There is one research project which the APA has made its own since its inception: the Classical Atlas project, or more precisely, The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, under the direction and editorship of Richard Talbert. I am happy to announce that the Atlas is completed on schedule, and is due to be published in September of 2000. It will be produced in two parts: the maps themselves, and, accompanying this volume, the Map-by-Map Directory of the Atlas. Published by Princeton, it will come to some 1,500 pages, and occupy two printed volumes; who cannot be pleased to know that the Directory will simultaneously be produced in CD-ROM format? The advantages of the electronic version will again be inestimable. It will permit site by site searches, enable us to magnify and home in on local regions on the general maps, and provide an exhaustive collection of data including up-to-date references to scholarly publications. We are increasingly aware that a knowledge of topography is necessary not only for historical research but even for the interpretation of literature. I venture to predict that, with the publication of the Atlas, we shall all soon find that ancient geography is just as crucial to us as our texts and bibliographies. That is one result of truly path-breaking projects: they make us realize what we needed all along. Let me say that the APA has chosen to recognize the foundation of the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina with a gift of the electronic version of the Atlas.
