ROMAN ROADS

[6/27/99: the entire text (380pp of print) except the index; 3 maps ]

Roman Roads in Britain, by Thomas Codrington: published in 1903, this authoritative classic is now in the public domain. Not only does it provide an enormous amount of information about its specific topic, but it offers many insights into the basic tools and methods available to the student of Roman roads. For example, the introduction includes a general discussion of study methodology and of road construction techniques, plus the 15 British itinera of the Antonine Itinerary.

Far less detailed, but a good overview and with a different focus, is the chapter on Roman Roads in The Roman Era in Britain, by John Ward (1911).

[5/23/01: 40 pages, 73 photos, 1 engraving, 5 schematic maps ]

The Via Flaminia is the road I personally know best, since I've walked something like two-thirds of it. A large and evolving site, closely tied in with a large site on central Italy, details Roman remains along the road.

Loosely connected with the Flaminia, an old stone road near Pietralunga is a good example of the problems in identifying the lesser Roman roads.

[5/23/01: 6 pages, 5 photos, 2 schematic maps ]

The Via Appia is the Roman consular road everyone has heard of, supposedly because it was so important in Antiquity — no more so actually than the Flaminia — but in fact because a good stretch of it remains walkable near Rome: and a beautiful walk it is, too. I have a few pages on it, but only from the Forum (or from the Porta Capena, if you're a purist) to Cappanelle. My two diary accounts, not part of the formal site, will be very useful to anyone planning to walk the road when they visit Rome.

[5/23/01: 7 pages, 6 woodcuts, 6 photos not elsewhere onsite ]

Although it is quite weak on the engineering aspects of Roman roads, Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities remains a useful source of some background material: roads, bridges, milestones and so forth. It also includes about a dozen articles, often illustrated, that I'm not including in my little total up there — about Roman chariots, carriages, and other road transportation; as well as articles on the officials in charge of roads, the law governing them, etc.

Where a road crosses water, we have a ford or a bridge: you may need to look at the Roman bridges section of this site. Where a road crosses a wall, we have a gate: look at the Roman gates section.