Itinerarium!

[Larb]

Do you mean those maps that are visually just drawn as a long road, with the stuff along it and the routes branching off?
If so I recall John Ogilby doing similar style maps in the 16th century. I don't know about the Roman style ones, but his road atlas type maps might be worth looking at. I have always considered handing my players an in-game map in that style rather than a proper accurate one. =P


I think mostly you'd see inns and places for travellers to stay at, as well as major religious sites and landmarks. Things of particular note would be on there I think with a few notes about them. Maybe even a comment or two about the disposition of a certain settlement, true or not (which leads to such a place earning a reputation).

If it's a Roman style society, it'll definately have those big inns on there that official travellers used. If it has an efficient postal system with riders, might have the changing stations or whatever, where horses are swapped or shod. Military stuff might including sites for marching camps.

[Ghostman]

If it has an efficient postal system with riders, might have the changing stations or whatever, where horses are swapped or shod.

These might be included only in government-made maps handed to agents in it's employ - as the stations would likely refuse to serve anyone else.

An interesting question is how to handle ports in such a map. Would there be lines to represent sea lanes like there are for roads? Or would they simply list the most common trade partners for each port, with the typical number of days it takes to sail to each destination? Here one should keep in mind that the duration of voyage from one port to another can vary a lot due to luck with winds. Also the same route can be consistently faster sailed to one direction than it is to the opposite direction (because of prevailing winds and sea currents).