As the Western Roman Empire was crumbling, Ambrosius Macrobius (c. 395–436) wrote a commentary on Cicero that included terrestrial and celestial diagrams related to “The Dream of Scipio,” a fictional account in which the great Roman general used his supposed power of “second sight” to ascend into the heavenly sphere, from where he could see the Moon, Sun, and planets orbiting Earth—a vantage point that reduced Rome to an insignificant speck. Through the dream, Cicero postulated the existence of a vast southern continent, still unknown, and defined only by the size presumed necessary to keep the Earth balanced and upright.
Combining Neoplatonist theories of cosmology, geography, and the nature of the soul, Macrobius’s commentary on Cicero became a particularly important source for Medieval scholars with an interest in Greco-Roman philosophy. Originally printed in 1472, Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis was republished in 1483 with maps drawn from the manuscript. Accompanying illustrations in the same text included a diagram of the world’s five climate zones, with the southernmost named Australis frigida. This was the first time the name of this theoretical continent appeared in print. The 1483 woodblocks were reused for the 1501 edition on display here.