As the author of Geographia, a definitive work on geography and cartography, Roman scholar, Claudius Ptolemy, introduced the use of mathematics and accurate measurement in mapmaking. This revolutionised European mapmaking methods, and challenged the convention of sizing countries according to their relative importance in map depictions.

Ptolemy divided the Asian continent into 12 parts. This map, the 11th Map of Asia, depicts Southeast Asia, Southern China, and parts of India. Singapore is generally identified as the Sabana Emporium, sitting at the tip of the landmass identified as the Golden Chersonese.

The map also illustrates an error subsequent European cartographers made in interpreting Ptolemy’s work, which is to join the island of Sumatra to the Malay Peninsula.