{"id":27357,"date":"2018-08-14T10:45:24","date_gmt":"2018-08-14T08:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ferrovial.com\/blog\/?p=27357"},"modified":"2025-12-12T00:33:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T23:33:05","slug":"roads-lead-to-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ferrovial.com\/blog\/en\/2018\/08\/roads-lead-to-rome\/","title":{"rendered":"372 roads lead to Rome, and Caesar is taking them very seriously"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brindisi is a small, half-forgotten town located near the southernmost point of Italy\u2019s Adriatic coast, on the heel of a boot that has seen better days.\u00a0 The capital of Italy\u2019s Apulia region, however, was once a very important Mediterranean port that served as the European port of entry for much Eastern merchandise. It was also the final destination of the queen of all roads <\/strong>in the Roman Empire, The Via Appia, or Appian Way.<\/p>\n

While today the journey from Rome to Brindisi takes a little over five-and-a-half hours by car, two thousand years ago it would have taken quite a bit longer, especially if one had to walk, the upshot being that you could reach your destination by taking a paved, uninterrupted road that set out from the Forum itself, in the heart of the capital of the Republic, and later of the Empire. The Via Appia was symbolic of Roman power and served as a model for the construction of a network of roadways that would serve to keep the various territories connected and unified.<\/p>\n

Stretching from what is today the United Kingdom as far as Syria, the greatest road network in history at the time reached some 400,000 kilometres in length<\/strong> during the time of maximum splendour of the Roman Empire. More than 80,000 kilometres of these roads were paved. In total, 372 roads led to the heart of Rome, and senators and emperors alike took the issue so seriously that many of these roads still survive to this day.<\/p>\n

\"Map

Map of the Roman Empire, now divided, circa 330 A.D.<\/p><\/div>\n

Roads, or how to keep the empire undivided<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So why did Ancient Rome need roads? At the time, most journeys were made either on foot or on horseback, and few could afford carriages. So why pave the roads and alter the terrain instead of just using the same pathways as always? In the opinion of Evan Andrews, a journalist for the History Channel<\/a>, the roads were a vital element that consolidated both the power of Rome and the union of the Empire, for the following reasons:<\/p>\n