Development Update: Classical Greece

The Classical Greece map is currently progressing well and has begun to look quite nicely. Thus I thought this might be a good time for a development update:

Since my last post, I’ve finally decided to turn it into another DIN A0 sized wall map. In DIN A0 the entire Delian league, Magna Graecia and Sicily can be shown on the main canvas, as well as a larger chunk of the Italian peninsula, up to Rome and the most southern portions of the Etruscan homeland. The entire Cyrenaica, the north western edge of Egypt and Carthaginian territories in north Africa are depicted along the southern border, framing the main topic also thematically very well. Recently, I’ve included Cyprus as a second inlay map, which was not part of my original design.

wall map of classical greece — The current state of my next wall map: Classical Greece. Everything is still WIP and subject to change.

I still think a smaller DIN A1 sized version, showing just the core areas, would work too. Maybe with an external legend to prevent too much cluttering, the same solution I used for my earlier Ancient Egypt map. Thus I will keep a possible DIN A1 offspring in mind as an future option.

The basic outline is now complete, there are no more completely empty areas. Over the last few weeks I’ve added at least the elementary features to each region. I will focus on Cyprus, Thrace and the Balkans next. In the coming months my focus will shift back to Greece, adding more rivers, lakes, towns, smaller sanctuaries and, whenever possible, the borders of city states and leagues, while improving their graphical representation. Hopefully, I will be able to finish the map before the end of the year.

I am still undecided if I should add a big title to the map (See image below). I did so when making the Roman Empire map, but left it out on all follow on projects. They just have a smaller title or explanation as part of the legend block. A huge title, which can be read from meters away, certainly enhances the educational value of a wall map, especially when used in a classroom or similar environment. However, this is certainly a matter of personal taste, at least for me it makes it less aesthetically pleasant to view. The final map will be multilingual, thus I need to find another, universal title that can be easily understood by everybody, such as Imperium Romanum 211 AD.

detailed wall map of classical greece — The same map with an extra title added. On the final map the title will not be in English, I will choose something more universal.