At its peak in the secÂond cenÂtuÂry, the Roman Empire domÂiÂnatÂed nearÂly two milÂlion square miles of the world. As with most such grand achieveÂments, it couldÂn’t have hapÂpened withÂout the develÂopÂment of cerÂtain techÂnoloÂgies. The long reach of the EterÂnal City was made posÂsiÂble in large part by the humÂble techÂnolÂoÂgy of the road — or at least it looks like a humÂble techÂnolÂoÂgy here in the twenÂty-first cenÂtuÂry. Roads existÂed before the Roman Empire, of course, but the Romans built them to new stanÂdards of length, capacÂiÂty, and duraÂbilÂiÂty. How they did it so gets explained in the short video above.
On a repÂreÂsenÂtaÂtive stretch of Roman-road-to be, says the narÂraÂtor, a “wide area would be deforÂestÂed.” Then “the topÂsoil would be removed until a solÂid base was found.” Atop that base, workÂers laid down curbs at the width deterÂmined by the road plan, then filled the gap between them with a founÂdaÂtion of large stones.
Atop the large stones went a layÂer of smallÂer stones mixed with fine aggreÂgates, and finalÂly the gravÂel, sand, and clay that made up the surÂface. All of this was accomÂplished with the old-fashÂioned powÂer of man and aniÂmal, using tipÂper carts to pour out the mateÂriÂals and othÂer tools to spread and comÂpact them.
Roman road-builders didÂn’t just use any old rocks and dirt, but “careÂfulÂly selectÂed mateÂriÂals of the highÂest qualÂiÂty” — includÂing forÂmiÂdaÂbly long-lastÂing Roman conÂcrete, the secrets of whose sturÂdiÂness have only been fulÂly underÂstood in the past decade. In anothÂer ingeÂnious design choice recentÂly disÂcovÂered, “ditchÂes were placed to preÂvent access to the road from unauÂthoÂrized vehiÂcles,” as well as to widen the periphÂerÂal view of the roadÂ’s users. In the video just above, civÂil-engiÂneerÂing speÂcialÂist Isaac Moreno GalÂlo takes a closÂer look at a secÂtion of a real Roman road being excaÂvatÂed where it will interÂsect with a modÂern highÂway under conÂstrucÂtion. The new road will sureÂly stand for a long time to come — but will it inspire fasÂciÂnaÂtion a couÂple milÂlenÂnia from now?
RelatÂed conÂtent:
The Roman Roads and Bridges You Can Still TravÂel Today
The Roads of Ancient Rome VisuÂalÂized in the Style of ModÂern SubÂway Maps
The Roman Roads of Britain VisuÂalÂized as a SubÂway Map
Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.
But we still have no idea what Roman Roads in Great Britain were named by the Romans, do we?
Their roads were betÂter than some modÂern roads in Black Africa.
The Romans define the conÂcept of “over engiÂneered”.
Their roads are betÂter than a lot of modÂern roads in AmerÂiÂca.
No one cares about your irrelÂeÂvant opinÂion
Why do peoÂple post degenÂerÂate and irrelÂeÂvant opinÂions such as these
I regret what occurred tonight. It won’t occur again. Good night. LF
There is a well known arguÂment that has cirÂcuÂlatÂed the interÂnet that claims that the meaÂsureÂment for the width of the Roman charÂiÂot and the solÂid rockÂet boostÂers on the back of NASA’s space shutÂtles are the same unusuÂal meaÂsureÂment of 8 feet 4 1/2 inchÂes (around 1.4 metres). What an intrigueÂing idea. It goes a litÂtle someÂthing like this:
8 feet 4 1/2 inchÂes is the stanÂdardÂised (interÂnal) railÂway gauge in the USA
this is because the earÂly railÂway tracks in the US were built and designed (at least in a subÂstanÂtial part) by British ex-pats, and, because that was the gauge the trains ran on
because that was the railÂway gauge in Britain where the earÂly trains were built.
The trains in Britain were built to run on track this guage because railÂway lines folÂlowed old trolÂley cart/tram rail lines
The tram lines were this gauge because they were built along pathÂways horse darawn carÂriages and carts went along
The carÂriages and carts were the same meaÂsureÂment (from wheel to wheel) bcause they ran along ruts used by old wagÂons
The medieval wagÂons wore ruts this size because they were stanÂdardÂised so they could run along the old roads between main towns
Those old roads were mostÂly old Roman roads still in use
The Roman roads were stanÂdardÂised to that size to accoÂmoÂdate Roman war charÂiÂots
Roman charÂiÂots were stanÂdardÂised to this size because.…
that was the size of two (Roman?) horsÂes’s rear ends!
The twist in the tale folÂlows, that the solÂid rockÂet boostÂers of the space shutÂtle are assemÂbled in Utah (I heard CanaÂda in the first verÂsion I came across) and need to be the same size to fit onto a railÂway carÂriage and be transÂportÂed by rail through a few rail tunÂnels, to FloriÂda. Hence the need for an unusal size. Dah daaah! Thus one of mankind’s most advanced machines owes part of its design dimenÂsions to an ancient machine, linkÂing the Romans to space flight!
8 feet 4 inchÂes would be nearÂer 2•4 metres, not 1.4