Ancient Rome
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Why is Gaius building roads?
What can you learn about ancient Rome from Gaius’s story?
Do you think roads helped ancient Rome to grow and prosper?
Founding
Rome
Benefits of
Rome's
geography
Rome's
Waterways
After reading the passage, answer the following questions:
1. Why was a slight curve engineered into the top of the road?
A. so horses would not use the road
B. so water would not puddle
C. so the wagons would ride low to the ground
D. so the road would be straight
2. Why did the Roman armies first build the roads?
A. to increase ease and speed of military responses
B. toprovide escape routes for citizens
C. to open up trade with foreign lands
D. to copy the Greek roads in the area
3.In what way were Roman roads different from modern highways?
A. Roman roads had markers with distance measurements between towns.
B. Roman roads were made with concrete.
C. Roman roads were built to withstand snow and rain.
D. The Roman roads had bridle paths beside them.
4. The elaborate system of roads built by the Romans impacted trade, communication, and the def
ense of the empire. Defend this statement by citing evidence from the reading passage.
READING if you were absent from class.
There is a saying that “all roads lead to Rome.” This is because they once did! Rome was one of the
first civilizations to pave its roads. In all, there were about 50,000 miles of Roman roads. Not every
road led to the heart of the empire, the city of Rome, but if you were on a paved road, you were
most likely in the territory of the Roman Empire. Let’s take a look at the engineering of the Roman
roads. They were so well built that some remained in use until the end of the 1900s.
The Benefits of Roads
As Roman forces took over new lands, they built roads, forts, and bridges. The first of these roads
was built around 312 BCE. First used by the military, the roads gave soldiers an easy way to move
through the empire and made transporting military supplies easier. However, they came to be used
by traders and travelers as well, enabling increased transport of goods. Carts could travel quickly on
the smooth road surface, and traders did not have to worry about washouts or large holes in the
road. Having roads that stretched into all corners of the Roman Empire also helped the political
structure of the empire. Couriers could easily deliver messages to government officials throughout
the empire, and people could more easily communicate with each other.
While it may have been expensive to build a road in an area with rough terrain, the benefit of
having a paved road far outweighed the initial cost. As the empire expanded, more money came
into it through taxes and the opening of new trade markets.
Building Roads
The Roman legions, or troops, included many engineers who were skilled at construction. Because
everyone expected the Roman Empire to last forever, the engineers built solid roads to last a long
time. When building the roads, the armies would first mark the road with a trench. After
completing the trench, they would dig gutters alongside it to allow for good drainage. Drainage was
important because the Roman Empire crossed many different types of terrain and weather
patterns. The southern parts of Italy and the Mediterranean are warm and sunny.
The northern and eastern portions, however, are mountainous with cold, difficult winters. The Rom
ans understoodthese different conditions and knew that the roads needed to survive winter frosts
and spring floods in order to bepassable.
Once they had completed the trench and gutters, builders often packed down the trench so the ear
th underneath theroad was solid. If the builders did not reach bedrock, or solid rock, they often wo
uld put down a first layer of largerstones to build up the road and make sure it did not sink into bog
gy ground. Then the trench was filled with two tothree base levels of rocks and gravel under smoot
h paving stones. Later, the Romans advanced the road buildingtechnique and topped the lower lay
ers of the roads with concrete. Yes, the Romans invented concrete! The concretecreated a smooth
base for the top layer of small slabs of rock. The top stones were often cut to fit to make the surfac
eas seamless as possible. This meant that experienced stone cutters and tradesmen also worked on
the roads. Theroad was often raised slightly in the center to prevent large puddles or potholes. The
water then rolled off to the sidesand into the gutters.
The engineers designed the roads in the straightest line possible so it would take less time for armi
es to march fromplace to place. This meant that they cleared forests instead of going around them
and built bridges when they cameto rivers and small ravines. Engineers they built large arches out o
f stone and placed the road over the top of thearches.
Maintaining Roads
Towns became responsible for road repair instead of the empire. It benefitted towns to maintain th
e roads becausethey could stay connected to the larger empire. To keep down the incidence and co
st of repair, wagons were notallowed to carry excessive weight on the paved roads. Bridle paths we
re made alongside the Roman road to alloweasier and faster movement for individuals on horsebac
k. This was also better for the horses, as they had an easiertime on dirt roads than on paving stones
and didn’t damage the smoothness of the paving.
Often signs and markers along the road provided travelers with helpful information, just as road sig
ns do today. Milemarkers typically indicated how far it was to Rome. However, the further away in
the empire you were from Rome,the more likely it was for the markers to indicate mileage to the n
ext town. Typically, the legion who had built the roadwould leave a sign behind letting people know
who did the work. The legions would update the signs to show whenthe roads had been repaired.
These markers also came to be used as boundary markers once individual townsbecame responsibl
e for maintenance of the roads in their territory.
The smart design, quality craftsmanship, and regular maintenance enabled many Roman roads to la
st for more than2,000 years. The Roman Empire used roads as a way to unite and mark new territor
ies. Even long after the fall of theRoman Empire, people relied on the roads to travel throughout Eu
rope and trade goods. The Roman roads may wellbe Rome’s most important legacy.