Definition of the Road: Via vs. Actus
American roads are built with asphalt. Why? This may seem like a silly question to which one would be inclined to answer: Because it is the most practical. Maybe asphalt is the most practical but the way we design and format our roads is not merely a case of form following function. As discussed in the introduction roads perform many functions beyond simple transportation and the design and construction of roads give some insight into these hidden tasks. The Roman road system pre-dated the growth of the city into a world power and was inherited by the city's Etruscan predecessors. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.
[link] Rome began to pave and standardize the ancient Etruscan roads and transform them into advanced artifacts that performed diverse social functions. Rome very early on developed a standardised concept of what a road was to be. Evidence of this standardization and the degree to which the culture valued it can be seen in the fifth centruy law code, known as the Twelve Tables. A road was a definite object to be distinguished from other forms of tracks and paths. A law found in the Twelve Tables states that a road or
via had to be wide enough to drive a vehicle along it. If the road was not wide enough for a vehicle it was defined as an
actus, which had to be wide enough for a pack animal. If narrower than this it was a path or right of way. A
via was defined by its ability for wheeled transport to be carried upon it and was seen as something separate. Moreover for it to be a
via it had to be a stated width. The Twelve Tables, set the precedenct on this: roads were to be eight feet wide along straight sections and sixteen feet wide where they went around a bend (p. 58 Laurence). This careful differentiate between
Via and other types of road shows that the
via held more importance and it was important enought to the Romans to solidify the distinction that they put it in their law code.
*The Main Roman Roads in Italy (p. 133 Chevallier)*
Development of Roads, Development of an Empire
"From the first century BC through to the second century AD, we see the creation of a unified Italy alongside the improved network of roads." (p.188 Laurence) The building of major roads throughout Italy in the fourth, third and second centuries BC was crucial to Roman hegemony and in the creation of the Roman empire (Hackey Laurence p. 11) The physical geography of Italy was fundamentally altered by road building, whether to the south by the building of the Via Appia through the Pontine marshes or to the north by the building of the Via Flaminia accross the Apennines to the Adriatic sea. "A new geographical space was created that was founded on the linear connection of Rome to other places. This new Rome-centered geography ignored the traditional divisions between cities or regions." (p. 187 Laurence) The use of roads to link Rome closer with her allies began with the Via Appia and the late 4th century BC. The Via Appia was the first major connection with the south and was planned by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus in 312 BC (p. 132 Chevallier). The original roads or Rome withing Italy were established to display Roman power and to secure the links between its allies in the early years of the state. As Roman power expanded roads were built and expanded to the new territories the city reached.
Timeline of Road Building
The Achievements of Roman Engineers
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The Basic Infrastructure They Fascilitated
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