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Roman roads (Latin: ''viae''; singular: ''via'') were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 500 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. They provided efficient means for the overland movement of armies, officials, and civilians, and the inland carriage of official communications and trade goods.〔Kaszynski, William. ''The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads in the United States''. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2000. (Page 9 )〕 Roman roads were of several kinds, ranging from small local roads to broad, long-distance highways built to connect cities, major towns and military bases. These major roads were often stone-paved and metaled, cambered for drainage, and were flanked by footpaths, bridleways and drainage ditches. They were laid along accurately surveyed courses, and some were cut through hills, or conducted over rivers and ravines on bridgework. Sections could be supported over marshy ground on rafted or piled foundations.〔〔Corbishley, Mike: "The Roman World", page 50. Warwick Press, 1986.〕 At the peak of Rome's development, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the capital, and the late Empire's 113 provinces were interconnected by 372 great roads.〔Bailey, L. H., and Wilhelm Miller. ''Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, Comprising Suggestions for Cultivation of Horticultural Plants, Descriptions of the Species of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, and Ornamental Plants Sold in the United States and Canada, Together with Geographical and Biographical Sketches''. New York (): The Macmillan Co, 1900. (Page 320 ).〕 The whole comprised more than 400,000 km of roads, of which over were stone-paved.〔Gabriel, Richard A. ''The Great Armies of Antiquity''. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2002. (Page 9 ).〕〔Michael Grant, ''History of Rome'' (New York: Charles Scribner, 1978), 264.〕 In Gaul alone, no less than of roadways are said to have been improved, and in Britain at least .〔 The courses (and sometimes the surfaces) of many Roman roads survived for millennia. Some are overlaid by modern roads. ==Roman systems== Livy mentions some of the most familiar roads near Rome, and the milestones on them, at times long before the first paved road—the Appian Way.〔 Unless these allusions are just simple anachronisms, the roads referred to were probably at the time little more than levelled earthen tracks.〔 Thus, the Via Gabina (during the time of Porsena) is mentioned in about 500 BC; the Via Latina (during the time of Coriolanus) in about 490 BC; the Via Nomentana, or Via Ficulensis, in 449 BC; the Via Labicana in 421 BC; and the Via Salaria in 361 BC.〔Smith (1890).〕 In the Itinerary of Antoninus, the description of the road system, after the death of Julius Caesar and during the tenure of Augustus, is as follows:
A road map of the empire reveals that it was generally laced with a dense network of prepared ''viae''.〔 Beyond its borders there were no paved roads; however, it can be supposed that footpaths and dirt roads allowed some transport.〔 There were, for instance, some pre-Roman ancient trackways in Britain, such as the Ridgeway and the Icknield Way.〔Timothy Darvill, ''Oxford Archaeological Guides: England'' (2002) pp. 297–298〕 :''For specific roads, see'' Roman road locations ''below''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Roman roads」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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