For centuries, scholars have been piecing together the vast network of roads that underpinned the Roman Empire, a critical infrastructure that facilitated trade, military movement, and communication across a vast territory. Now, a new, comprehensive map and dataset called Itiner-e significantly expands our understanding of this network, revealing a total length of approximately 300,000 kilometers – far exceeding previous estimates.
Why This Matters: Understanding the Roman Empire’s Connectivity
The Roman Empire, at its peak around the second century CE, was an immense power encompassing over 55 million people and stretching from modern-day Britain to Egypt and Syria. Understanding how this empire functioned and was controlled relies heavily on understanding the road system. Roads weren’t just about getting from point A to point B; they were vital for efficient governance, the movement of troops, and the exchange of goods and ideas—effectively tying the empire together. Prior attempts to map the Roman road system have been incomplete and often lacked the precision needed for detailed analysis.
The Itiner-e Project: A Synthesis of Historical Data
The Itiner-e project addresses these limitations. Researchers from Aarhus University and collaborators meticulously combined a diverse range of sources, including:
- Archaeological excavations and surveys: Physical evidence of roads discovered through fieldwork.
- Milestones: Stone markers placed at regular intervals along Roman roads, providing clues to their routes.
- Historical texts: Ancient documents like the Antonine Itinerary and the Tabula Peutingeriana, which describe major routes between settlements.
- Topographic maps and satellite imagery: Modern mapping tools used to verify and refine the historical data.
Key Findings: Expanding Our Knowledge of the Roman Road Network
The result is a dataset that more than doubles our understanding of the Roman road network, revealing:
- Total Length: A staggering 299,171 kilometers of roads, a significant increase from the previous estimate of 188,555 km.
- Geographic Distribution: Increased road coverage is particularly noticeable in the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal), Greece, and North Africa.
- Realistic Routes: Previously proposed routes were adapted to reflect the actual terrain, acknowledging that roads often followed winding paths through mountains rather than straight lines.
- Main vs. Secondary Roads: The dataset distinguishes between 20,717 kilometers of main roads and 278,454 kilometers of secondary roads, offering a more nuanced picture of the road hierarchy.
Limitations and Future Research
While Itiner-e represents a monumental achievement, the researchers also acknowledge its limitations. Currently, only a small percentage (2.7%) of the roads have precisely determined locations, while the vast majority (89.8%) are known with less certainty. Further, the dataset doesn’t show how the road network changed over time. Future research will need to address this gap, and will likely benefit from Itiner-e, which can provide a baseline for tracking changes in the road system throughout Roman history.
Itiner-e offers an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the profound impact of Roman roads on connectivity, administration, migration patterns, and the spread of disease within the Roman Empire.
The Itiner-e project underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, combining historical scholarship, archaeological fieldwork, and modern geospatial technologies. By providing a detailed and openly accessible dataset, it lays the groundwork for new insights into the Roman Empire and its enduring legacy.
