Roman road
Encyclopedia
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
and the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies
Military history of ancient Rome
From its origin as a city-state in Italy in the 8th century BC, to its rise as an empire covering much of Southern Europe, Western Europe, Near East and North Africa and fall in the 5th century AD, the political history of Ancient Rome was typically closely entwined with its military history...
and trade
Roman commerce
Roman trade was the engine that drove the Roman economy of the late Republic and the early Empire. Fashions and trends in historiography and in popular culture have tended to neglect the economic basis of the empire in favor of the lingua franca of Latin and the exploits of the Roman legions...
goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km of roads, including over 80,500 km of paved roads. When Rome reached the height of its power, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the city. Hills were cut through and deep ravines filled in. At one point, the Roman Empire was divided into 113 provinces traversed by 372 great road links. In Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
alone, no less than 21,000 km of road are said to have been improved, and in Britain at least 4,000 km. There were footpaths on each side of the road.
The Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
became adept at constructing roads, which they called viae. They were intended for carrying material from one location to another. It was permitted to walk or pass and drive cattle, vehicles, or traffic of any description along the path. The viae differed from the many other smaller or rougher roads, bridle-paths, drifts, and tracks. To make the roads the Romans used stones, broken stones mixed with cement and sand, cement mixed with broken tiles, curving stones - so the water could drain, and on the top they used tightly packed paving stones.
The Roman road networks were important both in maintaining the stability of the empire and for its expansion. The legions
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
made good time on them, and some are still used millennia
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
later. In later antiquity, these roads played an important part in Roman military reverses by offering avenues of invasion to the barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
s.
Etymology
The LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word for "road" was via, plural viae. The word is etymologically
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
related to the English way (Old English weg) and weigh, (OE wegan, "to lift up, carry, bear, move, convey"; cf. "weigh anchor", where the sense is simply "lift up"). These words are all derived from the Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
root, *wegh-, which means "to move or convey". Vehicle, from Latin vehere, "to carry, bring, drive", has the same root, as do the English words wain and wagon (the latter word coming from Germanic).
Roman systems
LivyLivy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
mentions some of the most familiar roads near Rome, and the milestones on them, at times long before the first paved road - the Appian Way
Appian Way
The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia, in southeast Italy...
. Unless these allusions are just simple anachronisms, the roads referred to were probably at the time little more than levelled earthen tracks. Thus, the Via Gabina (during the time of Porsena) is mentioned in about 500 BC; the Via Latina
Via Latina
The Via Latina was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers.It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mons Algidus; it was important in the early military history of Rome...
(during the time of Coriolanus
Coriolanus
Gaius Marcius Coriolanus was a Roman general who is said to have lived in the 5th century BC. He received his toponymic cognomen "Coriolanus" because of his exceptional valor in a Roman siege of the Volscian city of Corioli. He was then promoted to a general...
) in about 490 BC; the Via Nomentana
Via Nomentana
Via Nomentana is an ancient road of Italy, leading North-East from Rome to Nomentum , a distance of . It originally bore the name Via Ficulnensis, from the old Latin village of Ficulnea, about from Rome. It was subsequently prolonged to Nomentum, but never became an important high road, and merged...
, or Via Ficulensis, in 449 BC; the Via Labicana
Via Labicana
The Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east southeast from Rome. It seems possible that the road at first led to Tusculum, that it was then extended to Labici, and later still became a road for through traffic; it may even have superseded the Via Latina as a route to the southeast,...
in 421 BC; and the Via Salaria
Via Salaria
The Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy.It eventually ran from Rome to Castrum Truentinum on the Adriatic coast - a distance of 242 km. The road also passed through Reate and Asculum...
in 361 BC.
In the Itinerary of Antoninus, the description of the road system, after the death of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and during Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
tenure, is as follows:
"With the exception of some outlying portions, such as Britain north of the Wall, Dacia, and certain provinces east of the Euphrates, the whole Empire was penetrated by these itinera (plural of iter). There is hardly a district to which we might expect a Roman official to be sent, on service either civil or military, where we do not find roads. They reach the Wall in BritainHadrian's WallHadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
; run along the Rhine, the DanubeDanubeThe Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
, and the EuphratesEuphratesThe Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
; and cover, as with a network, the interior provinces of the Empire."
A road map of the empire reveals that it was generally laced with a dense network of prepared viae. Beyond the borders were no roads; however, one might presume that footpaths and dirt roads allowed some transport.
- For specific roads, see Roman road locations below.
Laws and traditions
The laws of the Twelve Tables, dated to approximately 450 BC, specified that a road shall be 8 ft (2.45 m) wide where straight and 16 ft (4.90 m) where curved. Actual practices varied from this standard. The Tables command Romans to build roads and give wayfarers the right to pass over private land where the road is in disrepair. Building roads that would not need frequent repair therefore became an ideological objective, as well as building them as straight as possible in order to build the narrowest roads possible, and thus save on material.Roman law defined the right to use a road as a servitus, or claim. The ius eundi ("right of going") established a claim to use an iter, or footpath, across private land; the ius agendi ("right of driving"), an actus, or carriage track. A via combined both types of servitutes, provided it was of the proper width, which was determined by an arbiter. The default width was the latitudo legitima of 8 ft (2.4 m). In these rather dry laws we can see the prevalence of the public domain over the private, which characterized the republic.
Roman law and tradition forbade the use of vehicles in urban areas, except in certain cases. Married women and government officials on business could ride. The Lex Iulia Municipalis restricted commercial carts to night-time access to the city within the walls and within a mile outside the walls.
Types of roads
Roman roads varied from simple corduroy roadCorduroy road
A corduroy road or log road is a type of road made by placing sand-covered logs perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area....
s to paved roads using deep roadbeds of tamped rubble as an underlying layer to ensure that they kept dry, as the water would flow out from between the stones and fragments of rubble, instead of becoming mud in clay soils. According to Ulpian
Ulpian
Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus , anglicized as Ulpian, was a Roman jurist of Tyrian ancestry.-Biography:The exact time and place of his birth are unknown, but the period of his literary activity was between AD 211 and 222...
, there were three types of roads:
- Viae publicae, consulares, praetoriage or militares
- Viae privatae, rusticae, glareae or agrariae
- Viae vicinales
Viae publicae, consulares, praetoriae and militares
The first type of road included public high or main roads, constructed and maintained at the public expense, and with their soil vested in the state. Such roads led either to the sea, or to a town, or to a public river (one with a constant flow), or to another public road. Siculus FlaccusSiculus Flaccus
Siculus Flaccus was an ancient Roman gromaticus , and writer in Latin on land surveying. His work was included in a collection of gromatic treatises in the 6th century AD....
, who lived under Trajan (AD 98-117), calls them viae publicae regalesque, and describes their characteristics as follows:
- They are placed under curatores (commissionerCommissionerCommissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
s), and repaired by redemptores (contractorGeneral contractorA general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
s) at the public expense; a fixed contribution, however, being levied from the neighboring landowners. - These roads bear the names of their constructors (e.g. Via Appia, CassiaVia CassiaThe Via Cassia was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii traversed Etruria...
, FlaminiaVia FlaminiaThe Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley...
).
Roman roads were named after the censor
Censor (ancient Rome)
The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....
who had ordered their construction or reconstruction. The same person often served afterwards as consul, but the road name is dated to his term as censor. If the road was older than the office of censor or was of unknown origin, it took the name of its destination or of the region through which it mainly passed. A road was renamed if the censor ordered major work on it, such as paving, repaving, or rerouting. With the term viae regales compare the roads of the Persian kings
Royal Road
The Persian Royal Road was an ancient highway reorganized and rebuilt by the Persian king Darius the Great of the Achaemenid Empire in the 5th century BC. Darius built the road to facilitate rapid communication throughout his very large empire from Susa to Sardis...
(who probably organized the first system of public roads) and the King's highway
King's Highway
King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to:* King's Highway an ancient trade route from Egypt to Syria* Kings Highway , Australia* King's Highway , United States* King's Highway King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to:* King's Highway (ancient) an ancient trade route from Egypt to Syria*...
. With the term viae militariae compare the Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
(e.g., Icen-hilde-weg, or "War-way of the Iceni").
However, there were many other persons, besides special officials, who from time to time, and for a variety of reasons, sought to connect their names with a great public service like that of the roads. Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...
, when Tribune of the People (123-122 BC), paved or gravelled many of the public roads, and provided them with milestones and mounting-blocks for riders. Again, С. Scribonius Curio, when Tribune (50 BC), sought popularity by introducing a Lex Viaria, under which he was to be chief inspector or commissioner for five years. Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
mentions as one of the forcible acts of the triumvirs of 43 BC (Octavianus, Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
, and Lepidus
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , was a Roman patrician who rose to become a member of the Second Triumvirate and Pontifex Maximus. His father, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, had been involved in a rebellion against the Roman Republic.Lepidus was among Julius Caesar's greatest supporters...
), that they obliged the senators to repair the public roads at their own expense.
Viae privatae, rusticae, glareae and agrariae
The second category included private or country roads, originally constructed by private individuals, in whom their soil was vested, and who had the power to dedicate them to the public use. Such roads benefited from a right of way, in favor either of the public or of the owner of a particular estate. Under the heading of viae privatae were also included roads leading from the public or high roads to particular estates or settlements. These Ulpian considers to be public roads themselves.Features off the via were connected to the via by viae rusticae, or secondary roads. Both main or secondary roads might either be paved, or left unpaved, with a gravel surface, as they were in North Africa. These prepared but unpaved roads were viae glareae or sternendae ("to be strewn"). Beyond the secondary roads were the viae terrenae, "dirt roads".
Viae vicinales
The third category comprised roads at or in villages, districtDistrict
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
s, or crossroads, leading through or towards a vicus
Vicus (Rome)
In ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...
or village. Such roads ran either into a high road, or into other viae vicinales, without any direct communication with a high road. They were considered public or private, according to the fact of their original construction out of public or private funds or materials. Such a road, though privately constructed, became a public road when the memory of its private constructors had perished.
Siculus Flaccus describes viae vicinales as roads "de publicis quae divertunt in agros et saepe ad alteras publicas perveniunt" (which turn off the public roads into fields, and often reach to other public roads). The repairing authorities, in this case, were the magistri pagorum or magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s of the cantons. They could require the neighboring landowners either to furnish laborers for the general repair of the viae vicinales, or to keep in repair, at their own expense, a certain length of road passing through their respective properties.
Governance and financing
With the conquest of Italy, prepared viae were extended from Rome and its vicinity to outlying municipalities, sometimes overlying earlier roads. Building viae was a military responsibility and thus came under the jurisdiction of a consul. The process had a military name, viam munire, as though the via were a fortification. Municipalities, however, were responsible for their own roads, which the Romans called viae vicinales. The beauty and grandeur of the roads might tempt us to believe that any Roman citizen could use them for free, but this was not the case. Tolls abounded, especially at bridges. Often they were collected at the city gate. Freight costs were made heavier still by import and export taxes. These were only the charges for using the roads. Costs of services on the journey went up from there.Financing road building was a Roman government responsibility. Maintenance, however, was generally left to the province. The officials tasked with fund-raising were the curatores viarum, similar to a supervisor
Supervisor
A supervisor, foreperson, team leader, overseer, cell coach, facilitator, or area coordinator is a manager in a position of trust in business...
who manages and administers. They had a number of methods available to them. Private citizens with an interest in the road could be asked to contribute to its repair. High officials might distribute largesse
Evergetism
Euergetism is a term coined by French historian A Boulanger, deriving from Greek εύεργετέω meaning "I do good things". It is the practice of wealth or high-status individuals distributing a part of their wealth to the community, rather than to individuals, as was the case with patron-client...
to be used for roads. Censors, who were in charge of public morals and public works, were expected to fund repairs suâ pecuniâ (with their own money). Beyond those means, taxes were required.
A via connected two cities. Viae were generally centrally placed in the countryside. The construction and care of the public roads, whether in Rome, in Italy, or in the provinces, was, at all periods of Roman history, considered to be a function of the greatest weight and importance. This is clearly shown by the fact that the censors, in some respects the most venerable of Roman magistrates, had the earliest paramount authority to construct and repair all roads and streets. Indeed, all the various functionaries, not excluding the emperors themselves, who succeeded the censors in this portion of their duties, may be said to have exercised a devolved censorial jurisdiction.
Costs and civic responsibilities
The devolution to the censorial jurisdictions soon became a practical necessity, resulting from the growth of the Roman dominions and the diverse labors which detained the censors in the capital city. Certain ad hoc official bodies successively acted as constructing and repairing authorities. In Italy, the censorial responsibility passed to the commanders of the Roman armies, and later to special commissioners – and in some cases perhaps to the local magistrates. In the provinces, the consul or praetor and his legates received authority to deal directly with the contractor.The care of the streets and roads within the Roman territory was committed in the earliest times to the censors. They eventually made contracts for paving the street inside Rome, including the Clivus Capitolinus
Clivus Capitolinus
The main road to the Roman Capitol, the Clivus Capitolinus starts at the head of the Forum Romanum beside the Arch of Tiberius as a continuation of the Via Sacra; proceeding around the Temple of Saturn and turning to the south in front of the Portico Dii Consentes, it then climbs up the slope of...
, with lava, and for laying down the roads outside the city with gravel. Sidewalk
Sidewalk
A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...
s were also provided. The aedile
Aedile
Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...
s, probably by virtue of their responsibility for the freedom of traffic and policing the streets, co-operated with the censors and the bodies that succeeded them.
It would seem that in the reign of Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
(41-54 AD) the quaestor
Quaestor
A Quaestor was a type of public official in the "Cursus honorum" system who supervised financial affairs. In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official whereas, with the autocratic government of the Roman Empire, quaestors were simply appointed....
s had become responsible for the paving of the streets of Rome, or at least shared that responsibility with the quatuorviri viarum. It has been suggested that the quaestors were obliged to buy their right to an official career by personal outlay on the streets. There was certainly no lack of precedents for this enforced liberality, and the change made by Claudius may have been a mere change in the nature of the expenditure imposed on the quaestors.
Official bodies
The official bodies which first succeeded the censors in the care of the streets and roads were two in number. They were:- Quatuorviri viis in urbe purgandis, with jurisdiction inside the walls of Rome;
- Duoviri viis extra urbem purgandis, with jurisdiction outside the walls.
Both these bodies were probably of ancient origin, but the true year of their institution is unknown. Little reliance can be placed on Pomponius, who states that the quatuorviri were instituted eodem tempore (at the same time) as the praetor peregrinus (i.e. about 242 BC) and the Decemviri litibus iudicandis
Decemviri
Decemviri is a Latin term meaning "Ten Men" which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic...
(time unknown). The first mention of either body occurs in the Lex Julia Municipalis of 45 BC. The quatuorviri were afterwards called Quatuorviri viarum curandarum. The extent of jurisdiction of the Duoviri
Duoviri
In ancient Rome, duumviri was the official style of two joint magistrates...
is derived from their full title as Duoviri viis extra propiusve urbem Romam passus mille purgandis
Duoviri
In ancient Rome, duumviri was the official style of two joint magistrates...
. Their authority extended over all roads between their respective gates of issue in the city wall and the first milestone beyond.
In case of an emergency in the condition of a particular road, men of influence and liberality were appointed, or voluntarily acted, as curatores or temporary commissioners to superintend the work of repair. The dignity attached to such a curatorship is attested by a passage of Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
. Among those who performed this duty in connection with particular roads was Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, who became curator (67 BC) of the Via Appia, and spent his own money liberally upon it. Certain persons appear also to have acted alone and taken responsibility for certain roads.
In the country districts, as has been stated, the magistri pagorum had authority to maintain the viae vicinales. In Rome itself each householder was legally responsible for the repairs to that portion of the street which passed his own house. It was the duty of the aediles to enforce this responsibility. The portion of any street which passed a temple or public building was repaired by the aediles at the public expense. When a street passed between a public building or temple and a private house, the public treasury and the private owner shared the expense equally. No doubt, if only to secure uniformity, the personal liability of householders to execute repairs of the streets was commuted for a paving rate payable to the public authorities who were responsible from time to time.
Augustus' changes
The governing structure was changed by AugustusAugustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
. In the course of his reconstitution of the urban administration he created new offices in connection with the public works, streets, and aqueducts of Rome. He found the quatuorviri and duoviri forming part of the body of magistrates known as vigintisexviri
Vigintisexviri
The Vigintisexviri was a college of minor magistrates in the Roman Republic; the name literally means "Twenty-Six Men"...
. These he reduced to twenty members (vigintiviri), but retained the quatuorviri among them. The latter were certainly still in existence under Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
(117-138 AD). Augustus abolished the duoviri, no doubt because the time had come to deal comprehensively with the superintendence of the roads which connected Rome with Italy and the provinces. Dio Cassius relates that Augustus personally accepted the post of superintendent. In this capacity he represented the paramount authority which belonged originally to the censors. Moreover, he appointed men of praetorian rank to be road-makers, assigning to each of them two lictor
Lictor
The lictor was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending and guarding magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium, the right and power to command; essentially, a bodyguard...
s. Lastly, he made the office of curator of each of the great public roads a perpetual magistracy, instead of a special and temporary commission, as had been the case hitherto.
In Augustus' capacity as supreme head of the public road system, he converted the temporary cura
Cura
Cura is the name of a divine figure whose name means "Care" or "Concern" in Latin. Hyginus seems to have created both the personification and story for his Fabulae, poem 220....
of each of the great roads into a permanent magistracy. The persons appointed under the new system were of senator
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
ial or equestrian rank, according to the relative importance of the roads respectively assigned to them. It was the duty of each curator to issue contracts for the maintenance and repairs of his road, and to see that the contractor who undertook the work performed it faithfully, both as to quantity and quality. Moreover, he authorized the construction of sewers
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
and removed obstructions to traffic, as the aedile
Aedile
Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...
s did in Rome. It was in the character of an imperial curator, though probably of one armed with extraordinary powers, that Corbulo (as has been already mentioned) denounced the magistratus and mancipes of the Italian roads to Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. He pursued them and their families with fines and imprisonment for 18 years (21-39 AD), and was rewarded with a consulship by Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
, who was himself in the habit of condemning well-born citizens to work on the roads. It is noticeable that Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
brought Corbulo to justice, and repaid the money which had been extorted from his victims.
Other curatores
Special curatores for a term seem to have been appointed on occasion, even after the institution of the permanent magistrates bearing that title. The Emperors who succeeded Augustus exercised a vigilant control over the condition of the public highways. Their names occur frequently in the inscriptions to restorers of roads and bridges. Thus, VespasianVespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
, Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
, Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
, and Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
were commemorated in this capacity at Emérita. The Itinerary of Antoninus, which was probably a work of much earlier date, republished in an improved and enlarged form, under one of the Antonine emperors, remains as standing evidence of the minute care which was bestowed on the service of the public roads.
Construction and engineering
Ancient RomeAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
boasted impressive technological feats, using many advances that would be lost in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. These feats would not be rivaled again until the 19th and 20th centuries. Many practical Roman innovations were adopted from earlier designs.
Practices and terminology
Roman road builders aimed at a regulation width (see Laws and standards above), but actual widths have been measured at between 3.6 ft (1.1 m) and more than 23 ft (7 m). Today, the concrete has worn from the spaces around the stones, giving the impression of a very bumpy road, but the original practice was to produce a surface that was no doubt much closer to being flat. Many roads were built to resist rain, freezing and flooding. They were constructed to need as little repair as possible.Roman construction took a directional straightness. Many long sections are ruler-straight, but it should not be thought that all of them were. Some links in the network were as long as 55 miles (88.5 km). Gradients of 10%-12% are known in ordinary terrain, 15%-20% in mountainous country. The Roman emphasis on constructing straight roads often resulted in steep slopes relatively impractical for most commercial traffic; over the years the Romans themselves realized this and built longer, but more manageable, alternatives to existing roads. Roman roads generally went straight up and down hills, rather than in a serpentine pattern.
As to the standard Imperial terminology that was used, the words were localized for different elements used in construction and varied from region to region. Also, in the course of time, the terms via munita and vía publica became identical.
Materials and methods
Viae were distinguished not only according to their public or private character, but according to the materials employed and the methods followed in their construction. Ulpian divided them up in the following fashion:- Via terrena: A plain road of leveled earth.
- Via glareata: An earthed road with a graveled surface.
- Via munita: A regular built road, paved with rectangular blocks of the stone of the country, or with polygonal blocks of lava.
The Romans, though certainly inheriting some of the art of road construction from the Etruscans, borrowed the knowledge of construction of viae munitae from the Carthaginians according to Isidore of Sevilla.
Via terrena
The Viae terrenae were plain roads of leveled earth. These were mere tracks worn by the feet of men and beasts, and possibly by wheeled carriages.Via glareata
The Viae glareatae were earthed roads with a graveled surface or a gravel subsurface and paving on top. Livy speaks of the censors of his time as being the first to contract for paving the streets of Rome with flint stones, for laying gravel on the roads outside the city, and for forming raised footpaths at the sides. In these roads, the surface was hardened with gravel; and although pavements were introduced shortly afterwards, the blocks were allowed to rest merely on a bed of small stones. An a example of this type is found on the Praenestine Way. Another example is found near the Via LatinaVia Latina
The Via Latina was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers.It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mons Algidus; it was important in the early military history of Rome...
.
Via munita
The best sources of information as regards the construction of a regulation via munita are:- The many existing remains of víae publicae. These are often sufficiently well preserved to show that the rules of construction were, as far as local material allowed, minutely adhered to in practice.
- The directions for making pavements given by VitruviusVitruviusMarcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
. The pavement and the via munita were identical in construction, except as regards the top layer, or surface. This consisted, in the former case, of marble or mosaic, and, in the latter, of blocks of stone or lava. - A passage in StatiusStatiusPublius Papinius Statius was a Roman poet of the 1st century CE . Besides his poetry in Latin, which include an epic poem, the Thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic, the Achilleid, he is best known for his appearance as a major character in the Purgatory...
describing the repairs of the Via DomitiaVia DomitiaThe Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul, to link Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis, across what is now southern France. The route that the Romans regularised and paved was ancient when they set out to survey it, so old that it traces the mythic route travelled by Heracles...
, a branch road of the Via Appia, leading to Neapolis.
After the civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
looked over the site of the proposed road and determined roughly where it should go, the agrimensores went to work surveying the road bed. They used two main devices, the rod and a device called a groma
Groma surveying
The Groma or gruma was the principal Roman surveying instrument. It comprised a vertical staff with horizontal cross pieces mounted at right-angles on a bracket. Each cross piece had a plumb line hanging vertically at each end...
, which helped them obtain right angles. The gromatici
Gromatici
Gromatici , or agrimensores, was the name for land-surveyors amongst the ancient Romans...
, the Roman equivalent of rod men, placed rods and put down a line called the rigor. As they did not possess anything like a transit
Theodolite
A theodolite is a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes. Theodolites are mainly used for surveying applications, and have been adapted for specialized purposes in fields like metrology and rocket launch technology...
, a civil engineering surveyor tried to achieve straightness by looking along the rods and commanding the gromatici to move them as required. Using the gromae they then laid out a grid on the plan of the road.
The libratores then began their work using plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
s and, sometimes with the help of legionaries, with spade
Spade
A spade is a tool designed primarily for the purpose of digging or removing earth. Early spades were made of riven wood. After the art of metalworking was discovered, spades were made with sharper tips of metal. Before the advent of metal spades manual labor was less efficient at moving earth,...
s excavated the road bed down to bed rock or at least to the firmest ground they could find. The excavation was called the fossa, the Latin word for ditch.. The depth varied according to terrain.
Into the ditch was dumped large amounts of rubble, gravel and stone, whatever fill was available. Sometimes a layer of sand was put down, if it could be found. When it came to within 1 yd (1 m) or so of the surface it was covered with gravel and tamped down, a process called pavire, or pavimentare. The flat surface was then the pavimentum. It could be used as the road, or additional layers could be constructed. A statumen or "foundation" of flat stones set in cement might support the additional layers.
The final steps utilized concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
, which the Romans had discovered. They seem to have mixed the mortar and the stones in the ditch. First a small layer of coarse concrete, the rudus, then a little layer of fine concrete, the nucleus, went onto the pavement or statumen. Into or onto the nucleus went a course of polygonal or square paving stones, called the summa crusta. The crusta was crowned for drainage.
An example is found in a early basalt road by the Temple of Saturn
Temple of Saturn
The Temple of Saturn is a monument to the agricultural deity. The Temple of Saturn stands at the foot of the Capitoline Hill in the western end of the Forum Romanum in Rome, Italy.-Archaeology:...
on the Clivus Capitolinus
Clivus Capitolinus
The main road to the Roman Capitol, the Clivus Capitolinus starts at the head of the Forum Romanum beside the Arch of Tiberius as a continuation of the Via Sacra; proceeding around the Temple of Saturn and turning to the south in front of the Portico Dii Consentes, it then climbs up the slope of...
. It had travertine paving, polygonal basalt blocks, concrete bedding (substituted for the gravel), and a rain-water gutter.
Obstacle crossings
Romans preferred to engineer solutions to obstacles rather than circumvent them. Outcroppings of stone, ravines, or hilly or mountainous terrain called for cuttings and tunnels. An example of this is found on the Roman road from Cazanes near the Iron Gates. This road was half carved into the rock, about 5 ft. to 5 ft. 9 in. (1.5 to 1.75 m), the rest of the road, above the DanubeDanube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
, was made from wooden structure, projecting out of the cliff. The road functioned as a towpath, making the Danube navigable. Tabula Traiana memorial plaque in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
is all that remains of the now-submerged road.
Bridges and causeways
Roman bridgeRoman bridge
Roman bridges, built by ancient Romans, were the first large and lasting bridges built. Roman bridges were built with stone and had the arch as its basic structure....
s, built by ancient Romans, were the first large and lasting bridges built. River crossings were achieved by bridges, or pontes. Single slabs went over rills. A bridge could be of wood, stone, or both. Wooden bridges were constructed on pilings sunk into the river, or on stone piers. Larger or more permanent bridges required arches. These larger bridges were built with stone and had the arch as its basic structure, see arch bridge
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
. Most also used concrete, which the Romans were the first to use for bridges. Roman bridges were so well constructed that many are in use today.
Causeway
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
s were built over marshy ground. The road was first marked out with pilings. Between them were sunk large quantities of stone so as to raise the causeway to more than 5 ft. (1.5 m) above the marsh. In the provinces, the Romans often did not bother with a stone causeway, but used log roads (pontes longi).
Military and citizen utilisation
The public road system of the Romans was thoroughly military in its aims and spirit. It was designed to unite and consolidate the conquests of the Roman people, whether within or without the limits of Italy proper. A legionRoman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
on the march brought its own baggage train (impedimenta) and constructed its own camp (castra
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
) every evening at the side of the road.
Milestones and markers
MilestoneMilestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
s divided the via Appia even before 250 BC into numbered miles, and most viae after 124 BC. The modern word mile derives in fact from the Latin milia passuum, "one thousand paces", which amounted to 4,841 feet (1,480 m). A milestone, or miliarium, was a circular column on a solid rectangular base, set for more than 2 feet (60 cm) into the ground, standing 5 feet (1.50 m) high, 20 inches (50 cm) in diameter, and weighing more than 2 tons. At the base was inscribed the number of the mile relative to the road it was on. In a panel at eye-height was the distance to the Roman Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
and various other information about the officials who made or repaired the road and when. These miliaria are valuable historical documents now. Their inscriptions are collected in the volume XVII of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...
.
| Examples of Roman Milestones | |
|---|---|
The Romans had a preference for standardization whenever they could, so Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, after becoming permanent commissioner of roads in 20 BC, set up the miliarium aureum (golden milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
) near the temple of Saturn
Temple of Saturn
The Temple of Saturn is a monument to the agricultural deity. The Temple of Saturn stands at the foot of the Capitoline Hill in the western end of the Forum Romanum in Rome, Italy.-Archaeology:...
. All roads were considered to begin from this gilded bronze monument. On it were listed all the major cities in the empire and distances to them. Constantine called it the umbilicus Romae (navel of Rome), and built a similar — although more complex — monument in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, the Milion.
Milestones permitted distances and locations to be known and recorded exactly. It was not long before historians began to refer to the milestone at which an event occurred.
Itinerary maps and charts
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
system, however, the traveller needed some idea of where he was going, how to get there, and how long it would take. The itinerarium
Itinerarium
An itinerarium was an Ancient Roman road map in the form of a listing of cities, villages and other stops, with the intervening distances. One surviving example is the Peutinger Table; another is the Antonine Itinerary....
filled this need. In origin it was simply a list of cities along a road: "at their most basic, itineraria involve the transposition of information given on milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
s, which were an integral feature of the major Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
s, to a written script." It was only a short step from lists to a master list. To sort out the lists, the Romans drew diagrams of parallel lines showing the branches of the roads. Parts of these were copied and sold on the streets. The very best featured symbols for cities, way stations, water courses, and so on. The maps did not represent landforms but they served the purpose of a simple schematic diagram for the user.
The Roman government from time to time undertook to produce a master itinerary of all Roman roads. Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and Mark Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
commissioned the first known such effort in 44 BC. Zenodoxus, Theodotus and Polyclitus, three Greek geographers, were hired to survey the system and compile a master itinerary. This task required over 25 years. The result was a stone engraved master itinerarium set up near the Pantheon
Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
, from which travelers and itinerary sellers could make copies.
Vehicles and transportation
Cart
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people...
s driven by oxen were used. Horse drawn carts could travel up to 40 to 50 km (25 to 30 miles) per day, pedestrians 20 to 25 km (12 to 15 miles). For purposes of description, Roman vehicles can be divided into the car, the coach and the cart. Cars were used to transport one or two individuals, coaches were used to transport parties, and carts to transport cargo.
Of the cars, the most popular was the carrus ("car"), a standard chariot
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
form descending to the Romans from a greater antiquity. The top was open, the front closed. One survives in the Vatican. It carried a driver and a passenger. A carrus of two horses was a biga
Biga (chariot)
The biga is the two-horse chariot as used in ancient Rome for sport, transportation, and ceremonies. Other animals may replace horses in art and occasionally for actual ceremonies. The term biga is also used by modern scholars for the similar chariots of other Indo-European cultures, particularly...
; of three horses, a triga
TRIGA
TRIGA is a class of small nuclear reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson.TRIGA is the acronym of Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics.-Design:...
; and of four horses a quadriga
Quadriga
A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...
. The tires were of iron. When not in use, its wheels were removed for easier storage.
A more luxurious version, the carpentum, transported women and officials. It had an arched overhead covering of cloth and was drawn by mules. A lighter version, the cisium, equivalent to a gig
Gig (carriage)
A gig, also called chair or chaise, is a light, two-wheeled sprung cart pulled by one horse.-Description:Gigs travelling at night would normally carry two oil lamps with thick glass, known as gig-lamps. Gig carts are constructed with the driver's seat sitting higher than the level of the shafts. ...
, was open above and in front and had a seat. Drawn by one or two mules or horses, it was used for cab work, the cab drivers being called cisiani. The builder was a cisarius.
Of the coaches, the mainstay was the raeda or reda, which had 4 wheels. The high sides formed a sort of box in which seats were placed, with a notch on each side for entry. It carried several people with baggage up to the legal limit of 1000 Roman Libra (pounds), modern equivalent 327 kg. It was drawn by teams of oxen, horses or mules. A cloth top could be put on for weather, in which case it resembled a covered wagon.
The raeda was probably the main vehicle for travel on the roads. Raedae meritoriae were hired coaches. The fiscalis raeda was a government coach. The driver and the builder were both referred to as a raedarius.
Of the carts, the main one was the plaustrum or plostrum. This was simply a platform of boards attached to wheels and a cross-tree. The wheels, or tympana, were solid and were several centimetres (inches) thick. The sides could be built up with boards or rails. A large wicker basket was sometimes placed on it. A two-wheel version existed along with the normal 4-wheel type called the plaustrum maius.
The military used a standard wagon. Their transportation service was the cursus clabularis, after the standard wagon, called a carrus clabularius, clabularis, clavularis, or clabulare. It transported the impedimenta, or baggage of a military column.
Way stations and traveler inns
Non-military officials and people on official business had no legion at their service and the government maintained way stations, or mansioMansio
In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.-Background:The roads which traversed the Ancient World, were later surveyed,...
nes ("staying places"), for their use. Passports were required for identification. Mansiones were located about 15 to 18 miles (25 to 30 km) apart from the next one. There the official traveller found a complete villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
dedicated to his use. Often a permanent military camp or a town grew up around the mansio. For non-official travelers in need of refreshment, a private system of 'inns' or cauponae were placed near the mansiones. They performed the same functions but were somewhat disreputable, as they were frequented by thieves and prostitutes. Graffiti decorate the walls of the few whose ruins have been found.
Genteel travelers needed something better than cauponae. In the early days of the viae, when little unofficial provision existed, houses placed near the road were required by law to offer hospitality on demand. Frequented houses no doubt became the first tabernae, which were hostels, rather than the "taverns" we know today. As Rome grew, so did its tabernae, becoming more luxurious and acquiring good or bad reputations as the case may be. One of the best hotels was the Tabernae Caediciae at Sinuessa
Sinuessa
Sinuessa was a city of Latium, in the more extended sense of the name, situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 10 km north of the mouth of the Volturno River . It was on the line of the Via Appia, and was the last place where that great highroad touched on the sea-coast...
on the Via Appia. It had a large storage room containing barrels of wine, cheese and ham. Many cities of today grew up around a taberna complex, such as Rheinzabern
Rheinzabern
Rheinzabern is a small town in the south-east of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany near the Rhine river.Currently, Rheinzabern, that belongs to the "Landkreis Germersheim" has approx...
in the Rhineland, and Saverne
Saverne
Saverne is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km N.W...
in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
.
A third system of way stations serviced vehicles and animals: the mutationes ("changing stations"). They were located every 20 to 30 km (12 to 18 miles). In these complexes, the driver could purchase the services of wheelwrights, cartwrights, and equarii medici, or veterinarians. Using these stations in chariot relays, the emperor Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
hastened 800 km (497.1 mi) in 24 hours to join his brother, Drusus Germanicus
Nero Claudius Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus , born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a fully patrician Claudian on his father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family...
, who was dying of gangrene as a result of a fall from a horse.
Post offices and services
Two postal services were available under the empire, one public and one private. The Cursus publicusCursus publicus
The cursus publicus was the state-run courier and transportation service of the Roman Empire, later inherited by the Byzantine Empire. It was created by Emperor Augustus to transport messages, officials, and tax revenues from one province to another...
, founded by Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, carried the mail of officials by relay throughout the Roman road system. The vehicle for carrying mail was a cisium with a box, but for special delivery, a horse and rider was faster. A relay of horses could carry a letter 800 km in 24 hours. The postman wore a characteristic leather hat, the petanus. The postal service was a somewhat dangerous occupation, as postmen were a target for bandits and enemies of Rome. Private mail of the well-to-do was carried by tabellarii, an organization of slaves available for a price.
Locations
There are many examples of roads that still follow the route of Roman roads.Italian areas
Major roads- Via AemiliaVia AemiliaThe Via Aemilia was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from Ariminum , on the Adriatic coast, to Placentia on the river Padus . It was completed in 187 BC...
, from AriminumRiminiRimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
to PlacentiaPiacenzaPiacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza... - Via Appia, the Appian way (312 BC312 BCYear 312 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Corvus and Mus...
), from Rome to Apulia - Via AureliaVia AureliaThe Via Aurelia was a Roman road in Italy constructed around the year 241 BC. The project was undertaken by C. Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor...
(241 BC241 BCYear 241 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Atticus and Cerco...
), from Rome to France - Via CassiaVia CassiaThe Via Cassia was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii traversed Etruria...
, from Rome to TuscanyTuscanyTuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence .... - Via FlaminiaVia FlaminiaThe Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley...
(220 BC220 BCYear 220 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laevinus/Catulus and Scaevola/Philo...
), from Rome to Rimini (Ariminum)RiminiRimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa... - Via SalariaVia SalariaThe Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy.It eventually ran from Rome to Castrum Truentinum on the Adriatic coast - a distance of 242 km. The road also passed through Reate and Asculum...
, from Rome to the Adriatic SeaAdriatic SeaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
(in the MarchesMarchesA march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....
)
Others
- Via Aemilia Scaura (109 BC109 BCYear 109 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Numidicus and Silanus...
) - Via Aquillia, branches off the Appia at CapuaCapuaCapua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
to the sea at ViboVIBOVibo Telecom Inc. is a 3G mobile network operator in Taiwan. The unit of its major operations is in the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei. Vibo is a subsidiary of the Kinpo group. Vibo's network is UMTS based in the 2.1 GHz band. They were awarded a licence in February 2002, and went live on 1... - Via Amerina, from Rome to Ameria and PerusiaPerusiaThe ancient Perusia, now Perugia, first appears in history as one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria. It is first mentioned in the account of the war of 310 or 309 BC between the Etruscans and the Romans...
- Via Canalis, from Udine, Gemona and Val Canale to Villach in Carinthia and then over Alps to Salzburg or Vienna
- Via Claudia Julia Augusta (13 BC13 BCYear 13 BC was either a common year starting on Friday, Saturday or Sunday or a leap year starting on Friday or Saturday of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
) - Via Claudia NovaVia Claudia NovaThe Via Claudia Nova was ancient Roman road, build in 47 AD by the Roman Emperor Claudius to connect the Via Caecilia with the Via Claudia Valeria in central Italy....
(47 AD) - Via ClodiaVia ClodiaVia Clodia was an ancient high-road of Italy. Its course, for the first 11 miles, was the same as that of the Via Cassia; it then diverged to the north in a northwest direction and ran on the west side of the Lacus Sabatinus, past Forum Clodii and Blera...
, from Rome to TuscanyTuscanyTuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
forming a system with the Cassia - Via DomitianaVia DomizianaVia Domitiana in the Campania region of Italy was a major Roman road built under and named for the emperor, Domitian, to facilitate access to and from the important ports of Puteoli and Portus Julius in the Gulf of Naples...
, coast road from Naples to Formia - Via FlaviaVia FlaviaThe Via Flavia was an ancient Roman road which connected Trieste to Dalmatia, running across the Istrian coast. It was built during the reign of emperor Vespasian, in 78/79 AD....
, from Trieste (Tergeste)TriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
to DalmatiaDalmatia (Roman province)Dalmatia was an ancient Roman province. Its name is probably derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae which lived in the area of the eastern Adriatic coast in Classical antiquity.... - Via GeminaVia GeminaVia Gemina was the Roman road linking Aquileia and Emona . It took its name, the "twin road", from the circumstance that it departed from Aquileia along with the Via Postumia...
, from Aquileia and Trieste through the KarstKARSTKilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
to MaterijaMaterijaMaterija is a small settlement in the Hrpelje-Kozina Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.-External links:*...
, ObrovObrovObrov is a village in the Hrpelje-Kozina Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.The local church is dedicated to The Annunciation and belongs to the Hrušica Parish.-External links:*...
, LipaLipaLIPA may stand for:*League for Independent Political Action, an American progressive political organization established in 1928*Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, a performing arts university in the English city of Liverpool that offers training in acting, dance, music, sound technology, arts...
and KlanaKlanaKlana is a municipality in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia.There are 1,978 inhabitants, in the following settlements:* Breza, population 60* Klana, population 1,199* Lisac, population 112* Studena, population 383...
, from where, near RijekaRijekaRijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
, descending towards Trsat (Tersatica)TrsatTrsat is part of the city of Rijeka, Croatia. It has a historic castle or fortress in a strategic location and several historic churches. The Croatian noble Prince Vuk Krsto Frankopan is buried in one of the churches. Trsat is a steep hill, 138 m high, rising over the gorge of the Rječina river,...
to continue along the Dalmatian coast - Via Julia AugustaVia Julia AugustaThe Via Julia Augusta is the name given to the Roman road formed by the merging of the Via Aemilia Scauri with the Via Postumia. The road runs from Placentia to Arelates through Derthona , Vada Sabatia , Albingaunum and Album Intimilium .It was begun in 13 BC by Augustus, and originally stopped...
(8 BC8 BCYear 8 BC was either a common year starting on Friday or Saturday or a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
), exits AquileiaAquileiaAquileia is an ancient Roman city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times... - Via LabicanaVia LabicanaThe Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east southeast from Rome. It seems possible that the road at first led to Tusculum, that it was then extended to Labici, and later still became a road for through traffic; it may even have superseded the Via Latina as a route to the southeast,...
, southeast from Rome, forming a system with the Praenestina - Via Ostiensis, from Rome to Ostia
- Via PostumiaVia PostumiaThe Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the consul Spurius Postumius Albinus Magnus.It ran from the coast at Genua through the mountains to Dertona, Placentia and Cremona, just east of the point where it crossed the Po River...
(148148Year 148 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cornelius and Calpernius...
), from VeronaVeronaVerona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
across the ApenninesApennine mountainsThe Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...
to GenoaGenoaGenoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria.... - Via PopiliaVia PopiliaThe Via Popilia is the name of two different ancient Roman roads begun in the consulship of Publius Popilius Laenas.The first road was an extension of the Via Flaminia from Ariminum around the north of the Adriatic through the region that later became Venice...
(132 BC132 BCYear 132 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Rupilius...
), two distinct roads, one from CapuaCapuaCapua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
to Rhegium and the other from Ariminum through the later VenetoVenetoVeneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
region - Via PraenestinaVia PraenestinaThe Via Praenestina was an ancient Roman road of central Italy.It was initially called Via Gabina, from Gabii, the ancient city of Latium where it ended...
, from Rome to Praeneste - Via Schlavonia, from Aquileia across northern Istria to Senj and into Dalmatia
- Via SeverianaVia SeverianaVia Severiana was an ancient Roman road of what is now Latium, in central Italy, running southeast from Ostia to Terracina, a distance of 80 Roman miles along the coast...
, TerracinaTerracinaTerracina is a town and comune of the province of Latina - , Italy, 76 km SE of Rome by rail .-Ancient times:...
to Ostia - Via TiburtinaVia TiburtinaVia Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli . It was built by the Roman consul Marcus Valerius Maximus around 286 BC and later lengthened to the territories of the Marsi and the Equi, in the Abruzzo, as Via Valeria. Its total length was approximately...
, from Rome to AternumAternumAternum was a Roman town, on the site of Pescara, in Italy. Some historians refer to Aternum with the name of Ostia Aterni: in fact, the town was built at the mouth of the river Aternus. Aternum had an important role in Italian transport and it was connected to Rome through the Via Tiburtina, and... - Via Traiana Nova (Italy), from Lake BolsenaBolsenaBolsena is a town and comune of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in northern Lazio on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena. It is 10 km north-north west of Montefiascone and 36 km north-west of Viterbo...
to the Via CassiaVia CassiaThe Via Cassia was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii traversed Etruria...
. Known by archaeology only
Other areas
Africa- Main road: from Sala Colonia to CarthageCarthageCarthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
to AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. - In EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
: Via HadrianaVia HadrianaThe Via Hadriana was an ancient Roman road established by the emperor Hadrian, running from Antinopolis to the Red Sea at Berenike. It was finished in 137 AD... - In Mauretania TingitanaMauretania TingitanaMauretania Tingitana was a Roman province located in northwestern Africa, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The province extended from the northern peninsula, opposite Gibraltar, to Chellah and Volubilis to the south, and as far east as the Oued Laou river. Its...
from Tingis southward (see: Roman roads in MoroccoRoman roads in MoroccoRoman roads in Morocco were the western roads of Roman Africa.-Characteristics:In 42 AD the western part of the kingdom of Mauretania was reorganized as a province of Rome Mauretania Tingitana...
)
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
/ Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
/ Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
/ Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
- Via EgnatiaVia EgnatiaThe Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thrace, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey.Starting at Dyrrachium on the...
(146 BC146 BCYear 146 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Achaicus...
) connecting DyrrhachiumDurrësDurrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
(on Adriatic SeaAdriatic SeaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
) to ByzantiumByzantiumByzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
via ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
Austria / Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
/ Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
/ Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
- Via MilitarisVia MilitarisVia Militaris or Via Diagonalis was an ancient Roman road, starting from Singidunum , passing by Danube coast to Viminacium , through Naissus , Serdica , Philippopolis , Adrianopolis , and reaching Constantinople...
(Via Diagonalis, Via Singidunum), connecting Middle Europe and ByzantiumByzantiumByzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion... - Roman road in CiliciaRoman road in CiliciaRoman road in Cilicia is a part of a Roman road in Mersin Province, Turkey- Geography :The road is thought to be a part of the main road connecting Cilicia to Capadocia during antiquity. The northern terminus was likely in the town of Bahçeli, a part of the ancient city of Tyanna in Niğde Province...
in south Turkey
France
In France, a Roman road is called voie romaine in vernacular language.
- Via AgrippaVia AgrippaThe term Via Agrippa, describes any stretch of the network of Roman roads in Gaul that were built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, to whom Octavian entrusted the reorganization of the Gauls. In all, the Romans built of roads in Gaul.-Agrippa's project:...
- Via AquitaniaVia AquitaniaThe Via Aquitania was a Roman road created in 118 BC in the Roman province of Gaul. It started at Narbonne, where it connected to the Via Domitia...
, from NarbonneNarbonneNarbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where it connected to the Via Domitia, to the Atlantic Ocean across ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
and BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture... - Via DomitiaVia DomitiaThe Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul, to link Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis, across what is now southern France. The route that the Romans regularised and paved was ancient when they set out to survey it, so old that it traces the mythic route travelled by Heracles...
(118 BC118 BCYear 118 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cato and Rex...
), from NîmesNîmesNîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
to the PyreneesPyreneesThe Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
, where it joins to the Via AugustaVia AugustaVia Augusta was a Roman road crossing all the Hispania Province, from Cádiz in the southern tip of current Spain, to the Coll de Panissars, where it crossed the Pyrenees close to the Mediterranean Sea, and joined the Via Domitia...
at the Col de Panissars - Voie romaineVoie romaine (Nord)There are 7 Roman roads in the Nord département in France.-Départementale 52:The Steen-straete, also called départementale 52 , is a road between Cassel and the sea. It was at a time a Roman road, north-south direction extending from Boëseghem, passing by Cassel to the sea. Now it is leading to...
, extending from Dunkirk to Cassel in Nord Département
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
(Germany, Belgium, Netherlands)
- Via Belgica (Boulogne-Cologne)
- Lower Limes GermanicusLimes GermanicusThe Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
- Interconnections between Lower Limes GermanicusLimes GermanicusThe Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
and Via Belgica
Middle East
- Petra Roman RoadPetra Roman RoadPetra Road was the main road of the ancient city of Petra in Jordan built by the Romans in the 1st century CE. The road is characterized by the great gates that served as the entrance to the ancient city....
First Century PetraPetraPetra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
, JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
- Trajan's bridgeTrajan's bridgeTrajan's Bridge or Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube was a Roman segmental arch bridge, the first to be built over the lower Danube. For more than a thousand years, it was the longest arch bridge in the world, in terms of both total and span length...
and Iron Gates road. - Via Traiana — Porolissum Napoca Potaissa Apulum road.
- Via Pontica - TroesmisTroesmisTroesmis was an ancient town in Scythia Minor. It was situated in what is now Romania near Igliţa-Turcoaia.Between 107 and 161, it was the home of the Roman Legio V Macedonica. Notitia Dignitatum shows that during 337-361, it was the headquarters of Legio II Herculia.-Destruction of the site:The...
PiroboridavaPiroboridavaPiroboridava was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy, and archaeologically identified at Poiana, Galați, Romania.- See also :* Dacian davae* List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia* Dacia* Roman Dacia- External links :**...
CaputCaputThe Latin word caput, meaning literally "head" and by metonymy "top", has been borrowed in a variety of English words, including capital, captain, and decapitate...
Stenarum ApulumApulumApulum may refer to:*The Latin name of Alba Iulia.*Apulum , the Roman fort of Alba Iulia.*Apulum , a Romanian porcelain manufacturing company....
PartiscumSzeged' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....
Lugio
Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
/ Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
- Via PonticaVia PonticaVia Pontica was an ancient Roman road in Thrace along the Black Sea, starting from Byzantium and passing through Mesambria, Apollonia, Odessos, Byzone , Kallatis, Tomi and Istros ....
- Iter ab Emerita Asturicam, from Sevilla to GijónGijónGijón , officially Gijón / Xixón, is a coastal industrial city and a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain. Early mediaeval texts mention it as "Gigia". It was an important regional Roman city, although the area has been settled since earliest history...
. Later known as Vía de la PlataVia de la PlataThe Vía de La Plata or Ruta de la Plata is an ancient commercial and pilgrimage path that crosses the west of Spain from north to south, connecting Mérida to Astorga, and in extension Seville with the Bay of Biscay, at Gijón...
(plata means "silver" in Spanish, but in this case it is a false cognate of an Arabic word balata), part of the fan of the Way of Saint James. Now it is the A-66 freeway. - Via AugustaVia AugustaVia Augusta was a Roman road crossing all the Hispania Province, from Cádiz in the southern tip of current Spain, to the Coll de Panissars, where it crossed the Pyrenees close to the Mediterranean Sea, and joined the Via Domitia...
, from CádizCádizCadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
to the PyrénéesPyreneesThe Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
, where it joins to the Via DomitiaVia DomitiaThe Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul, to link Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis, across what is now southern France. The route that the Romans regularised and paved was ancient when they set out to survey it, so old that it traces the mythic route travelled by Heracles...
at the Coll de Panissars, near La JonqueraLa JonqueraLa Jonquera is a municipality in the comarca of l'Alt Empordà, in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated just by the border with France, with the municipalty of Le Perthus.-History:...
. It passes through ValenciaValencia (city in Spain)Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...
, TarragonaTarragonaTarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
(anciently Tarraco), and BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. - Camiño de Oro, ending in Ourense, capital of the Province of Ourense, passing near the village of Reboledo.
Trans-Alpine roads
These roads connected modern Italy and Germany
- Via Claudia AugustaVia Claudia AugustaThe Via Claudia Augusta is an ancient Roman road, which linked the valley of the Po River with Rhaetia across the Alps. Since 2007, the Giontech Archeological Site, in Mezzocorona/Kronmetz serves as the Via Claudia Augusta International Research Center, directed by Prof...
(4747Year 47 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Vitellius...
) from AltinumAltinum260px|thumb|Remains of the Roman [[decumanus]].Altinum is the name of an ancient coastal town of the Veneti 15 km SE of the modern Treviso, northern Italy, on the edge of the lagoons...
(now Quarto d'AltinoQuarto d'AltinoQuarto d'Altino is a town in the province of Venice, Veneto, Italy. SP41 goes through it.The name "Quarto D'Altino" is composed by the prefix "Quarto" because the town was a quarter of a mile from the Roman city Altinum.-Sources:*...
) to AugsburgAugsburgAugsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
via the Reschen PassÖtztal AlpsThe Ötztal Alps are a mountain range in the central Alps of Europe, part of the Central Eastern Alps. They are arrayed at the head of the Ötztal, a side valley of the Inn River southwest of Innsbruck, Austria; the line of summits forms part of Austria's border with Italy.The western border is the... - Via Mala from MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
to LindauLindauLindau is a Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on an island which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway.- History :The name Lindau was...
via the San Bernardino PassSan Bernardino PassSan Bernardino Pass is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the Hinterrhein and the Mesolcina valleys between Thusis and Bellinzona . Located in the far eastern side of the Western Alps it is not to be confused with the Great St. Bernard Pass and the Little St. Bernard Pass... - Via Decia
Trans-Pyrenean roads
Connecting Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
and Gallia
Gallia
Gallia may refer to:*Gaul , the region of Western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium and other neighbouring countries...
:
- Ab Asturica BurdigalamAb Asturica BurdigalamAb Asturica Burdigalam was a Roman road that linked the towns of Asturica Augusta in Gallaecia and Burdigala in Aquitania....
- Akeman StreetAkeman StreetAkeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked Watling Street with the Fosse Way. Its junction with Watling Steet was just north of Verulamium and that with the Fosse Way was at Corinium Dobunnorum...
- Camlet WayCamlet WayCamlet Way was a Roman road in England which ran roughly east-west between Colchester in Essex and Silchester in Hampshire via St Albans ....
- Dere StreetDere StreetDere Street or Deere Street, was a Roman road between Eboracum and Veluniate, in what is now Scotland. It still exists in the form of the route of many major roads, including the A1 and A68 just north of Corbridge.Its name corresponds with the post Roman Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Deira, through...
- Ermine StreetErmine StreetErmine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...
- Fen CausewayFen CausewayFen Causeway or the Fen Road is the modern name for a Roman road of England that runs between Denver, Norfolk in the east and Peterborough in the west. Its path covers , passing March and Eldernell before joining the major Roman north-south route Ermine Street west of modern-day Peterborough...
- Fosse WayFosse WayThe Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester , Bath , Cirencester and Leicester .It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at Venonis south...
- King StreetKing Street (Roman road)King Street is the name of a modern road on the line of a Roman road |Durobrivae]]. The whole is I.D. Margary's Roman road number 26. -The Roman road's route:Archaeological work has revealed more of its length than is in use nowadays...
- London-West of England Roman Roads
- Peddars WayPeddars WayThe Peddars Way is a long distance footpath in Norfolk, England. It is 46 miles long and follows the route of a Roman road. It has been suggested by more than one writer that it was not created by the Romans but was an ancient trackway, a branch or extension of the Icknield Way, used and...
- Pye RoadPye RoadPye Road is a Roman road running from Camulodunum to Venta Icenorum -Route:The road runs from Camulodunum to Venta Icenorum partly sharing a route with the A140 road.-References:...
- Stane StreetStane StreetThere are several Roman Stane Streets - see also Stane Street Stane Street is the modern name given to an important long Roman road in England that linked London to the Roman town of Noviomagus Reginorum, or Regnentium, later renamed Chichester by the Saxons...
- StanegateStanegateThe Stanegate, or "stone road" , was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked two forts that guarded important river crossings; Corstopitum in the east, situated on Dere Street, and Luguvalium in the west...
- Via DevanaVia DevanaThe Via Devana was a Roman Road in England that ran from Colchester in the south-east to Chester in the north-west. Both were important Roman military centres and it is conjectured that the main reason the road was constructed was military rather than civilian. The Latin name for Chester is Deva...
- Watling StreetWatling StreetWatling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
External links
General articles- Roman Roads
- Omnes Viae: Roman route planner based on Tabula Peutingeriana
- Viae Romanae
- Road Map
- Viae - Article by William Ramsay
- Traianus: Technical investigation of Roman public works
Road descriptions
- Roman Roads in the Mediterranean
- Vias Romanas em Portugal (in Portuguese)
- Itineraires Romains en France (in French)
- Augustine's Africa
- Pictures of Roman roads in the province of Raetia (German captions)
Roman law regarding public and private domain
Road construction