“All Roads Lead to Rome”: The Roads of the Roman Empire
The famous Roman roads were a vast
Eventually Roman roads wound 53,000
network of hard-surfaced roads connecting miles around the Mediterranean and
the city of Rome with the farthest reaches
northeastern Atlantic regions.
of the Empire. The stone-paved highways
The roads, constructed by slaves
lasted for more than a millennium
and legionaries [soldiers], were wide
[thousand years], and some sections are
enough for large wagons to pass each
still in use today. Author Isaac Asimov
other. The principal use of the highways
claimed that there was no better mode of
was to move Roman legions [armies] from
transportation in the world until the arrival
one part of the empire to another; however,
of railroads close to 2,000 years later.
citizens were free to use the roads. The
Romans began building roads in
Roman statesman Cicero once spoke of
312 B.C. following their first major
moving 56 miles in a cart in just ten hours.
conquests. The beginning stretch, the
However, travelers had to be alert for
Appian Way, trailed 132 miles southeast
bandits, as people might simply
out of Rome. Thereafter, roadbuilding
“disappear” while riding along the Roman
kept pace with the empire’s expansion.
roads.
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Why were the Roman roads originally built?
Who built the road system?
Who else were helped by the construction of the road system?
What bodies of water served as natural breaks to the roads?
How many miles make up the Roman road system in 117 A.D.?
Which two rivers provided a natural path for the Roman roads to follow?
What was a problem along these roads?
“All roads lead to Rome” is a famous saying that originally described the Roman
highway system. Miles of roads also led away from the Eternal City. How did
this influence the spread of democratic ideas and Christianity?