Roman roads

thumb|Combined data from the [[Tabula Peutingeriana|Peutinger Table and Antonine Itinerary recording the Roman roads network.]]

thumb|Roman roads around Rome

thumb|The [[Appian Way, one of the oldest and most important Roman roads]]

thumb|The Roman Empire in the time of [[Hadrian ( 117–138), showing the network of main Roman roads]]

Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and, later, the Roman Empire. They provided efficient means for the overland movement of armies, officials, civilians, inland carriage of official communications, and trade goods. Roman roads were of several kinds, ranging from small local roads to broad, long-distance highways built to connect cities, major towns and military bases. These major roads were often stone-paved or gravelled, cambered for drainage, and were flanked by footpaths, bridleways and drainage ditches. They were laid along accurately surveyed courses, and some were cut through hills or conducted over rivers and ravines on bridgework. Sections could be supported over marshy ground on rafted or piled foundations.

At the peak of Rome's development, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the capital, and the empire's 113 provinces were interconnected by 372 great roads. The whole comprised more than of roads, of which over were stone-paved. In Gaul alone, no less than of roadways are said to have been improved, and in Britain at least .

Livy 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.

In the Itinerary of Antoninus, the description of the road system 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 Britain; run along the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates; and cover, as with a network, the interior provinces of the Empire.

Laws and traditions

thumb|Roman roads animation in Latin with English subtitles The Laws of the Twelve Tables, dated to about 450 BC, required that any public road (Latin via) be 8 Roman feet (perhaps about 2.37 m) wide where straight and twice that width where curved. These were probably the minimum widths for a via; in the later republic, widths of around 12 Roman feet were common for public roads in rural regions, permitting the passing of two carts of standard (4 foot) width without interference to pedestrian traffic. Actual practices varied from this standard. The Tables command Romans to build public 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 practicable to construct the shortest possible roads, and thus save on material.

Roman law defined the right to use a road as a servitus, or liability. 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 feet. 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 Julia Municipalis restricted commercial carts to night-time access in the city within the walls and within a mile outside the walls.

Types

thumb|Old [[Roman roads in Judaea/Palaestina|Roman road, leading from Jerusalem to Beit Gubrin, adjacent to regional highway 375 in Israel]]

Roman roads varied from simple corduroy roads 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, there were three types of roads: Their authority extended over all roads between their respective gates of issue in the city wall and the first milestone beyond. Many roads were built to resist rain, freezing and flooding. They were constructed to need as little repair as possible.

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. An earthen road with a gravel surface.

Via munita: A built road, paved with rectangular blocks of local rock or with polygonal blocks of volcanic rock.

According to Isidore of Sevilla, the Romans borrowed the knowledge of construction of viae munitae from the Carthaginians, though certainly inheriting some construction techniques from the Etruscans. In these roads, the surface was hardened with gravel, and although pavements were introduced shortly afterwards, the blocks were laid on a bed of small stones. Examples include the Via Praenestina and Via Latina. They seem to have mixed the mortar and the stones in the ditch. First a small layer of coarse concrete, the rudus, then a 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 an early basalt road by the Temple of Saturn on the Clivus Capitolinus. It had travertine paving, polygonal basalt blocks, concrete bedding (substituted for the gravel), and a rain-water gutter.

thumb|right|The remains of Emperor Trajan's route along the Danube in [[Roman Serbia]]

thumb|right|Roman auxiliary infantry crossing a river, probably the Danube, on a pontoon bridge during the emperor Trajan's Dacian Wars (101–106)

Engineering works

Romans preferred to engineer solutions to obstacles rather than circumvent them. Outcrops of stone, ravines, or hilly or mountainous terrain called for cuts and tunnels. An example of this is found on the Roman road from Căzănești near the Iron Gates. This road was half carved into the rock, about 5ft to 5ft 9in (1.5 to 1.75m); the rest of the road, above the Danube, 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 is all that remains of the now-submerged road.

Roman bridges were some of the first large and lasting bridges created. 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. Stone arch bridges were used on larger or more permanent crossings. Most bridges also used concrete, which the Romans were the first to use for bridges. Roman bridges were so well constructed that many remain in use today.

Causeways 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 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 utilization

The public road system of the Romans was thoroughly military in its aims and spirit. It was only a short step from lists to a master list, or a schematic route-planner in which roads and their branches were represented more or less in parallel, as in the . From this master list, parts could be copied and sold on the streets.

The most thorough used different symbols for cities, way stations, water courses, and so on. The Roman government from time to time would produce a master road itinerary. The first known were commissioned in 44 BC by Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Three Greek geographers, Zenodoxus, Theodotus and Polyclitus, were hired to survey the system and compile a master itinerary; the task required over 25 years, and the resulting stone-engraved master itinerary was set up near the Pantheon. Travelers and itinerary sellers could make copies from it.

Vehicles and transportation

thumb|right|Roman carriage (reconstruction)

Outside the cities, Romans were avid riders and rode on or drove quite a number of vehicle types, some of which are mentioned here. Carts driven by oxen were used. Horse-drawn carts could travel up to per day, while pedestrians traveled per day. 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, a standard chariot 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 with two horses was a biga; three horses, a triga; and four horses a quadriga. 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, 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 four 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 1,000 Roman librae (pounds), modern equivalent . 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 four-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 (baggage) of a military column.

Way stations and traveler inns

thumb|Remains of the [[mansio at Letocetum, Wall, Staffordshire, England]]

For non-military officials and people on official business who had no legion at their service, the government maintained way stations, or mansiones ("staying places"), for their use. Passports were required for identification. Mansiones were located about apart. There the official traveller found a complete villa 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 might be. An example is the Tabernae Caediciae at Sinuessa 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 in the Rhineland, and Saverne in Alsace.

A third system of way stations serviced vehicles and animals: the mutationes ("changing stations"). They were located every . In these complexes, the driver could purchase the services of wheelwrights, cartwrights, and equarii medici, or veterinarians. Using these stations as chariot relays, Tiberius hastened in 24 hours to join his brother, Drusus Germanicus, 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 publicus, founded by Augustus, 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. On average a relay of horses could carry a letter in a day. 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.

Italy

thumb|right|Italian and Sicilian roads in the time of ancient Rome

Major roads

Via Aemilia, from Rimini (Ariminum) to Placentia
Via Appia, the Appian Way (312 BC), from Rome to Apulia
Via Aurelia (241 BC), from Rome to France
Via Cassia, from Rome to Tuscany
Via Flaminia (220 BC), from Rome to Rimini (Ariminum)
Via Raetia, from Verona north across the Brenner Pass
Via Salaria, from Rome to the Adriatic Sea (in the Marches)

Others

Via Aemilia Scauri (109 BC)
Via Aquillia, branches off the Appia at Capua to the sea at Hipponium (Vibo Valentia)
Via Brixiana, from Cremona to Brescia

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 BC)
Via Claudia Nova (47 AD)
Via Clodia, from Rome to Tuscany forming a system with the Cassia
Via Domitiana, coast road from Naples to Formia
Via Flacca
Via Flavia, from Trieste (Tergeste) to Dalmatia
Via Gemina, from Aquileia and Trieste through the Karst to Materija, Obrov, Lipa and Klana, from where, near Rijeka, descending towards Trsat (Tersatica) to continue along the Dalmatian coast
Via Julia Augusta (8 BC), exits Aquileia
Via Labicana, southeast from Rome, forming a system with the Praenestina
Via Latina, southeast from Rome to Casilinum where it joined the Via Appia.
Via Ostiensis, from Rome to Ostia
Via Postumia (148 BC), from Aquileia through Verona across the Apennines to Genoa
Via Popilia (132 BC), two distinct roads, one from Capua to Rhegium and the other from Ariminum through the later Veneto region
Via Praenestina, from Rome to Praeneste
Via Severiana, Terracina to Ostia
Via Tiberina, from Rome to Ocriculum
Via Tiburtina, from Rome to Tibur
Via Traiana, a branch of Via Appia, from Benevento to Brindisi
Via Traiana Nova (Italy), from Lake Bolsena to the Via Cassia. Known by archaeology only
Via Valeria from Tibur to Aternum
Via Valeria (Sicily) from Messina to Syracuse

Other areas

thumb|right|A road in [[Histria (Sinoe) presumed to be of Roman origin (The rectangular blocks are not true Roman construction.)]]

thumb|right|Roman roads along the [[Danube]]

Africa

Main road: from Sala Colonia to Carthage to Alexandria.
In Egypt: Via Hadriana
In Mauretania Tingitana from Tingis southward (see: Roman roads in Morocco)

Albania / North Macedonia / Greece / Turkey

Via Egnatia (146 BC) connecting Dyrrhachium (on Adriatic Sea) to Byzantium via Thessaloniki

Austria / Serbia / Bulgaria / Turkey

Via Militaris (Via Diagonalis, Via Singidunum), connecting Middle Europe and Byzantium

Bulgaria / Romania

Via Pontica

Cyprus

Via Kolossus. Connecting Paphos, the island Roman capital, with Salamis, the second bigger city and port.

France

In France, a Roman road is called voie romaine in vernacular language.

Via Agrippa
Via Aquitania, from Narbonne, where it connected to the Via Domitia, to the Atlantic Ocean across Toulouse and Bordeaux
Via Domitia (118 BC), from Nîmes to the Pyrenees, where it joins to the Via Augusta at the Col de Panissars
Roman road (Nord), extending from Dunkirk to Cassel in Nord Département

thumb|Major Roman roads in [[Germania Inferior]]

Germania Inferior (Germany, Belgium, Netherlands)

Roman road from Trier to Cologne
Via Belgica (Boulogne-Cologne)
Lower Limes Germanicus
Interconnections between Lower Limes Germanicus and Via Belgica

Middle East

Via Maris
Via Traiana Nova
Petra Roman Road 1st-century Petra, Jordan

Romania

Trajan's bridge and Iron Gates road.
Via Traiana: Porolissum Napoca Potaissa Apulum road.
Via Pontica: Troesmis Piroboridava Caput Stenarum Apulum Partiscum Lugio

thumb|right| Roman roads in [[Hispania, or Roman Iberia]]

Spain and Portugal

Iter ab Emerita Asturicam, from Sevilla to Gijón. Later known as Vía de la Plata (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 Augusta, from Cádiz to the Pyrénées, where it joins to the Via Domitia at the Coll de Panissars, near La Jonquera. It passes through Valencia, Tarragona (anciently Tarraco), and Barcelona.
Camiño de Oro, ending in Ourense, capital of the Province of Ourense, passing near the village of Reboledo.
Via Nova (or Via XVIII), from Bracara Augusta to Asturica Augusta

Syria

Road connecting Antioch and Chalcis.
Strata Diocletiana, along the Limes Arabicus, going through Palmyra and Damascus, and south to Arabia.

Trans-Alpine roads

These roads connected modern Italy and Germany:

Via Claudia Augusta (47) from Altinum (now Quarto d'Altino) to Augsburg via the Reschen Pass

thumb|Roman road in the urban fabric of [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus, Mersin Province in Turkey]]

Trans-Pyrenean roads

Connecting Hispania and Gallia:

Ab Asturica Burdigalam

Turkey

Roman road in Cilicia in south Turkey
Roman Road of Ankara

United Kingdom

thumb|right|[[High Street (Lake District)|High Street, a fell in the English Lake District, named after the apparent Roman road which runs over the summit, which is claimed to be the highest Roman road in Britain. Its status as a Roman road is problematic, as it appears to be a holloway or sunken lane, whereas the Romans built their roads on an agger or embankment.]]

Akeman Street
Camlet Way
Dere Street
Ermine Street
Fen Causeway
Fosse Way
King Street
London-West of England Roman Roads
Peddars Way
Pye Road
Roman road from Silchester to Bath
Stane Street (Chichester)
Stane Street (Colchester)
Stanegate
Via Devana
Watling Street

References

Footnotes

General information

Laurence, Ray (1999). The roads of Roman Italy: mobility and cultural change. Routledge.
Von Hagen, Victor W. (1967). The Roads That Led to Rome. The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York.
Codrington, Thomas (1905). Roman Roads in Britain. London [etc.]: Society for promoting Christian knowledge.
Forbes, Urquhart A., and Arnold C. Burmester (1904). Our Roman Highways. London: F.E. Robinson & co.
Roby, Henry John (1902). Roman Private Law in the Times of Cicero and of the Antonines. Cambridge: C.U.P.
Smith, William, William Wayte, and G. E. Marindin (1890). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London: J. Murray. pp. 946–954.
Smith, William (1858). A School Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities; Abridged from the Larger Dictionary by William Smith, with Corrections and Improvements by Charles Anthon. N.Y.: [s.n.]. pp. 354–355.
Cresy, Edward (1847). An Encyclopædia of Civil Engineering, Historical, Theoretical, and Practical. London: Printed for Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-Row.

Primary sources

Siculus Flaccus, De condicionibus agrorum cap. XIX
Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi Etymologiarum sive Originum Liber XV, 15–16
Codex Theodosianus:
8.5 De cursu publico angariis et parangariis;
15.3 De itinere muniendo

Corpus Iuris Civilis
C.12.50 De cursu publico angariis et parangariis
D.8.3.0 De servitutibus praediorum rusticorum.
D.8.6.2
D.43.7 De locis et itineribus publicis
D.43.8 Ne quid in loco publico vel itinere fiat.
D.43.10 De via publica et si quid in ea factum esse dicatur.
D.43.11 De via publica et itinere publico reficiendo.
D.43.19 De itinere actuque privato.

External links

Maps

Orbis/Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World
Itiner-e – The Digital Atlas of Ancient Roads, works in Chrome
The Antiquity À-la-carte interactive digital atlas of the Ancient Mediterranean World

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

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

Servitutes

Road construction

Roman Road Construction
Construction of Roman Roads
Design and Construction of Roman Roads
Roman Road Construction