Travel, Communication and Geography in Late Antiquity: Sacred and Profane

This volume brings together a number of papers which consider anew issues of travel, communication and landscape in Late Antiquity. This period witnessed an increase in long-distance travel and the construction of large new inter-provincial communications networks. The Christian Church’s expansion is but one example of both phenomena. Contributions present readers with new research on the explosion in travel and large-scale communication, and the effect on this of different geographical possibilities and limitations. The papers deal with a variety of travel experiences (religious pilgrimages, travel for work and educational purposes, journeys of the soul) and writings about travel; they look at various kinds of communication (ecclesiastical communication, communication for commerce, and the communication of religious identity); and they examine both physical and psychological aspects of geography, travel and communication.