Lake
Lacus Brigantinus
Bodensee · Lake Constance
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The map draws Lake Constance but leaves it without a legible name: a few traces of black ink in the water cannot be read. Beneath it stands Brigantio in capitals, perhaps the town of Bregenz, perhaps the lake itself, since the map usually writes waters, mountains and peoples that way. Pliny is the first to call it Lacus Brigantinus, after Bregenz, and marvels that this Alpine lake breeds a fish to rival those of the sea. In 15 BC Tiberius used one of its islands, probably Mainau, as a base for a battle on the water.