The network of roads built by the Romans played a significant role in the development of Western Civilization.
Not until modern times was the system of roads the Romans built to connect their Empire surpassed. They were the best roads in the world for at least a millennia. In fact, they were so well built that many of their bridges and a few of the actual roads are still in use today. Connecting to the “silk road” at their eastern extremes these roads connected the Romans to a trading network that spanned the known world, bringing goods from the far reaches of Cathay (China).
The Roman road system grew with their Empire. Roads were a key part of their military philosophy, and were the way Roman legions preferred to reach their destinations. Beside using the roads the legions were also often the constructors of roads. At the height of the Empire it was commonly said that “all roads lead to Rome”. In all, the Romans built about 53,000 miles of roads. As their civilization spread, the roads initially built by the military for military purposes became trade routes for people and goods to travel over. They were also the key method for carrying communications within the Empire. Imperial messengers in small carriages similar to chariots carried official messages throughout the Empire with exceptional speed for the time. A few private mail carrying businesses also existed that carried private mails a bit more slowly.
In Latin road is via, and roads is viae. There were viae publicae (public roads), via militares (military roads), and actus (local roads). There were also toll roads. Although the Roman concept was that publicly built roads should be free, landowners that could offer shortcuts or bridges sometimes built toll roads. These almost certainly fell into the category of viae privatae (private roads) but roads strictly for the private use of the rich to and from their estates were sometimes built.
As the road system and the Empire’s bureaucracy both became larger, regulations stated that milestones should be placed every 1000 paces (1620 yards, 1480 meters) along roads. This was carried out on most major roads. All milestones were referenced to the milarium aurum (golden milestone) erected in 20 B.C near the Temple of Saturn in Rome itself. All milestones gave the distance to this central landmark, the distance to local cities (and maybe towns), and the miles from the chosen start point of that particular road. Also, information about officials who built or repaired the road was included that has proven very valuable to many historians. The inscriptions cut into these stones have been collected in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. The Emperor Constantine once referred to the golden milestone as “umbilicus Romae” (the navel of Rome).
Pacing the milestones would have been tedious and likely to produce significant error over long distances, so the Romans employed a machine probably first built by the Greek inventor and mathematician Archimedes. It is a chariot with a wheel of a size to revolve 400 times in traveling one mile. There is a peg on the inside rim of the wheel tied to a gear with 400 teeth. On the 400th revolution of the wheel the machine will drop a pebble into a cup indicating that a mile has been traveled. This is the first odometer.
Roman roads are usually straight lines that ignore grades and other obstacles making angular turns into another straight stretch rather than curving. Thus, gradients can be extreme in mountainous country, and some have found this to be the worst fault of Roman road technology. The viae were usually paved with gravel between curb stones over a complex layered bed, or in high traffic areas with stone.
Such a well developed road system is a definite landmark in the History of Transportation, and was of great importance to the development of Western Europe even after Rome fell. While Rome endured goods and knowledge travelled freely within the Empire, and to some extent from without.
See also: Adam, Jean-Pierre, Roman Building: Materials and Techniques, (London: B.T. Batsford, 1994).
An upcoming article will deal with construction methods and road engineering.
