Roman Roads and
Travel
Roman Roads
• Roman roads were originally built for military
needs – to get messengers and troops to all parts
of the empire in the shortest amount of time.
• Eventually they were used for trade and pleasure
trips.
All roads lead to Rome
This was literally true because
mileage was marked off
throughout the empire by
milestones (milliaria) measured
from the Golden Milestone
(Milliarum Aureum) set up by
Augustus in the Forum.
• The first Roman road, the Appian Way (Via
Appia), was built by Appius Claudius in 312 B. C.
• This is the same Appius who built Rome’s first
aqueduct.
The Via Appia originally
stretched from Rome to
Capua (about 150
miles).
Later it was extended to
Brundisium (about 200
more miles)
Since land inside the
city of Rome was
valuable, tombs and
graves lined the Via
Appia for miles near
Rome.
Eventually nearly 100, 000 miles of Roman Roads
stretched to Egypt, modern-day Iran, Spain,
Portugal, France, Germany, and England.
Many parts of these roads are still used today
Construction
Roman roads were built as straight and flat as
possible.
Valleys were crossed
with arched bridges;
• Hills were traversed
with man-made
terraces, cuts, or
tunnels.
• Roads on marshy
ground were laid on
rafts.
When routes had been laid out, parallel ditches 15
to 20 feet apart were dug on both sides of the
road.
The earth was then dug out between the ditches 5
to 10 feet deep.
Mortar of sand and lime was then laid.
On top of this went a layer of large flagstones (staumen).
Next came a layer of concrete made from lime and gravel
(rudus).
Next came a mixture of the same concrete and pieces of brick
(nucleus).
The final pavement (summum dorsum or summa
crusta) was made of polygonal blocks of flint or
basalt.
These were fitted together like a puzzle so that
often the seams could not be detected.
Road in Pompeii
Building a road was similar to building a wall underground, so it is
obvious why they have lasted.
The center of the road was built slightly higher than the edges for
drainage.
Road-building was done by Roman soldiers as part of their basic
training.
Types of
Transportation
Romans avoided travel by sea whenever
possible and they seldom sailed in the
winter months.
Rome was very noisy at night!
No wheeled vehicles were allowed
in Roman cities between sunrise
and 4:00 p.m. so all deliveries
were made in the evenings.
Inside the city, wealthy citizens were
carried by litters (lecticae) or
sedan-chairs (sellae) carried by
slaves.
Most cities had a ring-road (by-pass) just
outside the city walls.
Outside the city gates a traveler (viator)
could hire several kinds of vehciles to
travel (iter facere). (The Latin verb veho
means “ride”)
* Two passengers –
two wheeled –
mule-drawn was called
a cisium
A wagon with:
• Four wheels, muledrawn, covered with
room to recline was
called a carruca.
• Four wheeled, muledrawn, with room for
many passengers and
luggage was called a
raeda.
Two large spoked wheels
– removable sides
– often pulled by oxen
– used for hauling freight
was called a carrus.
• Two large, solid wheels – used for hauling
produce – often pulled by oxen was called
a plaustrum.
• Four wheels – pulled by oxen – heavyduty freight was called a sarracum.
• Most Roman travelers could average about
5 miles per hour.
• A person in a cart would average 25 miles of
travel on a good day
• Highway men and robbers were common.
A messenger with a change of horses might
travel 50 miles in a day.
Accomodations
Most inns were dirty (livestock usually
slept under the same roof)
and dangerous (fires and robbers).
• Many wealthy Romans maintained little houses
(mansiones) were they could spend the nights
• Families would often have hospes (guest-friends)
in different cities. They would agree to give each
other shelter, similar to a time-share today.
• Hospes in Latin can be translated guest or host,
depending on the circumstance.