Ancient roads didn’t all lead to Rome, study finds
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Archaeologists led by Pau de Soto, Tom Brughmans, and Adam Pazout digitally mapped nearly 300,000 kilometers of ancient Roman roads across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
The team’s new tool, Itiner-e, built upon previous estimations of the Roman road network, allowing for a detailed analysis of its structure during the empire’s greatest extent in 117 AD.
This research challenges the common belief that Rome was the best-connected city within the empire, revealing that the Romans prioritized building roads to benefit each territory they conquered rather than solely focusing on routes leading back to the capital. The study found that Roman roads weren’t always straight, adapting to natural corridors like rivers, the Danube, Ebro, and Guadalquivir, and prioritizing connections between provincial capitals such as Mérida and Córdoba in Spain, and Antioch, Corinth, and Thessaloniki elsewhere.
Their analysis showed that Bizantium (modern Istanbul) served as the most strategic point in the Roman Empire, connecting Europe, Asia, and North Africa. This explains why the empire’s division led to the selection of Constantinople as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Researchers also observed a lasting impact of Roman roads on modern roadways, particularly in areas where a strong Roman presence once existed.
While many current roads follow similar paths to ancient ones, significant changes occurred in Northern Europe, especially in parts of Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The team intends to expand their research to include waterways and a timeline of road construction, acknowledging that maritime routes were crucial for trade and that determining the age of each road remains a challenge.
