Trimble 1
Rebecca Stills
Mr. bigfela
4th Period
Latin III
November 1, 2018
The Roman Roads
Transportation is an important part of everyday life and is used to get place to place or transport goods and services. Roads have evolved drastically over the years. Roads are something that the Romans specialized in and there was a big demand for them in that era. The Romans were very architecturally skilled. The demand was so high because the Roman Empire had a very big and strong cavalry. It was hard to move all of those horses without something to walk on, especially when it is wet.
Many people were migrating for thing such as a better opportunity in life. Other things such as transporting goods was a popular thing at that time. The Romans started to create roads for this in 312 BCE. They would start making them by digging out ditches on the side to make a place for the road. Then they would place big stones to try to make a firm and sturdy base. They then followed up by placing pebbles, sand, and cement to finish the base. The paving stones were cut so they would fit tightly and were used as the surface of the road. There were then curb stones added to the sides to help with water flow. After all of that the roads were then ready to be put to use.
After the civil wars Augustus, the leader of Rome, was determined to improve the infrastructure in Rome. Augustus put his troops to work and they started working very hard. They eventually created an efficient system of roads that were used all throughout Rome. Most of the roads that the Romans created were straight. They did this so that they could have a set course for the roads and the path can be dotted out in a straight line. The roads had simple mile markers for easier navigation. These markers were similar to modern day road signs. These signs had things written such as when the road was built or the name of the road. These roads tended to be around hills and tunnels. The Roman tunnels were also built well and used a cement inside. This prevented any water leaking in and dropping onto the road. They would create these tunnels when there was an obstacle such as hills. This would also make it easier to map out the roads. The routes would continuously expand in different directions.
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