The Roman road network mapped by Itiner-e
This is the route
A comprehensive new map of Roman roads has increased the known size of the empire’s land transport network by almost 60 percent – and it’s available to anyone online.
The project, called Itiner-e, brings together topographic mapping, satellite imagery and centuries of historical records into what its creators say is the first open dataset of its kind.
“It was born out of enormous frustration,” says Tom Brughmans of Aarhus University in Denmark. “It’s like the most enigmatic subject in Roman archaeology. We even have proverbs that say, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ So why the hell can’t I download all the Roman roads? Where are they?”
Brughmans and his colleagues incorporated evidence from a wide range of studies and plotted more realistic routes for previously known routes to produce a map of the road network as it might have looked around AD 150. They also assigned the location of each road section a confidence rating, based on the quality of the source.
According to their data, the total length of the road network at that time was approximately 299,171 kilometers – far more than the previous estimate of 188,555 kilometers given by the ministry. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World.
The dataset also reveals that although we have strong evidence of the start and end of many roads, only 2.8% of the network length can be accurately located – within 50 meters in the mountains and 200 meters on flat terrain.
Roman roads crossing mountain passes leading to Delphi in ancient Greece
This is the route
For Brughmans, this reflects how difficult it can be to obtain funds to dig entire Roman roads, meaning a lot of work simply hasn’t been done. Major roads have also been built several times throughout history, so it can be difficult to discover the original path.
Although Roman roads are famous for being straight, it’s a myth that they always were, says Catherine Fletcher of Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the study. “The straight line hasn’t always been cheap or practical, especially in mountainous terrain,” she says. “Often, where there was a pre-existing route, the Romans adapted it rather than constructing a new one.”
A better knowledge of the Roman road network can potentially inform our understanding of many very significant events in European history. The emergence of early Christianity, mass migrations and continent-wide pandemics were all influenced by the Roman road system, Brughmans explains.
Despite their importance, roads are often overlooked because they aren’t as glamorous as amphitheaters and gladiators, Fletcher says. “[It’s like that] famous scene in Monty Python“, she says, “where they talk about what the Romans did for us, and they say, ‘And the roads… Well, obviously the roads!’ The roads are self-evident.”
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