Roads in Ancient Rome

Roman roads permitted a rapid movement of troops to where they were most needed. It also permitted faster communications so much so that a veritable postal system took shape during various periods of the empire.

The famous motto "All Roads lead to Rome" is witness of how significant the Roman road network really was. The motto alludes to the way in which a number of roads radiate out from the centre of Rome, from the Capitol in fact, where the mile 0 was measured from.

There were seven roads which lead out of Rome. The first of these "Consular roads" was started by Appius Claudius who was Censor in 312BC (he also started the first aqueduct) and was named after him: The Appian way. The construction of this road met up with a great deal of opposition in the Senate but it soon proved its worth as a source of stable occupation and then as an extremely efficient means of moving troops. In the year 267BC it reached as far south as the port city of Brindisi and came to symbolise Roman conquest of southern Italy.

The Appian way is considered the first of the Roman roads, particularly because of the new conception of direct means communications. It was in fact preceded by two existing routes to the north of Rome: the Via Tiberina and the Via Salaria, both of which are rather more tortuous as they followed the Tiber valley. The first derived its name from the Tiber itself whilst the second gained its name from the Sabine salt trade (sale=salt) which moved along it (the myth of the Roman rape of the Sabine women seems to be an allusion to the Roman taking of the profitable salt trade).

The construction of new roads was frequently if not always associated with military conquest and control of new territories. This meant that planning and construction was often undertaken in a hurry by the legionaries themselves. The planning and civil engineering was meticulous but it was also pragmatic. Added to this there was the consideration of the cost of long distance transport of heavy materials and the need for speed of construction. This meant that local materials were used wherever possible, even for housing and other architecture. Britain for example provided a wide range of materials whilst some other countries were prevalently limited to one or two materials: for example it was very difficult to find plentiful wood in the Middle East!

The Romans clearly understood the importance of good foundations as a basis to the quality and durability of the final result. Where possible this implied digging down into the ground a couple of feet in order to rest the work onto a more solid base. This itself would be compacted and prepared with sand and compacted stones. Where necessary drainage and other hydraulic works would be installed underneath the road level, particularly in totally new urban areas. Where solid ground was not available a stronger foundation could be provided through wooden piles and "tram lines" over which the road would be laid.

We all consider the "typical" Roman road as having been surfaced with large durable stone slabs, but this was not always the case. Several centuries of road construction works inevitably led to a variety of construction techniques. Some sources suggest that at least into the first century BC it was normal to lay slabs on the urban sections of road whilst the cross-country sections (the majority) would be surfaced with sand and compacted stones.

Certainly volcanic lava basalt rock was used around central Italy, which has a volcanic geology, but the weight of the block and the labour required to lay them meant that in many areas the road could have different types of surface and differing degrees of durability. Each of the lava rocks employed in the more durable roads was some 1½ ft (45cm) in length, breadth and height and weighed about as much as a person! It is not so surprising therefore that the first consular road, the Appian Way, is only said to have been completed with slabs well into the second century: nearly 500 years after it was started!

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This page about Rome history was written by Giovanni Milani-Santarpia for www.mariamilani.com - Rome apartments