Roman roads
We present the main roads of the Roman Empire
The great Roman roads, the so-called Consular Roads, have crossed Italy since antiquity and we still travel them today, perhaps completely unaware of them.
The first Roman consular roads
All consular roads are tangible proof of the greatness of Rome and in particular of the ancient Roman civilisation. From the ancient Romans, in fact, we inherit what are still today our main urban connection backbones that criss-cross the entire country.
The Romans were the first to introduce the need for travel into their civilisation, and so they created a dense network of roads to reach every civilised and conquered location. As the empire expanded, the road network was automatically extended and developed along a main spine from which branched a myriad of secondary roads that served as an exchange between the large cities, the suburbs and the countryside.
All Roman provinces were connected to Rome
Rome succeeded in creating a road network that touched all Roman provinces and made the connection to the capital city accessible from all parts of the empire.
The system of road construction is still being studied today
We are therefore witnessing works of high engineering that are still inexplicable both for the enormous sacrifice for the construction and the amount of materials transported - remember that Roman roads were all paved with stone slabs complete with roadside verges - and for the meticulous study of geo-archaeology. In living memory, there is no recollection of a Roman road ever having collapsed; all the work upstream of the construction is still being studied today.
The supply roads of the Roman legions
The first roads built by the Romans had mainly warlike uses, in fact the primary need to allow their legions to be adequately supplied and to be reached in a limited time, gave these works the status of legend.
The Roman road symbol of greatness
Later came the construction of roads for political purposes, but this type of construction mostly concerned the small villages around Rome, which were already from the beginning a source of political publicity for the senators of the time.
The roads of the empire used for trade
Later, the roads were better 'interpreted' as they were targeted by traders.
Hence the opening up to the world of the East full of infinite riches; trade for profit and no longer barter for basic necessities, it must be said.
The different purposes for building a road
From a spontaneous emergence of straight roads baptised according to need (think for example of the via salaria dedicated to the transport of salt), to a public work strongly desired by politicians (hence the name of censors and consuls).
after all, in ancient rome it cost very little to build a road, the labour used was mainly that of slaves and soldiers, and there was little concern for expropriation or even environmental impact, they just built.
'All roads lead to Rome'
The main thing was that the road built should last forever. We can say without a shadow of a doubt that the goal was fully achieved and the proof is that after some two millennia we still remember and use these great works.
The main roads of the empire preserved to this day are:
- Via Appia
- Via Aurelia
- Via Cassia
- Via Claudia Augusta
- Via Emilia
- Via Flaminia
- Via Salaria
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