Viae Romana, Roman Roads

Wes BemusMr. Palmer’s Latin 1

A-3

• One of the things that allowed the Romans to build their empire into what it was was their ability to interconnect the cities under their control.

• A roman road was an efficient, quick and sturdy way to do this.

• As time wore on they grew more and more technologically advanced and sophisticated.

• In the end the roman roads would last for longer than the empire itself and some still exist and are in use today.

• The construction of these roads were meant to be solid and stable and to last for eons.

• A team of workers would first plot out where the road was to go.

• They would then dig a square trench 3 feet deep and 5 feet wide

• This would be filled 1/3 of the way with large scale gravel so that any rain water would collect here and then leech out, thus not undermining the foundation of the road

• On top of this, ¼ of the ditch would be a layer of dirt to separate that layer with the layers above it

• This would be covered with a layer of smaller gravel of similar depth (1/4th) to promote even greater structural stability.

• Finally, the last ditch would be filled to the brim with concrete and paving stones (usually large flat rocks of similar composition) would be paid in this to create a flat and even roadbed for people to travel on.

• At the edge of this roadbed would be laid “Kerb” stones which were large stones that would rise 6 or so inches above the roadbed.

• The purpose of these were for channeling water along the edge of the road to drainage cisterns buried at intervals along the road.

• Travelers could collect water from this which they could boil and use for drinking water.

• This is where we get the English word “Curb” from

• These roads were so stable and usable that lines of traffic could travel in either direction at the same time without interfering with the other.

• Roman roads were phenomenally successful and allowed Rome to build their empire to the size that it became.

• It was said that at the height of the roman empire you could travel from one side of the empire to the other by horse in 14 days or less.

• A large number of them are still usable today and are in better condition than the other roads in the area.

Bibliography

• http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-roads.php

• http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-road-construction.php

• http://historylink102.com/Rome/roman-roads.htm