Roman Road Progression

The fourth factor was the amazing engineers, inventors, and architects in the Empire. By 200 AD the Romans had built 53,000 miles of roads throughout the Empire. The very first was built in 312 BC. They also invented sewers, central heating systems, and the first types of concrete. (Mahoney, 2001)

Other roads are normal local roads linking to other local places such as Hayes to Uxbridge. This would be used by some tourists who want to discover local areas and wanted to travel to another local city or places.

     In addition, to the Roman government, the modern world has been influenced by Roman architecture as well. In every country and every state these days you will find roads or some type of paved road system. This derived from early Roman architectures. The Romans were the first to set up a highly advanced concrete road system that would aide in traveling. Although not as sophisticated as today's roads, the concrete used was not much different from what is used today. In fact the Roman constructed roads are still intact today. Along with road

To this day, many paths that these roads followed are still being used, which proves that a lot of time and effort were put into these roads to achieve such a high quality and durability.

Building roadways in ancient Italy required an extensive amount of physical strength. Creating roadways required “quarrying, lumbering, and drainage” (Oleson). The workers initially began by placing curb stones to create the defined border of the road (Oleson). Ditches were dug on the outside of both rows of curb stones for storm drainage (Oleson). The land between the curb stones was then completely removed by a large amount of digging and cutting (Oleson). The excavated ditch was then filled with stones, sand, and other materials that were dug up from the ditches or the land around the road, forming a solid foundation (Oleson). Laying down gravel, carrying the stones, transporting them, and carefully placing them down required a great deal of upper and lower body strength. On top of the layer of stones and sand was a layer of finer gravel (Oleson). The top layer of the road was made of polygonal basalt blocks that formed a

The Romans engaged in various forms of public works, whether constructing amphitheaters or aqueducts, the Romans funded infrastructure all across the Empire. Aqueducts greatly improved water supplies, roads made trade and travel easier, amphitheaters spread Roman culture, and military fortresses protect Rome and its people. The Romans contribution to local infrastructure all but insured their

Rome, the ever growing metropolis, one of the most strongest military forces we know today, a haven for riches and trade, and one of the most successful empires to history today. Rome was a growing empire, with its professional army quickly conquering several kingdoms left, right, up, and down, from the two Punic wars with Carthage, a war with Gaul, the conquering of Egypt, and Iberia, but, these expanding territories had its advantages and disadvantages. Rome had to quickly invent something able to move its soldiers to all of its territories that would give them enough time to get around to manage conquered people. The seas connecting Rome’s empire also played a role into how it’s geographical location would play into their success and prosperity.

One of the most visible changes in landscape was the construction of Roman roads. Prior to this, Britain used unpaved track ways for their communications. The Roman created straight, paved roads which could be used in all weather conditions. The development of Over 9,000kilometres of roads meant communication and travel from one area of Britain to another was made substantially easier. Although they were mainly designed for a military purpose, it had a positive impact on trade as it became easier to transport goods.

Rome was the largest and most powerful empire of its time. Its reign from 27 CE to 200 CE was by far the greatest civilization at that point. However, at some point every empire falls. The primary reason for this was the people of Rome. Due to the citizen’s unhappiness, Rome slowly crumbled starting with its leaders, then its army, and finally its economy.

Greek didn’t have the technologies to make these roads. Another thing Rome was good at was making bridges. If Rome had to cross a river to get to a battle, they built a well-made bridge and marched their soldiers across it. The Greeks, although advanced, were not advanced enough to be able to build these great wonders quickly and efficiently.

During this time there was relative peace in the Empire that allowed unification of peoples that up to this point in history had never happened. The peace afforded a time that saw the ability for roads to be built that connected every corner of the known world that the Roman Empire held.

At its height, the Roman empire surround nearly 1.7 million square miles and included most of southern Europe. To ensure effective administration of this sprawling domain, the Romans built the most sophisticated system of roads the ancient world had ever seen. These Roman roads that there are many of which are still in use today, that were constructed with a combination of dirt, gravel and bricks made from granite or hardened volcanic lava.Roman engineers adhered to strict standards when designing their highways, creating arrow-straight roads that curved to allow for water drainage. The Romans built over 50,000 miles of road by 200 A.D. primarily in the service of military force. The way they laid they were not as straight as regular roads

     The design and structure of a city is as important as the people who dwell within her walls. The placement of streets and the structures built there are carefully plotted for optimal use. Foot and cart traffic, fire hazard, and access to water were all key factors in city planning. Eventually the Romans had fine tuned their design principals in such an advantageous way that they molded all of their city states similarly.

These roads were so well built that some of them are still in use by modern travelers. Romans knew that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line and built their roads incredibly straight, stretching for miles without a single turn. The use of stone in building roads enabled people to travel during inclement weather while dirt roads may remain too muddy to travel upon for many days after a hard rain. The Ancient Romans also knew of a road building technique that escapes the builders of modern roads in states such as Florida. This technique is known as crowning, this involves making the center of the roads higher than the sides, with a gradual slope to allow water to run off the sides instead of collecting in the middle. By the time the great Roman Empire fell, the Roman Army had built roads connecting all of their empire to Rome.

The objective of this paper is to understand the modes of road transportation, the role of road transportation in urban areas, the role of transportation infrastructure in