Roman Roads and Transport

Abstract

The total length of the Roman Empire’s highway network is not known, but can be estimated at well above 100,000 kilometers. Some roads were surveyed and built from scratch, others created by upgrading pre-existing routes. The bibliography on the subject is correspondingly vast, running into thousands of titles. Most published studies are focused on the remains of the roads as preserved in the landscape, taking a morphological approach and identifying or dating roads on the basis of their alignment and construction. Some more recent studies, however, take a contextual approach (“dots on the map”), identifying and dating ancient roads from their relation to known and datable features such as settlement sites, necropoleis, or forts. Within ancient history generally, focus has shifted from the construction and administration of roads or their use for military campaigns to a wider consideration of their place in the economic life of the Roman world. Unlike sea transport, which exploited the winds, ancient land transport was at all times dependent on muscle power, human or animal, and hence more costly than sea transport. On the other hand, transit times by land were more predictable and communications could be maintained throughout the year, whereas ships mostly remained in port during the winter months. The highway network was also fundamental to the maintenance of official communication through the so-called cursus publicus or vehiculatio, with stations along the major overland routes. In some areas, road transport was complemented by shipping on navigable rivers or—rarely—canals.