I have a soft spot for the bits of the A2 that I used to walk along as a child and teenager, and I knew from a very young age that this long, straight, major road was first put in by the Romans.....
And it turns out that Roman Roads not only were but also are truly awesome - they were fantastic pieces of engineering in themselves and they still affect the way we travel all across Europe to this very day!
The latest research on Roman Roads suggest there were a massive 186,000 miles of roads at Rome's Peak in 150 AD, connecting the huge empire.
Roman roads weren't just for getting around. They were tools of power. About a third of the network was made up of main public roads. These connected big towns, government spots, and army bases. They let soldiers move fast, tax collectors do their job easily, and Rome's power reach far into conquered lands.
Other, smaller roads were just as important. They linked ports, mines, farms, and frontier posts to the main lines. This meant goods, troops, and news could zip around super quickly for a time before machines. Basically, roads helped turn the Roman Empire from just a bunch of taken lands into a working political and money system.
It's pretty telling that so many modern roads still follow the old Roman paths. Roman engineers were good at finding smart ways through tough land, balancing direct routes with hills, rivers, and other natural blockages. While we often picture Roman roads as super straight lines cutting through everything, they were actually pretty practical. They'd curve if they had to, just not too much.
Today's roads are often straighter than Roman ones because cars need gentler curves when they're going fast.
But the main reason today's roads follow Roman ones is pretty obvious - once those Romans built those roads, new towns popped up along or near to those roads...
This means that decisions made 2000 years ago have shaped our modern geography!
So what did the Romans ever do for us: basically shape our modern city network!
