Sources of Information about the New Way or Via Nova of Trajan in Jordan
How do we know anything about the Via Nova Traiana? There are maps, various written sources, milestones, inscriptions, and numerous preserved sections of the road itself which all provide information about the New Way of Trajan. First, there is the Tabula Peutingeriana or Peutinger Table, an early 16th century map that is a copy of a Roman route itinerary that probably originated in the 2nd century. It shows most of the official highways that would have been used most frequently by Roman officials traveling on duty anywhere in the empire. Significantly, for Arabia Petraea, the only north/south road shown is the Via Nova. The road ran from Bostra (also spelled Busra) in the north to Aila (modern Aqaba) on the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. Several sites along the route are mentioned, e.g. Thantia, Hatita, and Gadda between Bostra and Philadelphia (modern Amman), and Rababatora, Thorma, and Negla between Philadelphia and Petra. Rababatora is probably a conflation of Rabba (also known as Areopolis and in early Byzantine times as Rabbathmoba) and Betthoro or Betthorus (modern Lejjun). Rabba was the main administrative site in the center of Arabia Petraea and Betthoro was the main legionary base. This conflation and other information implies that a branch of the Via Nova connected these two important sites.
The Madaba mosaic map is a second important source that mentions towns that would have been on the Via Nova. This 6th century Christian mosaic shows the Holy Land and Jerusalem from the vantage point of the Mediterranean Sea. Several sections of the map were accidentally destroyed during the process of building the Church of St. George in the late 19th century. However, the preserved portions indicate that the map makers were aware of the geographic work of the 4th century Christian historian Eusebius (his Onamasticon), and probably other early geographical works that are not now known. The main site indicated by the Madaba map along the Via Nova was Charachmoba (modern Karak), but only the letters chmoba are fully preserved. Reconstruction of some of the damaged portions indicate that Petra was probably also originally portrayed. Other sites that were probably once noted along the Roman road, including Madaba itself in central Jordan, Udhruh (as Augustopolis), Humayma, Aila, and perhaps others, but these can not now be seen due to the destruction of the pertinent portions of the map.
Other written sources with useful, although indirect, information on the route and sites along the Via Nova include the Notitia Dignitatum (a compilation of Roman imperial officers and their post locations from the 5th century), the geographical work of the 1st century B.C. Roman writer Strabo, and various travelers’ comments in journals from the Byzantine through early modern period. Roman milestones and other remains from the road itself also help identify its route and major characteristics.