Roman road: description, history, features and interesting facts. Roman roads Roadside pillar on Roman roads

The ancient Romans created many engineering achievements, and one of the most important was the developed road network with a total length of about 100 thousand kilometers, connecting the majestic capital of the Empire with its numerous possessions. For thousands of years, the glory of Roman roads was ensured not so much by their quantity as by their quality: the stone pavement served many peoples for many years after the fall of the Roman Empire, and some sections of it still remain.

Story

Ancient Rome is known as a country of conquerors, possessing considerable power and even greater ambitions. With the growth of the country's territory and the territories under its control, an increasing need arose for rapid movement between points. If a messenger or a military detachment could, due to experience and mobility, move more or less well over rough terrain, then it became increasingly difficult for convoys, settlers and simple traders.

Like most Roman undertakings, the road construction plan was marked by noticeable pomp: good roads can be built in any country, the Empire builds the best. The development of the roadway structure was approached from a practicality point of view - the roads were planned to be used, not repaired. The multilayer heterogeneous composition gave the coating not only excellent durability, but also served as protection against destruction caused by temperature changes.

A lot of inconvenience at that time was caused by rains, which carried stones onto dirt roads or simply washed them away. The Romans decided to save themselves from the first misfortune by using a high curb stone, and from the second by organizing a well-thought-out drainage system.

We have all heard the ancient saying that all roads lead to Rome, but the reasons are not so much superficial as the consequences. Of course, the direct rays of the Roman roads, diverging in all directions from the capital, made it easier to decide on the choice of direction and saved time spent on the road, and the Roman army found itself at the border before the enemy had time to cross it. The simple and understandable organization of the road network made it easy to reach Rome; to do this, it was enough to turn onto a wider road at each fork. However, equally easy access from Rome to any of its provinces was also necessary for a quick response to the uprisings that broke out.

The huge road network required appropriate infrastructure: inns, forges, stables - all this was built as the road surface was being built, so that by the time the work was completed, the new direction would immediately become operational.

Construction technology

The main Roman roads were not built by slaves or even hired workers. Along with most of the fortifications, the road was considered a military facility, and therefore was built by the army (but not at its expense, of course). This may explain the incredible margin of safety designed to withstand aggressive handling.

One of the mandatory conditions set before the start of construction was the continuous availability of the road in any weather. To achieve this, the road surface not only rose 40-50 cm above the terrain, but also had a sloping shape in cross-section, which is why there were never puddles on it. Drainage ditches on both sides of the roadway drained the water, not giving it any chance to begin to erode the base.

One of the striking features of Roman roads has gone down in history - their straightness. In order to preserve this characteristic, convenience was often sacrificed: the road could turn aside only because of a very serious obstacle, otherwise a bridge was built across the river, a tunnel was dug in the mountain, and gentle hills were not considered a problem at all, which is why travelers often had to climb steep ascents and descents.

Standards

If the composition and thickness of the road surface were approximately the same everywhere and differed only depending on the nature of the soil, then its width was created for strictly defined purposes, i.e. Two chariots, two food trains, or even a pair of horsemen could easily pass each other on it. Such precision is understandable, since the labor costs for building the road were colossal, and the extra half a meter not only delayed the work, but also had a significant impact on the treasury of the Empire.

The narrowest roads belonged to private individuals and were intended to serve their properties. The width of such paths did not exceed 4 meters if the movement was carried out in two directions, and 2.5 meters if the movement was predominantly one-way. The roads between small towns and villages were also quite modest; four meters wide was quite enough for small peasant carts to travel around. The most impressive were the main transport arteries of military importance. For them, a width of 6 meters was considered the minimum, but it was usually larger and could reach 12 meters. An entire army could move along such an avenue at a fairly high speed.

Milestones were installed on almost all central and some secondary roads - heavy stone pillars covered with inscriptions. The name of these signs should not be misleading; they were not placed every mile. The inscriptions on the stone informed the traveler the distance to the nearest village or city, to a major intersection, to the border, and sometimes to Rome. Distances were indicated in miles, hence the name.

Usage

Although military power was the main goal of the developers of the network of excellent paved roads, the system benefited traders the most. Their carts could now freely cross the entire country (as well as some neighboring ones) without the risk of falling apart on the next bump. And even tolls on some sections could not cover the obvious benefits. Large ports have become even richer because... goods from arriving ships were immediately exported to neighboring settlements and sold, turnover increased significantly compared to the “roadless” period.

The first Roman roads were named very simply - by the name of the city to which they led and by the name of the architect who built it. Some of the most famous and significant of them are described below.

Salt Road (Via Salaria)

This ancient trade route was created in the 4th century BC. and, as the name suggests, was used to deliver salt products. The Salt Road starts from the Roman Salt Gate of the Wall of Aurelius and stretches 242 km to the Adriatic coast, where the city of Castrum Truentinum (today Porto d'Ascoli) used to be located. The road passed through the cities of Reate (Rieti) and Asculum (Ascoli Picento).

Photo: allaboutitaly.info

Appian Way (Via Appia)

This road was built in 312 BC. under the leadership of Appius Claudius Caecus. It was founded as a military road and over time became one of the most strategically important for the country. The Appian Way connected Rome to Capua, and later to Brundisium (modern) - the main port on the Adriatic coast, connecting the Roman Empire with Greece and the countries of the East. Over the centuries-old history, 540 km of the ancient road have witnessed a variety of events, becoming guardians of legends and ancient monuments.

Aurelian Way (Via Aurelia)

The Aurelian Way, built in 241 BC, received the name of its creator Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who was a censor at that time. This route ran along the western coast of the Apennine Peninsula, connecting Rome and Pisa and was intended mainly for the movement of military chariots.

Flaminian Way (Via Flaminia)

The head of the construction, consul Gaius Flaminius, in 220 BC. e. paved the road from Rome to the port of Fanum Fortuna (Fano) in northern Italy, and later it was extended along the coast to Ariminum (Rimini). This road received a second life in the Middle Ages, when it was restored and began to be actively used again under the name Ravenna Road.

Cassia Way (Via Cassia)

Since 187 BC. This road was built by representatives of the noble Cassiev family. It duplicated the Aurelian Way, but ran much further from the coast. It started from the Via Flaminia, not far from the Milvian Bridge, and joined the Aurelia in Luni.

Postumia road (Via Postumia)

This road, built in 148 BC. e. on the initiative of the consul Spurius Postuminus Albinus, it connected the northern cities of the Roman Empire and served to move troops on the border with Gaul. In addition, it united major ports on the west and east coasts: Genoa and Aquileia. Aquileia, although somewhat removed from the coast itself, has a river access to it. The Postumian road ran from Genoa through the mountains to Dertone (Tortona), then through Placentia (Piacenza), from there it crossed the Po River, reached Cremona, from where it turned East to Bedriacum (Calvatone), where it bifurcated: the left direction led to Verona, and the right to Aquileia via Mantua and Gemona.

Via Egnatia

This is one of the largest Roman projects during the conquest. It was decided to create a road similar to those that had already been built on the territory of modern Italy in the controlled territories of the Balkans. Road built in 146 BC. e. Proconsul Gaius Egnatius crossed the provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia and Thrace, the territory of which today is part of Albania, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey, and ended in Byzantium. Its length was 1120 km, and its width was about 6 meters.

Via Aquitania

This road began to be built soon after the victory over the southern Gallic tribes, in 118 BC. e. It linked the newly founded Roman colony of Narbo Martius (Narbonne) with Toulouse and the city of Burdigala (Bordeaux) on the Atlantic coast, stretching over a distance of about 400 km.

Reconstructed section of the Aquitaine road. Photo xtremearttourists1.blogspot.com

Via Domitia

This road was built simultaneously with Aquitaine and may have had the same creator. It became the first land route connecting Italy, its colonies in southern Gaul and Spain. According to legends, it was based on the ancient routes along which Hercules traveled, performing his exploits, and it was along them that Hannibal’s troops at one time penetrated from the north into Italy.

Via Aemilia Scauri

The road was built under the leadership of the censor Marcus Aemilius Scaurus in 109 BC. e., connected Pisa, Luni, Genoa and Placentia (Piacenza). It partially overlapped with other, earlier routes, combining them.

Photo castelnuovobormida.net

Via Claudia Augusta

This is one of the most difficult roads created by the Romans. Its construction began in 15 BC. e. and lasted about three years. The road, created by Emperor Augustus and his adopted son Claudius, spanned the Alps and connected Venice and the entire Po Valley with the province of Raetia (now the territory of southern Germany).

A modern copy of a mile stone found near Bavaria

The Claudius-Augustus Road is one of the few that has been perfectly preserved to this day. It has been restored many times and today is of great value as a cycling route through the Alps, which starts in Donauwörth (Germany) and ends in Venice or Ostiglia.

Augusta Road (Via Augusta)

The Iberian Peninsula had scattered roads of various types until, at the dawn of the new millennium, the Roman Emperor Augustus improved them, united them into a real transport network that received his name, and added it to the developed Roman road system. The total length of the highly branched August Road is about 1,500 km.

The process of reconstruction of the August road. PhotoJose Francisco Ruiz

Fosse Way

This was the name of the Roman road built in Britain in the middle of the 1st century and connecting the southern coast of the island with the northern (about 300 km). The name comes from the Latin word for "pits", and most likely meant a defensive ditch with which the Romans, who invaded Britain, protected their transport route.

Watling Street

Almost simultaneously with the construction of Fosse Way, a road was created from the western part of the British Isle (Dover) to the east coast (Wales). In the Anglo-Saxon language, the word "street" meant a paved road with a complex layered structure and had nothing to do with inner city streets.

Stangate

In Old English Stangate means "stone road". It was built by the Romans in the 1st-2nd centuries in the territory of modern northern England and was intended to communicate between two important river forts: Corstopitum (Corbridge) and Luguvalium (Carlisle). Stangate has an important difference from all the routes previously created by the Romans: the road was built with minimal slopes, which is why it turned out to be quite winding. For the Romans, a straight line was typical, even if in order to maintain direction they had to sacrifice comfort and ease of movement.

Roads made Ancient Rome famous. Roads are trade routes, communication routes that contributed to the development Ancient Rome, its culture and civilization. They transported loot from conquered countries and transported thousands of slaves.
At the beginning of the 2nd century. in the time of Trajan there were already about 100 thousand kilometers state roads, mainly with a hard surface. They were well equipped and kept in excellent operating condition. On the main roads of Rome, every Roman mile (approximately 1.5 km) were installed road signs. Station hotels and repair services were provided. All this contributed to their high throughput. Thus, according to contemporaries, Emperor Augustus could travel 185 km on Roman roads during daylight hours, and Tiberius covered a distance of 350 km per day. With the efficient work of all services and the quick change of horses, on average it was possible to travel up to 300 km per day.
It is likely that most of the roads of Ancient Rome were built in accordance with the requirements of the first “technical specifications”, the so-called “12 tables”, developed back in 450 BC. e. According to this document, the roads were divided by width into the following parts (lanes): semita (semita) or pedestrian lane with a width of 30 cm, iter (iter) - a strip for riders and pedestrians with a width of no more than 92 cm; actus (aktus) - a lane for single-harness carts and carriages with a width of 122 cm and a two-lane via - (via) - the main roadway with a width of about 244 cm. Thus, if we assume that the semita, iter and actus passed on both sides of the road, then the total their width, taking into account the double via, was approximately 7 to 10 m. In later times, empires no longer strictly followed these dimensions.
The Appian Road, built in 312 BC, was considered the first strategic road of the Romans. e. censor Appius Claudius Crassus. This was the widest paved road that connected Rome with Capua. It was along it that 6 thousand slaves who rebelled under the leadership of Spartacus were crucified on crosses. The length of the Appian Way was 540 km, and the width was 7...8 m. Like most major roads of Ancient Rome, despite the terrain, it was for the most part straight, like a ray. Similar was the Via Flaminia, the Great Northern Road, built around 220 BC. e. This was, perhaps, the longest road in terms of length, which went from Rome to northern Italy through the Alps and further along the shore of the Adriatic Sea to Byzantium. It is believed that until the end of the 1st century. BC e. almost the entire Italian peninsula was crossed by roads leading to Rome.
At that time, a rectangular coordinate grid for the location of houses with long and straight streets was common in Roman cities. This does not mean that all streets were like this. Inside the neighborhoods, on the contrary, the streets were narrow and crooked, but the main streets were different from them. They often had a width of 12 m, and in some cities, such as in Cologne, the distance between the gables of buildings reached 32 m. The main road there, including sidewalks, had a width of 22 m, and without sidewalks 11 - 14 m.
Within the city, roads must have a sidewalk with a width of 0.5 to 2.4 m, which was separated from the roadway by a curb stone about 45 cm high. The base of such roads was usually drained using special gutters and ditches, and their surface was always raised above ground level and had a slight slope towards the periphery.
The total thickness of Roman roads ranged from 80 to 130 cm, although some of them reached 240 cm. As a rule, the roads were multi-layered, from four to five layers, with concrete layers in the middle, although this is not absolutely certain. The bottom layer of many roads was a base of stone slabs 20-30 cm thick, which were laid on a well-compacted subgrade through a mortar screed, and then leveled with sand. The second layer, 23 cm thick, consisted of concrete (broken stone laid in mortar). The third layer, also 23 cm thick, was made of fine gravel concrete. Both concrete layers were carefully compacted. This was the most difficult and exhausting part of the work, performed mainly by slaves and sometimes by military units. The last, upper layer of the road was covered with large stone blocks with an area of ​​0.6-0.9 m2 and a thickness of about 13 cm. It is believed that most of the Appian Way was built in this way.
Thus, according to a number of researchers who studied Roman roads, it can be stated that a mandatory element of Roman roads was a layer of concrete about 30 cm thick, which was laid between the stone base slabs and the stone paving stones of the top covering.
French engineer M. Fleuret still in early XIX V. described the construction of a Roman gravel road. The soil, according to his information, was dug to a depth of up to four feet (120 cm), after which the bottom of the trench was carefully compacted with forged wooden tampers. A bed of lime and sand one inch (2.5 cm) thick was poured into the bottom, on which a layer of flat, wide stones was laid. A layer of mortar was again poured over these stones and compacted well. The next layer, 9-10 inches (23-25 ​​cm) thick, consisted of concrete with cobblestones and gravel as the coarse aggregate. In addition to them, tiles and stone fragments of destroyed buildings were also used. Above this layer, a new layer of concrete was laid on smaller stones, about one foot (30 cm) thick. The last top layer, three to three and a half feet (90-105 cm) thick, consisted of coarse gravel or crushed stone, which was compacted especially carefully over several days.
Cheaper roads consisted of a 13 cm thick rock fill, a 46 cm thick mixed layer of soil, limestone and sand, a layer of compacted soil about 46 cm thick and a top layer of cobblestones and broken stone. There were other types of roads. Thus, in London, an ancient Roman road has been preserved with a pavement thickness of 230 cm, made entirely of concrete covered with white tiled slabs. Interestingly, the entire concrete mass of the road is enclosed between stone retaining walls.
Roman roads had a carefully designed drainage system so that the thick mass of concrete did not crack in subzero temperatures. The road surface had no expansion joints and was suitable mainly for the mild Italian climate. In the northern provinces of the Roman Empire, cracking could already be observed, so in the later period of the empire, the Romans almost stopped building roads using concrete.
The route of Roman roads was marked using two parallel ropes, which determined its width. Straightness was ensured using the “thunder” device, although more often for this purpose they used a simpler, but effective way- using smoke from a distant fire and some intermediate point.
A large number of slaves were herded to build roads. Military units and free population were also involved. A huge volume of stone materials was mined and processed by hand. In this case, large stones were heated over fires and then doused with cold water.
Most of the Roman roads were in use in the 19th century, and some have survived to this day. It is interesting that the Romans knew natural asphalt and even in combination with sand and broken stone, but they did not use it for the top surface of roads.
Thus, we can note the rather powerful and durable clothing of the roads of Ancient Rome, ranging from 0.8 to 1.3 m, and in some cases up to 2.4 m. modern concepts roads of this type are made with an excessive margin of safety. For example, the pavement of modern roads of this type for similar climatic conditions does not exceed 60-70 cm, including the frost protection layer and wear layer. The design of roads similar to the Appian one can be used for the heaviest operating loads of our time, about 15 tons per vehicle axle. It is not for nothing that this one of the oldest roads in the world, built 2,300 years ago, is still in use today.
Roman roads had a number of other advantages: the presence in some of them of a special wear layer made of natural stones; the ability to prepare concrete directly at the work site; widespread use of lime, which, due to its high extensibility compared to modern Portland cement, produces concrete with increased crack resistance. And, of course, one of the main advantages of Roman roads is their great durability, evidence of which is the good condition of some of them in our time. For example, repairs to Roman roads in Spain were carried out no more than once every 70-100 years.
In terms of design features and construction methods, concrete floors are reminiscent of Roman concrete roads. Ancient authors, starting with Varro (116-27 BC), left us a detailed description of concrete floors, the design of which they largely borrowed from the Greeks.
In Sevastopol, in Quarantine Bay, there is a wonderful historical and archaeological ancient reserve - Tauride Chersonese. It still preserves the ruins of city walls with towers, temples, and workshops. The ancient theater has also been preserved, where in the evening you can watch tragedies by Greek authors. In the central part of the reserve, near the fountain, there is a Roman concrete floor with beautiful mosaics. A little less than 2000 years have passed, and after a small restoration it looks almost like new. Quite a lot of such floors were made throughout Ancient Rome.
Structurally, almost all Roman floors, like roads, were multi-layered, most often four-layered, which is confirmed by archaeological excavations. They usually had a well-compacted soil base and alternating layers of concrete, mortar, stones of various types and sizes, and a top covering in the form of a mortar screed, and most often stone slabs.
According to their purpose, Roman floors, following the terminology of ancient authors, were divided into “open and closed”, that is, floors located in the open air and in enclosed spaces. In turn, they could be cold, warm, waterproof, etc.
Varro advises doing open floors as follows: “...A platform two feet (59 cm) deep is dug, the base of which is compacted. Crushed stone or small crushed brick is laid on this base, in which channels are left in advance for drainage of water. Then a layer of coal is poured in, compacted well and covered with a concrete layer consisting of coarse sand, lime and ash...”
Vitruvius in the book. VII, ch. 1, describing approximately the same gender, provides more specific instructions. “On a prepared stone well-compacted soil base,” he writes, “a layer of large-porous concrete was laid, consisting of two parts of lime and five parts of “old” crushed stone taken from the ruins. With the help of a large group of workers, the laid concrete was very carefully compacted with wooden tampers through frequent blows. The thickness of this layer was usually no more than 23 cm. A second layer was laid on top of it, consisting of one part of lime and three parts of crushed brick, 15 cm thick. The last, top layer consisted of square or figured tiles, which were laid strictly according to the level and ruler and then they were smoothed with a whetstone and polished...”
Vitruvius considers several more types of concrete floors, differing in the number and thickness of layers, the composition of concrete and the material of the top covering, including a regular floor, waterproof, outdoors, indoors, which was laid on double wooden flooring or double boards.
Of particular interest is the design of a warm, winter floor with a draining top layer, which Vitruvius calls Greek. This is how he describes the construction of such a floor: “...They dig a hole two feet below the level of the triclinium (dining room) and, having compacted the soil, lay a layer of baked brick with such an inclination in both directions that a drain is formed to the openings of the canals. Then, having poured and compacted a layer of coal, they lay down a mass of coarse sand, lime and ash half a foot thick according to the level and rule, and when the upper surface is polished with stone, a kind of black floor is obtained, very convenient, since everything that spills from glasses and spits out, immediately dries up, and the servants there, even being barefoot, do not feel the cold from this kind of floor...”
The technology for making floors similar to Roman ones has long changed. Additives of plant origin have not been used for a long time, but the constructive principle of constructing multi-layer floors and the sequence of their execution remain the same as two millennia ago. It should also be noted the exceptional durability of ancient Roman floors, many of which have survived to this day not only in Italy, but also in many other countries, including in the ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region.

Board under peat

It is unlikely that worker Raymond Sweet, going to peat mining on a winter morning in 1970, suspected that on this day he would forever go down in history. As usual, he came to the peat bog and began his working day.

He was tasked with clearing one of the drainage trenches, which was overgrown with bushes and grass. Sweet was working with a shovel, cutting off rhizomes, when he suddenly felt the iron hit something hard. The worker thought it was a thick root of some plant and decided to dig it up. But when he cleared the ground, he discovered a board of very hard wood.

Sweet immediately realized that the board, stored under layers of peat formed thousands of years ago, could not be ordinary. He broke off a small piece of the board and went with it to the management of his company. The manager turned out to be an educated enough person to understand the value of this fragment. He ordered to stop peat extraction for the time being, and sent a piece of antiquity to archaeologists.

The fragment fell into the hands of Professor John Coles, a scientist from the University of Cambridge, who had long been interested in the depths of peat bogs, which contain a lot of interesting things. Coles, having carefully examined a piece of board, became convinced that it was of very ancient origin. He immediately got ready and went to the swamps to carefully examine the location of the find. A preliminary study of the excavated area with the remains of the boards showed that they were made using stone and wooden tools approximately 4-5 thousand years ago...

Excavations in the swamp

Meanwhile, weather conditions did not allow excavations to be carried out in earnest, and Coles was looking forward to the beginning of summer to go on an expedition to the peat bogs.

After waiting for the warm season, Coles and a group of students arrived in Somerset and began studying the ancient tablets. Slowly and carefully, the professor and his students excavated, trying to unravel the secrets of the swamp. Research has shown that unusual planks are stored under the peat, and complex wooden structures... Upon further study, it turned out that they are very ancient walkways intended for pedestrians.

Parts of the boards were sent to Cambridge for laboratory analysis. Radiocarbon dating, the most effective method for determining the age of archaeological antiquities, has shown that the age of these remains is as much as six thousand years!

From this it followed that the world's oldest man-made road was found in the swamp. Archaeologists named it “Sweet's Road” in honor of the worker who found it and managed to understand the significance of his find. Under this name it appears in all reference books on archeology.

Note that initially all peat mining activities at the site of the unusual find were stopped. But later, during the excavations, conflicts arose several times with peat mining companies that had licenses to work in these places.

One day, Professor Coles's group, going on an excavation in the morning, saw an excavator breaking down part of an ancient road. The vandalism was stopped, but the scientists could not come to their senses for a long time - if they had been in the swamp a little later, only chips would have remained from the unique ancient monument. But the intervention of the authorities stopped the war between scientists and industrialists, and archaeologists were able to calmly study the ancient monument...

"Canned" road

For 10 years, John Coles studied the Sweet Road, came here on expeditions, and compiled inventories of the finds discovered.

Archaeologists found all the elements of the ancient structure, found out its length, and determined the location of the road to within a centimeter. Once upon a time it was intended for crossing from one small island to another - previously there was not a peat bog here, but a swampy lowland overgrown with reeds.

The uniqueness of this road, in addition to its age, was that the tree was perfectly preserved, despite the passing millennia. It was simply not possible to find wooden structures from such ancient times; they did not stand the test of time.

And Sweet's wooden road seemed so new, as if it had just been built. This happened because peat turned out to be an excellent protector of wood from environment. It “preserved” the road, did not allow the boards and beams to dry out and crumble, and protected the wood from harmful bacteria and fungi.

As a result, scientists were able to study the ancient structure in its original form. The archaeologists who restored the ancient road did a great job of researching the way of life of the people who once laid bridges across the swamps. In addition, they found out exactly what plants grew in England 6,000 years ago.

It was discovered that the ancient builders used trees of 10 species that had previously grown in these places for the road. It turned out that forestry skills were not alien to the ancient unknown tribe. Trees were cut down wisely, only those suitable for construction, while ancient tribe managed not to damage the undergrowth.

The main materials were oak and ash - while the girth of some trees was about a meter. The branches of felled trees were first cut off and the bark stripped off, then the trunks were split lengthwise to make narrow boards. The supporting structure of the road consisted of long beams reinforced with sharpened stakes. Boards were laid on top, on which one could safely walk through the water.

Sacrificial Ax

It was quite difficult for the ancient people who used this road to make their way along the narrow bridges, trying not to get caught on sharp stakes, so they often made awkward movements.

This is evidenced by the many objects discovered along the Suita road. Apparently, they were dropped into the water by unwary travelers. The bulk of the finds were silicon wafers.

Archaeologists determined that they were used for cutting down trees, reeds and some other mysterious plants, the breed and origin of which still could not be determined, since nothing like this had ever been seen before not only in England, but throughout the world. Probably, six thousand years ago, trees grew in England, which later could not survive the local climate and disappeared from the face of the earth forever...

Archaeologists also found two axes - made of flint and jet. There were no signs of use on them, and the researchers concluded that they were probably thrown into the water for some ritual purposes, most likely at the beginning of work on the construction of the road...

Among other things, studies were carried out on some items that were well preserved in the peat. Clay shards indicated that already six thousand years ago well-developed crafts existed in England, and people communicated with other tribes - since the shape of the products resembled dishes from distant regions.

And the remains of insects found along the road indicated that the fauna here had previously been somewhat different. This is due to the fact that before our era the climate in these places was somewhat different. Winters were more severe, but summers, on the contrary, were hotter than now.

Needless to say, all the discoveries turned out to be a significant contribution to world science. And the Sweet Road still remains under the close attention of scientists who continue to explore it, constantly discovering new finds that enrich world history...

The first Roman roads were built for military purposes, and later authorities constantly monitored them as strategic sites. The classic width of roads is 12 meters. They were built in four layers. The base was made of cobblestones. Then came the formwork made of crushed stones held together with concrete. A layer of brick chips was placed above the formwork. The top covering was flat slabs or large cobblestones. The Laws of the XII Tables established that the width of the road on a straight section should be 2.45 m (8 ft), on curves - 4.9 m (16 ft)

At the beginning of the 2nd century, during the time of Trajan, there were already about 100,000 kilometers of state roads, mostly paved. They were well equipped and kept in excellent operating condition. On the main roads of Rome, traffic signs were installed every Roman mile (approximately 1.5 km). The inscriptions on the stone informed the traveler the distance to the nearest village or city, to a major intersection, to Rome or to the border. Station hotels and repair services were provided.

A prerequisite for the construction of the road was the accessibility of the road in any weather, so the roadbed not only rose 40-50 cm above the ground, but also had a sloping shape; water did not accumulate on the road during rain, but drained through the drains of roadside drainage ditches.

Introduction

The Romans - the greatest road builders of antiquity - retained their priority in this area for a long time. Only during the Napoleonic era was Europe able to build roads that were qualitatively better than those created by the skill of Roman engineers.

It was they who came up with the idea of ​​using cobblestones as a base, then alternating with earth and stones, which made the roads able to resist wear and tear, harsh weather conditions and heavy traffic. They always looked for the shortest and safest routes, sticking to the surface of the earth if possible, but building tunnels to overcome Mountain peaks, and crossing rivers and roads on stone bridges and stilts wherever necessary. Roman road builders laid rutted pavements on steep slopes so that their carts could move along them.

This ancient rationally planned terrestrial communication system facilitated the active movement of people and things, ideas and cultures, religions and history. This was the case in all territories under Roman rule, along which about 100,000 km of roads ran, connecting the areas of 32 modern peoples.

The development of both land and sea followed the political and economic development Rome. During the centuries in which Rome conquered Italy, the connection between road building and control of subject territory as a colonial system was particularly strong.

The purpose of the work is to study the design features of the road of Ancient Rome.

Main part

Roads are trade routes, means of communication that contributed to the development of Ancient Rome, its culture and civilization. They transported loot from conquered countries and transported thousands of slaves. At the beginning of the 2nd century. in the time of Trajan, there were already about 100 thousand kilometers of state roads, mostly with hard surfaces. They were well equipped and kept in excellent operating condition. On the main roads of Rome, traffic signs were installed every Roman mile (approximately 1.5 km). Station hotels and repair services were provided. All this contributed to their high throughput.

It is likely that most of the roads of Ancient Rome were built in accordance with the requirements of the first “technical specifications”, the so-called “12 tables”, developed back in 450 BC. e. According to this document, the roads were divided by width into the following parts (lanes): semita (semita) or pedestrian lane with a width of 30 cm, iter (iter) - a strip for riders and pedestrians with a width of no more than 92 cm; actus (aktus) - a lane for single-harness carts and carriages with a width of 122 cm and a two-lane via - (via) - the main roadway with a width of about 244 cm. Thus, if we assume that the semita, iter and actus passed on both sides of the road , then their total width, taking into account the double via, was approximately from 7 to 10 m.

In later times, empires no longer strictly followed these dimensions. The Appian Road, built in 312 BC, was considered the first strategic road of the Romans. e. censor Appius Claudius Crassus. This was the widest paved road that connected Rome with Capua. It was along it that 6 thousand slaves who rebelled under the leadership of Spartacus were crucified on crosses. The length of the Appian Way was 540 km, and the width was 7...8 m. Like most major roads of Ancient Rome, despite the terrain, it was for the most part straight, like a ray. Similar was the Via Flaminia - the Great Northern Road, built around 220 BC. e. This was, perhaps, the longest road in terms of length, which went from Rome to the north of Italy through the Alps and further along the shore of the Adriatic Sea to Byzantium.

It is believed that until the end of the 1st century. BC e. almost the entire Italian peninsula was crossed by roads leading to Rome. At that time, a rectangular coordinate grid for the location of houses with long and straight streets was common in Roman cities. This does not mean that all streets were like this. Inside the neighborhoods, on the contrary, the streets were narrow and crooked, but the main streets were different from them. They often had a width of 12 m, and in some cities, such as in Cologne, the distance between the gables of buildings reached 32 m. The main road there, including sidewalks, had a width of 22 m, and without sidewalks 11 - 14 m. Within In the early 1960s, a sidewalk with a width of 0.5 to 2.4 m was required on the roads of the city, which was separated from the roadway by a curb stone about 45 cm high.

The base of such roads was usually drained using special drains and ditches, and their surface was always raised above ground level and had a slight slope towards the periphery. The total thickness of Roman roads ranged from 80 to 130 cm, although some of them reached 240 cm. As a rule, the roads were multi-layered, from four to five layers, with concrete layers in the middle, although this is not absolutely certain. The bottom layer of many roads was a base of stone slabs 20-30 cm thick, which were laid on a well-compacted subgrade through a mortar screed, and then leveled with sand. The second layer, 23 cm thick, consisted of concrete. The third layer, also 23 cm thick, was made of fine gravel concrete. Both concrete layers were carefully compacted.

This was the most difficult and exhausting part of the work, performed mainly by slaves and sometimes by military units. The last, upper layer of the road was covered with large stone blocks with an area of ​​0.6-0.9 m2 and a thickness of about 13 cm. It is believed that most of the Appian Way was built this way. Thus, according to a number of researchers who studied Roman roads, it can be stated that a mandatory element of Roman roads was a layer of concrete about 30 cm thick, which was laid between the stone base slabs and the stone paving stones of the top covering. French engineer M. Fleuret at the beginning of the 19th century. described the construction of a Roman gravel road. The soil, according to his information, was dug to a depth of up to four feet (120 cm), after which the bottom of the trench was carefully compacted with forged wooden tampers. A bed of lime and sand one inch (2.5 cm) thick was poured into the bottom, on which a layer of flat, wide stones was laid. A layer of mortar was again poured over these stones and compacted well.

The next layer, 9-10 inches (23-25 ​​cm) thick, consisted of concrete with cobblestones and gravel as the coarse aggregate. In addition to them, tiles and stone fragments of destroyed buildings were also used. Above this layer, a new layer of concrete was laid on smaller stones, about one foot (30 cm) thick. The last top layer, three to three and a half feet thick (90-105 cm), consisted of coarse gravel or crushed stone, which was especially carefully compacted over several days. Cheaper roads consisted of a 13 cm thick rock fill, a 46 cm thick mixed layer of soil, limestone and sand, a layer of compacted soil about 46 cm thick and a top layer of cobblestones and broken stone. There were other types of roads.

Thus, in London, an ancient Roman road has been preserved with a pavement thickness of 230 cm, made entirely of concrete covered with white tiled slabs. The entire concrete mass of the road is enclosed between stone retaining walls. Roman roads had a carefully designed drainage system so that the thick mass of concrete did not crack in subzero temperatures. The road surface had no expansion joints and was suitable mainly for the mild Italian climate. In the northern provinces of the Roman Empire, cracking could already be observed, so in the later period of the empire, the Romans almost stopped building roads using concrete.

The route of Roman roads was marked using two parallel ropes, which determined its width. Straightness was ensured using the “thunder” device, although more often a simpler but effective method was used for this purpose - using smoke from a distant fire and some intermediate point. A large number of slaves were herded to build roads. Military units and free population were also involved. A huge volume of stone materials was mined and processed by hand. In this case, large stones were heated over fires and then doused with cold water. Most of the Roman roads were in use in the 19th century, and some have survived to this day. It is interesting that the Romans knew natural asphalt and even in combination with sand and broken stone, but they did not use it for the top surface of roads.

Thus, it can be noted that the pavement of the roads of Ancient Rome was quite powerful and durable, ranging from 0.8 to 1.3 m, and in some cases up to 2.4 m. According to modern concepts, roads of this type were made with an excessive margin of safety. For example, the pavement of modern roads of this type for similar climatic conditions does not exceed 60-70 cm, including the frost protection layer and wear layer. The design of roads similar to the Appian one can be used for the heaviest operating loads of our time, about 15 tons per vehicle axle. It is not for nothing that this one of the oldest roads in the world, built 2,300 years ago, is still in use today.

Roman roads had a number of other advantages: the presence in some of them of a special wear layer made of natural stones; the ability to prepare concrete directly at the work site; widespread use of lime, which, due to its high extensibility compared to modern Portland cement, produces concrete with increased crack resistance. And, of course, one of the main advantages of Roman roads is their great durability, evidence of which is the good condition of some of them in our time.

List of used literature

1. Art. A book for reading on the history of painting, sculpture, architecture. M., 1961

2. N.A. Dmitrieva, L.I. Akinova. Ancient art: essays. M., 1988

3. Roman art // encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). -- St. Petersburg, 1890--1907.

4. http://www.steklo.biz/biblioteka_stroitelja/rimskij_beton_12.html