Cadrans solaires portatifs antiques: un exemplaire inédit provenant des Balkans

Abstract

Roman travel sundials are rare and not very well-known. In De architectura, book 9, chapter 5, Vitruvius takes many notes for travellers. In this way he enabled everybody to construct a travel sundial. There was only one precondition: one had to know the analemma. The variety of travel sundials corresponds to that of fixed sundials; the only difference being that they could be carried. For a greater understanding of how they functioned, current research, and therefore new finds, are of crucial importance. On the whole, 24 travel sundials are known from the Roman Empire, among them six types can be differentiated. The 24th example, the most recent find, comes from the Balkans, possibly from Bulgaria. A list of ancient place names (towns, provinces, dioceses etc.) inscribed in the portable bronze and brass sundials (12 of those are known) provides interesting evidence. They reflect the temporal and spatial perception of the Romans.