Roman roads: more than 2.700 years of reliability
Draining, resistant and innovative: this is how Roman roads were built and how they contributed to the greatness of the Empire
How much do they matter? infrastructure in managing an empire that spans three continents? Perhaps no one better than ancient Romans could answer this question. Along with a massive army and efficient organization, there is something else that helped make the Roman Empire one of the largest and most enduring in history: its roads.
Roman roads were built more than 2000 years ago and some of them are still present today in various parts of Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean area. Many sections of these roads have been preserved as tourist sites, while others have been destroyed or covered by modern roads or buildings. The sections that still exist can be explored on foot or by bicycle, offering spectacular views of the landscape. On Italian territory alone there are a dozen consular roads: Aurelia, Cassia, Flaminia, Salaria, Tiburtina, Casilina, Appia (called the queen of roads - Viarum regina), Emilia, Postumia, Capua-Regium, Nomentana and Prenestina.
A long monumental work about 80.000 km composed of 372 major roads, which extend over the territories of three continents, from Scotland to Mesopotamia, from the coasts of the Atlantic to those of the Red Sea, and crossed the Alps until they reached the heart of the Sahara.
The importance of Roman roads for the Empire
The streets were a engineering masterpiece of the time and played a fundamental role in the greatness of the Roman Empire. Roman roads allowed officials to travel quickly from one province to another to administer and control them, helping to ensure the stability of the empire and to prevent local rebellions. Soldiers could move quickly from one front to another, allowing the empire to defend itself effectively against external threats. The Roman road system also favored it trade development, increasing the economic prosperity of the regions.
The streets had a width of about 4-6 meters, so that two wagons could cross easily. In some cases, along the sides, there were paved sidewalks. In addition, the streets were equipped with milestones, which indicated the distance in miles from the golden milestone located in the Roman Forum.
Incredibly, many Roman roads still exist today better preserved of many of the roads built in more recent times. Why? The secret, as well as in the construction materials and technique, lay in the maintenance and in repairs and renovations carried out regularly. This helped keep the roads in good conditions and allowed them to withstand the passage of time.
How are Roman roads built?
Certainly the roads had already existed for a very long time. However, no ancient people were able to build, as the ancient Romans did, a widespread, public road network and created with innovative techniques. But how were Roman roads built?
The Romans are thought to have inherited the art of road building from the Etruscans, improving both technique and materials.
Roman roads were built in layers of different materials and that's why you call viae stratae (hence the term 'road'). The construction process began with the architect's inspection and identification of the precise points where the road would pass. Subsequently, the land surveyors traced the route with the use of poles and groma (the square of the time). After digging the pit, we started with the layers: a deeper layer, statumen, of stones and clay; a second layer, rudus, made of stones, broken bricks, sand, all mixed with lime; a third layer, nuclei, of crushed stone and gravel; a cover, summum dorsum, of smooth stone slabs that fit together on top of each other resting on the nuclei. About 60 cm – 1 m from the surface, the pit was covered with gravel and then compacted (pavement).
The Roman roads were amazing draining, resistant to frost and floods and even after two thousand years, some of these are perfectly preserved. After all, if all roads lead to Rome, there must be a reason.
