Ptolemy's map of Britain. This map of the British Isles is from an edition of Ptolemy's 'Geographia'. The text labels are in Latin, and this map is titled 'Tabula Prima Europae'. This 1482 atlas was a translation of Ptolemy's original work from Greek to Latin. Claudius Ptolemaeus, also known as Ptolemy, was an astronomer and geographer who lived in the 2nd century in the Greek culture of Roman Egypt. Scotland is tilted to one side on this map.