Creating a new map of the fall of the West Roman Empire, from the third to the fifth centuries AD

This article is intended to accompany the publication, by its authors, of a new video map of the fragmentation of the West Roman Empire during the period from the late third to the late fifth centuries AD (https://mappingthefall.gla.ac.uk). The article explores the reasons for creating such a map and in this particular form, namely the weakness of traditional cartography in communicating complex change over time. The article then explores how the map was created, what it shows, and the problems and challenges encountered by its authors in putting it together. We close with some consideration of the state of mapping in the field of ancient history, and a call to action to ancient historians to take a more rigorous approach to the creation of maps.