We have all heard the ancient saying that all roads lead to Rome. The ancient Romans created a developed road network with a total length of about 100 thousand kilometers, which connected the capital of the Empire with its many possessions. For millennia, the glory of the Roman roads was ensured not so much by their quantity as by their impeccable quality: the stone covering of Roman roads served many peoples for many centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, and there are still sections of Roman roads in many European countries.
With the expansion of the territory of the Roman Empire, an increasing need arose for the rapid movement of goods from the subject territories to the capital and the Roman troops, ready at any moment to defend the borders of the state or quickly suppress the suddenly flared up slave uprising.
Straight, like rays, Roman roads diverged to all four cardinal directions from the capital of the Roman Empire, and allowed the Roman army to be at the border or town before the enemy had time to attack.
The simple and understandable organization of the road network helped trade caravans to easily get to Rome, for this it was enough to turn on a wider road at each fork in the road.
All roads lead to Rome. You can reach the eternal city on almost 500,000 routes from all over the continent.
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The huge road network required the development of infrastructure: the construction of inns, smithies, stables - all of this was built as the roadbed was built, so that by the end of the work the new direction would immediately become provided with an overnight stay and food for travelers, and the ability to make minor repairs to transport or shoe a horse.
Roman road construction technology
The roadbed was built for centuries, therefore, special technologies were applied to the construction of the road to protect the roadbed from destruction. Multilayer, dissimilar bulk material, a high curb at the edges of the road and a drainage system gave the road surface not only special durability, but also protected the road from destruction during frequent rains or temperature extremes.
Roman roads were built not by slaves and not even by hired workers, but by army units - Roman legionnaires.
The main Roman roads were built not by slaves or even hired workers, but by army units, since the construction of roads was of strategic importance, and was considered as a military facility. That is why during the construction of the road an incredible margin of safety was laid, designed for aggressive handling.
A prerequisite for the construction of the road was the availability of road operation in any weather, therefore the road bed not only rose 40-50 cm above the ground, but also had a sloping shape, water did not accumulate on the road during rain, but was discharged through the gutters of roadside drainage ditches.
One of the features of the ancient Roman roads was their straightness. The road could turn aside only because of a very serious obstacle, but most often a tunnel was laid in the mountain, and a bridge was built on the river. Gentle hills were not at all considered a serious obstacle in the path of road builders, and travelers had to overcome steep descents and ascents in hilly terrain.
Roman standards
The bulk composition of the road surface from various natural materials and its thickness were approximately the same throughout the empire, and the width of the Roman road was created for one purpose: so that two military chariots, or two food wagons, or a detachment of horsemen could freely disperse.
Pompeii, 79 AD - Roman roads, track and pedestrian crossing.
The width of Roman roads throughout the empire was standard and matched the size of a Roman war chariot drawn by two horses. The axle length of a standard Roman chariot was 4 feet 8.5 inches - that's the size of two horse croup! And today the track spacing in England is 4 feet 8.5 inches.
The narrowest roads in rural areas were owned by private individuals and served to provide their possessions with food and goods. The width of private rural roads did not exceed 4 meters if traffic was carried out in two directions, or 2.5 meters in one-way traffic. Between small towns and villages, the roads were four meters wide, which was quite enough for passing small peasant carts. The widest roads in the Roman Empire reached 6 - 12 meters, a whole horse army of horsemen and chariots could move along them at a fairly high speed.
On the central and some secondary roads, heavy stone pillars were erected, covered with inscriptions. Inscriptions on the stone told the traveler the distance to the nearest village or city, to a major intersection, to Rome or to the border. Roman mile (from Latin mille - thousand - is a unit of length in ancient Rome, equal to a distance of 1000 steps (mille passuum - thousand steps) or 5000 Roman feet (English foot - a foot). Ancient Roman mile of 1000 steps 5 feet = 8 stages = 1478.7 meters
After the construction of Roman roads, coastal cities and large ports became rich, goods from the ships that arrived were immediately unloaded and transported by roads throughout the empire, which significantly increased trade and led to a flourishing of trade.
The first Roman roads were named after the city to which they led and after the name of the ruler who built the road. For example, the Salt Road, 242 km long from the Roman Salt Gate of the Wall of Aurelius to the Adriatic coast, was built in the 4th century BC.
Appian Way (Via Appia) with a length of 540 km was built as a military road in 312 BC. under the leadership of Appius Claudius Tsek. The Appian Way, strategically important for the empire, connected Roman Capua and Brundisium with the main port on the Adriatic coast, which connected the Roman Empire with Greece and the countries of the East.
Postumian road (Via Postumia) built by the consul Spurius Postuminus in 148 BC. e., connected the northern cities of the Roman Empire, and served to move Roman troops on the border with Gaul, and connected the major ports on the western and eastern coast of Italy. The Postumian road ran from Genoa through the mountains to Dertone (Tortona), then through Placentia (Piacenza), from there it crossed the Po river, reached Cremona, from where it turned east to Bedriacum (Calvatone), where it bifurcated: the left direction led to Verona, and the right to Aquileia via Mantua and Gemona.
Egnatia Road (Via Egnatia) - one of the largest roads of the Roman Roman Empire during the conquest of the territories of the Balkans, stretches for 1120 km, the width of the road is about 6 meters. Egnatius road, built in 146 BC. e. pro-consul Gaius Egnatius crossed the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia and Thrace, (the territory of modern Albania, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey), and the road ended in Byzantium.
Roman road from Canterbury to Rome
Lombard Route. The trip took approximately three months, passing through modern France, Switzerland and Italy. Anglo-Saxon pilgrims traveled to Rome quite regularly, even annually. The first mention of the Anglo-Saxon pilgrimage is recorded in 799 AD. In Rome, there was already a colony of Anglo-Saxons on the territory of the city - Borgo (Borgo, from Old English "burh" - burh, which means "fortress city") was founded at the end of the 7th century by King Ine of Wessex and paid tithes for the church in Rome. In later years, a Saxon language school or Saxon school was funded to train and support Anglo-Saxon pilgrims in Rome away from home and family.