Roads

By the first century AD, a vast network of roads would cover the empire. An early example was the Via Appia, or the Appian Way, from Rome to Campania (the area around Naples), paved at the beginning of the Samnite Wars in the late fourth century BC. Other famous roads included the Via Flaminia, leading north from Rome to the Adriatic city of Ariminum (modern Rimini), and the Via Egnatia, from Albania’s Adriatic coast to Thessalonica and Byzantium (later Constantinople). Roman roads, at least the great intercity routes built by the state as opposed to local or private sources, were remarkable in that they were not simply dirt tracks for wheeled vehicles, but were stone-paved, suitable for all weather, and well-maintained. In addition, security was constantly monitored. These qualities were deemed essential for facilitating rapid communications and deployment of troops across long distances.

Methods of construction varied. In the northeastern empire (Thrace, Asia Minor, and Syria), the standard components of roads were three: (1) the edges were marked by large stones laid flat; (2) a central line of smaller stones, set vertically on edge, divided the road into two; and (3) small stones filled the two lanes. Elsewhere a trench might be dug, a foundation laid with edges curbed to hold in the road and help drainage, and finally a surface added in a different material, such as gravel or sand. Many roads would be suitable for both foot travelers and vehicles; others, in steep areas, would have steps, and so use would be restricted to foot traffic.

Roads were marked at an interval of one Roman mile (=1.485km) by stone milestones of varying shapes and sizes, inscribed with distances and perhaps dates of construction or repair and the names of the reigning emperor, local officials, and military units. For the traveler, road maps and itineraries existed, although they were diagrams, not to scale, or lists of places on a single route, with distances marked. The traveler could count on roadside establishments at periodic intervals for room and board, mail service, stables and other transportation services.