ABSTRACT
The monstrous race exhibited by the Beatus map of Burgo de Osma in the fourth southern region of the world is a Sciopod. Sciopods with a single leg and a marvellous speed dwell in these empty places. Marvels of India would became the most important stock of medieval geography for monsters. Martianus Capella was also much read and quoted during the Middle Ages, although his influence cannot be compared with that of either Pliny or Solinus, at least as far as marvels are concerned. The conviction that such an adverse climate and environment existed in the austral parts of the ecumene endured throughout the Middle Ages. Beyond the limits of the ecumene, the Antipodes themselves are catalogued among the monstrous races. The concept of the Antipodes has always denoted a parallel, but different, discourse of place and race.
