Ancient Roman Roads: A Legacy That Endures

Ancient Roman roads are a testament to the engineering prowess and enduring legacy of the ancient Romans. Some of these roads have stood the test of time, with some dating back over 2,000 years and still remaining intact.

The Resemblance Between Ancient and Modern Highways

However, how closely do these ancient roads resemble the highways of Europe today? The answer is that they bear a striking resemblance to many modern European highways. In fact, the Romans were known for their innovative use of materials such as stone and concrete, which were used extensively in the construction of their roads.

The Roman Road Network: A Marvel of Engineering

The ancient Roman road network was one of the greatest engineering achievements of all time. Spanning across much of Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor, these roads connected distant cities and towns, facilitating trade, commerce, and communication between different regions.

A Glimpse into Ancient Roman Life

But how did people travel on these ancient roads? One can only imagine the scenes that played out on these highways. "Come on, mate, let me in," a traveler might have said to a gatekeeper. But if they were arriving at Olive Garden for dinner with their wife, as one of the speakers joked earlier, they would be in for a pleasant surprise.

An Unexpected Connection

However, before we delve into the modern highways, it's worth noting an unexpected connection between ancient and modern transportation. A humorous anecdote shared by someone involved highlights how roads have evolved over time. "Stop hitting me!" the speaker exclaims in frustration with their traveling companion. But amidst all this chaos, a surprising statement is made: "Well, you might be surprised." This hints at the fact that even in ancient times, people had an idea about how roads would look like and were aware of their modern counterparts.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Ancient Roman roads havestood the test of time.Some are over 2,000 yearsold and still intact.But how closely do they resemblethe highways in Europe of today?- Come on, mate, let me in.- No, I'm meeting my wife at Olive Garden.- Stop hitting me!- Well, you might be surprised.Have you ever heard the saying,"all roads lead to Rome?"yeah, I hadn't eitherbefore we wrote this,but it's a phrase that's prettymuch true all across Europe.Many modern-day highwaysand roads in Europe,and some in Africa and the Middle East,still follow the same paththat ancient Romans once traveled on.Seriously, if you live in Europe,your morning commute couldbe the same road as some dude2,000 years ago who sold wooden sandalsor tablets or something,but not the touch pad kind,you know what I'm talking about.The Roman Empire was one of the largestof all the ancient empires,and one of their crowning achievements,aside from the first OliveGarden, was their road system.Romans were building roads fromaround 500 B.C. to 395 A.D.Using advanced paving techniques,they laid over 50,000 miles of road,and a lot of them are stillintact 2,000 years later.The streets I take to workwere paved last summer,and they already have potholes in them.Great job, California.It doesn't even snow here,like that's not an excuse.Well-constructed roads meantthat large military convoysand citizens could travel easily.It also facilitated trade andcommunication between cities,and most importantly, it showed control.Roads were a huge factorin how the Roman Empirewas able to expand and thrive as it did.Unpaved roads had existedever since humans started migrating,but Romans developed methodsto pave and preserve roadsbased on Etruscan road buildings methods.The types of roads and themethods used to build themdepended on the terrain and the materialsthat were available.There were three main typesof roads built by the Romans.Via Terrena, a plainroad of leveled earth,Via Glareata, an earthroad with graveled surface,and Via Munita, a regular built roadpaved with polygonal blocks of lava rock.The most sophisticated and prevalentof all three was the Via Munita.An engineer would assess the siteand determine exactlywhere the road would go,then the agrimensoreswould survey the roadbed.They used two tools, a rodand a device called a groma,which helped them measure right angles.Then, gromatici would place therods and the engineers wouldcommand them to move therods and make adjustments toget the straightest possible line.Other plowmen, called legionnaires,would do finer digging using spades,carving out the ditch, or fosso.Mensores would...Mensores would, bleh.Mensores were workers whowould measure out materialsso that the masons couldget to work paving.Starting a meter down,the bare earth was poundeduntil it was level.On top of that, small rocks were laid,no bigger than a person's hand.On top of that, concrete madeof broken stones, rubble,and lime was laid down.Above the rougher concretewas a layer of finer concrete.Laid on top of that concretewere the surface-level stones.These stones were mainlybasalt, or lava rock,but differed dependingon what was available.They were fitted tocreate a cambered surface,with the center of the roadbeing higher than the sides,effectively drainingwater away from the middleand funneling it to the side of the road,where it didn't impede carts.The final step in Roman road buildingwas often installing raisedwalkways on either side.These guys were making sidewalks.Roads were standardizedto around 4.2 meters wide,to allow two vehicles to pass each other.Guys, the Romans were smart.At one point, there were 30main roads leading out of Rome.Built between 312 and264 B.C., the Appian Way,or what the Romans called Via Appia,was the first major road to be constructedduring the Roman empire.It connects Rome toBrindisi in southeast Italy.And nowadays, it's calledStrade Statali seven,or State Street seven.The modern-day Appian Way is stilla main thoroughfare in southeast Italy,used by hundreds of thousandsof commuters every day.Romans prioritized straightroads over everything else,as they are the quickestand most efficient wayto get from point A to point B.No obstacle was too big,whether it was a river,valley, mountain, or your mom's butt.They found a way to build a straight roadeither over it, or through it.Romans developed successful methodsto build bridges over large spans.Made of wood, stone, or a mix of the two,they were built sosolidly that many of themare still around today.One of the biggest to everexist was Ponte Rotto,a bridge over the Carapelle River,which spans 700 meters, and had 10 arches.Another famous Roman bridgeis the Alcantara Bridgein Extremadura, Spain.It's 45 meters high and 181 meters long.Despite being built in 104 A.D.,this bridge is still standing,and looks pretty good forbeing 1,900 years old.For Roman engineers, amountain wasn't gonna stop themfrom making a straight road.Not that mountain.Although, if he was trying tostop me, I'd probably quit.Oftentimes, impassable mountainswould hinder road building.So, Romans would dig tunnels.Using counter-excavation, a fancy word fordigging from both sides of the mountain,Romans were able to dig 700, 800,and even 1,000 meter tunnels.Sometimes tunnel projectswould last for many years,as digging through solid rock couldslow construction downto 30 centimeters a day.All of this is in metric.I don't know how long any of this is.1,000 meters, thatcould be like this long.I don't know.30 centimeters, that's how tall I am.I actually don't know.About that much?Maybe?Navigating thousandsof miles of Roman roadswould have been confusing without maps.But luckily, the ancient Romanswere pretty good at drawing them.Most guides that were usedwere called itinerarium,and were pared-down maps witha sequential list of citiesa traveler would pass on a journey.Road-goers could also rely onmilestones to gauge distance.Milestones, or miliaria,as they were called,were large carved stones,sometimes up to two tons,that were placed every mile.The modern road mile actuallycomes from the Latin,mille passuum, one thousand paces,and equaled about 4,841 feet.Wait, does that meantheir paces were 4.8 feet?How tall were these Romans?The ease of travel on Roman roadsmeant that commerce andtrade were facilitated.This created prosperity whereverthe roads passed through.Towns that had access to good roadsfared way better than othertowns with less access.Plus, Roman roads were safe from bandits,robbers, and Hamburglars.Other patrolmen calledbeneficiarii were aroundto levy taxes on goods beingtransported on the roadsand collect tolls at provincial borders,bridges, and mountain passes.It wasn't always free totravel on Roman roads,but it was a small price to payfor increased safety and prosperity.Modern-day cities are stillbenefiting from this prosperity.A study done in 2010discovered a remarkablepattern of persistence, showing thatgreater Roman road density goes along withgreater modern road density,and greater economic activity in 2010.Cities like London,Paris, Zurich, Manchester,Frankfurt, Barcelona, Venice,were all founded by thisancient Roman Empireand still benefit from theroads 2,000 years later.Seriously, I could keepgoing for 10 minutesreading off cities, but I haven'thad my afternoon milk yet,and I'm drying up.Zach, get my milk ready!I'm almost done.I need my milk.Bring the cookies too, Famous Amos.None of this Chips Ahoy bull (beep).Roman roads have lastedto this day because ofhow incredibly efficient,easy to navigate,and well-built they are.While many of the roadshave been destroyedor broken up over the years,they still remain the groundworkof modern-day roads and highways.Hey, we talk about theweird stuff in the car worldevery week here on WheelHouse,so hit that yellow subscribebutton right here abouts.Check out last week's episodeof WheelHouse right here.Check out this episode of Up to Speed.We have a ton of newmerchandise in our store,go to donutmedia.com and copyourself some cool stuff.I felt old saying that.