specifically, but instead it spans the general area around the placemark. Most often in this case a modern city covers the ancient site.

“Probable Location” means that the exact location of a known place could not be accurately pinpointed on the map. The placemark is placed on the most likely location based on limited unverified sources. 

The ancient coastline was different in significant places. Today’s satellite imagery offers extraordinary accuracy of the contemporary topography and most modern maps reflect this accuracy. The ancient landscape, and especially the coastline might have been considerably different than today. Good examples of this are the locations of Troy, Miletos, and Thermopylae. The ancient places existed next to the coast or a large harbor while today, and all satellite images they appear landlocked. In several such cases, I have drawn the ancient coastline after considerable research, and I hope to add more in the future.

---