All Roads Lead to Rome: The Roads of Ancient Rome

Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about Roman roads, how they were built and how they've lasted for centuries. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization and you can find us on Patreon, a brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in return. Your support helps us create videos twice a week, so make sure to check it out via the pop-up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. The Romans didn't invent roads but developed the concept further than earlier civilizations. Roman roads covered over 120,000 kilometers or 74,000 miles by the time of the Empire and formed a network enabling efficient travel by merchants, troops and citizens throughout Rome's territories. The first road built was the Appian Way via Appia in 312 BCE which was 132 Roman miles or 196 kilometers linking the city of Rome with Capua. Other roads followed suit and the old saying all roads lead to Rome was literally true in that Roman roads linked the capital of the Roman Republic and then the Roman Empire to points in almost every direction. Did you know that only a small fraction of viewers are subscribers? Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss out on any of our new videos and to help us create more great history content. There were three types of roads, public, private and village. Public roads included highways that led to a city, town or port on the sea or a river. These roads were commissioned and built by the state for travel in trade, by the military or for personal use. They were known as high roads and were usually straight about 4.2 meters or 13.5 feet wide, enough room for vehicles coming from opposite directions to pass each other and were evenly paved with dressed blocks set along their borders as curb stones. Private roads were built by wealthy citizens for their own use to and from their estates but could be used by the public or were sometimes purposely built for public use and the village roads, funnily enough, led from high roads to villages. Their construction was usually funded by private citizens in memory of a loved one or in honor of their family name. Many of these roads became famous aside from the Appian Way known as the Queen of Roads including the Via Flaminia from Rome to Fanum, the Via Emilia from Placentia to Aosta and the Via Postumia from Achaea to Genoa among many others. A road was usually named after the magistrate who funded its construction like the Appian Way which was named after the magistrate Appius Claudius Caetius. Although it's commonly said that all Roman roads were built the same way, this actually isn't true. High roads were built differently than village or private roads even though they had much in common. It is also incorrect that all Roman roads were the same width. The laws of the 12 tables of circa 450 BCE mandated that all public roads have a width of 8 Roman feet or 2.3 meters but this was not always observed with private or village roads and during the time of the Empire roads in general were much wider. Each type of road had its own method of construction but generally speaking it began with surveyors who determined where it would go. The path was then cleared of trees and boulders and the trench of the road dug. This foundation was then filled with crushed brick or coarse gravel and over this finer gravel and then slabs of stone fitted with Roman concrete and surfaced. Roads sometimes had pedestrian paths that ran alongside and trenches dug on either side at a distance to prevent wildlife from running onto the road or attacks from highway robbers. Every high road was inclined from the center to the curb to allow rainwater to run off and many had drains. Milestones were placed at intervals to let travelers know where they were and how far they had to go and these were sometimes inscribed with the name of the person or group responsible for a given stretch of the road and what work had recently been done on it. Roads were not just built across flat stretches of ground but across swamps, marshes and rivers and through mountains. Marshes were sometimes drained but at other times roads were just built right across the wetland and held in place by supports. Creeks were usually diverted but for rivers bridges had to be built and for mountains tunnels drilled through the rock. To ensure the tunnel was dug straight shafts were drilled down from above to check on progress since the workers would have no idea if they were still on track. Work on tunnels went slowly and often took years to complete. Roads formed the network that allowed for the swift deployment of troops across the Empire, the supply trains that sustained them as well as providing for merchant caravans traveling entertainers, diplomatic and religious missions, processions during festivals and celebrations of an Emperor's or a General's triumph. The stability of the Roman Road was an expression of Rome's authority and power and many roads ended at a triumphal arch. Roman roads were built so well that several still exist today many of their original paths now serving as modern highways or streets but others continuing to weather the years just as they did in the days when the Roman legions marched along them. Why do you think Roman roads lasted so well? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on any of our new videos published every single week. This video was brought to you by World History Encyclopedia. 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