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# Roman Roads

## Overview
The Roman road network was one of the greatest engineering achievements of the ancient world, spanning ~400,000 km at its peak and enabling rapid military movement, trade, and communication across the empire. At its height, 29 military highways radiated from Rome, connecting 113 provinces via 372 roads. [^3]

## Key Facts
- Total network: ~400,000 km (80,000 km paved) [^1] [^2]
- First major road: Via Appia (312 BCE), Rome to Capua @t[=312 BCE]
- Construction: Layered system of gravel, sand, and paving stones [^1]
- Maintained by: State and local authorities

## Engineering
- Surveyed in straight lines where possible (*agrimensor* surveyors)
- Layered construction: Foundation (*statumen*), gravel (*rudus*), concrete (*nucleus*), paving (*summa crusta*) [^1]
- Drainage ditches on both sides
- Milestones (*miliaria*) every Roman mile (~1.48 km)

## Major Roads
- Via Appia (312 BCE): "Queen of Roads," initially Rome to Capua @t[=312 BCE]; later extended to Brindisi (Brundisium) by the late 3rd century BCE [^2] [^4]
- Via Egnatia (146–120 BCE): Built by proconsul Gnaeus Egnatius to consolidate the province of Macedonia; connected the Adriatic coast (Dyrrachium) to Byzantium, ~1,120 km @t[~146 BCE..~120 BCE] [^3]
- Via Augusta (8–2 BCE): Renovated by Augustus from the earlier Via Herculea; ran from Gades (Cádiz) to the Pyrenees, ~1,500 km @t[~8 BCE..~2 BCE] [^5]
- Stane Street, Watling Street: Roman Britain, constructed after the invasion of 43 CE @t[~43 CE..410 CE] [^2]

## Legacy
- The *Milliarium Aureum* (Golden Milestone), erected by Augustus in 20 BCE @t[=20 BCE], stood in the Forum as the symbolic origin point of the entire road network [^6]
- "All roads lead to Rome" — distances across the empire were measured from this monument
- Many modern European roads follow Roman alignments

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[^1]: Laurence, R. *The Roads of Roman Italy* (Routledge, 1999)
[^2]: Chevallier, R. *Roman Roads* (University of California Press, 1976)
[^3]: Wikipedia, "Roman roads," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_roads
[^4]: LacusCurtius, "Via Appia," *Encyclopaedia Britannica* (1911 ed.), https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/Topics/Engineering/roads/Appia/Britannica_1911*.html
[^5]: Wikipedia, "Via Augusta," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Augusta
[^6]: LacusCurtius, "Milliarium Aureum," Platner & Ashby (1929), https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Milliarium_Aureum.html