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{{short description|Roads built in service of the ancient Roman civilization}}
{{Redirect|Roman road||Roman Road (disambiguation){{!}}Roman Road}}
[[File:Roman roads around Rome.png|thumb|Roman roads around Rome]]
[[File:Appian Way.jpg|thumb|The [[Appian Way]], one of the oldest and most important Roman roads]] <!-- The distinction between [[Street]] and [[Road]] is important here – don't confuse the two. -->
[[File:Roman Empire 125 general map (Red roads).svg|thumb|The Roman Empire in the time of [[Hadrian]] ({{Reign}} 117–138), showing the network of main Roman roads]]
'''Roman roads''' ({{langx|la|viae Romanae}} {{IPA|la|ˈwiae̯ roːˈmaːnae̯|}}; singular: {{lang|la|via Romana}} {{IPA|la|ˈwia roːˈmaːna|}}; 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 the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Forbes|first=Robert James|title=Studies in ancient technology, Volume 2|year=1993|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-00622-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Oi70BovgoQC&q=%22Via+Gabina%22+road+built&pg=PA146|page=146}}</ref> They provided efficient means for the overland movement of [[Military history of ancient Rome|armies]], officials, civilians, inland carriage of official communications, and [[Roman commerce|trade goods]].<ref>Kaszynski, William. ''The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads in the United States''. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2000. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Dzv2oZM5_38C&pg=PA9 Page 9]</ref> Roman [[road]]s 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 and metaled, cambered for drainage, and were flanked by footpaths, [[Bridle path|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.<ref name="LWPageArticleRoadsCanals"/><ref name="Corbishley, Mike page 50">Corbishley, Mike: "The Roman World", page 50. Warwick Press, 1986.</ref>
At the peak of Rome's development, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the capital, and the empire's 113 [[Roman province|provinces]] were interconnected by 372 great roads.<ref name="LWPageArticleRoadsCanals">Bailey, L. H., and Wilhelm Miller. ''Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, Comprising Suggestions for Cultivation of Horticultural Plants, Descriptions of the Species of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, and Ornamental Plants Sold in the United States and Canada, Together with Geographical and Biographical Sketches''. New York [etc.]: The Macmillan Co, 1900. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ERQoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA320 Page 320].</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Duducu|first1=Jem|title=The Romans in 100 Facts|date=2015|publisher=Amberley Publishing|___location= UK|isbn=9781445649702}}</ref> The whole comprised more than {{convert|400000|km|mi|lk=out|abbr=off}} of roads, of which over {{convert|80,500|km}} were stone-paved.<ref>Gabriel, Richard A. ''The Great Armies of Antiquity''. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2002. [https://books.google.com/books?id=y1ngxn_xTOIC&pg=PA9 Page 9].</ref><ref>Michael Grant, ''History of Rome'' (New York: Charles Scribner, 1978), 264.</ref> In [[Gaul]] alone, no less than {{convert|21,000|km}} of roadways are said to have been improved, and in [[Great_Britain|Britain]] at least {{convert|4,000|km}}.<ref name="LWPageArticleRoadsCanals"/> The courses (and sometimes the surfaces) of many Roman roads survived for millennia; some are overlaid by modern roads.
==Roman systems==
{{quote box
| width = 260px
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| quote = "The extraordinary greatness of the Roman Empire manifests itself above all in three things: the aqueducts, the paved roads, and the construction of the drains."
| source = [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Ant. Rom. 3.67.5''<ref>Quilici, Lorenzo (2008): "Land Transport, Part 1: Roads and Bridges", in: [[John Peter Oleson|Oleson, John Peter]] (ed.): ''The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World'', Oxford University Press, New York, {{ISBN|978-0-19-518731-1}}, pp. 551–579 (552)</ref>
}}
[[Livy]] mentions some of the most familiar roads near Rome, and the [[milestone|milestones]] on them, at times long before the first paved road—the [[Appian Way]].<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> Unless these allusions are just simple anachronisms, the roads referred to were probably at the time little more than levelled earthen tracks.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> Thus, the [[Via Praenestina|Via Gabiana]] (during the time of [[Porsena]]) is mentioned in about 500 BC; the [[Via Latina]] (during the time of [[Gaius Marcius Coriolanus]]) in about 490 BC; the [[Via Nomentana]] (also known as "Via Ficulensis"), in 449 BC; the [[Via Labicana]] in 421 BC; and the [[Via Salaria]] in 361 BC.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities">Smith (1890).</ref>
In the [[Itinerary of Antoninus]], the description of the road system is as follows:
<blockquote>
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 [[Hadrian's Wall|Wall in Britain]]; run along the [[Rhine]], the [[Danube]], and the [[Euphrates]]; and cover, as with a network, the interior provinces of the Empire.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/></blockquote>
A road map of the empire reveals that it was generally laced with a dense network of prepared ''viae''.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> Beyond its borders there were no paved roads; however, it can be supposed that footpaths and dirt roads allowed some transport.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> There were, for instance, some pre-Roman [[ancient trackway]]s in Britain, such as [[the Ridgeway]] and the [[Icknield Way]].<ref>Timothy Darvill, ''Oxford Archaeological Guides: England'' (2002) pp. 297–298</ref>
==Laws and traditions==
[[File:Viae romanae.webm|thumb|Roman roads animation in Latin with English subtitles]] The [[Twelve Tables|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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Laurence|first=Ray|title=The roads of Roman Italy: mobility and cultural change|url=https://archive.org/details/roadsromanitalym00laur|url-access=limited|year=1999|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-16616-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/roadsromanitalym00laur/page/n72 58]–59}}</ref> [[#Practices and terminology|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#Lex Julia municipalis (45 BC)|Lex Julia Municipalis]]'' restricted commercial carts to night-time access in the city within the walls and within a mile outside the walls.
==Types==
[[File:Carved steps along Ancient Roman Road.jpg|thumb|Old [[Roman roads in Judaea/Palaestina|Roman road]], leading from [[Jerusalem]] to [[Bayt Jibrin|Beit Gubrin]], adjacent to regional highway 375 in Israel]]
Roman roads varied from simple [[corduroy road]]s 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:<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
#''Viae publicae, consulares, praetoriae'' or ''militares''
#''Viae privatae, rusticae, glareae'' or ''agrariae''
#''Viae vicinales''
===''Viae publicae, consulares, praetoriae'' and ''militares''===
The first type of road included public high or main roads, constructed and maintained at the public expense, and with their soil vested in the state. Such roads led either to the sea, to a town, to a public river (one with a constant flow), or to another public road. [[Siculus Flaccus]], who lived under Trajan (98–117), calls them ''viae publicae regalesque'',<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> and describes their characteristics as follows:
# They are placed under ''curatores'' ([[commissioner]]s), and repaired by ''redemptores'' ([[General contractor|contractor]]s) at the public expense; a fixed contribution, however, being levied from the neighboring landowners.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
# These roads bear the names of their constructors (e.g. [[Via Appia]], [[Via Cassia|Cassia]], [[Via Flaminia|Flaminia]]).<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
Roman roads were named after the [[Roman censor|censor]] who had ordered their construction or reconstruction. The same person often served afterwards as consul, but the road name is dated to his term as censor. If the road was older than the office of censor or was of unknown origin, it was named for its destination or the region through which it mainly passed. A road was renamed if the censor ordered major work on it, such as paving, repaving, or rerouting. With the term ''viae regales'' compare the [[Royal Road|roads of the Persian kings]] (who probably organized the first system of public roads) and the [[King's Highway (ancient)|King's Highway]].<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> With the term ''viae militariae'' compare the Icknield Way (''Icen-hilde-weg'', or "War-way of the Iceni").<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
There were many other people, besides special officials, who from time to time and for a variety of reasons sought to connect their names with a great public service like that of the roads.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> [[Gaius Gracchus]], when Tribune of the People (123–122 BC), paved or gravelled many of the public roads and provided them with milestones and mounting-blocks for riders. [[Gaius Scribonius Curio (praetor 49 BC)|Gaius Scribonius Curio]], when Tribune (50 BC), sought popularity by introducing a [[Lex Viaria]], under which he was to be chief inspector or commissioner for five years. [[Dio Cassius]] mentions that the [[Second Triumvirate]] obliged the [[Roman Senate|Senators]] to repair the public roads at their own expense.
===''Viae privatae, rusticae, glareae'' and ''agrariae''===
The second category included private or country roads, originally constructed by private individuals, in whom their soil was vested and who had the power to dedicate them to the public use.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> Such roads benefited from a [[right of way]] in favor either of the public or of the owner of a particular estate. Under the heading of ''viae privatae'' were also included roads leading from the public or high roads to particular estates or settlements; Ulpian considers these to be public roads.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
Features off the ''via'' were connected to the ''via'' by ''viae rusticae'', or secondary roads.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> Both main or secondary roads might either be paved or left unpaved with a gravel surface, as they were in North Africa. These prepared but unpaved roads were ''viae glareae'' or ''sternendae'' ("to be strewn"). Beyond the secondary roads were the ''viae terrenae'', "dirt roads".
===''Viae vicinales''===
The third category comprised roads at or in villages, [[district]]s, or [[wikt:crossroads|crossroads]], leading through or towards a ''[[Vicus (Rome)|vicus]]'' or village.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> Such roads ran either into a high road or into other ''viae vicinales'', without any direct communication with a high road. They were considered public or private, according to the fact of their original construction out of public or private funds or materials. Such a road, though privately constructed, became a public road when the memory of its private constructors had perished.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
Siculus Flaccus describes ''viae vicinales'' as roads "''de publicis quae divertunt in agros et saepe ad alteras publicas perveniunt''" (which turn off the public roads into fields, and often reach to other public roads). The repairing authorities, in this case, were the ''magistri pagorum'' or [[magistrate]]s of the [[Canton (administrative division)|cantons]]. They could require the neighboring landowners either to furnish laborers for the general repair of the ''viae vicinales'', or to keep in repair, at their own expense, a certain length of road passing through their respective properties.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
===Governance and financing===
With the conquest of Italy, prepared ''viae'' were extended from Rome and its vicinity to outlying municipalities, sometimes overlying earlier roads. Building ''viae'' was a military responsibility and thus came under the jurisdiction of a consul. The process had a military name, ''viam munire'', as though the ''via'' were a fortification. Municipalities, however, were responsible for their own roads, which the Romans called ''viae vicinales''. Roads were not free to use; tolls abounded, especially at bridges. Often they were collected at the city gate. Freight costs were made heavier still by import and export taxes. These were only the charges for using the roads. Costs of services on the journey went up from there.
Financing road building was a Roman government responsibility. Maintenance, however, was generally left to the province. The officials tasked with fund-raising were the ''curatores viarum''. They had a number of methods available to them. Private citizens with an interest in the road could be asked to contribute to its repair. High officials might distribute [[Evergetism|largesse]] to be used for roads. Censors, who were in charge of public morals and public works, were expected to fund repairs ''suâ pecuniâ'' <!-- ablative-->(with their own money). Beyond those means, taxes were required.
A ''via'' connected two cities. ''Viae'' were generally centrally placed in the countryside. The construction and care of the public roads, whether in Rome, in Italy, or in the provinces, was, at all periods of Roman history, considered to be a function of the greatest weight and importance. This is clearly shown by the fact that the censors, in some respects the most venerable of Roman magistrates, had the earliest paramount authority to construct and repair all roads and streets. Indeed, all the various functionaries, including emperors, who succeeded the censors in this portion of their duties, may be said to have exercised a devolved censorial jurisdiction.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
===Costs and civic responsibilities===
The devolution to the censorial jurisdictions became a practical necessity, resulting from the growth of the Roman dominions and the diverse labors which detained the censors in the capital city. Certain ''ad hoc'' official bodies successively acted as constructing and repairing authorities. In Italy, the censorial responsibility passed to the commanders of the Roman armies and later to special commissioners, and in some cases perhaps to the local magistrates. In the provinces, the consul or praetor and his legates received authority to deal directly with the contractor.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
The care of the streets and roads within the Roman territory was committed in the earliest times to the censors. They eventually made contracts for paving the street inside Rome, including the [[Clivus Capitolinus]], with lava, and for laying down the roads outside the city with gravel. [[Sidewalk]]s were also provided. The [[aedile]]s, probably by virtue of their responsibility for the freedom of traffic and policing the streets, co-operated with the censors and the bodies that succeeded them.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
It would seem that in the reign of [[Claudius]] the [[quaestor]]s had become responsible for the paving of the streets of Rome or at least shared that responsibility with the [[Quattuorvir|''quattuorviri viarum'']].<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> It has been suggested that the quaestors were obliged to buy their right to an official career by personal outlay on the streets. There was certainly no lack of precedents for this enforced liberality, and the change made by Claudius may have been a mere change in the nature of the expenditure imposed on the quaestors.
===Official bodies===
The official bodies which first succeeded the censors in the care of the streets and roads were:<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
# ''Quattuorviri viis in urbe purgandis'', with jurisdiction inside the walls of Rome;
# ''Duoviri viis extra urbem purgandis'', with jurisdiction outside the walls.
Both these bodies were probably of ancient origin.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> The first mention of either body occurs in the ''Lex Julia Municipalis'' in 45 BC. The quattuorviri were afterwards called ''quattuorviri viarum curandarum''. The extent of jurisdiction of the [[Duumviri|duoviri]] is derived from their full title as ''duoviri viis extra propiusve urbem Romam passus mille purgandis''.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/><ref>Subordinate officers under the aediles, whose duty it was to look after those streets of Rome which were outside the city walls.</ref> Their authority extended over all roads between their respective gates of issue in the city wall and the first milestone beyond.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
In case of an emergency in the condition of a particular road, men of influence and liberality were appointed, or voluntarily acted, as ''curatores'' or temporary commissioners to superintend the work of repair.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> The dignity attached to such a curatorship is attested by a passage of [[Cicero]]. Among those who performed this duty in connection with particular roads was [[Julius Caesar]], who became ''curator'' (67 BC) of the Via Appia and spent his own money liberally upon it. Certain persons appear also to have acted alone and taken responsibility for certain roads.
In the country districts, the [[magistri pagorum]] had authority to maintain the ''viae vicinales''.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> In Rome each householder was legally responsible for the repairs to that portion of the street which passed his own house;<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> it was the duty of the aediles to enforce this responsibility. The portion of any street which passed a temple or public building was repaired by the aediles at the public expense. When a street passed between a public building or temple and a private house, the public treasury and the private owner shared the expense equally.
===Changes under Augustus===
The governing structure was changed by [[Augustus]], who in the course of his reconstitution of the urban administration, both abolished and created new offices in connection with the maintenance of public works, streets, and [[Roman aqueduct|aqueducts]] in and around Rome. The task of maintaining the roads had previously been administered by two groups of minor magistrates, the ''quattuorviri'' (a board of four magistrates to oversee the roads inside the city) and the ''duoviri'' (a board of two to oversee the roads outside the city proper) who were both part of the ''[[collegia]]'' known as the ''[[vigintisexviri]]'' (literally meaning "Twenty-Six Men").<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
Augustus, finding the ''collegia'' ineffective, especially the boards dealing with road maintenance, reduced the number of magistrates from 26 to 20. Augustus abolished the ''duoviri'' and later granted the position as superintendent (according to Dio Cassius) of the road system connecting Rome to the rest of Italy and provinces beyond. In this capacity he had effectively given himself and any following emperors a paramount authority which had originally belonged to the city censors. The ''quattuorviri'' board was kept as it was until at least the reign of [[Hadrian]] (117 to 138 AD).<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> Furthermore, he appointed praetorians to the offices of "road-maker" and assigning each one with two [[lictor]]s, making the office of curator of each of the great public roads a perpetual magistracy rather than a temporary commission.
The persons appointed under the new system were of [[Roman Senate|senator]]ial or [[Equestrian order|equestrian]] rank, depending on the relative importance of the roads assigned to them. It was the duty of each curator to issue contracts for the maintenance of his road and to see that the contractor who undertook said work performed it faithfully, as to both quantity and quality. Augustus also authorized the construction of [[sanitary sewer|sewers]] and removed obstructions to traffic, as the ''aediles'' did in Rome.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
It was in the character of an imperial curator (though probably armed with extraordinary powers) that [[Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo|Corbulo]] denounced the ''[[magistratus]]'' and ''mancipes'' of the Italian roads to [[Tiberius]].<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> He pursued them and their families with fines and imprisonment and was later rewarded with a consulship by [[Caligula]], who also shared the habit of condemning well-born citizens to work on the roads. Under the rule of Claudius, Corbulo was brought to justice and forced to repay the money which had been extorted from his victims.
===Other ''curatores''===
Special ''curatores'' for a term seem to have been appointed on occasion, even after the institution of the permanent magistrates bearing that title.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> The emperors who succeeded Augustus exercised a vigilant control over the condition of the public highways. Their names occur frequently in the inscriptions to restorers of roads and bridges. Thus, [[Vespasian]], [[Titus]], [[Domitian]], [[Trajan]], and [[Septimius Severus]] were commemorated in this capacity at Emérita.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> The Itinerary of Antoninus (which was probably a work of much earlier date and republished in an improved and enlarged form under one of the [[Nerva–Antonine dynasty|Antonine emperors]]) remains as standing evidence of the minute care which was bestowed on the service of the public roads.
==Construction and engineering==
{{see also|History of infrastructure}}
[[Ancient Rome]] boasted impressive technological feats, using many advances <!--advancements means something else--->that were lost during the [[Middle Ages]].{{cn|date=March 2025}} Some of these accomplishments would not be rivaled in Europe until the [[Modern era|Modern Age]]. Many practical Roman innovations were adopted from earlier designs. Some of the common, earlier designs incorporated [[Arch|arches]].
===Practices and terminology===
{{Main|Roman engineering}}
{{see also|Roman military engineering}}
Roman road builders aimed at a regulation width (see [[#Laws and traditions|Laws and traditions]] above), but actual widths have been measured at between {{convert|3.6|ft|abbr=off}} and more than {{convert|23|ft|abbr=off}}. Today, the concrete has worn from the spaces around the stones, giving the impression of a very bumpy road, but the original practice was to produce a surface that was no doubt much closer to being flat.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Many roads were built to resist rain, freezing and flooding. They were constructed to need as little repair as possible. {{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
[[File:Tratto via consolare delle Gallie1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Section of the Via delle Gallie ([[Valle d'Aosta]]) in Italy, built by excavating the steep rock slope at left]]
Roman construction took a directional straightness. Many long sections are ruler-straight, but it should not be thought that all of them were. Some links in the network were as long as {{convert|55|mi|km}}. Gradients of 10%–12% are known in ordinary terrain, 15%–20% in mountainous country. {{citation needed|date=June 2024}} The Roman emphasis on constructing straight roads often resulted in steep slopes relatively impractical for most commercial traffic; over the years the Romans realized this and built longer but more manageable alternatives to existing roads. {{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Roman roads were generally built with the road cutting through the hill, rather than with a serpentine pattern of switchbacks curving around it. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-22 |title=Roman Road-Construction: How They Built The Eternal Roads In The Roman Empire |url=https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/roman-road-construction |access-date=2025-08-24 |website=The Archaeologist |language=en-US}}</ref>
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.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
{{clear}}
===Materials and methods===
''Viae'' were distinguished according to their public or private character, as well as according to the materials employed and the methods followed in their construction. Ulpian divided them up in the following fashion:<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
#''Via terrena'': A plain road of leveled earth.
#''Via glareata'':<ref>also, ''glarea strata''</ref> An earthen road with a gravel surface.
#''Via munita'':<ref>also ''lapide quadrato strata'' or ''sílice strata''</ref> 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 [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]]s, though certainly inheriting some construction techniques from the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]].<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
====''Via terrena''====
The ''Viae terrenae'' were plain roads of leveled earth. These were mere tracks worn down by the feet of humans and animals, and possibly by wheeled carriages.<ref name="GBnREI"/>
====''Via glareata''====
The ''Viae glareatae'' were earthen roads with a gravel surface or a gravel subsurface and paving on top. Livy speaks of the censors of his time as being the first to contract for paving the streets of Rome with [[flint]] stones, for laying gravel on the roads outside the city, and for forming raised footpaths at the sides.<ref>Graham, Alexander. Roman Africa; An Outline of the History of the Roman Occupation of North Africa, Based Chiefly Upon Inscriptions and Monumental Remains in That Country. London: Longmans, Green, and co, 1902. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PT1CAAAAIAAJ/page/n106 Page 66].</ref> 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.<ref name="GBnREI">Great Britain, and Royal Engineers' Institute (Great Britain). Professional Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers: Royal Engineer Institute, Occasional Papers. Chatham: Royal Engineer Institute, 1877. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Kup-AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA57 Page 57–92].</ref><ref name="thinkarchaeology42">[http://www.thinkarchaeology.net/42/ancient-roman-street-colleferro/archaeology-italy/#more-42 Ancient Roman Street re-emerges close to Colleferro] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015181845/http://www.thinkarchaeology.net/42/ancient-roman-street-colleferro/archaeology-italy/#more-42 |date=2013-10-15 }}. thinkarchaeology.net. October 10, 2007.</ref> Examples include the [[Via Praenestina]] and [[Via Latina]].<ref name="thinkarchaeology42"/>
====''Via munita''====
The best sources of information as regards the construction of a regulation ''via munita'' are:<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/>
# The many existing remains of ''viae publicae''. These are often sufficiently well preserved to show that the rules of construction were, as far as local material allowed, minutely adhered to in practice.
# The directions for making pavements given by [[Vitruvius]]. The ''pavement'' and the ''via munita'' were identical in construction, except as regards the top layer, or surface. Pavement consisted of marble or mosaic, and ''via munita'' consisted of blocks of stone or volcanic rock.
# A passage in [[Statius]] describing the repairs of the [[Via Domiziana|Via Domitiana]], a branch road of the Via Appia leading to [[Naples#Greek birth and Roman acquisition|Neapolis]].
After the [[civil engineer]] looked over the site of the proposed road and determined roughly where it should go, the [[agrimensor]]es went to work surveying the road bed. They used two main devices, the rod and a device called a ''[[Groma (surveying)|groma]]'', which helped them obtain right angles. The ''[[gromatici]]'', the Roman equivalent of rod men, placed rods and put down a line called the ''rigor''. As they did not possess anything like a [[Theodolite|transit]], a surveyor tried to achieve straightness by looking along the rods and commanding the ''gromatici'' to move them as required. Using the ''gromae'' they then laid out a grid on the plan of the road. If the surveyor could not see his desired endpoint, a signal fire would often be lit at the endpoint in order to guide the surveyor. The ''[[libratore]]s'' then began their work using [[plough]]s and, sometimes with the help of [[legionaries]], with [[spade]]s excavated the road bed down to bedrock or at least to the firmest ground they could find. The excavation was called the ''fossa'', the Latin word for ditch. The depth varied according to terrain.
[[File:Via Munita schema.svg|thumb|upright=2.4|The cross-section of a street in Pompeii.'''1''' Native earth; '''2''' ''Statumen;'' '''3''' ''Audits;'' '''4''' ''Nucleus;'' '''5''' ''Dorsum'' or ''agger viae;'' '''6''' ''Crepido'', ''margo'' or ''semita;'' '''7''' ''Umbones'' or edge-stones]]
The method varied according to geographic locality, materials available, and terrain, but the plan or ideal at which the engineer aimed was always the same. The road was constructed by filling the ''fossa''. This was done by layering rock over other stones. Into the ''fossa'' was placed large amounts of [[rubble]], gravel and stone, whatever [[Filler (materials)|fill]] was available. Sometimes a layer of sand was put down, if it was locally available. When the layers came to within 1 yd (1 m) or so of the surface, the subsurface was covered with gravel and tamped down, a process called ''pavire'', or ''pavimentare''.
The flat surface was then the ''pavimentum''. It could be used as the road, or additional layers could be constructed. A ''statumen'' or "foundation" of flat stones set in cement might support the additional layers. The final steps utilized [[lime mortar|lime-based]] [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]], which the Romans had discovered.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Ancient Engineers |last=de Camp |first=L. Sprague |author-link=L. Sprague de Camp |orig-year=First published 1960 |year=1974 |publisher=Random House |___location=Toronto, Canada |isbn=978-0-345-32029-2 |pages=182–183}}</ref> 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.<ref>Middleton, J. H. ''The Remains of Ancient Rome''. London: A. and C. Black, 1892. [https://books.google.com/books?id=k35LLSdsA78C&pg=RA1-PA251 Page 251].</ref>
[[File:RC174-Tabula Traiana.JPG|thumb|right|The remains of Emperor Trajan's route along the Danube in [[Roman Serbia]]]]
[[File:Engineering corps traian s column river crossing.jpg|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. [[Outcrop|Outcrops]] of stone, ravines, or hilly or mountainous terrain called for [[Cut and fill|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 5{{nbsp}}ft to 5{{nbsp}}ft 9{{nbsp}}in (1.5 to 1.75{{nbsp}}m); 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.{{see also|List of Roman bridges}}
[[Roman bridge]]s were some of the first large and lasting bridges created.<ref>{{Cite web |title=De Ferranti - Glossary - Roman bridge |url=https://deferranti.com/index.php/glossary/view/gl179162#:~:text=Roman%20bridges,%20built%20by%20ancient,arch%20as%20its%20basic%20structure. |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=deferranti.com}}</ref> 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 [[Deep foundation|pilings]] sunk into the river, or on stone piers. Stone [[Arch bridge|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.
[[Causeway]]s 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 {{convert|5|ft|abbr=off}} above the marsh. In the provinces, the Romans often did not bother with a stone causeway but used [[Corduroy road|log roads]] (''pontes longi'').
==Military and citizen utilization ==
The public road system of the Romans was thoroughly military in its aims and spirit.<ref name="SmithDictionaryAntiquities"/> It was designed to unite and consolidate the conquests of the Roman people, whether within or without the limits of Italy proper. A [[Roman legion|legion]] on the march brought its own baggage train (''impedimenta'') and constructed its own camp (''[[castra]]'') every evening at the side of the road.
===
[[Milestone]]s divided the Via Appia even before 250 BC into numbered miles, and most ''viae'' after 124 BC. The modern word "mile" derives from the Latin ''milia passuum'', "one thousand [[pace (length)|pace]]s", each of which was five Roman feet, or in total {{convert|1476|m|ft|abbr=on}}. A milestone, or ''[[miliarium]]'', was a circular column on a solid rectangular base, set more than {{convert|2|ft|m|abbr=off}} into the ground, standing {{convert|5|ft|m|abbr=off}} tall, {{convert|20|inch|cm|abbr=off}} in diameter, and weighing more than 2 tons. At the base was inscribed the number of the mile relative to the road it was on. In a panel at eye height was the distance to the [[Roman Forum]] and various other information about the officials who made or repaired the road and when. These ''miliaria'' are valuable historical documents today, and their inscriptions are collected in Volume XVII of the ''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum]]''. Milestones permitted distances and locations to be known and recorded exactly. It was not long before historians began to refer to the milestone at which an event occurred.<gallery>
File:Campidoglio - il miliarium.JPG|Rome, Campidoglio: the Miliarium (milestone), point of departure of the consular roads by the [[Capitoline Wolf]].
File:Milliarum of Aiton, modern copy erected in Turda, Romania in 1993.jpg|[[Turda]], [[Romania]]: 1993 copy of the [[Milliarium of Aiton]], dating from 108 and showing the construction of the road from [[Potaissa]] to [[Napoca (ancient city)|Napoca]] built by [[Cohors I Hispanorum miliaria]] in [[Roman Dacia]], by demand of the Emperor [[Trajan]]
File:RomaForoRomanoMiliariumAureum01.JPG|Remains of the ''miliarium aureum'' in the Roman Forum
File:Roman milestone rabagao portugal.jpg|A provincial Roman milestone, at Alto Rabagão, Portugal (road from Bracara Augusta to Asturias)
</gallery>The Romans had a preference for standardization wherever possible, so Augustus, after becoming permanent commissioner of roads in 20 BC, set up the ''[[miliarium aureum]]'' ("golden milestone") near the [[Temple of Saturn]]. All roads were considered to begin from this gilded bronze monument. On it were listed all the major cities in the empire and distances to them. [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] called it the ''[[Umbilicus urbis Romae|umbilicus Romae]]'' ("navel of Rome"), and built a similar—although more complex—monument in [[Constantinople]], the [[Milion]].
===Itinerary maps and charts===
[[File:Part of Tabula Peutingeriana.jpg|thumb|right|{{lang|la|[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]}} (Southern Italy centered)]]
Combined topographical and road-maps may have existed as specialty items in some Roman libraries, but they were expensive, hard to copy and not in general use. Travelers wishing to plan a journey could consult an ''[[itinerarium]]'', which in its most basic form was a simple list of cities and towns along a given road and the distances between them.<ref>[[Jaś Elsner]], "The ''Itinerarium Burdigalense'': politics and salvation in the geography of Constantine's Empire", ''[[Journal of Roman Studies]]'', (2000), pp. 181–195, p. 184.</ref> 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 {{lang|la|[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]}}. 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 (geographer)|Zenodoxus]], [[Theodotus (geographer)|Theodotus]] and [[Polyclitus (geographer)|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, Rome|Pantheon]]. Travelers and itinerary sellers could make copies from it.
===Vehicles and transportation===
[[File:Römischer Reisewagen.JPG|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. [[Cart]]s driven by oxen were used. Horse-drawn carts could travel up to {{convert|40|to|50|km}} per day,<ref>''Travel in the Ancient World'', Lionel Casson, p. 189</ref> while pedestrians traveled {{convert|20|to|25|km}} 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 (chariot)|biga]]''; three horses, a ''[[Triga (chariot)|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 (carriage)|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 {{convert|328|kg|abbr=off}}. 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===
{{See also|Mansio}}
[[File:Letocetum Mansio 1.jpg|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 ''[[mansio]]nes'' ("staying places"), for their use. [[Passports]] were required for identification. ''Mansiones'' were located about {{convert|25|to|30|km}} 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 [[Hostel|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 {{convert|20|to|30|km}}. 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 {{convert|296|km}} in 24 hours to join his brother, [[Nero Claudius Drusus|Drusus Germanicus]],<ref>[http://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Naturalis_Historia/Liber_VII Naturalis Historia] by Gaius Plinius Secundus, Liber VII, 84.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pW9bAAAAQAAJ The General History of the Highways] by Nicolas Bergier, page 156.</ref> who was dying of gangrene as a result of a fall from a horse.
===
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 {{convert|80|km}}<ref>C.W.J.Eliot, New Evidence for the Speed of the Roman Imperial Post. Phoenix 9, 2, 1955, 76ff.</ref> 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==
[[File:Roads in the Roman Empire.jpg|thumb|Combined data from the [[Tabula Peutingeriana|Peutinger Table]] and [[Antonine Itinerary]] recording the Roman roads network.]]
There are many examples of roads that still follow the route of Roman roads.
===Italy===
[[File:The Ancient Roads of Italy and Sicily nopng.svg|thumb|right|Italian and Sicilian roads in the time of ancient Rome]]
'''Major roads'''
* [[Via Aemilia]], from [[Rimini| Rimini (Ariminum)]] to [[Piacenza|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| Rimini (Ariminum)]]
* [[Via Raetia]], from [[Verona]] north across the [[Brenner Pass]]
* [[Via Salaria]], from Rome to the [[Adriatic Sea]] (in the [[Marches]])
'''Others'''
* {{ill|Via Aemilia in Hirpinis|it}}
* [[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 Domiziana|Via Domitiana]], coast road from Naples to Formia
* [[Via Flacca]]
* [[Via Flavia]], from [[Trieste|Trieste (Tergeste)]] to [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]]
* [[Via Gemina]], from Aquileia and Trieste through the [[Karst]] to [[Materija]], [[Obrov, Hrpelje-Kozina|Obrov]], [[Lipa, Beltinci|Lipa]] and [[Klana]], from where, near [[Rijeka]], descending towards [[Trsat|Trsat (Tersatica)]] to continue along the Dalmatian coast
* {{ill|Via Herculia|it}}
* [[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 Ostiense|Via Ostiensis]], from Rome to [[Ostia Antica (archaeological site)|Ostia]]
* [[Via Postumia]] (148 BC), from [[Aquileia]] through [[Verona]] across the [[Apennine Mountains|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 Antica (archaeological site)|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, Sicily|Syracuse]]
===Other areas===
[[File:2006 0814Histria Road Market20060416.jpg|thumb|right|A road in [[Histria (Sinoe)]] presumed to be of Roman origin (The rectangular blocks are not true Roman construction.)<ref>[http://archweb.cimec.ro/Arheologie/web-histria/4imagini/imagini_eng.htm The Archaeological Site of Histria], archweb.cimec.ro.</ref>]]
[[File:BALKANS ROMAN ROADS cropped.jpg|thumb|right|Roman roads along the [[Danube]]]]
'''Africa'''
{{main|Roman roads in 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 [[Durrës|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.
{{anchor|France}}'''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
[[File:Germania inferior roads towns.png|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]]
* [[
'''Romania'''
*
* Via Traiana: Porolissum Napoca Potaissa Apulum road.
* Via Pontica: [[Troesmis]] [[Piroboridava]] [[Caput Stenarum]] [[Apulum (castra)|Apulum]] [[Szeged|Partiscum]] [[Lugio]]
[[File:Hispania roads.svg|thumb|right| Roman roads in [[Hispania]], or Roman Iberia]]
'''Spain and Portugal'''
* [[Iter ab Emerita Asturicam]], from [[Sevilla]] to [[Gijón]]. Later known as ''[[Via de la Plata|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 (city in Spain)|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 XVIII|Via Nova]] (or Via XVIII), from [[Bracara Augusta]] to [[Asturica Augusta]]
'''Syria'''
*Road connecting [[Antioch]] and [[Chalcis]].
*[[
'''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]]
[[File:Roman road in Tarsus, Mersin Province.jpg|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'''
[[File:High Street and Small Water from Harter Fell.jpg|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 (ancient Rome)|agger]] or embankment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.romanroads.org |title=RRRA Home |publisher=Romanroads.org |date= |accessdate=2022-03-18}}</ref>]]
{{main|Roman roads in Britannia}}
*[[Akeman Street]]
*[[Camlet Way]]
*[[Dere Street]]
*[[Ermine Street]]
Line 208 ⟶ 320:
*[[London-West of England Roman Roads]]
*[[Peddars Way]]
*[[
*[[Roman road from Silchester to Bath]]
*[[Stane Street (Chichester)]]
*[[Stane Street (Colchester)]]
*[[Stanegate]]
*[[Via Devana]]
*[[Watling Street]]
==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Rome}}
* [[Historic roads and trails]]
* [[Legacy of the Roman Empire]]
* [[Roman military engineering]]
* [[Ancient Roman technology]]
* [[Roman Road from Saintes to Périgueux]]
* [[Roman Road of Agrippa (Saintes–Lyon)]]
==References==
=== Footnotes ===
{{reflist}}
=== General information ===
{{Refbegin|33em}}
* Laurence, Ray (1999). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sUhT_AcJyYEC The roads of Roman Italy: mobility and cultural change]''. Routledge.
* Von Hagen, Victor W. (1967). ''[https://archive.org/details/roadsthatledtoro00vonh The Roads That Led to Rome]''. The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York.
*Codrington, Thomas (1905). ''[https://archive.org/details/romanroadsinbri00commgoog Roman Roads in Britain]''. London [etc.]: Society for promoting Christian knowledge.
*Forbes, Urquhart A., and Arnold C. Burmester (1904). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UVMDAAAAMAAJ Our Roman Highways]''. London: F.E. Robinson & co.
* Roby, Henry John (1902). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9wsxAAAAIAAJ 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). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=3uYtAAAAIAAJ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities]''. London: J. Murray. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NngPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA946 pp. 946–954].
* Smith, William (1858). ''[https://archive.org/details/aschooldictiona00smitgoog 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.]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs5QKRNq5_0C&pg=PA354 pp. 354–355].
* Cresy, Edward (1847). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MUMOAAAAYAAJ An Encyclopædia of Civil Engineering, Historical, Theoretical, and Practical]''. London: Printed for Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-Row.
{{refend}}
=== Primary sources ===
{{col-begin-small}}
{{Col-break}}
* [[Siculus Flaccus]], De condicionibus agrorum cap. XIX
* [[Isidore of Seville|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
{{Col-break}}
* [[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.
{{Col-end}}
==Further reading==
*Adams, Colin. 2007. ''Land transport in Roman Egypt 30 BC–AD 300: A study in administration and economic history.'' Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
* Chevallier, Raymond. 1972. ''Les voies romaines.'' Paris: Colin.
*Coarelli, Filippo. 2007. ''Rome and environs: An archaeological guide.'' Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
*Davies, Hugh, E. H. 1998. "Designing Roman roads." ''Britannia: Journal of Romano-British and Kindred Studies'' 29: 1–16.
*Erdkamp, Peter. ''Hunger and the Sword: Warfare and Food Supply in Roman Republican Wars (264–30 B.C.).'' Amsterdam: Gieben, 1998.
*Isaac, Benjamin. 1988. "The meaning of 'Limes' and 'Limitanei' in ancient sources." ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 78: 125–47.
*Laurence, Ray. 1999. ''The roads of Roman Italy. Mobility and cultural change.'' London: Routledge.
*Lewis, Michael J. T. 2001. ''Surveying instruments of Greece and Rome.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
*MacDonald, William L. 1982–1986. ''The architecture of the Roman Empire.'' 2 vols. Yale Publications in the History of Art 17, 35. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
*Meijer, Fik J., and O. Van Nijf. 1992. ''Trade, transport and society in the ancient world: A sourcebook.'' London: Routledge.
*O’Connor, Colin. 1993. ''Roman bridges.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
*Pekáry, Thomas. 1968. ''Untersuchungen zu den römischen Reichsstraßen.'' Bonn: Habelt.
*Quilici, Lorenzo. 2008. "Land transport, Part 1: Roads and bridges." In ''The Oxford handbook of engineering and technology in the classical world.'' Edited by John P. Oleson, 551–79. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
*Rathmann, Michael. 2003. ''Untersuchungen zu den Reichsstraßen in den westlichen Provinzen des Imperium Romanum.'' Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.
*Talbert, Richard J. A., et al. 2000. ''Barrington atlas of the Greek and Roman world.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
*Wiseman, T. P. 1970. "Roman Republican road-building." ''Papers of the British School at Rome'' 38: 122–52.
==External links==
{{Sister project links}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Roads, Roman
|viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
;Maps
{{refbegin}}
* [http://orbis.stanford.edu/ Orbis/Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World]
* [http://awmc.unc.edu/awmc/applications/alacarte/# The Antiquity À-la-carte interactive digital atlas of the Ancient Mediterranean World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820020933/http://awmc.unc.edu/awmc/applications/alacarte/ |date=2016-08-20 }}
{{refend}}
;General articles
{{refbegin}}
* [http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-roads.php Roman Roads]
* [http://www.omnesviae.org/ Omnes Viae: Roman route planner based on Tabula Peutingeriana]
* [http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/viaeromanae.html Viae Romanae]
* [http://www.historylink102.com/Rome/roman-roads.htm Road Map]
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Viae.html "Viae"—article by William Ramsay]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080528061612/http://traianus.rediris.es/ Traianus: Technical investigation of Roman public works]
{{refend}}
;Road descriptions
{{refbegin}}
* [http://viasromanas.planetaclix.pt Vias Romanas em Portugal (in Portuguese)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212004353/http://viasromanas.planetaclix.pt/ |date=2021-02-12 }}
* [http://perso.wanadoo.fr/itineraires-romains-en-france/default.htm Itineraires Romains en France (in French)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051208013907/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine/routes.html Augustine's Africa]
* [http://www.kaluwi.de/Roemerstrassen.html
{{refend}}
;Roman law regarding public and private ___domain
{{refbegin}}
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Servitutes.html Servitutes]
{{refend}}
;Road construction
{{refbegin}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141006212211/http://www.brrp.bham.ac.uk/construction/construction.html Roman Road Construction]
*[http://www.battleoffulford.org.uk/ev_roman_rd_constrct.htm Construction of Roman Roads]
*[http://eeg.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/3/1/123 Design and Construction of Roman Roads]
*[http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-road-construction.php Roman Road Construction]
{{refend}}
{{Roman roads}}
{{Ancient Rome topics}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Roman roads| ]]
[[Category:Lists of roads]]
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[[Category:Types of roads]]
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