Gabby DiNucci

Roman Roads

The romans took many ideas from the Greeks and expanded it and made it more useful

and popular. Roads are a great example of a Roman invention. Roads were invented in 4000

BC. The first and greatest Roman road is the Via Appia or the Appian Way. It covered 132

Roman miles and it linked Rome to Capua in as straight a line as possible and was known to the

Romans as the Regina viarum or 'Queen of Roads'. The Appian way was made to serve as a

supply route between republican Rome and its allies in Capua during the Second Samnite War.

From then on, road systems often sprang from Roman conquest.Much like modern highways, it

did not go through tows and often avoided many large geographical obstacles. For example, the

impressive 90 km stretch from Rome to Terracina was built in a single straight line.

Many roads were built to resist rain, freezing and flooding. They were constructed to

need as little repair as possible.When the Romans were building an important road, they would

first dig a large trench. These trenches would be about 24 feet long, the width of the road, and 4

to 5 feet deep. They would then pack together many different materials such as stone, sand,

pebbles, rocks and gravel to give the road a strong support system so it wouldnt collapse.

First, the Romans would lay a layer of sand to level out the ground so it had a flat surface
 as the base. They would tightly pack finely crushed rocks on top of the sand to create a

strong and sturdy base. Next, they would lay down cement and gravel to be strong and hold oup

the rest of the layers and to keep the layers above it from falling through. Then the next layer is a

mixture of sand, cement, and gravel. The final layer is large slabs of stones to give the road a flat

and sturdy top. It also looked very nice and clean when it was topped with the stones.

The laborers would alter this five layer system often base on what materials they had

more or less of. For example, if the solid was very firm they would skip the gravel, or if they

were out of gravel but had a lot of sand and small rocks, they would use more of what they had

in order to compromise. The roads were also mad at a slant, tapering downward on the edges, in

order to keep the rain off the road. The drainage ditches were very handy when it would rain

because the rain would go into the ditch and stay off of the road and not make the road muddy.

It was important for the Roman army to be able to move soldiers and all their baggage

around the country. They built roads as straight as possible, in order to travel as quickly as they

could. Winding roads took longer to get to the place you wanted to go and bandits and robbers

could be hiding around bends.

Roman roads have helped Rome so much due to the efficiency. The roads were

engineered greatly and were built to last. They allowed the Romans to fully map their growing

empire. They were ultimately the key to Romes military might.

 Works cited:

1. https://engineeringrome.wikispaces.com/The+Engineering+Behind+the+Via+Appia
2. http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-ways-roads-helped-rome-rule-the-ancient-
world
3. https://engineeringrome.wikispaces.com/The+Engineering+Behind+the+Via+Appia