Marinus, Ptolemy and the Turning of Scotland

Abstract

One of the most puzzling problems of ancient geography relates to the turning of Scotland, whereby in Ptolemy's map of the British Isles Britain (or Albion) is abruptly turned to the east from approximately Ptolemy's latitude 59° north, effectively the Tyne/Solway line. As a result the area we now refer to as Scotland is shown coherently through its coefficients but overall at approximately right-angles to the southern part of the country. Ptolemy's account of the geography of ancient Britain is fundamental to any study of the province, and particularly the military campaigning in the North. It is therefore essential as a subject of study for anyone involved in the evolution of the province or, at a very different remove, the underlying problems of understanding the contribution of ancient geographers to what Ptolemy himself called ‘chorography’, the geography of a region or particular area.

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