![]() Although Roman troops marched across all types of roads and terrain for that matter, they also had their dedicated corridors in the road network. Tolls were common at key points of crossing, such as bridges and city gates, enabling the state to collect import and export taxes on goods. But although they were funded by the state, not all public roads were free to use. As such, they were also the most traveled, dotted by carts full of goods and people traveling through the vast empire. These were the most important highways that connected the most important towns in the empire. These were public or main roads, built and maintained at the expense of the state. Encompassing both military and economic outcomes, roads were truly central to Rome’s political strategy. Like arteries, these marvelous feats of engineering ferried goods and services rapidly and safely, connecting Rome, “the capital of the world”, to the farthest stretches of the empire, and facilitated troop movements to hastily assemble legions for both border defense and expansion. ![]() It is estimated that the Roman road network was more than 400,000 kilometers long, out of which over 80,000 km were stone-paved. Crucial to maintaining dominion over such a large empire was Rome’s huge and intricate network of roads that remained unparalleled even a thousand years after its collapse. Credit: ĭuring its zenith under the reign of Septimius Severus in 211 C.E., the mighty Roman Empire stretched over much of Europe, from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains and from modern-day Scotland to the Sahara or the Arabian Gulf. An ancient Roman road leading into the Arc of Trajanus in Timgad, Batna, Algeria.
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