Old Map of Rome

Historical Background

Ancient and Modern Rome

Christopher Browne’s map was published in London around 1700 under the title A New Mapp of Rome Shewing Its Antient and Present Scituation. It was intended to show ancient monuments alongside the streets, churches, palaces and religious institutions of contemporary Rome.

Map Details

• Original title: A New Mapp of Rome Shewing Its Antient and Present Scituation • Publisher: Christopher Browne • Engraver: John Harris • Place of publication: London • Date: c.1700 • Area shown: Rome, the River Tiber and the surrounding countryside • Notable features: The Colosseum, St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, Trajan’s Column and the Pyramid of Cestius

Christopher Browne’s Map

The title panel names Christopher Browne and gives his business address as “at the Globe near the west end of St Pauls London.” Browne was active as an English mapmaker and publisher during the closing decades of the seventeenth century and the opening years of the eighteenth.

The plate was subsequently reissued by John Senex in 1721, but the version reproduced here retains Browne’s name and address. For that reason, it is more accurately dated to around 1700 rather than identified as the later Senex edition.

A City Shaped by the Tiber

The River Tiber curves through the lower half of the plan and divides the densely built historic centre from the Vatican and surrounding districts. Bridges link the two sides of the city, while Rome’s walls, gates, roads, gardens and open ground are drawn beyond the main concentration of streets.

Among the recognisable landmarks are the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the great complex of St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican. Churches and other important buildings are shown pictorially, allowing their towers, domes and façades to stand out from the surrounding street plan.

Four Views of Roman Monuments

The map is framed by four separate engraved views. The upper corners show the ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre—now known as the Colosseum—and St Peter’s Basilica with the papal palace. The lower corners contain Trajan’s Column and the Pyramid of Cestius.

These views reinforce the purpose expressed in the title: to place the surviving monuments of ancient Rome beside the ecclesiastical and civic buildings of the contemporary city.

The Numbered Tables

Long tables arranged around the plan provide a guide to hundreds of locations. One identifies churches, parishes, monasteries, convents, oratories and religious fraternities; another records palaces and colleges.

The tables turn the decorative plan into a practical reference to Rome’s religious and institutional landscape. They also reveal just how strongly churches, monasteries and papal buildings shaped the city represented by Browne at the beginning of the eighteenth century.